The Battle of Thermopylae started out in the late summer of 480 B.C, the Spartan King Leonidas 1 held out for three days with a mere 300 hoplites against thousands upon thousands of the best Great King’s troops. Under thirty-five Persian generals, were assembled for the invasion of Greece, five whom where sons of the royal house. On the arrival of Xerxes at Thermopylae, he saw the that place was defended by a large of number of Spartans, and about seven thousand hoplites from other states, commanded by the Spartan King Leonidas.…
The Battle of thermopylae was an important battle for both the persian and greek army, the leader of the persian fleet was Xerxes whose army was far more larger than King Leonidas, leader of the Greek army, but Leonidas was a far more tactical and smarter war general than Xerxes.…
The Battle of Thermopylae is shrouded in fluctuating estimations and conflicting historic accounts. There is as much myth, legend and mystery surrounding the actual battle as we have historical records for it. Historians from ancient Greece were very biased and so we must find a middle ground between accounts to have an educated opinion of what really happened. The most speculation involves the actual numbers and count of each side; the Greek forces and the Persian forces. Greek accounts say the Persians numbered over a million. Herodotus even exclaims the Persian forces reached up to 2.6 million strong. We know today that this would hardly have been possible and that Herodotus had probably greatly exaggerated in his writings to glorify the Greeks.…
The battle of Thermopylae was the first between the Persians and Greeks during the Persian invasion of 480-479 BC. The Greek force was very small but was determined to make a stand against the huge Persian army. The battle of Thermopylae resulted in a massive loss to the Greeks as the Persian army heavily defeating them.…
There were a number of factors that played into the allied greek victory over the Persian forces led by king Xerxes. The first was the Spartans' superior fighting ability and military training from childhood into early adulthood. Spartans, beginning late in the sixth century used a new system governing all of it's citizens from birth.…
The reasons for the Greek victory against the Persians in 490 to 480/479 BC was a mixture of exceptional leadership, skilful tactics and strategy, superior weapons and soldiers, and Greek unity. Strong leadership was the most important aspect of the Greek defence, as without the intelligence and bravery of the leaders, the Greeks would have been easily defeated. As a result of the excellent leadership; Greek tactics, strategy, and unity were greatly strengthened. Combined with their better weapons and soldiers, the Greeks held the advantage and seized opportunities at the perfect moment. Also, with each victory the Greeks grew more confident of success and defiant of the Persian attempts to invade. The poor organisation and disarray of their enemy led to an undermining of the Persian might and further improved Greece's chances of success.…
The Battle of Thermopylae started in August of September of 480 BC. The battle lead by King Leonides of Sparta and Xerxes of The Persian empire. The Persians were trying to overtake Greece. In an effort to protect the Greek cities, The Greek Army lead by King Leonides was sent to the Pass of Thermopyle to stop the Persian entry into Greece.…
The Spartans did not sacrifice themselves to save Western Civilization at Thermopylae because they did not choose to stay behind and fight, they were simply ambushed and defeated in battle. According to Document B, the author Ctesias writes that “Thus, using the two Greeks as their guides, a Persian army of 40,000 men came through and snuck up behind the Spartans. Thus were the Spartans surprised, surrounded, and unable to retreat.” This quote is saying that the Spartans were ambushed and surrounded, thus making it impossible for them to retreat. If you’re unable to retreat, that means you have no other choice but to fight. So it wasn’t that the Spartans chose to sacrifice themselves, it was that there was no other route for them to take. While…
Athens and Sparta, were the strongest cities , Athens and Sparta competed with the supreme political influence of Greece . Athens and Sparta's men always trained to be ready for war. Sparta's main strength lay in its ground troops, while Athens's powerful navy controlled the seas. The tide was turned in the Persian Wars when the legendary 300 Spartans led by King Leonidas slowed Xerxes' advance at Thermopylae. The Persians were later ultimately defeated at the Battle of Salamis by the superior strategy of…
The Persians outnumbered the Greeks, so Leonidas positioned his troops in the Thermopylae pass. Because the pass was quite narrow, the Persians, who were used to rampant fighting on open fields, could not use all of their troops at once; therefore, it was easy for the Greek hoplites to wipe them out. This battle is not the best example of terrain manipulation because the Greeks lost on the third day. It was wise to hold the Persians at a natural chokepoint, but the Greeks ultimately were trapped when Ephialtes showed Xerxes a goat pass, leading to the Greeks’ backs. The Thermopylae pass was effective for a while, but caused the defeat of Leonidas’ troops; the Greeks used the Artemisium strait in a similar way to fight the…
Allies from their existence, Athens and Sparta had fought side by side for centuries. These two Greek city-states fought together in the Greco-Persian war, but when the Persians retreated, tension rose. Athens gained more power than they needed, plunging the two cities into nearly three decades of war. The outcome was devastating. Although Sparta won, they were extremely demoralized. Athens was bankrupt and exhausted, and neither city regained the military strength they once had. This infamous conflict came to be known as the Peloponnesian War.…
Athens sent weapons to the Ionians to fight Persia. If Athens did not help the Ionians revolt, Persia would have less reason to go to war with them. Therefore, Athens provoked the Persians. Another reason Athens caused the Persian war is that they burned Sardis, a city-state conquered…
In 480, the Persian king Xerxes invaded Greece, defeated his enemies at Artemisium and Thermopylae, and sacked Athens. Although his navy was severely damaged in the naval battle ofSalamis, it was obvious that the Persians were the strongest. So, the great king recalled many troops. This gave the Greeks the breathing space they needed, and they defeated Xerxes' right-hand man Mardonius at Plataea. More or less at the same time, a Greek expeditionary force attacked the remains of the Persian navy atMycale, and started to liberate the Greek towns in Asia Minor.…
Among the most renowned literary works are those of the ancient Greeks. Literary works by the ancient Greeks include historical documentation, along with tragedies based on conflicts. According to the historian Thucydides, the greatest conflict was the Peloponnesian war between the Athenians and Spartans, along with each of their allies. In the opinion of Thucydides, the Peloponnesian war was due to the growth of Athens and the fear, the growth caused in the Spartans and their allies (Thucydides, Book I, chapter I). Accounts of events by Thucydides, for Francis Cornford, are not merely historic, but rather works of art. The History of the Peloponnesian War according to Thucydides is artistic through carefully crafted speeches and captivating…
Sparta then prepared for war against Athens. As war broke out Athens began to fall and lose the war. Mainly because they were better fighters on water and not on land. Unlike the Spartans who were the best at fighting on the land.…