The Art of War

The Role of Themistocles in the Greek Defeat of the Persians in 480 - 479 BC.

The Battle of Thermopylae, which Herodotus recorded in his writing The Histories, was one of the most arduous and notable battles of western history. Herodotus was an extremely significant historian who lived during the 5th century B.C. In this primary source writing, he portrays how Xerxes was superstitious and tyrannical, how the battle informs you about the Spartan culture, how the values of Greek promoted society, and he displayed how significant the Persian invasion was on Greek development, for example, their political and intellectual expansion. The Persian King Xerxes

The Persian Wars were a series of destructive and malevolent battles which occurred in the time frame of 490B.C and 480 – 479B.C. The Greek victory over the Persians in the Persian Wars cannot be attributed to only one factor, more it was a commixture of factors. Such factors include unity, leadership, strategy, tactics and the pre-eminence of the Greek soldier. Each contributing factor was to play a distinctive and pivotal role in the various battles to come, which ultimately would lead to the subsequent demise of the Persians.

In all versions of the Battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas and the Spartan army are seen as tough soldiers who grew up under harsh conditions. Spartans typically leave home to begin training on their

While the battle at Artemisium is considered indecisive (8.18), and the corresponding battle at Thermopylae a Pyrrhic victory for Xerxes, it was a huge victory of propaganda for the Greek side. A small force held off the best of the Persians for many days – showcasing the superiority of the Greek hoplite in close

Current militaries have benefitted from the principles of ancient Greek and Roman warfare by studying the ancient battles, tactics, and use of supplies to develop effective military plans. Current militaries study and debate historical turning points of the ancient battles to understand how the leaders planned and executed battles. The empires’ growth was due in part to the might and successes of their military. The strength of their militaries came from many factors including their use of armor, weapons, and military tactics. The empires’ leaders used these three advantages to create the superior armies of their time.

Throughout history the most renowned stories about war are those about small armies defeating much larger and powerful armies through the use of intelligent tactics and strategies. Such as in the battle of Salamis, Thermopylae and Marathon, where the much larger Persian armies threatened to overrun the Greek city states, but they were repelled by the smaller armies of Greek soldiers who use terrain and combat tactics to their advantage, repelling the attacks and securing the future of the birthplace of democracy for many years.

King Leonidas, a superior tactician, accurately assessed the Persian army’s motivations and capabilities and decided to use the natural terrain to his advantage. Assuming that the Persians would challenge the Greek forces from their staging point, derived from pervious knowledge during the Battle of Marathon and the Persians encampment location, King Leonidas had chosen to eventually maneuver his forces into the Pass of Thermopylae, also known as Hellespont; saddled between a mountain range and the Gulf of Maliakos (Frye, 2006). Hellespont would provide the Spartans some significant tactical advantages, where within the pass, at its narrowest portion which was only 50 feet wide; countering the Persian greatest strength of archery and mounted horsemen (Frye, 2006).

The Battle of Thermopylae took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August 480 BC, at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae, which was also known as "The Hot Gates". The Persian invasion was in fact a delayed response to the defeat of their first attempt, it ended with the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. It was made clear with his strategy that Xerxes' expedition was undoubtedly directed towards Athens. However, his actual intent was to succeed in the conquest of Greece, and if it were to come into fruition, the Persian Empire could effortlessly spread into Europe. At the Battle of Marathon, King Darius attacked the Athenian and Ionian armies.

Moreover, in the Battle of Thermopylae, Persian forces led by Xerxes outnumbered the Greeks yet again. However, the militant Spartans took up arms and were able to defeat the large Persian army. Thermopylae allowed the Greek forces to come up with various tactics and strategies in order to defeat Persia. Next, the Battle of Salamis was a naval battle between several Greek city-states and Persia. This battle forms the turning point of the Greco-Persian Wars since it ultimately “saved Greece from being absorbed into the Persian Empire and ensured the emergence of Western civilization as a major force in the world.” The ending of the Battle of Salamis left the Persian army trapped in Greece, which paves the way for the final battle of the war, the Battle of Platea. In the battle, the “Greek army came and defeated the weakened Persians, the Persian Wars were over”. The mark of the ending of the Greco-Persian wars gave way to Athens arising from the ashes as the dominant and central city-state of Greece, which then provides political and cultural advancements during its golden age.

