[68] The Thebans, beholding the victory of the Persians, yielded their arms; and, excepting a few, slain as they approached, not as foes, but as suppliants, were pardoned by Xerxes.
The king himself came to view the dead, and especially the corpse of Leonidas.

He ordered the head of that hero to be cut off, and his body suspended on a cross [69], an instance of sudden passion, rather than customary barbarity.

For of all nations the Persians most honoured valour, even in their foes.
XIII.

The moral sense of mankind, which places the example of self-sacrifice among the noblest lessons by which our nature can be corrected, has justly immortalized the memory of Leonidas.

It is impossible to question the virtue of the man, but we may fairly dispute the wisdom of the system he adorned.