Battle of Thermopylae: Difference between revisions

| image = Leónidas en las Termópilas, por Jacques-Louis David.jpg

| image_size = 300

| map_type = Greece#Europe

| map_relief = yes

| map_size = 300

| map_marksize = 7

| map_label = Thermopylae

| territory = Persia gains control of [[Phocis]], [[Boeotia]], and [[Attica]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=S6BevAUWSGAC&q=persians+Attica%2F&pg=PA278 The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources of the Achaemenid Period] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510094919/https://books.google.com/books?id=S6BevAUWSGAC&q=persians+Attica/&pg=PA278 |date=10 May 2023 }} : page 278</ref>

| result = <!-- Please do not change this to "Pyrrhic" or "Decisive"; Persian victory is informative enough (and can be agreed on by most editors). --> Persian victory{{efn|Although some authors state the result was a [[pyrrhic victory]] for Persia,<ref name="Tung & Tung, p. 239"/><ref name="Marozzi, p. 74"/> the majority of authors do not apply this label to the result. See [[#Aftermath|§ Aftermath]].}}<ref name="BRAMWELL">

| combatant1 = [[Polis|Greek city-states]]<br>{{*}} [[Sparta]]<br>{{*}} [[Thespiae]]<br>{{*}} [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]<br>{{*}} [[#Greek army|Others]]

| combatant2 = [[Achaemenid Empire]]

}}

 

 

 

 

 

 

==Sources==

 

[[File:Spartians throw Persian envoys into a well.jpg|thumb|left|The Spartans throw Persian envoys into a well]]

 

Darius then launched an amphibious expeditionary force under [[Datis]] and [[Artaphernes (son of Artaphernes)|Artaphernes]] in 490 BC, which [[Siege of Naxos (490 BC)|attacked Naxos]] before receiving the submission of the other [[Cyclades|Cycladic Islands]]. It then besieged and destroyed Eretria.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+6.100.1 VI, 101] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183132/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+6.100.1 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref> Finally, it moved to attack Athens, landing at the bay of [[Marathon, Greece|Marathon]], where it was met by a heavily outnumbered Athenian army. At the ensuing [[Battle of Marathon]], the Athenians won a remarkable victory, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Persian army to Asia.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+6.113 VI, 113] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183105/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+6.113 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref>

The Persian army seems to have made slow progress through Thrace and Macedon. News of the imminent Persian approach eventually reached Greece in August thanks to a Greek spy.<ref>Holland, pp. 255–256</ref> At this time of the year, the Spartans, ''de facto'' military leaders of the alliance, were celebrating the festival of [[Carneia]]. During the Carneia, military activity was forbidden by Spartan law; the Spartans had arrived too late at [[Battle of Marathon|the Battle of Marathon]] because of this requirement.<ref name=VII206>[[Herodotus]] [https://archive.today/20130813084302/http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.205 VII, 206]</ref> It was also the time of the [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympic Games]], and therefore the Olympic truce, and thus it would have been doubly sacrilegious for the whole Spartan army to march to war.<ref name=VII206/><ref name = h258>Holland, pp. 258–259.</ref> On this occasion, the [[ephor]]s decided the urgency was sufficiently great to justify an advance expedition to block the pass, under one of its kings, [[Leonidas I]]. Leonidas took with him the 300 men of the royal bodyguard, the ''Hippeis''.<ref name=VII205/> This expedition was to try to gather as many other Greek soldiers along the way as possible and to await the arrival of the main Spartan army.<ref name = h258/>

 

 

The Spartan force was reinforced ''en route'' to Thermopylae by contingents from various cities and numbered more than 7,000 by the time it arrived at the pass.<ref name = VII202/> Leonidas chose to camp at, and defend, the "middle gate", the narrowest part of the pass of Thermopylae, where the [[Phocis (ancient region)|Phocians]] had built a defensive wall some time before.<ref name = VII176/> News also reached Leonidas, from the nearby city of [[Trachis]], that there was a mountain track that could be used to outflank the pass of Thermopylae. Leonidas stationed 1,000 Phocians on the heights to prevent such a manoeuvre.<ref name = VII217>Herodotus [https://archive.today/20130813084253/http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.217 VII, 217]</ref>

