The smaller of twins, born long after two elder
brothers, Leonidas is
considered an afterthought from birth – even by his
mother. Lucky not
to be killed for being undersized, he is not raised as a prince like
his eldest brother, Cleomenes, but instead has to endure the harsh
upbringing of ordinary Spartan youth. Barefoot, always a
little
hungry, and subject to harsh discipline, Leonidas has to prove himself
worthy of Spartan citizenship. Struggling to survive without
disgrace,
he never expects that one day he will be king or chosen to command the
combined Greek forces fighting a Persian invasion. But these
are
formative years that will one day make him the most famous Spartan of
them all: the hero of Thermopylae.
The historical
record tells us very little about the life of Leonidas. His
death is legendary. His last days have inspired great works
of art and popular enthusiasm. The stand of “the
300” at Thermopylae has been harnessed to a hundred modern
causes pitting East against West. Leonidas and his 300
Spartans have come to symbolize what is good and noble in war:
self-sacrifice for the sake of one’s country and family.
But who was Leonidas? And what was he before he
became the incarnation of Freedom fighting Tyranny?
Herodotus gives us some tantalizing tidbits – the story of his
father’s forced second marriage, the tensions between his
elder brothers, the precociousness of his wife. But
he is silent on many key points, from the date of Leonidas’
birth to his role in Sparta prior to becoming king. Only one
thing about his early life do we know for certain: because he was not
the heir apparent to the Agiad throne, he would have been subjected to
the full Spartan agoge. Knowing that, knowing how he ended,
and building on fascinating insights into his personality provided by
the few sayings attributed to him, I have created a young
Leonidas.
Nothing in this novel contradicts known facts about
Leonidas – not even the late date of his birth. It is true that
most historians prefer to think he was born
“shortly” after Dorieus, as Herodotus says; but the
fact that he personally led the Spartan advance guard to Thermopylae,
fought in the front line for two full days of fierce fighting, and did
not die until the last day supports my thesis that he was not already
an old man at the time of the battle. The fact that
his son was still quite young at the time of his death is another
undeniable historical fact that supports the postulated later birth of
Leonidas.
I have made Leonidas roughly 8 years younger than most historians
postulate and from 10 to 15 years older than most popular
portrayals of him in art and film.
The smaller of twins, born long after two elder
brothers, Leonidas is
considered an afterthought from birth – even by his
mother. Lucky not
to be killed for being undersized, he is not raised as a prince like
his eldest brother, Cleomenes, but instead has to endure the harsh
upbringing of ordinary Spartan youth. Barefoot, always a
little
hungry, and subject to harsh discipline, Leonidas has to prove himself
worthy of Spartan citizenship. Struggling to survive without
disgrace,
he never expects that one day he will be king or chosen to command the
combined Greek forces fighting a Persian invasion. But these
are
formative years that will one day make him the most famous Spartan of
them all: the hero of Thermopylae.
