THE BUSHES to my left shook violently and I whirled around to meet the intruder. I clutched my spear in both hands and readied it at eye-level. I steeled myself to drive the point right into his teeth. My full attention was in front of me, so I was taken by surprise when a pair of massive arms suddenly enfolded me from behind in a bear hug. With my arms pinned to my sides, I could only kick with my legs, but it did little good. I was lifted off the ground. I bent my neck to try to bite his arms, but I couldn’t reach.

Without loosening his vise grip, he shoved my head hard to the left, and the muscles in my neck screamed in protest. Then I felt the cold metal of the man’s helmet pressed against my cheek.

“Get quiet, or I’ll break your neck,” he growled into my ear. It was a Spartan voice, so I knew he meant it.

At the Hot Gates is a work of historical fiction. I used the imagination of a twelve-year-old Spartan boy disobediently following his father into battle, one of the fated 300 Spartans, so I could tell the story through his eyes. Although the boy, his father, and his father’s brothers-in-arms are fictional characters, the rest of the story follows ancient accounts and the findings of modern scholarship.

At the Hot Gates is intended for traditional and homeschool classrooms as an engaging entry into the Greek world of the 5th Century BCE. It is an exciting and fast-paced read in under 70 pages. Following the text of the story are 15 pages of historical notes intended to put the events of the battle into a geographical and political context of the times. After the historical notes are six pages of notes to the text. The story is told with allusions to historical events and cultural practices which are better understood with a bit of background.

School Study Guide for At the Hot Gates

The Setting: At the outset of the story, along the long road between Sparta and the geological choke point known as Thermopylae. The bulk of the story takes place in the pass at Thermopylae.

The Characters: Agis–a Spartan boy; Nikandros–his father, a Spartan hoplite; Polydoros, Eunomos, Aristodemos, Cleomenes–Nikandros’ companions in arms; Leonidas–King of the Spartans; soldiers from various other Greek city states; an Ionian translator; the Three-Hundred Spartans; the invading Persian army.

Questions for Comprehension and Discussion: Refer to a map of ancient Greece. Find Sparta in the south. It is located in an area known as the Peloponnese. Along the north-east coast of the Peloponnese, find the city of Corinth and the isthmus. This isthmus is the only land connection between the Peloponnese and the mainland. Find Athens, east of the isthmus. Now look for Thermopylae in the Straits of Euboea. Euboea is a long island off the eastern coast, north of Athens.

Pages 5-20

1.What trick do the soldiers use to catch the boy? 2. When the boy thinks he is about to die, he cries out, “Thanatos!” What does that word mean? Why does he cry it out? 3. The two soldiers discuss who the boy might be. What are their guesses? 4. When the boy speaks for the first time, how do the soldiers react? Why? 5. How could they tell that he was a Spartan? 6. The soldiers accuse the boy of running away from his youth group, or agela. What is an agela? (see the notes, p. 74). 7. Why were the boys in the agela not fed enough? 8.They bring the boy to Leonidas. Who is he? What is unique about the Spartan kingship? 9. How does Leonidas test the boy to find out if he’s telling the truth? 10. What reason did the boy give for following the Spartan army? 11. The boy is checked out by the hoplite soldiers. What was the standard armor of a hoplite? (see notes, pp. 74-75) 12. How do the hoplites show approval of the boy’s actions? 13. Leonidas decides the boy must be punished for running away. What is his decreed punishment? What is the name of the soldier who steps forward to give the punishment? 14. Leonidas tells Nikandros to care for the boy. Why Nikandros and not someone else?

Page 20–29

1.Nikandros smacks his son when he says that leaving his agela was a difficult decision. What behavior is expected of a Spartan? 2. There is mention of a prophecy spoken by the oracle. What is an oracle? Where was this one? To which god was this oracle dedicated? What was the prophecy? 3. How were the soldiers of Leonidas’ army chosen? 4. The next day the boy steals some food. What does he get? Where did he get it? Why does his father hit him? Who are the helots? Why are they here? 5. They meet up with other Greeks. How are they different from the Spartans? 6. Why did Leonidas decide to go fight the Persians? 7. Leonidas speaks about needing the Athenians to stop the Persians before they reach the isthmus, as they had done at Marathon. What is the isthmus? What happened at Marathon? See the notes on p. 76 and the Historical Notes, p. 69. 8. How does Leonidas prove that his 300 Spartans are a better choice to fight the Persians than the other Greeks who outnumber them? 9. What did the emissaries from Xerxes demand from the city states they visited? 10. What did the Spartans do to the emissaries?

