Battle of Plataea

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Battle of Plataea
Part of the Persian Wars
Map of the battlefield at Plataea
Date 27 August, 479 BC Location Plataea Result Decisive Greek victory
Combatants
Greek city-states	Persia
Commanders
Pausanias	Mardonius†
Strength
100,000 (Pompeius) 110,000 (Herodotus)	120,000 (Ctesias) 300,000 (Herodotus, Plutarch). Modern historians either accept Herodotus or estimate 80,000-120,000
Casualties
159 (Herodotus) 1,360 (Plutarch) 10,000+ (Ephorus and Diodorus)	Only 43,000 soldiers survived. Bulk of casualties suffered during the rout.

The Battle of Plataea was the last battle of the Persian Wars in southern Greece. It took place in 479 BC between an alliance of Greek city-states Sparta, Athens, Corinth, Megara, and others against the Persians and with it the Persians were repelled from Greece.

[edit] Background

After the Battle of Salamis, Xerxes I returned to Persia, leaving Mardonius in charge of the conquered Greek territories. Mardonius, through Alexander I of Macedon, asked for a truce with Athens, offering autonomous government and Persian aid in rebuilding their city. Athens rejected this and asked for Spartan help, though the Spartans were more interested in protecting the Peloponnese. Mardonius then recaptured Athens, but the Athenians once more rejected his offer of peace.

Athens, Megara and Plataea sent emissaries to Sparta demanding assistance. The Spartans hesitated, using the celebration of the Hyacinthia religious festival as an excuse. In the end, Chileos of Tegea convinced the Spartans of the grave danger they would face if Athens made peace.

The Spartans sent 45,000 men under the command of Pausanias, 5,000 Spartiates (full citizen soldiers), 5000 perioeci and 35,000 helots; this was the largest single Spartan fighting force ever to appear in battle. Spartan forces typically included relatively few actual Spartan soldiers, and mostly consisted of perioeci, helots (servants of the state) and soldiers provided by their allies. When Mardonius learned of the Spartan force, he completed the destruction of Athens, tearing down whatever was standing and covering it with soil. He then retreated to Thebes, hoping to lure the Greek army there.

[edit] Battle

Mardonius fortified the Asopus river in Boeotia, hoping that the Greeks would be unable to unite against him. However, the Athenians sent 8,000 men and marched with the Spartan force to the pass over Mount Cithaeron, where they could successfully defend themselves from Persian raids. Mardonius sent cavalry led by Masistius to attack the Greeks, hoping to lure them onto the plain or to check whether his cavalry could successfully attack a phalanx on hilly terrain.^[1]. Masistius met resistance from the Megarans and Athenians under the command of Olympiodorus, in the center of the Greek formation. Masistius was killed and his cavalry retreated. The Greeks began to move away from the pass towards the plain of Plataea where Mardonius had built a fortified camp, and where the Greek hoplites could fight more easily. The Athenians formed the left wing of the army, with the Spartans on the right and the Tegeans in the middle.

Modern reconstruction of a phalanx. Hoplites were not uniformly armed because each soldier would buy his own arms and decorate them at will.

By this point, the Greek army had been reinforced by many other city-states, giving them a total strength of 110,000 men, consisting of 38,700 hoplites and 71,300 light troops, according to Herodotus. The hoplites came from the following city-states:

Of the light troops, 35,000 were the aforementioned helots, 1,800 were Thespians and the other 34,500 are simply said to be from the other cities, about one per hoplite. The number of helots is disputed because it implies seven helots for every Spartiate. Some historians have accepted these numbers and used them as a population census of Greece at the time. Others have claimed that the numbers are bloated. The battle near Mycale is supposed to have taken place at the same time, accounting for at least 25,000 men (mostly Athenians but also many Spartans) on the Asian front, which means the Greek coalition could have numbered around 80,000 men. Other historians have rejected the idea that there were any light troops at all, only hoplites. Considering that Pausanias tried to bring political reform to Sparta giving the helots rights, it is more likely than not that he had seen them in battle. The Greek formation, according to Herodotus, was arrayed in the following order (from right to left): Spartans, Tegeans, Corinthians, Potideans, Troezenians, Lepreats, Mycenians and Tirynthians, Fleiasians, Hermionians, Eretrians and Styrians, Chalcideans, Ambracians, Lefkadians and Anactorians, Palians from Cephalonia, Aeginians, Megarans and Athenians.

