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Thermopolae, Greece, where a contingent of 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians were said by Herodotus to have held off 300,000-man Persian army On to Theropile, which has lots of thermal springs and spas. Thermopile means thermal pass, which was a very narrow pass in ancient times because the sea care right up to the mountain. Now, silting has moved the land out 1-2 miles. In 490 BC the Syrians were defeated in the battle of Marathon. Ten years later, in 480 BC, the Syrians came again under Xerxes as a general. The Greek states got together to fight at Thermopile. A Greek traitor betrayed a hidden trail around Thermopile, and the Persians looked to be too many to fight, so most of the Greeks withdrew, leaving a skeleton group of about 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians to slow the Persian advance. They actually held the Persians back from further advance south. The main fleet of Persia went around the country and was finally defeated in battle at the island of Salamis.