Gates of Fire
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| Author | Steven Pressfield |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
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Publication date
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October 20, 1998 |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 400 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 38916930 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3566.R3944 G38 1998 |
Gates of Fire is a 1998 historical fiction novel by Steven Pressfield that recounts the Battle of Thermopylae through Xeones, a perioikoi (free but non-citizen inhabitant of Sparta) born in Astakos, and one of only three Greek survivors of the battle.
Gates of Fire is on the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Reading list. It is taught at West Point, the United States Naval Academy, and at the Marine Corps Basic School at Quantico. The novel stresses the literary themes of fate and irony as well as the military themes of honor, duty, stoicism, and esprit de corps.
At Thermopylae, the allied Greek nations deployed a small force of four thousand Greek heavy infantry against the invading Persian army of two million strong. Leading the Greeks was a small force of three hundred Spartans, chosen because they were all "sires" — men who had to have sons who could preserve their blood line, should they fall in battle.
Thermopylae was the only gateway into Greece for the Persian army, and presented the perfect choke point — a narrow pass bordered by a huge mountain wall on one side and a cliff drop-off to the sea on the other. This area decreased the Persians' advantage of having large numbers. Delaying the Persian advance here would give the Greek allies enough time to ready a larger, main force to defend against the Persians. The battle takes place simultaneously with the sea battle at Artemisium, where the Allied Greek forces hoped to protect the flank of the army at Thermopylae whilst not being cut off themselves. The Greeks were at a disadvantage at Artemisium, as at Thermopylae - the Persians outnumbered the Allies, and most of the Athenian ships were newly built and manned by inexperienced crews - and both sides suffered heavy losses in the sea battle.
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