The Persian Wars, or GrecoPersian Wars 490479 BC

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The Persian Wars, or Greco-Persian Wars490-479 BC
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Map of Greece and Colonies

• Greece to the west (left). Notice location of
  Attica (Athens, Marathon, Thermopylae) and the
  Peloponnesus (Sparta). Asia Minor (Part of
  Persian empire) to the east (right). Notice
  Lydia (Asia Minor) and the city states along the
  coast.

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Greece and Asia MinorLocate the Persian Empire,
Greece (Attica and Peloponnesus)
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Persian Empire
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Events Leading to Outbreak of War Between Greece
and Persia

• In the middle of the sixth century BC (the
  500s), the Greek city-states () along the
  coast of Asia Minor came under the control of the
  Lydians and their king, Croesus (560-546 BC).
  However, when the Persians conquered the Lydians
  in 546 BC, all the states subject to the Lydians
  became subject to the Persians.
• The Persians controlled their new subject-states
  very closely they appointed individuals to rule
  the states as tyrants. () They also required
  citizens to serve in the Persian army and to pay
  fairly steep taxes. Now, is that a good deal?
  Goodbye liberty and independence.
• http//www.wsu.edu/dee/GREECE/PERSIAN.HTM
• City-state. An independent political unit
  consisting of a city and surrounding territory.
  Called Polis. ?????.
• Tyrant. t??a???? tyrannos. A person who came
  to power (usually in times of social stress)
  through illegitimate means (not by vote) e.g.,
  support from a certain faction of the polis
  (e.g., social class). Tyrants were not
  necessarily bad rulers.

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• Smarting under these new burdens and anxious for
  independence, the tyrant () of Miletus,
  Aristagoras, began a democratic rebellion in 499
  BC.(H)e fomented a popular rebellion against the
  Persians and went to the Greek mainland (Attica
  and the Peloponnesus) for support.
• He went first to the Spartans (in the
  Peloponnesus), since they were the most powerful
  state in Greece, but the Spartans refused. When
  he approached the Athenians (in Attica), they
  promised him twenty ships.
• In 498 BC, the Athenians conquered and burned
  Sardis, which was the capital of Lydia, and all
  the Greek cities in Asia Minor joined the revolt.
  The Athenians, however, lost interest and went
  home by 495 BC, the Persians, under king Darius
  I (521-486 BC), had restored control over the
  rebellious Greek cities.
• http//www.wsu.edu/dee/GREECE/PERSIAN.HTM
• Tyrant. t??a???? tyrannos. A person who came
  to power (usually in times of social stress)
  through illegitimate means (not by vote) e.g.,
  support from a certain faction of the polis
  (e.g., social class). Tyrants were not
  necessarily bad rulers.
• Polis. ?????. A city-state and its citizens.

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• Battles
• Marathon. 490 BC
• Thermopylae. 480 BC
• Salamis. 480 BC
• Plataea. 479 BC

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• To punish the Greeks for interfering with his
  control over Asia Minor, the Persian King Darius
  I, in 490 BC, launched his first invasion of the
  Greek mainland.

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Darius I and his subjects
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The Persian king (Who?...) lived pretty well.
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• The Persian and Greek armies met at the field of
  Marathon, a flat battlefield twenty-six miles
  north of Athens.
• Persians had 600 ships and 20,000 foot soldiers
  and cavalry.
• Greeks had 10,000 soldiers, called hoplites.
  
• The Greek force was mostly Athenians, but some
  Plataeans. The Spartans were busy with a
  religious festival and couldnt make the fight.
  After the battle, a few Spartans showed up to see
  how things had turned out.
• Hoplite. ?p??t?? hoplites. Greek
  citizen-soldiers named for their shield (hoplon.
  ?p???), who fought in the phalanx (defined
  later).
• Lets see how the Greeks
  fought.

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• Panoply (Armor and Weapons) of the Greek Hoplite

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Corslet, or Cuirass
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Corslet, Rear
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Muscled Cuirass
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Corinthian Helmet With Plume
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Corinthian Helmet
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Bell Cuirass and Helmet
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Hoplon. Hoplite Shield
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Hoplon Inside
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Hoplon With Aegis of Athena Head of Gorgon
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Hoplon. Front and Back
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Greaves
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Spear Heads

• The hoplites spear was 9-12 feet long, and had
  a metal point on each end.

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Stone Relief of Hoplites
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Spartan Hoplite Identify each item in
the panoply.
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Athenian Hoplite
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Persian ImmortalFight with wicker and cloth.
Good idea!
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Persian Soldiers
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Persians at Marathon. Note Weaker Armor and
Weapons
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• Compare and contrast the panoply of Greeks and
  Persians.
• How much protection?
• How lethal?
• Note that some Persians were archers. How useful
  would arrows be against the Greek hoplon (metal)?

