This map describes the narrow coastal pass (Thermopylae) as it existed in antiquity. Thermopylae (hot gateway) derived its name from several natural hot water springs. Thermopylae is primarily known for the battle that took place there in 480 BC, in which Leonidas and his 300 Spartans died defending Greece against the invasion of Xerxes. The name since then has been used to reference heroic resistance against a more powerful enemy. This map was designed using both ancient sources and the survey of M. Foucherot in 1781. Published in an imaginary travel journal by Jean Jacques Barthelemy set in ancient Greece, the title translates to The Travels of Anacharsis the Younger in Greece.

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Condition: A

The binding trim at lower left has been extended to better accommodate framing and a tiny binding tear into the neatline has been repaired.