The movie gave us an oiled-up warrior screaming about freedom, but the real Leonidas was something far more complex — a Spartan king born into a society built on slavery, trained in a system of institutionalized brutality, and bound by political obligations that shaped his famous last stand at Thermopylae as much as any warrior's code of honor.

This episode separates the historical Leonidas from the Hollywood myth, examining Spartan society, the politics behind the decision to send only 300 royal guards, and what the battle at the Hot Gates actually looked like when stripped of cinematic fantasy.

• The agoge — the brutal Spartan training system that forged Leonidas from childhood
• Why Sparta sent only 300 men and the political calculations behind the decision
• The real tactics and terrain of Thermopylae versus the Hol ...