The ragged defenders were all but dead
Carnage and destruction lay all around
They’d battled valiantly for a fortnight
Defending every inch and giving no ground
Why they fought they couldn’t say
For their orders stated no main reason
They were told to hold the pass at any cost
To fail otherwise would be regarded as treason
Though a thousand strong when first they fought
Their numbers were reduced by continuous combat
They’d held off a force a hundred times stronger
Of failure they could never think of that
Yet it was that a traitor did arise
He gave the enemy the secret to success
No sooner was given his ransom in gold
The he found himself betrayed and headless
In not much time the next battle was over
For the defenders weren’t prepared for deceit
Taken from behind from their only known weakness
The surviving defenders placed at the attacking general’s feet
He proclaimed the Spartans had done quite well
He was amazed that they had stopped his force
Though impressed he ordered their executions
For he wanted no one to learn he had failed his course
Yet the defenders died not in vain
For the battle had been seen by a tribe
In time the Phoenicians were also defeated
Vanquished themselves by the payment of a bribe
