But in any case, I will echo the comments of others and say, it was an entertaining movie, not an historical recreation. They seemed to gloss over the fact that Sparta ran so well because of their Helot labor (it was, in fact, why they could train a standing army). They ignored the probable pederasty of the agoge. They turned the Ephors into some kind off mutants. And that doesn't even begin to address the way the Persians were portrayed. I thought I was watching Stargate for a moment when Xerxes showed up and spoke.

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Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum,
þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon,
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon.