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Anonymous File :-(, x)
I read the book, Gates of Fire, by Steven Pressfield before seeing the movie. Obviously there would be differences in how each told the story. Both were graphic in the description of the battle, both had 300 Spartans, Pressfield's version didn't have Athenians, but had Thespians, Thebans, Corinthians, Tegeates, Orchomenians, Arkadians, Phliasians, Mantineans and men from Mycenae. All in all the Greeks had about 4000 men. The Spartans also has men with them that were like squires, they learned to fight but supported the spartan warriors by giving them fresh weapons when their's were lost, broken or otherwise gone. The book spent alot of time on the training these soldiers went through and the build up to the war. The end was the same, the 300 Spartans being surrounded and killed to the last man, with the exception of 2. One was a squire who eventually died after telling the King of Persia his story, which is what the book is based around, and the one who was blinded in battle. I found the book every bit as good as the movie. One other thing of note ... the Spartans wore body armor and armor on the arms and legs in the book but only had helmets and shields in the movie.
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