To the Greek strategists in bc, Thermopylae represented their best chance to stop or at least delay the Persian army long enough to allow their combined fleets to draw the Persian navy into a decisive sea battle. A narrow mountain pass, Thermopylae was a bottleneck through which the Persian army somehow had to proceed.
Forced to fight there, the Persians would be unable to take advantage of their massive preponderance in numbers; instead, they would have to face the Greeks in close-quarter, hand-to-hand combat. Two armies now prepared to converge on the tiny mountain pass.
For Xerxes no force, not even nature, would be allowed to resist his progress. When a violent storm tore up the first bridge his engineers had built across the Hellespont, the great king ordered his engineers put to death, and he had his men whip and curse the waters for defying him. New engineers then bridged the Hellespont again. Constructed from nearly galleys and triremes lashed together, the bridge was a marvel of makeshift military engineering. Flax and papyrus cables held the boats in line, and sides were constructed to keep animals from seeing the water and panicking during their crossing.
The Persian army advanced inexorably into Greece. The Greek force that now raced to Thermopylae was ridiculously small for the challenge that awaited it: Spartans, 80 Myceneans, Tegeans, Thespians and so forth, totaling about 4, The countrymen they left behind seem to have put little faith in this army.
The Athenians voted to evacuate their city. Their men of military age embarked on ships, while women and children were sent to the safer territory of the Peloponnesus. Only treasurers and priestesses remained behind, charged with guarding the property of the gods on the Acropolis.
If any Greek understood the danger of his assignment, it was almost certainly the Spartan commander, Leonidas. One of two Spartan kings — Sparta had no kingship in any real sense — Leonidas traced his ancestry back to the demigod Heracles.
He had handpicked the warriors under his command; all were middle-aged men with children to leave behind as heirs. He had selected men to die, and done so apparently without the philosophic reluctance of Xerxes. Leonidas and the Spartans had been trained to do their duty, and, having received an oracle that Sparta must either lose a king or see the city destroyed, Leonidas was convinced that his final duty was death.
On the way to Thermopylae, Leonidas sent his widely admired Spartans ahead of the other troops to inspire them with confidence. They arrived to find the pass unoccupied. It was only 50 feet wide and far narrower at some points. There were hot springs there — these gave the pass its name — an altar to Heracles and the remains of an old wall with gates that had fallen into ruin.
The Greeks now rushed to rebuild it. What he saw astonished him — the Spartans, many of them naked and exercising, the rest calmly combing their hair.
It was common practice for the Spartans to fix their hair when they were about to risk their lives, but neither the scout nor his king could comprehend such apparent vanity. The Greeks, too, began to receive intelligence on the size of the Persian force. Sometime before the battle, the Spartan Dieneces was told that when the Persian archers let loose a volley, their arrows would hide the sun. To Dieneces that was just as well. For if the Persians hide the sun, he said, we shall fight in the shade.
Despite the imperturbable courage of Dieneces and the other Spartans, the Greeks were shaken when the Persian host finally neared their position.
The Spartan would do his duty. The Greeks would stay put and try to hold off the Persians until reinforcements could arrive. The Persian army encamped on the flat grounds of the town of Trachis, only a short distance from Thermopylae. There, Xerxes stopped his troops for four days, waiting upon the inevitable flight of the overawed Greeks. By the fifth day, August 17, bc, the great king could no longer control his temper.
The impudent Greeks were, like the storm at the Hellespont, defying his will. He now sent forward his first wave of troops — Medes and Cissians — with orders to take the Greeks alive. The Medes and Cissians were repulsed with heavy casualties. Determined to punish the resisters, Xerxes sent in his Immortals. The crack Persian troops advanced confidently, envisioning an easy victory, but they had no more success than the Medes.
What Xerxes had not anticipated was that the Greeks held the tactical advantage at Thermopylae. Persian boys, it was said, were taught only three things: to ride, to tell the truth and to use the bow.
