300 Page #5

I come to you as a wife.

I come to you as a Spartan woman.

I come to you with great humility.

I am not here to represent Leonidas.

His actions speak louder

than my words ever could.

I am here for all those voices

which cannot be heard.

Mothers, daughters, fathers, sons.

Three hundred families

that bleed for our rights...

...and for the very principles

this room was built upon.

We are at war, gentlemen.

We must send the entire Spartan army

to aid our king...

...in the preservation of not

just ourselves, but of our children.

Send the army

for the preservation of liberty.

Send it for justice.

Send it for law and order.

Send it for reason.

But most importantly,

send our army for hope.

Hope that a king and his men have not

been wasted to the pages of history.

That their courage bonds us together.

That we are made stronger

by their actions...

...and that your choices today

reflect their bravery.

Three hundred.

We must send them.

Moving...

...eloquent, passionate.

But it doesn't change the fact

that your husband has brought war upon us.

You are wrong.

Xerxes brought it forth...

...and before that,

his father Darius at Marathon.

The Persians will not stop...

...until the only shelter we will find

is rubble and chaos.

This chamber needs no

history lesson, my queen.

Then what is the lesson

you would like to leave?

Shall I begin to enumerate all of them?

Honor. Duty. Glory.

You speak of honor, duty and glory?

But what of adultery?

- How dare you.

- How dare I?

Watch her carefully.

She is a trickster in true form.

Do not play with the members

of this sacred chamber, my queen.

Just hours ago,

you offered yourself to me.

Were I a weaker man,

I would have her scent on me still.

- This is outrage.

- Oh, the hypocrite speaks!

Did you not receive a similar payment,

which you took...

...in exchange for her having an audience

with these noble men?

- That is a lie.

- Is it?

Was he not, by your invitation,

asked to come to the king's bedchamber?

The very bed where you attempted

to negotiate with me so vigorously?

You look shocked.

A bribe of the flesh, gentlemen...

...while her husband

promotes anarchy and war.

He speaks truth.

Words escape

even the most cunning tongue...

...my little whore queen.

What queen-like behavior.

Remove her from this chamber

before she infects us further...

...with her inglorious and shabby self.

This will not be over quickly.

You will not enjoy this.

I am not your queen.

Traitor.

Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!

Traitor!

Leonidas, my compliments

and congratulations.

You surely have turned calamity

into victory.

Despite your insufferable arrogance...

...the god-king has come to admire

Spartan valor and fighting skill.

You will make a mighty ally.

Yield, Leonidas.

Use your reason. Think of your men.

I beg you.

Listen to your fellow Greek.

He can attest

to the divine one's generosity.

Despite your several insults,

despite your horrid blasphemies...

...the lord of hosts

is prepared to forgive all...

...and more, to reward your service.

You fight for your lands.

Keep them.

You fight for Sparta.

She will be wealthier and more powerful

than ever before.

You fight for your kingship.

You will be proclaimed warlord

of all Greece...

...answerable only

to the one true master of the world.

Leonidas, your victory will be complete...

...if you but lay down your arms...

...and kneel to holy Xerxes.

since the wolf in the winter cold.

And now, as then,

it's not fear that grips him...

...only restlessness.

A heightened sense of things.

The seaborne breeze coolly kissing

the sweat at his chest and neck.

Gulls cawing...

...complaining even as they feast

on the thousands of floating dead.

The steady breathing

...ready to die for him

without a moment's pause.

Every one of them...

...ready to die.

His helmet is stifling.

His shield is heavy.

Your spear.

You there...

...Ephialtes.

May you live forever.

Leonidas, your spear.

Stelios!

Slaughter them!

His helmet was stifling.

It narrowed his vision,

and he must see far.

His shield was heavy.

It threw him off balance...

...and his target is far away.

The old ones say we Spartans are

descended from Hercules himself.

Bold Leonidas gives testament

to our bloodline.

His roar is long and loud.

My king.

It's an honor to die at your side.

It's an honor to have lived at yours.

My queen!

My wife.

My love.

"Remember us."

As simple an order

as a king can give.

"Remember why we died."

For he did not wish tribute or song...

...nor monuments,

nor poems of war and valor.

His wish was simple.

"Remember us"...

...he said to me.

That was his hope.

Should any free soul

come across that place...

...in all the countless

centuries yet to be...

...may all our voices...

...whisper to you

from the ageless stones.

Go tell the Spartans, passerby...

...that here, by Spartan law,

we lie.

And so my king died...

...and my brothers died...

...barely a year ago.

Long I pondered my king's

cryptic talk of victory.

Time has proven him wise.

For from free Greek to free Greek...

...the word was spread

...so far from home...

...laid down their lives

not just for Sparta...

...but for all Greece

and the promise this country holds.

Now, here on this rugged patch of earth

called Plataea...

...Xerxes' hordes face obliteration!

Just there the barbarians huddle...

...sheer terror gripping tight

their hearts...

...with icy fingers...

...knowing full well

what merciless horrors they suffered...

Yet they stare now across the plain

The enemy outnumber us

a paltry three to one.

Good odds for any Greek.

This day, we rescue a world

from mysticism and tyranny...

...and usher in a future

brighter than anything we can imagine.

Give thanks, men...

To Victory!

[ENGLISH]

Rate this script:3.9 / 8 votes