History ArtisticLicenseHistory / ThreeHundred

* In the scene after Leonidas was born, the film shows an elder examining on a clifftop him while the narrator states that he would have been discarded if he was "small, or puny, or sickly", and then pans to the bottom and shows a number of baby bones. While Ancient Sparta did commit eugenic infanticide, they tested the baby by bathing it in wine and babies that failed the test would be left to die of exposure on a mountain rather than being thrown off a cliff. Some children didn't even die, and instead were adopted by and raised as Helots.

* The film's treatment of Greek military tactics is inconsistent at the best and fantastic most of the time. The portrayed Spartans occasionally do execute their historical [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx phalanx formation]], most notably at the first moments of the battle, when pushing the Persians off the cliff or when extracting an enraged Artemis from the battlefield. However, barring these instances, they usually break formation completely and engage their opponents in stylized individual duels with yards of space between each other. In real life, phalangic teamwork was not only the Greek's main strength (aside from Thermopylae's [[GeoEffects natural terrain]]), but also one of the lead factors of their victory at the Greco-Persian wars. Had they chosen to fight the way it is choreographed, the Battle of Thermopylae would have lasted a single day and [[TheBadGuyWins guess who would have won]].

* All the Spartan helmets sported plumes in real lifes, not only Leonidas's. This was another deliberate stylistic choice done by Miller in the graphic novel, as he wanted them to be easily distinguishable from each other (which is also why he had them [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic losing their helmets]] very often).

* Greeks actually had a kind of double-headed battle axe, the ''labrys'', as it is shown at the Battle of Marathon in the second film. However, it seems that its usage was mostly ceremonial and was limited to the Minoan territory; it had no place in the tight formation warfare used by Greek hoplites.

* The Athenians running into Marathon in a Celtic-style open-field charge is just as jarring as the Spartans dueling freely in the Thermopylae. In real life, they did charge in a sort of previously unseen move in order for their slow-moving phalanx to not be picked apart by Persian archers, but it was a tight, controlled march in formation and not a wild individual race. As a result, the heavy phalanx-based Atehian hoplites overpowered the light Persian infantry and provided no room for the Persian cavalry to maneuver on the crowded beach. Had the actual battle been fought like the one in the movie, the Athenian forces would have likely been swarmed and obliterated by the defenders. (It's somewhat justified by the narration saying that Themistocles has the Greeks charge while the Persians are still unloading their troops, leaving them without their horses and without a lot of their troops being able to get off.)
* The only forces depicted for Greece at Thermopylae are the 300 Spartan hoplites and an Arcadian skirmisher contingent that contributes for a small part of the battle, but the historical battle featured over 4000 troops on the Greek side (according to Herodotus, which is a lower estimate), and they included Spartans, Mycenaeans, Corinthians, Thespians and people from around Thermopylae.

* The film shows the Greek fleet destroyed in Artemisia's bombing tactics, and they only avoid a Persian victory because Artemisia's own fleet is affected too by the attack. It is underlined by this way that both Leonidas and Themistocles fail at containing the Persian invasions in their respective terrains. In real life, although suffering hard losses as mentioned above, the Greeks actually held at the straits of Artemisium while Leonidas failed at the Hot Gates; they only retreated when the Thermopylae pass was taken and thus defending the nearby sea became irrelevant. The Greek fleet actually sailed to Athens and helped to evacuate it.

* There were actually two Spartan survivors of the 300: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristodemus_of_Sparta Aristodemus]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantites Pantites]]. The former had an eye infection and was sent home along with another soldier suffering the same illness, Eurytus, while the latter was on an embassy to Thessaly and did not return in time for battle. Both were disgraced upon their return to Sparta, Aristodemus because Eurytus decided to return and fight despite his own blindness (he went to battle guided by a Helot) and Pantites because he didn't hurry up enough. Aristodermus regained some degree of honor by dying in the Battle of Plataea in a berserk charge, while Pantites preferred to hang himself. Nothing of this happenes in the film, where the only survivor is Dilios; he could be considered a CompositeCharacter of Aristodemus and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pausanias_(general) Pausanias]], Leonidas's nephew and leader of the Greek forces in Plataea.
* Surprisingly to some, there was actually a Spartan soldier that had the now famous "then we will fight in the shade" line, though he was named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dienekes Dienekes]] instead of Stelios. Also, he wasn't talking to a Persian emissary, but a friendly explorer from Trachis. All according to Herodotus, at least; according to Plutarch, it was Leonidas himself who said the line.
* Darius didn't invade Athens because he was "annoyed by Greek freedom"; he did it because Athens and Eretria had encouraged a revolution (the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionian_Revolt Ionian Revolt]]) in territories of his empire that were formerly Greek colonies, like Aeolis, Cyprus and Caria. Similarly, he wasn't present at the Battle of Marathon and certainly was not killed by Themistocles. He died well after it and in different circumstances, so Xerxes didn't invade Greece by the desire to avenge his father.

* Leonidas's LastStand happened historically, but under different circumstances. He didn't sacrifice himself to inspire the rest of Greek states to mobilize to war like in the film, as they were already fighting along with him. Instead, when Leonidas realized the Persians would flank them thanks to Ephialtes, he ordered the other city-states' armies to retreat while his own forces and a Thespian contingent led by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demophilus_of_Thespiae Demophilus]] remained behind to give them more time to escape. The trope played there, thus, wasn't a ThanatosGambit, but a YouShallNotPass. Interestingly enough, though, it's recorded in sources that the Oracle of Delphi told the Spartans their king's death would be necessary to win the war, so it's possible that Leonidas decided to offer his life at least partially out of religious fervor.
* The film version of Xerxes burns Athens to the ground after his victory at Thermopylae, which is in historical sources, but modern historians greatly theorize that it might have been Greek propaganda, as Xerxes had no reason to destroy a city of significant strategic value ([[LampshadeHanging which is noted by Artemisia herself in the film]]). On the other hand, Herodotus himself claimed that burning the city was the entire objective of the campaign, a punitive action over Athenian mercenaries interfering in a Persian rebellion, which is why Xerxes withdrew with most of his forces shortly afterwards.

* Neither adultery nor pederasty were immoral in Sparta. The fact that a Spartan used "boy lover" as an insult against an Athenian (like in the first film) or vice versa (like in the second) would be ironic at least, as both cities were heavily into the Greek concept of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pederasty_in_ancient_Greece boy love]]. While Spartans were opposed to the concept of [[StudentAndMasterTeam "erastes" and "eromenos"]], they still allowed for young male lovers, and it is believed to have been actually the first city to formalize it.

* Neither adultery nor pederasty were immoral in Sparta. The fact that a Spartan used "boy lover" as an insult against an Athenian (like in the first film) or vice versa (like in the second) would be ironic at least, as both cities were heavily into the Greek concept of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pederasty_in_ancient_Greece boy love]]. While Spartans were opposed to the Athenian concept of [[StudentAndMasterTeam "erastes" and "eromenos"]], they allowed for young male lovers, and it is believed to have been actually the first city to formalize it.

* The film's treatment of Greek military tactics is inconsistent at the best and fantastic most of the time. The portrayed Spartans occasionally do execute their historical [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx phalanx formation]], most notably at the first moments of the battle, when pushing the Persians off the cliff or when extracting an enraged Artemis from the battlefield. However, barring these instances, they usually break formation completely and engage their opponents in stylized individual duels with yards of space between each other. In real life, phalangic teamwork was not only the Greek's main strength (aside from Thermopylae's natural terrain), but also one of the lead factors of their victory at the Greco-Persian wars. Had they chosen to fight the way it is choreographed, the Battle of Thermopylae would have lasted a single day and [[TheBadGuyWins guess who would have won]].

* The Spartans are shown fighting with a bizarre cutlass-like sword that might have been meant to be a historical Greek [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makhaira makhaira]], although with a design that takes visibly a bit from the South East Iberian [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcata falcata]] for RuleOfCool reasons. In real life, the Greeks used a small, straight sword called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiphos xiphos]], which was more useful behind a shield wall, and Spartans were notable for using xiphos smaller than other Greeks for increased practicality.

* Athenian shields are portrayed as very plain wooden pieces in contrast to the more metallic-looking, lambda-decorated Spartan ones. In real life, Athenians were way more artistic in their shield decorations than Spartans: they often painted Athena's little owl or Medusa's head on them in order to symbolize their city and scare enemies away.

* The Immortals weren't disfigured masked men who dressed in black fought with dual sabers. According to historians, they were just better armored versions of the regular infantry, that is, dudes wielding wicker shields and spears (among other many weapons) and clad in the Persian empire's clear colors. Sources don't mention any mask, although they might have worn a Persian tiara that covered their faces.
* The Athenians running into Marathon in a Celtic-style open-field charge is just as jarring as the Spartans dueling freely in the Thermopylae. In real life, they did charge in a sort of previously unseen move in order for their slow-moving phalanx to not be picked apart by Persian archers, but it was a tight, controlled march in formation and not a wild individual race. As a result, the heavy phalanx-based Atehian hoplites overpowered the light Persian infantry and provided no room for the Persian cavalry to maneuver on the crowded beach. Had the actual battle been fought like the one in the movie, the Athenian forces would have likely been swarmed and obliterated. (It's somewhat justified by the narration saying that Themistocles has the Greeks charge while the Persians are still unloading their troops, leaving them without their horses and without a lot of their troops being able to get off.)

