There Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC it was one of the moments in Greek history that more than any other contributed to building the myth of polis Greek of Spartawhich boasted one of the most powerful armies of the ancient worldcomposed of warriors known for their warlike virtues. The clash at Thermopylae went down in history as the battle of 300 Spartan warriors against the Persian troops, but in reality King Leonidas of Sparta was leading not only his army but also an alliance of other Greek contingents.
In this clash of Second Persian Warfought mainly in a narrow coastal pass, the Thermopylae, approximately 300 warriors chosen Spartans led by the king Leonidas Ias well as various contingents sent from other Greek poleis, sacrificed themselves in front of thearmy of the Persian Empiremuch larger (hundreds of thousands of men) and commanded by Xerxes I. Fundamental to the Persian victory and the defeat of Leonidas was the betrayal of a Greek citizen, such Ephialteswho revealed to the Persians, in exchange for a reward, the existence of a narrow passage in the mountains that bypassed Thermopylae and allowed Xerxes’ soldiers to take the Greeks from behind. However, the time gained by the Spartans allowed the poleis to organize themselves better and subsequently defeat the Persians in the battle naval battle of Salamisoff the coast of Athens.
The First and Second Persian Wars
At the beginning of 5th century BC thePersian Empire it was one of the most powerful, populous and richest political-territorial realities in the world. Led by the Dynasty of Achaemenidsthe empire dominated over most of the known world (obviously adopting a Eurocentric perspective). Its boundaries ranged from the present India east toEgypt to the west, including the territories of the modern States of Iran, Iraq And Türkiyejust to name the biggest.
The Achaemenids were intent on imposing their rule further west, beyond the Aegeansubjugating Greece. Some cities of Hellenic language and culture had already entered the Persian dominions and the emperors believed they could subjugate the entire peninsula. A first attempt, made in 490 BC and known as First Persian Warended with a failuredue to the defeat suffered at the hands of the Athenians in the Battle of Marathonbut 10 years later, in 480 BC, the new Achaemenid emperor, Xerxesassembled an even larger army and fleet, intent on defeating the Greeks.
Xerxes’ army was immense and reflected the great multiculturalism of the Persian Empire: in fact there were sailors inside phoenixesknights Persianssoldiers from Egypt, Armenia, Mesopotamia And Syria. There were also contingents Greekssupplied by the Hellenic cities that had chosen to submit to Persia. The Greek historian Herodotus (484 – 425 BC), the main source regarding the Persian warsstates that Xerxes’ army deployed millions of men. It is probably aexaggerationand modern historians believe that a number between 100,000 and 300,000 men is more plausiblealthough equally impressive. The Persian army crossed the Hellespont Strait, as the Dardanelles Strait was then called, and began to advance across mainland Greece, supported from the sea by a powerful fleet.
There resistence of the Greeks to the Persian invasion tightened around two o’clock poleis more powerful, Athens And Sparta. For the first time in their history, the Hellenes, forever divided because of internal rivalriesthey did common front against a external enemy. It was a very important moment for the formation of theGreek identity. To face the invasion by land, a small army was hastily raised, initially composed of 299 members of the Spartan Royal Guardled by their king Leonidas I. These soldiers, all young men under 30 years of age, were the best there was military tradition Spartan could offer: these were extremely trained heavy infantry, whose role was to protect the sovereign on the battlefield. The rest of the Spartan army could only have moved after the end of some religious ceremonies.
To give the rest of the Greek cities the time to mobilize their forces en masse, the small Spartan contingent would have gathered during the march i soldiers from other citiescoming to count at the end between 5,000 and 7,000 menfrom Corinth, Thebes, Thespies, Focea, Locri and other smaller cities. The commanders of the Greeks, aware of the heavy numerical inferiority which disadvantaged them, they looked for a point that could give them a considerable strategic advantageand that it would cancel out that of the numbers of the Persians and allowed the rest of Greece to gain precious time.
The battlefield of Thermopylae
The right place to face Xerxes was identified in one narrow step of central Greece, called Thermopylaewhich means “hot doors”, due to the presence of some thermal springs. The location presented a significant strategic advantage for the Greeks. It was in fact a passage between the high mountains to the west and the sea to the east, obligatory point of passage for anyone intending to head towards southern Greece. At this point, the Phocians had erected a wall, which facilitated the defense of the pass. On this type of terrain the Persians would not have been able to deploy their true strength, the cavalry. To make the defensive line even more powerful for the Greeks, the Hellenic fleet which blocked the passage to that shutter near the Cape Artemisio. In essence, if Xerxes wanted to pass, he necessarily had to give battle to the enemy by sea and land.
