The second day ended up in the same vain as the first with Xerxes becoming furious as more men were sent to the slaughter, the day finished with Xerxes withdrawing his forces back to camp frustrated. This was not the case though as the Immortals also ended up suffering heavy losses. This caused Xerxes to use his Elite troops called the Immortals on the second assault of the first day these soldiers were feared because they were seen as men that couldn’t die. Xerxes sent Medes and Cissians for the first day’s engagement and watched in horror as the Greek soldiers demolished those attacking them without losing many men. The Greeks standing in front of the Phocians defensive wall formed the Greek phalanx, an impenetrable wall of men that rotated continuously so those out of the battle will be brought in and out keeping the Greeks from tiring. The position of the Greek army at the narrow pass at Thermopylae was a tactical move, the idea that was the Greek army was a lot smaller but because the pass was tight the Persian army would not be able to overrun the Greeks.įive days after the Persians arrived at Thermopylae the battle commenced with Xerxes sending men to bring the Greeks back, this did not happen as a battle started.
#Ancient wars sparta number of discs free
The emissary offered terms that would mean no battle would take place but while being classed as free men would also mean being subservient to the Persians’. When the Persians landed they sent their emissary, something common in the times prior to battle. Of the men with Leonadis he stationed a four figure number of Phocians high in the mountains to protect a hidden goat trail so the armed forces could not be ambushed by the advancing Persian army. Upon reaching Thermopylae the Greek armed forces camped at the narrowest pass called the ‘middle gate’ where the Phocians had built a defensive wall. Because of what the Oracle had said Leonidas chose 300 men of the Royal bodyguard who had sons to carry on the family lineage as he knew he would not die alone.Īs the Spartans marched on Thermopylae their numbers swelled to over 5,000 by gaining more soldiers from other Greek cities, as mentioned earlier in the article. King Leonidas I of Sparta was the chosen leader and he took to the Oracle to find out what would happen in battle, the Oracle advised that he would die. Given the urgency because of the large Persian army marching on Greece it was deemed that there was ample reason to still go into battle. The Greeks found out about this but the Spartans, renowned warriors in Greece were enjoying a festival called Carneia in which no armed battles were allowed to take place. The battle occurred because the forces of Xerxes I, King of Persia marched through Thrace and Macedon on their way to Greece. The total number of forces on both sides are still debated but the Greek numbered between 5,200 to 11,200 and the Persian between 70,000 and 300,000 (historical numbers put the Persian army at around 2,000,000 men).
The battle was between the defending Greek city-states led by Athenian General Themistocles, King Leonidas I of Sparta and Demophilus of Thespiae and the attacking Persian army of Xerxes I of Persia. The dates in question are either August 7th or September 8th to the 10th of the year 480 BC. The date of the Battle of Thermopylae is in debate with two dates under contention. This is a great film but there is more to this battle than meets the eyes, this being said the outline of the film does depict one famous part of the battle. Many will know of the Battle of Thermopylae as it was made famous by the film 300 which depicts a small number of Greek forces under the leadership of Leonidas battling against thousands of Persian warriors.
0 kommentar(er)
