Greco-Persian Wars: Xerxes’ Invasion

 | Military History  | 0 comments  |  Print This Post  |  Email This Post

The Greek belief that the proud are destined to be humbled, that their pantheon of gods did play an active role in the everyday lives of men, and that oracles offered a glimpse of events yet to take place might lead a skeptic to label this episode as more of a Greek invention than an actual fact. Herodotus undoubtedly embellished his account of the incident to suit his audience, but the fact remains that the Greeks were influenced by omens and soothsayers and their actions reflected their beliefs.

While Xerxes prepared to march, his subjects accomplished two major engineering feats. They did bridge the Hellespont, the present-day Dardanelles, with two spans approximately 1,400 yards in length. The bridges were supported by 674 biremes and triremes (ships named for the number of rows of oars each carried) as pontoons, across which the causeway was laid. A great storm wrecked the first bridges, causing Xerxes to fly into a rage. He ordered the designers of those bridges executed and that the Hellespont itself be given 300 lashes as punishment. Two replacement bridges were subsequently constructed. Meanwhile, three years were spent digging a canal across and isthmus 1 1/2 miles wide near Mount Athos, bypassing the treacherous waters where Darius’ fleet had come to grief years before.

Finally, a decade after the embarrassment at Marathon, the great, nay, invincible army of the East was moving inexorably toward its destiny. King Xerxes was 38 years old. Herodotus states that the Persian army numbered 5 million men and drank rivers dry as it passed. More realistic estimates place its strength at 500,000-more than adequate to do the job. The Persian fleet was said to consist of 1,207 triremes.

While Xerxes assembled the Persian juggernaut, the Athenians prepared to fight a decisive battle at sea. A rich vein of silver had been found in the mines at Laurium, and in 482 BC a great debate had raged over the best use of that wealth. The city’s leading politician was Aristeides, but now another voice was heard-that of Themistocles. He argued successfully that the treasure should be used to expand the Athenian navy.

As Xerxes swept irresistibly forward during the summer of 480 BC, opposition melted away. Many Greek cities offered tokens of earth and water in an act of submission. Athens and Sparta, however, remained defianct. In August, Spartan King Leonidas led 6,000 men to hold the pass at Thermopylae, through which the Persian army had to advance in order to reach Athens. At the same time, the Greek fleet advanced to Artemisium to keep the Persian naval forces busy.

Thermopylae, which in Greek means ‘pass of the hot springs,’ provided to setting for one of military history’s great stands. The Persian host drew up before the pass, which was barely 50 feet wide. On August 18, Xerxes ordered a frontal assault. The first troops sent forward against the pass were Medes and Cissians, who attacked repeatedly but were driven back each time with heavy losses. The dead began to pile up in front the line occupied by Leonidas’ core of 300 elite Spartan hoplites, as well as small contingents from several other city-states. Late in the afternoon, the ‘Immortals,’ the elite Persian division whose dash, esprit de corps and combat experience made them the envy of the army, moved forward under their commander, Hydarnes. ‘But, once again engaged, they were no more successful than the Medes had been,’ Herodotus wrote. ‘All went as before, the two armies fighting in a confined space, the Persians using shorter spears than the Greeks and having no advantage from their numbers.’

One Spartan ploy worked spectacularly well. When the opportunity presented itself, the hoplites would turn their backs on their attackers and pretend to flee in confusion. Bolstered by their apparent victory, the Persians would charge forward to complete the rout-only to see the Spartans execute a quick about-face at the least possible moment to bring their heavy arms and long spears to bear, slaughtering scores more duped Persians in the pass. Xerxes, who watched the battle form a nearby vantage point, finally withdrew his battered troops.

For another full day Leonidas and his tiring warriors held their ground. Perhaps a slight doubt now crept into Zerxes’ mind. At that point, however, a Greek traitor named Ephialtes gained an audience with the great king and offered to show his soldiers an alternate route over the mountains that would allow them to attack the Spartans form the rear. Leonidas had detached about 1,000 men from Pohocia to hard his back door, but when the Phocians saw the Persian legion advancing upon them in the gathering light they took to their heels. The Spartans’ fate was sealed.

The Greeks were well aware that the game was near its end. Their soothsayer spoke of death coming with the dawn. Some of the troops at Thermopylae left the scene, and controversy persists to this day as to whether the Spartan king dismissed them to fight another day or sent them home in contempt. Herodotus wrote that he committed to memory the names of all 300 Spartans who remained, ‘because they deserve to be remembered.’

Squeezed into the narrow pass and assailed from two sides, those Spartans who lost their weapons fought on with their hands and teeth. Their courage is best revealed in the words of Dieneces. When told that the Persians would loose so many arrows that their flight would darken the sky, he remarked: ‘This is pleasant news…for if the Persians hide the sun we shall have our battle in the shade.’ Among the Persian dead were two of Xerxes’ brothers. After the war, a plaque was erected to commemorate the stand of Leonidas and his men. It read: ‘Go tell the Spartans, you who read: We took their orders and are dead.’

The Spartan sacrifice at Thermopylae was not in vain. While they held the pass, a pair of violent storms ravaged the Persian fleet. The second gale completely destroyed a squadron of 200 vessels that Xerxes had sent to sail around Euboea to attack the Greeks from behind. In addition, Themistocles led the Greek navy in two victories, at the Gulf of Pagasae and Artemisum. Both sides, roughly handled, were pleased to break off the engagement at Artemisium as darkness fell.

When Themistocles received the news that the Persians had taken Thermopylae, he executed a tactical withdrawal to the island of Salamis. As he had said several years before, the decisive battle in the life of Athens, and indeed the whole of Greece, would take place at sea.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to

Tags: Ancient-Medieval, Historical Conflicts

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.