How did a small collection of Greek city-states resist the Persian Empire?

Topic 12: The Battle of Marathon (490 BC)

Enquiry question: How did a small collection of Greek city-states resist the Persian Empire?

Narrative (Herodotus 6.94–117)

• The expedition:
  • Datis (a Mede) and Artaphernes (son of the satrap) sailed across the Aegean.
  • They took Naxos, spared Delos, and captured Eretria after six days of siege, through betrayal (6.101).
  • They then landed at Marathon in Attica, guided by Hippias (6.102).
• Athenian forces:
  • The Athenians marched out under ten generals (strategoi), with the polemarch Callimachus.
  • Plataea sent its whole force (6.108). Later sources give the Athenians about 9,000–10,000 hoplites, and the Plataeans about 1,000. Herodotus gives no total.
• Phidippides' run:
  • The runner Phidippides (Philippides in some manuscripts) ran to Sparta in about two days (6.105–106).
  • The Spartans agreed to help but said religious law prevented them marching until the full moon (Herodotus does not name the festival; some modern scholars link it to the Carneia).
• The decision to fight: the generals were split. Miltiades persuaded Callimachus to cast the deciding vote for battle (6.109–110).
• The battle (6.111–113):
  • The Athenian line was extended to match the Persian front. The centre was only a few ranks deep, while the wings were strong.
  • The Athenians advanced at a run over about eight stades (roughly 1.5 km). Herodotus says they were the first Greeks to charge at a run (6.112). Modern historians debate whether only the final stretch was run.
  • The Persians broke the Greek centre. The Greek wings routed their opponents and then turned inwards to attack the Persians who had broken through: a double envelopment.
  • The Persians fled to their ships. The Athenians captured seven ships (6.115). Callimachus was killed (6.114).
• Casualties: Persians 6,400, Athenians 192 (6.117).
  • The Athenian dead were buried in the Soros (burial mound), which can still be seen.
  • The Persian figure may be exaggerated, or based on a count; the Athenian figure is plausible.
• Aftermath:
  • The Persians sailed round Cape Sunium to attack Athens, but the Athenian army marched back in time (6.116).
  • The shield signal: Herodotus reports allegations that the Alcmaeonids signalled to the Persians with a shield. He defends them at length (6.121–124), which suggests Alcmaeonid informants.
  • 2,000 Spartans arrived after the battle and viewed the Persian dead (6.120).

Miltiades

• An Athenian aristocrat, formerly tyrant in the Thracian Chersonese under Persian overlordship.
• He fled from the Persians and was tried in Athens for tyranny, and acquitted.
• After Marathon he led a failed attack on Paros, was fined 50 talents and died of gangrene (6.132–136).

Why did the Athenians win? (Factors that determine the result of a battle)

Factor	At Marathon
Leadership and decision-making	Miltiades' advice; Callimachus' casting vote; the timing of the attack
Tactics	A strengthened-wing double envelopment, which may have looked like a feigned retreat by the centre (debated). The running charge reduced exposure to Persian archery.
Equipment	Heavily armoured hoplites with large shields versus more lightly armed Persian infantry relying on archery
Terrain	The plain between hills and sea, with marshes, limited Persian manoeuvre and the escape route to the ships
Persian cavalry	Herodotus doesn't mention it in the battle. A later tradition (the Byzantine Suda, "the cavalry are away") suggests it had been embarked. This is debated.
Morale	Athenians defending their homeland and families versus a multi-ethnic Persian force far from home
Numbers	The Persians probably outnumbered the Greeks, but modern estimates (e.g. 20,000–25,000 combatants) are far below later ancient claims

Significance

• Marathon proved that Persians could be beaten by hoplites. It boosted Athenian confidence and democracy: the Marathonomachoi ("Marathon fighters") were heroised.
• But: for Persia it was a minor setback on the edge of the empire, and Darius began preparing a larger expedition (7.1).

