Xerxes' Military Campaign
In the spring of 480 BCE, the Persian army crossed the Hellespont Strait (modern Dardanelles) from Asia to Europe. Xerxes personally led this new invasion into Hellas. The ruler of the Achaemenid Empire managed to assemble enormous forces for this purpose. Herodotus gives a fantastical number: Xerxes' land army consisted of over 5 million people. Most modern scholars are skeptical of this report. Some historians believe that Xerxes had no more than several tens of thousands of warriors at his disposal. However, the truth is likely somewhere in between. More probably, the Persian army numbered several hundred thousand people. In any case, this contingent was significantly larger than what the Hellenes could muster.
Xerxes' army was accompanied by a fleet that included about 1,200 various ships. This vast Persian fleet not only comprised Phoenician vessels but also ships from Greek city-states in Asia Minor and nearby islands under Achaemenid control. By ordering his Greek subjects to provide military forces for the campaign, the Persian ruler aimed to test their loyalty to the Achaemenids.
After crossing the Hellespont using a specially built pontoon bridge, Xerxes then followed the route previously taken by Mardonius along the northern coast of the Aegean Sea. The fleet, accompanying the army, moved close to the shore. To avoid shipwreck around Cape Athos, the Persians dug a canal through a two-kilometer isthmus, through which their ships passed. Xerxes' hordes flooded Thrace, Macedonia, and invaded Greek Thessaly. Most Thessalian cities voluntarily surrendered to the Persians.
It was time for the Greek city-states, members of the Hellenic League, to immediately occupy defensive positions. The initial plan was to hold off the Persians in the Tempe Gorge (in northern Thessaly). However, this plan had to be abandoned due to the pro-Persian stance of the Thessalians. The new location for the defensive line was chosen at the Thermopylae Pass, a natural boundary between Northern and Central Greece. Although the Spartans, who held overall command of the military operations, initially leaned towards defending at the Isthmus of Corinth to block access to the Peloponnese, this would leave Athens unprotected. Only at the insistence of the Athenians did Sparta agree to send a small allied detachment to Thermopylae, led by King Leonidas. The detachment comprised about 7,000 men, including 300 Spartans who formed its elite part. Simultaneously, a Greek fleet moved to confront the Persians, taking positions near Thermopylae, at the northern tip of the island of Euboea.
The Battle of Thermopylae became one of the most glorious pages in the military history of Ancient Greece and remains in the memory of the people as a vivid example of selfless courage and heroism. Building fortifications in the narrow gorge, the Greeks, under the command of Spartan King Leonidas, held off the vastly superior Persian forces for several days. Xerxes managed to secure victory only through cunning: a local resident showed the Persians a secret path in the rocks that led around Thermopylae. A Persian detachment took this route and was able to strike the defending Greeks from the rear. The defenders of the pass, facing a hopeless situation, were forced to retreat, except for the Spartans, who were forbidden by law to retreat. All 300 Spartans, including Leonidas, fell in the unequal battle.
Xerxes' Military CampaignAt the same time, a naval battle took place between the Greek and Persian fleets off the northern coast of Euboea, at Cape Artemisium. Despite their numerical superiority, the Persians failed to secure a decisive victory: neither side could claim a clear win. This was already a significant success for the Hellenes: firstly, they managed to hold their positions, and secondly, the Athenian fleet, created by Themistocles and forming the largest part of the allied Greek naval forces, underwent its baptism of fire. However, when the fleet's command received news of the defeat of the land forces at Thermopylae, they were forced to withdraw to new positions. The Greek ships arrived at the island of Salamis, which became their base in the Saronic Gulf.
Now the road to the heart of Hellas was open to the Persians. Boeotia switched sides to the victor, and Xerxes headed for Attica, where his next target was Athens. For a time, the Athenians were in a state of panic, not knowing what to do. In the popular assembly, various proposals were voiced: either to abandon everything and flee as far as possible, or to defend the Acropolis to the last and honorably perish in the struggle against the enemy. Only thanks to Themistocles' organizational talent was the panic contained, and the evacuation of the population and material assets from the city began urgently. Women and children were transported to the city of Troezen (in Argolis), while men were ferried to the island of Salamis, to the fleet. The Areopagus Council also played a significant role in the evacuation. Not long before, a decision had been made to prematurely recall all persons who had been ostracized from exile. Thus Aristides returned to his homeland and, forgetting his conflict with Themistocles, actively joined the fight against the invaders.
The Persians took Athens, burning and destroying the defenseless city and slaughtering hundreds of elderly people who had refused to leave their homes. Soon, the Persian fleet approached Athens. But here, Xerxes encountered a trap: Themistocles managed to engage the Persians in a naval battle in the strait between Salamis and Attica. In late September 480 BCE, the famous Battle of Salamis occurred, becoming the climax of all the Greco-Persian wars. Of the total Greek fleet (380 ships under the command of the Spartan navarch Eurybiades), nearly half was the Athenian squadron (180 ships) commanded by Themistocles. Fearing defeat due to the enemy's numerical superiority, Eurybiades initially wanted to avoid battle and withdraw to the Isthmus, but Themistocles did everything to ensure the battle took place.
In the narrow strait, the Persian fleet could not exploit its advantage. Numerous cumbersome, unwieldy Persian ships, losing control, clustered together. More mobile and maneuverable Greek triremes pressed the enemy ships, boarded them, and sank them with ramming strikes. Persian sailors attempting to reach the shore and flee were cut down by Greek soldiers commanded by Aristides. The battle ended in a complete and unequivocal Greek victory, with Athenian ships making the most significant contribution to this victory.
After the defeat at Salamis, Xerxes was forced to return home with the remnants of his fleet. However, for the Athenians who returned to the ruins of their native city, the danger was not yet over: a substantial (several tens of thousands strong) Persian land army remained in Greece under the experienced commander Mardonius. Making Boeotia his base, this army moved through Hellas, wreaking havoc everywhere. The Persians even managed to temporarily regain control of Athens, and Mardonius intended to invade the Peloponnese further. In 479 BCE, the Greek city-states, members of the Hellenic League, managed to gather a combined army comparable in size to the Persian forces. The battle with the Persians occurred in southern Boeotia, near the town of Plataea, and was challenging for both sides. In the Battle of Plataea, the Greek phalanx, commanded by Spartan general Pausanias, once again demonstrated its superiority, inflicting a decisive defeat on the Persian forces. Mardonius was killed, and the remnants of his army fled Greece.
Parallel to the land campaign on the Balkan Peninsula, the forces of the Hellenic League continued their naval operations. The combined Greek fleet, commanded by Spartan King Leotychidas and Athenian strategist Xanthippus, approached the coast of Asia Minor, where the Persians were preparing reserve forces capable of launching a new invasion of Hellas if necessary. In the Battle of Mycale, fought simultaneously on land and sea, these Persian reserves were destroyed. Notably, this battle occurred on the same day as the Battle of Plataea, which was likely no coincidence; the Greeks probably had a coordinated plan of action on all fronts.
The Battles of Plataea and Mycale marked the end of the most critical stage of the Greco-Persian Wars. The victories achieved by the Greeks during this stage led to a decisive turning point in the course of the war. The strategic initiative passed to the Greeks, putting an end to the Achaemenids' claims to power over Greece.
