One man vs an army, a few
standing against impossible odds- these are the greatest last stands in history! Agis III of Sparta It's no surprise that we're starting off
our list with a Spartan- these dudes were literally made for war. Trained
from childbirth to be warriors, history has created few warrior societies
that can match those of the Spartan kingdom. And of all Spartans ever born, few
can match the ferocity of Agis III. Son of Archidamus III of Sparta- guess
the ancient Greeks had a thing for thirds- Agis succeeded his father to the throne in 338 BC. At about this time King Philip II of Macedonia
had defeated the splintered armies of the Greek city-states and united them under the Corinthian
League. Philip was soon assassinated and his son, Alexander, succeeded him. You probably know
him from his conquest of Persia and most of the known world, as well as a really awful,
uncomfortable movie starring Colin Farrel. Alexander decided to take up his father's
tradition of conquering foreign lands and launched his crusade against Persia. With
Alexander knee-deep in Persian dead and pushing ever further eastwards, Agis saw this as an
opportunity to free Greece from under his thumb. Reinforced by Greek mercenaries
who had fought for the Persians, as well as a healthy sum of money from a defeated
Persian admiral with more than one bone to pick with the Macedonians, Agis' campaign really
picked up steam during the winter of 333/332. Agis' rebellion was in full swing, with a great
deal of support from across southern Greece- however, the Arcadian city of Megalopolis refused
to join Agis- mostly because they had a pretty big bone to pick themselves with Sparta and its
very aggressive policy of enslaving neighbors. Alexander immediately dispatched a force to defend
Megalopolis led by a general named Amphoterus. The battle would be a disaster for Agis and
his forces, outnumbered and outfought with 5,300 losses from the Spartans and their allies,
and 3,500 losses for the Macedonians. However, Agis himself would buy time for his
army to escape complete slaughter. Wounded all over, he was dragged
off the battlefield by his men who assumed he was dead. To their
surprise Agis was stubbornly alive, and he immediately ordered his men to
retreat so they could live to fight again. However, he demanded that they put
him directly in the path of the enemy. Barely able to stand, Agis III lifted himself
up onto his knees and proceeded to hack and slash every enemy soldier that dared get
within reach. Bleeding from over a dozen wounds and absolutely refusing to die, the
Macedonians finally decided that the safest thing to do was to simply put a javelin
through his chest from a safe distance. That would end up doing the trick,
but we're betting it took a while to find a man brave enough to go up
and confirm Agis was actually dead. Our next greatest last stand saw 21 brave men face
off against an entire horde of enemy soldiers. 21 against 10,000 In the 19th century the British empire's
holdings in India were looking rather shaky. Occupying what is today Pakistan, the northwest
border was always particularly troublesome, and the British built two forts to secure the
area, Forts Lockhart and Gulistan. However, in an age before radio, the two forts- which
were not in line of sight to each other- needed a way to communicate across the mountainous
terrain. Thus a third, much smaller outpost, Saragarhi, was built between the two,
and would send messages back and forth using mirrors reflecting the sun's light or
other sources. This small outpost consisted of a main signaling tower, a small block house,
and a palisade that surrounded the enclosure. In the summer of 1897 the British put
down an uprising of Pashtun in the region, but by fall the Afghans and Pashtuns were once
more in revolt, with attacks against British positions. An attack on Fort Lockhart prompted
a call for reinforcements from Fort Gulistan, and the Pashtun forces were thus easily
repelled. Realizing that if they wanted to destroy the forts they would need to
eliminate their ability to communicate, the Pashtun commanderl decided to
attack Saragarhi and eliminate it. However, on the return trip back to Fort Gulistan, the British reinforcements dropped off
21 Sikh soldiers to defend the outpost. Figuring that due to its position between
forts reinforcements should be easy, 21 was deemed enough to successfully fend off
any incursion by the Pashtun- and it nearly was. The Pashtun forces launched a sudden attack on
the outpost on the morning of September 12th, 1897, with a force of 10,000. The Sikh
soldiers immediately messaged for help, but the swiftness of the attack had taken the
British by surprise and it would take time to rally together their forces. In fact, the
attack was so unexpected that Forts Gulistan and Lockharts themselves were ill-prepared
to face off against such a massive force. Understanding the situation
the British forces were in, the Sikh commander knew he had one duty- hold
off the Pashtun as long as possible so that the other two forts could be reinforced.
