The war remained undecided for a long time, until the decisive intervention of the Persian Empire in support of Sparta. Luring the Persian navy into the Straits of Salamis, the Greek fleet was able to destroy much of the Persian fleet in the Battle of Salamis, which essentially ended the threat to the Peloponnese. [33], The numbers of troops that Xerxes mustered for the second invasion of Greece have been the subject of endless dispute because the numbers given in ancient sources are very large indeed. [172] After the victory at Mycale, the Allied fleet sailed to the Hellespont to break down the pontoon bridges, but found that this was already done. On the north side of the roadway was the Malian Gulf, into which the land shelved gently. [139] There, the large Persian numbers were an active hindrance, as ships struggled to manoeuvre and became disorganised. [120], When the Persians arrived at Thermopylae in mid-August, they initially waited for three days for the Allies to disperse. Archaeological evidence, such as the Serpent Column (now in the Hippodrome of Constantinople), also supports some of Herodotus' specific reports. The Organization of Xerxes' Army. [153] The navy, now under the command of the Spartan king Leotychides, thus skulked off Delos, while the remnants of the Persian fleet skulked off Samos, both sides unwilling to risk battle. The Persian Wars (sometimes known as the Greco-Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between Greek city-states and the Persian Empire, beginning in 502 BCE and running some 50 years, until 449 BCE. [7] Herodotus's approach was entirely novel, and at least in Western society, he does seem to have invented 'history' as we know it. [94] A Persian force of 10,000 men, comprising light infantry and cavalry, charged at the front of the Greek formation. [100] Ephialtes was motivated by the desire for a reward. [209][210] Conversely, the Allied strategy was probably to try and stop the Persian advance as far north as possible, and thus prevent the submission of as many potential Allies as possible. [202] Furthermore, the Persians excelled in the use of intelligence and diplomacy in warfare, as shown by their (nearly successful) attempts to divide-and-conquer the Greeks. UN Security Council Resolution 1441, passed on November 8, 2002, demanded that Iraq readmit inspectors and that it comply with all previous resolutions. It has been reported that others also remained, including up to 900 helots and 400 Thebans. "The size of the army of Xerxes in the invasion of Greece 480 BC". News of the imminent Persian approach eventually reached Greece in August thanks to a Greek spy. The Peloponnesian War Begins In 433 B.C. [28] However, in order to appease the Persian king somewhat, two Spartans were voluntarily sent to Susa for execution, in atonement for the death of the Persian heralds. In 480 BC, Xerxes led a mighty invasion force from the north, as his father had tried earlier. Over the next 30 years, the Greeks, primarily the Athenian-dominated Delian League, would expel the Persians from Macedon, Thrace, the Aegean islands and Ionia. [77] As long as they could prevent a further Persian advance into Greece, they had no need to seek a decisive battle and could, thus, remain on the defensive. The second invasion of Greece by the Persians happened in the year 480 BC. An army of 60,000 men had been left there by Xerxes, and the fleet joined with them, building a palisade around the camp to protect the ships. It was followed by a longer second phase in which a U.S.-led occupation of Iraq was opposed by an insurgency. [130] Meanwhile, at the near-simultaneous naval Battle of Mycale, they also destroyed much of the remaining Persian fleet, thereby reducing the threat of further invasions. However, he does not say who those men were. With the Persians' naval superiority removed, Xerxes feared that the Greeks might sail to the Hellespont and destroy the pontoon bridges. The stranger is also asked to stress that the Spartans died 'fulfilling their orders'. That countrys continued flouting of the UN weapons ban and its repeated interference with the inspections frustrated the international community and led U.S. Pres. Maurice, F (1930). [115] Of the remaining defenders, Herodotus says: Here they defended themselves to the last, those who still had swords using them, and the others resisting with their hands and teeth. [133] Ever since, the events of Thermopylae have been the source of effusive praise from many sources: "Salamis, Plataea, Mycale and Sicily are the fairest sister-victories which the Sun has ever seen, yet they would never dare to compare their combined glory with the glorious defeat of King Leonidas and his men". The Greeks allowed him to come up to the camp, observe them, and depart. Different-sized allied forces thus appeared throughout the campaign. [174] The Achaemenid maintained a strong presence at the doorstep of Greece, in Thrace, until circa 465 BC. Herodotus claimed that there were, in total, 2.5 million military personnel, accompanied by an equivalent number of support personnel. UN inspections during the mid-1990s uncovered a variety of proscribed weapons and prohibited technology throughout Iraq. For the number of them that disappeared beneath the mud was great."