460 – 457 BC) was a Spartan military commander and a scion of the royal Agiad dynasty.
[2] During this time, Leonidas' son Pleistarchus (reigned 480–458 BC) was not yet of age to rule.
When the Phocians attacked the Doris, which was considered the homeland of the Dorians of Sparta, the Spartans retaliated.
The Athenians saw an opportunity, and in 457 BC assembled an army of 14,000 men, including 1,000 Argives and contingents from their other allies, and marched north to engage their enemy.
They took the opportunity to return home by the land route across the Isthmus of Corinth, cutting down the fruit trees as they went.