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
Pleistarchus his tutor. It is unknown whether Pleistarchus was married. Pleistarchus' father King Leonidas perished in 480 BC at the Battle of Thermopylae. For the early part of Pleistarchus's reign, his uncle Cleombrotus acted as regent; after Cleombrotus's death in 479 BC, Pleistarchus's cousin Pausanias was regent. The successor of Pleistarchus was Pleistoanax, son of Pausanias. Pleistarchus Pleistarchus or Plistarch ( "Pleistarkhos"; died 458 BC) was the Agiad King of Sparta from 480 to 458 BC. He was born in 486 B.c. In Sparta, Greece. His family was Leonidas and Gorgo, who are uncles and nieces. He became king of Sparta