Mardonius, on the other hand, according to Herodotus, had 300,000 Persians, of which 40,000 under Artabazus did not take part in the battle because their leader disagreed with Mardonius's tactics. Ctesias who wrote in the 4th century BC a history of Persia based on Persian archives, claimed 120,000 Persian and 7,000 Greek soldiers, but placed the battle before Salamis. This discrepancy is probably due to the fact that his work did not survive and what is known of it is a fragment in the Myriobiblos, which was compiled by the Ecumenical Patriarch Photius in the 9th century AD.

The figure of 300,000 has been doubted by several modern historians, who have given figures as low as 50,000, beginning with Ctesias's number [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. JAR Munro and Macan ^[2] note that Herodotus mentions by name 6 superior military commanders and 29 μυριαρχοι (muriarchoi), that is commanders of a baivarabam. The baivarabam was the tactical unit of the ancient Persian infantry that numbered 10,000 men ^[3]. While it is possible that Xerxes, on leaving Greece after the battle of Salamis accompanied by probably 60,000 troops ^[4], did leave his formations undermanned, it would have been unwise to leave a small force since he knew that Persian archers could defeat hoplites only with superior numbers. Also, Mardonius did have a force of allied Greeks - all Greek states north of Athens - especially Thebans and allies from Thessalia. Ancient sources say they numbered perhaps 50,000, and while this may seem exaggerated, the northern states were certainly able to field 30,000 hoplites. British historian N.G.L. Hammond accepts that there were 300,000 Persians at Plataea, though he claims that the invasion force that was gathered in Doriskos one year earlier was smaller.

The Persian formation pitted the Persians against the Spartans and Tegeans, Medes against Corinthians, Potideans, Orchomenians and Sicyonians, Bactrians against Epidaurians, Troezenians, Lepreats, Tirynthians, Mycenians and Floiasians, Indians against Hermionians, Eretrians, Styrians and Chalcideans, Saces against Ambraciotians, Anactorians, Leucadians, Palians and Aeginians, the Greek allies of the Persians against Plateans and Athenians. There were however other forces in the Persian camp: Frygians, Mysians, Thracians, Paonians, Ethiopians and Egyptians armed only with knives.

Both armies camped in front of each other for 10 days, with only small raids on each side. However, the Persians diverted the Greek water supply and captured a convoy with 500 oxen, so the Greeks were forced to find a new camp. Finally Mardonius, after a council where Artabazus suggested retreating to Thebes where they had many supplies, decided to attack. During the night, Alexander of Macedon crossed the Asopus river, and appeared before the Athenian generals (Aristides only according to Plutarch) and said the following:

Athenians, I trust you these words as secret and I forbid you to repeat them to anybody but Pausanias, so as not to ruin me. Of course I would not tell you, if I was not very interested for all of Greece. For I myself am Greek, and from an old family, and I would not like to see Greece a slave and not free (Herodotus IX,44)

The Athenians and Spartans switched positions so that the Athenians would defend against the main Persian force while the Spartans would fight the Greek subjects within the Persian army. Seeing this, Mardonius switched his formation too. Then the Greeks on the 12th night from finding the second camp decided to move. This was done with some confusion.

On discovering the Greeks had abandoned their positions, Mardonius chased after them. Seeing that the Greek formation was divided in three, he decided to attack, without realising he was sending his force into a trap. The Persian cavalry and archers first came upon the Spartans who were still moving, and the infantry arrived soon after. The Spartans retreated higher in the mountains where they were protected from cavalry attacks. The cavalry and archers did little damage and withdrew when the infantry arrived. The Spartans asked the Athenians for help, but they were unable to send any because they were being attacked by the Thebans.

