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
Paeonius 420 BC; a few years after the Athenian allies defeated the Spartans at the Battle of Sphacteria in 425 BC. The inscription reads that it was “dedicated by the Messenians and Naupaktians as a tithe of the spoils of their enemies. The Messenians and Naupaktians, allies of the Athenians, are careful not to mention “their enemies,” the Spartans, by name. Pausanias, a travel writer in the 2nd century AD, wrote, “But the Messenians themselves say that the offering is a trophy of the battle in which they fought on the Athenian side in the island of Sphacteria and that they