A battle over a mountain pass known as Thermopylae took place when a small number of Spartan Soldiers - 300, according to Heredotus - fought 12,000 Persian soldiers under King Xerxes. Eventually, the Persians prevailed. There was also a Naval battle that took place in Thermopylae between the Athenians and the Persians. The Athenians won this battle.
At the time, the pass of Thermopylae consisted of a track along the shore of the Gulf of Malis so narrow that only one chariot could pass through at a time. Today the site is two to three miles inland due to infilling of the Gulf of Malis.
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