Histories

In Book 7, Herodotus describes Darius’ organization of a new military campaign against mainland Greece after the Persian defeat at Marathon. Xerxes, Darius’ successor, pursues his father’s ambition and assembles a massive invasion force with which he intends to subdue all of Europe after conquering the Athenians and Peloponnesians. Bridging the Hellespont, Xerxes’ expedition marches through Thrace and Macedonia into northern Greece. The terrified Greeks assemble a small force led by the Spartan king Leonidas to defend the pass of Thermopylae from the much larger Persian army. In a courageous stand, the Spartans and Thespians repel the Persian force until their position is flanked and the defenders are annihilated.

Angered by the Persian defeat at Marathon, Darius determined to redouble his efforts to punish Athens and subdue all of mainland Greece. He dispatched couriers to all the territories under his dominion with orders to outfit a much larger army and fleet, which he would personally command. For three years all of Asia was in an uproar making preparations and conscripting troops for the campaign. At the end of this period, Egypt revolted, which strengthened Darius’ resolve to go to war against both the Greeks and Egyptians. Meanwhile, a violent quarrel broke out among Darius’ sons as to who would succeed him as monarch. Artabazanes was Darius’ eldest son, but Xerxes, the son of Darius’ second wife Atossa and grandson of Cyrus, was proclaimed heir to the Persian throne, due in large part to his mother’s immense influence. Shortly after the announcement of the royal succession, Darius died, after a reign of 36 years.

Upon becoming king, Xerxes was not inclined to pursue his father’s aim of subjugating Greece, preferring to focus on quelling the Egyptian rebellion. His cousin Mardonius, however, nursing a desire to become governor of Greece, prodded Xerxes to punish the Athenians after dealing with Egypt. The exiled Pisistratids, who had sought refuge in Susa after being ousted from Athens, also encouraged Xerxes, and an aristocratic Thessalian family in northern Greece promised zealous assistance for the invasion. After crushing the Egyptian revolt and reducing the country to servitude, Xerxes called a conference of leading Persians to discuss his ambitious plan of attacking Greece.

Xerxes addressed the convocation, declaring he wanted to extend Persia’s dominion to rival the achievements of his predecessors: Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius. Subduing the Athenians and Spartans would ensure the subjection of all Europe, Xerxes proclaimed, boasting that the Persian empire would extend as far as God’s own sky. Mardonius spoke in support of Xerxes, arguing the Persians had nothing to fear from the cowardly and impoverished Hellenes, who offered virtually no resistance during his own expedition to Macedonia, and who, moreover, fight foolishly and wastefully. The Persian nobles, intimidated by these speeches, remained silent until Artabanus, Xerxes’ uncle, rose to speak. Artabanus urged caution, citing Darius’ failed campaign against the Scythians, which was nearly disastrous for the Persian army. Admonishing Xerxes that the gods punish the loftiest men’s endeavors, he charged Mardonius with slandering the Greeks and urged the king to reflect wisely before deciding on his course of action.

Xerxes was infuriated with Artabanus. Troubled later that evening by his words, however, he decided it was prudent to cancel the campaign. The next two evenings he dreamt that a phantom figure insisted that he proceed with the invasion or be brought to destruction. Terrified by the apparition, Xerxes recounted the dream to Artabanus and insisted that his uncle sleep in the royal bed to see whether the dream would recur. The phantom appeared to Artabanus and threatened to blind him with a hot iron for daring to dissuade Xerxes from complying with the divine dictate to attack Greece.

Artabanus ran to Xerxes and implored him to make war immediately, convinced that it was the will of God and a great opportunity for the Persian nation. Xerxes agreed and announced his renewed decision to fight before the Persian council. Afterwards, he had a third dream, in which he imagined himself crowned with olive branches that spread all over the earth, and then the crown suddenly vanished. The Magi interpreted this to mean that Xerxes’ glory and dominion would extend over the entire world. Following the reconquest of Egypt, for the next four years preparations were made, provisions sourced, and ships built to outfit the campaign, which set out from Sardis with Xerxes in command in 480 BCE.