There was no place for cavalry at Thermopylae and, even more critical, no place to volley arrows. The Greeks had positioned themselves behind the rebuilt wall. They would have to be rooted out the hard way. The Persian army was neither trained nor equipped for such close fighting. Its preferred tactic was to volley arrows from a distance, the archers firing from behind the protection of wicker shields planted in the ground. They wore very little armor and carried only daggers and short spears for hand-to-hand combat.
Greek soldiers perhaps drew some confidence from their heavy armor and their long spears, which could outreach the Persian swords. But the Greeks also had another, more intangible, edge: something to fight for. They were defending their homes, and they were doing their duty — they were not fighting as slaves of some half mad god-king.
During that long first day of fighting, the Spartans led the Greek resistance. Experienced Spartan warriors would come out from behind the walls, do fierce battle with the Persians, then feign retreat in order to draw the Persians into a trap. Xerxes reportedly leapt to his feet three times in fear for his army. The second day of Thermopylae followed much the same course as the first. The various Greek contingents now took turns fending off the attacks, but the Persians failed to make any headway.
Philip reorganized all of Macedonian society around a professional army and raised elite fighting forces of infantry, cavalry, javelin throwers and archers. Aristocratic young men would start their military training at seven years old and graduate to officers at Weaponry also got an upgrade under Philip.
Backed by his shiny new army, Philip marched south in B. The battle served as a coming-out party for year-old Alexander, who bravely led the Macedonian cavalry charge that broke through the Athenian ranks and secured victory for the upstart kingdom.
With the Greek mainland subdued under Macedonian rule, Philip turned his well-oiled army East toward the Persian Empire, a far greater prize. But soon after crossing the Hellespont into Persian territory, Philip was assassinated, making young Alexander the new king and commander-in-chief of the Macedonian forces. But before Alexander could push into Persia, he had to take care of business back home. Immediately after Alexander was made king, Thebes rose up to challenge his authority—a big mistake.
That conflict featured the famous Battle of Thermopylae, where Spartan warriors made a heroic last stand against tens of thousands of Persian invaders. Whether motivated by Greek pride or the spoils of imperial conquest, Alexander picked up where his father left off and marched into Persia in BC, where his army of 50, would be tested against the largest and best-trained fighting force in the known world.
When a man was killed, another rose to take his place. The Persian cavalry and archers were also legendary, as were the scythe chariots which cut down enemy infantry with their razor-sharp wheel hubs. But there were also signs that the Persian Empire was already in decline. After suffering humiliating back-to-back defeats in Greece in the 5th-century B. Darius still commanded a massive army, but Persia was receding on the world stage while Macedon had the momentum of an ascendant military super power.
After quickly dispatching a small regional army near the town of Granicus, Alexander had his first real test against Darius and his Persian Royal Army near the coastal city of Issus. But Darius botched the location of the battle, which ended up being a narrow strip of land between a ridge and the sea that neutralized his numbers advantage. At Issus, Alexander debuted the battle strategy that would assure him victory after victory during his remarkable reign of conquest.
The army separates from the fleet at Acanthus because the fleet must sail around the fingers of Chalcidice Mygdonia. The division of the army into thirds The passage of the fleet through the canal at Athos and on to the rendez-vous at Therma The passage of the army through Chalcidice; the fabulous attack of the lions on the camels Encampment of the army at Therma Xerxes sails to see the mouth of the Peneus river; remarks on the geography and geological history of the place Xerxes remarks that he could have flooded Thessaly by damming up the Peneus, and compliments the Thessalians on their foresight in submitting to him Delays in Macedonia; the ambassadors sent to demand surrender return to Xerxes Reactions of the Greeks to Xerxes' Invasion List of Greek states who medized surrendered includes Thessalians, Locrians, and almost all Boeotians; the other Greeks vow to punish them Why Xerxes sent no heralds to Athens or Sparta: Darius' heralds to them had been executed How the Spartans atoned for this impiety: two Spartans, Sperthias and Bulis, were sent to Persia to be executed Their refusal to bow and worship Xerxes; his refusal to execute them How the curse was visited upon their sons in B.
