Aesop Tsolakoglou was a Republic Army general during the Great Galactic War, Cold War, and Galactic War. He became famous after leading troops in the Battle of Thermopylae, a significant victory for the Galactic Republic. It was not necessarily strategically important, but a raised Republic morale in a time of defeat. Hailing from the planet of Axum in the Core Worlds, Tsolakoglou was originally aspiring to be a historian, having an interest in pre-Republic civilizations. However, he decided against it, instead being convinced by a recruiter to join the Army, which he did, in 3,688 BBY. He attended the Raithal Academy and graduated with the rank of major in 3,682 BBY. Tsolakoglou was stationed in the Outer Rim Territories and saw action in some of the first battles of the conflict.