Herodotus claims that Xerxes’ army dwarfed all the armies of antiquity and was provisioned by all the nations under Persian control. He provides an impressive catalog of the nations assembled to march, describing their choice of armaments and native attire and naming their commanders. Most of the infantry was supplied by vassal states of the empire, though Herodotus makes special mention of the elite Persian corps known as “the Immortals.” This division of 10,000 troops was always kept at that strength, immediately replacing men who were killed, thus earning its sobriquet. The Persians, Indians, Medes, Sargations, Bactrians, Caspians, Libyans and several other nations provided cavalry, all of whom rode horses except for the Arabians, who brought camels. The Persian fleet included ships provided by Phoenicia, Syria, Egypt, Cyprus, Cilicia, Lycia, Caria, and the subject Greek states in Ionia, Aeolia, and the Aegean islands, as well as the Bosphorus and Hellespont. Herodotus gives the total number of ships in the fleet as 3,000, including the cavalry transports and cargo vessels. The combined Persian army, not including the naval squadrons, numbered 1,700,000 troops.

Before leaving Sardis, Xerxes sent heralds again to every town in Greece except Athens and Sparta, demanding earth and water to test whether he should expect resistance from any of the remaining free Greek states. He then moved the army to Abydos, located on the Asian side of the Hellespont, where a bridge had been constructed to the European mainland, approximately one mile across the treacherous strait. During the march, a solar eclipse occurred, which the Magi interpreted as a divine indication that the Greek cities were about to be reduced by the Persians. A wealthy and elderly Lydian, who had lavishly entertained Xerxes and the Persian army in Sardis, was troubled by the portent and asked Xerxes to spare the eldest of his five sons while the others marched with the king. Xerxes was enraged at the request and had the youth located in the ranks. He ordered the man cut in half; the two halves of his body were thrown on either side of the road and the army marched between them.

Upon arriving at Abydos, a violent storm destroyed the bridge, infuriating Xerxes, who ordered that the waters of the Hellespont be lashed and branded with hot irons as punishment. He had the men who built the bridge decapitated, and two pontoon bridges were then constructed using Persian vessels lashed together, facing the current, to support the structure. Meanwhile, a canal had been cut through the peninsula above Mount Athos to protect the Persian fleet from exposure to heavy seas. Herodotus suggests that Xerxes’ vanity was the real reason for this enormous engineering task, because the Persian vessels could easily be dragged over the narrow isthmus, negating the need for the canal.

At Abydos, Xerxes reviewed his army. Perched on high ground, on a throne of white marble, he saw the Hellespont filled with ships, and the plains and hills of the surrounding countryside covered with troops, and he cried. He explained to Artabanus that of all the many thousands of men standing before them, none would be alive in 100 years. Artabanus replied that human life is a heavy burden and death a refuge desired by all to escape its suffering. He confided to Xerxes that the very immensity of the Persian army could prove to be a disadvantage; not the Greeks, but the land and the sea themselves were its true enemies. Greece lacked harbors large enough to shelter the Persian fleet from violent weather, and the vastness of Europe would swallow up the army and ultimately starve it, if the Persian invasion met with no resistance. Xerxes responded that greatness is won only by taking risks, as his predecessors on the Persian throne had done. He rebuffed Artabanus’ warning not to trust the Ionians, claiming they had proved their loyalty to the Persian crown during Darius’ Scythian campaign.

The next day, Xerxes poured a libation into the Hellespont, praying that nothing would prevent him from conquering the whole of Europe, and the Persians began to cross the two bridges. The crossing took seven days and nights. A portent occurred once the entire Persian army was on European soil: A mare gave birth to a hare, which Xerxes assumed was a sign of his inevitable success. The infantry and fleet made their way to Doriscus, on the northern Aegean coast, where Xerxes reviewed the massed squadrons. He then called Demaratus, the exiled Spartan king, to his side and asked whether he thought any Greeks would dare oppose such an overwhelming display of power.