He would sacrifice his life and that of his men so that the two forts could have
a chance to stand against the onslaught. The attacking enemy broke through part of the
wall, injuring Bhagwan Singh in the attack. The Sikh were offered a chance to surrender, but the
men all refused. An attack on the gates soon came, but under withering defensive fire the Pashtun
were unable to breach them. A second attempt also failed, with Pashtun soldiers falling
by the dozen to the defender's rifle fire. With the attack on the gates though a
smaller force was able to breach the outpost's walls. With enemy forces pouring
into the encampment, the fighting came down to fierce hand-to-hand combat- and yet the Sikh
held. Repelled briefly by the fierce defense, commander Ishar Singh ordered his men
to retreat to the signaling tower while he held the breach in the wall alone.
Ishar Singh was eventually overwhelmed, but bought enough time for his men to set
up new positions along the signaling tower. The men would all fall one by one, with
the last to die being Gurmukh Singh, the heliograph operator. He would be
burned to death as the Pashtun set fire to the signaling tower, and was heard to be
repeatedly shouting out the Sikh battle cry, “Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal!”- meaning “Shout
aloud in ecstasy! True is the great Timeless One.” The Sikh were killed to a man, but are estimated
to have inflicted between 180 and 600 losses on the Pashtun. The greater victory however
was in their delay of the Pashtun forces, which allowed reinforcements to arrive at
the British forts and prevent their fall. These brave Sikh soldiers showed a dedication
to duty that would make them heroes in death, but one man almost two thousand
years before them would show a dedication that would set an example for all time. Sempronius Densus Military service is about duty and honor
above all else- even your personal feelings. One man in history would espouse these
sacred virtues like none other or before him. Little is known of Sempronius Densus, a
man history would find utterly unworthy of being remembered, save for how his
life ended. What is known is that he was a centurion in the Praetorian Guard,
and bodyguard to the emperor himself. Following Emperor Nero's death, Rome underwent
a turbulent time known as the 'year of the four emperors'. Galba would be the first of these
short-lived emperors. By what accounts we have he was a strict disciplinarian bordering on
cruelty, and stirred up the wrath of the people by disbanding faithful German mercenaries
and sending them back home with no reward for their service. He also dispersed a crowd of
protesting marines who had served as legionnaires and now demanded they receive their own eagle
standard, by ordering a cavalry charge against them. Afterwards he had the marines rounded up
and enacted the traditional Roman punishment of decimation- where for every set number of men
one would be singled out and brutally killed. Needless to say, Galba was extremely unpopular
both with the military and with the civilian population. When he turned up Marcus Otho for
appointment as his deputy and heir, Otho took it upon himself to simply murder Galba and his chosen
successor and become emperor himself. The task would be an easy one, as most of the praetorian
guard was loyal to Otho and not to Galba. As Emperor Galba and his successor were being
carried through the streets of Rome on litters, Otho made his move. An estimated crowd of
1,000 marched upon the royal entourage, which immediately either began to defect
and join Otho or simply stood aside and did nothing to stop the carnage which was to come. But Sempronius Densus had sworn an oath to
the position of Emperor, regardless of which man sat on the throne and how he personally felt
about them. It was his job to guard the emperor, even give his life if necessary, and as the
crowd neared he first drew a switch made of vine, with which centurions discipline soldiers.
He then bellowed out at the crowd and ordered them to stop immediately. The crowd
ignored him and continued pressing forward. Alone and outnumbered a thousand
to one, Sempronius drew his sword. What happened next has been recorded by
several historians, with Plutarch commenting “And when they came upon him hand-to-hand, he drew
his sword, and made a defense for a long time, until at last he was cut under the
knees and brought to the ground.” It's not known how many assassins Sempronius
killed, but his dedication to duty was enough to inspire antiquity's greatest historians to record
his name, while the names of the other traitorous bodyguards have long been forgotten to history.