* In the film version of the Battle of Artemisium, the Athenian fleet executes an interesting-looking wheel formation to cut with their agile prows any frontal enemy advance. Considering that Greeks ships were actually the least experienced and maneuverable ones in the battle, this tactic would have probably been suicidally complex for them to attempt in real life and would have only got them tangled and turned into easy targets for the expert Persian navy. Herodotus describes the Greek formation as resembling a side-to-side crescent, not a wheel, and they apparently broke it quickly in order to charge. At the end of the day, the allied defense was not so successful, and they technically got the shorter end of the stick because the losses were happening in even numbers despite the vastly different sizes of their armies (the Persian navy was so numerically superior that it could afford much more losses than the small Greek fleet).

* Scyllias is also a real character, and his swimming feat apparently happened as well, but his character and circumstances were a bit different. He wasn't an Athenian lieutenant in an undercover mission as portrayed in the film, but a Greek mercenary from Scione who deserted from the Persian army and brought information about their fleet to the Greek camp. Sources did say he was a renowned diver who swam underwater all the way from a Persian ship in Aphetae to the coast of Artemisium, which amount to ten miles, nothing less (although Herodotus believed he actually came on a stolen boat).

The ''300'' movies are obviously not meant to reflect true history. In fact, historical records of the event are already believed to be rather sensationalized and greatly embellished. Creator/ZackSnyder and Creator/FrankMiller also drew inspiration from ancient artwork, which, much like Hollywood, glamorizes battles of the past. Audiences have loved muscle-bound, half-naked supermen kicking the snot out of each other for [[OlderThanTheyThink a while]], after all. The embellishment is heavily implied as part of the Greek propaganda even during the film. On the other hand, Snyder did state rather audaciously that the history presented in the film is [[DanBrowned 90% "accurate, although the visuals are pretty crazy"]]. However, none of these explain a few details listed there.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/300_sword_jump_2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[CallThatAFormation Phalanx? What phalanx?]]]]
The movies are obviously not meant to reflect true history. In fact, historical records of the event are already believed to be rather sensationalized and greatly embellished. Creator/ZackSnyder and Creator/FrankMiller also drew inspiration from ancient artwork, which, much like Hollywood, glamorizes battles of the past. Audiences have loved muscle-bound, half-naked supermen kicking the snot out of each other for [[OlderThanTheyThink a while]]. The embellishment is heavily implied as part of the Greek propaganda even during the film. On the other hand, Zack Snyder did state rather audaciously that the history presented in the film is [[DanBrowned 90% "accurate, although the visuals are pretty crazy"]]. However, none of these explain a few details listed there.

!!Culture

* Actual slavery was much less common in Achaemenid Persia than in "freedom loving" Greece. However, all Persian subjects were formally called "slaves" of the king (''bandaka'') and ''[[ValuesDissonance that]]'' [[PoorCommunicationKills played a role]] in fueling Greek resistance to Persia.

!!Military

* Gerard Butler, Sullivan Stapleton and company fight in their underwear, while the historical Greeks didn't step on the battlefield without several kilograms of iron body armor. This is actually AdaptationalModesty from the comic, where the Spartans fight completely naked except for their shield, cape and helmet. Miller took this from Greco-Roman art, where gods and heroes are often depicted as nude for symbolic reasons.

!!Characters

!!Events

* The first film ends with the impression that the Battle of Plataea will be a CurbStompBattle for the Greeks, but the reality was almost the opposite: the Greek side screwed it big time and only won because the Persians screwed it even more. To explain, Pausanias and his army had started forming a defensive line on the field, but some skirmishes convinced them to retreat to higher terrains. However, their retreat maneuver was so awkward that their army broke down in several uncoordinated masses, which from away looked like they were disbanding. Believing the Greeks were running away, Mardonius charged carelessly with all his forces in an attempt to finish them, a decision that naturally became a MassOhCrap when they discovered the Greeks were simply repositioning and not forfeiting the battle. With the Persians having placed themselves in an inferior position, Pausanias and company hacked the way through them, and when Mardonius himself was killed by a Spartan slinger, the battle was over.

* The Spartans are shown fighting with a bizarre cutlass-like sword that might have been meant to be a historical Greek [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makhaira makhaira]], although with a design that takes visibly a bit from the South East Iberian [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcata falcata]] for RuleOfCool reasons. In real life, the Greeks used a small, straight sword called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiphos xiphos]], which was more useful behind a shield wall. In fact, Spartans were actually notable for using xiphos ''smaller'' than other Greeks for increased practicality.
* The ''dory'' spear, the primary weapon of Greek hoplites, was NOT thrown. Despite Leonidas and his men shown throwing theirs with ease, these spears were too heavy and too long to be thrown. They did use regular javelins, but those were shorter and lighter.

* The Spartans were far from a rural, freedom-loving society they are portrayed as, and they definitely weren't against "mysticism and tyranny". In reality, they were a deeply religious, militaristic, desigual society where a minority lived by continually and ruthlessly repressing the majority of the population. The latter, called helots, were essentially slaves [[note]] There were distinct differences from slavery in other places, such as 1800s America, but the concept is close enough. [[/note]] who worked the land to produce the food so that the former could spend all their time fighting wars and oppressing them (during some periods, a Spartan had the right to murder helots with impunity). At the end of the day, the Spartans fought the Persian empire not out of any altruistic or progressive political goal, but basically because they were in Xerxes's path just like the rest of the Greek states. Creator/FrankMiller himself acknowledged he omitted the nastiest aspects of Sparta in order to make easier for the reader to root for them.

* Neither adultery nor pederasty were immoral in Sparta. The fact that a Spartan used "boy lover" as an insult against an Athenian (like in the first film) or vice versa (like in the second) would be ironic at least, as both cities were heavily into the Greek concept of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pederasty_in_ancient_Greece "erastes" and "eromenos"]]. While Sparta was somewhat more austere in its treatment of pederasty, it is believed to have been actually the first city to formalize it.

* The ''dory'' spear, the primary weapon of Greek hoplites, was NOT thrown. Despite Leonidas and his men shown throwing theirs with ease, these spears were too heavy and too long to be thrown. They did use regular javelins, but these were shorter and lighter.

* The Persian army shows sub-Saharan African tribes and what seem to be Chinese grenadiers, but none of these regions was a part of the Achaemenid Empire. Conversely, they did have war elephants (though not war rhinos), but these were never deployed at Thermopylae, among other things because the narrow terrains would have screwed them the exact way it is shown in ''300'' shortly after their arrival. On the other hand, they used cavalry, which is absent from the portrayal.

* The Athenians running into Marathon in a Celtic-style open-field charge is just as jarring as the Spartans dueling freely in the Thermopylae. In real life, they did charge in a sort of previously unseen move in order for their slow-moving phalanx to not be picked apart by Persian archers, but it was a tight, controlled march in formation and not a wild individual race; as a result, the heavy phalanx-based Atehian hoplites overpowered the light Persian infantry and provided no room for the Persian cavalry to maneuver on the crowded beach. Had the actual battle been fought like the one in the movie, the Athenian forces would have likely been swarmed and obliterated. (It's somewhat justified by the narration saying that Themistocles has the Greeks charge while the Persians are still unloading their troops, leaving them without their horses and without a lot of their troops being able to get off.)

* In the film version of the Battle of Artemisium, the Athenian fleet executes an interesting-looking wheel formation to cut with their agile prows any frontal enemy advance. Considering that Greeks ships were actually the least experienced and maneuverable ones in the battle, this tactic would have probable been suicidally complex for them to attempt in real life and would have only got them tangled and turned into easy targets for the expert Persian navy. Herodotus describes the Greek formation as resembling a side-to-side crescent, not a wheel, and they apparently broke it quickly in order to charge. At the end of the day, the allied defense was not so successful, and they technically got the shorter end of the stick because the losses were happening in even numbers despite the vastly different sizes of their armies (the Persian navy was so numerically superior that it could afford much more losses than the small Greek fleet).

* The Spartans are shown fighting with a bizarre cutlass-like sword that might have meant to be a historical Greek [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makhaira makhaira]], although with a design that takes visibly a bit from the South East Iberian [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcata falcata]] for RuleOfCool reasons. In real life, the Greeks used a small, straight sword called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiphos xiphos]], which was more useful behind a shield wall. In fact, Spartans were actually notable for using xiphos ''smaller'' than other Greeks.

* The real Xerxes was a Zoroastrian, meaning that he would have considered the idea of declaring himself god-king blasphemy. This was actually born of a misunderstanding of the process of [[KneelBeforeZod proskynesis]], which the Greeks viewed as only being acceptable for a god. In other words, the Persians didn't treat their ruler as a god- but the Greeks ''thought'' they did. Similarly, his court of magi and priests being ordered to "turn him into a god" would have been even more shocked, if not downright offended at the request.
* The historical Xerxes is depicted in ancient artwork as having a long beard and hair and wearing elaborate royal robes, as Zoroastrian tradition demanded. Making public appearances while shaven, nearly naked and wearing body piercings would have been incredibly offensive.