[81]. However, a larger Allied army fortified the narrow Isthmus of Corinth, protecting the Peloponnesus from Persian conquest. [169][171] Curtius describes the subsequent battle fought by the surrounded, unarmed Persians as "memorable". The form of this ancient Greek poetry is an elegiac couplet, commonly used for epitaphs. They demanded an Allied army march north the following year. [51] Leonidas chose to camp at, and defend, the "middle gate", the narrowest part of the pass of Thermopylae, where the Phocians had built a defensive wall some time before. A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict.The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Leonidas and the 300. [184][185] The one exception to this may have been the ethnic Persian troops, who may have worn a corslet of scaled armour. The headless male figure symbolizes the anonymous sacrifice of the 700 Thespians to their country. [169] The fleet, now able to match the Persians, had first sailed to Samos, where the Persian fleet was based. [35] By early 480 BC, the preparations were complete, and the army which Xerxes had mustered at Sardis marched towards Europe, crossing the Hellespont on two pontoon bridges. [174], The Greek style of warfare had been honed over the preceding centuries. [203][204][205] The Greeks, by comparison, were fragmented, with only 30 or so city-states actively opposing the Persian invasion; even those were prone to quarrel with each other. These numbers are discussed fully in the article for each battle. [108][109] Not all Thebans agreed with this policy, and 400 "loyalist" hoplites joined the Allied force at Thermopylae (at least according to one possible interpretation). [222], Militarily, there was not much in the way of tactical or strategic innovation during the Persian invasion, one commentator suggesting it was something of "a soldier's war" (i.e., it was the soldiers rather than generals that won the war). [73], Many modern historians, who usually consider Herodotus more reliable,[74] add the 1,000 Lacedemonians and the 900 helots to Herodotus' 5,200 to obtain 7,100 or about 7,000 men as a standard number, neglecting Diodorus' Melians and Pausanias' Locrians. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [67] The Allied victory at Salamis prevented a quick conclusion to the invasion, and fearing becoming trapped in Europe, Xerxes retreated to Asia leaving his general Mardonius to finish the conquest with the elite of the army. [47] It was also the time of the Olympic Games, and therefore the Olympic truce, and thus it would have been doubly sacrilegious for the whole Spartan army to march to war. [18][19] Darius also saw the opportunity to expand his empire into the fractious world of Ancient Greece. The following spring, the Allies assembled the largest ever hoplite army and marched north from the Isthmus to confront Mardonius. "Two Spartans of noble birth and great wealth, Sperthias son of Aneristus and Bulis son of Nicolaus, undertook of their own free will that they would make atonement to Xerxes for Darius' heralds who had been done to death at Sparta. After that, the Greek navy withdrew on Samos. Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schrder, citing what they believed to be increased Iraqi cooperation, sought to extend inspections and give Iraq more time to comply with them. ], Similarities between the Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of the Persian Gate have been recognized by both ancient and modern authors,[168] which describe it as a kind of reversal of the Battle of Thermopylae,[169] calling it "the Persian Thermopylae". [158] The Allied position now undermined, Pausanias ordered a night-time retreat towards their original positions. [4][5] Nevertheless, whatever the real numbers were, it is clear that Xerxes was eager to ensure a successful expedition by mustering overwhelming numerical superiority by land and by sea,[4] and