Historians

• J. F. Lazenby (The Defence of Greece, 1993): a careful military reconstruction.
• Peter Krentz (The Battle of Marathon, 2010): argues that hoplites were more lightly equipped than often assumed, making a long run more plausible.
• Tom Holland (Persian Fire): Marathon as a foundation myth of Athenian democracy.

Self-test

Q1: What were the casualty figures at Marathon according to Herodotus? A: 6,400 Persians and 192 Athenians (6.117).

Q2: Explain the double envelopment at Marathon. A: The Athenian centre was thin and the wings were strong. While the Persians pushed back the centre, the Greek wings defeated the troops facing them and then wheeled inwards to attack the Persian centre from both sides.

Q3: Why did the Spartans arrive late? A: They said they could not march until the full moon for religious reasons (Hdt. 6.106). They arrived after the battle with 2,000 men (6.120).

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Topic 14: Preparations for war and Greek unity

Persian preparations

• The Athos canal: dug across the Athos peninsula over about three years, so the fleet could avoid the dangerous cape where Mardonius' fleet was wrecked (7.22–24). Traces of the canal have been identified by modern surveys.
• Bridges of boats across the Hellespont (7.33–36).
  • When a storm destroyed the first bridges, Xerxes ordered the Hellespont to be given 300 lashes and fetters thrown into it, and the overseers beheaded (7.35). This is Herodotus' classic hubris episode.
• Supply depots along the route (7.25).
• Heralds sent to Greek states demanding earth and water, but not to Athens or Sparta (7.32, 7.133).
• Army size:
  • Herodotus' figures: he gives 1,700,000 infantry (7.60) and a grand total of over 5 million including support personnel (7.186). His fleet total is 1,207 triremes (7.89).
  • Modern view: the figures are impossible logistically. Modern estimates vary widely, often from about 100,000 to 300,000 troops. The fleet total is more often treated as conceivable, if inflated.

Greek preparations

• Themistocles' naval programme (Hdt. 7.144):
  • A rich new vein of silver was found at Laurium.
  • Themistocles persuaded the Athenians to use the silver for 200 ships, nominally for the war against Aegina, rather than distributing it to citizens.
  • This created the fleet that fought at Artemisium and Salamis.
• The Delphic oracles (7.140–143):
  • The first oracle told the Athenians to flee to the ends of the earth.
  • The second spoke of a "wooden wall" that alone would remain unconquered, and of "divine Salamis".
  • Themistocles argued that the wooden wall meant the fleet.
  • Note: Delphi was cautious, even pessimistic; some think it was pro-Persian.
• The Hellenic League (autumn 481, at the Isthmus; 7.145):
  • The "Greeks who were well disposed towards Greece" (Herodotus' phrase, approximately) met.
  • They agreed to end feuds, especially between Athens and Aegina.
  • They sent spies to Asia. Xerxes showed the captured spies his army and sent them home (7.146–147).
  • They sent embassies to Argos, Gelon of Syracuse, Corcyra and Crete.
  • Sparta led on land and (after the allies objected to Athenian command) at sea (8.2–3).
• Embassies that failed:
  • Argos (7.148–152): demanded a 30-year truce with Sparta and a share of the command, and was refused. Herodotus reports a story that Argos had invited Xerxes. He adds the disclaimer that he must report what is said but need not believe it (7.152).
  • Gelon demanded command and was refused (7.157–162).
  • Corcyra sent 60 ships but waited off the Peloponnese, claiming contrary winds (7.168).
  • Crete declined, citing an oracle (7.169).
• Tempe (480):
  • 10,000 hoplites, under the Spartan Euaenetus and Themistocles, went to the Vale of Tempe in Thessaly.
  • They withdrew on the advice of Alexander of Macedon, and after learning of another pass (7.173).
  • The Thessalians then medised (7.174).