* Leonidas's LastStand happened historically, but under different circumstances. He didn't sacrifice himself to inspire the rest of Greek states to mobilize to war like in the film, as they were already fighting along with him; instead, when Leonidas realized the Persians would flank them thanks to Ephialtes, he ordered the other city-states' armies to retreat while his own forces and a Thespian contingent led by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demophilus_of_Thespiae Demophilus]] remained behind to give them more time to escape. The trope played there, thus, wasn't a ThanatosGambit, but a YouShallNotPass. Interestingly enough, though, it's recorded in sources that the Oracle of Delphi told the Spartans their king's death would be necessary to win the war, so it's possible that Leonidas decided to offer his life at least partially out of religious fervor.

* Gerard Butler, Sullivan Stapleton and company fight in their underwear, while the historical Greeks didn't step on the battlefield without several kilograms of iron body armor. This is actually AdaptationalModesty from the comic, where the Spartans fight completely naked except for their shield, cape and helmet. Miller took this from Greco-Roman art, where gods and heroes are often depicted as nude.

* Greeks actually had a kind of double-headed battle axe, the ''labrys'', as it is shown at the Battle of Marathon in the second film. However, it seems that its usage was mostly ceremonial and was limited to the Minoan terrotiroy; it had no place in the tight formation warfare used by Greek hoplites.
* The films portray the Greek ships as smaller and more maneuverable than their Persian equivalents, which in reality was exactly the opposite: the Greeks ships were big, cumbersome and manned by unexperienced sailors, so they trusted more in their ship-borne hoplite marines to board and capture the enemy ships.

* The Immortals weren't disfigured masked men who dressed in black fought with dual swords. According to historians, they were just better armored versions of the regular infantry, that is, dudes wielding wicker shields and spears (among other many weapons) and clad in the Persian empire's clear colors. Sources don't mention any mask, but they might have worn a Persian tiara that covered their faces.
* The Athenians running into Marathon in a Celtic-style open-field charge is just as jarring as the Spartan dueling freely in the Thermopylae. In real life, they did charge in a sort of previously unseen move in order for their slow-moving phalanx to not be picked apart by Persian archers, but it was a tight, controlled march in formation and not a wild individual race; as a result, the heavy phalanx-based Atehian hoplites overpowered the light Persian infantry and provided no room for the Persian cavalry to maneuver on the crowded beach. Had the actual battle been fought like the one in the movie, the Athenian forces would have likely been swarmed and obliterated. (It's somewhat justified by the narration saying that Themistocles has the Greeks charge while the Persians are still unloading their troops, leaving them without their horses and without a lot of their troops being able to get off.)

* In the film version of the Battle of Artemisium, the Athenian fleet executes an interesting-looking wheel formation to cut with their agile prows any frontal enemy advance. Considering that Greeks ships were actually the least experienced and maneuverable in the battle, this tactic would have probable been suicidally complex for them to attempt in real life and would have only got them tangled and turned into easy targets for the expert Persian navy. Herodotus describes the Greek formation as resembling a side-to-side crescent, not a wheel, and they apparently broke it quickly in order to charge. At the end of the day, the allied defense was not so successful, and they technically got the shorter end of the stick because the losses were happening in even numbers despite the vastly different sizes of their armies (the Persian navy was so numerically superior that it could afford much more losses than the small Greek fleet).

* The Spartans are shown fighting with a bizarre cutlass-like sword. In real life, the Greeks used a small, straight sword called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiphos Xiphos]], which was more useful behind a shield wall. Spartans were actually notable for using xiphos smaller than other Greeks.

* Similarly, although the legendary tragedian [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeschylus Aeschylus]] did serve under Themistocles, he wasn't his second-in-command or anything more than a mere soldier. Him saving Themistocles's life in Artemisium is funny too, as Artemisium was the only major battle of the conflict Aeschylus didn't fight in (he was present in Marathon, Salamis and even Plataea, but not Artemisium, or at least he never mentioned it among his battle exploits).
* Scyllias is also a real character, and his swimming feat apparently happened as well, but his character and circumstances were a bit different. He wasn't an Athenian lieutenant in an undercover mission as portrayed in the film, but a Greek mercenary from Scione who deserted from the Persian army and brought information about their fleet to the Greek camp. Sources did say he was a renowned diver who swam underwater all the way from a Persian ship in Aphetae to the coast of Artemisium, which amount to ten miles, nothing less (although Herodotus believed he actually came on a boat).
* The real Xerxes was a Zoroastrian, meaning that he would have considered the idea of declaring himself god-king blasphemy. This was actually born of a misunderstanding of the process of [[KneelBeforeZod proskynesis]], which the Greeks viewed as only being acceptable for a god. In other words, the Persians didn't treat their ruler as a god- but the Greeks ''thought'' they did. Similarly, his court of magi and priests being ordered to "turn him into a god" would have been even more shocked, if not downright confused at the request.

* Most of Xerxes's court was AdaptedOut, including his field general [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardonius Mardonius]], his adviser and future murderer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artabanus_of_Persia Artabanus]], the Immortal commander [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydarnes Hydarnes]], the vengeful exiled Spartan king [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demaratus Demaratus]], and Xerxes's other brothers Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, who fell at Thermopylae. Their roles in ''300'' were all [[CompositeCharacter given]] to either Artemisia or Ephialtes. Still, those omissions are odd considering that the 1964 film in which Frank Miller based ''300'', ''Film/The300Spartans'', did feature Mardonius, Hydarnes and Demaratus in rather important roles.

* Leonidas's LastStand happened historically, but under different circumstances. He didn't sacrifice himself to inspire the rest of Greek states to mobilize to war like in the film, as they were already fighting along with him; instead, when Leonidas realized the Persians would flank them thanks to Ephialtes, he ordered the other city-states' armies to retreat while his own forces and a Thespian contingent led by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demophilus_of_Thespiae Demophilus]] remained behind to give them more time to escape. The trope played there, thus, wasn't a ThanatosGambit, but a YouShallNotPass. Interestingly enough, though, it's recorded in sources that the Oracle of Delphi told the Spartans their king's death would be necessary to win the war, so it's possible that Leonidas offered his own life at least partially out of religious fervor.

* In real life, Sparta didn't save the day in a huge BigDamnHeroes moment at Salamis. Not only they had been a part of the allied fleet from the beginning, they had almost no navy at the time and their contribution to the Greek fleet had been less than 5% of the forces present according to Herodotus (ironically, Sparta wouldn't have a proper fleet until the Persian themselves gave them one in order to fight the Athenians during the Peloponnesian wars). The victory at Salamis was a team effort, and it was accomplished by capitalizing on the Persian AttackAttackAttack approach to lure their ships into the straits. Xerxes's admirals believed they were cornering the Greeks by blocking the straits's exits, but they were really getting into a trap where they were pinned and destroyed.
* The first film ends with the impression that the Battle of Plataea will be a CurbStompBattle for the Greeks, but the reality was almost the opposite: the Greek side screwed it big time and only won because the Persians screwed it even more. To explain, Pausanias and his army had started forming a defensive line on the field, but some skirmishes convinced them to retreat to higher terrains. However, their retreat maneuver was so awkward that their army broke down in several uncoordinated masses, which from away looked like they were disbanding their forces. Believing the Greeks were running away, Mardonius charged carelessly with all his forces in an attempt to finish them, a decision that naturally became a MassOhCrap when they discovered the Greeks were simply repositioning and not forfeiting the battle. With the Persians having placed themselves in an inferior position, Pausanias and company hacked the way through them, and when Mardonius himself was killed by a Spartan slinger, the battle was over.

The movies are obviously not meant to reflect true history. In fact, historical records of the event are already believed to be rather sensationalized and greatly embellished. Creator/ZackSnyder and Creator/FrankMiller also drew inspiration from ancient artwork, which, much like Hollywood, glamorize battles of the past. Audiences have loved muscle-bound, half-naked supermen kicking the snot out of each other for [[OlderThanTheyThink a while]]. The embellishment is heavily implied as part of the Greek propaganda even during the film. On the other hand, Zack Snyder did state rather audaciously that the history presented in the film is [[DanBrowned 90% "accurate, although the visuals are pretty crazy"]]. However, none of these explain a few details listed there.

* The film's treatment of Greek military tactics is inconsistent at the best and fantastic most of the time. The portrayed Spartans occasionally do execute their historical [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx phalanx formation]], most notably at the first moments of the battle, when pushing the Persians off the cliff or when extracting an enraged Artemis from the battlefield. However, barring these instances, they usually break formation completely and engage their opponents in stylized individual duels with yards of space between each other. In real life, phalangic teamwork was not only the Greek's main strength (aside from Thermopylae's natural terrain), but also one of the lead factors of their victory at the Greco-Persian wars. Had they chosen to fight the way it is choreographed, the Battle of Thermopylae would have lasted a single day and guess who would have won.
* Gerard Butler, Sullivan Stapleton and company fight in their underwear, while the historical Greeks didn't step on the battlefield without several kilograms of iron body armor. This is actually AdaptationalModesty from the comic, where the Spartans fight completely naked except for their shield, cape and helmet. Miller took this from Greco-Roman art, where gods and heroes are often depicted nude.

* Greeks actually had a kind of double-headed battle axe, the ''labrys'', as it is shown at the Battle of Marathon in the second film. However, it seems its usage was mostly ceremonial and was limited to the Minoan terrotiroy; it had no place in the tight formation warfare used by Greek hoplites.

* The Spartan soldiers from show an utter disdain for the Ephors and the supernatural in general. However, by ancient Greek standards, Spartans were exceptionally religious; they obeyed Carnea to a fault and would have never dared to mock priests or festivals.