Confirming first that Xerxes wanted a truthful answer, not a pleasant one, Demaratus responded that “poverty is Greece’s inheritance from of old, but valor she won for herself by wisdom and the strength of law. By her valor, Greece now keeps both poverty and despotism at bay” (404). He claimed that the Spartans would never submit to terms that meant the enslavement of Greece, but fight to the last man, even if the rest of Greece yields. To Xerxes’ comment that the Spartans would be outnumbered more than a thousand to one, Demaratus insisted that the free Spartans obey only Law, which they fear more than Xerxes’ subjects fear him. Xerxes dismissed Demaratus with a laugh.

The Persian army and fleet traveled westward, the ships using the canal that had been dug through the isthmus near Mount Athos, and subdued the surrounding settlements, conscripting their inhabitants into service. Herodotus reports that many rivers and lakes were drunk dry by the Persian forces and pack animals along the way, and that at Acanthus, the citizens were nearly bankrupted by feeding and billeting Xerxes and his army for one evening. Meanwhile, the heralds Xerxes sent to the Greek city-states returned; many of these communities gave the sign of submission, including the Thessalians, Locrians, and Thebans. Xerxes did not send envoys to Athens or Sparta, where Darius’ messengers had previously met with abuse. The Athenians had tossed the Persian ambassadors into a pit, and the Spartans had thrown them down a well. The Greeks who determined to resist Xerxes swore an oath that they would punish all their countrymen who willingly yielded to the Persian king once the war was over.

Meanwhile, the Athenians, aware that the Persians were advancing into Europe, consulted the Delphic oracle for advice. The priestess prophesied that Athens faced destruction and its citizens should immediately flee the city. Desperate for a glimmer of hope, the Athenian envoys approached the priestess again, holding olive branches as a gesture of supplication to Apollo. This time, she indicated that the Athenians should rely on the wooden wall, which would not fail them. The meaning of this oracle was hotly debated at Athens; finally, Themistocles, a former archon, argued that the wooden wall meant the Athenian fleet, which would win a victory at “divine Salamis,” an island off the Attic coast. A few years earlier, Themistocles convinced the Athenians to invest a windfall derived from their silver mines at Laurium in the construction of 200 ships to combat the Aeginetans. The ships had not been used for that purpose, however, and the Athenians now agreed to supplement their existing fleet with new ships and face the Persians at sea with any Greeks that might join them.

Herodotus argues that, despite the popular opinion of his time, the Athenian decision to mount a naval resistance to the Persians was essential to the Hellenic victory over Xerxes. Unopposed at sea, the Persians would have methodically invested and subjugated every Greek community from central Greece to the Peloponnese, and the Spartans’ resistance would have been noble but futile. Athens, not Sparta, thus saved Greece from slavery; hers was the decisive role in the Persian wars, though Sparta was the preeminent military power in Greece.

The Greeks allied against Persia held a conference and voted to suspend their own quarrels for the common good. They sent spies to Sardis to acquire information on the Persian mobilization. The spies were captured; however, Xerxes allowed them to return to Greece to report on the immensity of his war preparations, thinking this would strike such fear into the Greeks that they would surrender rather than risk the consequences of resistance. Meanwhile, the Hellenic confederacy dispatched envoys to Argos, Syracuse, Crete, and Corcyra to seek aid for the resistance effort. The Argives, hereditary enemies of Sparta, refused; the Cretans, though willing to help, were prevented by an oracle forbidding them to do so.

The Corcyraeans promised to send a fleet of 60 ships; skeptical of the Greeks’ chances, however, their squadron waited off the coast of the Peloponnese to see the outcome of the fighting rather than join in it. Gelon, the powerful tyrant of Syracuse, insisted he be given supreme command of the allied forces in return for providing large infantry and naval contingents. The Spartans refused his demand, as did the Athenians when he asked for command of the fleet; Gelon then rescinded his offer of assistance. The Syracusan tyrant sent three ships to observe the unfolding action, with orders that if Xerxes won, the Syracusans should give the Great King a large treasure, as well as the gift of earth and water.

