The pass at Thermopylae was the scene of several such
engagements in antiquity and during later centuries, but the
most dramatic example of history repeating itself occurred in
April 1941. There was little hope that the juggernaut of the
German army, led by tanks and bound for Athens, could be stopped
by Allied troops. But there was hope that the advance of the
Germans could be slowed in order to complete the evacuation of
Athens by British and Greek forces. A small, determined band of
ANZAC soldiers stationed themselves around the pass at
Thermopylae, and for two days managed to slow the German
advance, thereby permitting the successful evacuation of Athens.
These brave Australians and New Zealanders escaped the Spartans’
fate, and lived on to fight again another day. Monday, April 02,
2007 Archaeology magazine has a review critical of 300, but what
caught my eye was the following interesting historical tidbit: