| Gates of Fire | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Author | Steven Pressfield |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Historical fiction |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Publication date | October 20, 1998 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 400 |
| ISBN | 978-0385492515 |
| OCLC Number | 38916930 |
| Dewey Decimal | 813/.54 21 |
| LC Classification | PS3566.R3944 G38 1998 |
Gates of Fire is a 1998 historical fiction novel by Steven Pressfield that recounts the Battle of Thermopylae through Xeones, a Spartan Helot and the sole Greek survivor of the battle.
Gates of Fire is on the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Reading list. It is taught at West Point and Annapolis and at the Marine Corps Basic School at Quantico.
Contents |
At Thermopylae, the allied Greek nations deployed a small force of between four and seven thousand Greek heavy infantry against the invading Persian army of two million. Leading the Greeks was a force of three hundred Spartans, chosen by the fact that they were all "sires" - they were fathers to male children, which would preserve their bloodlines after what was likely a suicide mission.
Thermopylae was the only way into Greece for the Persian army, and presented the perfect choke point - a narrow pass bordered by a sheer mountain wall on one side and a cliff drop-off to the sea on the other. This location decreased the advantage of the Persians' numerical superiority, and gave the Greek allies enough time to ready a larger, main force to defend against the Persians.
Though Xeones is critically wounded in the battle, the Persian King Xerxes orders his surgeons to make every effort to keep the captive squire alive. The book is Xeones' relation of the battle and events leading up to it to Xerxes and his royal scribe as the Persian army advances toward Athens.
Much of the narrative explores Spartan society, the agoge, which is the military training program which all Spartan boys must complete to become citizens or Peers. The novel also details the heroics of several dozen Spartans, including their king, Leonidas, the Olympic champion Polynikes, a young Spartan warrior named Alexandros, and the Spartan officer Dienekes. Pressfield employs detailed descriptions of the Spartan phalanx in battle, as well as the superior training and discipline of the Spartan warriors.
Pressfield's character Xeones numbers the Persian host as two million, while Herodotus had numbered them as five million, and Simonides at three million. Modern historians evaluating ancient sources and logistics believe that these are unlikely figures, and calculate the likely size of the Persian force at between 100 to 250 thousand troops, and almost as many support staff. It is unclear if Pressfield was himself placing the actual Persian host as two million strong, or simply portraying the exaggerated number as the prevailing thought of the Greek defenders at the time.
| Gates of Fire | |
|---|---|
| Author | Steven Pressfield |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Historical fiction |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
| Publication date | October 20, 1998 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 400 |
| ISBN | 978-0385492515 |
| OCLC Number | 38916930 |
| Dewey Decimal | 813/.54 21 |
| LC Classification | PS3566.R3944 G38 1998 |
Gates of Fire is a 1998 historical fiction novel by Steven Pressfield that recounts the Battle of Thermopylae through Xeones, a Spartan Helot and the sole Greek survivor of the battle.
Gates of Fire is on the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Reading list. It is taught at West Point and Annapolis and at the Marine Corps Basic School at Quantico.
Contents |
At Thermopylae, the allied Greek nations deployed a small force of between four and seven thousand Greek heavy infantry against the invading Persian army of two million. Leading the Greeks was a force of three hundred Spartans, chosen by the fact that they were all "sires" - they were fathers to male children, which would preserve their bloodlines after what was likely a suicide mission.
Thermopylae was the only way into Greece for the Persian army, and presented the perfect choke point - a narrow pass bordered by a sheer mountain wall on one side and a cliff drop-off to the sea on the other. This location decreased the advantage of the Persians' numerical superiority, and gave the Greek allies enough time to ready a larger, main force to defend against the Persians.
Though Xeones is critically wounded in the battle, the Persian King Xerxes orders his surgeons to make every effort to keep the captive squire alive. The book is Xeones' relation of the battle and events leading up to it to Xerxes and his royal scribe as the Persian army advances toward Athens.
Much of the narrative explores Spartan society, the agoge, which is the military training program which all Spartan boys must complete to become citizens or Peers. The novel also details the heroics of several dozen Spartans, including their king, Leonidas, the Olympic champion Polynikes, a young Spartan warrior named Alexandros, and the Spartan officer Dienekes. Pressfield employs detailed descriptions of the Spartan phalanx in battle, as well as the superior training and discipline of the Spartan warriors.
Pressfield's character Xeones numbers the Persian host as two million, while Herodotus had numbered them as five million, and Simonides at three million. Modern historians evaluating ancient sources and logistics believe that these are unlikely figures, and calculate the likely size of the Persian force at between 70 to 300 thousand troops, and almost as many support staff. It is unclear if Pressfield was himself placing the actual Persian host as two million strong, or simply portraying the exaggerated number as the prevailing thought of the Greek defenders at the time.
   | Zack Snyder interview on Youtube - YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. |
| | Steven Pressfield interview on the status of the Gates of Fire movie project - The 300 Spartans |
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