The Thessalians, angry that some of their countrymen had promised to support Xerxes, determined to resist the Persians and sent a request for aid to the Greek confederation. An army of 10,000 Athenian and Spartan foot-soldiers, or hoplites, supported by Thessalian cavalry, took up position in Tempe, the main pass leading from Macedonia into Thessaly. The Macedonian king encouraged them to withdraw, however, before being trampled underfoot by the overwhelming Persian forces. Taking the advice, the Hellenic forces returned to the Isthmus of Corinth, with the result that the Thessalians gave their full support to Xerxes in the upcoming engagements, proving to be of immense value to the Persian king.

After deliberating, the Greeks decided to defend the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae, south of Thessaly, from the advancing Persian army while the Greek fleet took up position at Artemisium, a short distance away on the northern coast of Euboea. Thermopylae, which means “gate of the hot springs,” was the narrowest pass into Greece from Thessaly, and the Greeks believed its strategic configuration would negate the Persian numerical superiority and prove advantageous for defensive warfare. The Greek forces were unaware of a mountain trail that bypassed the notch, which ultimately enabled the Persians to surround the Greek position from both sides of the pass.

While the Greek infantry and fleet were racing northward, the Delphians, terrified by the proximity of the Persian horde, appealed to the oracle of Apollo. The priestess replied they should pray to the winds, an answer the Delphians shared with the other Greeks, winning their eternal gratitude. Meanwhile, Xerxes sent 10 ships to reconnoiter the island of Sciathus, off the northern tip of Euboea, before dispatching his fleet to the area. They captured three Greek ships; when the Hellenic squadrons at Artemisium learned of this, they relocated to Chalcis, further south on Euboea, to guard the narrow strait there between the island and the mainland. Three of the Persian ships on the reconnaissance mission were wrecked on a reef; these were the first casualties the Persian expedition incurred, according to Herodotus.

Herodotus estimates that the Persian fleet consisted of 1,207 triremes, or large warships, and 3,000 smaller vessels, with a total complement of 517,610 men. The combined Persian infantry and navy, including those recruited from Thrace, Macedonia, and the Greek states subjugated during the expedition, he numbers at 2,641,610. With the addition of servants, cooks, and provisioners, Xerxes led a military force to Thermopylae of 5,283,220 men. Herodotus makes no attempt to estimate the number of women, concubines, and other non-military personnel accompanying the campaign, but implies it was of a similar magnitude.

The Persian fleet then sailed to the beach of Magnesia, along the mainland Greek coast north of Euboea and anchored in eight rows with prows facing out to sea. The next day, a violent storm struck, destroying 400 ships and killing an incalculable number of men. The storm lasted three days; at its end, the Greek fleet raced back to Artemisium, expecting to find only a few enemy ships capable of opposing them. The surviving Persian squadrons sailed around the southern tip of Magnesia and made anchorage across the gulf from Artemisium. The Greeks captured 15 of these ships that had lagged behind the other Persian vessels, interrogated their crews, and sent the captives in bonds to Corinth.

Meanwhile, Xerxes crossed from Thessaly and Achaea into Malis, and made his base at Trachis, a city just to the west of Thermopylae. The allied Greek forces, numbering roughly 5,000, including 300 Spartans, camped at the pass. Leonidas, the Spartan king, commanded the Greek army; he was sent in advance with his contingent by the Spartans in order to persuade the other Greeks to join in the effort and prevent them from unilaterally surrendering to Xerxes. The rest of the Spartans intended to march to Thermopylae after the conclusion of the Karneia, a religious festival, during which they were traditionally prohibited from making war.

When the Greeks realized the size of the approaching Persian forces, they became terrified. The Peloponnesians argued they should abandon their position and return to defend the isthmus at Corinth, but Leonidas voted to remain and dispatch messengers to other Greek cities to appeal for help against the overwhelming opposition. During their deliberations, Xerxes sent a scout to report on the Greeks’ activities. The spy reported with astonishment that he saw the Spartans exercising and grooming their hair, with no apparent concern for their imminent danger. Xerxes was incredulous, and questioned Demaratus, the exiled Spartan king in his retinue, as to the meaning of the Spartans’ actions. Demaratus replied that this was the customary behavior of Spartans before battle, and that if Xerxes could defeat them, he will have conquered the noblest and bravest of all the Hellenes.

