A fascinating immersion in Greek antiquity and its most notable milestones.

In the spring of 480 BC, the Persian king Xerxes led the largest land army ever assembled. He had just crossed the Hellespont and, once in Europe, was preparing to travel through the regions of Thrace and Macedonia with the support of his impressive fleet. Xerxes intended to avenge the affronts inflicted by the Athenians on his father, King Darius, and also wanted to incorporate the Greek territories into his immense Asian empire. Soon, news would reach Sparta that Xerxes' fleet had crossed the isthmus of Athos, in northern Greece, by digging a 2-kilometer-long canal. Such a display of force caused the Spartan king Leonidas to decide to give his life and that of his personal guard to hold back the invading army at the pass of Thermopylae, the natural gateway to central Greece.
In this book, just as he did in Tras las huellas de Heródoto (Almuzara, 2015) after his journey through Asia Minor, Antonio Penadés follows the itinerary of Xerxes' army and narrates in a lively way his passage through Alexandropolis, Dorisco, Abdera, Kavala, the island of Thasos, Philippi, Drama, Amphipolis, Stagira, the Xerxes Canal, Ouranopolis, Olynthus, Potidaea, Cassandra, Thessalonica, Pella, Goumenissa, Idomeni, Edessa, Naoussa, Vergina, Dion and Mount Olympus. A solitary journey that reaches very intense moments, especially on the border of Idomeni and in the monastery of Iviron, on the theocratic peninsula of Athos, where the Orthodox monks live as they did in the Byzantine era.
The journey culminates in Thermopylae, where one of the most epic passages in the history of the West took place. There ends this immersion in Greek Antiquity, an unbeatable way to try to access the human condition, and the marked contrast is drawn between the vanity of the Persian king Xerxes and the pride of the Spartan Leonidas.

"The traveler-writer reveals himself as a scholar who handles historical data and also the mythical world with ease. The narration of the battle of Thermopylae not only exudes historical rigor but also allows us to glimpse the literary talent of Antonio Penadés." ALICIA GARCÍA-HERRERA"

"A journey from the present to the past, a journey that happens just by turning a page but that is capable of sowing in us the desire for adventure, the need to fly as far as we can to propel us towards our deepest roots, in search of knowledge and truth."