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• Hoplite Warfare. Shock Combat in Phalanx
  Formation

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The Phalanx First Rank
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• The Greek phalanx was nearly unstoppable in its
  intended mode of combat head-on, on straight,
  level ground, with adequate protection on the
  flanks. Hoplite battles frequently took place in
  long, straight valleys--so common in the Greek
  mainland--where the phalanx could occupy the
  entire width of the valley and thus protect its
  flanks and its rear. A single site would
  frequently be the location of battle after battle
  through the ages, its desirability as a
  battlefield undiminished.
• Hoplite combat was centered around a single idea
  that battle should be bloody, horrible, and
  decisive. This fit the needs of an agrarian
  society that could not spare its men to a
  professional army, but needed them back in time
  for harvest.
• Battles were short, and casualties were
  surprisingly low (proportionally to the
  combatants) in comparison with modern combat.
  Through most of their history, the ancient Greeks
  meant to keep wars short--even just a single
  battle--so that people could get back to their
  lives. If they frequently judged war to be
  necessary, it was still just a necessary evil.
  http//qa.perl.org/phalanx/history.html
• Victor David Hanson, The Western Way of War
  Infantry Battle in Classical Greece. University
  of California Press, 1989.

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• Since the late 19th century ad, historians have
  debated how the Greek armies actually joined
  battle. The old school of thought advocated an
  orderly advance into battle in which front rank
  fought front rank, with soldiers in the second
  rank waiting to fill the places of the fallen or
  fatigued.
• But a new generation of classicists, led by
  Victor Davis Hanson of the University of
  California at Santa Cruz, has taken another look
  at the primary sources and has come to a
  different conclusion. The new interpretation
  describes phalanx battle as the collision of two
  battle squares in which, as the 4th-century bc
  Spartan soldier and historian Xenophon described
  it, crashing their shields together, they
  shoved, fought, slew and died.
• The typical Greek phalanx formation deployed in a
  closely packed rank and file, usually but not
  always eight ranks deep. The organization of the
  phalanx was based more on files than on
  ranks ----
• ----,
• with the hoplite belonging to his file rather
  than his rank. The basic idea was to maintain a
  solid front after the opposing sides collided, to
  deny the enemy gaps to penetrate.
• http//www.historynet.com/weaponry-greek-phalanx.h
  tm

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Phalanx Ranks and Files
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What the enemy saw.
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• The key to the Greek phalanxs success was in
  its innovative organization and technologies. The
  phalangeal formation consisted of heavy
  infantrymen or hoplites, so named because of the
  ingenious shield or hoplon each carried into
  battle. The hoplon itself was a round, convex
  shield nearly 3 feet in diameter and weighing
  more than 15 pounds. The essential difference
  between the hoplon and the older shield was that
  the latter could hang by its strap from time to
  time, allowing a soldier to rest his arm, and was
  used in combat by holding a grip behind the
  central boss. The newer hoplon remained locked
  onto the forearm, with its weight borne by the
  left shoulder, resulting in more effective and
  prolonged use. The disadvantage was that since
  the hoplon was now gripped with the left hand
  near its rim, half the shield projected to the
  infantrymans left, effectively protecting only
  the left side of his body. To compensate for that
  deficiency, Greek soldiers began to stand side by
  side, employing the overlap of the shield to
  protect the right side of their bodies. Thus
  Thucydides explains the tendency of hoplites to
  edge to their right as the result of each man,
  in his anxiety, getting his unprotected side as
  close as possible to the shield of the man
  standing on his right, and thinking that the more
  closely the shields were locked, the better the
  protection.
• http//www.historynet.com/weaponry-greek-phalanx.h
  tm

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• Another consequence of this new defensive
  formation was the abandonment of the Bronze Age,
  Homeric-style throwing spear for a thrusting
  spear, necessarily creating a tactical system
  that relied exclusively on shock. So important
  had the thrusting spear become that the sword was
  only utilized in emergencies.
• Scholars are not certain whether the use of this
  new equipment spawned a radical change in
  battlefield tactics or vice versa. It is
  believed, though, that the adoption of the hoplon
  and the abandonment of the throwing spear
  reinforced the hoplites dependence on collective
  warfare. Unlike the rectangular shield or scutum
  of the later Roman legionary or the lighter round
  shield of the early medieval warrior, the hoplon
  afforded the Greek heavy infantryman little
  protection from an attack on his side and rear.
  In fact, the entire hoplite panoply evolved to
  satisfy the offensive and defensive role of the
  collective frontal attack. Perhaps even more
  important and more fateful this newfound
  dependence on mutual support necessitated
  innovation in the size and shape of the phalanx.
• http//www.historynet.com/weaponry-greek-phalanx.h
  tm

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Phalanx Tactics Crash, Stab, Push
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Greek Hoplite Vs. Persian
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Spear, Sword, and Full Panoply
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Hoplite Phalanx
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Hoplite Phalanx
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First Invasion by Darius I, Persian King.
Marathon.

• To punish the Greeks, the Persians, in 490 BC,
  launched an expedition against Athens. They were
  met, however, by one of their former soldiers,
  Miltiades. Unlike other Athenians, he knew the
  Persian army and he knew its tactics.

