Persian king Xerxes I is one of the most famous characters in the ancient history of mankind. Actually, it was this ruler who led his troops to Greece in the first half of the fifth century. It was he who fought with the Athenian hoplites in the battle of Marathon and with the Spartans in the very battle that was widely promoted today in popular literature and cinema at Thermopylae.
The beginning of the Greco-Persian wars
Persia at the very beginning of the 5th century BC was a young, but aggressive and already powerful empire, which managed to conquer a number of eastern peoples. Among other territories, the Persian king Darius also took possession of some Greek colonies-policies in Asia Minor (the territory of modern Turkey). During the years of Persian rule, among the Greek population of the Persian satrapies - the so-called administrative territorial units of the Persian state - they often raised uprisings, protesting against the new orders of the eastern conquerors. It was the help of Athens to these colonies in one of these uprisings that led to the start of the Greco-Persian conflict.
Marathon battle
The first general battle of the Persian landing and the Greek troops (Athenians and Plateans) was the Marathon battle, which occurred in 490 BC. Thanks to the talent of the Greek commander Miltiada, who correctly used the hoplite system, their long spears, as well as the sloping terrain (the Greeks pressed the Persians downhill), the Athenians won, stopping the first Persian invasion of their country. Interestingly, the modern sports discipline “marathon running”, which is 42 km away, is associated with this battle. That is how much the ancient messenger ran from the scene of the battle to Athens to report the victory of his compatriots and fall dead. The preparation of a more massive invasion was prevented by the death of Darius. The new Persian king Xerxes I, who continued the work of his father, ascended the throne.
Thermopilus battle and three hundred Spartans
The second invasion began in 480 BC. King Xerxes led a large army of 200 thousand people (according to modern historians). Macedonia and Thrace were quickly conquered, after which the invasion from the north to Boeotia, Attica and the Peloponnese began. Even the coalition forces of the Greek policies could not withstand so many forces gathered from the many peoples of the Persian Empire. The weak hope of the Greeks was the opportunity to take the battle in the narrow place through which the Persian army passed on its way to the south - Thermopyllian Gorge. The numerical advantage of the enemy here would not be so noticeable at all, which left hope for victory. The legend that the Persian king Xerxes was almost beaten here by three hundred Spartan warriors is some exaggeration. In fact, from 5 to 7 thousand Greek soldiers from different policies, not only Spartan, took part in this battle. And for the width of the gorge this amount was more than enough to successfully restrain the enemy for two days. The disciplined Greek phalanx kept the line steady, really stopping the hordes of Persians. No one knows how the battle would end, but the Greeks were betrayed by one of the inhabitants of the local village - Efialt. A man who showed the Persians a workaround. When Tsar Leonid found out about the betrayal, he sent troops to the polis to regroup, remaining defensive and detaining the Persians with a small detachment. Now there really were very few of them - about 500 souls. However, no miracle happened, almost all the defenders were killed on the same day.
What happened afterwards
The battle of Thermopylae did not fulfill the task that the Greek men assigned to it, but it became an inspired example of heroism for other defenders of the country. The Persian king Xerxes I still managed to win here, but later suffered crushing defeats: at sea - a month later at Salamis, and on land - at the battle of Plataea. The Greco-Persian war continued for the next thirty years as protracted sluggish conflicts in which the preponderance tended more and more to the side of policies.