* The Spartans are shown fighting with a bizarre falchion-scimitar hybrid sword, but even less practical looking. In real life, the Greeks used a small, straight sword called [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiphos Xiphos]], which was more useful behind a shield wall. Spartans were actually notable for using a xiphos smaller than others.

* Similarly, all the Spartan helmets sported plumes in real lifes, not only Leonidas's. This was another deliberate stylistic choice done by Miller in the graphic novel, as he wanted them to be easily distinguishable from each other (which is also why he had them [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic losing their helmets]] very often).

* Gerard Butler, Sullivan Stapleton and company fight in their underwear, while the historical Greeks didn't step on the battlefield without several kilograms of iron body armor. Similarly, all the Spartan helmets sported plumes in real lifes, not only Leonidas's. These were deliberate stylistic choices done by Miller in the graphic novel, as he wanted them to look as heroic and manly as possible and easily distinguishable from each other (which is also why he had them losing their helmets very often).

* The Spartans were far from a rural, freedom-loving society they are portrayed as, and they definitely weren't against "mysticism and tyranny". In reality, they were a deeply religious, militaristic, desigual society where a minority lived by continually and ruthlessly repressing the majority of the population. The latter, calle helots, were essentially slaves [[note]] There were distinct differences from slavery in other places, such as 1800s America, but the concept is close enough. [[/note]] who worked the land to produce the food so that the former could spend all their time fighting wars and oppressing them (during some periods, a Spartan had the right to murder helots with impunity). At the end of the day, the Spartans fought the Persian empire not out of any altruistic or progressive political goal, but basically because they were in Xerxes's path just like the rest of the Greek states. Creator/FrankMiller himself acknowledged he omitted the nastiest aspects of Sparta in order to make easier for the reader to root for them.

!!Greek culture
* The Spartan soldiers from the film show an utter disdain for the Ephors and the supernatural in general. However, by ancient Greek standards, Spartans were exceptionally religious; they obeyed Carnea to a fault and would have never dared to mock priests or festivals.

* Gorgo's role is amped up in both films, particularly in the second, where she leads personally the Spartan fleet. Actually, Greeks didn't like females getting involved with warfare; they even offered a prize of 10,000 drachmas for Artemisia's capture only because she was a woman general.

* There were actually two Spartan survivors of the 300: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristodemus_of_Sparta Aristodemus]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantites Pantites]]. The former had an eye infection and was sent home along with another soldier suffering the same illness, Eurytus, while the latter was on an embassy to Thessaly and did not return in time for battle. Both were disgraced upon their return to Sparta, Aristodemus because Eurytus decided to return and fight despite his own blindness (he went to battle guided by a Helot) and Pantites because he didn't hurry up enough. Aristodermus regained some degree of honor by dying in the Battle of Plataea in a berserk charge, while Pantites preferred to hang himself. Nothing of this happenes in the film, where the only survivor is Dilios; he could be considered a CompositeCharacter of Aristodemus and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pausanias_(general) Pausanias]], Leonidas's nephew and leader of the Greek forces in Plataea.
* Surprisingly to some, there was actually a Spartan soldier that had the now famous "then we will fight in the shade" line, though he was named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dienekes Dienekes]] instead of Stelios. Also, he wasn't talking to a Persian emissary, but a friendly explorer from Trachis. All according to Herodotus, at least; according to Plutarch, it was Leonidas himself who said the line.
* While Themistocles was really the mastermind of the war effort against Xerxes as portrayed in the second film, he was not in charge of the Greek allied fleet. The commander in charge was actually a Spartan representative, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurybiades Eurybiades]], who was an infamous ObstructiveBureaucrat and only followed Themistocles's orders kicking and screaming.
* Themistocles wasn't single as he says to Artemisia in the films; by the time of those events, he was already married and had ''ten'' children. She, also, was a widow and had at least a son.
* Similarly, although the legendary tragedian [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeschylus Aeschylus]] did serve under Themistocles, he wasn't his second-in-command or anything more than a mere soldier. Him saving Themistocles's life in Artemisium is funny too, as Artemisium was the only major battle of the conflict Aeschylus didn't fight in (he was present in Marathon, Salamis and even Plataea, but not Artemisium, or at least he never mentioned it among his battle exploits).
* Scyllias is also a real character, and his swimming feat apparently happened as well, but his character and circumstances were a bit different. He wasn't an Athenian lieutenant in an undercover mission as portrayed in the film, but a Greek mercenary from Scione who deserted from the Persian army and brought information about their fleet to the Greek camp. Sources did say he was a renowned diver who swam underwater all the way from a Persian ship in Aphetae to the coast of Artemisium, which amount to ten miles, nothing less (although Herodotus believed he actually came on a boat).

!!Persian culture
* The real Xerxes was a Zoroasterian, meaning that he would have considered the idea of declaring himself god-king blasphemy. This was actually born of a misunderstanding of the process of [[KneelBeforeZod proskynesis]], which the Greeks viewed as only being acceptable for a god. In other words, the Persians didn't treat their ruler as a god- but the Greeks ''thought'' they did. Similarly, his court of magi and priests being ordered to "turn him into a god" would have been even more shocked, if not downright confused at the request.
* The historical Xerxes is depicted in ancient artwork as having a long beard and hair and wearing elaborate royal robes, as Zoroastrian tradition demanded. Making public appearances while shaven, nearly naked and wearing body piercings would have been incredibly offensive.
* The real [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephialtes_of_Trachis Ephialtes]] was neither a Spartan nor deformed, but just a greedy Malian who sold out the Greeks out of opportunism. He wasn't even a warrior, but a shepherd or a farm worker (this point is not clear).
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_I_of_Caria Artemisia]] wasn't a warrior brought up from slavery, but the queen of the Persian colony of Caria. Also, while she really served at Artemisium and Salamis and was in charge of a relatively huge part of the Persian fleet (the forces of Cos, Nysiros, Calyndos and her own personal ships), she was not the fleet's supreme commander: she shared command with Xerxes's younger brothers, Achaemenes and Ariabignes.
* Most of Xerxes's court was AdaptedOut, including his field general [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardonius Mardonius]], his adviser and future murderer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artabanus_of_Persia Artabanus]], the Immortal commander [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydarnes Hydarnes]], the vengeful exiled Spartan king [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demaratus Demaratus]], and Xerxes's other brothers Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, who fell at Thermopylae. Their roles in ''300'' were all [[CompositeCharacter given]] to either Artemisia or Ephialtes. Still, those omissions are odd considering that the 1964 film in which Frank Miller based ''300'', ''Film/The300Spartans'', did feature Mardonius, Hydarnes and Demaratus in rather important roles.

!!Historical events
* Darius didn't invade Athens because he was "annoyed by Greek freedom"; he did it because Athens and Eretria had encouraged a revolution (the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionian_Revolt Ionian Revolt]]) in territories of his empire that were formerly Greek colonies, like Aeolis, Cyprus and Caria. Similarly, he wasn't present at the Battle of Marathon and certainly was not killed by Themistocles. He died well after it and in different circumstances, so Xerxes didn't invade Greece by the desire to avenge his father.

* The incident in which the Spartans threw their Persian emissaries to a well did happen, at least according to Herodotus, but not during Xerxes's reign. It happened during his father Darius's, and its outcome was hardly limited to Sparta: Athenians did the same, although they were characteristically delicate enough to judge the messengers before tossing them to the pit. As Xerxes knew these events, he omitted Athens and Sparta when he sent messengers to the Greek cities.

* The battle happened during the Carnea just as represented in the film, but the Ephors weren't secretly working for Xerxes and had the right priorities, so they allowed Leonidas to send a full-fledged military expedition. That said, they ''did'' forbid him once to do so due to the Carnea, although it happened during the Battle of Marathon, not Thermopylae.
* For what we know, Xerxes and Leonidas never had a face-to-face talk; most of Xerxes's lines from said scenes are recorded by Herodotus as coming from a simple Persian messenger. Similarly, Themistocles and Artemisia never met each other on the battlefield, although they ''could'' have possibly met in Artaxerxes I's court after Themistocles and his family were exiled from Greece.
* Leonidas's LastStand happened historically, but under different circumstances. He didn't sacrifice himself to inspire the rest of Greek states to mobilize to war like in the film, as they were already fighting along with him; instead, when Leonidas realized the Persians would flank them thanks to Ephialtes, he ordered the other city-states' armies to retreat while his own forces and a Thespian contingent led by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demophilus_of_Thespiae Demophilus]] remained behind to give them more time to escape. The trope played there, thus, wasn't a ThanatosGambit, but a YouShallNotPass. Interestingly enough, though, it's recorded in sources that the Oracle of Delphi told the Spartans their king's death would be necessary to win the war, so it's possible that Leonidas offered his own life at least partially out of religious fervor.

