Leonidas

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Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [1]

father of the celebrated Origen, was a Christian martyr of the 3d century. Previous to his execution, his son, in order to encourage him, wrote to liims as follows: "Beware that your care for us does not make you change your resolution!" The father accepted the heroic exhortation of the son, and yielded his neck joyfully to the stroke of the executioner. Fox, Book of Martyrs, p. 23.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia [2]

King of Sparta from 491 to 480 B.C.; opposed Xerxes, the Persian, who threatened Greece with a large army, and kept him at bay at the Pass of Thermopylæ with 300 Spartans and 5000 auxiliaries till he was betrayed by Ephialtes ( q. v .), when he and his 300 threw themselves valiantly on the large host, and perished fighting to the last man.

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