leonidas · Chapter 4 of 4
Go Tell The Spartans
A stone where they fell · Obedient to orders · Fighting in the shade
It does not ask to be remembered. It asks for a message to be delivered.
The dead were buried where they fell, Herodotus records, and a couplet, later attributed to Simonides, was set over them. It says, near enough: stranger, go tell the Spartans that we lie here, obedient to their words. No glory, no grievance, no name — just a message to be carried and a statement that the orders were followed. Herodotus also collects the one-liners the Spartans reportedly produced beforehand, including the reply to a warning that Persian arrows would blot out the sun: then we shall fight in the shade. They read as polished afterwards. What was cut on the stone is duller, and much harder to argue with.
- A plain stone
- Orders followed
- A message to carry
Unlocks in-game at Mastery 4.
