Professor Timothy B. Shutt examines the history and culture of ancient Sparta, a society renowned for military excellence and adherence to the values of courage, discipline, duty, and the overcoming of fear. Vastly outnumbered at the Battle of Thermopylae, the Spartan '300' held off an overwhelming Persian force before finally succumbing- but not without inflicting massive casualties and inspiring the rest of the Greeks with the notion that they could persevere.