Battle of Thermopylae in popular culture Battle of Thermopylae in popular culture The Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BCE has long been the topic of cultural motivation, as it is perhaps the most famous military last stand of all time. This "against all odds" story is passed to us from the writings of the Greek Herodotus, who was not present at the battle himself. He relates the story of 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians defending the Pass of Thermopylae against almost "2 million" Persians on the third day of the battle. (For the first two days, the Greek force had numbered somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000.)
Battle of Thermopylae (191 BC) only the Aetolian League actually joined forces with Antiochus; other states either remained neutral or sided with the Romans. Antiochus managed to capture some cities in Greece, but was unable to obtain reinforcements from Asia before in 191 BC a large Roman army under the consul Manius Acilius Glabrio crossed from Italy and advanced on his position. Knowing he was outnumbered around 2:1 by the approaching Roman army, Antiochus hoped to use the narrow pass at Thermopylae to his advantage, taking inspiration from the earlier Greek city-states' stand against the much larger Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae (480