Re Spartan leadership in Persian Wars
Hi!
The obvious Spartan leaders to mention are Leonidas (King) and Pausanias (Regent for Leonidas' son who was too young to lead). Leonidas led the Greek resistance at Thermopylae, fighting with a vastly outnumbered force to the end, but holding up the Persian advance into Central Greece for a few days. Leonidas and the 300 Spartans
died in this battle. Pausanias commanded a larger Greek force in the decisive land battle at Plataea in Boeotia. He was able to unite a very disparate army comprised of contingents from most of the states in the Hellenic League, and overcome Athenian opposition to his tactics to route the Persians and drive them from mainland Greece. Another Spartan commander was Eurybiades who was nominally in charge at Salamis, but as Sparta had no navy or experience in naval warfare at this time, his leadership was token, the real leader being the Athenian Themistocles.
You will need to read up on the sources about all of this in order to get reliable quotes and references, but I hope this framework will give you a lead-in. Good luck!
Magister
