I felt it was time to do something a little different and unique towards thread contributing in the
Political Ideology forum area. This is an
attempt to both speak about unique leaders throughout history, regardless of my opinion, although I will assusredly share my personal perspectives, as
well with those individual leaders accomplishments, both bad and good, both benevolent and atrocious, and historical as well as modern views on those
men and women who have changed and or altered our collective consciousnesses due to their impact upon society within their individual timeframes.
Quote from : Wikipedia : List of Political Ideologies
This is a list of political ideologies.
Many political parties base their political action and election program on an ideology.
In social studies, a political ideology is a certain ethical set of ideals, principles, doctrines, myths or symbols of a social movement, institution,
class, and or large group that explains how society should work, and offers some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order.
A political ideology largely concerns itself with how to allocate power and to what ends it should be used.
Some parties follow a certain ideology very closely, while others may take broad inspiration from a group of related ideologies without specifically
embracing any one of them.
The popularity of an ideology is in part due to the influence of moral entrepreneurs, who sometimes act in their own interests.
Political ideologies have two dimensions:
1.Goals: How society should function or be organized.
2.Methods: The most appropriate way to achieve this goal.
An ideology is a collection of ideas.
Typically, each ideology contains certain ideas on what it considers to be the best form of government (e.g. democracy, autocracy, etc.), and the best
economic system (e.g. capitalism, socialism, etc.).
Sometimes the same word is used to identify both an ideology and one of its main ideas.
For instance, "socialism" may refer to an economic system, or it may refer to an ideology which supports that economic system.
I will attempt to do this three leaders at a time, working on more ancient leaders, slightly more modern, and as well very recent to current
leaders.
The reason behind this different thread style is because I am attempting to grow as a conspiracy theorist, as well as open up the threads spectrum
towards other people sharing more of their thoughts, as I get told all the time that I put so much that few people know how and or what to add to or
include, something I loathe to hear only because I know I have left far and away many things out for other people but due to my research abilities and
ability to creatively share it tends to lend towards opposition of sharing through intimidation. In other words I share a lot and have a huge mouth.
Something that has always been said of me and I have no issue with, usually other people do, so here goes nothing.
Please keep in mind a majority of this information is my personal perspective mixed with thorough research.
While I will certainly stand my ground with facts I will as well utilize books and links I am familiar with.
And give ground only to people sharing their particular interests and or personal views.
As well as vehemently defend my views of both ancient and modern societal differences.
In other words I am kicking up my ATS membership a few notches, getting more aggressive, and challenging you.
Part 1 : Leonidas and the "Hot Gates" of Thermopylae
Leonidas is my first profile in leadership, both near and dear to my heart not only because I was told by a self-proclaimed psychic that I was this
heroic leader in a past life, but because in this life I was raised very much like this warrior through learning the Art of War since age 6, I was as
well taught many diverse leadership techniques, and sought out many throughout the lifespan I have inhabited this planetary dustball we call Earth.
Leonidas I
Quote from : Wikipedia : Leonidas I
Leonidas was a hero-king of Sparta, the 17th of the Agiad line, one of the sons of King Anaxandridas II of Sparta, who was believed in mythology to be
a descendant of Heracles, possessing much of the latter's strength and bravery.
He is notable for his leadership at the Battle of Thermopylae.
Country : Greece - Nation-State : Sparta (Pelopennese)
Birth : Unknown, theorized 540 BC
Title : King of Sparta
Religion : Polytheism (worship of more than one "God")
Government : Oligarchy
Most Notable Saying : Molon Labe (
Come and Get Them, reference to Xerxes to come take the Spartan's weapons)
Most Notable Achievement : Defending his country and dying a free-man through
Pyrrhic Victory.
Death : August 7 480 BC
Leonidas is most commonly known for leading 300 Spartan's to the
Pass of Thermopylae and defending it to their deaths against the Persian King
(Iran/Iraq), Xerxes, against both religious and mandated law, the Carnea, a festival held in the honor of Apollo.
Sparta
Quote from : Wikipedia : Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern
Peloponnese.
It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population.
From c. 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece.
Given its military pre-eminence, Sparta was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars.
Between 431 and 404 BC, Sparta was the principal enemy of Athens during the Peloponnesian War, from which it emerged victorious, though at great cost.
Sparta's defeat by Thebes in the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC ended Sparta's prominent role in Greece.
However, it maintained its political independence until 146 BC, when the Romans conquered Greece.
Sparta was unique in ancient Greece for its social system and constitution, which completely focused on military training and excellence.
Its inhabitants were classified as Spartiates (Spartan citizens, who enjoyed full rights), Mothakes (non-Spartan free men raised as Spartans),
Perioikoi (freedmen), and Helots (state-owned serfs, enslaved non-Spartan local population).
Spartiates underwent the rigorous agoge training and education regimen, and Spartan phalanxes were widely considered to be among the best in battle.
Spartan women enjoyed considerably more rights and equality to men than elsewhere in the classical world.
