10 Films With Glaring Historical Inaccuracies

300 gets a bad rap for its portrayal of the Battle of Thermopylae, but there are a couple of things to remember during this: firstly, it was originally based on the Frank Miller graphic novel, not the actual history; secondly, the entire film is being told by Dilios, an unreliable narrator, who no doubt takes some liberties with the numbers and facts of what went on.

The film does get some of the history correct. Persia did invade Greece under Xerxes with a massive army (around 300,000), and they were met by King Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans at Thermopylae, alongside some of their allies. Meanwhile, the rest of the Spartan army stayed behind to celebrate the Carnea, a festival during which they refused to fight.

The Spartans and their allies were only defeated after they were betrayed by Ephialtes, although Dilios added that he looked like Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notre-Dame.

300 takes some license with the facts when it comes to the battle itself, namely that the Spartans were not on their own at Thermopylae. They led a fairly sizeable coalition of Greek states, including Corinthians, Athenians, Phocians, and Thespians. Almost all of the Greek city-states had refused to bow down to Xerxes, although only the Spartans threw the messenger down a well.

The ending, showing the Spartans leading the Greek army at the Battle of Platea is similarly correct, and Dilios' real-life counterpart went on to die heroically, regaining the honour he lost by returning from Thermopylae.