Spartan Victory: The Inside Story of the Battle for Brexit

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The third and most numerous class was the Helots, state-owned serfs enslaved to farm the Spartiate klēros. By the 5th century BC, the helots, too, were used as light troops in skirmishes. [1] The alternative ancient reading πειθόμενοι νομίμοις ( peithomenoi nomίmois) for ῥήμασι πειθόμενοι ( rhēmasi peithomenoi) substitutes "laws" ( νόμοι) for "words". [146] Amompharetus: The leader of a battalion of Spartans, he refused to undertake the night-time retreat towards Plataea before the battle, since doing so would be shameful for a Spartan. [94] Herodotus has an angry debate continuing between Pausanias and Amompharetus until dawn, whereupon the rest of the Spartan army finally began to retreat, leaving Amompharetus' division behind. [95] Not expecting this, Amompharetus eventually led his men after the retreating Spartans. [96] However, another tradition remembers Amompharetus as winning great renown at Plataea, and it has thus been suggested that Amompharetus, far from being insubordinate, had instead volunteered to guard the rear. [77]

Crown-wearing Achaemenid king killing a Greek hoplite. Impression from a cylinder seal, sculpted circa 500 BC–475 BC, at the time of Xerxes I. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Map of Thermopylae". Uoregon.edu. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010 . Retrieved 26 November 2014. The degree to which we are put in the shadow by the Medes' strength is hardly something you need to bring to our attention. We are already well aware of it. But even so, such is our love of liberty, that we will never surrender. [28] Inevitably, Sparta and Argos collided. Initial Argive successes, such as the victory at the Battle of Hysiae in 669 BC, led to the Messenians' uprising. This internal conflict tied down the Spartan army for almost 20 years. [7] However, over the course of the 6th century, Sparta secured her control of the Peloponnese peninsula. The Spartans forced Arcadia into recognizing their power; Argos lost Cynuria (the SE coast of the Peloponnese) in about 546 and suffered a further crippling blow from Cleomenes I at the Battle of Sepeia in 494. Repeated expeditions against tyrannical regimes during this period throughout Greece also considerably raised the Spartans' prestige. [8] By the early 5th century, Sparta was the unchallenged master in southern Greece, as the leading power ( hegemon) of the newly established Peloponnesian League (which was more characteristically known to its contemporaries as "the Lacedaemonians and their allies"). [9] Persian and Peloponnesian Wars [ edit ] Greek hoplite besting a Persian, on the tondo of a kylix drinking cup from the 5th century BC ( National Archaeological Museum of Athens)Battle of Thermopylae" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 September 2020 . Retrieved 1 August 2019. Bottom rank: Scythian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Arabian, Egyptian, Armenian, Cappadocian, Lydian, Ionian, Scythian, Thracian, Macedonian, Libyan, Ethiopian. Crawford, Osbert Guy Stanhope (1955). Said and Done: The Autobiography of an Archaeologist. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. A bronze column in the shape of intertwined snakes (the Serpent column) was created from melted-down Persian weapons, acquired in the plunder of the Persian camp, and was erected at Delphi. [113] It commemorated all the Greek city-states that had participated in the battle, listing them on the column, and thus confirming some of Herodotus' claims. [114] Most of it still survives in the Hippodrome of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), where it was carried by Constantine the Great during the founding of his city on the Greek colony of Byzantium. [115] Historical sources [ edit ] Dore, Lyn (2001). "Once the War Is Over". In Freeman, P.W.M.; Pollard, A. (eds.). Fields of Conflict: Progress and Prospect in Battlefield Archaeology. David Brown Book Co. pp.285–286. ISBN 978-1-84171-249-9. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012.