* The film version of Xerxes burns Athens to the ground after his victory at Thermopylae, which is in historical sources, but modern historians greatly theorize that it might have been Greek propaganda, as Xerxes had no reason to destroy a city of significant strategic value ([[LampshadeHanging which is noted by Artemisia herself in the film]]). On the other hand, Herodotus himself claimed that burning the city was the entire objective of the campaign, a punitive action over Athenian mercenaries interfering in a Persian rebellion, which is why Xerxes withdrew with most of his forces shortly afterwards.
* The scene with Artemisia insisting that she be allowed to pursue the Greeks to Salamis, with Xerxes trying to dissuade her and noting that it's tactical suicide, portrays both characters exactly backwards from how it was recorded in history. It was Xerxes and his general Mardonius who wanted the big push to crush the Greeks, as they had been deceived by a Greek emissary named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicinnus Sicinnus]] (actually a spy working for Themistocles) into believing the allied fleet was imminently breaking up. The wary Artemisia proposed to wait for such breakup to happen in order to be sure, but she was ignored, and the result was history.
* In real life, Sparta didn't save the day in a huge BigDamnHeroes moment at Salamis. Not only they had been a part of the allied fleet from the beginning, they had almost no navy at the time and their contribution to the Greek fleet had been less than 5% of the forces present according to Herodotus (ironically, Sparta wouldn't have a proper fleet until the Persian themselves gave them one in order to fight the Athenians during the Peloponnesian wars). The victory at Salamis was a team effort, and it was accomplished by capitalizing on the Persian AttackAttackAttack approach to lure their ships into the straits. Xerxes's admirals believed they were cornering the Greeks by blocking the straits's exits, but they were really getting into a trap where they were pinned and destroyed.

* The Spartans were far from a rural, freedom-loving society they are portrayed as, and they definitely weren't against "mysticism and tyranny". In reality, they were a deeply religious, militaristic, desigual society where a minority lived by continually and ruthlessly repressing the majority of the population. The latter, calle helots, were essentially slaves [[note]] There were distinct differences from slavery in other places, such as 1800s America, but the concept is close enough. [[/note]] who worked the land to produce the food so that the former could spend all their time fighting wars and oppressing them (during some periods, a Spartan had the right to murder helots with impunity). At the end of the day, the Spartans fought the Persian empire not out of any altruistic or progressive political goal, but basically because they were in Xerxes's path just like the rest of the Greek states. Creator/FrankMiller himself acknowledged he omitted the nastiest aspects of Sparta in order to make easie for the reader to root for them.

* Surprisingly to some, the famous "then we will fight in the shade" exchange did happened, although the Spartan soldier who said it was named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dienekes Dienekes]] instead of Stelios, and it wasn't directed to a Persian emissary, but to a friendly explorer from Trachis. All according to Herodotus, at least; Plutarch actually has Leonidas himself saying the line.

* In real life, Sparta didn't save the day in a huge BigDamnHeroes at Salamis. Not only they had been a part of the allied fleet from the beginning, they had almost no navy at the time and their contribution to the Greek fleet had been less than 5% of the forces present according to Herodotus (ironically, Sparta wouldn't have a proper fleet until the Persian themselves gave them one in order to fight the Athenians during the Peloponnesian wars). The victory at Salamis was a team effort, and it was accomplished by capitalizing on the Persian AttackAttackAttack approach to lure their ships into the straits. Xerxes's admirals believed they were cornering the Greeks by blocking the straits's exits, but they were really getting into a trap where they were pinned and destroyed.

* The first film ends with the impression that the Battle of Plataea would be a CurbStompBattle for the Greeks, but the reality was almost the opposite: the Greek side screwed it big time and only won because the Persians screwed iten even more. Pausanias and his army had started forming a defensive line, but some skirmishes convinced them to retreat in order to avoid committing a tactical mistake, and the move was so badly executed that their entire army disrupted and became several uncoordinated masses. However, upon seeing this, Persian general Mardonio believed the Greeks were forfeiting the battle, so he attacked carelessly with all his forces and conducted his army to the higher terrains the Greeks were trying to move across. Naturally, as Greeks weren't really fleeing away, this decision meant the Persians essentially trapped themselves in unfavourable terrain. When Mardonius himself was killed by a Spartan slinger during the subsequent carnage, the invasion was pretty much over.

* The dory spear, the primary weapon of Greek hoplites, was NOT thrown. Despite Leonidas and his men shown throwing theirs with ease, the dory spears were too heavy and too long to be thrown. They did use regular javelins, but these were shorter and lighter.

* The Athenians running into Marathon in a Celtic-style open-field charge with battle axes is jarring because Athens won the battle by doing exactly the opposite. Very much like the Spartans at the Hot Gates, the heavy phalanx-based Atehian hoplites overpowered the light Persian infantry and provided no room for the Persian cavalry to maneuver on the crowded beach (though they did break formation and charge in order for their slow-moving phalanx to not be picked apart by Persian archers). Had the actual battle been fought like the one in the movie, the Athenian forces would have likely been swarmed and obliterated. It's somewhat justified by the narration saying that Themistocles has the Greeks charge while the Persians are still unloading their troops, leaving them without their horses and without a lot of their troops being able to get off.

* In the film version of the Battle of Artemisium, the Athenian fleet executes an interesting-looking wheel formation to cut with their agile prows any frontal enemy advance. Considering that Greeks ships were actually the least experienced and maneuverable of the battle, this tactic would have probable been suicidally complex for them to attempt in real life and would have only got them tangled and turned into easy targets for the expert Persian navy. Herodotus describes the Greek formation as resembling a side-to-side crescent, not a wheel, and they apparently broke it quickly in order to charge. At the end of the day, the allied defense was not so successful, and they pretty much got the shorter end of the stick because the losses were happening in even numbers (the Persian navy was so numerically superior that it could afford much more losses than the small Greek fleet).

* Artemisia of Caria didn't die during the Battle of Salamis. In fact, she escaped from the battle by attacking the ship of a Persian king under her command who was a personal enemy to her, which tricked the Greeks into letting her sail away in the belief she was deserting from Xerxes's army (fortunately for Artemisia, the ally ship sunk and its entire crew drowned, leaving no one behind to tell Xerxes). Ironically, this would have been perfectly in-character for her portrayal in the film.

* Surprisingly to some, the famous "then we will fight in the shade" exchange did happened, although the Spartan soldier saying it was named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dienekes Dienekes]] instead of Stelios, and it wasn't directed to a Persian emissary, but to a friendly explorer from Trachis. All according to Herodotus, at least; Plutarch actually has Leonidas himself saying the line.
* While Themistocles was really the mastermind of the war effort against Xerxes as portrayed in the second film, he was not in charge of the Greek allied fleet. The commander in charge was actually a Spartan representative, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurybiades Eurybiades]], who was a famous DeterminedDefeatist and only followed Themistocles's orders kicking and screaming.

* Scyllias did exist, and his swimming feat apparently happened as well, but his character and circumstances were a bit different. He wasn't an Athenian lieutenant in an undercover mission as portrayed in the film, but a Greek mercenary from Scione who deserted from the Persian army and brought information about their fleet to the Greek camp. Sources said he was a renowned diver who swam underwater all the way from a Persian ship in Aphetae to the coast of Artemisium (around ten miles!), although Herodotus believed he actually came on a boat.

* The real [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephialtes_of_Trachis Ephialtes]] was neither a Spartan nor deformed, but just a greedy Malian who sold out the Greeks out of opportunism. He wasn't even a warrior, but a shepherd.

* Most of Xerxes's court was AdaptedOut both in the graphic novel and the films. This includes his field general [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardonius Mardonius]], his adviser and future murderer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artabanus_of_Persia Artabanus]], the Immortal commander [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydarnes Hydarnes]], the vengeful exiled Spartan king [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demaratus Demaratus]], and Xerxes's other brothers Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, who fell at Thermopylae. Their roles in ''300'' were all [[CompositeCharacter given]] to either Artemisia or Ephialtes.

* For what we know, Xerxes and Leonidas never had a face-to-face talk; most of Xerxes's lines from said scenes are recorded by Herodotus as coming from a simple Persian messenger. Similarly, Themistocles and Artemisia never met each other on the battlefield, although they ''could'' have possibly met in Artaxerxes I's court after Themistocles and his family were exiled from Greece.

* The battle happened during the Carnea just as represented in the film, but the Ephors weren't secretly working for Xerxes and had the right priorities, so they allowed Leonidas to send a full-fledged military expedition. That said, they ''did'' forbid him to do so due to the Carnea at least once, although it happened during the Battle of Marathon, not Thermopylae.
* Leonidas's LastStand happened historically, but under different circumstances. He didn't sacrifice himself to inspire the rest of Greek states to mobilize to war like in the film, as they were already fighting along with him; instead, when Leonidas realized the Persians would flank them thanks to Ephialtes, he ordered the other city-states' armies to retreat while his own forces and a Thespian contingent remained behind to give them more time to escape. The trope played there, thus, wasn't a ThanatosGambit, but a YouShallNotPass. Interestingly enough, though, it's recorded in sources that the Oracle of Delphi told the Spartans their king's death would be necessary to win the war, so it's possible that Leonidas offered his own life at least partially out of religious fervor.

* There were actually two Spartan survivors of the 300: Aristodemus, (upon who Dilios was partially based) and Pantites. The former had an eye infection, while the latter was on an embassy to Thessaly and did not return in time for battle. Both were disgraced upon their return to Sparta (Aristodemus because a fellow Spartan had actually been sent back with him for the same reason but had insisted on being lead into battle by a Helot anyways). Pantites hanged himself, and Aristodemus was 'redeemed' at Plataea, where he died in battle.