Dio Cassius would go on to write about Sempronius Desnus, “This is why I have recorded his name,
for he is most worthy of being mentioned.” Our next greatest last stand would set the
standard for knights in the middle ages. Battle of Roncevaux Pass In 778 Charlemagne, king of the Francs,
was expanding his kingdom and adding to his future legend. Looking for territory in the
Iberian peninsula, the governor of Barcelona, Sulayman Ibn al-Arabi, offered Charlemagne
an alliance. He would submit to Charlemagne's superior force and even aid him in conquering
much of Spain, and in exchange for his loyalty he asked Charlemagne to aid in their
defense from an invasion by Abd ar-Rahman. Charlemagne saw this as an opportunity to
expand Christianity and add to his power, and thus agreed. He crossed the Pyrenees and
sacked the city of Pamplona, then headed to Zaragoza, a major economic and cultural hub.
Zaragoza however did not submit as expected, and Charlemagne was forced to
put it under a lengthy siege. While he was in Iberia though, a Saxon rebellion
sprung up back home in France and Charlemagne sought to conclude his adventures in the peninsula
as quickly as possible. In exchange for leaving the city alone, Charlemagne was given several
political prisoners and a large payment of gold. On his way back home Charlemagne sought to
secure his gains by building several forts and more importantly, preventing the local
Basque from mounting a military challenge against him. This included the destruction of
the defensive works of the city of Pamplona, the Basque capital, though some accounts
state that he razed the city to the ground. Whatever the truth of it was, it angered
the Basque to the point that they were determined to destroy Charlemagne and his
men- and they knew exactly when to strike. As Charlemagne began to cross the Pyrenees, the
Basque forces overtook his own thanks to their superior knowledge of the region. This allowed
them to set up an ambush at the narrow crossing of the Roncevaux Pass. The Basque had inferior
equipment compared to the professional French forces, but they had the high ground and superior
knowledge of the terrain. As night began to fall, they launched an attack against Charlemagne's rear
guard, throwing the entire army into disarray. The front of the army was pressured to push
further into the pass so as to allow the rest of the army to escape, but the narrow pass
made quickly moving large amounts of troops impossible. The tight confines also made it
difficult to establish an organized defense. If the Basque could break through the
rearguard of the army, they would be able to slaughter the rest of it as it tried to
desperately push the bottleneck ahead of it. But Charlemagne's rearguard was led by
one of Charlemagne's best commanders, Roland. Roland organized a defense of the rear
and beat back the Basque assault. However, their superior numbers and tactical position
led them to eventually overwhelm Roland and his knights- but not before he had bought
enough time for the army to escape to safety. Charlemagne ended up losing his entire baggage
train, to include much of the gold plundered in Spain, as well as some of his best knights
and commanders. Roland would go on to be immortalized in song and poem for his brave
last stand, and the conduct of his men against impossible odds would become the standard
expected of knights during the Middle Ages. The soldier in our next greatest last
stand resorted to breaking people's necks with his bare hands
when his weapons were lost. Dian Wei Dian Wei was a commander in
the army of the Kingdom of Wei, very much a soldier's soldier who often
took watch along with the rest of his men. While on the move, Wei would often retire
to a tent alongside his soldiers rather than the lavish personal quarters
appointed to a man of his position. Dian Wei was also apparently a very large man,
said to have strength far in excess that of an ordinary man. This is apparently true, as he is
also recorded as wielding two forty pound axes in battle, with a sword at his belt for backup.
