Thermopylae

In 483 BC Xerxes I, the leader of the Persian empire and son of Darius the Great, prepared to go to war against the Greeks. This war, considered part of the Persian or Medic Wars, could trace its roots back to 499 BC.

Earlier the Persians conquered the Greek city-states of Ionia, and in 499 BC the Ionians rebelled at their Persian masters. The
rest of Greece provided little aid to the Ionian rebellion and the Persians were able to crush the rebellion. Then, in 492 BC
the Persians, under General Mardonius, decided it was time to unite more of Greece beneath the Persian banner. Though
the Persians managed to raze Eretria they were ultimately brought to defeat at the battle of Marathon.

It was for this defeat, and the original Ionian rebellion, that Xerxes sought retribution through Greek blood. From 483 until 480 BC the Persians carefully marshaled their forces and prepared for battle. An alliance was made with Carthage, several Greek city-states sided with the Persians, and an army from 400,000 to five million, depending on the source, was raised. Logistic problems would indicate that the high end is the least likely, and the true number probably falls near the lower end of the spectrum. Regardless of the exact number, the Persian army marching into Greece was huge. Facing them was a force of around 7,000 defenders. Again, the exact number is unknown, with a low estimate of several thousand and a high end estimate of about double the 7K.

When the Persian army marched into Greece the Greeks realized that the Persians would need to go through Thermopylae ("Hot Gates"), a narrow passageway along the coast known for its natural hot water springs. It was a track barely fifteen yards across, and excellent defensive terrain. Besides the natural defensive offerings of the land, there was a small fort and a wall. It would be an excellent spot for a delaying action, and one that would not need a large force.

And so King Leonidas of Sparta took 300 hoplites (warriors who had all fathered sons that could continue the bloodline) and 700 Thespians to the pass of Thermopylae to face the Persian threat as an advance guard. Other troops also came, but it was these 1000 men who faced the brunt of the forthcoming attack.

The Persian army, supported by their navy, made their way up the coast and arrived at the pass faster than expected. When the Persians encountered the Greeks Xerxes expected that they would simply surrender or disperse against such overwhelming odds. He parlayed his intention and waited. Four days passed. The Greeks exercised and joked. No
surrender was forthcoming. On the fifth day the Persians attacked.

Sending a force from Medes, a recently conquered puppet state, in for the first wave the Medes failed to achieve any sense of victory, unless victory was being measured by how many deaths amongst their own forces they were amassing.

For the next assault Xerxes sent in his best legion, the Immortals. 10,000 strong, whenever a man fell he was immediately replaced, so that the Immortals would always be 10,000. According to the Greek writer Herodotus the Immortal's kit was:

"The dress of these troops consisted of the tiara, or soft felt cap, embroidered tunic with sleeves, a coat of mail looking like the scales of a fish, and trousers; for arms they carried light wicker shields, quivers slung below them, short spears, powerful bows with can arrows, and short swords swinging from belts beside the right thigh."

The Immortals, numerous they may have been, failed just as the lesser Medes had. There was simply not enough frontage for the superior numbers to make a difference. Only so many men could enter the pass to fight at a time, and as long as the defenders were able to maintain their shield wall, the attackers had little chance. They were waves breaking against the coast.

At sea the Persian navy was met by a Greek naval force. A Greek victory could have cut Xerxes supply line, but alas the Greeks were defeated. With control of the sea Xerxes could have taken root and essentially lay siege to Thermopylae. Instead a Greek traitor suddenly made victory seem possible in short order.

While many Greeks rallied against the encroaching Persian empire others didn't see it as such a bad thing. Ephialtes was such a Greek.

Ephialtes went to Xerxes and informed him that there was a goat path (actually one of several) that would allow the Persians to slip in behind Thermopylae. Xerxes listened, and after initial doubts, realized that Ephialtes was telling the truth. A new attack plan was drawn up.

The defending Greeks were aware of the goat paths just as Ephialtes was, and in fact Leonidas had set Phocian troops along the most likely path to be infiltrated. The Persians though came up another path, surprising the Phocians in their sleep. Under a shower of arrows the Phocians were massacred and the Persians continued towards their main objective, those guarding the pass.

In the morning Leonidas learned of what had happened during the night and knew the situation was grim. It was at this point he dismissed the majority of the Greeks. The Spartans had sworn to hold the pass and they would continue to do so. With the 300 hoplites 700 Thespians also stayed, along with several hundred Thebans (who were kept against their will).

At dawn, three days after the actual Persian attack began, the Immortals assaulted the remaining Greeks. With the attack not confined to such a narrow space their numbers finally made a difference. Knowing that their final doom was at hand the Spartans and Thespians fought bitterly. The Thebans, who were forced to stay behind, surrendered when the chance presented itself.

As the day wore on the last Greeks made one final stand. The Persians surrounded these last troops and sent wave after wave of arrow down upon them, until there was no more opposition.

After the battle Xerxes ordered the corpse of Leonidas recovered, whereupon he desecrated the body by both crucifying Leonidas' body and decapitating it. The Greeks would not recover Leonidas' body until forty years later, returning it to Sparta.

The last stand of the Spartans, though brave and worthy of being remembered thousands of years later, did not offer much militarily. The delay for the Persians was inconsequential, and their numbers still exceedingly large.

Another naval battle, the Battle of Artemisium, while not quite a Greek defeat, was also not a Greek victory. The Greeks retreated what remained of the fleet, giving total control of the Aegean to the Persians. The Persian army continued on their march, sacking Athens. After that the Greek navy finally had a decent showing, defeating the Persians at the Battle of Salamis. This was the turning point for the Greeks, and from that point on the Greeks were able to push the Persians out of Greece.

- FRAG! Newsletter March 2007

This is an interesting summary.

I disagree with his conclusions about Thermopylae. It was a psychological defeat from which the Persians never recovered.

He also omits the part where Xerxes had his commanders executed for desecrating the body of Leonidas, even though the commanders had done so on his (Xerxes) orders.