Medising

• Medising (medism) means siding with the Persians (the "Medes").
• Who medised (7.132):
  • the Thessalians (led by the Aleuadae);
  • most of the Boeotians, including Thebes, but not Thespiae or Plataea;
  • the Locrians;
  • the Malians;
  • others.
• Why states medised:
  • geography (exposed to Persian invasion);
  • local rivalries (e.g. Phocis against Thessaly; Thebes against Athens);
  • aristocratic factions;
  • Persian bribery and diplomacy;
  • the belief that Persia would win.
• Herodotus 7.138–139:
  • Not all Greeks were equally committed: many gave earth and water.
  • Herodotus offers his verdict, aware it would be unpopular: anyone who said the Athenians were the saviours of Greece would not be wrong. Without the Athenian fleet, the Spartans would have been abandoned by their allies.
  • Evaluation: written during the Peloponnesian War, when Athens was unpopular. The judgement is thoughtful but may reflect Athenian sources.

Greek unity

• Herodotus 8.144 (the Athenian reply to Alexander's offer from Mardonius, 479; paraphrased): the Athenians refuse to betray Greece because of "Greekness" (to Hellenikon):
  • shared blood;
  • language;
  • temples and sacrifices to the gods;
  • customs.
  • This is a key statement of Greek identity, but it was spoken at a convenient moment to pressure Sparta.
• Unity was fragile:
  • Only 31 states are named on the Serpent Column at Delphi.
  • There were disputes over command and over strategy (the Isthmus wall versus defending Attica).

Glossary

Term	Definition
Hellenic League	The alliance of Greek states formed in 481 to resist Persia (Spartan leadership).
Medism / medising	Collaborating with or submitting to Persia.
Earth and water	Symbols of submission demanded by Persian heralds.
Wooden wall	The Delphic oracle's phrase, interpreted by Themistocles as the fleet.
Serpent Column	The Delphic victory monument listing the Greek states that fought Persia.
To Hellenikon	"Greekness": shared blood, language, religion and customs (Hdt. 8.144).

Self-test

Q1: What did Themistocles persuade the Athenians to do with the Laurium silver? A: Build 200 triremes (nominally for the war with Aegina) instead of distributing the silver among the citizens (Hdt. 7.144).

Q2: Name three Greek states or peoples that medised. A: The Thessalians, Thebes (most Boeotians) and the Locrians (also the Malians and others).

Q3: What is Herodotus' verdict in 7.139? A: That the Athenians were the saviours of Greece. Without their navy, the Spartans' allies would have deserted them, and Greece would have fallen.

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Topic 15: The Battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium (480 BC)

Strategy

• The plan: the Hellenic League chose a combined land–sea defence.
  • On land: block the narrow pass at Thermopylae, then much narrower between mountains and sea.
  • At sea: the fleet held the straits at Artemisium off northern Euboea, protecting the army's flank.
• Why the Spartans sent only a small force: they sent an advance force under Leonidas, saying the main army would follow after the Carneia festival (and the Olympic Games were also taking place; Hdt. 7.206).

Thermopylae

• Greek forces (Hdt. 7.202–203), several thousand in total (modern estimates are often around 7,000):
  • 300 Spartiates;
  • Arcadians (Tegeans, Mantineans and others);
  • Corinthians;
  • 700 Thespians;
  • 400 Thebans;
  • Phocians;
  • the Locrians in full force.
• The fighting:
  • Xerxes waited four days (7.210).
  • He then sent the Medes, followed by the Immortals, and both were repulsed.
  • The Spartans used feigned retreats (7.211), and Xerxes "leapt from his throne three times" in fear for his army (7.212).
• The debate to retreat: on news of the encircling path, the Greeks debated whether to retreat (7.207, 7.219).
• The Anopaea path: Ephialtes, a Malian, betrayed it (7.213). The Immortals under Hydarnes took it at night, and the Phocian guard withdrew to a hilltop (7.217–218).
• The last stand:
  • Leonidas dismissed most of the allies (7.220–222). Herodotus gives two explanations:
    • to preserve them; or
    • because they were unwilling to stay.
    • He favours the view that Leonidas sent them away for the glory of Sparta, and because of the oracle that Sparta or a king must fall (7.220).
  • The Thespians chose to stay. The Thebans stayed, Herodotus says as hostages, and later surrendered (7.222, 7.233). This is possibly anti-Theban bias, as Plutarch complained.
  • Dieneces' saying (7.226): told that Persian arrows would blot out the sun, he replied that they would fight in the shade.
  • Leonidas fell. There was a fierce fight over his body (7.224–225). The last Greeks died on a small hill (the Kolonos).
• The epitaphs (7.228; the Spartan one attributed to Simonides): "Stranger, tell the Spartans that we lie here, obedient to their words."