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Route of Darius
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Marathon and Thermopylae
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Battle at Marathon

• The two armies, with the Athenians led by
  Miltiades, met at Marathon in Attica and the
  Athenians roundly defeated the invading army.
  This battle, the battle of Marathon (490 BC), is
  perhaps the single most important battle in Greek
  history.
• http//www.wsu.edu/dee/GREECE/PERSIAN.HTM

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From Herodotus. The Persian Wars. 440 BC

• 6.108 The Athenians were drawn up in order of
  battle in a sacred close belonging to Hercules,
  when they were joined by the Plataeans, who came
  in full force to their aid.
• 6.109 The Athenian generals were divided in
  their opinions and some advised not to risk a
  battle, because they were too few to engage such
  a host as that of the Medes, while others were
  for fighting at once and among these last was
  Miltiades. He therefore, seeing that opinions
  were thus divided, and that the less worthy
  counsel appeared likely to prevail, resolved to
  go to the Polemarch, and have a conference with
  him. For the man on whom the lot fell to be
  Polemarch at Athens was entitled to give his
  vote with the ten generals, since anciently the
  Athenians allowed him an equal right of voting
  with them. The Polemarch at this juncture was
  Callimachus of Aphidnae to him therefore
  Miltiades went, and said-
• Polemarch. A polemarch (from Ancient Greek
  p???µa????, polemarchos) was a senior military
  title in various ancient Greek city states
  (poleis). The title is composed out of the
  polemos (war) and archon (ruler/leader) and
  translates as "warleader" or "warlord".
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polemarch

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• "With thee it rests, Callimachus, either to
  bring Athens to slavery, or, by securing her
  freedom, to leave behind thee to all future
  generations a memory beyond even Harmodius and
  Aristogeiton. For never since the time that the
  Athenians became a people were they in so great a
  danger as now. If they bow their necks beneath
  the yoke of the Medes , the woes which they
  will have to suffer when given into the power of
  Hippias are already determined on if, on the
  other hand, they fight and overcome, Athens may
  rise to be the very first city in Greece. How it
  comes to pass that these things are likely to
  happen, and how the determining of them in some
  sort rests with thee, I will now proceed to make
  clear. We generals are ten in number, and our
  votes are divided half of us wish to engage,
  half to avoid a combat. Now, if we do not fight,
  I look to see a great disturbance at Athens which
  will shake men's resolutions, and then I fear
  they will submit themselves but if we fight the
  battle before any unsoundness show itself among
  our citizens, let the gods but give us fair play,
  and we are well able to overcome the enemy. On
  thee therefore we depend in this matter, which
  lies wholly in thine own power. Thou hast only to
  add thy vote to my side and thy country will be
  free, and not free only, but the first state in
  Greece. Or, if thou preferrest to give thy vote
  to them who would decline the combat, then the
  reverse will follow.
• Medes. Ancient people from Media (Greek
  word), in northwest region of Persian empire.
  Eventually part of Persian Empire. Another name
  for Persians.

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• 6.110 Miltiades by these words gained
  Callimachus and the addition of the Polemarch's
  vote caused the decision to be in favour of
  fighting.
• 6.111 Then at length, when his own turn was
  come, the Athenian battle was set in array, and
  this was the order of it. Callimachus the
  Polemarch led the right wing for it was at that
  time a rule with the Athenians to give the right
  wing to the Polemarch. After this followed the
  tribes, according as they were numbered, in an
  unbroken line while last of all came the
  Plataeans, forming the left wing. And ever since
  that day it has been a custom with the Athenians,
  in the sacrifices and assemblies held each fifth
  year at Athens, for the Athenian herald to
  implore the blessing of the gods on the Plataeans
  conjointly with the Athenians. Now, as they
  marshalled the host upon the field of Marathon,
  in order that the Athenian front might he of
  equal length with the Median, the ranks of the
  centre were diminished, and it became the weakest
  part of the line, while the wings were both made
  strong with a depth of many ranks.

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• 6.112 So when the battle was set in array, and
  the victims of anmial sacrifices to foretell
  future showed themselves favourable, instantly
  the Athenians, so soon as they were let go,
  charged the barbarians at a run. Now the distance
  between the two armies was little short of eight
  furlongs. Furlong 201 meters. The Persians,
  therefore, when they saw the Greeks coming on at
  speed, made ready to receive them, although it
  seemed to them that the Athenians were bereft of
  their senses, and bent upon their own
  destruction for they saw a mere handful of men
  coming on at a run without either horsemen or
  archers. Such was the opinion of the barbarians
  but the Athenians in close array fell upon them,
  and fought in a manner worthy of being recorded.
  They were the first of the Greeks, so far as I
  know, who introduced the custom of charging the
  enemy at a run, and they were likewise the first
  who dared to look upon the Median garb, and to
  face men clad in that fashion. Until this time
  the very name of the Medes had been a terror to
  the Greeks to hear.

