300 Persians

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Deleted member 82792

I was just wondering if the idea of having 300 Persian soldiers making a heroic last stand against an army of bloodthirsty Greeks was plausible.

Any thought?

Also, you have to admit, it might make a great movie (am I the only one who felt sorry for the Persians in 300?).
 

Legend-in-Exile

terranova210486 said:
I was just wondering if the idea of having 300 Persian soldiers making a heroic last stand against an army of bloodthirsty Greeks was plausible.

Any thought?

Also, you have to admit, it might make a great movie (am I the only one who felt sorry for the Persians in 300?).
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You could have 300 hold a narrow pass to allow Darius III to escape. Would be all the more poignant when Darius being betrayed is revealed.

The portrayal of Persia in general is never all that fair (likely a result of the Greek/Roman sources. Whereas in the Old Testament they are portrayed very well (funding the second temple may have helped).

All in all a film about the persian empire that had the Persians as the heroes would not be a bad thing in my book. Unless it turned into a prince of persia thing. That was no good.
 

Riain

Banned
I'd imagine it would be 300 heavy cavalry, a Persian specialty, rather than heavy infantry which was a Greek specialty. And perhaps not holding a pass but conducting highly effective charges against superior numbers and coming to a similar result as Thermopylae.
 

Neirdak

Banned
John Farson said:
I was just going to mention that. It would be a fascinating film, and Tiridates' betrayal at the end would make it heart-breaking.

Not likely that Hollywood is ever gonna pick it up, though.:rolleyes:
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Battle of the Persian Gate is an amazing movie title, but I would love to see the movie going from Granicus to Battle of the Persian Gate. It's perhaps time to phone an Iranian movie studio.

I would also love a relatively realistic movie about Anabasis and the Ten Thousands. :cool:

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabasis_(Xenophon)
- http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1170

It's actually the first unabridged text I read in classical Greek and since this day I haven't stopped to love it.
 
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vasp

Their were a lot more the 300 Greeks at thermolype even the Spartans werent even 300 probably. Every Spartan had 3 Helots that probably fought as some kind of skirmish troops. But it would be really cool to see a movie about Persia havent really seen any.
 

Ultimate Paragon

Banned
Neirdak said:
Battle of the Persian Gate is an amazing movie title, but I would love to see the movie going from Granicus to Battle of the Persian Gate. It's perhaps time to phone an Iranian movie studio.

I would also love a relatively realistic movie about Anabasis and the Ten Thousands. :cool:

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabasis_(Xenophon)
- http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1170

It's actually the first unabridged text I read in classical Greek and since this day I haven't stopped to love it.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, a lot of people would probably just see it as anti-Western propaganda. Do you know about the Lion of the Desert debacle?
 

eliphas8

Iranian war fighting strategy doesn't lend itself to this kind of tiny last stand. Iranian empires tended towards very mobile warfare which doesn't really lend itself to lower numbers on the defensive (which is my assumption about what a last stand constitutes).
 
9 Fanged Hummingbird

9 Fanged Hummingbird

vasp said:
Their were a lot more the 300 Greeks at thermolype even the Spartans werent even 300 probably. Every Spartan had 3 Helots that probably fought as some kind of skirmish troops. But it would be really cool to see a movie about Persia havent really seen any.
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Yeah, even if you didn't count helots the last stand alone saw 700 Thespians fighting alongside the Spartans, and perhaps others, meaning the most conservative estimate of their numbers still puts them at a likely larger force than the Persians who made the last stand at the Persian Gate. Not counting the 7,000 Greeks who had been holding the pass before the Persians found a way around of course.
eliphas8 said:
Iranian war fighting strategy doesn't lend itself to this kind of tiny last stand. Iranian empires tended towards very mobile warfare which doesn't really lend itself to lower numbers on the defensive (which is my assumption about what a last stand constitutes).
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*coughcough* ^
 

Legend-in-Exile

eliphas8 said:
Iranian war fighting strategy doesn't lend itself to this kind of tiny last stand. Iranian empires tended towards very mobile warfare which doesn't really lend itself to lower numbers on the defensive (which is my assumption about what a last stand constitutes).
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While no doubt true, when has a little thing like the truth come between a film maker and a good story?

(Braveheart/ the Patriot/ U571 off the top of my head)

The 50s/60s 300 Spartans movie had the Spartans forming up in a single line and somehow holding back chariots and infantry. Movie logic does not have to follow our earth logic.
 

EvolvedSaurian

John Farson said:
I was just going to mention that. It would be a fascinating film, and Tiridates' betrayal at the end would make it heart-breaking.

Not likely that Hollywood is ever gonna pick it up, though.:rolleyes:
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I could see Iranian filmmakers doing it. Heck, maybe they already have, I wouldn't know.
 

Herzen's love-child

EvolvedSaurian said:
I could see Iranian filmmakers doing it. Heck, maybe they already have, I wouldn't know.
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I kind of doubt it. The current powers-that-be in Iran are rather wary of Pre-Islamic representation in the Cinema.

Ironically, the Persian epic poem, the "Shahnameh" (Book of Kings) which is a legend embellished retelling of the historical past of Iran until the Arab Conquest, remains the country's national epic and rightfully popular there, too.
 

jahenders

Banned
It's very reasonable to feel sorry for the Persians re the movie 300 -- they were portrayed as evil, arrogant, and (most of all) silly. Of course, the Spartans weren't exactly portrayed accurately either. Their lack of standard hoplite armor was akin to a WWII Battle of the Bulge movie that has troops running around in Green, convertible SUVs (wind whipping through their hair) instead of in Shermans; and their lack of cohesive fighting would make a rugby scrum look more like soccer.

All that said, yes it would be possible to make a good movie about the reverse type of "stand", but there's a cultural bias (in the West) against it.

terranova210486 said:
Also, you have to admit, it might make a great movie (am I the only one who felt sorry for the Persians in 300?).
Click to expand...
 

EvolvedSaurian

Herzen's love-child said:
I kind of doubt it. The current powers-that-be in Iran are rather wary of Pre-Islamic representation in the Cinema.

Ironically, the Persian epic poem, the "Shahnameh" (Book of Kings) which is a legend embellished retelling of the historical past of Iran until the Arab Conquest, remains the country's national epic and rightfully popular there, too.
Click to expand...

Diaspora filmmakers then.
 
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