Athens fleet, and helped the rebellion of the Ionian cities against Persian rule. In the ensuing Greco-Persian Wars Athens, together with Sparta, led the coalition of Greek states that would eventually repel the Persians, defeating them decisively at Marathon in 490 BC, and crucially at Salamis in 480 BC. However, this did not prevent Athens from being captured and sacked twice by the Persians within one year, after a heroic resistance at Thermopylae by Spartans and other Greeks led by King Leonidas, after both Boeotia and Attica fell to the Persians. The decades that followed became known as the Golden Age
Demophilus of Thespiae Thespians fought against the Persian army at the Battle of Plataea (479 BC). Demophilos is immortalised in many books and movies. In the 1962 movie "The 300 Spartans", Demophilus was portrayed by the Greek actor Yorgos (George) Moutsios. In Thermopylae there is a monument, next to the monument of Leonidas, in memory of him and his men. There is also a monument to Demophilus in the modern Thespies. Demophilus of Thespiae Demophilus ( "Demophilos"), according to Herodotus, was the commander of a contingent of 700 Thespians at the Battle of Thermopylae (480 BC). His father was Diadromes (). Demophilus and