300!

The Battle of Thermopylae took place in August or September 480 BC at the pass of Thermopylae. King Leonidas of Sparta led an allied force of c. 7000 men to block the advancing Persian army led by King Xerxes. It occurred during the second Persian invasion of Greece.

Leonidas took 300 men of the royal bodyguard and more support troops joined the party on the way. By the time they arrived at the pass more than 5000 men had joined at camp was set up to defend the narrowest part of the pass. By mid August the Persian army was sighted approaching the pass. Xerxes sent an emissary to negotiate with Leonidas, offering them ‘freedom and to be friends of the Persian people’. Un-surprisingly Leonidas refused the offer, and told the emissary ‘come get them’ when asked to lay down his weapons. The resulting battle was inevitable.
The Persian army is thought to have numbered over 200 000 men. However the Greeks held them up for 7 days before being annihilated.
According to Herodotus, the Spartans consulted the Oracle of Delphi earlier in the year and Leonidas knew he was going to lose the battle and his life.

In part, this is the basis of 300, a blockbuster movie released in 2007.

However, for us, ‘300’ is associated with October 20th. This is the day when we finally broke the 300 nests in one season.