The numerically superior Persian infantry were of the heavy (by Persian standards) sparabara formation that was still much lighter than the Greek phalanx. The Persian defensive weapon was a large wooden shield, compared to the heavy bronze shield of the phalanx. The Persians formed a shield wall and started firing volleys of arrows against the Spartans and the Tegeans. After suffering these volleys for some time, the Tegeans attacked, forcing the Spartans to follow suit. The Greek long spears gave them a tactical advantage over the Persian short spears and swords, and the battle soon turned into a slaughter. The Persians were annihilated; Mardonius himself was killed by a Spartan named Aeimnestus. In the meantime, while the Spartans were still suffering from the arrows, the Athenians moved to help them, but found themselves facing the Persians' Greek allies. While most Greeks showed fainted cowardice, the Thebans attacked and fought bravely, being repelled with 300 casualties. Herodotus claims that the rest of the Greek and Persian forces did not fight, something very dubious. Unfortunately, no other ancient source with a full description of the battle has survived to say otherwise.

The Persian Artabazus, who had unsuccessfully tried to convince Mardonius to avoid a pitched battle, then took command and immediately retreated, allowing the Greeks to capture their camp. According to Herodotus, only 43,000 of the 300,000 Persians survived the battle, while the Greeks as a whole lost only 159 men. Furthermore, he claims that only Spartans, Tegeans and Athenians died, since they were the only ones who fought. Plutarch, who had access to other sources, gives 1360 Greek casualties, which seems more accurate, while Ephorus probably is exaggerating when he gives over 10,000. However, historical records of the period are notoriously biased or inaccurate and the real number of casualties will never truly be known.

[edit] Aftermath

According to tradition, the battle of Mycale occurred on the same day, with the Greek fleet destroying the Persian in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Ionia. The Persian army, under the command of Artabazus tried to retreat all the way back to Asia Minor. Most of the 43,000 survivors were attacked and killed by the forces of Alexander of Macedon at the estuary of the Strymon river. This ended the defensive phase of the Persian War, although the Persians continued to interfere in Greek politics until they were conquered in the 4th century BC by Alexander the Great. However, this was the last time the Persians tried to invade the Greek mainland with the goal of total conquest.

A bronze column in the shape of intertwined snakes was created from the treasure acquired in the plunder of the Persian camp and was offered at the oracle of Delphi, which commemorated all the Greek city-states who participated in the battle. Part of it still survives in the Hippodrome in modern Istanbul, where it was carried by Constantine the Great during the founding of his city. It lists all city-states that took part in the battle, confirming Herodotus's account (but not his numbers).

Another important and longer-lasting aftermath was that after the Persian wars the Persian empire started recruiting and relying on Greek mercenaries. Eventually, especially after the March of the 10,000, their superior fighting ability (due to their armor and the way they fought) was demonstrated, leading the way for Alexander the Great's conquests.

[edit] References

1. ^ Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους (History of the Greek nation) vol. Β', Ekdotiki Athinon, Athens 1972
2. ^ Cambridge Ancient History vol IV 1929
3. ^ Papademetriou Konstantinos Περσικό Πεζικό: Η δύναμη που κατέκτησε τη νοτιοδυτική Ασία (Persian Infantry: The force that conquered southwest Asia), Panzer magazine, issue 22 September-October 2005 Athens, Periscopio edition
4. ^ Garoufalis Demetrius Η ναυμαχία της Σαλαμίνας : Η σύγκρουση που άλλαξε την ιστορία (=The battle of Salamis, the clash that changed history, Στρατιωτική Ιστορία (=Military History) Magazine, issue 24 August 1998, Athens

[edit] External links

• Livius Picture Archive: the battle of Plataea (479 BCE)