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Pincer Movement
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• 6.113 The two armies fought together on the
  plain of Marathon for a length of time and in
  the mid battle, where the Persians themselves and
  the Sacae had their place, the barbarians were
  victorious, and broke and pursued the Greeks into
  the inner country but on the two wings the
  Athenians and the Plataeans defeated the enemy.
  A pincer movement. Let the enemy break through
  the front ranks, then close the two sides. Enemy
  is now trapped within the phalanx. Having so
  done, they suffered the routed barbarians to fly
  at their ease, and joining the two wings in one,
  fell upon those who had broken their own centre,
  and fought and conquered them. These likewise
  fled, and now the Athenians hung upon the
  runaways and cut them down, chasing them all the
  way to the shore, on reaching which they laid
  hold of the ships and called aloud for fire.
• 6.114 It was in the struggle here that
  Callimachus the Polemarch, after greatly
  distinguishing himself, lost his life Stesilaus
  too, the son of Thrasilaus, one of the generals,
  was slain and Cynaegirus, the son of Euphorion,
  having seized on a vessel of the enemy's by the
  ornament at the stern, had his hand cut off by
  the blow of an axe, and so perished as likewise
  did many other Athenians of note and name.

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• 6.116 The Persians accordingly sailed round
  Sunium. Heading to Athens to attack the city.
  But the Athenians with all possible speed marched
  away to the defence of their city, and succeeded
  in reaching Athens before the appearance of the
  barbarians and as their camp at Marathon had
  been pitched in a precinct of Hercules, so now
  they encamped in another precinct of the same god
  at Cynosarges. The barbarian fleet arrived, and
  lay to off Phalerum, which was at that time the
  haven of Athens but after resting awhile upon
  their oars, they departed and sailed away to
  Asia. The Persiqans realized that it was over.
• 6.117 There fell in this battle of Marathon, on
  the side of the barbarians, about six thousand
  and four hundred men on that of the Athenians,
  one hundred and ninety-two. Such was the number
  of the slain on the one side and the other. A
  strange prodigy likewise happened at this fight.
  Epizelus, the son of Cuphagoras, an Athenian, was
  in the thick of the fray, and behaving himself as
  a brave man should, when suddenly he was stricken
  with blindness, without blow of sword or dart
  and this blindness continued thenceforth during
  the whole of his after life. The following is the
  account which he himself, as I have heard, gave
  of the matter he said that a gigantic warrior,
  with a huge beard, which shaded all his shield,
  stood over against him but the ghostly semblance
  passed him by, and slew the man at his side.
  Such, as I understand, was the tale which
  Epizelus told.

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• Had the Athenians lost at Marathon, Greece would
  have come under the control of the Persians.
  Therefore, the political, cultural (arts,
  philosophy, architecture), and scientific
  accomplishments of the Greeks would probably not
  have happened. Rome would not have had Greek
  culture on which to build. Christianity probably
  would not have developed. Europe would be vastly
  different. You would not be here. The theory of
  republican government would not have been
  developed for export here, as the foundation of
  our political system.
• Next time you have the chance, thank the Greeks.

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Burial Mound at Marathon
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Special Burial Mound for Plataeans
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Battle at Thermopylae
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• Ten years after Marathon, in 480 BC, Xerxes, son
  of Darius invaded mainland Greece. To finish what
  his father had started.
• Xerxes I of Persia was a King of Persia (reigned
  485465 BC) of the Achaemenid dynasty. Xérxes
  (??????) is the Greek form of the Old
  http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerxes_I_of_Persia

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Heres the route they took.
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• The Battle of Thermopylae th?r mópp?lee
  (Greek Te?µ?p??a?), detailed primarily by
  Herodotus, was fought in August 480 BC1,
  between an alliance of Greek city-states and the
  invading Persian Empire of Xerxes I, at the pass
  of Thermopylae in central Greece.
• Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held up the
  Persians advance for six days, before the
  rear-guard was annihilated in one of history's
  most famous last stands.
• During two full days of battle, the small force
  led by King Leonidas I of Sparta blocked the only
  road through which the massive Persian army could
  pass. After the second day of battle, a local
  resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by
  revealing a mountain path that led behind the
  Greek lines. Aware that they were being
  outflanked, Leonidas dismissed the bulk of the
  Greeks, remaining to guard the pass with 300
  Spartans, 700 Thespian, 400 Thebans and perhaps a
  few hundred others. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B
  attle_of_Thermopylae

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What dId Xerxes bring to Thermopylae?

• A lot! Heres what
  Herodotus says.
• First there was the ancient complement of the
  twelve hundred and seven vessels which came with
  the king from Asia - the contingents of the
  nations severally - amounting, if we allow to
  each ship a crew of two hundred men, to 241,400 -
  Each of these vessels had on board, besides
  native soldiers, thirty fighting men, who were
  either Persians, Medes, or Sacans which gives an
  addition of 36,210. To these two numbers I shall
  further add the crews of the penteconters which
  may be reckoned, one with another, at fourscore
  men each. Of such vessels there were (as I said
  before) three thousand and the men on board them
  accordingly would be 240,000. This was the sea
  force brought by the king from Asia and it
  amounted in all to 517,610 men. The number of the
  foot soldiers was 1,700,000 that of the horsemen
  80,000 to which must be added the Arabs who rode
  on camels, and the Libyans who fought in
  chariots, whom I reckon at 20,000. The whole
  number, therefore, of the land and sea forces
  added together amounts to 2,317,610 men. Such was
  the force brought from Asia, without including
  the camp followers, or taking any account of the
  provision- ships and the men whom they had on
  board.