* Similarly, although the legendary tragedian Aeschylus did serve under Themistocles, he wasn't his second-in-command or anything more than a mere soldier. The fact that his film version saves Themistocles's life in Artemisium is funny too, as Artemisium was the only major battle of the conflict Aeschylus didn't fight in (he was present in Marathon, Salamis and even Platea, but not Artemisium, or at least he never mentioned it).

* The real Ephialtes was neither a Spartan nor deformed, but just a greedy Malian who sold out the Greeks out of opportunism. He wasn't even a warrior, but a shepherd.

* The incident in which the Spartans threw their Persian emissaries to a well did happen, at least according to Herodotus, but not under Xerxes's reign. It happened under his father Darius's, and its outcome was hardly limited to Sparta: Athenians did the same, although they were delicate enough to judge the messengers before tossing them to the pit. As Xerxes knew these events, he omitted Athens and Sparta when he sent messengers to the Greek cities.
* For what we know, Xerxes and Leonidas never had a face-to-face talk. Most of Xerxes's lines from said scenes are recorded by Herodotus as coming from a simple Persian messenger.

* Leonidas's LastStand happened historically, but under different circumstances. He didn't sacrifice himself to inspire the rest of Greek states to mobilize to war like in the film, as they were already fighting along with him; instead, when Leonidas realized the Persians would flank them thanks to Ephialtes, he ordered the other city-states' armies to retreat while his own forces and a Thespian contingent remained behind to give them more time to escape. The trope played there, thus, wasn't a ThanatosGambit, but a YouShallNotPass. Interestingly, though, it's recorded in sources that the Oracle of Delphi told the Spartans their king's death would be necessary to win the war, so it's entirely possible that Leonidas offered his own life at least partially out of religious fervor.
* In the film version of the Battle of Artemisium, the Athenian fleet executes an interesting-looking wheel formation to cut with their agile prows any frontal enemy advance. Considering that Greeks ships were actually the least experienced and maneuverable of the battle, this tactic would have probable been suicidally complex for them to attempt in real life and would have only got them tangled and turned into easy targets for the expert Persian navy. Herodotus describes the Greek formation as resembling a back-to-back crescent, not a wheel, and they apparently broke it quickly in order to charge. At the end of the day, the allied defense was not so successful, and they were considered to be getting the shorter end of the stick because the Persian navy was so numerically superior that it could absorb losses forever, something the small Greek fleet couldn't.
* The film shows the Greek fleet destroyed in Artemisia's suicide bombing, and they only avoid a Persian victory because Artemisia's own fleet is affected too by the attack. It is underlined by this way that both Leonidas and Themistocles fail at containing the Persian invasions in their respective terrains. In real life, while suffering hard losses, the Greeks actually held at the straits of Artemisium while Leonidas failed at the Hot Gates; they only retreated when the Thermopylae pass was taken and thus defending the nearby sea became irrelevant. The Greek fleet simply sailed to Athens and helped to evacuate it.
* The film version of Xerxes burns Athens to the ground after his victory at Thermopylae, which is in historical sources, but modern historians greatly theorize that it might have been Greek propaganda, as Xerxes had no reason to destroy a city of significant strategic value ([[LampshadeHanging something noted by Artemisia herself in the film]]). On the other hand, Herodotus himself claimed that burning the city was the entire objective of the campaign, a punitive action over Athenian mercenaries interfering in a Persian rebellion, which is why Xerxes withdrew with most of his forces shortly afterwards.
* The scene with Artemisia insisting that she be allowed to pursue the Greeks to Salamis, with Xerxes trying to dissuade her and noticing that it's tactical suicide, portrays both characters exactly backwards from how it was recorded in history. It was Xerxes and his general Mardonius who wanted the big push to crush the Greeks, as they had been deceived by a Greek emissary named Sicinnus (actually a spy working for Themistocles) into believing the allied fleet was imminently breaking up. The wary Artemisia proposed to wait for such breakup to happen in order to be sure, but she was ignored, and the result was history.
* In real life, Sparta didn't save the day in a huge BigDamnHeroes at Salamis. Not only they had been a part of the allied fleet from the beginning, they had almost no navy at the time and their contribution to the Greek fleet was less than 5% of the forces present according to Herodotus (ironically, Sparta wouldn't have a proper fleet until the Persian themselves gave them one in order to fight the Athenians during the Peloponnesian wars). The victory at Salamis was a team effort, and it was accomplished by capitalizing on the Persian AttackAttackAttack approach to lure their ships into the straits. Xerxes's commanders believed they were cornering the Greeks by blocking the straits's exits, but they were really getting into a trap where they were pinned and destroyed.

* Artemisia of Caria didn't die during the Battle of Salamis. In fact, she escaped from the battle by attacking the ship of a Persian king under her command who was a personal enemy to her, which tricked the Greeks into letting her sail away in the belief she was deserting from Xerxes's army. Ironically, this would have been perfectly in-character for her portrayal in the film.

* Neither adultery nor pederasty were immoral in Sparta. The fact that a Spartan used "boy lover" as an insult against an Athenian (like in the first film) or vice versa (like in the second) would be ironic at least, as both cities were heavy in the Greek concept of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pederasty_in_ancient_Greece "erastes" and "eromenos"]]. While Sparta was somewhat more austere in this aspect, it is believed to have been actually the first city to formalize it.
* The film's treatment of Spartan military tactics is inconsistent at the best and fantastic most of the time. The portrayed Spartans occasionally do execute their historical [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx phalanx formation]], most notably at the first moments of the battle, when pushing the Persians off the cliff or when extracting an enraged Artemis from the battlefield. However, barring these instances, they usually break formation completely and engage their opponents in stylized individual duels with yards of space between each other. In real life, phalangic teamwork was not only the Greek's main strength (aside from Thermopylae's natural terrain), but also one of the lead factors of their victory at the Greco-Persian wars. Had they chosen to fight the way it is choreographed, the Battle of Thermopylae would have lasted a single day and guess who would have won.
* Gerard Butler and company fight in their underwear, while the historical Spartans didn't step on the battlefield without several kilograms of iron body and limb armor. Similarly, all the Spartan helmets sported plumes in real lifes, not only Leonidas's. These were deliberate stylistic choices done by Miller in the graphic novel, as he wanted them to look as heroic and manly as possible and easily distinguishable from each other (which is also why he had thm losing their helmets very often).

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_I_of_Caria Artemisia]] wasn't a warrior brought up from slavery, but the queen of the Persian colony of Caria. Also, while she really served at Artemisium and Salamis and was in charge of a relatively huge part of the Persian fleet (the forces of Cos, Nysiros, Calyndos and her own personal ships), she was not the fleet's supreme commander.
* Most of Xerxes's court was AdaptedOut both in the graphic novel and the films. This includes his field general [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardonius Mardonius]], his adviser and future murderer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artabanus_of_Persia Artabanus]], the Immortal commander [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydarnes Hydarnes]], the vengeful exiled Spartan king [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demaratus Demaratus]], and Xerxes's own brothers Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, who fell at Thermopylae. Their roles in ''300'' were all [[CompositeCharacter given]] to either Artemisia or Ephialtes.

* The Athenians running into Marathon in a Celtic-style open-field charge with battle axes is notable because Athens won the battle by doing exactly the opposite. Very much like the Spartans at the Hot Gates, the heavy phalanx-based Atehian hoplites overpowered the light Persian infantry and provided no room for the Persian cavalry to maneuver on the crowded beach (though they did break formation and charge in order for their slow-moving phalanx to not be picked apart by Persian archers). Had the actual battle been fought like the one in the movie, the Athenian forces would have likely been swarmed and obliterated. It's somewhat justified by the narration saying that Themistocles has the Greeks charge while the Persians are still unloading their troops, leaving them without their horses and without a lot of their troops being able to get off.

* The battle happened during the Carnea just as represented in the film, but the Ephors weren't secretly working for Xerxes and had the right priorities, so they allowed Leonidas to send a full-fledged military expedition. However, they did forbid him once to do so due to the Carnea, although it happened during the Battle of Marathon, not Thermopylae.

* In the second film's version of the Battle of Artemisium, the Athenian fleet deployed is destroyed in Artemisia's suicide bombing, and they only avoid a Persian victory because Artemisia's own fleet is affected too by the attack. It is underlined by this way that both Leonidas and Themistocles failed at containing the Persian invasions in their respective terrains. However, the real Artemisium was a rather boring stalemate, Themistocles actually held at the straits of Artemisium where Leonidas failed; he only retreated when the Thermopylae pass was taken and thus defending the nearby sea had became irrelevant.
* The film version of Xerxes burns Athens to the ground after his victory at Thermopylae, which is in historical sources, but modern historians greatly theorize that it might have been Greek propaganda, as Xerxes had no reason to destroy a city of significant strategic value. ([[LampshadeHanging Something noted by Artemisia]].) On the other hand, Herodotus himself claimed that burning the city was the entire objective of the campaign, a punitive action over Athenian mercenaries interfering in a Persian rebellion, which is why Xerxes withdrew with most of his forces shortly afterwards.
* The scene with Artemisia insisting that she be allowed to pursue the Greeks to Salamis, with Xerxes trying to dissuade her and noticing that it's tactical suicide, portrays both characters exactly backwards from how it was recorded in history, where it was Xerxes who wanted the big push to crush the Greeks.
* In real life, it wasn't Sparta which saved the day with their fleet at Salamis. At the time, Sparta had almost no navy and their contribution to the Greek fleet was less than 5% of the forces present according to Herodotus (ironically, Sparta wouldn't have a proper fleet until the Persian themselves gave them one in order to fight the Athenians during the Peloponnesian wars). Instead, the Greek fleet simply capitalized on the Persian ships's cumbersome navigation and ignorance of the straits's maritime conditions to pin them down and destroy them.
* Artemisia of Caria didn't die during the Battle of Salamis. In fact, she escaped from the battle by attacking the ship of a Persian king under her command who was a personal enemy to her, which tricked the Greeks into believing she was deserting of the Persian army. Ironically, this would have been perfectly in-character for her portrayal in the film.

