THE MATH OF THERMOPYLAE: HOW 300 SPARTANS JAMMED AN EMPIRE

Описание: Leonidas wasn't chasing glory. He was buying time.
THE MATH OF THERMOPYLAE is not a story about heroism. It's a story about constraint, delay, and cost. At Thermopylae, 300 Spartans didn't "stand against an empire." They jammed one.
This video breaks down Thermopylae as a system—a narrow pass, limited frontage, logistics, time pressure, and political consequence. No slow-motion last stands. No mythic Spartans. Just geography doing what geography always does: deciding outcomes.
What you'll learn:

Why the pass mattered more than the men
How a small force delayed the largest army on earth
What those days of resistance actually bought Greece
Why Thermopylae worked only once

Systems over individuals. Terrain over valor. Consequences over spectacle. No romanticism. Just the math.
Sources: Herodotys, modern military geography, archaeological scholarship.

[00:00] — The Geometry of War: How a narrow pass jammed the Persian machine.

[00:41] — The Strategic Transaction: Buying time for Athens and the Greek fleet.

[02:49] — The Persian Superpower: Arithmetic, administration, and the largest empire on Earth.

[05:15] — Xerxes Prepares: The engineering marvels of the Canal of Athos and the Hellespont bridges.

[07:44] — The Greek Improvisation: A collection of suspicious city-states vs. an imperial juggernaut.

[10:24] — The Spartan Paradox: A slave state built for internal counter-insurgency.

[12:06] — Leonidas’s Calculation: Why he chose 300 men with living sons.

[14:15] — The Terrain as a Weapon: The "Hot Gates" as a force multiplier.

[16:53] — Hardware Mismatch: Greek bronze tanks vs. Persian wicker and light infantry.

[18:44] — Day 1 & 2: The Meat Grinder, the "Feigned Retreat," and the Immortals' failure.

[21:49] — The Failure of Intelligence: Ephialtes and the Anopaea path.

[24:18] — The Final Stand: Leonidas dismisses the army and prepares for liquidation.

[26:30] — Maximum Cost: The brutal close-quarters brawl and the death of Leonidas.

[28:46] — Industrial Execution: The final shower of Persian arrows on Colonos Hill.

[29:43] — The Aftermath: The burning of Athens and the turning point at Salamis.

[33:12] — Dismantling the Myths: The truth about the "300," "Freedom," and the "Persian Horde."

[36:11] — The Irony of Victory: How the war created the Athenian Empire and trapped Sparta.

[40:31] — The Legacy: "Go tell the Spartans"—obedience vs. wisdom.

🎵 Music & SFX: Licensed from Artlist.io

📚 Historical sources and research inform all content

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