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• 7.185 To the amount thus reached we have still
  to add the forces gathered in Europe, concerning
  which I can only speak from conjecture. The
  Greeks dwelling in Thrace, and in the islands off
  the coast of Thrace, furnished to the fleet one
  hundred and twenty ships the crews of which
  would amount to 24,000 men. Besides these,
  footmen were furnished by the Thracians, the
  Paeonians, the Eordians, the Bottiaeans, by the
  Chalcidean tribes, by the Brygians, the Pierians,
  the Macedonians, the Perrhaebians the Enianians,
  the Dolopians, the Magnesians, the Achaeans and
  by all the dwellers upon the Thracian sea-board
  and the forces of these nations amounted, I
  believe, to three hundred thousand men. These
  numbers, added to those of the force which came
  out of Asia, make the sum of the fighting men
  2,641,610.

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• 7.201 King Xerxes pitched his camp in the
  region of Malis called Trachinia, while on their
  side the Greeks occupied the straits.
• These straits the Greeks in general call
  Thermopylae (the Hot Gates) but the natives, and
  those who dwell in the neighbourhood, call them
  Pylae (the Gates). Here then the two armies took
  their stand

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What did the Greeks Bring?

• 7.202 The Greeks who at this spot awaited the
  coming of Xerxes were the following- From
  Sparta, three hundred men-at-arms from Arcadia,
  a thousand Tegeans and Mantineans, five hundred
  of each people a hundred and twenty
  Orchomenians, from the Arcadian Orchomenus and a
  thousand from other cities from Corinth, four
  hundred men from Phlius, two hundred and from
  Mycenae eighty. Such was the number from the
  Peloponnese. There were also present, from
  Boeotia, seven hundred Thespians and four hundred
  Thebans.
• 7.203 Besides these troops, the Locrians of
  Opus and the Phocians had obeyed the call of
  their countrymen, and sent, the former all the
  force they had, the latter a thousand men.
• How many Persians?
• How many Greeks?
• Straits. A strait is a narrow, navigable
  channel of water that connects two larger
  navigable bodies of water. It most commonly
  refers to a channel of water that lies between
  two land masses. http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stra
  it

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How were the forces arranged?
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Leonidas of Sparta Led

• 7.204 The various nations had each captains of
  their own under whom they served but the one to
  whom all especially looked up, and who had the
  command of the entire force, was the
  Lacedaemonian, Spartan Leonidas.

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Leonidas. Spartan Strategos at ThermopylaeThe
Persian Great King, Xerxes, Sent a Message to
Leonidas. Give Us Your Weapons, and Live.
Leonidas Sent a Return Message Molon Labe
Come Get Them
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Statue of Leonidas
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One Reason for Spartan Leadership

• 7.206 The force with Leonidas was sent forward
  by the Spartans in advance of their main body,
  that the sight of them might encourage the allies
  to fight, and hinder them from going over to the
  Medes, as it was likely they might have done had
  they seen that Sparta was backward. That is,
  may have seemed as if they didnt want to fight.

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The Greeks Decide to Fight

• 7.207 The Greek forces at Thermopylae, when the
  Persian army drew near to the entrance of the
  pass, were seized with fear and a council was
  held to consider about a retreat. It was the wish
  of the Peloponnesians generally that the army
  should fall back upon the Peloponnese, and there
  guard the Isthmus. But Leonidas, who saw with
  what indignation the Phocians and Locrians heard
  of this plan, gave his voice for remaining where
  they were, while they sent envoys to the several
  cities to ask for help, since they were too few
  to make a stand against an army like that of the
  Medes.

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The Persian Kings View of the Greeks. From
Herodotus.

• 7.208 Xerxes sent a mounted spy to observe
  the Greeks, and note how many they were, and see
  what they were doing. He had heard, before he
  came out of Thessaly, that a few men were
  assembled at this place, and that at their head
  were certain Lacedaemonians, under Leonidas, a
  descendant of Hercules.
• (H)e observed those on the outside, who were
  encamped in front of the rampart. It chanced that
  at this time the Lacedaemonians held the outer
  guard, and were seen by the spy, some of them
  engaged in gymnastic exercises, others combing
  their long hair. At this the spy greatly
  marvelled, but he counted their number, and when
  he had taken accurate note of everything, he rode
  back quietly for no one pursued after him, nor
  paid any heed to his visit. So he returned, and
  told Xerxes all that he had seen.

