Leonidas I

Leonidas was a king of Sparta, the Greek city-state famous for training its citizens from boyhood to be soldiers. He was a son of King Anaxandridas and came to the throne around 490 BC, after his half-brother Cleomenes died. In 480 BC the Persian king Xerxes invaded Greece with an enormous army and fleet. The Greek cities chose to block his advance at Thermopylae, a narrow pass between the mountains and the sea. Leonidas led about three hundred Spartans and several thousand other Greek soldiers there. For two days they held off repeated Persian attacks, including the king's elite troops, the Immortals. Then a local Greek named Ephialtes showed the Persians a mountain path around the pass. Learning they would be surrounded, Leonidas sent most of the allies away and stayed with the Spartans, the Thespians and the Thebans. They fought until nearly all were killed, and Leonidas died in the battle. The Persians went on to burn Athens, but the Greeks won at sea at Salamis that year and on land at Plataea the next.

Faith: Practiced ancient Greek religion. Source: Wikipedia