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Thermopylae (480 BCE)

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Gold coin of Xerxes.
 After careful preparations, the Persian king Xerxes decided to attack the Yaunâ (Greeks) in the summer of 480. His commanders had warned him that great risks were involved: in 490, at Marathon, about 10,000 Athenians had defeated 25,000 Persians. Therefore, Xerxes prepared himself well and built a very large army. The Greeks understood that if they wanted to survive the invasion, they first had to annihilate the Persian transport fleet, because without its support, the enemy army would be forced to return. The Greek navy therefore made a stand at Artemisium.
(©!!)
Meanwhile, the Spartans, commanded by their king Leonidas, were to keep the coastal road at Thermopylae (the name, "hot gate", is derived from the sulfurous spring on this photo). By occupying this position, the Spartans and their allies would prevent the Persian army from attacking the Greek navy in the rear. In Antiquity, the pass was more narrow than today, as you can see...
Thermopylae, seen from the west. Photo Jona Lendering.
 ... on this photo. The sea reached as far inland as the road on the right-hand side (cf. this photo). To synchronize the attack on Thermopylae with the fight at Artemisium, Xerxes waited four days before he ordered his soldiers to attack the contemptibly small Greek garrison of 4,000 men. He first sent the Median and Elamite contingents, which were easily repelled by the defenders of the narrow road.
Vase painting of a hoplite. Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis, Brussel (Belgium). Photo Marco Prins.
 A second wave of troops consisted of the ten thousand Immortals, who were, according to Herodotus of Halicarnassus (our main source) the royal bodyguard. These elite troops did no better. The Persian position did not improve during the second day of battle. When Xerxes' soldiers passed through the narrow gap, they were killed by their opponents, who had longer spears and better armor, as is illustrated by this picture: a Greek hoplite in full battle dress, on a vase painting that is in the Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis in Brussels. Against these "men of bronze", the Persians were no match. Many of them fell into the sea and drowned.  
Map of Thermopylae. Design Jona Lendering. At this moment, a Greek named Ephialtes told the great king about the possibility to turn the position of the Greek army. There was a mountain path. During the night, the Immortals, commanded by Hydarnes, made a detour and attacked the Greek contingent that guarded the path.
The exact route of the nightly attack can not be identified. This is just one of the many tracks in the hinterland of Thermopylae. The fact that a nightly operation was possible, makes it possible to date the battle of Thermopylae to a night with more or less full moon: 17, 18 and 19 September (or one day later). 
Torso of a Spartan hoplite, found at Sparta and identified as a memorial statue to Leonidas. Museum of Sparta. Photo Shane Solow, Herodotus Project. At the beginning of the third day, Leonidas learned that the Persians would soon descend from the mountains and attack his rear. He sent away the other Greeks, but ordered the Spartans and Thebans to stay. The Thespian contingent and a seer named Megistias refused to leave. 

Herodotus explains that Leonidas decided to stay because an oracle had announced that Sparta would either be destroyed or lose its king. Leonidas (shown here as he is represented on a contemporary statue from Sparta) preferred the second alternative. He ordered his men to go forward against their opponents, who were lashed towards the Spartans by their officers. When Leonidas fell, a bitter struggle over his body broke out. Herodotus tells that the Greeks drove off their enemy four times, and finally succeed in dragging the corpse away.
(Museum of Sparta;
photo Shane Solow, 
Herodotus Project; ©*)
Persian palace guard, found at Susa. Now in the Louvre, Paris.
 Still according to Herodotus, the Thebans deserted their allies and surrendered. Probably, this has been written with the benefit of hindsight: the Thebans later collaborated with the invader. It is likely, however, that the Thebans at Thermopylae were fighting for the common cause of Greece too. Only when these soldiers, the most anti-Persian men of Thebes, had been taken captive, their town was prepared to collaborate. With some justification, Herodotus has been accused of "malice" by a later author, Plutarch.

This picture shows a Persian warrior on a relief from Susa that is now in the Louvre in Paris. His spear is shorter than that of the hoplite above. He is also armed with a bow.
The hill of Thermopylae, site of the last stand of the Spartans. Photo Jona Lendering. After the death of Leonidas and the end of Theban resistance, the the Spartans and Thespians retreated to this small hill, where they were killed by Persian archers. The big mystery of the battle is whether they really died because Leonidas believed in an oracle. There is something to be said for this, but it is also possible that the Spartans were just too late to evacuate a hopeless position and died fighting.
Arrowheads found at Thermopylae.
 Persian arrowheads found at Thermopylae, now in the Greek National Archaeological Museum in Athens. Reportedly, a local blacksmith found many of them and was happy with a large supply of raw material. (Similar arrowheads have been excavated in Asia and in Greek towns, where they were dedicated to the eternal gods.) After the fall of Thermopylae, the road to Greece was open, and it was unavoidable that Thebes would be captured and Athens sacked.
 
The story of the three hundred Spartans (and their usually forgotten allies from Thespia and Thebes), as told by Herodotus, has become a "classic". Today, there's a reconstruction of the epitaph of the Spartan soldiers: Stranger, go tell the Spartans that here we are buried, obedient to their orders. There are two modern monuments, one dedicated to Leonidas, one to the Thespians. Here, you can read more about the myth.

There have been other battles at the same site, but they never became so well-known. They were usually lost by those who were defending Greece.

A few illustrated notes about the topography of Thermopylae can be found here. A satellite photo is here.
Jona Lendering © 2005
Latest revision: 31 July 2007
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