They fought and held the pass until outflanked .
The Spartans under the command of Leonidas were killed by Persian forces led by Xerxes the First .
They were like "get out of here, losers" and did send the other troops home so as to organize the defense of Athens while the Spartans stretched out.
He kept the Spartan and Thespian troops to hold the pass until the other city contingents could get away to safe cities, thus stopping the Persian cavalry breaking through and riding them down.
Tirad Pass was in the Philippines in 1899 CE, over two thousand years after the Spartans had passed into history. It was known as the 'Philippines Thermopylae', which may have led to the confusion.
300 Spartan armoured warriors who were the bodyguard of King Leodidas, one of the two kings of Sparta, and about 2000 of their supporting light infantry.Most of the remainder of the delaying force at Thermopylai, of about 7000 from other Greek cities, got away safely because the Spartan force stayed back to cover their withdrawal and died selflessly to let them get away.
By blocking the pass at Thermopylae the Persians were forced into a sea battle at Artemesion nearby in order to try to outflank the pass. The Greek fleet was waiting to pounce to defeat the Persian navy in order to eliminate the threat it posed to the Greek cities. Unfortunately for the Greeks, they lost the sea battle and had to withdraw. The blocking force at Thermopylae, no longer required. withdrew back to their cities, the Spartan and Thespian contingents staying behind to cover the withdrawal and being eliminated.
The Persians won the Battle of Thermopylae, led by Xerxes I. But Greece won the war. The Battle of Thermopylae happened in ancient Greece where 700 men made their final stand against the 300,000 Persians there were 300 hundred Spartans as well as 400 Greek soldiers from other city states. It is important to note that the Persian Victory came at a very high price. The Thespian and Spartan troops that fought and sacrificed their lives at the Battle of Thermopylae successfully weakened the Persian land forces to such an extent that naval victories like Salamis were able to convince the Persians to retreat.
It is estimated that there were three-hundred Spartan Hoplites who died in the defense of the pass at Thermopylae .
He kept the Spartan and Thespian troops to hold the pass until the other city contingents could get away to safe cities, thus stopping the Persian cavalry breaking through and riding them down.
The pass at Thermopylai remains to this day.
Thermopylae was a small delaying action at the pass leading into southern Greece. The Spartan survivors were Aristodemus and Eurytus who had been ill and not at the battle. All others of the 2,400 Spartan infantry and their supporting light infantry were killed.
After defeating the doomed Spartan/Greek rear guard led by the Spartan king Leonidas at the narrow pass of Thermopylae the Persians went on to raid the Greek countryside and burned the Greek City-State of Athens . Afterwards , the Persians returned home .
300 Spartan heavy infantry and their 2,100 light infantry, plus 1,400 Thespians died at the pass at Thermopylae.
It was not a war, it was three days of holding the pass and then withdrawing.
The narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae . August or September 480 BC
No, only the Spartan and Thespian contingents which stayed behind holding the pass to let the other city contingents escape.
It was a delaying position holding the pass. When they were withdrawn, the Spartan and Thespian contingents remained behind to let the others get away. It was a noble sacrifice.
Why would the Spartans fight a Spartan army? At the pass of Thermopylae 300 Spartan heavy infantry and 2,100 Spartan light infantry were part of a Greek force of about 8,000 which fought a delaying action against a Persian army in 480 BCE.
Tirad Pass was in the Philippines in 1899 CE, over two thousand years after the Spartans had passed into history. It was known as the 'Philippines Thermopylae', which may have led to the confusion.