This entry belongs to the lexicon of Acenes of Sparta: The Dragon Slayer, free on Kindle Unlimited.
"Return with your shield or on it"
Known only from this scrollA famous Spartan saying mothers would tell their sons before battle, meaning come back victorious (with your shield) or dead (carried on your shield), but never in retreat (which would require dropping the heavy shield to run).
Acenes of Sparta: The Dragon Slayer
A dragon is the reason the 300 died. Leonidas used the magic of the gods to bind Kalaxes beneath Taygetus, and the price was his life and his men's. Sixty-two years later a seven-year-old of the agoge falls into the dragon's crypt and inherits the unpaid balance.
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