There is probably no better classical scholar writing for a popular audience than Paul Cartledge, who has a knack of blowing away the dust of time and revealing an ancient world of colour, often blood-red. Thermopylae - The Battle that Changed the World, has lots of gore. It was there in 480BC that Leonidas and his Spartans, a force of 298 (not 300; one was on sick leave and Aristodamus, to his shame, survived), delayed for three days the advance of Xerxes' 80,000-strong Persian army. Cartledge's contention that the Battle of Thermopylae 'changed the world' may be too provocative. Modern-day Iran's nuclear ambitions also lurk between the lines. His thesis is that

the western concept of freedom was able to grow and flourish because it was not nipped in the bud by despotism. Sure, the Persians were highly civilised. But Cartledge argues Thermopylae was 'a moral victory' of cultural significance, ignoring later and more decisive battles. British philosopher and civil servant John Stuart Mill believed that the Battle of Marathon, which took place 10 years later, was more important than even the Battle of Hastings as a turning point in western civilisation. Still, heroism must count for something.