also that much of the army died of starvation and disease, never returning to Asia. [169] The ships were abandoned to the Allies, who burnt them, crippling Xerxes' sea power, and marking the ascendancy of the Allied fleet. [97] The Spartans reportedly used a tactic of feigning retreat, and then turning and killing the enemy troops when they ran after them. It then besieged and destroyed Eretria. [162][163] However, as at Thermopylae, the Persian infantry proved no match for the heavily armoured Greek hoplites,[164] and the Spartans broke through to Mardonius's bodyguard and killed him. In 401 Lysander's old friend Cyrus the younger brother of the new Persian king, Artaxerxes II (reigned 404-359)made an attempt on the throne with Spartan help. [123] Ultimately, however, the Allied rearguard was annihilated, and the pass of Thermopylae opened to the Persians. [31] Finally, it moved to attack Athens, landing at the bay of Marathon, where it was met by a heavily outnumbered Athenian army. Attica was also left open to invasion, and the remaining population of Athens was thus evacuated, with the aid of the Allied fleet, to Salamis. Under the statue, a sign reads: "In memory of the seven hundred Thespians.". Iraqs invasion of Kuwait in 1990 ended in Iraqs defeat by a U.S.-led coalition in the Persian Gulf War (199091). The Greek fleetseeking a decisive victory over the Persian armadaattacked and defeated the invading force at the Battle of Salamis in late 480 BC. After the second day, a local resident named Ephialtes revealed to the Persians the existence of a path leading behind the Greek lines. The seeds for the wars was planted in 547 BCE when the Persian emperor, Cyrus the Great, conquered Greek Ionia. To this Leonidas gave his famous answer: (pronounced Greek pronunciation:[moln labe]) "Come and get them. [211] Thus far, the Persian strategy had succeeded, while the Allied strategy, though not a disaster, had failed. The First Persian Gulf War, also known as the Gulf War, Jan.-Feb., 1991, was an armed conflict between Iraq and a coalition of 39 nations including the United States, Britain, Egypt, France, and Saudi Arabia; 28 nations contributed troops. [104] The Phocians retreated to a nearby hill to make their stand (assuming the Persians had come to attack them). Herodotus does not formulate an abstract name for the union but simply calls them " " (the Greeks) and "the Greeks who had sworn alliance" (Godley translation) or "the Greeks who had banded themselves together" (Rawlinson translation). 27, pp. [98] The Greeks killed so many Medes that Xerxes is said to have stood up three times from the seat from which he was watching the battle. [138] George Cawkwell suggests that the gap between Thermopylae and Salamis was caused by Xerxes' systematically reducing Greek opposition in Phocis and Boeotia, and not as a result of the Battle of Thermopylae; thus, as a delaying action, Thermopylae was insignificant compared to Xerxes' own procrastination. [197] It was the botched attempt to retreat from Plataea that finally delivered the Allies battle on their terms. . Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, e.g. In southern Iraq the greatest resistance to U.S. forces as they advanced northward was from irregular groups of Baath Party supporters, known as Saddams Fedayeen. He further suggested that Herodotus may have confused the Persian terms for chiliarchy (1,000) and myriarchy (10,000), leading to an exaggeration by a factor of ten. With the exception of the Thebans, most of whom reportedly surrendered, the Greeks fought the Persians to the death. Spring 480 BC: Thrace, Macedonia and Thessaly, August 480 BC: Thermopylae and Artemisium, September 480 BC: Destruction of Athens, battle of Salamis. The Persians did not attempt to attack the isthmus by land, realising they probably could not breach it. [21], In 491 BC, Darius sent emissaries to all the Greek city-states, asking for a gift of 'earth and water' in token of their submission to him. [157] The Allied army however, under the command of the Spartan regent Pausanias, stayed on high ground above Plataea to protect themselves against such tactics. "[163] Then the ambassador asked him more forcefully to surrender their arms. Scott, JA (1915). [42] A force of 10,000 hoplites was dispatched to the Vale of Tempe, through which they believed the Persian army would have to pass. