Persian king Xerxes and the legend of the battle at Thermopylae

The Persian king Xerxes I is one of the most famous characters of the ancient history of mankind. Actually, it was this ruler who led his troops to Greece in the first half of the 5th century. It was he who fought with the Athenian hoplites in the Marathon battle and with the Spartans in the same battle, widely promoted today in popular literature and cinema , at Thermopylae.

The beginning of the Greco-Persian wars

Persia at the very beginning of the 5th century BC was a young but aggressive and already powerful empire that managed to conquer a number of Eastern peoples. In addition to other territories, Persian king Darius also mastered some Greek colonies-policies in Asia Minor (the territory of modern Turkey). During the years of Persian domination among the Greek population of the Persian satraps - the so-called administrative territorial units of the Persian state - often raised uprisings, protesting against the new orders of the Eastern conquerors. It was the assistance of Athens to these colonies in one of such uprisings that led to the beginning of the Greco-Persian conflict.

Marathon battle

The first general battle of the Persian landing and Greek troops (Athenians and Plateys) was the Marathon battle, which occurred in 490 BC. Thanks to the talent of the Greek commander Miltiades, who wisely used the hooplite system, their long spears, as well as the inclined terrain (the Greeks crowded the Persians from the slope downwards), the Athenians triumphed, stopping the first invasion of the Persians into their country. It is interesting that the modern sports discipline "marathon run" is connected with this battle, which makes a distance of 42 km. This is how much an ancient messenger ran from the place of battle to Athens, to report the victory of his compatriots and fall down dead. Preparation for a more massive invasion prevented the death of Darius. The new Persian king Xerxes I ascended the throne, continuing the work of his father.

The Thermopylae battle and three hundred Spartans

The second invasion began in 480 BC. King Xerxes led a large army of 200 thousand people (according to modern historians). Very quickly conquered Macedonia and Thrace, after which the invasion from the north began in Boeotia, Attica and Peloponnese. Even the coalition forces of Greek politicians could not withstand so many forces gathered from the multitude of peoples of the Persian Empire. The weak hope of the Greeks was the opportunity to take the battle in the narrow place through which the Persian army passed in its way to the south - the Thermopil Gorge. The numerical advantage of the enemy here would not be so noticeable that it left hope for victory. The legend that the Persian king Xerxes was almost beaten here by three hundred Spartan warriors is some exaggeration. In fact, in this battle took part from 5 to 7 thousand Greek soldiers from different policies, not only Spartan. And for the width of the gorge this number was more than enough to successfully restrain the enemy two days. The disciplined Greek phalanx kept the system steady, indeed stopping the hordes of Persians. Nobody knows how the battle would end, but the Greeks were betrayed by one of the residents of the local village - Efialto. A man who showed the Persians a detour. When King Leonid learned of the betrayal, he sent troops to the polices to regroup the forces, remaining defensive and detaining the Persians with a small detachment. Now they really were very few - about 500 souls. However, no miracle happened, almost all the defenders were killed on the same day.

What happened then

The Thermopylae battle did not fulfill the task that the Greek men assigned to it, but it became an inspired example of heroism for other defenders of the country. Persian king Xerxes I still managed to win here, but later suffered a crushing defeat: at sea - a month later at Salamis, and on land - in the Battle of Plataea. The Greco-Persian war continued for another thirty years as protracted sluggish conflicts, in which the preponderance was increasingly tilted to the side of policies.