Favored by Emperor Cao Cao, Wei was made his personal bodyguard as well as commander in his
army as he invaded the kingdom of Jing Zhou. But the king, Zhang Xiu, had a cunning
plan of his own. He feigned surrender to Cao Cao, and to celebrate, Cao Cao
invited Zhang Xiu to a great banquet. Ten days after the banquet though, Zhang Xiu
rebelled, and with Cao Cao's defenses down, sent a force of assassins
to kill Cao Cao in his camp. Dian Wei, along with ten men, stood their
ground at the entrance to the camp as the emperor made his getaway on a fast horse. Dian
Wei set about destroying anyone foolish enough to approach the camp, his twin forty-pound
axes carving up assassins left and right. Though he was grievously wounded numerous times,
he refused to give up any ground . Slowly though Dian Wei's men began to fall one by
one, until eventually only he remained. By now the assassins had overrun the camp and
now attacked Dian Wei from all sides. Still he fought on with his massive axes, until
at one point he grabbed two traitors and, according to historians, killed them by
breaking their necks. Eventually though, the giant man was brought down, but not before
letting off one more terrifying battlecry. The survivors refused to approach his
body for a long time, until finally they celebrated their victory by decapitating Dian
Wei. When Emperor Cao Cao heard of his death, he wept and threw a lavish funeral for
his favorite bodyguard and commander, elevating Dian Wei's son
to a position of prestige. Our next greatest last stand shows what
happens when you push people too far. Siege of the Warsaw Ghetto During Hitler's reign of terror
he enacted the 'Final Solution', a plan to exterminate the Jews
and other undesirables from Europe and thus leave only the pureblooded German
aryans behind. As part of this final solution, Jewish communities that fell under German
control were forced to live in local ghettos, from which they would be slowly but surely removed
to be sent to work and extermination camps. When Poland fell to the Nazis, the Jewish quarter
of the city was surrounded by barbed wire. Later a ten foot wall would be built, all with
the purpose of keeping the Jews in and everyone else out. The living conditions were horrible as
an approximately half a million Jews were confined to a tiny area. This led to people living as much
as nine to a single room, with plenty more living in alleys, stairwells, and hallways. Starvation
from the meager rations afforded them by the Germans was frequent, as was death by disease
which swept through the packed ghetto with ease. In July of 1942 the Nazis began to ship 5,000
Jews a day to the Treblinka concentration camp, where most would be killed. Others who were
lucky could be expected to live a bit longer, sent instead to work camps where they
would engage in backbreaking labor on behalf of the Nazis. By the end of September
the Germans had removed most of the population, with only about 55,000 Jews
left in the Warsaw ghetto. In January of 1943, Heinrich Himmler accelerated
plans to exterminate the Warsaw Jews, and ordered the deportation of another 8,000.
This announcement took the population by surprise, and instead of reporting as ordered the Jews
hid all across the ghetto. Having formed into a resistance movement, the population began
for what would certainly be an attack on the ghetto by German forces. To this end they had
either created or sourced hundreds of pistols, some rifles, one machine gun, and homemade bombs. To honor Hitler's birthday on April 20th, Himmler
sent the German military into the ghetto with orders to completely clear it out by the next
day. Clearly not expecting much resistance, the Germans entered the ghetto with about
2,000 troops accompanied by a few tanks. Almost immediately they came under fire from
the resistance, resulting in a massive firefight as the Germans tried to push deeper into
the Ghetto. Unable to advance even with the help of their tanks, the Germans
were forced to retreat as night fell. The next day they returned with flamethrowers,
smoke bombs, and attack dogs, but the battle for the Warsaw ghetto would take up three days
as the Jews fought back fiercely. In the end, the Jewish resistance had killed several hundred
Germans, and in revenge the Germans immediately killed 7,000 Jews, sending another 22,000 to
extermination camps and the rest to labor camps. Our next greatest last stand saw a
single man hold up an entire army. Battle of Stamford Bridge It was the battle that signified
the end of the Viking age, but in true Viking fashion it would include
a deed so legendary it's hardly believable. With the death of King Edward the Confessor,
England's throne was up for grabs and several would-be kings quickly gathered their
armies to claim it for themselves. Among these was the King of Norway, Harald
Hardrada. With a force of 300 ships, Hardrada set sail for England, landing
on its northeast coast. Upon landing, he was further reinforced by forces from
Tostig Godwinson, who had been passed up for the crown and instead had his older brother
Harold elected king by the king's council. Harald took his time sacking several English
cities when news reached King Harold of the Norwegian invasion. Expecting an
invasion from France by William, Duke of Normandy and another contender for the
throne, King Harold had moved his forces to the southern border of England. Now he needed to
move quickly to neutralize the Viking threat, and in an incredible feat of endurance his army
marched 185 miles (298 km) in just four days. This took the Vikings completely by surprise, so much so that as the English soldiers
crested a nearby hill, Harald and his men rushed to put on their armor and grab weapons.