===First day===

[[File:Hoplite circa 500 BCE and Scythian soldier of the Achaemenid army circa 480 BCE enhanced.jpg|thumb|350px|Contemporary depictions: probable [[Spartan]] [[hoplite]] ([[Vix crater]], {{circa|500}} BC),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Freeman |first1=Charles |title=Egypt, Greece, and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199651917 |page=154 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXIVDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT172 |language=en |access-date=18 October 2018 |archive-date=6 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106023454/https://books.google.com/books?id=kXIVDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT172#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Scythian]] warrior of the [[Achaemenid army]]<ref name="iranicaonline.org"/><ref>{{cite book |title=Naqs-e Rostam – Encyclopaedia Iranica List of nationalities of the Achaemenid military with corresponding drawings |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/uploads/files/Clothing/v5f7a014_f1_300.jpg |language=en |access-date=18 October 2018 |archive-date=17 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917035945/https://iranicaonline.org/uploads/files/Clothing/v5f7a014_f1_300.jpg |url-status=live }}</ref> (tomb of [[Xerxes I]], {{circa|480}} BC), at the time of the [[Second Persian invasion of Greece]] (480–479 BC).]]

After that, Xerxes sent a force of 10,000 [[Medes]] and [[Cissia (area)|Cissians]] to take the defenders prisoner and bring them before him.<ref name=VII210>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.210.1 VII, 210] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123194057/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.210.1 |date=23 November 2020 }}</ref><ref name="dsIX9">Diodorus Siculus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Diod.+11.6.1 XI, 6] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914184919/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Diod.+11.6.1 |date=14 September 2020 }}</ref> The Persians soon launched a [[frontal assault]], in waves of around 10,000 men, on the Greek position.<ref name=VII210/> The Greeks fought in front of the Phocian wall, at the narrowest part of the pass, which enabled them to use as few soldiers as possible.<ref name=VII208>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.208.1 VII, 208] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211174253/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.208.1 |date=11 December 2020 }}</ref><ref name = VII223/> Details of the tactics are scant; Diodorus says, "the men stood shoulder to shoulder", and the Greeks were "superior in valour and in the great size of their shields."<ref name=dsXI7>Diodorus Siculus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Diod.+11.7.1 XI, 7] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914192901/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Diod.+11.7.1 |date=14 September 2020 }}</ref> This probably describes the standard Greek phalanx, in which the men formed a wall of overlapping shields and layered spear points protruding out from the sides of the shields, which would have been highly effective as long as it spanned the width of the pass.<ref>Holland, p. 274</ref> The weaker shields, and shorter spears and swords of the Persians prevented them from effectively engaging the Greek hoplites.<ref name=dsXI7/><ref name="VII211">Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.211.1 VII, 211.1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183119/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.211.1 |date=31 August 2021 }}, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3D211%3Asection%3D2 211.2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918213649/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0126:book%3D7:chapter%3D211:section%3D2 |date=18 September 2021 }}, and [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3D211%3Asection%3D3 211.3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928230153/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D7%3Achapter%3D211%3Asection%3D3 |date=28 September 2021 }}.</ref> Herodotus says that the units for each city were kept together; units were rotated in and out of the battle to prevent fatigue, which implies the Greeks had more men than necessary to block the pass.<ref name=VII204>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.208.1 VII, 204] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211174253/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.208.1 |date=11 December 2020 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=VII212>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.212.1 VII, 212] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219090208/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.212.1 |date=19 December 2020 }}</ref> According to [[Ctesias]], the first wave was "cut to ribbons", with only two or three Spartans killed in return.<ref name = ctes/>

 

On the second day, Xerxes again sent in the infantry to attack the pass, "supposing that their enemies, being so few, were now disabled by wounds and could no longer resist."<ref name=VII212/> However, the Persians had no more success on the second day than on the first.<ref name=VII212/> Xerxes at last stopped the assault and withdrew to his camp, "totally perplexed".<ref name =ctes/>

 

 

