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.…
Another misconception also is the Spartan force of 300 elite hoplite soldiers fought on their own against the 100,000-150,000 or so Persian troops. This is of course false as they had a Greek force of about 4,000 with them the first two days and a force of approximately 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans who had chosen to stay on the final day, despite Leonidas' orders for the Greek forces to retreat to evade certain death. This misconception again, is to glorify the Spartans and their efforts at Thermopylae. Their three day standoff still being an amazing feat of military prowess and elite soldier mentality, one cannot deny them this. Over all, there were 300 Spartan casualties (including Leonidas, the Spartan king), and most of the Thebans and Thespians that didn't surrender as the Persians lost close to over 20,000 men, including the death of all 10,000 of their Immortals (deemed 'Immortals' due to the swift replacement of an injured/killed Immortal, keeping their unit of 10,000 at a constant number so it would seem their force and cohesion was never changing, constantly powerful and constantly geared for war; hence immortal).…
According to Herodotus, the Greek army did not have enough troops to maintain the Persians troops so they were heavily outnumbered this lead to the Persians surround the Greek Force. A major factor on the defeat of the defeat of the Greeks was of the disunity of the Greek states.…
490 B.C. Persian leader, darius I, sent 25,000 men to fight 10,000 Greeks. The Persians were light armored and lacked training, they were no match to the Greeks disciplined phalanx Athens won a crushing victory killing more than 6000 men and only losing less than 200 men The battle took place in a plain north east of Athens called marathon Ionia of the coast of Anatolia is a place where Greeks have been long settled, however around 546 B.C. the Persians conquered the area.…
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 Peloponnesian War lasted from 431 to 404 B.C. and would put the Spartan empire in control of the entire Greek peninsula. The struggle between the two Greek mega powers, Sparta and Athens, began less than fifty years after they defeated the Persians. Athenian control of the seas would have to be equal to the Persian money if Sparta was going to win the war, and finally at the Battle of Syracuse, the Spartans showed that they were the masters of land and sea within Greece. With Sparta now in control of the Greek empire, it was necessary to provide men with duties other than war fighting and training all the time. The problem with keeping Greece together as one political unit with the Spartans as the political center would prove to be…
After defeating the Persian army in the battle at Granicus, the army moved south searching for the main force. The main force was led by the ruler of Persia, Darius. The battle happens in a narrow area between the gulf of Issus and mountains on November 5, 333 BC. The macedonian army used its phalanx, and Alexander used his tactics to adapt to the situation. The army had a phalanx in the center, hypaspists on the right, and companion cavalry with Alexander riding with them on the flank. On the left was a mix of heavy and light cavalry, with an infantry in reserve. Far right in the hills, the army had agrarians, elite javelin soldiers, and cavalry. The Macedonian army advances, protecting their flank. Alexander led an attack of the agrarians, and managed to drive off the heavy infantry. Meanwhile the rest of the macedonian cavalry on that flank drove off the persian cavalry. On the opposite flank, the Persian heavy cavalry succeeding in pushing back the weaker cavalry of the Macedonian army. Alexander responded to this by using his infantry. The Macedonians with this infantry put up a defensive line against a possible breakthrough. As the Persian line advanced, placing their flank in the air, they left themselves vulnerable. The Agrarians continued to pursue heavy infantry, while the cavalry turned on the flank of the infantry. Alexander in this moment saw Darius and advanced toward him. He believed that by…
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…
Can you imagine four-thousand spartans charging down a hill while three-thousand Athenians ready their bows and release them all simultaneously while the string whips in the hard rain? The Peloponnesian War was one of the most fierce wars in Greece because many people fell in battle. From the South were the Spartans. Their forces had never been stronger with a reformed, military-based government. From the North was the Athenians who had just been through a war that had been won, and were still armed and battle ready, holding fortresses across Greece. The interactions that these two city states made against, with, and without them were so intense that even the fierce kings, Leonidas of Sparta and King Pericles Cleon Nicias of Athens, fell to each other's armies.…
The battle was the climax of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate Greece. The Greek army defeated the more numerous Persians, marking a turning point in the Greco-Persian Wars. The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states,…
While the city of Troy was being burned and sacked, a survivor known as Aeneas would begin a mission to deprive the Greeks of their victory of Troy not through the sword and spear, but through his words. Aeneas knew that the Greeks would tout themselves as brave strategists who managed to outwit the Trojans. The Greeks would make Aeneas city appear as though they were full of imbeciles that fell to the mighty hands of the Greeks. In order to tarnish the image the Greeks would no doubt boast, he would tell a story to Queen Dido that not only takes away the Greek’s ability to claim credit, but also say that the burning of Troy will allow the Trojan’s to become more powerful than the Greeks could ever have imagined.…
Despite their huge differences, both Sparta and Athens united to fight the Persians together. In the book The Portable Greek Historians by M. I. Finley, Herodotus records, “The Greeks who at this spott awaited the coming of Xerxes were the following: from Sparta, three hundred men-at-arms; from Arcadia, a thousand Tegeans and Mantineans, five hundred of people; a hundred and twenty Orchomenians, from the Arcadian Orchomenus’ and a thousand from other cities,” (Herodotus, The Persian Wars 7.202)....Herodotus continues, “The sea was in good keeping, watched by the Athenians, the Aeginetans, and the rest of the fleet,” (Herodotus, The Persian Wars 7.203). In addition, Herodotus says, “The various nations had each captains of their own under whom they served; but the one to whom all especially looked up, and who had the command of the entire force, was the Lacedaemonian, Leonidas,” (Herodotus, The Persian Wars 7.204). Based off Herodotus’ statements, all the Greeks were waiting upon Xerxes’ arrival. They included Sparta, the strongest military, Arcadia, Tegeans, Mantineans, and more. Also, the Athenians, who had the strongest navy were also accompanied by other Greeks while awaiting the arrival of the Persian navy. These records by Herodotus show the concept of Greek unity or panhellenism as Greeks from all different poleis come together to fight the stronger Persian army who were considered barbarians or outsiders. The Persians were coming to conquer Athen but all other Greek poleis refused to let Athens battle alone. Even having significant differences the Greeks appointed Spartan king Leonidas as head of command. They recognized that Sparta had the best army at the time and Leonidas was the best choice for command. Athenians and Spartans have very significant differences but in this battle they united…