Leonidas statue in fighting position holding spear and shield

Leonidas of Sparta, king of one of the city's two royal houses, led the Spartan contingent at Thermopylae in 480 BC. This fighting pose — spear levelled, shield raised — is the iconic moment of the legendary three-day stand against the Persian invasion of Xerxes. When ordered to lay down arms, Leonidas's reply has echoed across history: "Come and take them." He and his three hundred died holding the pass.