The battle ended with Persia taking the victory, but later lost to The Greeks sent only a small force to Thermopylae, fewer in fact than at Tempe a month or two before. Their plan had three basic elements. And so a Greek army sat at Thermopylae and a Greek navy sat at Artemisium, and they each waited for the barbarians. Not that Xerxes position was risk free. Despite the impossibility of their position, Leonidas was firm in his decision: His 300 Spartans, along with a band of Thebans, would stay and fight. Herodotus on Thermopylae About 150,000 men willing to die for the glory of Xerxes, the Persian Great King, came up against the most efficient killing machine in history. A small contingent, Leonidas included, would stay to guard the pass and hold off the Persians for as long as possible. But having established that, modern historians run up against a series of mysteries. Immortals advanced, the remaining Greeks had to retreat to a nearby hill where they prepared to make their last stand. The long hair, a Spartan trademark, was meant to look fearsome. This would simply slow the Persian advance in order to The normally antagonistic Greek city-states, Athens and Sparta chief among them, had already brokered a fairly unprecedented alliance in the face of what they realized was a shared existential threat. WebThe Battle of Thermopylae, 480 BC, was a battle in the second Persian invasion of Greece. He wanted only soldiers with descendants to accompany him, since he knew there was little chance of them surviving and wanted to be sure that their lineages would continue. His sense of honour and strict military discipline made surrender unthinkable. The Greeks, whod been keeping a wary eye on the Persian warmongering, knew they had few chances to defeat the far larger enemy forces. A council of war was held among the Greeks to decide what to do. A skirmish broke out around him. was a rare confederate alliance of normally fractious Greek city-statessome of which were forced to suspend war with each other in order to face the greater threat from Persia. However, the Immortals were no more effective than the previous Persian Leonidas (c. 530-480 B.C.) It took place at the pass of Thermopylae. But the choice of men with sons for the Thermopylae operation might also reflect military psychology, a matter on which the Spartans set great store. The city-states central Greek location, however, put it directly in harms way. Yet with an estimated total world population in 500 b.c. The number of troops under Xerxes command, for instance, is the subject of endless debate. Seated on the east coast of Greece, between the Malian Gulf and the Kallidromo massif, some 85 miles (136 km) northwest of Athens, it is a rugged, craggy landscape of thick brush, thorny shrubs, and steep hillsides, where severe weathertorrential downpours and scorching heatis the norm. Ephialtes told Xerxes about the Anopaia path, which led around the mountain ridge and ended behind the Greek positions, beside the eastern end of the pass. Its also a potent example of an outnumbered force using military and tactical advantages to their utmost and exacting a heavy toll on their enemy. Leonidas in particular made a point of using a shrewd eye to select soldiers. He agreed to stay at Thermopylae, but he sent messengers southward to hurry the reinforcements. Battle of Thermopylae Kleombrotos, Leonidas' brother took over command of the Spartan army and prepared to defend the isthmus of Corinth from an expected Persian attack. According to Herodotus, the Persian kings military personnel numbered 2.6 million in all. Persian king was hesitant, but he eventually agreed. What the scout had seen, therefore, was a deadly sign of Spartan ferocity. Embalming Facilities Discovered at Famous Egyptian Site, The Plague Has Infected Europeans For at Least 4,000 Years. WebThermopylae has been given far too much attention in popular culture. Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. The Persians had conquered most of Asia Minor and were now eyeing expansion into Pragmatism and realism were the national character traits; every Spartan soldier was an elite warrior; no Spartan would voluntarily sacrifice three hundred such soldiers. Because the Olympic Games, and perhaps the Carnea too, especially involved youth, men with sons might possibly have been exempted from attending religious observances which makes them the logical option for the mission. Xerxes men cleared the pass in the end, but the image of Leonidas head loomed over it. Now the Persians sought to settle the score. Xerxes had to concede that when it came to soldiers he had many people but few men, or so Herodotus said. Spartans at the Battle of Plataea are illustrated here by Edward Ollier for Cassell's 1890 "Illustrated Universal History.". until his death at the Battle of Thermopylae against the Persian army in 480 B.C. Then, on the third day, the Persians outflanked the Greeks by taking a trail over the mountains and around Thermopylae. Why was there an invading army in the first place? For a Spartan like Leonidas, there were only two options: win or die. Herodotuss account, however, describes a Persian offensive. Sep 480 BCE Battle of The newly-crowned Persian ruler, Xerxes I, decided to pick up where his father, Darius I, had left off and conquer the pesky Greek city-states. [I] am not surprised if in Sparta they deem death preferable to a life so steeped in dishonour and reproach.. The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. The dirt of battle is probably still upon Leonidas, and there is a dark purple bruise on his chin from the pooling of what little blood is left. Persians. World History Encyclopedia. Thespians: The Forgotten Heroes of the Battle of Thermopylae It was at this time that the remaining Thebans chose to surrender to the Persians, but the other Greeks did not. It was better to try to stop Persia there than at the gates of Athens. Following a naval defeat at the Battle of Salamis, Xerxes retreated to Asia, losing many men to disease and starvation along the way. They were particularly concerned about Thebes, the largest and strongest central Greek state, and an uncertain ally, since strong rumors circulated of its impending defection to Persia. And he followed in the footsteps of Cyrus the Great, founder in 550 b.c. Tempe had been a failure of intelligence, a sign of how little the Greeks knew about their own country and how much darkness ancient strategists often worked in. When word of the oncoming army reached Greece, the first move was for 8,000 hoplites (comprising 300 Spartans and 2000 helots from the Peloponnese, 700 Thespians, Persian war tactics usually relied upon an As soon as the Persians realized that Greeks blocked their way, they worried over having stumbled into the much-feared Spartans. 