Summary
As far as historical epics go,300: Rise of an Empireis among the most stylistically bold movies in the genre, but not necessarily the most accurate.Rise of an Empireacts as both a sequel to300, the story of the Battle of Thermopylae, and a complimentary tale about some battles that were happening at the same time. Now thatZack Snyder is considering another300sequelset in a different time period, seeing how well300: Rise of an Empireportrayed its moment in history could give insight into how the next installment will deal with its subject.
300: Rise of an Empirelargely focuses on two of the most important battles of the Greco-Persian War: the Battle of Artemisium and the Battle of Salamis. As they were real historical events, there are fairly reliable records of what happened in each of those battles.300: Rise of an Empireshares some of the samehistorical inaccuracies that plagued300, but it understandably had to take some creative liberties with the battles to craft a more compelling narrative. While the final product was compelling, the actual events themselves also offered a very interesting story on their own.
300: 15 Quotes That Will Live On In Infamy
Zack Snyder’s stylish historic epic features some great battle scenes, but it’s the many 300 quotes that make Leonidas and his Spartans so memorable.
The Battles In 300: Rise Of An Empire Took Place In The Same Year As 300
Thermopylae, Artemisium, & Salamis All Took Place In 480 BCE
The timeline of300: Rise of an Empirecan sometimes be confusing, but it’s a fairly important part of both the movie and the actual war.Every main battle in the movie took place in the same year, 480 BCE, during Xerxes' first invasion of Greece. That’s also when the Battle of Thermopylae took place, as shown in300. Importantly, the Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of Artemisium took place concurrently, which was a major factor at Artemisium. Meanwhile, the Battle of Marathon, as the movie suggested, took place long before the main events of the movie, in 490 BCE.
490 BCE
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300: Rise Of An Empire Featured Mostly Athenians, While 300 Focused On Spartans
Understanding the political makeup of Ancient Greece is critical to understanding the Greco-Persian War. At that time, Greece was made up of several city states that were largely independent and often went to war with one another. Two of the most prominent city states were Sparta and Athens, and they essentially acted as their own nations, except in times of war.When the Greco-Persian War began, several city states put their differences aside, temporarily, and joined forces to fight their invaders.
Both300and most of300: Rise of an Empireare set during the early days of Xerxes I’s invasion of Greece. As such, Thermopylae and Artemisium served as the Greeks' first lines of defense, and where they intended to hold the Persians to prevent them from advancing further. Sparta and Athens, being different city states, had different strengths. Because of that,they decided that King Leonidas and his Spartans would be sent to defend by land at Thermopylae, while the Athenians, along with ships from other city states, defended by sea at Artemisium.
The Battle Of Artemisium Was A Persian Victory
The Greek Fleet Retreated After Learning Of Leonidas' Defeat At Thermopylae
Understanding the Battle of Artemisium also requires a bit of knowledge about the geography of Greece. Artemisium was chosen as the Athenians' line in the sand because it was located at a natural bottleneck, where the Malian Gulf became narrower off the coast of Greece, near the island of Euboea. That’s an important fact, because if the Greek fleet could have held that position, they would have effectively blocked the Persian ships from reaching the mainland and outflanking the Spartans at Thermopylae.
The Greek fleet, however, did not hold Artemisium. There were nearly six Persian ships for every Greek ship in the battle, and while they were able to take out about four times as many ships as they lost, the Greeks were eventually forced to retreat.A major reason for that decision was because news reached them of Leonidas' defeat at Thermopylae, the other part of their defensive strategy. With Thermopylae lost, the Greek fleet had no reason to hold Artemisium, so they instead decided to retreat, save their remaining ships, and begin evacuating the population of Athens to Salamis.
