Persian Envoy: If you value your lives over complete annihilation, listen carefully, Leonidas. Xerxes conquers and controls everything he rests his eyes upon. He leads an army so massive it shakes the ground with its march, so vast it drinks the rivers dry. All the God-King Xerxes requires is this: a simple offering of earth and water. A token of Sparta's submission to the will of Xerxes.
King Leonidas I: ... Submission... Well, that's a bit of a problem. See, rumor has it, the Athenians have already turned you down. And if those philosophers and... "boy-lovers" have found that kind of nerve...
Theron: We must be diplomatic—
Leonidas: (cutting him off) And, of course, Spartans... have their reputation to consider.
Envoy: Choose your next words carefully, Leonidas. They may be your last as king.
(Leonidas turns and ponders the offer. He observes his beloved country and his people meaningfully, to finally focus on Queen Gorgo.)
Leonidas: (internally) Earth and water...
(Having made up his mind, he draws his sword on the Persian envoy, whose back is to a large well. Artemis and his Spartan Soldiers follow suit and draw their swords on the envoy's guards, disarming and arresting them.)
Envoy: Madman... You're a madman!
Leonidas: Earth and water... You'll find plenty of both down there.
Envoy: (frantic) No man, Persian or Greek, no man threatens a messenger!
Leonidas: You bring the crowned heads of conquered kings to my city's steps! You insult my queen. You threaten my people with slavery and death! Oh, I've chosen my words carefully, Persian. Perhaps you should have done the same.
Envoy: This is blasphemy! THIS IS MADNESS!
(Leonidas lowers his sword, seemingly repentant after nearly committing this taboo. He looks back to his wife, who after a pause nods to him, giving him her blessing for what's to come.)
Leonidas: (facing the envoy) Madness? THIS! IS! SPAR-TA!!!
(Leonidas kicks the Persian messenger straight in the solar plexus, sending him flying into the near-bottomless depths of the well.)
King Leonidas I: ... Submission... Well, that's a bit of a problem. See, rumor has it, the Athenians have already turned you down. And if those philosophers and... "boy-lovers" have found that kind of nerve...
Theron: We must be diplomatic—
Leonidas: (cutting him off) And, of course, Spartans... have their reputation to consider.
Envoy: Choose your next words carefully, Leonidas. They may be your last as king.
(Leonidas turns and ponders the offer. He observes his beloved country and his people meaningfully, to finally focus on Queen Gorgo.)
Leonidas: (internally) Earth and water...
(Having made up his mind, he draws his sword on the Persian envoy, whose back is to a large well. Artemis and his Spartan Soldiers follow suit and draw their swords on the envoy's guards, disarming and arresting them.)
Envoy: Madman... You're a madman!
Leonidas: Earth and water... You'll find plenty of both down there.
Envoy: (frantic) No man, Persian or Greek, no man threatens a messenger!
Leonidas: You bring the crowned heads of conquered kings to my city's steps! You insult my queen. You threaten my people with slavery and death! Oh, I've chosen my words carefully, Persian. Perhaps you should have done the same.
Envoy: This is blasphemy! THIS IS MADNESS!
(Leonidas lowers his sword, seemingly repentant after nearly committing this taboo. He looks back to his wife, who after a pause nods to him, giving him her blessing for what's to come.)
Leonidas: (facing the envoy) Madness? THIS! IS! SPAR-TA!!!
(Leonidas kicks the Persian messenger straight in the solar plexus, sending him flying into the near-bottomless depths of the well.)
- —The iconic "This Is Sparta!" scene
Persian Slave-driver: (encountering a group of Greeks building a wall to hold off the Persians) I am the emissary to the ruler of all the world, the god of gods, king of kings, and by that authority, I demand that someone show me your commander!
(he is ignored by the Greeks)
Slave-driver: Listen. Do you think the paltry dozen you slew scare us? These hills swarm with our scouts! And do you think your pathetic wall will do anything other than fall like a heap of dry leaves in the face of...
(realises that the stone wall is partially made up of Persian corpses)
Stelios: Our ancestors built this wall, using ancient stones from the bosom of Greece herself. And with a little Spartan help, your Persian scouts provided the mortar!
Slave-driver: You will pay for your BARBARISM! (swings his whip to strike Stelios, who surges forward, leaps toward him in one bound and chops his weapon-hand off bellow the elbow, in mid-air) My arm!
Stelios: It's not yours any more. Go now, run along and tell your Xerxes that he faces free men here, not slaves. Do it quickly, before we decide to make our wall just a little bit bigger.
Slave-driver: (panting in pain and fury) No, not slaves. Your women will be slaves. Your sons, your daughters, your elders will be slaves, but not you! By noon this day, you will all be dead men! The thousand nations of the Persian Empire descend upon you! Our arrows will blot out the sun!
Stelios: (grins) Then we will fight in the shade.
(he is ignored by the Greeks)
Slave-driver: Listen. Do you think the paltry dozen you slew scare us? These hills swarm with our scouts! And do you think your pathetic wall will do anything other than fall like a heap of dry leaves in the face of...
(realises that the stone wall is partially made up of Persian corpses)
Stelios: Our ancestors built this wall, using ancient stones from the bosom of Greece herself. And with a little Spartan help, your Persian scouts provided the mortar!
