Three hundred Spartan hoplite soldiers stood their ground at the Battle of Thermopylae against the massive Persian army in 480 BCE. We will be using ancient historians, mainly Herodotus and Diodorus Sicuclus, to compare their versions of the battle. We will look at strategy, armor and weapons, and maps to bring this amazing piece of history to life. I will also talk about the general, Themistocles, and how he used the events at Thermopylae to prepare the Greek navy to ultimately push back the Persians. This is a lecture-style class, but I encourage learners to ask questions, and input their own ideas and theories. To insure this, I will ask leading questions and correlate the subject matter to cultural topics with which they are most likely familiar. We will even discuss how to make a hoplite shield! No prior experience or knowledge of Greek language or history is required.