Battle of Thermopylae at Thermopylae, the Persians sent a mounted scout to reconnoitre. The Greeks allowed him to come up to the camp, observe them, and depart. Xerxes found the scout's reports of the size of the Greek force, and that the Spartans were indulging in callisthenics and combing their long hair, laughable. Seeking the counsel of Demaratus, an exiled Spartan king in his retinue, Xerxes was told the Spartans were preparing for battle, and it was their custom to adorn their hair when they were about to risk their lives. Demaratus called them "the bravest men in Greece" and warned the Great
Marcus Fabius Vibulanus (consul 483 and 480 BC) Marcus Fabius Vibulanus (consul 483 and 480 BC) Marcus Fabius Vibulanus was consul of the Roman republic in 483 and 480 BC. For a seven year period from 485 to 478 BC, one of the two consuls was a member of the gens Fabia, a domination of the office Gary Forsythe describes as "unparalleled in the consular "fasti" of the Roman Republic." His brothers were Quintus (consul in 485 and 482 BC) and Kaeso (consul in 484, 481, and 479 BC). According to the recorded filiation of his son, Marcus' father's "praenomen" was Caeso Fabius. Livy states that during Marcus