Sparta was the subject of fascination in its own day, as well as in the West following the revival of classical learning. Sparta continues to
fascinate Western Culture; an admiration of Sparta is called laconophilia.

Thermopylae
Quote from : Wikipedia : Thermopylae
Thermopylae is a location in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity.
It derives its name from several natural hot water springs.
A video of the current "hot gates".
Thermal Water, Thermopylae Greece, Hot Gates
Onto the battle which made Leonidas famous still to this day.
Quote from : Wikipedia : Battle of Thermopylae
The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of
three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece.
It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the pass of Thermopylae ('The Hot Gates').
The Persian invasion was a delayed response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece, which had been ended by the Athenian victory at the
Battle of Marathon.
Xerxes had amassed a huge army and navy, and set out to conquer all of Greece.
The Athenian general Themistocles had proposed that the allied Greeks block the advance of the Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae, and
simultaneously block the Persian navy at the Straits of Artemisium.
A Greek force of approximately 7,000 men marched north to block the pass in the summer of 480 BC.
The Persian army, alleged by the ancient sources to have numbered in the millions but today considered to have been much smaller (various figures are
given by scholars ranging between about 100,000 and 300,000), arrived at the pass in late August or early September.
Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held off the Persians for seven days in total (including three of battle), before the rear-guard was annihilated in one
of history's most famous last stands.
During two full days of battle, the small force led by King Leonidas I of Sparta blocked the only road by which the massive Persian army could pass.
After the second day of battle, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing a small path that led behind the Greek lines.
Aware that his force was being outflanked, Leonidas dismissed the bulk of the Greek army, and remained to guard the rear with 300 Spartans, 700
Thespians, 400 Thebans and perhaps a few hundred others, the vast majority of whom were killed.
After this engagement, the Greek navy at Artemisium received news of the defeat at Thermopylae.
Since their strategy required both Thermopylae and Artemisium to be held, and given their losses, the Greek navy decided to withdraw to Salamis.
The Persians overran Boeotia and then captured the evacuated Athens.
However, seeking a decisive victory over the Persian fleet, the Greek fleet attacked and defeated the invaders at the Battle of Salamis in late 480
BC.
Fearing to be trapped in Europe, Xerxes withdrew with much of his army to Asia, leaving Mardonius to complete the conquest of Greece.
The following year, however, saw a Greek army decisively defeat the Persians at the Battle of Plataea, thereby ending the Persian invasion.
Both ancient and modern writers have used the Battle of Thermopylae as an example of the power of a patriotic army of freemen defending native soil.
The performance of the defenders at the battle of Thermopylae is also used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of
terrain as force multipliers and has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds.
A few books, by no means are these the limit, on Sparta, Leonidas, and the
Battle of Thermopylae I have read.
Spartan Reflections : By
Paul Cartledge

Amazon Review :
The complex and distinctive Spartan tradition has been a prominent theme in western thinking from antiquity to today.
Sparta is also one of a handful of ancient Greek cities with enough existing evidence for historians to create a realistic social portrait.
Over the past quarter-century Paul Cartledge has established himself as the leading international authority on ancient Sparta.
Spartan Reflections is a superb collection of his essays--two are published here for the first time, and the rest, often difficult to locate, have
been revised and updated for publication in book form.
Giving us a real sense of what Sparta was like as a culture, these essays constitute a fascinating introduction to and overview of ancient Spartan
history and its reception.
This collection, unique in breadth and scope, will be an essential source for anyone interested in this idiosyncratic society.
Cartledge brings us up to date on what is known about the most important and intriguing aspects of Sparta: its military development, questions of
gender and sexuality, and the difficult problem of artistic and literary aspects of Sparta.
We learn about the institutions that distinguished Sparta from other city-states, including its religion, education process, degree of literacy,
secret service, unusual system of servitude, and institutionalized pederasty.
Throughout, Cartledge also makes important comparisons with Athens, helping us grasp what is really striking about Sparta.
Cartledge's writing is clear and engaging as he draws from myriad sources both ancient and modern, as well as from political and cultural theory.
These essays, together with their magisterial bibliography, demonstrate his remarkable scholarly and intellectual range.
Spartan Reflections will be an important source on the most significant issues in Sparta scholarship today as well as a fascinating look at this
culture for general readers.
Thermopylae: The Battle For The West
Amazon Review :
An impressively accessible narrative depicting the three-day battle for the pass at Thermopylae (the Hot Gates)--a critical contest in Xerxes's
massive invasion of Greece.
The bloody stand made there by Leonidas and his small Spartan army in 480 B.C. has been hailed ever since as an outstanding example of patriotism,
courage, and sacrifice.
The Peloponnesian War : By Donald Kagan

Publishers Weekly : Amazon Review :
Beginning in 1978, Kagan's publication of the four-volume History of the Peloponnesian War established him as the leading authority on that seminal
period in Greek history.
Despite its accessible writing style, however, the work's formidable length tended to restrict its audience to the academic community.
