Slitherine

possum wrote:I would seriously question the datum that Leonidas was 60 by the time of Thermopylae.

What is your source for this information?

Professor Paul Cartledge, the leading authority on Sparta and relevant matters, places his birth at sometime around 540 B.C. This would put Leonidas at anywhere from roughly 55-65 years old at the time of Thermopylae.

Steven Pressfield seems to agree with this.

The idea that Leonidas was a dashing young man when he fought at Thermopylae is a myth that has been perpetuated mostly by hollywood, because it makes a better movie for a handsome young man to die valiantly for the cause of freedom than for a 60 year-old with a long white beard to do so.

dithyrambos wrote:

possum wrote:I would seriously question the datum that Leonidas was 60 by the time of Thermopylae.

What is your source for this information?

Professor Paul Cartledge, the leading authority on Sparta and relevant matters, places his birth at sometime around 540 B.C. This would put Leonidas at anywhere from roughly 55-65 years old at the time of Thermopylae.

Steven Pressfield seems to agree with this.

The idea that Leonidas was a dashing young man when he fought at Thermopylae is a myth that has been perpetuated mostly by hollywood, because it makes a better movie for a handsome young man to die valiantly for the cause of freedom than for a 60 year-old with a long white beard to do so.

I would like to examine Professor Cartledge's reasoning on this, and see what data he is basing it on. Given the realities of healthcare in the ancient world, 60 was a very, very old man.

And for that matter, if Leonidas was 60, why was his son and heir so young as to require a regency by Pausanias?

possum wrote:I would like to examine Professor Cartledge's reasoning on this, and see what data he is basing it on. Given the realities of healthcare in the ancient world, 60 was a very, very old man.

If I recall correctly, wasn't 60 the age a Spartan was allowed to retire?

possum wrote:And for that matter, if Leonidas was 60, why was his son and heir so young as to require a regency by Pausanias?

My guess would be that Queen Gorgo was much younger than Leonidas, and so perhaps they had only been married for a short time, and that would explain the youth of their son. But that's just my guess. I'd have to read all of what Professor Cartledge has to say in order to find a more definitive answer.