300 Spartans under King Leonidas and other Greek allies hold back the Persians led by Xerxes I for three days but are defeated. Battle of Thermopylae: History, Facts, and Location - TheCollector he continued his march towards Athens. When the defenders saw that Hydarnes had arrived with the Immortals, they fell back and regrouped on higher ground behind the protective wall. The carnage of the last, heroic moments of the Battle of Thermopylae is vividly re-created in this 20th-century battle scene by Stanley Meltzoff. As Herodotus tells us, the Persians waited for four days after arriving at the pass to begin their attack. Unlike the Greek infantryman, the typical Iranian soldier carried a quiver full of cane arrows with bronze or iron points and a bow with its ends shaped like animal heads. We care about our planet! Nicholas Hammond accepts 300,000 Persians at the battle of Plataea, though he claims that the numbers at Doriskos were smaller. Battle of Thermopylae 480 BCE - World History Encyclopedia the Persian army. Surrounded by royal guards, he sat on a high-backed throne, where he is said to have jumped to his feet three times in horror at the mauling inflicted on his troops. That is when a local Greek shepherd named Ephialtes (whose name has since become synonymous with treachery) handed them the secret to victory. Suicide missions were downright un-Spartan. Abrams Press, 2006. WebIn the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC, an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian Empire at the pass of Thermopylae in central Greece. But did the Greeks have the iron will needed to stand up to Persia? For two days the slaughter continued. This never On the first day of battle, the Persians advanced against the Greeks, but they were quickly pushed back by Leonidas and his men. The Persians best troops, the so-called Immortals, did no better than their less elite comrades when they were committed to the fight late in the first day. Leonidas, alerted to the Persians' movements, made a quick decision. Betrayal crushed Sparta's last stand at the Battle of defenses. Leonidas ordered the Greek fleet in the strait of Artemisium to abandon its position and ordered most of the men fighting with him on land to leave the battlefield. How many more Spartans were there? : If they could force the Persians to meet them in battle at points where the Greeks had a territorial advantage, they might be able to eke out a victory. Mountains lie to the south, and to the north is the sea, here known as the Gulf of Malis. These 5 cities vanished without a trace. His selection of an all-fathers unit of Spartans might similarly have served a psychological purpose, in this case, unit motivation. The army halted at the pass of Thermopylae, which it found blocked by the Greeks. Nevertheless, prior to being at last overwhelmed by Persian spears and arrows, the Greeks killed two of Xerxes half-brothers, Abrocomes and Hyperanthes. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/1134/battle-of-thermopylae-480-bce/. Thespiae, a neighbor and rival of Thebes, was determined to stop Persia. The Great King hoped to win the war in central Greece. Thermopylae - Chris Carey - Oxford University Press Thermopylae is a famous battle in ancient The latter, which was his main weapon, was an ash-wood spear, about nine feet long, with an iron head and a bronze butt spike. WebThe battle of Thermopylae between Greeks led by Leonidas and Persians led by Xerxes. Xerxes advertised heroism in his very name: Xerxes is Greek for the Persian Khsha-yar-shan, the kings throne name, which means Ruler of Heroes. Tall and handsome, Xerxes looked the part. Xerxes father, Darius I, had crushed a Greek revolt in western Anatolia, but his armies had been bruised by Greeks at Sardis in 498 and suffered a demeaning defeat in 490 at Marathon, where a seaborne Persian army was stopped after landing less than twenty-five miles from the city of Athens. There were other paths, known only to locals. They repulsed the first wave of attackers, and then a second group composed of the Persians finest warriors, called the Immortals. The Greek commanders met, debated, disagreed, and most of the men started to leave. Though historical estimates suggested the Persians numbered in the millions, more recent figures put their army at around 300,000 men or less still a considerable force. No Peloponnesian state wanted to risk sending a large force off to central Greece without first dispatching a smaller force to test the waters. It was narrow enough (perhaps a few hundred feet at the time) that the Persians couldnt bring their full forces to bear on an enemy, meaning the outnumbered Greeks could face them on even footing. Stories Greco-Persian Wars: Battle of Thermopylae by HistoryNet Staff 6/12/2006 In the 5th century bc, the Persian empire fought the city-states of Greece in Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. Since the Persians normally took pride in treating their enemies with respect, they would not have insulted the body of a fallen foe like Leonidas unless he had enraged them by the force of his resistance. The seven hundred Thespians at Thermopylae died fighting with the Spartans. Leonidas Lasting over the course of three days, it was one of the most prominent battles of both the second Persian invasion of Greece and the wider Greco-Persian Wars. Since it would be impossible to close all three passes to Persia, they withdrew southward. Though historical estimates suggested the Persians numbered in the millions, more recent figures put their army at around 300,000 men or less still a considerable force. A similarly massive Persian navy also set sail for Greece around this time. He wore gold jewelry, even into battle. The Spartans and Thessalians died almost to a man, while the Thebans, recognizing defeat, surrendered. He told Xerxes that Sparta had eight thousand soldiers, all as good as the men who had fought at Thermopylae. Farther north, as at Thermopylae, the allies local intelligence was limited. In the coming months of drudgery and blood, the sacrifices of the Greeks at the Middle Gate no doubt buoyed up the national spirit. invasion spread, the various city-states quickly banded together in an alliance led by Sparta. According to Herodotus, Xerxes entrusted the advance to Hydarnes and his Immortals, who set out from the Persian camp about the hour when lamps are lit and marched all night up the trail. for centuries. For political reasons, the Persian king wanted a quick victory, and for practical reasons, the Persian quartermasters could not supply their huge invasion force for very long. . A map indicating the location and military positions taken in the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE between the Persian invading forces of Xerxes I against a small Greek force led by Spartan king Leonidas. 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