300 stand in defiance

Five years ago today-5 September 2020-marked a turning point in the history of Melbourne. For those who lived through it, more so than in any other Australian city, the intensity of our COVID-19 experience has etched itself into the fabric of our collective being. As much as we may wish to move on or forget, the memory persists. Even now, Melburnians-regardless of where we stood, whether as anti-lockdown crusaders, 'I stand with Dan' loyalists, or somewhere in between-continue to mark time in everyday speech with phrases like 'pre-COVID' or 'since COVID.'

But this day, in particular, deserves more than passing reflection. It warrants the kind of historical gravity we reserve for moments that alter destiny. I would compare it, without exaggeration, to the stand at Thermopylae in 480 BC-not for its violence, but for its symbolism: a confrontation between an overwhelming invading power and individual resistance, between fear and resolve, between the ordinary and the mythic.

Melbourne 2020

Saturday 5 September marked Day 101 of complete societal lockdown-originally announced on 31 March as a two-week pause to 'slow the curve' of an unknown virus. The public's initial compliance had been near-total. And so emboldened by the popular response, the Victorian government was pursuing a new, myopic goal: eradication of the virus at any cost. For millions of ordinary people, weeks of house arrest became months. The suffering grew-inhumane, illogical, and increasingly unnecessary. The WHO had already warned that lockdowns should only ever be a last resort.

On 1 September, thirteen senior Victorian doctors issued an open letter to Premier Andrews, urging him to end the harsh restrictions, which they argued were now evidently, clearly more harmful than the virus itself. But the government wasn't listening. In desperation, members of the public called for a protest to bring the lockdown to an end-'Freedom Day'-on 5 September.

The gathering site chosen was the Shrine of Remembrance. Built to honour the diggers of WWI, and now a memorial to all Australians who've served in war, the Shrine was designed to mimic the classical Greek form-its Doric columns and solemn symmetry echoing the valour and civic duty of ancient warriors. A fitting backdrop in humanity's enduring fight against tyranny.

Sparta 480 BC

Sparta, alongside Athens and the other Greek city-states, faced an existential threat from an invading force exceeding 150,000 men-the largest army the ancient world had ever assembled-led by King Xerxes of Persia. Driven by imperial ambition and a desire to avenge his father Darius the Great's earlier defeat at Marathon, Xerxes was determined to subjugate Greece and complete the conquest that had eluded his dynasty.

King Leonidas of Sparta understood that no force within his command could hope to halt the vast army Xerxes had assembled. Yet tyranny, however overwhelming, demanded resistance. He selected 300 of his most seasoned warriors-men who had already fathered sons, ensuring their lineage would endure-and marched north to confront the Persians at Thermopylae, where the enemy would be forced to funnel through a narrow coastal pass. Their stand was not a bid for victory, but a deliberate act of defiance, intended to inspire and unify the fractured Greek city-states in the face of imperial conquest.

It is worth reflecting on what was truly at stake in this moment, even to impact our present history. Athens harboured the embryonic forms of the philosophical and civic traditions that would later shape modern democratic thought. Had Persia triumphed, these nascent institutions might have been extinguished before they had the chance to mature. For a vivid and spectacular representation of the defiant stand taken by Leonidas and his elite Spartan warriors at Thermopylae-now enshrined as part of our Western foundational legend-I recommend Zack Snyder's 2006 epic film 300.

300 stand in defiance

Melbourne's proposed 'Freedom Day' arrived. But under Stage 4 lockdown, gatherings were strictly forbidden. Any step outside of the home was discouraged-holding a protest sign was treated as tantamount to sedition. The Victorian government made its stance unmistakable, flooding mainstream media with images of riot police in new military-style gear, vowing that any protester who approached the Shrine would be swiftly removed before their feet touched the ground. Their threats went beyond legal, they were physical.