Last name: Constant. Recorded in the spellings of Constance, Constant, and even Custance, this is a surname is of ultimately Roman origins. It derives from the ancient pre-Christian word 'constantia', meaning constant, which became the female baptismal name 'Constance', although in its original form in England it was spelt 'Custance'. It is also found as the male given name 'Constantine', and the surname can also derive from this source.
In the slaughtering pen at Thermopylae â as the narrow killing fields might be called â a king died and a legend was born. Led by Leonidas, the three hundred Spartans stood and fell and took the pride of the Persian Empire down with them.
This was ordered because Athens did not want any more trouble from its allies. Thus, the second blow to the truce was struck. The first blood that was drawn in this war, surprisingly, was not in Athens or Sparta but was in Plataea. At night 300 Thebans were treacherously let into Plateae in an attempt to free Plataea from Athens.