81

• 7.209 Upon this, Xerxes, who had no means of
  surmising the truth - namely, that the Spartans
  were preparing to do or die manfully - but
  thought it laughable that they should be engaged
  in such employments, sent and called to his
  presence Demaratus the son of Ariston, who still
  remained with the army. When he appeared, Xerxes
  told him all that he had heard, and questioned
  him concerning the news, since he was anxious to
  understand the meaning of such behaviour on the
  part of the Spartans. Then Demaratus said -
• These men have come to dispute the pass with
  us and it is for this that they are now making
  ready. 'Tis their custom, when they are about to
  hazard their lives, to adorn their heads with
  care. Be assured, however, that if thou canst
  subdue the men who are here and the
  Lacedaemonians who remain in Sparta, there is no
  other nation in all the world which will venture
  to lift a hand in their defence. Because other
  nations would fear reprisals from the Persians.
  Thou hast now to deal with the first kingdom and
  town in Greece, and with the bravest men."

82
The Battle Starts. Xerxes Attacks with the Medes

• Four whole days he Xerxes suffered to go by,
  expecting that the Greeks would run away. When,
  however, he found on the fifth that they were not
  gone, thinking that their firm stand was mere
  impudence and recklessness, he grew wroth, and
  sent against them the Medes and Cissians, with
  orders to take them alive and bring them into his
  presence. Then the Medes rushed forward and
  charged the Greeks, but fell in vast numbers
  others however took the places of the slain, and
  would not be beaten off, though they suffered
  terrible losses. In this way it became clear to
  all, and especially to the king, that though he
  had plenty of combatants, he had but very few
  warriors. He realized that his soldiers were no
  match for the Greeks. WHY were they not? The
  struggle, however, continued during the whole day.

83
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84
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85
Then Xerxes sends in his best soldiers, the
Immortals

• 7.211 Then the Medes, having met so rough a
  reception, withdrew from the fight and their
  place was taken by the band of Persianswhom the
  king called his "Immortals" they, it was
  thought, would soon finish the business. But when
  they joined battle with the Greeks, 'twas with no
  better success than the Median detachment -
  things went much as before - the two armies
  fighting in a narrow space, and the barbarians
  using shorter spears than the Greeks, and having
  no advantage from their numbers. The
  Lacedaemonians fought in a way worthy of note,
  and showed themselves far more skilful in fight
  than their adversaries, often turning their
  backs, and making as though they were all flying
  away, Taunting the Persians. on which the
  barbarians would rush after them with much noise
  and shouting, when the Spartans at their approach
  would wheel round and face their pursuers, in
  this way destroying vast numbers of the enemy.
  Some Spartans likewise fell in these encounters,
  but only a very few. At last the Persians,
  finding that all their efforts to gain the pass
  availed nothing, and that, whether they attacked
  by divisions or in any other way, it was to no
  purpose, withdrew to their own quarters.

86
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87

• 7.212 During these assaults, it is said that
  Xerxes, who was watching the battle, thrice
  leaped from the throne on which he sate, in
  terror for his army.

88

• Next day the combat was renewed, but with no
  better success on the part of the barbarians. The
  Greeks were so few that the barbarians hoped to
  find them disabled, by reason of their wounds,
  from offering any further resistance and so they
  once more attacked them. But the Greeks were
  drawn up in detachments according to their
  cities, and bore the brunt of the battle in turns
  - all except the Phocians, who had been stationed
  on the mountain to guard the pathway. So, when
  the Persians found no difference between that day
  and the preceding, they again retired to their
  quarters.

89
Treachery

• A Greek peasant, Ephialtes, who lived in the
  hills near Thermopylae, visited Xerxes and
  offered to tell Xerxes how to go around the
  Greeks via a secret mountain path. He did this
  for money, it seems.
• Xerxes must have realized by now that this was
  the only way to defeat the Greeks.

90

• 7.215 Great was the joy of Xerxes on this
  occasion and as he approved highly of the
  enterprise which Ephialtes undertook to
  accomplish, he forthwith sent upon the errand
  Hydarnes, and the Persians under him. The troops
  left the camp about the time of the lighting of
  the lamps. Herodotus.
• The Persians followed the mountain path leading
  around the Greeks, to their back. Eventually
  they came upon the Greek Phocians who were
  guarding the mountain. The Persians attacked the
  Phocians with arrows. The Phocians retreated to
  the mountain top for what they thought would be a
  battle with the Persians.
• But the Persians simply kept on the path, and
  wound their way down the mountain until they were
  behind the Greekswho were now surrounded.

91
Leonidas decides to make a last stand with the
300 Spartans, to save Greece

• 7.219 The Greeks at Thermopylae received the
  first warning of the destruction which the dawn
  would bring on them from the seer Megistias, who
  read their fate in the victims as he was
  sacrificing. After this deserters Persians came
  in, and brought the news that the Persians were
  marching round by the hills it was still night
  when these men arrived. Last of all, the scouts
  came running down from the heights, and brought
  in the same accounts, when the day was just
  beginning to break.
• Then the Greeks held a council to consider what
  they should do, and here opinions were divided
  some were strong against quitting their post,
  while others contended to the contrary. So when
  the council had broken up, part of the troops
  departed and went their ways homeward to their
  several states part however resolved to remain,
  and to stand by Leonidas to the last.

