Go tell the Spartans
Simonides
Go tell the Spartans, you who passeth by,
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.
Thermopylae was the narrow mountain pass where in 480 BC a small Greek force led by the Spartans held up the mighty Persian army. They defeated every assault and were only undone by betrayal when a traitor showed Persian forces a secret way through the mountains to come upon them from behind.
Simonides famous epigram was engraved on a stone placed on the Spartan burial mound at Thermopylae. The original stone has disappeared, and a modern replacement now lies in its place.
Main Location:
Pass of Thermopylae, Greece
The current monument to Leonidas and his Spartans; it includes a plaque with the famous poem, Go Tell the Spartans.