The deployment prepared by Leonidas had only one weak point. There was in fact a narrow path mountain which allowed one to make one’s way between the hills that bordered the Thermopylae pass to the west. If the Persians had discovered the existence of this passage, they could have attacked the Greeks from behind. The Spartan king was well aware of this, and for this reason decided to leave a garrison of Phocian soldiers to guard the path.
How the Battle of Thermopylae took place: the defeat of Leonidas
The Persian army arrived at Thermopylae between August and September 480 BC. Xerxes first tried to parliamentarian with Leonidas. The king of kings (the title used to designate the Persian emperors) offered the Greeks the possibility of join to him and come rewardedbut they immediately refused. Xerxes at this point became impatient and simply commanded the Greeks to hand over their weapons. According to the historian Plutarch (46/48-125/127 AD) Leonidas at that point uttered a phrase that went down in history: “Molòn labé“, “come and get them“. Despite the insolence of the Greeks, the Persian emperor decided to let four days pass, in the event that Leonidas’ forces decided to retreat, but this was not the case, and on the fifth day he gave the order to attack.
Xerxes decided to attack using some of the best soldiers the Persians had: the archers. However, the damage caused by the arrows was contentsbecause the Greek soldiers, the famous ones hoplitesthey were equipped with armor bronze and large shields round. After the rain of arrows the Persian infantry (including the Immortalsthe elite units of the Persian army, so called because as soon as one died he was immediately replaced by another) attacked the line of the Hellenes frontally, who arranged themselves in a phalanx.
The phalanx was the main combat tactic of the time: the soldiers, heavily armed, positioned themselves shoulder to shouldercovering themselves with shields and holding the spears forward. The units of Leonidas’ army, to avoid getting tired, frequently gave each other the changeand in this way, the soldiers on the front lines were always fresh. This type of deployment, together with the wall, it blocked completely the narrow passage of Thermopylae, and at the end of the first day of battle the Persians had suffered very serious losseswhile those of the Greeks were negligible. On the second day Xerxes he attacked once again with thousands of men, but the phalanx blocking the pass at Thermopylae prevented the Persians from achieving any significant success. The Persian soldiers, lightly armedin hand-to-hand combat they were no match for the Greek hoplites.
Herodotus tells us that that day, a man from a nearby city, named Ephialtesin exchange for a reward, informed Xerxes of the presence of the alternative path that allowed him to bypass the pass. The Persian scouts confirmed the information, and a large detachment of soldiers was sent along the mountain route. At dawn on the third day the Persian soldiers, led by Hydarnecommander of the Immortals, put the Phocians guarding the path to flight and began their descent from the heights, bypassing Leonidas’ deployment.
When the Greeks realized what was happening, it was clear to everyone that he was no longer there no hope to resist. Many Hellenic departments began to retreat to save themselves, and Leonidas himself made sure that as many Greeks as possible moved away from the battlefield. At the pass of Thermopylae they remained alone 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians And 400 Thebansaware of what was about to happen. Leonidas, commanding only 1400 soldiers, attacked the Persians head-on (Leonidas died in this first assault, but his companions managed to recover his body), until the men led by Hydarne appeared behind the Greeks. The Thebans at that point surrendered, but the Spartans and Thespians barricaded themselves on a hill, where they were attacked from two sides. The Greeks fought like lions, until they were killed to the last man.
The legend of Leonidas’ 300 Spartans
Having found Leonidas’ body, Xerxes had him beheaded, however humiliate the memory of the enemy. The sacrifice of the Spartans and Thespians allowed the rest of the Greek army to retreat and take time. The Hellenic fleet left Cape Artemisium and moved further south. In fact, a few weeks later the decisive battle of the Second Persian War would be fought naval clash of Salamiswhich led to total destruction of the Persian fleet and to strategic victory of the Greekswho obtained their revenge in the following years.
The clash of Thermopylae went down in history because of great military value demonstrated by the Greeks in facing a much larger enemy. The superior hoplite training and the advantages brought by the terrain still remain an important lesson today for those involved in military matters. The sacrifice offered by the Spartans and Thespians remains a profound example today altruism And self-denial.
