Stronger as One

In the movie 300(2007) by Zack Snyder who is known for action movies. Throughout the whole movie you can see how brutal and relentless the three hundred soldiers were. One common thing you notice while watching the movie is the solders’ ability to work together. Yes, they are exceptionally good individually while fighting but when they work together and stay on the same page, they are unstoppable. They are a small army, but their skills and togetherness help them take down huge armies like the Persians. The three hundred solders held their own against thousands. People work better together than they do alone and that’s one thing this movie teaches you. The Spartans knew their brothers would be next to them in battle and you can really see it in all fighting scenes.

You can really see the ruthlessness and togetherness in this group of solders.

You can see the shields are a huge part of the Spartans battle style. Every movement the Spartans make with their swords and shields are so smooth and precise. There togetherness and closeness are unreal, they all stay close and tight to each other while they fight since they are stronger as a unit. Which is smart since they don’t have a lot of Spartans, they must stay tight and together. If they were separated it would be easier for the enemies to pick them off one on one.

old vase

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This is a vase that has the Spartans fighting style during the battle of Thermopylae. Very close and ready to fight. You can also notice the art on their shields and the hats on their head. Makes me wonder if that stood for different ranking among themselves. They are also shirtless which was something you notice while learning about Spartans. That is their style, most if not all the Spartans are strong and visible muscular. The Spartans are always ready to fight and have a unique intimidating look to them, like in the movie 300(2007) when they noticed the arrows that the Persians shot at them. The Spartans were aware, and King Leonidas yelled “Tuck tail”(three hundred). Then started to laugh and refer to the Persians as cowards for firing arrows at them from a distant. The way that they all immediately dropped, and no hesitation shows how well trained they are. The Spartans are Elite soldiers “the Battle of Thermopylae would go on to serve as a reminder for what the Greeks could do when they worked together”(Jones). This battle is the definition of individually we are one raindrop, but together we are a whole ocean. People use this battle as motivation. It is not always about the size of your enemies it is all about how work you want to put in to become elite. It all starts with the training, “Spartan men learned not only how to fight but also how to trust in and work with one another, something that proved to be rather effective when fighting in the phalanx”(Jones). When raised to fight together and have each other’s back developed a strong and elite army. It is in their blood to fight together and love each other.

“If the 300 Spartans had stayed home and if Persians had won the Greco-Persian Wars, the Western concept of freedom most likely would not exist”(Basinger)

The reason the battle of Thermopylae was so important is because of the quote above this. If the three hundred Spartans never got involved there is a good chance the world would be different for us today. That is why togetherness, closeness, and bravery come to my mind while researching Spartans and watching the movie “300”. It takes a lot of bravery to take three hundred soldiers and fight the biggest army at the time. Not only just fight them but hold their own and make the Persians know were not going anywhere and we will fight till the death because that is what the Spartans were born to do.

https://www.film-rezensionen.de/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/300-Frontpage-1536×819.jpg

Citations

“The Battle.” The Battle of Thermopylae, battle-of-thermopylae.weebly.com/the-battle.html. Accessed 1 Nov. 2021.

Jones, Matthew. “The Battle of Thermopylae: 300 Spartans against the World.” History Cooperative, The History Cooperative, 12 Mar. 2019, historycooperative.org/the-battle-of-thermopylae-300-spartans-against-the-world/.

Chan, Amy. “The Significance of Thermopylae: Why We Ought to Thank the Spartans for the Constitution, Chick-Fil-a, and Capitalism.” HistoryNet, HistoryNet, Sept. 2016, http://www.historynet.com/the-significance-of-thermopylae.htm.

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Screening #1: Spartacus(1960) Stepping up to the Role

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In Spartacus(1960) directed by Stanley Kubrick was very impactful film that showed a former Slave that was sentenced to be a gladiator and fight, Spartacus wanted his freedom and swore got a group of other former slaves and started rebelling against the Romans and Crassus. Once the rebellion group got big enough to fight back Spartacus stepped to the role as there leader and as there leader other members of the rebellion trusted Spartacus to lead them in battle.

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A scene that really showed me people trusted Spartacus to lead them was before the big battle against the Roman army’s, Spartacus had his men on a hillside and it was a late night and many people were asleep. Spartacus was looking and walking through the people sleeping on the ground and the people still awake were looking back up to him and staring and you get a sense of there loyalty to Spartacus. Spartacus was a very respected man and many of the guys that battled with him looked up to him and trusted what he said They were all in this together, they would rather die than go back into slavery.

Another scene that showed loyal members of the army and people that cared about him was the fighting scene between Spartacus and Antoninus at the end of the movie when Crassus demanded they fight to the death and because Antoninus didn’t want Spartacus to be put on a cross and murdered and publicly exposed, Antoninus wanted to kill Spartacus first so his death would be quick and easy. Spartacus didn’t want that to happen so he killed Antoninus first. That goes to show that Antoninus was very loyal to Spartacus and didn’t want to see him on a cross and have to suffer to death. I know it seems like how is that loyalty? Its too men that care a lot for each other both trying to kill the other man for a good cause. That’s like your friend abt to have to suffer a horrible death and you have to watch it happen right in front of your eyes and you don’t want that for them so you put him out of his misery before. No matter how much pain it causes you.

You can really see and feel the pain because these two men are fighting over there loyalty and love for each other. All because they don’t want to see the other one crucified and have to sit through such a long and suffering death.

The famous “I’m Spartacus”

Shows how close they are together and don’t want anyone to get hurt or in trouble so they stand together as one so no one knows who Spartacus is.

No matter how many men Crassus had to bring to fight Spartacus’s men were determined to fight no matter the outcome, “they were upon the march, they came to them with their swords in their hands, and compelled them to lead them back again through Lucania, against the Romans, the very thing which Crassus was eager for”(Plutarch). Crassus wanted Spartacus gladiators to fight him because he knew he had them out numbered and while watching the movie that’s very easy to spot out. Roman army was well organized and had more soldiers. The point is that Spartacus men wanted to fight regardless the circumstances because there loyalty sided with Spartacus and they did not want to become slaves again.

A very exciting fighting scene but you notice the Romans are a lot more prepared and have more soldiers so its hard for Spartacus and the gladiators fight back for a long time because they don’t have enough men. No one gave up they fought until they couldn’t anymore. That takes a lot to do, fight and kill other men knowing you will not win because you are out powered and numbered by two army’s . The amount of fear that’s in there head as marching down the hill to fight but still having the courage to do it because of there loyalty and respect for one another is crazy to me and was the biggest thing that stood out to me.

Roger Ebert is a movie critic who wrote about this movie and one line that he said interested me as I’m writing about this topic, “The movie is about revolution, and clearly reflects the decadence of the parasitical upper classes and the superior moral fiber of the slaves. But at the end, Spartacus, like Jesus, dies on the cross”(Ebert). Shows that the slaves fought hard no matter the circumstances and the last line of that quote was Spartacus ends up dyeing on a cross like Jesus is a very powerful saying because in some ways he is like Jesus standing up for what he believes in and doing the right thing for everyone and trying to gain freedom for all the slaves only to die on a cross. Its just an amazing movie and story about loyalty and leadership even if it doesn’t turn out the way you wanted it too.

Works Cited

http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/crassus.html#229

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/spartacus-1991

http://aws.hackingchristianity.net/wp-content/files/I-am-Spartacus.jpg

http://vroma.org/vromans/bmcmanus/spartacus.html