Greece has announced two commemorative coins to mark 2500 years since the historic battle. + The Greeks this time sallied forth from the wall to meet the Persians in the wider part of the pass, in an attempt to slaughter as many Persians as they could. [105] The Phocians retreated to a nearby hill to make their stand (assuming the Persians had come to attack them). The battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC has become the archetype for the courageous last stand. It has been reported that others also remained, including up to 900 helots and 400 Thebans. Archaeological evidence, such as the Serpent Column (now in the Hippodrome of Constantinople), also supports some of Herodotus' specific claims. Wars & Much to their surprise, they faced approximately 6,000 ho… The monument is made of marble and features a bronze statue depicting the god Eros, to whom the ancient Thespians accorded particular religious veneration. Wars & First Ladies By 480 BC, Xerxes had amassed a massive army and navy and set out to conquer all of Greece. [51] However, as Plutarch long ago pointed out, if they were hostages, why not send them away with the rest of the Greeks? AFRICA MAPS EUROPE MAPS: H - I [13][14] The Persian army arrived at the pass in late August or early September. [51], The Spartan force was reinforced en route to Thermopylae by contingents from various cities and numbered more than 7,000 by the time it arrived at the pass. The metope below depicts battle scenes. About the Greco-Persian Wars     + [114] As the Immortals approached, the Greeks withdrew and took a stand on a hill behind the wall. A variant of the epigram is inscribed on the Polish Cemetery at Monte Cassino. It has also been proposed that the failure to retreat from Thermopylae gave rise to the notion that Spartans never retreated. [16] George B. Grundy was the first modern historian to do a thorough topographical survey of the narrow pass at Thermopylae, and to the extent that modern accounts of the battle differ from Herodotus' where they usually follow Grundy's. Herodotus reports that the Phocians had improved the defences of the pass by channelling the stream from the hot springs to create a marsh, and it was a causeway across this marsh which was only wide enough for a single chariot to traverse. The battle is revisited in countless adages and works of popular culture, such as in films (e.g., The 300 Spartans (1962) and 300 (2007), based on the events during and close to the time of the battle), in literature, in song (e.g. Battles 1500 - 1799 [106] He feared they were Spartans but was informed by Ephialtes that they were not. Sitemap 21    At the time of Leonidas the pass was a path under the cliff about 40 feet wide. For instance, Cawkwell states: "he was successful on both land and sea, and the Great Invasion began with a brilliant success. [143], While this paradigm of "free men" outfighting "slaves" can be seen as a rather sweeping over-generalization (there are many counter-examples), it is nevertheless true that many commentators have used Thermopylae to illustrate this point. It is also the hill on which the last of them died. The battle took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium. [83], The terrain of the battlefield was nothing that Xerxes and his forces were accustomed to. [37] By early 480 BC, the preparations were complete, and the army which Xerxes had mustered at Sardis marched towards Europe, crossing the Hellespont on two pontoon bridges. [79] Thus, despite the heavy losses, forcing the pass was strategically a Persian victory,[112] but the successful retreat of the bulk of the Greek troops was in its own sense a victory as well. Revolutions F - G [20] In fact, Herodotus' account of the battle, in Book VII of his Histories, is such an important source that Paul Cartledge wrote: "we either write a history of Thermopylae with [Herodotus], or not at all". [61] With the Persian emissary returning empty-handed, battle became inevitable. A congress of city-states met at Corinth in late autumn of 481 BC,[42] and a confederate alliance of Greek city-states was formed. [65] The poet Simonides, who was a near-contemporary, talks of four million; Ctesias gave 800,000 as the total number of the army that was assembled by Xerxes.[6]. Herodotus writes that when Dienekes, a Spartan soldier, was informed that Persian arrows would be so numerous as "to block out the sun", he retorted, "So much the better...then we shall fight our battle in the shade. John Ruskin expressed the importance of this ideal to Western civilization as follows: Also obedience in its highest form is not obedience to a constant and compulsory law, but a persuaded or voluntary yielded obedience to an issued command .... His name who leads the armies of Heaven is "Faithful and True"... and all deeds which are done in alliance with these armies ... are essentially deeds of faith, which therefore ... is at once the source and the substance of all known deed, rightly so called ... as set forth in the last word of the noblest group of words ever, so far as I know, uttered by simple man concerning his practice, being the final testimony of the leaders of a great practical nation ... [the epitaph in Greek][161]. People in History J - M Recent core samples indicate that the pass was only 100 metres (330 ft) wide, and the waters came up to the gates: "Little do the visitors realize that the battle took place across the road from the monument. On the north side of the roadway was the Malian Gulf, into which the land shelved gently. Musicians, Painters & ASIA MAPS: This account is fairly consistent with Herodotus'. Battles D - L The performance of the defenders is also used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain as force multipliers and has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds. I think the third will be something to do with Hannibal. [81], It is often claimed that at the time, the pass of Thermopylae consisted of a track along the shore of the Malian Gulf so narrow that only one chariot could pass through at a time. On the first day, Xerxes sent his Median and Kissian troops, and after their failure to clear the … [111], The most likely theory is that Leonidas chose to form a rearguard so that the other Greek contingents could get away. [111] They thus probably came to Thermopylae of their own free will and stayed to the end because they could not return to Thebes if the Persians conquered Boeotia. Most of the Thebans reportedly surrendered. Sitemap 03    [30] Having had a demonstration of his power the previous year, the majority of Greek cities duly obliged. [60] When Leonidas refused these terms, the ambassador carried a written message by Xerxes, asking him to "Hand over your arms". Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, Go, way-farer, bear news to Sparta's town. Battle. Herodotus observes this was very uncommon for the Persians, as they traditionally treated "valiant warriors" with great honour (the example of Pytheas, captured off Skiathos before the Battle of Artemisium, strengthens this suggestion). It was held at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae ("The Hot Gates") in August or September 480 BC. [34], Darius, therefore, began raising a huge new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece; however, in 486 BC, his Egyptian subjects revolted, indefinitely postponing any Greek expedition. Plataea, Thebes, Marathon, Plutarch, Apophthegmata Laconica, Saying 11. The vastly outnumbered Greeks held off the Persians for seven days (including three of battle) before the rear-guard was annihilated in one of history's most famous last stands. FAMOUS SPEECHES, GOVERNMENTS IN HISTORY          The Greeks allowed him to come up to the camp, observe them, and depart. It branched, with one path leading to Phocis and the other down to the Malian Gulf at Alpenus, the first town of Locris. Map of Thermopylae 480 BC. [76][77] However, this is only one approach, and many other combinations are plausible. 11x17 print on aged parchment paper. Go tell the Spartans, thou who passest by, Stranger, tell the Spartans that we behaved, Stranger! HISTORY          in, Plutarch, Apophthegmata Laconica, section "Leonidas, son of Anaxandridas", saying 11. [53] Leonidas chose to camp at, and defend, the "middle gate", the narrowest part of the pass of Thermopylae, where the Phocians had built a defensive wall some time before. Some English renderings are given in the table below. Gulf of Malis at the shores of the Propontis (Sea of Michel de Montaigne, quoted in Holland, p. Macauley translation of Herodotus, p. 220, Rawlinson translation of Herodotus, p. 51, Sélincourt translation of Herodotus (1954). Xerxes delayed for four days, waiting for the Greeks to disperse, before sending troops to attack them.[62]. The famous Battle of Thermopylae pitted the Persians against the 300 Spartans. The Persians overran Boeotia and then captured the evacuated city of Athens. EUROPE Home Context of Battle - Pre-battle Atmosphere and Life - Spartan Life - Events Leading up to Battle - Position Within War - Progress of Conflict The Battle ... Site Map Contact Page. Map of Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( / θ ər ˈ m ɒ p ɨ l iː / thər- MOP -i-lee ; Greek: Μάχη τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν , Machē tōn Thermopylōn ) was fought between alliances of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. SOURCE DOCUMENTS          Having been turned back at Marathon in 490 BC, Persian forces returned to Greece ten years later to avenge their defeat and conquer the peninsula. Demaratus called them "the bravest men in Greece" and warned the Great King they intended to dispute the pass. - East Gate Moreover, by defending two constricted passages (Thermopylae and Artemisium), the Greeks' inferior numbers became less of a factor. [63][64]Top rank: Persian, Median, Elamite, Parthian, Arian, Bactrian, Sogdian, Chorasmian, Zarangian, Sattagydian, Gandharan, Hindush (Indians), Scythian.Bottom rank: Scythian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Arabian, Egyptian, Armenian, Cappadocian, Lydian, Ionian, Scythian, Thracian, Macedonian, Libyan, Ethiopian. Sitemap 09    A plate below the statue explains its symbolism: The monument to the Thespians is placed beside the one to the Spartans. Revolutions B - E N, 22° 32.169′ E. Marker is near Thermopylae, Central Greece Region, in Phthiotis Regional Unit. Dictionary G - Z As the mod tools come out, the map will be polished further. [120], When the Persians recovered Leonidas' body, Xerxes, in a rage, ordered that the body be decapitated and crucified. Battle of Thermopylae, (480 bce), battle in central Greece at the mountain pass of Thermopylae during the Persian Wars. The open wing symbolizes the victory, the glory, the soul, the spirit and the freedom. Sitemap 10   "[96] This probably describes the standard Greek phalanx, in which the men formed a wall of overlapping shields and layered spear points protruding out from the sides of the shields, which would have been highly effective as long as it spanned the width of the pass. [38] According to Herodotus, Xerxes' army was so large that, upon arriving at the banks of the Echeidorus River, his soldiers proceeded to drink it dry. [79] The Persians, therefore, had to retreat or advance, and advancing required forcing the pass of Thermopylae. [28] A preliminary expedition under Mardonius in 492 BC, secured the lands approaching Greece, re-conquered Thrace and forced Macedon to become a client kingdom of Persia's. Greek epitaphs often appealed to the passing reader (always called 'stranger') for sympathy, but the epitaph for the dead Spartans at Thermopylae took this convention much further than usual, asking the reader to make a personal journey to Sparta to break the news that the Spartan expeditionary force had been wiped out. The Battle of Thermopylae was just one of many battles fought between the Greeks and the Persians in a conflict known as The Greco Persian Wars. In 481 BC, Xerxes sent ambassadors around Greece requesting "earth and water" but very deliberately omitting Athens and Sparta. [33] Finally, it moved to attack Athens, landing at the bay of Marathon, where it was met by a heavily outnumbered Athenian army. The broken wing symbolizes the voluntary sacrifice and death. After that, Xerxes sent a force of 10,000 Medes and Cissians to take the defenders prisoner and bring them before him. 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