Herodotus reports that Xerxes sent his commander [[Hydarnes the Younger|Hydarnes]] that evening, with the men under his command, the Immortals, to encircle the Greeks via the path. However, he does not say who those men were.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.215.1 VII, 215] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183019/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.215.1 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref> The Immortals had been bloodied on the first day, so it is possible that Hydarnes may have been given overall command of an enhanced force including what was left of the Immortals; according to Diodorus, Hydarnes had a force of 20,000 for the mission.<ref>Green (2006), p. 59</ref> The path led from east of the Persian camp along the ridge of Mt. Anopaea behind the cliffs that flanked the pass. It branched, with one path leading to Phocis and the other down to the Malian Gulf at Alpenus, the first town of [[Locris]].<ref name=VII217/>

[[File:Scene of the Battle of the Thermopylae.jpg|thumb|305px|alt=19th-century painting by John Steeple Davis, depicting combat during the battle|Scene of the Battle of the Thermopylae (19th century illustration).]]

 

 

Learning from a runner that the Phocians had not held the path, Leonidas called a [[council of war]] at dawn.<ref name = VII219/> According to Diodorus, a Persian called Tyrrhastiadas, a [[Cyme (Aeolis)|Cymaean]] by birth, warned the Greeks.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084%3Abook%3D11%3Achapter%3D8%3Asection%3D5 |title=Diodorus Siculus, Library, Book XI, Chapter 8, section 5 |access-date=9 October 2013 |archive-date=25 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925100341/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084%3Abook%3D11%3Achapter%3D8%3Asection%3D5 |url-status=live }}</ref> Some of the Greeks argued for withdrawal, but Leonidas resolved to stay at the pass with the Spartans.<ref name = VII219/> Upon discovering that his army had been encircled, Leonidas told his allies that they could leave if they wanted to. While many of the Greeks took him up on his offer and fled, around two thousand soldiers stayed behind to fight and die. Knowing that the end was near, the Greeks marched into the open field and met the Persians head-on. Many of the Greek contingents then either chose to withdraw (without orders) or were ordered to leave by Leonidas (Herodotus admits that there is some doubt about which actually happened).<ref name = VII219>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.219.1 VII, 219] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183042/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.219.1 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref><ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.220.1 VII, 220] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106154700/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.220.1 |date=6 November 2020 }}</ref> The contingent of 700 [[Thespiae|Thespians]], led by their general [[Demophilus (Thespiae)|Demophilus]], refused to leave and committed themselves to the fight.<ref name=VII222>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.222.1 VII, 222] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122050701/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.222.1 |date=22 November 2020 }}</ref> Also present were the 400 Thebans and probably the [[helot]]s who had accompanied the Spartans.<ref name = h291/>

One commonly accepted theory is that Leonidas chose to form a rearguard so that the other Greek contingents could get away.<ref name = L144/><ref name = h294/> If all the troops had retreated, the open ground beyond the pass would have allowed the Persian cavalry to run the Greeks down. If they had all remained at the pass, they would have been encircled and would eventually have all been killed.<ref name = h291/> By covering the retreat and continuing to block the pass, Leonidas could save more than 3,000 men, who would be able to fight again.<ref name = h294/>

 

 

 

[[File:Battle of Thermopylae Spartans and Persians.jpg|thumb|left|Spartans surrounded by Persians, Battle of Thermopylae. 19th century illustration.]]

[[File:Achaemenid king killing a Greek hoplite.jpg|thumb|Crown-wearing Achaemenid king killing a Greek [[hoplite]]. Impression from a [[cylinder seal]], sculpted circa 500 BC–475 BC, at the time of [[Xerxes I]]. [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]].]]

<blockquote> Here they defended themselves to the last, those who still had swords using them, and the others resisting with their hands and teeth.<ref name=VII225>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.225.1 VII, 225] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227141103/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.225.1 |date=27 December 2020 }}</ref></blockquote> Tearing down part of the wall, Xerxes ordered the hill surrounded, and the Persians rained down arrows until every last Greek was dead.<ref name=VII225/> 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.<ref>Crawford, p. 302</ref>

 

 

==Aftermath==

{{Main|Second Persian invasion of Greece|Achaemenid destruction of Athens}}

[[File:Xerxes I tomb Persian soldier circa 480 BCE.jpg|thumb|upright|A Persian soldier at the time of the Second Achaemenid invasion of Greece.]]