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Bush immediately condemned the invasion, as did the governments of Britain and the Soviet. [176] Herodotus then alludes to several failed attempts, presumably Athenian, to dislodge the Persian governor of Doriskos, Mascames. In central Iraq units of the Republican Guarda heavily armed paramilitary group connected with the ruling partywere deployed to defend the capital of Baghdad. The poet Simonides, who was a near-contemporary, talks of four million; Ctesias gave 800,000 as the total number of the army that assembled in Doriskos. [113], The Allied 'congress' met again in the spring of 480 BC. Either your glorious town shall be sacked by the children of Perseus, Or, in exchange, must all through the whole Laconian country, Mourn for the loss of a king, descendant of great Heracles. It is not for riches that they contend but for honour!" However, at the end of the second day, they were betrayed by a local resident named Ephialtes who revealed to Xerxes a mountain path that led behind the Allied lines. The battle was fought in the straits between the mainland and Salamis, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens, and marked the high . British forceswhich had deployed around the southern city of Basrafaced similar resistance from paramilitary and irregular fighters. B. and more. Isolated groups of regime loyalists continued to fight on subsequent days, but the U.S. president declared an end to major combat on May 1. [182], The phalanx was vulnerable to being outflanked by cavalry, if caught on the wrong terrain, however. Sparta and Athens had a leading role in the congress but interests of all the states played a part in determining defensive strategy. "[165], After the battle, Xerxes was curious as to what the Greeks had been trying to do (presumably because they had had so few men) and had some Arcadian deserters interrogated in his presence. A large number of historians hold that, had Greece been conquered, the Ancient Greek culture that lies at the basis of Western civilization would have never developed (and by extension Western civilization itself). [177] Properly assembled, the phalanx was a formidable offensive and defensive weapon;[180][181] on occasions when it is recorded to have happened, it took a huge number of light infantry to defeat a relatively small phalanx. [197] The Allied strategy for 479 BC was something of a mess; the Peloponnesians only agreed to march north in order to save the alliance, and it appears that the Allied leadership had little idea how to force a battle that they could win. [180] It is also possible that the "leather armor" was actually untanned or partially tanned rawhide rather than fully tanned leather, because modern tests have concluded that plain or treated rawhide is a significantly better material for making armor than leather. As Holland puts it, "in shortwe will never know. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like 1.Who fought each other in the Persian Wars?, 2.What was the deciding battle during the first invasion of Greece by the Persians?, 3.True or False: The Persian Empire was the largest empire in the world and their forces greatly outnumbered the Greeks. Other world leaders, such as French Pres. [80], It is often claimed that at the time, the pass of Thermopylae consisted of a track along the shore of the Malian Gulf so narrow that only one chariot could pass through at a time. [85], On the fifth day after the Persian arrival at Thermopylae and the first day of the battle, Xerxes finally resolved to attack the Greeks. The old track appears at the foot of the hills around the plain, flanked by a modern road. [138] Conversely by avoiding destruction, or as Themistocles hoped, by destroying the Persian fleet, the Greeks could avoid conquest. The Battle of Thermopylae, fought between the Greeks and the Persians in 480 BCE, has gone down in history as one of the most significant last stands of all time, despite the fact the "hero," the Greeks, walked away from this battle defeated and on the brink of complete destruction. [137] They would have to evacuate again in front of a second advance by Mardonius in June 479 BC. While many of the Greeks took him up on his offer and fled, around two thousand soldiers stayed behind to fight and die. [114] In 1939, archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos, excavating at Thermopylae, found large numbers of Persian bronze arrowheads on Kolonos Hill, which changed the identification of the hill on which the Greeks were thought to have died from a smaller one nearer the wall. [152] Although Herodotus tells us that Mardonius was keen to fight a decisive battle, his actions in the run-up to Plataea are not particularly consistent with this. 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