The Second Persian Invasion ­ Here they come again!
The Battle of Thermopylae ­ August, 480 BCE
Persian King Xerxes I wants to
seek revenge for his father's
loss at Marathon ten years
earlier.
He launches a massive land
invasion by building a bridge of
ships at the Hellespont.
Goal:
• Hold the pass to slow the Persian advance into Greece
• Allow time for Themistocles and the Greek fleet to defeat
the Persian fleet, cutting off supplies and reinforcements
How the two sides stack up:
Leonidas at Thermopylae by Jacques Louis David ‐ 1814
The Greeks The Persians
7,000 Greeks at
Thermopylae
includes 300 Spartans
200,000 Persian troops
led by Xerxes and
General Mardonius
400 Greek Triremes
1,200 Persian Triremes
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At the end of the day, the pass falls to the Persians
and every Greek is killed, including King Leonidas.
On the second day of battle, a
Greek traitor (named Ephailtes
according to Herodotus) tells
Xerxes of a path around the
pass.
On the third day, Leonidas
realizes the deception. He
orders all Greeks to leave,
except his 300 Spartans. Seven
hundred Thespians stay behind
to cover the other entrance.
Last Stand of the 300‐The History
Channel ‐ scene 9,10
Battle of Salamis ­ September, 480 BCE
Xerxes marches on Athens, and
finds the city empty. In a rage,
he has the city burned down and
rests his troops outside the city.
The people of Athens had
retreated to the island of
Salamis, while the Greek fleet
returned there to evacuate the
population.
Simonides (Greek Poet) left this epigram at Thermopylae:
Go tell the Spartans, passerby:
That here, by Spartan law, we lie
Xerxes moved his fleet to block
the exits of the Bay of Salamis.
Themistocles sends a
messenger to declare that he
wishes to submit to Xerxes and
that the Greek fleet planned
to flee the next day.
Xerxes orders an attack on the
fleet and watches from his
throne on the cliffs above.
The Last Stand of 300 Scene 11
Greeks:
350+
Ships
Persians:
up to
800 ships
Persian Losses ‐ about 200 ships
Greek Losses ‐ about 40 ships
Xerxes returns to Persia, leaving
General Mardonius in charge of
the Persian forces
Side Story ­ Artemisia, Queen of Caria (part of the Persian Empire) was in command of a Persian ship in the battle. Surrounded by Greek ships, she rammed one of her own boats to convince the Greeks that she was on their side. She then escapes. Xerxes compliments her ingenuity and is said to have commented, "My men have become women, and my women have become men." 2
Battle of Plataea ­ August 27, 479 BCE
Mardonius retreats to northern
Greece to rest and get resupplied.
The Greeks form an alliance that
brings together about 50,000
soldiers, to go against a growing
force of about 50,000 ‐ 60,000
remaining Persians.
The forces met outside the city‐
state of Plataea. The Spartans and
Athenians would lead the Greek
forces.
The number of actual
casualties and participants is
still up for debate. Losses
were severe on both sides, but
the Greeks faired better.
Mardonius is killed in battle
and the Persians flee Greece.
The Greeks defeat the Persian
fleet, and the Persian bridge,
marooning many Persian
soldiers in Europe.
According to Wikipedia, the Battle of Plataea is rated the fourth most deadly battle in history (based on armies meeting on one battlefield on one or several days)
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