Greco-Persian Wars: Xerxes’ Invasion

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Athens’ citizen army was made up entirely of infantrymen called hoplites, who wore leather breastplates covered with bronze, as well as skirts of leather strips and thick belts. Crested bronze helmets covered the cheeks and nose. The hoplite was equipped with a steel-tipped spear, a short sword worn on the left side, and a round or oval shield of bronze.

While the Persians had depended heavily on the strength of the bow and arrow, the vast majority of their foot soldiers wore no armor. For close combat the Persian infantry carried daggers or short spears; their horsemen used swords or axes.When the clash of arms began, it was the speed with which the Greeks closed with the Persians and the superiority of their weapons and armor that carried the day. The Greeks attacked in their traditional phalanx formation with two very important modifications. The formation was widened in order to minimize the risk of being outflanked, and as the phalanx reached a distance of about 100 yards from the Persian line, the hoplites broke into a double-quick pace that took the enemy archers by surprise.

Although lengthening the flanks served its purpose, it also weakened the Greek center where, according to Herodotus, the invaders held the upper hand and actually broke the Greek line, chasing the survivors inland from the shore.

The Athenians and Plataeans on the flanks fared batter and put their opponents to flight before joining forces in the center and turning on those Persians who had broken through. ‘Here again they were triumphant,’ Herodotus recorded, ‘chasing the routed enemy and cutting them down as they ran to the edge of the sea. Then, plunging into the water, they laid hold of the ships, calling for fire.’ During this stage of the fight, and Athenian named Cynegirus lost his hand to a Persian ax as he held the stern of one of the ships; he later died.

As the remaining vessels withdrew, they set a course for Athens, hoping to reach the city ahead of the defending army. The Greeks realized that the sight of the still-powerful Persian fleet off its coast in the absence of its army might be enough to induce Athens to surrender. Legend has it that Pheidippides, still thoroughly exhausted by his mission to Sparta, was ordered to run the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens with news of the victory. He reached the city and gasped, ‘Rejoice, we conquer!’ Then he collapsed and died. By the time Datis and the Persian host sighted Athens and the gleaming Acropolis, it was too late. The Athenian army had crowned its battlefield triumph at Marathon by arriving in time to stand off the would-be conquerors, who had no choice now but to turn for home in failure.

Herodotus placed the number of Greek casualties at Marathon at 192 and those of the Persians at a relatively staggering 6,400. When the late-mobilizing Spartans received word that victory had been won without them, they continued onto the battlefield to view the corpses of the fallen Persians. The Greeks buried their dead in a mound that is still visible on the battlefield.

When the news of Marathon reaches Darius’ court, the king’s anger reached new heights and he was more determined than ever to conquer all of Greece. Preparations were made and orders issued to raise an even greater army. The renewed campaign was several years in the making, however, and having reigned for 36 years, Darius died before he was able to exact his revenge. The burden of rule and military judgment passed to his son Xerxes.

Originally, Xerxes was not bent on war with Greece. He crushed a revolt in Egypt and called together a council of war to determine whether he should undertake an expedition against Athens. ‘As you saw Darius himself was making preparations for war against these men; but death prevented him from carrying out his purpose,’ Xerxes concluded. ‘I therefore on his behalf, and for the benefit of all my subjects, will not rest until I have taken Athens and burnt it to the ground, in revenge for the injury which the Athenians without provocation once did to me and my father….If we crush the Athenians and their neighbors in the Peloponnese, we shall so extend the empire of Persia that its boundaries will be God’s own sky.’

According to Herodotus, when the opportunity came to discuss the situation, only Artabanus, Xerxes’ uncle, offered a dissenting opinion. ‘I warned your father-Darius my own brother-not to attack the Scythians, those wanderers who live in a cityless land,’ Artabanus warned. ‘But he would not listen to me. Confident in his power to subdue them he invaded their countryk and before he came home again many fine soldiers who marched with him were dead. But you, my lord, mean to attack a nation greatly superior to the Scythians: a nation with the highest reputation for valor both on land and at sea. It is my duty to tell you that you have to fear from them: you have said you mean to bridge the Hellespont and march through Europe to Greece. Now suppose-and it is not impossible-that you were to suffer a reverse by sea or land, or even both. These Greeks are said to be great fighters-and indeed one might well guess as much from the fact that the Athenians alone destroyed the great army we sent to attack them under Datis and Artaphernes. Or, if you will, suppose they were to succeed upon one element only-suppose they fell upon our fleet and defeated it, and then sailed to the Hellespont and destroyed the bridge; then my lord you would indeed be in peril.’

Xerxes and the rest of the assembly ridiculed Artabanus, and the conference was adjourned. Later that night, Xerxes began taking his uncle’s word to heart and in fact decided that an invasion of Greece would not be wise after all. But as he slept, Xerxes was supposedly visited by a phantom that urged him to proceed with the invasion. With the dawn, however, the king put the apparition out of his mind and canceled the operation.

Again the next night the spirit is said to have appeared and promised doom if Xerxes did not attack the Greeks. This time the king was unnerved by the dream and summoned Artabanus, insisting that his uncle wear the king’s clothes, sit upon his throne and sleep in Xerxes’ bed. If the phantom appeared to Artabanus, then surely it was sent by God. Legend says that indeed the spirit came to Artabanus, threatened to destroy him for interfering and was on the verge of putting out his eyes with hot irons when Artabanus awoke and ran to Xerxes. Xerxes, now with his uncle’s approval, decided that the invasion would go forward.

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Tags: Ancient-Medieval, Historical Conflicts

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