At the Hot Gates

Publisher: The Star Trilogy

Twelve-year old Agis runs away from his training barracks to follow the 300 Spartan warriors that King Leonidas is leading north to stop the Persian advance.  One day, he is captured suspected of being a spy.  They march him back to camp and present the boy to Leonidas.       

Once the king is satisfied the boy is freeborn and not an escaped slave, he summons his companions to pass judgment upon him.  Strict obedience is a virtue among the Spartans, and breaking rules is severely punished.  When the Spartan warriors hear of the boy’s resolve to join them to fight the Persians, they approve of his high spirits.  Leonidas proclaims the lenient punishment of a single lash, to remind him that a Spartan never turns his back in battle.           One man steps forward to deliver the punishment.  It is the one man Agis has come to see, yet the one man he dreads being disgraced before: his father.  His father, Nikandros, delivers the lashing.  Leonidas, guessing their relationship, tells Nikandros to take the boy back to his companions and look after him. 

They encounter another troop of warriors from the town of Thespiae, also on route to Thermopylae.  Leonidas welcomes them, but points out that the Thespian hoplites all make their living as farmers, stone-carvers, weavers and the like, yet every one of the Spartans is trained to be a warrior.  Leonidas declares that his troops will take on the brunt of the fighting, and will keep the other Greeks in reserve.          

They reach the Hot Gates, a narrow pass between the mountains and the cliffs overlooking the waters of the gulf.  It is a “choke points” of Greece, a narrow passage around the mountains that anyone traveling south must pass through.  The Persian forces will have to pass here, and here  the Greeks will make their stand.  The name of the pass is due to the hot springs that flow there.

They find the remnants of a wall, and they work to rebuild it.  Soon, scouts approach the pass, looking what resistance they will find.  Leonidas banters with them.

Although his father wants him safely away from the battle, Leonidas places Agis in a protected lookout to watch the road ahead and give warning.  For two days the Spartans hold the pass.  The Persian king throws his personal elite forces, the Immortals, against them, but to no avail.            Then word comes that the Greeks have been betrayed.  A traitor has revealed a goat path over the mountain and the Persians are already crossing to attack the Greeks from behind.  Leonidas sends all the Greek reserves away, but the Spartans remain.  He orders Agis to lead a blinded hoplite back to Sparta.  They are to report that those who remained have been true to the common law of Sparta, never to retreat from battle.  With a heavy heart, Agis obeys this last order from his king, departs from his father, and leads the wounded hoplite back to Sparta.

About Donald Samson

Donald Samson grew up in the mega-urban environment of Los Angeles at a time when the smog was thick and the freeways were flinging their tentacles throughout the city.   After expanding his horizons through study at UC Santa Barbara, he sought fresh air and adventure.  He set off for a dozen years of travel, living as an expat first in Greece, then for a long stretch in Germany, and finally landing in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland. Upon returning to the States, he learned the art of teaching children, and was a Waldorf class teacher for nineteen years. It was during this time that he developed his love for storytelling. His first books owe their origin to stories he told to one of his classes. It was his students' persistent requests (badgering, really) to read the stories he had told that led him to write them down.  He currently lives in western Colorado working as the educational director of a public charter Waldorf school.

detail

Binding EAN ISBN-10 Pub Date PAGES Language Size Price
Paperback 9781732537293 1732537291 2019-03-18 96 0.00 x 8.08 x 9.47 in $7.50

Publicity

Connect

Multimedia

Contributor Platforms

Recent Press

Promo Quotes

Events

Book Signings and Tour Cities

At the Hot Gates

At the Hot Gates

by Samson, Donald

Twelve-year old Agis runs away from his training barracks to follow the 300 Spartan warriors that King Leonidas is leading north to stop the Persian advance.  One day, he is captured suspected of being a spy.  They march him back to camp and present the boy to Leonidas...

read more
The Dragon, the Blade and the Thread

The Dragon, the Blade and the Thread

by Samson, Donald

Prince Corin has more freedom than most youngsters his age, but he feels restrained by his family’s expectations. He hates being trained how to handle a sword or spending time with his mother selling vegetables at the market. He even resents the time he has to spend caring Star, the kingdom’s precious Luck Dragon. He wants to be left alone to follow his own interests...

read more
The Dragon of Two Hearts

The Dragon of Two Hearts

by Samson, Donald

The wild dragon, Scorch, has devastated the lands surrounding the kingdom of Gladur Nock.  He demands a steady tribute, which impoverishes the common folk and imposes upon them a mood of fear, desperation and want.  The errant knight Michael hears of their distress and armed with his knowledge of dragons, travels to offer his support...

read more
The Dragon Boy

The Dragon Boy

by Samson, Donald

Orphaned twice by the time he was nine, he was living on the streets and did not even know his own name.  He was not allowed to set foot inside the one place he was determined to find work.  To complete the disaster of his young life, the object of his affections was Star, an immense, emerald-green dragon.  But good fortune finally smiled upon him: Star was a Luck Dragon...

read more

Similar Titles

  • The Dragon, the Blade and the Thread
  • The Dragon of Two Hearts
  • The Dragon Boy
  • At the Hot Gates