 

With Thermopylae now opened to the Persian army, the continuation of the blockade at Artemisium by the Greek fleet became irrelevant. The simultaneous naval Battle of Artemisium had been a tactical stalemate, and the Greek navy was able to retreat in good order to the [[Saronic Gulf]], where it helped to ferry the remaining Athenian citizens to the island of [[Salamis Island|Salamis]].<ref name = h294>Holland, p. 294</ref>

Following Thermopylae, the Persian army proceeded to sack and burn [[Plataea]] and [[Thespiae]], the Boeotian cities that had not submitted, before it marched on the now evacuated city of Athens and accomplished the [[Achaemenid destruction of Athens]].<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+8.49.1 VIII, 50] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183121/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+8.49.1 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref> Meanwhile, the Greeks (for the most part Peloponnesians) preparing to defend the Isthmus of [[Corinth]], demolished the single road that led through it and built a wall across it.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+8.72.1 VIII, 71] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183007/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+8.72.1 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref> As at Thermopylae, making this an effective strategy required the Greek navy to stage a simultaneous blockade, barring the passage of the Persian navy across the [[Saronic Gulf]], so that troops could not be landed directly on the Peloponnese.<ref name = h299>Holland, pp. 299–303</ref> However, instead of a mere blockade, Themistocles persuaded the Greeks to seek a decisive victory against the Persian fleet. 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.<ref name = h327>Holland, pp. 327–334</ref>

 

 

[[File:Xerxes detail Hidush enhanced.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Hindush|Hidush]]'' ([[Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley|Indian soldier of the Achaemenid army]]), circa 480 BC. [[Xerxes I]] tomb. Herodotus explained that Indians participated on the Second Persian invasion of Greece.<ref>Herodotus [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Herodotus/7B* .html VII 64-66]</ref>]]

 

 

The fame of Thermopylae is thus principally derived not from its effect on the outcome of the war but for the inspirational example it set.<ref name = hnet/><ref>Lazenby, p. 150</ref> Thermopylae is famous because of the heroism of the doomed rearguard, who, despite facing certain death, remained at the pass.<ref name="hxviii"/> 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".<ref>Michel de Montaigne, quoted in Holland, p. ''xviii''.</ref> A second reason is the example it set of free men, fighting for their country and their freedom:

 

:O stranger, tell the Lacedaemonians that

 

The alternative ancient reading {{lang|grc|πειθόμενοι νομίμοις}} (''peithomenoi nomίmois'') for {{lang|grc|ῥήμασι πειθόμενοι}} (''rhēmasi peithomenoi'') substitutes "laws" ([[:wikt:νόμος#Ancient Greek|νόμοι]]) for "words".<ref>"this sublime distich (ἡ θρυλουμένη ἐπιγραφή) is quoted with variations by Strabo 429 (and others): (1) ὦ ξέν᾽, ἀπάγγειλον and (2) τοῖς κείνων πειθόμενοι νομίμοις. ''Longe praestat Herodotea lectio'' (Valck.). [[Cicero]], [[Tusculanae Disputationes|Tusc.]] 1. 42. 101, translates (from the inferior version) ''dic hospes Spartae, nos te hic vidisse iacentes, dum sanctis patriae legibus obsequimur.''" (Macan, note to Herodotus VII, 228)</ref>

 

 

It was well known in ancient Greece that all the Spartans who had been sent to Thermopylae had been killed there (with the exception of [[Aristodemus of Sparta|Aristodemus]] and [[Pantites]]), and the epitaph exploits the conceit that there was nobody left to bring the news of their deeds back to Sparta. Greek epitaphs often appealed to the passing reader (always called 'stranger') for sympathy, but the epitaph for the dead Spartans at Thermopylae took this convention much further than usual, asking the reader to make a personal journey to Sparta to break the news that the Spartan expeditionary force had been wiped out. The stranger is also asked to stress that the Spartans died 'fulfilling their orders'.

{|class="wikitable"

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|William Shepherd

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|Hadas (1950)<ref>Moses Hadas, '' A History of Greek Literature'' (1950), p. 56.</ref>

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