ABSTRACT
It is the most famous last stand in history-the Gates of Fire, Thermopylae pass, late summer 480 BCE. The ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, “the father of history,” records the fi nal moments of the Spartan fi ght against the Persian hordes: “The Hellenes knew they were about to face death . . . and so they exerted their utmost strength against the barbarians, with reckless desperation and no regard for their own lives . . . And it was during this struggle that Leonidas fell . . . and with him those other famous Spartans.” 1 Their memorial inscription reads:
Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by that here, obedient to their laws, we lie.