Pages 29-37

1. The soldiers discuss the other Greek troops. They compare them to their perioikoi. Who are these perioikoi they speak about? See the notes, page 76. 2. The Spartans march fully armed. What does their armor look like? How much weight are they carrying? See the note on page 74. 3. Once arrived at their destination, the boy leaves the other soldiers and investigates the place they have come to. Describe what he experiences in the cleft between the cliffs. 4. The boy continues to walk and comes through the narrows to where it widens out. What is to his right? What is to his left? What does he see in the plains that open up before him? 5. The boy wants to run and alert the hoplites. Leonidas is not alarmed. Why? 6. The boy thinks that they are all Persians. What does Leonidas teach him about the army of the Persians? 7. The place they have come to is called Thermopylae, which in English translates to the Hot Gates. Why do you think it has this name? 8. The boy was horrified when he saw the army of the Persians. How do the Spartan hoplites react when they join him? 9. How do they decide to fortify the narrows? Who do they get todo the work? Why don’t they do it themselves?

Pages 37-40

1. What do the Spartans do in the space before the wall? 2. Why were some of the Spartans taking time to comb their hair? 3. The Spartans exercise naked. Why? See note p. 77. 4. Riders appear. The boy identifies two of the riders as barbarians. To a Greek, what is a barbarian? See note on p. 77. 5. The third rider is a Greek, an Ionian. Look at an ancient map of Greece. Where was Ionia? What country does this land belong to today? 6. Leonidas calls the Ionian a traitor. What does the Ionian consider himself? 7. What argument does the Ionian give for cooperating with the Persians?

Pages 40-52

1. Before the battle, Leonidas arranges the troops. Where does he place the different armies? 2. Nikandros wants his son to go stand in the passage. What is the boy’s response? Where does Leonidas send him? What is Nikandros concerned the boy might see? What does Leonidas advise him? How do they arm the boy? 3.The Ionian returns with more Persians. The boy is intrigued by the dress of the Persians. How are they dressed? 4. Xerxes makes Leonidas an offer if he lets them through the pass. What is it? What condition does Xerxes put upon his offer? How does Leonidas reply? How do the Spartans respond? 5. What does a hoplite reply when the Ionian claims that so many arrows will fly that they will blot out the sun? 6. What does Leonidas reply when told to give up his arms? 7. Leonidas calls for phalanx order. What is a phalanx? 8. In the phalanx, the first two lines did all of the fighting. How did that work? 9. When a hoplite in the front lines was injured, what did he do? 10. There was a sudden call for “Tortoise!” What did that mean? 11. Leonidas calls for the Thespians to come out from behind the wall. What was their job? 12. What was the boy’s job from his perch? 13. The boy dozes off. What happens? Who warned him just in time? 14. When the Persians stopped their attack for the night, the Spartans left their post. Who drew the night watch? 15. The Persian that climbed up to the boy made Leonidas concerned something else could happen. What was that? 16. The companions discuss the battle. What was the driving force that kept the Persians attacking? 17. What company of soldiers do the Spartans expect to face the next day? How do they earn their name?

Pages 52-67

1. What happened during the night? 2. Who marched against the Spartans this day? How were they dressed? 3. The first line of the phalanx separated from the rest. What happened next?4. During a lull in the fighting, Agis comes down from his perch to search for his father. What was his father doing? What happens when Agis finds him? 5. What shape were the Spartans in after the second day of fighting? Why? 6. Leonidas calls the men to council. What is his news? What does he decide todo? What offer does he make to the other Greeks? To the Spartans?7. What do the Spartans decide? What do the Thespians decide? 8. Whom does Leonidas ask Agis to fetch? What wound has he received? What does Leonidas instruct him? What role will Agis play? 9. When Agis returns home, what punishment does Leonidas decree for him? What does he tell Agis? Do you think this punishment fair? Defend your answer. Why do you think it was a virtue for the Spartans to take punishment silently? 10. What message does Leonidas send with Aristodemos? 11. Why is Aristodemos worried about his shield? 12. While fetching the shield, Agis encounters other soldiers going to join in the fighting. Who were they? 13. What are Nikandros’ last words to his son? If you had been him, would you have said something different? What? 14. What happened after the battle at the Hot Gates? See the Historical Notes on page 71.