Slave-driver: You will pay for your BARBARISM! (swings his whip to strike Stelios, who surges forward, leaps toward him in one bound and chops his weapon-hand off bellow the elbow, in mid-air) My arm!
Stelios: It's not yours any more. Go now, run along and tell your Xerxes that he faces free men here, not slaves. Do it quickly, before we decide to make our wall just a little bit bigger.
Slave-driver: (panting in pain and fury) No, not slaves. Your women will be slaves. Your sons, your daughters, your elders will be slaves, but not you! By noon this day, you will all be dead men! The thousand nations of the Persian Empire descend upon you! Our arrows will blot out the sun!
Stelios: (grins) Then we will fight in the shade.
—The exchange involving Stelios's famous Badass Boastnote
King Leonidas I: THIS is where we hold them! THIS is where we FIGHT! THIS IS WHERE THEY DIE!
Captain Artemis: EARN THESE SHIELDS, BOYS!
The Three Hundred: HAROO!
Leonidas: Remember this day, men. For it will be yours — for all time.
(a mounted Persian Officer rides through his ranks to address the Spartans ahead)
Officer: Spartans! Lay down your weapons!
(their response is a javelin which flies up high from the pass and nails him from a good two hundred yards away on the descent; the look of stunned surprise on his dead features after he topples from his horse is priceless)
Leonidas: PERSIANS! COME AND GET THEM!
Captain Artemis: EARN THESE SHIELDS, BOYS!
The Three Hundred: HAROO!
Leonidas: Remember this day, men. For it will be yours — for all time.
(a mounted Persian Officer rides through his ranks to address the Spartans ahead)
Officer: Spartans! Lay down your weapons!
(their response is a javelin which flies up high from the pass and nails him from a good two hundred yards away on the descent; the look of stunned surprise on his dead features after he topples from his horse is priceless)
Leonidas: PERSIANS! COME AND GET THEM!
—The dialogue just before the first wave attacks the Hot Gates
"Children, gather around... "No retreat, No Surrender." That is Spartan Law. And by Spartan Law, we will stand and fight!... And die... A new age has begun... An age of freedom! And all will know that Three Hundred Spartans, gave their last breath to defend it!
—Leonidas's Rousing Speech, prior to their final stand at the Hot Gates, after Daxos communicated the bad news to the Spartans, and having declared to retreat from the battle with the rest of his Akkadian army.
"Remember us." As simple an order as a king can give. "Remember why we died."
For he did not wish tribute nor song... No monuments, no poems of war and valor. His wish was simple: "remember us," he said to me.
That was his hope. Should any free soul come across that place, in all the countless centuries yet to be, may all our voices whisper to you from the ageless stones... "Go tell the Spartans, passer-by, that here, by Spartan law, we lie."
And so my king died... and my brothers died...
Barely a year ago... long I pondered my king's cryptic talk of victory; time has proven him wise. For from free Greek to free Greek, the word was spread that bold Leonidas and his three hundred, so far from home, laid down their lives, not just for Sparta, but for all Greece and the promise this country holds.
Now, here on this ragged patch of earth called Plataea, XERXES' HORDES FACE OBLITERATION!! (the other Greeks reply with a chorus of "HAROO!")
Just there the barbarians huddle, sheer terror gripping tight — their hearts with icy fingers, knowing full well what merciless horrors they suffered at the swords and spears of three hundred.
Yet they stare now across the plains at ten thousand Spartans commanding thirty thousand free Greeks!
(addressing the army) HAHOO! (the Greeks reply with three "HAHOO!!"s, as homage to the Three Hundred Spartans)
The enemy outnumber us a paltry three to one! Good odds for any Greek. This day we rescue a world from mysticism and tyranny, and usher in a future brighter than anything we could imagine...!
GIVE THANKS, MEN! To Leonidas, and the brave three hundred! TO VICTORY!!!
For he did not wish tribute nor song... No monuments, no poems of war and valor. His wish was simple: "remember us," he said to me.
That was his hope. Should any free soul come across that place, in all the countless centuries yet to be, may all our voices whisper to you from the ageless stones... "Go tell the Spartans, passer-by, that here, by Spartan law, we lie."
And so my king died... and my brothers died...
Barely a year ago... long I pondered my king's cryptic talk of victory; time has proven him wise. For from free Greek to free Greek, the word was spread that bold Leonidas and his three hundred, so far from home, laid down their lives, not just for Sparta, but for all Greece and the promise this country holds.
Now, here on this ragged patch of earth called Plataea, XERXES' HORDES FACE OBLITERATION!! (the other Greeks reply with a chorus of "HAROO!")
Just there the barbarians huddle, sheer terror gripping tight — their hearts with icy fingers, knowing full well what merciless horrors they suffered at the swords and spears of three hundred.
Yet they stare now across the plains at ten thousand Spartans commanding thirty thousand free Greeks!
(addressing the army) HAHOO! (the Greeks reply with three "HAHOO!!"s, as homage to the Three Hundred Spartans)
The enemy outnumber us a paltry three to one! Good odds for any Greek. This day we rescue a world from mysticism and tyranny, and usher in a future brighter than anything we could imagine...!
GIVE THANKS, MEN! To Leonidas, and the brave three hundred! TO VICTORY!!!