The Battle Of Salamis Was A Decisive Greek Victory
The Greeks Destroyed Seven & A Half Times As Many Ships As They Lost
Shortly after the Battle of Artemisium, the Persians reached the evacuated Athens, pillaged the city, and burned it to the ground. Xerxes then turned his attention to the Greek naval fleet, which he sought to destroy in order to gain a better position from which to demand surrender from the Greeks. This directly led to the Battle of Salamis, where the Greek fleet had fled after Artemisium. The Greeks also hoped to end the war at Salamis, as Themistocles wanted to destroy the entire Persian fleet during the battle.
The Greeks were again outnumbered at Salamis, but this battle ended much more favorably for them. The Greeks had a few major advantages that turned Salamis into a victory even after their defeat at Artemisium. Salamis was much narrower than Artemisium, which made it easier to defend, and they had months to prepare their defenses. When the battle arrived, geography worked in the Greeks' favor, as the Persian fleet was too large to effectively manuever.That made it possible for the smaller Greek fleet to destroy nearly seven and a half more Persian ships than they lost as casualties.
The Greeks Repelled The Persian Invasion One Year Later At Plataea & Mycale
Xerxes' Invasion Of Greece Ended In 479 BCE
The Greek victory at Salamis directly led to the end of the Second Persian invasion of Greece. After Salamis, Xerxes' fleet was scattered, and it took him a full year to fully regroup his forces. In that time, the Greek city states were able to better communicate amongst each other and coordinate their efforts. The Persians would attack again the following year, most notably at Plataea and Mycale, but these battles would mark the end of their invasion of Greece, as they proved to be decisive Greek victories.
The Greeks Then Attacked The Persians For Another 30 Years
The Greco-Persian War Ended In 449 BCE
The Greeks repelled the Persian invasion in 479 BCE, but the Greco-Persian war lasted another 30 years after Plataea and Mycale. The reason it dragged on so long is because, rather than being content with successfully defending their home, the Greeks instead decided to go on the offensive. Eventually, after 30 years, the Persians and Greeks were able to agree on a peace. There’s some contention as to how the war actually ended, and whether there was a formal peace treaty known as the Peace of Callius, but the Greco-Persian War ended nonetheless.
How Accurate 300: Rise Of An Empire Is Compared To Real Events
Most Of 300: Rise Of An Empire’s Historical Inaccuracies Are With Its Characters
Broadly speaking,300: Rise of an Empiregenerally follows the timeline and events of the actual Greco-Persian war. The timeline of all of its battles, from Marathon to Salamis, is accurate. The outcomes of each of300: Rise of an Empire’s battles are also accurate, though some major details were different in history.Artemisium, for example, was not as devastating a defeat as the movie suggested, and the Spartan fleet at Salamis was not nearly as large as shown in the movie. Additionally, Artemisia was only one of many Persian commanders, as she controlled a small fleet of five ships.
While it’s a reasonably accurate portrayal of history with several added narrative elements, most of its historical inaccuracies come from300: Rise of an Empire’s characters. A glaring change the movie made is that, in real life, Themistocles did not kill Darius I at the Battle of Marathon, he died four years later of illness.The most egregious change300: Rise of an Empiremade to the historical record stemmed from that inaccuracy, as Xerxes did not truly become a “God-King.“There are also additional, smaller details the movie changed, such as the fact that Themistocles and Artemisia never had a sexual relationship.
300: Rise of an Empireis somewhat of a mixed bag in terms of how it treats its historical figures, but even with the inaccuracies, it also got a fair amount of their stories right. For example, Themistocles really was a politician, and he was responsible for the strength of Athens' navy. Artemisia also really was a Greek Queen who allied with Xerxes, though not to the same extent as her movie counterpart, and she was the only woman to be a commander in the Greco-Persian War. History is often more interesting than fiction, though300: Rise of an Empiresometimes blended the two together.
300: Rise of an Empire
Cast
Based on Frank Miller’s latest graphic novel, “Xerxes,” 300: Rise of an Empire follows greek general Themistokles' attempts to unite all of Greece by leading the charge that will change the course of the war. The movie pits Themistokles against the massive invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes and the deadly Artemisia, the vengeful commander of the Persian navy.