* The Spartans were far from a rural, freedom-loving society they are portrayed as, and they definitely weren't against "mysticism and tyranny". In reality, they were a deeply religious, militaristic, desigual society where a minority lived by continually and ruthlessly repressing the majority of the population. The latter, calle helots, were essentially slaves [[note]] There were distinct differences from slavery in other places, such as 1800s America, but the concept is close enough. [[/note]] who worked the land to produce the food so that the former could spend all their time fighting wars and oppressing them (during some periods, a Spartan had the right to murder helots with impunity). At the end of the day, the Spartans fought the Persian empire not out of any altruistic or progressive political goal, but basically because they were in Xerxes's path just like the rest of the Greek states.
* The film shows Leonidas hunting alone in the mountains as a young boy as a coming-of-age ritual. This has a real basis, but in real life, young Spartans weren't sent alone, but in small groups. They were expected to care for each other and learn how to function as an organized team just like they would do on the battlefield.

* The film's treatment of Spartan military tactics is inconsistent at the best and unrealistic most of the time. The portrayed Spartans occasionally execute their historical [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx phalanx formation]], most notably at the first moments of the battle or when extracting an enraged Artemis from the battlefield, but they usually break formation completely and engage their opponents in stylized individual duels. In real life, phalangic teamwork was not only the Greek's main strength (aside from Thermopylae's natural terrain), but also one of the lead factors of their victory at the Greco-Persian wars.
* Gerard Butler and company fight in their underwear, while the historical Spartans didn't step on the battlefield without several kilograms of iron body and limb armor. Similarly, all the Spartan helmets sported plumes in real lifes, not only Leonidas's. These were deliberate stylistic choices done by Creator/FrankMiller in the original comic book, as he wanted them to look as heroic and manly as possible and easily distinguishable from each other (which is also why he had thm losing their helmets very often).

* The Persian army show what seem to be Chinese grenadiers and sub-Saharan African tribes, but none of these regions was a part of the Achaemenid Empire. Conversely, they did have war elephants (though not war rhinos), but these were never deployed at Thermopylae, among other things because the narrow terrains would have screwed them the exact way it is portrayed in the film.
* The Immortals weren't disfigured masked men who dressed in black fought with dual swords. According to historians, they were basically armored versions of the regular infantry, that is, dudes wielding shields and spears (among other many weapons) and clad in the Persian empire's clear colors. Sources don't mention any mask, but they might have worn a Persian tiara that covered their faces.

* Leonidas's LastStand happened historically, but under different circumstances. He didn't sacrifice himself to inspire the rest of Greek states to mobilize to war like in the film, as they were already fighting along with him; instead, when Leonidas realized the Persians would flank them thanks to Ephialtes, he ordered the other city-states' armies to retreat while his own forces and a Thespian contingent remained behind to give them more time to escape. The trope played there, thus, wasn't a ThanatosGambit, but a YouShallNotPass.

* The incident in which the Spartans threw their Persian emissaries to a well did happen, at least according to Herodotus, but not under Xerxes's reign. It happened under his father Darius I's, and its outcome was hardly limited to Sparta: Athenians did the same, although they were delicate enough to judge the messengers before tossing them to the pit. As Xerxes knew this, he omitted Athens and Sparta when he sent messengers to the Greek cities.

* The battle happened during the Carnea just as represented in the film, but the Ephors weren't secretly working for Xerxes, so they allowed Leonidas to send a full-fledged military expedition. Notably, they once forbade him to do so due to the Carnea, but it happened during the Battle of Marathon, not Thermopylae.

* In the second film's version of the Battle of Artemisium, the Athenian fleet deployed is destroyed in Artemisia's suicide bombing, and they only avoid a Persian victory because Artemisia's own fleet is affected too by the attack. It is underlined by this way that both Leonidas and Themistocles failed at containing the Persian invasions in their respective terrains. However, the real Artemisium was a rather boring stalemate: Themistocles actually held at the straits of Artemisium where Leonidas failed, and only retreated once the Thermopylae pass had been taken and defending the nearby sea had became logically irrelevant.

* In real life, it wasn't Sparta which saved the day with their fleet at Salamis. At the time, Sparta had almost no navy and their contribution to the Greek fleet was less than 5% of the forces present according to Herodotus (ironically, Sparta wouldn't have a proper fleet until [[{{Irony}} the Persian themselves]] gave them one in order to fight the Athenians during the Peloponnesian wars). Instead, the Greek fleet simply capitalized on the Persian ships's cumbersome navigation and ignorance of the straits's maritime conditions to pin them down and destroy them.

!!''300''
The movie is obviously not meant to reflect true history. In fact, historical records of the event are already believed to be rather sensationalized and greatly embellished. Creator/ZackSnyder and Creator/FrankMiller also drew inspiration from ancient artwork, which, much like Hollywood, glamorize battles of the past. Audiences have loved muscle-bound, half-naked supermen kicking the snot out of each other for [[OlderThanTheyThink a while]]. The embellishment is heavily implied as part of the Greek propaganda even during the film. On the other hand, Zack Snyder did state rather audaciously that the history presented in the film is [[DanBrowned 90% "accurate, although the visuals are pretty crazy"]]. However, none of these explain a few details:

* Conversely, the real Ephors weren't priests or any kind of oracular staff as portrayed in the film, but a council of five secular Senators who ran the Spartan government. They were also citizens elected by popular assembly, not an endogamic caste as Dilios labels them as.

* The Spartans were far from a rural, freedom-loving society they portrayed as. In reality, they were a minority who lived by continually and ruthlessly repressing the majority of the population, the helots. The latter were essentially slaves [[note]] There were distinct differences from slavery in other places, such as 1800s America, but the concept is close enough. [[/note]] who worked the land to produce the food so that the former could spend all their time fighting wars and oppressing them. During some periods, a Spartan had the right to murder helots with impunity.
* Neither adultery nor pederasty were immoral in Sparta. The fact that a Spartan used "child lover" as an insult against an Athenian (like in the first film) or vice versa (like in the second) would be ironic at least, as both cities were heavy in the Greek concept of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pederasty_in_ancient_Greece "erastes" and "eromenos"]]. While Sparta was somewhat more austere in this aspect, it is elieved to have been actually the first city to formalize it.

* The real Xerxes was a Zoroastrian and never proclaimed himself a god. This was actually born of a misunderstanding of the process of [[KneelBeforeZod proskynesis]], which the Greeks viewed as only being acceptable for a god. In other words, the Persians didn't treat their ruler as a god- but the Greeks ''thought'' they did.
* The historical Xerxes is depicted in ancient artwork as having a long beard and hair, wearing elaborate royal robes. If he had a lot of body piercings and made public appearances while nearly-naked (which would have been incredibly offensive by Zoroastrian standards) he apparently did not allow anyone to do any sculptures of it.
* The real Ephialtes was neither a Spartan nor deformed, but just a greedy Malian shepherd who sold out his country out of opportunism.
* The only forces depicted for Greece are the 300 Spartan hoplites and an Arcadian skirmisher contingent that contributes for a small part of the battle. The real battle featured over 4000 (according to Herodotus, which is a lower estimate) troops on the Greek side. Even after Leonidas realized the Persians would flank them and ordered the other city-states' forces to retreat, 700 Thespians remained with the Spartan forces during their LastStand to give the other forces more time.
* There were actually two Spartan survivors of the 300: Aristodemus, (upon who Dilios was partially based) and Pantites. The former had an eye infection, while the latter was on an embassy to Thessaly and did not return in time for battle. Both were disgraced upon their return to Sparta, (Aristodemus because a fellow Spartan had actually been sent back with him for the same reason but had insisted on being lead into battle by a Helot anyways) Pantites hanged himself, and Aristodemus was 'redeemed' at Plataea, where he died in battle.

!!''300: Rise of an Empire''
Like the original comic and film, it's loosely based on true events as reported by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus.