92

• 7.220 It is said that Leonidas himself sent
  away the troops who departed, because he tendered
  their safety, but thought it unseemly that either
  he or his Spartans should quit the post which
  they had been especially sent to guard. He
  therefore commanded them to retreat, but said
  that he himself could not draw back with honour
  knowing that, if he stayed, glory awaited him,
  and that Sparta in that case would not lose her
  prosperity. For when the Spartans, at the very
  beginning of the war, sent to consult the oracle
  concerning it, the answer which they received
  from the Pythoness was "that either Sparta
  must be overthrown by the barbarians, or one of
  her kings must perish.
• Pythoness. Priestess oracle as Delphi, about
  75 miles north of Athens. Give her money and she
  foretells the future.

93
Pythoness at Delphi
94

• 222 The allies then who were dismissed departed
  and went away, obeying the word of Leonidas, and
  only the Thespians and the Thebans remained
  behind with the Spartans.
• By holding off the Persians and sending away
  most of the army, Leonidas enabled the rest of
  Greece to prepare for battles to come, when the
  Persians finally went through the pass at
  Thermopylae and headed south into Greece.
• Self-sacrifice for the good of the whole.

95
Heres what the Greeks valued.

• Simoneses of Creos
• On those Who Died at Thermopylae
• Of those who perished at the Hot Gates,
• all glorious is the fortune, fair the doom
• Their grave's an altar, ceaseless memory's theirs
• instead of lamentation, and their fate
• Is chant of praise. Such winding sheet as this
• no mould nor all-consuming time shall waste.
• This sepulchre of valiant men has taken
• the fair renown of Hellas for its inmate.
• And witness is Leonidas, once king
• of Sparta, who hath left behind a crown
• Of valour mighty and undying fame.
• On the Spartans Fallen at Plataea
• These men left an altar of glory on their land,
• shining in all weather,
• When they were enveloped by the black mists of
• death.

96

• Courage. Tyrtaeus ofr Sparta
• For no man ever proves himself a good man in war
• unless he can endure to face the blood and the
  slaughter,
• go close against the enemy and fight with his
  hands.
• Here is courage, mankind's finest possession,
  here is
• the noblest prize that a young man can endeavor
  to win,
• and it is a good thing his city and all the
  people share with him
• when a man plants his feet and stands in the
  foremost spears
• relentlessly, all thought of foul flight
  completely forgotten,
• and has well trained his heart to be steadfast
  and to endure,
• and with words encourages the man who is
  stationed beside him.
• Here is a man who proves himself to be valiant in
  war.
• With a sudden rush he turns to flight the rugged
  battalions
• of the enemy, and sustains the beating waves of
  assault.
• And he who so falls among the champions and loses
  his sweet life,
• so blessing with honor his city, his father, and
  all his people,
• with wounds in his chest, where the spear that he
  was facing has transfixed

97
Continued

• why, such a man is lamented alike by the young
  and the elders,
• and all his city goes into mourning and grieves
  for his loss.
• His tomb is pointed to with pride, and so are his
  children,
• and his children's children, and afterward all
  the race that is his.
• His shining glory is never forgotten, his name is
  remembered,
• and he becomes an immortal, though he lies under
  the ground,
• when one who was a brave man has been killed by
  the furious War God
• standing his ground and fighting hard for his
  children and land.
• But if he escapes the doom of death, the
  destroyer of bodies,
• and wins his battle, and bright renown for the
  work of his spear,
• all men give place to him like, the youth and the
  elders,
• and much joy comes his way before he goes down to
  the dead.

98
Alcaeus of Mytilene

• Things of War
• The great house glitters with bronze. War has
  patterned
• the roof with shining helmets,
• their horsehair plumes waving in the wind,
  headdress
• of fighting men. And pegs
• are concealed under bright greaves of brass which
• block the iron-tipped arrows. Many
• fresh-linen corselets are hanging and hollow
  shields
• are heaped about the floor,
• and standing in rows are swords of Chalcidian
  steel,
• belt-knives and warriors' kilts.
• We cannot forget our arms and armor when soon
• our dreadful duties begin.

99
The Spartans loved life.

• Ibycus of Samos
• Spartan girls
• are naked-thighed and man-crazy
• Alcman of Sparta
• Aphrodite commands and love rains
• upon my body and melts my heart
• for Megalostrata, to whom the sweet Muse
• gave the gift of poetry.
• O happy girl of the goldenrod hair!

100

• Aristophanes
• Leave darling Taygetus,
• Spartan Muse! Come to us
• once more, flying
• and glorifying
• Spartan themes
• the god at Amyclae,
• bronze-house Athena,
• Tyndarus twins,
• the valiant ones,
• playing still by Eurotas streams.
• Up! Advance!
• Leap to the dance!