The lack of Greek unity in the face of the invasion The Athenians rather than the Spartans deserve the credit for saving Greek freedom The Delphic oracle to the Athenians seems to predict disaster A second more favorable oracle mentions the "wooden wall" Debate at Athens over whether "wooden wall" means the Acropolis or the ships Themistocles' correct interpretation of the oracle and its reference to Salamis.
He convinces the Athenians to abandon Attica and prepare for a naval battle How Themistocles had previously persuaded the Athenians to build warships for use against their local rival, Aegina Plans of the council of Greek states: to settle regional conflicts, spy on Persian forces, and get the help of Argos and Syracuse Three spies are caught by Xerxes, then given complete freedom to inspect the army. Xerxes' reasons for so doing. Anecdote of the grain-ships How the Argives were instructed by the oracle to stay out of the war; their condition for participating: 30 years' truce with Sparta, and joint command of the allied forces The Spartan reply: the truce is to be referred to their government; the Argive king may be a third general of equal rank with the two Spartan kings.
Argos refuses Evidence for this on the authority of Callias the Athenian How his ancestors, beginning with Telines, became priests of the Earth Goddesses How Gelon began as a bodyguard to the dynast Hippocrates of Gela, who was engaged in conquering other cities of Sicily Death of Hippocrates.
Gelon's coupe in Gela, and his conquest of Syracuse in B. Gelon's brother Hieron is installed as tyrant in Gela. Syracuse grows rapidly via incorporation of peoples from other cities The Greek envoys appeal to Gelon for help against Xerxes Gelon offers massive military aid, on one condition: that he be commander-in-chief In response to the objections of the Spartan envoy, Gelon offers to command only the navy The Athenian ambassador asserts Athenian command of the Panhellenic naval forces.
Homer is cited in justification The envoys are dismissed by Gelon Gelon sends ships under Cadmus of Zancle to Delphi with treasure, prepared to surrender to Xerxes if the Persians win The family of Cadmus of Zancle, and his personal integrity A Sicilian version excuses Gelon because Sicily was being invaded at the time by Theron of Agrigentum, in coalition with Hamilcar the Carthaginian and his allies.
The defeat of Hamilcar and Theron by Gelon coincides with Salamis? The death of Hamilcar by self-immolation, and his rise to cult status Corcyra agrees to help the Greeks and puts out 60 ships, but they arrive at Salamis too late. The Corcyraeans allege weather problems, but Hdt.
How the oracle advised the Cretans not to take part, including a riddling reference to Minos, the mythical king of Crete The oracle's reference to Minos is explained: The Cretans of old had reason to regret their first Panhellenic alliance, the one against Troy The approach to Thermopylae The Thessalians at the conference of Greeks promise to fight, but request aid to hold the mountain pass by Mt. Olympia the vale of Tempe against the Persians Allied forces occupy the pass, but decide not to try to hold it after getting intelligence from the Macedonians about Persian troop strength.
Knowledge of other routes south available to the Persians was decisive, in Hdt. The decision to abandon Thessaly forces the Thessalians to medize, i. The decision is taken to guard the pass of Thermopylae instead The fleet is instructed to wait at Artemisium.
Topographical details of Artemisium and Thermopylae The narrowness of the pass was supposed to render Persian cavalry and superior numbers irrelevant The Delphic oracle advises prayers to the winds, which are duly made Two Greek triremes on patrol are captured by the Persians, and a young marine is murdered Another marine fights fiercely and becomes a respected P.
A third trireme, this one Athenian, is abandoned on shore, and the crew escapes The Greek fleet retreats from Artemisium to Chalcis, putting Euboea between themselves and the Persians. Persian troubles with a sunken reef Numbers of the Persian ships and men aboard them, supposedly over , Numbers of Xerxes' army: over five million, half of them combatants Camp followers are not included in this total; calculations on the food and water consumption of so huge an army A storm destroys a number of Persian ships off the coast of Magnesia
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