300 men against a million ... fiction not history

Watched "300" on Saturday, 17th March 2007. It was a great movie and fun to watch. It was worth every penny. One of the rave review follows:

By SANDY COHEN
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — An ancient battle. A little-known director. An R rating. No major movie stars.
These are the unlikely ingredients of the weekend's top-grossing film, 300. It earned almost $71 million, making it the best March movie opening in history.

The story line was based upon a historic battle during the 4th century BC. However, there were some controversies revolving over degradation of Persian king Xerxes. In the movie, Xerxes was shown as a self-proclaimed god and a barbarian. This might not be true, but alas history is written by the winners and not the vanquished. So I would recommend that this film be claimed as a work of fiction rather than an epic war story.

To know more about the written-form of history about the spartan culture, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparta

300 is a finest example of a last stand war.

Last stand is a loose military term used to describe a body of troops holding a defensive position in the face of overwhelming odds. The defensive force usually takes very heavy casualties and on occasion is completely destroyed.

A list of last stand encounters can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_stand
I was amazed to read the history of few of such encounters. Hope you also enjoy the same.