Blog Number 89 - Herodotus - The first author of '300'

Here's an image of a nice set of books of Herodotus' 'Histories' which are around 50 years old. While Frank Miller's '300' is an entertaining account of the Battle of Thermopylae, I feel that one must read Book 7 of Herodotus' work since his is the original account of the battle.

By reading this version by the 'Father of History', one can develop a more accurate understanding of the reasons for the battle and its aftermath.

Blog Number 88 - Another statue of King Leonidas of the '300' Spartans

Here's another statue of King Leonidas that I have collected over the years and what I have found most interesting is that all the statues show this most famous of Spartan warriors without his armor.

Is this why Frank Miller has portrayed the Spartans without armor in the '300' comics???

Blog Number 87 - Statue of King Leonidas of the '300' Spartans

Here's an image of one of the statues of King Leonidas of Sparta that I have collected over the years. This one was purchased in Greece and is one of my favorites.

Blog Number 86 - Frank Miller '300' signed limited edition lithograph

Here is the 'creme de la creme' of my Frank Miller '300' collection; the Dark Horse limited edition lithograph of King Leonidas of Sparta signed by both the author Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, who colored the illustrations. This is a true rarity since only 300 were individually signed and numbered by Miller and Varley.

It measures 30 inches horizontally, by 23 inches vertically and since Miller & Varley don't sell their original artwork, this lithograph has become a prized collectible. The way I look at is, if the '300' movie is a smash, which I believe it will be, these lithographs will appreciate even more in value.

Blog Number 85 - King Leonidas' personal bodyguard, the '300' Spartans

When King Leonidas and his personal bodyguard marched to Thermopylae in 480 B.C., he would have 'under normal circumstances' been accompanied by the Hippeis. However, since these 300 Spartans had to have a male heir, the royal bodyguard of King Leonidas that fought and died at Thermopylae must have consisted of a combination of Hippeis and other Spartan hoplites since not all the Hippeis had produced a male heir.

Blog Number 84 - Hippeis - The '300' finest of Sparta

Since all Spartan males served in the military, there was no higher honor than to be a part of the elite unit known as the Hippeis, which was the King of Sparta's personal bodyguard. This unit was comprised of the 300 best Spartiati warriors who were held in the highest esteem, which probably would be the equivalent today to the SAS of Australia, the Delta Force of the USA, etc.

According to Plutarch, when the Spartan hoplite Paedaretus wasn't chosen as a member of the Hippeis, he left cheerfully remarking that he was glad that Sparta had 300 warriors better than himself.

Blog Number 83 - Australian reenactment group of the '300' Spartans

Here is a fantastic image of an Australian reenactment group from Melbourne, Victoria named 'The Ancient Hoplitikon of Melbourne'. This close-up photo shows what the Persian army will encounter in Frank Miller's '300'; an impenetrable phalanx of crimson-cloaked 300 Spartan warriors with their Corinthian helmets and 8 foot spears.

I have included several other images of the group headed by one of my fellow Greek-Australian mates Athanasios Porporis. I hope you like this image and the others on my other blog as it is very accurate as to the appearance of the Greek warriors that the Persians faced at Thermopylae in 480 B.C.

Since the Melbourne hoplites don't have a website, I will forwarding feedback to them from this blog and the King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans of Thermopylae blog.