Xerxes refused to believe that such a small contingent of Greeks would dare oppose him, and let four days elapse, expecting the Greeks would run away. On the fifth day, losing his temper, he ordered the Medes to drive out the Greeks and capture them. The Greek forces successfully repelled the Medes, however, killing many of them, and Xerxes then ordered the elite Persian corps, “the Immortals,” to attack the Greek position. The Persians fared no better, proving no match for the longer spears and superior close combat techniques of the Greeks. The Spartans often feigned a disorganized retreat, then suddenly wheeled around to attack the Persians pursuing them with devastating results. The next day, the battle resumed with the same outcome; though they inflicted losses, the Persians were unable to dislodge the Greeks from the pass and were forced to withdraw again.

At this moment, a Malian named Ephialtes approached Xerxes and told him of the mountain trail leading behind Thermopylae. Xerxes dispatched a Persian division under Hyadarnes to take the Greeks from the rear. Marching through the night, they reached the summit of the ridge where they surprised a detachment of Phocians who were guarding the trail. Under a hail of Persian arrows, the Phocians fled to the top of the mountain, expecting to be pursued by the Persians. Hydarnes, however, led the Persian force downhill with all possible speed to assault the rear of the main Greek force at Thermopylae. When word reached the Greek encampment that they had been flanked, the army split, some fleeing to their native cities while others opted to stand with Leonidas and the Spartans. Herodotus notes that Leonidas chose to remain to ensure Spartan glory and because a Delphic oracle had prophesied that either Sparta would fall to the Persians, or a Spartan king be killed in her defense. Eager to win a glory for Sparta that no other country could share, Leonidas dismissed all the allied troops except for the Thebans and Thespians.

After pouring a libation to the sun, Xerxes launched his attack in mid-morning. The Greeks, realizing their position was hopeless and death inevitable, pressed their assault against the Persian ranks on a wide stretch of ground before the narrow pass, fighting in furious desperation. Herodotus claims the number of Persians killed and drowned was incalculable; during the fight two brothers of Xerxes died. Leonidas was also killed at Thermopylae. The Persians and Greeks struggled over his body; Herodotus reports that four times the Greeks drove the Persians off and ultimately rescued the corpse of the Spartan king. Of the 300 Spartans, all except one (or possibly two) died, having fought gallantly. Herodotus singles out Dieneces as exemplary of their courage; told before the battle that the arrows of the Persian archers were so numerous as to eclipse the sun, he replied that it was for the better, because he preferred to fight in the shade.

The Thebans made a show of resistance to the Persians, but once they saw death was at hand, they detached themselves from the Greek force and surrendered to the enemy. The Persians branded the Theban survivors with the royal mark, but they were allowed to live. After the battle, Xerxes found Leonidas’ body and had it beheaded and the head fixed on a stake. The Greek dead were buried where they fell; later a memorial inscription was carved near the burial mound that read “Four thousand here from Pelops’ land / Against three million once did stand.”

When the battle was over, Xerxes asked Demaratus for his opinion as to how the Lacadaemonians could be most easily defeated. Demaratus advised Xerxes to send a squadron of 300 ships to Cythera, an island off the southern coast of Lacadaemon, from which to launch raids on the Laconian mainland. With the Spartans occupied protecting their own territory, they would be unwilling to support the other Greek states to the north of the Peloponnese, which would be quickly vanquished by the Persians. Xerxes’ brother, the Persian admiral, insisted the fleet be kept at full strength as a deterrent to Greek naval attacks. Accusing the exiled Spartan king of treachery, he urged the Persian emperor to disregard Demaratus’ proposal. Xerxes sided with his brother and agreed to keep the fleet unified, but he declared that Demaratus had proven his loyalty to the Persian throne and trusted his advice was made in good faith.