* Darius didn't invade Athens because he was "annoyed by Greek freedom"; he did it because he was rightly fed up of having to deal with Greek-backed revolts in his territories. Similarly, he wasn't present at the Battle of Marathon and certainly was not killed by Themistocles. He died well after it and in different circumstances, so Xerxes didn't invade Greece by the desire to avenge his father.
* The Athenians running into Marathon in a Celtic style open field charge with double-headed battle axes is notable because Athens won the Battle of Marathon by doing exactly the opposite. Very much like the Spartans at the Hot Gates, the heavy phalanx-based Atehian hoplites overpowered the light Persian infantry and provided no room for the Persian cavalry to maneuver on the crowded beach (though they did break formation and charge in order for their slow-moving phalanxes to not be picked apart by Persian archers). Had the actual battle been fought like the one in the movie, the Athenian forces would have likely been swarmed and obliterated. It's somewhat justified by the narration saying that Themistocles has the Greeks charge while the Persians are still unloading their troops, leaving them without their horses and without a lot of their troops being able to get off.
* Like in the previous film, the real Xerxes was a Zoroasterian, meaning that he would have considered the idea of declaring himself god-king blasphemy. His court of magi and priests being ordered to "turn him into a god" would have been even more shocked, if not downright confused at the request.
* The real Artemisia wasn't a warrior brought up from slavery, but the queen of Halicarnassus. Also, while she really served at Artemisium and Salamis, and was in fact in charge of a relatively huge part of the Persian fleet (the forces of Cos, Nysiros, Calyndos and her own five personal ships), she was not the fleet's supreme commander. Her role is apparently [[CompositeCharacter conflated]] there with Persian general Mardonius.
* The film version of Xerxes burns Athens to the ground, which is in historical sources, but modern historians greatly theorize that it might have been Greek propaganda, as Xerxes had no reason to destroy a city of significant strategic value. ([[LampshadeHanging Something noted by Artemisia]].) On the other hand, Herodotus himself claimed that burning the city was the entire objective of the campaign, a punitive action over Athenian mercenaries interfering in a Persian rebellion, which is why Xerxes withdrew with most of his forces shortly afterwards.
* This movie restores Themistocles's instrumental contribution to the Battle of Thermopylae after the first film completely left him out. In real life, the Athenian navy under his command managed to prevent the Persians from simply sailing past the Spartan army and outflanking them. On the other hand, the real Themistocles actually held at the straits of Artemisium where Leonidas failed, only retreating once the pass had been taken and defending the nearby sea became irrelevant; in the film, the Athenian fleet is destroyed in Artemisia's suicide bombing, and they only avoid a Persian victory because Artemisia's own fleet is affected too by the attack.
* The scene with Artemisia insisting that she be allowed to pursue the Greeks to Salamis, with Xerxes trying to dissuade her and noticing that it's tactical suicide, portrays both characters exactly backwards from how it was recorded in the histories, where it was Xerxes who wanted the big push to crush the Greeks. Ironically, given their characterizations in the film, the historical version would have been more in-character.

** Actually, if one discounts the Athenian ships, almost half the force at Salamis belonged to the Peloponnesian League, which means the Spartans could have led them to battle... with the Corinthians as the de-facto commanders.
* Artemisia [[spoiler:didn't die]] during the Battle of Salamis. In fact, she escaped from the battle by attacking the ship of a Persian king under her command to trick the Greeks, something that would even be perfectly in-character for her portrayal in the film.

** The Spartan soldiers' disdain for the Ephors and the supernatural in general. By ancient Greek standards, Spartans were exceptionally religious.
** The Spartan Ephors are transformed from the equivalent of five Senators who run Spartan government into deformed molester priests who betray their people.
** Sparta was run by two hereditary kings who held equal power and were in turn judged by the ephors. There were two royal families descended by the twin brothers Evrysthenes and Proklis, who were the leaders of the Dorians, a Greek tribe, who had invaded Sparta some 600 years before the Persian wars. Going to just one of them is pointless, and even if he did accede, he'd probably be branded a traitor and thrown out of the city immediately.
** Adultery was not shameful in Sparta.
** Xerxes never proclaimed himself a god (And neither did the other Persian Kings- this was actually born of a misunderstanding of the process of [[KneelBeforeZod proskynesis]], which the Greeks viewed as only being acceptable for a god. In other words, the Persians didn't treat their ruler as a god- but the Greeks ''thought'' they did.
** The Spartans were far from a rural, freedom-loving society they portrayed as. In reality, they were a minority who lived by continually and ruthlessly repressing the majority of the population, the helots. The latter were essentially slaves [[note]] There were distinct differences from slavery in other places, such as 1800s America, but the concept is close enough. [[/note]] who worked the land to produce the food so that the former could spend all their time fighting wars and oppressing them. During some periods, a Spartan had the right to murder helots with impunity.
** The historical Xerxes is depicted in ancient artwork as having a long beard and hair, wearing elaborate royal robes. If he had a lot of body piercings and made public appearances while nearly-naked he apparently did not allow anyone to do any sculptures of it.
** The dory spear, the primary weapon of Greek hoplites, was NOT thrown. Despite Leonidas and his men shown throwing theirs with ease, the dory spears were too heavy and too long to be thrown. Javelins would have been used instead for throwing, which were shorter and lighter.
** The only forces depicted for Greece are the 300 Spartan hoplites and an Arcadian skirmisher contingent that contributes for a small part of the battle. The real battle featured over 4000 (according to Herodotus, which is a lower estimate) troops on the Greek side. Even after Leonidas realized the Persians would flank them and ordered the other city-states' forces to retreat, 700 Thespians remained with the Spartan forces during their LastStand to give the other forces more time.
** The real Ephialtes was neither a Spartan nor deformed, or anything more than a greedy opportunist who sold out his country.
** There were actually two Spartan survivors of the 300: Aristodemus, (upon who Dilios was partially based) and Pantites. The former had an eye infection, while the latter was on an embassy to Thessaly and did not return in time for battle. Both were disgraced upon their return to Sparta, (Aristodemus because a fellow Spartan had actually been sent back with him for the same reason but had insisted on being lead into battle by a Helot anyways) Pantites hanged himself, and Aristodemus was 'redeemed' at Plataea, where he died in battle.

** Darius didn't invade Athens because he was "annoyed by Greek freedom"; he did it because he was rightly fed up of having to deal with Greek-backed revolts in his territories. Similarly, he wasn't present at the Battle of Marathon and certainly was not killed by Themistocles. He died well after it and in different circumstances, so Xerxes didn't invade Greece by the desire to avenge his father.
** The Athenians running into Marathon in a Celtic style open field charge with double-headed battle axes is notable because Athens won the Battle of Marathon by doing exactly the opposite. Very much like the Spartans at the Hot Gates, the heavy phalanx-based Atehian hoplites overpowered the light Persian infantry and provided no room for the Persian cavalry to maneuver on the crowded beach (though they did break formation and charge in order for their slow-moving phalanxes to not be picked apart by Persian archers). Had the actual battle been fought like the one in the movie, the Athenian forces would have likely been swarmed and obliterated. It's somewhat justified by the narration saying that Themistocles has the Greeks charge while the Persians are still unloading their troops, leaving them without their horses and without a lot of their troops being able to get off.
** Like in the previous film, the real Xerxes was a Zoroasterian, meaning that he would have considered the idea of declaring himself god-king blasphemy. His court of magi and priests being ordered to "turn him into a god" would have been even more shocked, if not downright confused at the request.
** The real Artemisia wasn't a warrior brought up from slavery, but the queen of Halicarnassus. Also, while she really served at Artemisium and Salamis, and was in fact in charge of a relatively huge part of the Persian fleet (the forces of Cos, Nysiros, Calyndos and her own five personal ships), she was not the fleet's supreme commander. Her role is apparently [[CompositeCharacter conflated]] there with Persian general Mardonius.
** The film version of Xerxes burns Athens to the ground, which is in historical sources, but modern historians greatly theorize that it might have been Greek propaganda, as Xerxes had no reason to destroy a city of significant strategic value. ([[LampshadeHanging Something noted by Artemisia]].) On the other hand, Herodotus himself claimed that burning the city was the entire objective of the campaign, a punitive action over Athenian mercenaries interfering in a Persian rebellion, which is why Xerxes withdrew with most of his forces shortly afterwards.
** This movie restores Themistocles's instrumental contribution to the Battle of Thermopylae after the first film completely left him out. In real life, the Athenian navy under his command managed to prevent the Persians from simply sailing past the Spartan army and outflanking them. On the other hand, the real Themistocles actually held at the straits of Artemisium where Leonidas failed, only retreating once the pass had been taken and defending the nearby sea became irrelevant; in the film, the Athenian fleet is destroyed in Artemisia's suicide bombing, and they only avoid a Persian victory because Artemisia's own fleet is affected too by the attack.
** The scene with Artemisia insisting that she be allowed to pursue the Greeks to Salamis, with Xerxes trying to dissuade her and noticing that it's tactical suicide, portrays both characters exactly backwards from how it was recorded in the histories, where it was Xerxes who wanted the big push to crush the Greeks. Ironically, given their characterizations in the film, the historical version would have been more in-character.
** In real life, it wasn't Sparta which saved the day with their fleet at Salamis. At the time, Sparta had almost no navy and their contribution to the Greek fleet was less than 5% of the forces present according to Herodotus (ironically, Sparta wouldn't have a proper fleet until [[{{Irony}} the Persian themselves]] gave them one in order to fight the Athenians during the Peloponnesian wars). Instead, the Greek fleet simply capitalized on the Persian ships's cumbersome navigation and ignorance of the straits's maritime conditions to pin them down and destroy them.
*** Actually, if one discounts the Athenian ships, almost half the force at Salamis belonged to the Peloponnesian League, which means the Spartans could have led them to battle... with the Corinthians as the de-facto commanders.
** Artemisia [[spoiler:didn't die]] during the Battle of Salamis. In fact, she escaped from the battle by attacking the ship of a Persian king under her command to trick the Greeks, something that would even be perfectly in-character for her portrayal in the film.

!!''300: Rise of an empire''