However, instead of a quick defeat of a small sized, inferior and seemingly disunited Greek army, the large Persian army underwent a surprise a prolonged battle for three consecutive days as they were held by a smaller Greek army under the command of King Leonidas and his barely 300 warriors from Sparta. From the very onset, an observation of numerical endowment of the armies the battle might have resulted in a devastating defeat for the Greeks, nevertheless the size of their opponents did not devastate the morale as well as the unity of Greek warriors since they were highly motivated by their leader Leonidas’ example of bravery and commitment and that determination resulted in a surprise defeat of the large Persian army. In this paper, the aim is to give a detailed analysis of the battle of Thermopylae mainly in regard to how best battle strategies to win a battle even in the face of a larger opponent's army. The paper will further outline the main principles of battle, including unity of command, the terrain of the battlefield and maneuver and the role they played in giving victory to Greeks after a

Leonidas was the king of the Spartans during the time of the Persian War. The Spartans were the elite of the elite when it came to military strength. One of the greatest displays of his courage and honor was in his last battle, The Battle of Thermopylae. At the Battle of Thermopylae the Persians were trying to come down into Greece through the mountain pass Thermopylae. The odds were heavily against the Greeks with the Persians numbering in the hundreds of thousands and the Greeks only having a couple thousand Athenians and only 300 Spartan warriors under the command of King Leonidas. The Greeks stopped-up the pass with phalanxes and were slaughtering the Persians. The battle was looking like a major victory for the Greeks until the Persians discovered a back-road on a mountain pass and were about to surround the Greeks. King Leonidas told the remaining Athenian Greeks to flee back to Athens while he and his 300 hundred Spartans held off the Persians. The Spartan army caused massive damage to the Persian army by killing off thousands of them. All the Spartans died in that battle, along with Leonidas, but this weakened the Persians and allowed the

Through the manuscripts of Herodotus, an ancient historian who hailed from the mountainous lands of Greece, modern day historians have been granted the ability to piece together the multitude of events that supposedly transpired during the years 480 and 479 BC between the Persian empire and the city-states of the classical Greece (Herodotus). The second Persian invasion of Greece, which took place in the previously mentioned years, was a part of the many series of battles and encounters that made up the Greco-Persian Wars. This invasion in particular, however, probably saw one of the most distinguished battles in ancient European warfare befall. As a whole, the second Persian invasion of Greece consisted of several battles that transpired within a close proximity of one another chronologically. The war itself was fairly short-lived, even for its time, lasting only the course of approximately one year. The battles themselves took place in Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Platae, and Mycale (Setzer). The Persian invasion forces were led by King Xerxes I of Persia, the son of Darius I of Persia. Prior to the reign of Xerxes I, King Darius I had wanted to take control of ancient Greece. As such, he ordered two campaigns which made up the first Persian invasion of Greece. Much to his hindrance, however, Darius I breathed his last breath before he was presented with the opportunity to carry out a second invasion.

The battle of Thermopylae was the Greek’s first stand against the massive army of King Xerxes, and was the most influential battle of the entire war. Up to this point, the Persian army was seen as too massive and powerful to be stopped. The once warring city-states of Greece knew they couldn’t stand against the Persians alone, and knew in order to defend their homeland they would have to unite. A unity of command was agreed upon; King Leonidas of Sparta was chosen to lead the Greek forces. He was chosen to lead because of the unsurpassed warring abilities the Spartans were so well known for made him perfect for the objective of stopping the Persians.

The day has finally come for us to fight the Persians. My men could not have been more frightened, some of them had even gotten seasick on the way to cut off the Persians from entering our shores. Adonis, one of the privates saw a Persian ship almost two miles away, the next thing I knew Adonis grabbed a wooden barrel and set it on fire. We had managed to set five ships off the path toward the Athenian shore. Once we had done that, we sailed back to shore to plan our next moves against the Persians. Luckily the Spartans were waiting for us when we arrived ashore. I spoke to the Sergeant of their battalion and we did our best to come up with a counter naval attack that will send the Persians running home to