King of Sparta. He led the Spartan force which attempted to block the Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC at Thermopylae. All perished, but he was honoured by all Greece and worshipped as a hero in Sparta. He is thought to be the subject of a warrior figure found at Sparta, of shortly after 480 BC.
Above: Plaster copy of a fragment of a marble statue (known as Leonidas). Oxford, Ashmolean Museum Cat. No. B021 © Ashmolean Museum, Cast Gallery
