It is well known that after the Battle of Thermopylae Xerxes ordered the beheading of Leonidas and then also crucified him.

Over the generations, this has become one of those "dreadful" tales about Xerxes and the Persian conduct in the second invasion of the Greek mainland.

I do not want to defend Xerxes... I do however feel that we should bear some other facts in mind.

The crucifixion of Leonidas' body is explained by Herodotus from Xerxes' hatred of the Spartan king.
This is an exaggeration. A Persian king was supposed to mutilate the bodies of defeated enemies. In the Behistun inscription, nearly all Darius' enemies receive this treatment, and Alexander the Great was to do the same after he had defeated Bessus. William Wallace made a sheath for his sword from the skin of the English herald after the Battle of Sterling Bridge.

I would like to draw particular attention to the Zulus.... after defeating an enemy, it was their custom to Assegai the fallen enemy and rip open his stomach. For our way of thinking this is a particularly barbaric act. The Zulus believed however that they were freeing the enemy´s soul.

It would therefore seem that Leonidas was not the first and certainly won´t be the last to come to such a fate.