Famous quotes and anecdotes associated with the Spartans: Herodotus reports that just before the Battle of Thermoplyae, a Spartan warrior named Dienekes was told that the Persian archers could ...

This was partly in response to the threat of Persian archers, who had forced the Greeks to run at them in full armor during the battles of Marathon in 490 and Plataea 479. These hoplite runs were ...