![]() The pass of Thermopylae was a perfect place for the Greeks to deprive the Persians of their numerical advantage. This delaying tactic also gave the rest of Greece the time it needed to mobilize more forces. They could remain on the defensive while the logistical considerations of keeping the Persian army in the field wore the Persians down. The Greek strategy was one of delaying the Persians as long as possible. The Geography of The Battle Of Thermopylae A map of the site of the Battle of Thermopylae, via The Past It is the motto of the I Army Corps of Greece.Īfter waiting four days, hoping for the Greeks to lose hope and disperse, Xerxes decided to attack. ![]() Leonidas is said to have replied “Molon Labe”, which translates roughly into “come and take them”. When the Greeks arrived, King Xerxes sent a messenger urging them to surrender and lay down their arms. Either way, “We shall fight in the shade” is used today as the motto of the 20th Greek Armored division. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the response was given by a man named Dienekes. Relief of a Persian Guard from the Persepolis Palace of Xerxes 485-465 BC, via The Museum of Fine Arts, BostonĪccording to Plutarch, when one soldier complained that the Persians would release so many arrows that they would block out the sun, Leonidas replied, “Won’t it be nice, then, if we shall have shade in which to fight them?”. Each city or town could only muster a few hundred soldiers at best. By the time the Spartans had reached the pass, the army had been reinforced by contingents from various city-states, including Mantineans, Tegeans, Arcadians, Corinthians, Phlians, Mycenaeans, Thespians, Malians, Thebans, Phocians and Eastern Locrians. At the head of the army was the Spartan King Leonidas. They would gather allies as they marched north to confront the enemy. Upon hearing of the Persian army’s approach and the danger it posed, it was decided that the Spartans would send a small force - just 300 Spartan hoplites and 900 perioikoi - to impede the Persian advance. This pass was called Thermopylae, or in English, “Hot Gates”.Īt the time, the Spartans were celebrating a sacred festival that did not permit any military action to be taken. Against them stood a relatively tiny army of 7000 Greeks led by the famous 300 Spartan hoplites that had marched north to block a small pass that opened up into the rest of Greece. ![]() Modern estimates put the size of the army between 120 000 and 300 000. This was, of course, an exaggeration, but it needn’t have been so. 510 BC, Susa, Persia, via The Louvre, ParisĪncient historians made claims that the Persian army numbered 3 million men. The Armies Assemble Frieze of Archers, c. The Battle of Thermopylae was the first engagement of the war. With a land force easily in excess of 100 000 men and an invasion fleet of between 600 to 1200 triremes, this force dwarfed the previous one, as well as the combined forces that the Greek city-states could muster. An outnumbered Greek army stunned the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE and sent the Persians home in defeat.Īfter the death of Darius, his son Xerxes I, began preparing for a second invasion of Greece. Although they managed to take Macedon and Thrace, the invasion was, for all intents and purposes, a complete failure. ![]() With around 26 000 to 28 000 men and a massive navy of 600 triremes, the Persians sought to subjugate all of Greece. In 492 BCE, Darius I of Persia launched an invasion of Greece. Background to the Battle of Thermopylae Die Schlacht bei Marathon by Hermann J. ![]()
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