This single volume, based on the original's scholarship but incorporating significant new dimensions, is intended for the educated general reader.
Kagan, a chaired professor of classics and history at Yale, describes his intention to offer both intellectual pleasure and a source of the wisdom so
many have sought by studying this war.
On both aims he succeeds admirably.
The war between the Athenian Empire and the Spartan Alliance, fought in the last half of the 5th century B.C., was tragedy.
Fifty years earlier, the united Greek states had defeated the Persian Empire and inaugurated an era of growth and achievement seldom matched and never
surpassed.
The Peloponnesian War, however, inaugurated a period of brutality and destruction unprecedented in the Greek world.
Like the Great War in 1914-1918, participants recognized even while the fighting went on that things were changing utterly.
The contemporary history written by Thucydides is the best source for this complex story, but not the only one, and much of the value of this work
lies in Kagan's brilliant contextualization of his ancient predecessor's work.
The volume's ultimate worth, however, lies in the perceptive, magisterial judgment Kagan brings to his account of the war that ended the glory that
was ancient Greece.
Kagan gives us neither heroes and villains nor victors and victims.
What infuses his pages is above all a sense of agency: men making and implementing decisions that seemed right at the time however they ended.
Such lessons will not be lost on contemporary readers.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
I have studied Greek and Roman history in their entirety all of my life as well as war history, war strategy, and the politics of war.
There were 300 Spartan's, 7000 other assorted Greeks, plus approximately 4000 Helot's present.
The reason the Helot's, who were slaves, were not counted, was both because they were slaves, who were armed, as well as being slaves they were deemed
as sub-human, so did not count and were not included because of their low social status.
The reason only 300 Spartan's were remembered at the
Battle of Thermopylae is that
Leonidas sent the other Greeks away because he wanted to show the Greek nations that Spartan's were the only true warriors, receiving all the glory of
having battled to the bitter end with Xerses forces, in essence, he was a gloryhound, but only in the aspect of his ego matching his might as a true
warrior-King.
The Greek's were always bitter rivals between each nation and were always susceptible to betrayal from within, which is why the saying of
"beware
of Greeks bearing gifts" is so appropriate, especially since the Trojan Horse is what led to the downfall of Troy the Greek's having learned their
lesson of betrayal from within.
In actuality, what most people do not know, is that Leonidas set a trap for Xerses at Thermopylae, knowing full well of the goat path that the Persian
"Immortals" used to get behind their defenses at the wall. King Leonidas, knowing full well of the betrayal of fellow Greeks, counted on this, knowing
they would get sick of real battle because for two days the King made the Persian pay dearly for their attempt at passing through the Hot Gates, and
after the second day, Leonidas sent the other Greek's away, belittling them as messengers to tell the other nations of Greece of their glorious
battle. He used this to his full advantage at Thermopylae, setting up the pass as a great chokepoint to bottle up the Persian's who were numbered
approximately at 200,000, with assorted supply bearers and various other people who brought their number well above 1 million.
What most do now know or realize is that the Persian's were cowards, they had to be driven to battle with whips and threat of torture, while the
Spartan's approached battle and death willingly.
Before anyone asks me, I thought the movie "300" sucked, it was not historically accurate enough for my liking, but then again it is Hollywood and we
all know they get paid to lie as a profession.
Go tell the Spartans, thou who passest by,
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.
This saying is appropriate because Leonidas in essence told the politician's who were betraying Sparta and all of Greece with their complicit, tacit,
and implicit betrayal of his beloved nation that he and his Spartan's were the only true followers of the law because to betray ones nation was a sin
against Sparta and all they stood for which was to protect that which was theirs.
The Greeks always fought amongst themselves, but when it came to battling another outside force they would come together, this time however Xerses has
learned the lessons of his father Darius and had approached the correct politician's within all of Greece by sending emmisaries, spy's, and gold
aplenty to buy them or their cooperation.
Leonidas knew his dieing at Thermopylae would unite all of Greece as a wake up call because of the prophecy at the Oracle of Delphi of the death of a
King.
Hear your fate, O dwellers in Sparta of the wide spaces;
Either your famed, great town must be sacked by Perseus' sons,
Or, if that be not, the whole land of Lacedaemon
Shall mourn the death of a king of the house of Heracles,
For not the strength of lions or of bulls shall hold him,
Strength against strength; for he has the power of Zeus,
And will not be checked till one of these two he has consumed.
This was in essence, Leonidas seeking out how to use the system against itself, and bypass the bogus orders where he was told to stand down by the
corrupt politician's.
What most do not know as well, is that the Oracle of Delphi, is a nexus point where travelers flocked and the Oracle would pay the slaves of their
master's for information and the "prophecies" were in actuality the religious taboos mixed with actual intelligence collected from the travelers
coming to pay their respects to the Oracle.
Today's modern equivalent to the Oracle of Delphi is the C.I.A.
edit on 1/29/11 by SpartanKingLeonidas because: Adding Depth and Insight Into
the Post.