

It is believed that his mother was an immigrant. His father, Neocles, was an ambiguous Athenian citizen of modest means.

According to historians Herodotus and Plutarch, the brave Athenian general Themistocles was not born into wealth. However, they were forced to retreat after the defeat at Thermopylae. At the same time, the Greek navy attempted to block the Persians on the water in the Straits of Artemisium. Leonidas and the 300 Spartans undertook the task, which is chronicled in the movie 300, with the Spartans eventually being overtaken by the Persian forces. It was Themistocles who proposed that the Greeks attempt to stop the Persian advance by confronting them on land at the narrow strait at Thermopylae. The second battle that occurs in 300: Rise of an Empire, the Battle of Artemisium (a 480 BC naval engagement), took place concurrently with the Battle of Thermopylae that unfolds in the original movie, 300. Athens victory over Persia at Marathon, Greece sets the stage for the motivations behind Xerxes's transformation into the movie's fictional God King. This happens ten years prior to the events in 2007's 300 movie. The first battle that takes place in the 300: Rise of an Empire movie is the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. What do the events in 300: Rise of an Empire have to do with the events in the original movie 300?ģ00: Rise of an Empire is a prequel, a side-sequel, and a sequel to the original film, 300 (2007), with the events in the follow-up taking place before, during, and after the events in the original.
