Battle of Thermopylae evacuated Athens. The Greek fleet—seeking a decisive victory over the Persian armada—attacked and defeated the invaders at the Battle of Salamis in late 480 BC. Wary of being trapped in Europe, Xerxes withdrew with much of his army to Asia (losing most to starvation and disease), leaving Mardonius to attempt to complete the conquest of Greece. However, the following year saw a Greek army decisively defeat the Persians at the Battle of Plataea, thereby ending the Persian invasion. Both ancient and modern writers have used the Battle of Thermopylae as an example of the power of a patriotic army defending
Kolonos Hill original stone has not survived. In 1955, a new stone was erected, with Simonides' epigram engraved on it. Kolonos Hill Kolonos Hill (; ) is a hill in Central Greece. It is located in the narrow coastal passage known as Thermopylae, and is near the city of Lamia. The hill is best known for the site for the final stand of the 300 Spartans during the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. In 1939, Spyridon Marinatos, a Greek archaeologist found large numbers of Persian arrows around the hill, which changed the hitherto accepted identification of the site where the Greeks