But there was a single obstacle standing in the way of the English army- a narrow bridge,
and upon that bridge one massive Norse axeman. History doesn't record the axeman's name,
probably because he was too busy killing Englishmen to give it to anyone. What is known
is that he killed as many as 40 english soldiers who tried to cross that bridge, and forced
the army to halt in its tracks. Eventually, an english soldier got the idea to cut a barrel
in half and use it to float under the bridge, thrusting his spear up in between the cracks
and delivering a fatal wound to the axeman. The rest of the Viking army would fail to live
up to the example set by this lone warrior, and after a bloody clash with the English
would break and run for their ships. The invasion of England was ended with the killing
of King Hardrada via an arrow to his throat and with Tostig slain in battle, and with their
deaths the age of the Viking also came to an end. Our next greatest last stand would once more see
a single man stop an entire army in its tracks. Saito Susashibo Benkei Little is known about the man whom would be
known simply as 'Benkei'. It's said that he was the offspring of a temple god, while others
say he was a half-demon. He was an imposing figure no matter his background, standing
about 6 feet 6 inches tall (2 meters), and was said to be a monstrously ugly man-
hence the rumors of his half-demon origin. Benkei joined several Buddhist monasteries in
Japan at an early age, traveling between each and gaining an education in various traditional
Japanese weapons. In 12th century Japan, Buddhist monasteries were less places of
peaceful soul-searching, and more centers of military power similar to the Roman legions-
only typically up for grabs to the highest bidder. Benkei eventually left the monasteries behind
and joined the yamagushi, or mountain hermits. At some point though he returned
to civilization and had a serious bone to pick with the samurai warrior
caste. It's said that he wandered the streets of Kyoto every night on a personal
quest to kill 1,000 samurai and take their swords as trophies, as he found the
samurai to be arrogant and unworthy. Eventually Benkei collected 999 swords and went
in search of his final sword when he came across a young man playing the flute at Gojotenjin Shrine
in Kyoto. The man was much smaller than Benkei and carried a fancy, gilded sword at his waist. Benkei
saw an easy opportunity to get his 1,000th sword, and challenged the young samurai
to a duel. To his astonishment, Benkei lost the duel and the
mystery samurai spared his life. Benkei would learn that the samurai who defeated
him was none other than Minamoto no Yoshitsune, son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, head of
the Minamoto clan. A few days later, Benkei went looking for revenge and waited for
Yoshitsune at the Buddhist temple of Kiyomizu. Once more the smaller samurai
defeated the hulking Benkei though. This time Benkei pledged an oath of loyalty
to the only man to ever best him in battle, and he became Yoshitsune's retainer. Benkei joined Yoshitsune in several battles, but
then Yoshitsune's brother took power for himself and established Japan's first shogunate.
To prevent any challenge to his authority, he declared Yoshitsune an outlaw, and
the duo were hunted for over four years. The two were eventually cornered in
the castle of Koromogawa no tate, and knowing that there could be no escape,
Yoshitsune made one final request of Benkei- buy him enough time to commit sepukku,
or ritual suicide. The act of sepukku would deny his traitorous brother his victory,
and allow Yoshitsune to die with full honor. But sepukku is an elaborate ritual, and Benkei
needed to buy enough time for his lord to complete it. Armed with his giant naginata, a form
of Japanese polearm, Benkei took up position at the other end of the bridge leading to the
main gate, and dared the soldiers to approach. At least 300 of them did, and history records
that they were all killed by Benkei and his massive naginata. The mountain of a man
had taken numerous wounds in the battle, but still stood firm. Believing
that the man was unbeatable, the besieging army instead opted to fill
him with as many arrows as they could fire. Much to their shock as they looked across
the bridge after their storm of arrows, Benkei was still standing, his armor covered
with arrows so he looked like a porcupine. Eventually several soldiers were ordered
forward, and to their surprise discovered that Benkei had died standing up- likely
because some of the arrows had helped keep him propped up. This would become
known as the “Standing Death of Benkei”, and is remembered to this day by a statue of
Benkei holding his ground in his final stand. Now go check out Battle of Thermopylae, Spartans
vs Persians, or click this other video instead!