Artemisium

• The Greek fleet: about 271 triremes, of which 127 were Athenian (8.1–2). The Spartan Eurybiades commanded, because the allies refused an Athenian commander (8.2–3).
• Themistocles was bribed by the Euboeans to make the fleet stay, and passed some of the bribe on (8.4–5). The story may be hostile tradition.
• Storms:
  • A storm off Cape Sepias (Magnesia) destroyed many Persian ships: Herodotus says "no fewer than 400" (7.190).
  • A Persian squadron of 200 ships sent around Euboea to trap the Greeks was wrecked (8.7, 8.13). Herodotus says this was done by god to even the numbers.
• The fighting: three days of fighting. On the second day the Greeks attacked late in the day. The third day was a costly draw. The Athenians suffered heavy damage: half their ships were damaged (8.18).
• Withdrawal: when news came of Thermopylae, the fleet withdrew south to Salamis. Themistocles left messages carved on rocks urging the Ionians to desert Xerxes (8.22).
• Significance:
  • The fleet gained experience and confidence against the Persian navy.
  • Combined with the storms, Artemisium reduced Persian numbers.
  • It paved the way for Salamis. Plutarch (Themistocles 8, quoting Pindar) calls it the place where the Athenian sons "laid the shining foundation of freedom".

Debate: Thermopylae – a pointless sacrifice or a strategic success?

• A pointless sacrifice:
  • The pass was lost, and Boeotia and Attica were overrun. Athens was burned.
  • The whole force, including the king, was lost.
  • The "last stand" served Spartan honour (law and the oracle) more than strategy.
• A strategic success:
  • It delayed the Persians and allowed the fleet to fight at Artemisium and withdraw.
  • The rearguard covered the retreating allies.
  • It inflicted heavy losses.
  • It boosted Greek morale.
  • Its propaganda value was enormous.
• Historians:
  • Cartledge (Thermopylae, 2006) sees it as a battle that "changed the world" through its legacy.
  • Lazenby and Green consider whether Leonidas intended a delaying action or a full defence that failed.

Exam technique: model 30-mark plan

Question: "Why were the Greeks able to resist the Persians in 480 BC?" (Year 12 focus: up to and including Thermopylae and Artemisium)

• Factors:
  • Greek unity and the Hellenic League, however fragile (Hdt. 7.145, 8.144; the Serpent Column);
  • leadership: Leonidas; Themistocles' navy (7.144);
  • geography and strategy (the narrow pass; the straits);
  • hoplite superiority (7.211);
  • Persian difficulties: the storms (7.188–191, 8.13), logistics, a multi-ethnic army;
  • religion and morale.
• Evaluate Herodotus throughout: he wrote within living memory but relied on Greek oral tradition, he favours Athens (7.139) and he moralises (the storms as divine action).
• Judgement: for example, geography plus the Athenian navy were decisive, and Greek unity was the precondition.

Self-test

Q1: Who betrayed the Anopaea path at Thermopylae? A: Ephialtes of Trachis, a Malian (Hdt. 7.213).

Q2: Which Greek contingents stayed with Leonidas on the final day? A: The Spartans, the Thespians (voluntarily) and the Thebans (who, Herodotus claims, were held as hostages).

Q3: What happened to the Persian squadron sent around Euboea? A: It was wrecked in a storm (Hdt. 8.13). Herodotus interprets this as divine intervention to make the fleets more equal.

Q4: Give two reasons why Artemisium mattered. A: It gave the inexperienced Greek (especially Athenian) fleet experience and confidence against the Persian navy, and, with the storms, it reduced Persian naval superiority before Salamis.

Assessment checkpoint: 30-mark essay on Persian motivations for war.

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