Battle of Thermopylae Flashcards
1
Q
What was the date?
A
August 480 BC
2
Q
Where was it located?
A
- The Pass of Thermopylae
- On the Malian Gulf in Mainland Greece
3
Q
Side 1:
A
- Resistance force made up of soldiers from around 30 allied Greek city states
- Approx. 7000 soldiers
- Led by the Spartan King Leonidas and 300 Spartan warriors
4
Q
Side 2:
A
- Invading Persian force
- Led by Xerxes, the King of the Persian Empire
- Estimates of the army range from 30,000-700,000 men
5
Q
Who are the key individuals?
A
Xerxes
Demaratus
Leonidas
Ephialtes
Dienekes
6
Q
What are the main causes for this battles?
A
- Greeks wanting to protect their culture from barbarians
- Persians wanting to expand their Empire for economic purposes
- Xerxes wanting to prove himself, and take revenge on Greeks after they fought off his father’s attempts at invasion
- Greeks wanted to defend their cities by delaying advance of Persian army
7
Q
What happened in 499 BCE?
A
- Greeks in the Ionia region, who were a part of the Persian Empire rose up against Persian rule
- Known as the Ionian revolt
- Athens and other Greek city states went to help them, but the revolt was put down in 494 BCE
8
Q
Why was the Ionian revolt significant?
A
- It was the first major conflict between the Greeks and the Persians
- King Darius vowed to get revenge on Athens and developed a plan to conquer all Greeks in an attempt to ensure the stability of his Empire
9
Q
What did King Darius do?
A
- Waged the first Greco-Persian war from 492-90 BC
- His invasion of Greece was turned back after a significant victory at the Battle of Marathon
10
Q
What did the Persian empire not want to do to the Greeks?
A
- They didn’t want to enslave them or destroy their clture
11
Q
What was the Battle of Thermopylae an attempt to do and why?
A
- Attempted to delay the advance of the Persian army
- Xerxes’ army had supplies brought to them by ship, which they wouldn’t be able to do in winter due to stormy conditions
- By holding the Persian’s back, the Greeks wanted to make a swift conquest impossible so they had time to evacuate their cities
12
Q
What did the Greeks do whilst they waited for the Persians?
A
- Built a wall across the Thermopylae pass
- Xerxes expected the Greeks to run in fear when they arrived, but they didn’t, which resulted in a 4 day standoff
- During this standoff, the Spartans exercised and combed one another’s hair, to prepare for a beautiful death
13
Q
What happened after Xerxes sent a herald to the Spartans to demand their surrender?
A
- Xerxes warned that the Greeks couldn’t resist, and that his army was so vast that their arrows would block out the sun
- Dienekes, a Spartan officer told the herald ‘All the better. Then we shall fight in the shade!’
14
Q
What happened on the first day of fighting?
A
- The Persians didn’t fight in any particular formation, so suffered great losses at the hands of the Greek phalanxes
- In the afternoon, Xerxes ordered his elite troops, called the Immortals to attack, but they also were no match for the Greeks
15
Q
What happened on the second day of fighting?
A
- The Greeks continued being able to hold the Persians back
- However, a local Greek man called Ephialtes went to Xerxes and told him about another mountain pass that he could use to get around the Greeks
- Xerxes sent a large number of his troops through the mountain pass, and the Greek scouts were forced to retreat to warn Leonidas
16
Q
What happened after the scouts warned Leonidas of the incoming Persians?
A
- Leonidas sent the majority of the Greek soldiers away
- He stayed behind with 300 Spartans
- 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans and some perioikoi and helots also stayed behind
17
Q
What happened on the third day of fighting?
A
- The Persians reached the Greek camp
- The Thebans surrendered, but the Spartans fought to the death
18
Q
How did the choice of battlefield help the Greeks
A
- It was a natural bottle neck, which meant the Persians couldn’t all get through at once, so couldn’t outflank the Phalanxes
19
Q
What tactics did the Greeks use in battle?
A
- On day 2, they pretended to run away to lure the Persians after them, then turned around suddenly in Phalanx formation
- They rotated the lines of the Phalanx, giving those at the front a chance to rest, and the ones behind a chance to prove themselves in battle
20
Q
What did Leonidas do during the battle?
A
- Fought from the front, with his men in the Phalanx
- Eventually, he fought to the death
21
Q
What motivations could Leonidas have had to fight to the death?
A
- He wanted a beautiful death in battle
- If he didn’t stay with the rest of the Spartans, he would been seen a coward
- Helped to keep the alliance intact between all the different Greek city states by proving his dedication to their cause, as the Spartans didn’t fight at Marathon
22
Q
What were the outcomes of the battle?
A
- All 300 spartans were killed
- Xerxes was so angry at the delay that he ordered Leonidas’ body to be mutilated
- The Persians were delayed by a week
- Athens was abandoned and the population was moved to safety on the island of Salamis
23
Q
How was the battle commemorated?
A
- Herodotus’ Histories (Pro-Greek bias)
24
Q
What do Herodotus’ Histories show?
A
- Greek bravery (Delphic Oracle gave Greeks no positive outcome for battle yet they still fought’
- Greek’s duty to their state and Gods (Leonidas willing to go into battle even though he knows he must die, and Greeks conferring with Delphic oracle for opinion)
- Greeks made to seem more dutiful than Perisians (Said that they revered the law more than the Persians revered their leader)
- Sense of pride surrounding war and the sacrifices made (Inscription set up0
25
Q
What were the short-term consequences of the battle?
A
- Athens rebuilt
- Gave the Greeks confidence to fight at Salamis
- Pressed their advantage at the Battle of Plataea, which ended the Persian invasion
26
Q
What were the long-term consequences?
A
- Motivated young Spartan warriors to train hard
- Proved that Lycurgus’ rules were effective
- Spartan warriors became heroes