101
Continued

• Help us hymn Sparta,
• lover of dancing,
• lover of footfalls,
• where girls go prancing
• like fillies along Eurotas banks,
• whirling the dust, twinkling their shanks,
• shaking their hair
• like Maenads playing
• and juggling the thyrsis,
• in frenzy obeying
• Ledas daughter, the fair, the pure
• Helen, the mistress of the choir.
• Here, Muse, here!
• Bind up your hair!
• Sing the greatest,
• sing the mightiest,
• sing the conqueror,

102
The Final Attack

• The Persians have the Spartans surrounded.
  Archers shower them with arrows. The Spartans
  fight to the last man.

103

• From Herodotus. The Peraian Wars.
• 223 The barbarians with Xerxes were
  accordingly advancing to the attack and the
  Greeks with Leonidas, feeling that they were
  going forth to death, now advanced out much
  further than at first into the broader part of
  the defile but now they engaged with them
  outside the narrows, and very many of the
  barbarians fell for behind them the leaders of
  the divisions with scourges in their hands were
  striking each man, ever urging them on to the
  front. The Persians had to be beaten to make
  them fight. WHY?
• Many of them Spartans then were driven into
  the sea and perished, and many more still were
  trodden down while yet alive by one another, and
  there was no reckoning of the number that
  perished for knowing the death which was about
  to come upon them by reason of those who were
  going round the mountain, they displayed upon the
  barbarians all the strength which they had, to
  its greatest extent, disregarding danger and
  acting as if possessed by a spirit of
  recklessness.

104
Continued

• 224 Now by this time the spears of the greater
  number of them Spartans were broken, so it
  chanced, in this combat, and they were slaying
  the Persians with their swords and in this
  fighting fell Leonidas, having proved himself a
  very good man, and others also of the Spartans
  with him, men of note, of whose names I was
  informed as of men who had proved themselves
  worthy, and indeed I was told also the names of
  all the three hundred.

105

• This conflict continued until those who had gone
  with Ephialtes came up and when the Greeks
  learnt that these had come, from that moment the
  nature of the combat was changed for they
  retired backwards to the narrow part of the way,
  and having passed by the wall they went and
  placed themselves upon the hillock, all in a body
  together except only the Thebans now this
  hillock is in the entrance, where now the stone
  lion is placed for Leonidas.

106

• On this spot while defending themselves with
  daggers, that is those who still had them left,
  and also with hands and with teeth, they were
  overwhelmed by the missiles arrows of the
  barbarians, some of these having followed
  directly after them and destroyed the fence of
  the wall, while others had come round and stood
  about them on all sides.

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108
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109

• 228 The men were buried were they fell and for
  these, as well as for those who were slain before
  being sent away by Leonidas, there is an
  inscription which runs thus
• "Here once, facing in fight three hundred myriads
  of foemen,
• Thousands four did contend, men of the
  Peloponnese."
• This is the inscription for the whole body and
  for the Spartans separately there is this
• "Stranger, report this word, we pray, to the
  Spartans, that lying
• Here in this spot we remain, faithfully keeping
  their laws."

110
Monument at Thermoplyae. Stranger Passing By,
Tell the Spartans That Here We Lie, In Obedience
to Their Laws.
111

• The Persians succeeded in taking the pass but
  sustained losses disproportionate to those of the
  Greeks. Nevertheless, in doing so, they conquered
  Boeotia and Attica, burning Athens in the
  process. However, the fierce resistance of the
  Spartan-led army had given the Allies valuable
  time to prepare the defense of the Peloponnesus,
  and later that year the Athenian-led navy was
  able to win a decisive naval battle that would do
  much to determine the outcome of the war.6 The
  Greek victory at the Battle of Salamis prevented
  a naval invasion of the Peloponnesus, and
  therefore prevented the completion of the Persian
  conquest. Demoralised, Xerxes retreated to Asia,
  leaving a force in Greece under Mardonius to
  complete the subjugation of the Greeks. The
  following year, however, a full-strength Allied
  army defeated the Persian force at the Battle of
  Plataea, ending the expansion of the Persian
  Empire into Europe.7 http//en.wikipedia.org/wik
  i/Battle_of_Thermopylae

112
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113
Persian Envoy Leaves
114
Thermopylae. Persians Foreground
115
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116
Themistocles. Athenian Commander Who Destroyed
Persian Fleet at Salamis
117
Battle at Salamis
118
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119
Greek TriremeLight, Fast, Maneuverable
120
Greek Trireme
121
Pausanias. Spartan Strategos of Allied Greeks at
Plataea
122
Who Did What at Plataea?
123
Plataea. 479. Greeks South.
124
Plataea Now
125
Mourning Greek Warrior
126
Marines. Modern Hoplites
127

• Saepius Exertus Often Tested
• Semper Fidelis Always Faithful
• Frater Infinitas Brothers Forever

128
Panoply of American Hoplites
129
Body Armor
130
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131
Full Panoply
132
Temple at Delphi
133
Favorite Gods
134
Apollo. Far Shooter. Sun god. God of Musicians
and Poets. The Ideal of Manly Beauty.
135
Athena From Aegina
136
Athena
137
Athena Defeats the Giant
138
Athena
139
Athena Promachus
140
Mourning Athena
141
Athena
142
Athena
143
Apollo. His Arrows Bring Messages From the
Other Side