Expansion of Macedonia under Philip II a significant problem, blocking the main route into Greece. However, a second route into central Greece was available. In 480 BC, during the Battle of Thermopylae, the Persian king Xerxes had sent his army via a mountain track (the "Anopea") to outflank the pass. From this track, on the western side of Mount Kallidromon, another road led off and descended in Phocis. In 480 BC, a thousand Phocian troops were stationed above Thermopylae to guard the road and prevent a Persian assault on Phocis (though they notably failed to prevent the Persians using "Anopea"). However, in 339 BC, the Greeks
The 300 Spartans shown in the USSR in 1970. The film was very popular there—27.1 million of viewers had seen it. Comic artist Frank Miller saw this movie as a boy and said "it changed the course of my creative life". His graphic novel "300" is about the Battle of Thermopylae, and in 2006, the book was adapted into a successful film. The 300 Spartans The 300 Spartans is a 1962 CinemaScope epic film depicting the Battle of Thermopylae. Made with the cooperation of the Greek government, it was shot in the village of Perachora in the Peloponnese. The working title was "Lion