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THE
BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE
As
the Greek civilization grew in the years before 500 BCE
(BC using the Christian Calendar, BCE is used here to be
‘politically correct’), the Greek city-states found it necessary
to establish colonies in areas around the Mediterranean
Sea. These colonies helped to relieve the overpopulation
of the Greek mainland and provided markets and bases for
Greek trade in the area. The Greek colonies in Asia Minor
and the Aegean Sea area became a major source of contention
between the Greek city-states, led by Athens, and the expanding
Persian Empire. This competition led to a series of wars
between 495-479 BCE known in history as the Persian Wars.
A major battle during this conflict has come to symbolize
courage and sacrifice in the face of overwhelming odds.
That battle is the Battle of Thermopylae.
Thermopylae
is a pass in central Greece. The road through the pass is
the best route to enter and attack the southern Greek mainland,
especially Athens. Thermopylae’s pass narrows to about two
or three feet in width and is bounded by mountains to the
south and cliffs on the north that fall into the sea. It
was here on September 17, 18, and 19, of 480 BCE (just 10
years after the Battle of Marathon) that Spartan King Leonidas
and 300 Spartan warriors led a Greek army of about 7,000
men in a heroic defense against 60,000 Persians led by their
king, Xerxes. The three-day battle delayed the invasion
long enough for the Greek armies to mobilize, fight the
invading Persians, and save Greek civilization.
The
Persian invasion of Greece in 480BCE was a major naval and
land assault led by Xerxes designed to punish Athens for
support given to the Greek areas on the islands and mainland
of Asia Minor. The invasion caused most of the Greek city-states
to set aside their differences and ban together to fight
this common foe. While the Greeks were mobilizing to meet
the Persian onslaught, King Leonidas of Sparta, one of the
two Spartan Kings, led his 300-man bodyguard to slow down
the Persian invasion. He chose the important pass at Thermopylae
as the place to make his historic stand. Forces from several
other Greek city-states joined him in the defense of the
pass. These forces included Corinthians, Thespians, Phokians
and Thebans.
Xerxes
arrived at Thermopylae on the 13th of September 480 BCE
but delayed his attack for four days, allowing several small
bands of Greek reinforcements to arrive. There has never
been an adequate reason given for the Persian’s delay.
The
Battle of Thermopylae began on the 17th as Xerxes sent in
his Median and Elamite forces. These forces were repelled
since the narrowness of the pass blunted the Persian advantage
of superior numbers. Next, Xerxes sent in his 10,000 man
personal bodyguard, the Immortals. The Immortals were supposed
to be the king’s elite assault troops similar to the Revolutionary
Guards of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. Once again the Greeks used
the narrowness of the pass to negate the enemies superior
numbers. The Greeks also had better armor and longer spears,
which stymied the Persian juggernaut for the rest of the
first day and even the second. At the end of the second
day’s battle, a Greek trader agreed to show the Persians
a mountain path that would help flank the strong Greek position
at the pass. This trader, Ephialtes, would turn the tide
of the battle and open the Greek heartland to the Persian
onslaught.
On
the third day of the battle, Ephialtes led Persians along
a goat path for 16 kilometers, along a branch of the Aspus
River and near the summit of Mt. Callidromus, and then into
the Greek flank held by the Phokians. With their flank turned
some of the Greek contingents surrendered and some retreated.
The Spartains, under the direction of King Leonidas, and
some of the Greeks fought to the death in a hopeless fight
that has gone down in history as the epitome of last stands.
The Greeks who retreated at the battle were directed to…
“go tell the Spartians we have done our duty.” Thermopylae
is to the Greeks what the Alamo is to Americans.
Thermopylae
bought the city-states of Greece time. The Greeks were able
to organize, and while the Persians occupied Athens and
several other territories early in the war, the Greeks prevailed
in the end. Greek naval victories at Salamis later in 480
BCE and at Mycale in 479 BCE, along with a crushing land
victory at Plataea in that same year, broke the back of
the Persian military machine. Xerxes was forced to withdraw
from Greece.
The
famous Greek historian Herodotus recorded much of the detail
of the battle in his work, The Histories. The battle of
Thermopylae is the subject of his ‘22nd logos’ (word). In
this ‘logos’ he informs us that on the night prior to the
battle, the Spartans were seen combing their hair, an act
the Spartans did before a real fight. Herodotus also records
two quotes from Leonidas at Thermopylae. When the Persians
demanded the Greeks surrender their arms the Spartan King
is reported to have said, “Come and take them.” It is also
written that Leonidas told his troops to… “have a good breakfast
because dinner will be in Hades.”
The
Battle of Thermopylae was enshrined in the mind of movie
aficionados with 300 Spartans starring Richard Egan as King
Leonidas and David Farrar as Xerxes. The quote, “Go tell
the Spartans we have done our duty.” was used as the title
of the early Vietnam War movie Go Tell The Spartans starring
Bert Lancaster. .
Several
other battles took place at Thermopylae. In 352 BCE, Phillip
II of Macedonia’s attack into Greece was stopped at Thermopylae.
In 279 BCE, an attack into the area by the Gallic King Brennus
was once again halted at the pass, and in 191 BCE a Greco-Roman
alliance stopped the expansion of the Seleucid Empire under
Antiochus “The Great” at Thermopylae. It was deja vu all
over again during World War II when a British rear guard,
led by the 6th Mountain Division, held the pass for three
days against the German 5th Panzer Division. This action
allowed the British to withdraw from Greece to fight another
day during the dark hours of World War II.
The
pass at Thermopylae has seen many battles and ranks as one
of the strategic places in antiquity. The battle there in
480 BCE has inspired many men on the eve of battle to face
seemingly overwhelming odds.
History’s
currents or current history? You decide!
Editor’s
notes:
(1)
The Spartan shield was a large round shield designed for
close order, head on fighting. The Spartans could move forward
or backward in unison; however, it was difficult to turn
and run with the shield. To flee a battle, a Spartan literally
had to throw down his shield and run without it. After the
battle, the fallen Spartan warriors were placed on their
shields and brought home. When a Spartan male came of age,
his mother presented him with his shield and told him, “Come
back with your shield or on it.”
(2)
The word Thermopylae means “hot gates” in Greek. It was
named for the warm mineral springs found near the pass.
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