
Rescued and adopted by a Persian emissary, she was trained by the best Persian warriors, and eventually gained the attention of King Darius. Themistocles reunites with his old friend Scyllias, who infiltrated the Persian troops and reveals Artemisia was born Greek, but defected to Persia after her family was raped and murdered by Greek hoplites.

Themistocles travels to Sparta to ask King Leonidas for help, but is informed by Dilios that Leonidas is consulting the Oracle, and Gorgo is reluctant to side with Athens. He returns to Persia and declares war on Greece to avenge his father.Īs Xerxes's forces advance towards Thermopylae, Themistocles meets with the council and convinces them to provide him with a fleet to engage the Persians at sea. Xerxes reaches a cave and bathes in an otherworldly liquid, emerging as an 8-foot tall "God-King". Darius's naval commander, Artemisia, claims that Darius' last words were a challenge, and sends Xerxes on a journey through the desert. Darius's son, Xerxes, witnesses his father's death and is told "only the gods can defeat the Greeks".

Queen Gorgo of Sparta tells her men about the Battle of Marathon, in which King Darius of Persia was killed by General Themistocles of Athens ten years earlier. It grossed over $337 million worldwide from a $110 million budget. The film was released to mixed reviews, with critics praising the action sequences, music, cinematography, visual effects and Green's performance but criticizing the story and overstylized gore. The film's score was composed by Junkie XL, being the first film in an ongoing partnership with Snyder. It was released in 3D and IMAX 3D on March 7, 2014. The cast includes Lena Headey, Peter Mensah, David Wenham, Andrew Tiernan, Andrew Pleavin, and Rodrigo Santoro reprising their roles from the first film, alongside Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Hans Matheson, and Callan Mulvey. It is a sequel to the 2006 film 300, taking place before, during, and after the main events of that film, and is loosely based on the Battle of Artemisium and the Battle of Salamis. 300: Rise of an Empire is a 2014 American epic action film directed by Noam Murro from a screenplay by Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad, based on Frank Miller's graphic novel Xerxes.
