Re:Spartan School (2019)
by azernik on Thursday March 18, 2021 @06:24PM
(#26508162)
The UK didn't fall after losing a good chunk of their army and almost all of their heavy equipment in the Battle of France. It was still a defeat.
In the Thermopylae case, they failed at their intended objective (defeat the Persian army on land) and wasted a good-sized force. The fact that the defeat was set in stone the moment they chose the place and time of the engagement doesn't make it any less of a defeat.
(Note that "the 300" is only counting the Spartiates i.e. citizens; there were a total of 1-2K Spartan soldiers, and many more forces from other Greek poleis.)
In the Thermopylae case, they failed at their intended objective (defeat the Persian army on land) and wasted a good-sized force. The fact that the defeat was set in stone the moment they chose the place and time of the engagement doesn't make it any less of a defeat.
(Note that "the 300" is only counting the Spartiates i.e. citizens; there were a total of 1-2K Spartan soldiers, and many more forces from other Greek poleis.)