Thermopylae and Artemisium: 480 BC

The Initial Greek Strategy:

• When news of the invading force reached Greece, the initial Greek reaction was to send a force of 10,000 hoplites to hold position at the valley of Tempé near Mt. Olympus
• However, when the size of the invading army was revealed, the Greeks decided to withdraw
• Alexander, the king of Macedonia, also sent advice to the Greeks to not hold the position
• The Greeks decided to retreat south, and hold a more favourable position

Thermopylae and Artemisium:

• The decision was made to retreat to the far more easily defendable pass at Thermopylae, far to the south
• Meanwhile, the Greek fleet would sail to the cape at Artemisium, a narrow pass of water between Euboea and mainland Greece
• Combined, the hope was that these two very defendable positions would favour the Greeks and slow down the Persians
• Eurybiades, a Spartan commander, directed the fleet at Artemisium with Themistocles
• At Thermopylae, the Spartan king Leonidas was in command

Geographical Advantages:

• The most important tactical factor to the Greeks was the difference in numbers
• According to Herodotus, Xerxes' combined forces numbered roughly 5 million men whilst the Greeks only had 10,000
• Though Xerxes' numbers have been exaggerated, it is clear that there was a huge difference in numbers between the Greeks and the Persians, which meant that the Greeks would have had no chance at winning in an open battle
• Both the pass at Thermopylae and the narrows at Artemisium favoured the Greeks, since the Persians couldn't attack with their full force

Initial Skirmishes:

• As the Greeks prepared defenses at Thermopylae and Artemisium, Xerxes' army marched south while his fleet proceeded down the coast
• The Persians sent scouting ships to canvas the area and gather information on the Greek positions
• These ships came across a patrol of three Greek triremes and captured them
• The other Greek naval forces lost morale and temporarily retreated
• The Persian ships continued to scout the area, setting up danger zones for hazardous areas
• Once the Persians were confident that the route was safe, the rest of the naval forces set out into the open water

The Battle of Artemisium:

• Storms were common at that time of year in northern Greece, which the Persians were unaware of
• The Persians had no harbours and so when a storm hit, they were unprotected
• On the 13th of August 480 BC, severe storms destroyed a third of the Persian fleet, which was of 700-800 triremes
• Because the Greeks knew the area, they had taken refuge behind the island of Euboea, meaning that their fleet was unscathed
• However, the Persian fleet was too large to be completely destroyed and so the attack still went ahead
• After a bloody struggle, the Persian ships broke through the Greek line and so the Greeks retreated
• Both sides suffered heavy losses

The Greeks Prepare:

• When the Greeks saw Xerxes' vast army approach, the Greeks from the Peloponnesian peninsula desired a vote be taken to return home
• Leonidas realised that to do this would probably result in the submission of all states in the direct vicinity
• Instead, he ordered the Greeks to stay, inspiring them through the determined leadership of the Spartans
• The Greeks also built a wall to funnel the Persians into the narrowest part of the pass

"The Beautiful Death"

• Xerxes sent scouts to spy on the Greeks 
• The scouts were shocked to see the Spartans combing their hair, dressing themselves up and exercising
• When Xerxes heard this, he called on the exiled Demaratus for "advice"

• "This is their custom: when they are about to risk their lives, they arrange their hair. Rest assured that if you overcome these men and those remaining behind at Sparta, there is no one else on earth who will raise his hands to withstand you, my King. You are now attacking the fairest kingdom in Hellas and men who are the very best"

The Fight: Day One;

• Xerxes dismissed Demaratus' advice and bides his time, imaging that the Greeks will lose heart and run
• After a four day stalemate, Xerxes launches his attack

• "The Medes bore down upon the Hellenes and attacked. Many fell, but others attacked in turn, and they made it clear to everyone, especially to King Xerxes himself, that among so many men he had few soldiers. The battle lasted all day"

The Immortals:

• Once it became clear that the Medes and the Cissians were not going to win, Xerxes deployed the famous Immortals. These were professional fighting men of Persia. They were known as the Immortals because when one of the 10,000 of them died, he was instantly replaced
• They did no better against the Greeks

• "When they joined battle with the Hellenes, they fared neither better nor worse than the Median army, since they used shorter spears than the Hellenes and could not use their numbers fighting in a narrow space. The Lacedaemonians fought memorably, showing themselves skilled fighters amidst the unskilled"

The Fight: Day Two:

•  On the second day (Herodotus tells us), every force thrown against the Greeks was repelled and Xerxes began to worry

• "They joined battle supposing that their enemies, being so few, were now disabled by wounds and could no longer resist. The Hellenes, however, stood ordered in ranks by nation and each of them fought in turn. It is said that during these assaults in the battle the kind, as he watched, jumped up three times form the throne in fear for his army"

 A Traitor Appears:

• The Greeks knew that there was a very dangerous weakness in their defense of Thermopylae: although the mountains protected them on one side and the sea on the other, there was another pathway through the mountains that was well-known among the locals
• A local Malian called Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks for money. Herodotus writes that he would be hunted for the rest of his life for this betrayal

A Time of Decision:

Once the Persians had traversed the pass, they prepared to attack the Greek forces. Meanwhile, worry spreads amongst the Greeks and Leonidas was faced with another decision

"It is said that Leonidas himself dismissed them, to spare their lives, but thought it unbecoming for the Spartans under his command to desert the post which they had originally come to guard. I myself am inclined to think that he dismissed them when he realised that they had no heart for the fight and were unwilling to take their share of the danger; at the same time honour forbade that he himself should go. And indeed by remaining at his post he left great glory behind him, and Sparta did not lose her prosperity, as might otherwise have happened"

The Last Stand:

• In the end only a much reduced force remained to defend the Hot Gates: the Spartans, the Thespians and the Thebans
• Leonidas led the Greeks for the last time into battle