A further complication is that a certain proportion of the Allied manpower was needed to man the fleet, which amounted to at least 110 triremes, and thus approximately 22,000 men. [51] Since the Battle of Mycale was fought at least near-simultaneously with the Battle of Plataea, then this was a pool of manpower which could not have contributed to Plataea, and further reduces the likelihood that 110,000 Greeks assembled before Plataea. [52] Plataea and Mycale have great significance in ancient history as the battles that decisively ended the second Persian invasion of Greece, thereby swinging the balance of the Greco-Persian Wars in favour of the Greeks. They kept Persia from conquering all of Greece, although they paid a high price by losing many of their men. [109] The Battle of Marathon showed that the Persians could be defeated, and the Battle of Salamis saved Greece from immediate conquest, but it was Plataea and Mycale that effectively ended that threat. [109] However, neither of these battles is nearly as well known as Thermopylae, Salamis or Marathon. [110] The reason for this discrepancy is not entirely clear; it might, however, be a result of the circumstances in which the battle was fought. The fame of Thermopylae certainly lies in the doomed heroism of the Greeks in the face of overwhelming numbers; [111] and Marathon and Salamis perhaps because they were both fought against the odds, and in dire strategic situations. [24] Conversely, the Battles of Plataea and Mycale were both fought from a relative position of Greek strength, and against lesser odds; the Greeks, in fact, sought out battle on both occasions. [28] [109] Grundy, George (1901). The Great Persian War and its preliminaries; A Study of the Evidence, Literary and Topographical. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. Spartan ascendancy did not last long. By the end of the 5th century BC, Sparta had suffered severe casualties in the Peloponnesian Wars, and its conservative and narrow mentality alienated many of its former allies. At the same time, its military class – the Spartiate caste – was in decline for several reasons: Herodotus (2005). "The History of Herodotus: Polymnia". Greek Texts. George Rawlinson (trans.). Greek-Texts.com & Greece Http Ltd. Archived from the original on 5 May 2008 . Retrieved 19 October 2007.

Failed negotiations

By the late 6th century BC, Sparta was recognized as the preeminent Greek polis. King Croesus of Lydia established an alliance with the Spartans, [10] and later, the Greek cities of Asia Minor appealed to them for help during the Ionian Revolt. [10] During the second Persian invasion of Greece, under Xerxes, Sparta was assigned the overall leadership of Greek forces on both land and sea. The Spartans played a crucial role in the repulsion of the invasion, notably at the battles of Thermopylae and Plataea. However, during the aftermath, because of the plotting of Pausanias with the Persians and their unwillingness to campaign too far from home, the Spartans withdrew into relative isolation. The power vacuum resulted in Athens' rise to power, who became the lead in the continued effort against the Persians. This isolationist tendency was further reinforced by some of her allies' revolts and a great earthquake in 464, which was followed by a large scale revolt of the Messenian helots. [8] It is reported that, upon arriving at Thermopylae, the Persians sent a mounted scout to reconnoitre. The Greeks allowed him to come up to the camp, observe them, and depart. Xerxes found the scout's reports of the size of the Greek force, and that the Spartans were indulging in callisthenics and combing their long hair, laughable. Seeking the counsel of Demaratus, an exiled Spartan king in his retinue, Xerxes was told the Spartans were preparing for battle, and it was their custom to adorn their hair when they were about to risk their lives. Demaratus called them "the bravest men in Greece" and warned the Great King they intended to dispute the pass. He emphasized that he had tried to warn Xerxes earlier in the campaign, but the king had refused to believe him. He added that if Xerxes ever managed to subdue the Spartans, "there is no other nation in all the world which will venture to lift a hand in their defence." [163] Naqs-e Rostam – Encyclopaedia Iranica List of nationalities of the Achaemenid military with corresponding drawings. Archived from the original on 17 September 2020 . Retrieved 18 October 2018.

According to Herodotus, the Persians numbered 300,000 and were accompanied by troops from Greek city states that supported the Persian cause (including Macedonia, Thessaly and Thebes). [59] Herodotus admits that no one counted the Greek allies of the Achaemenids, but he guesses that there were about 50,000 of them. [59] Mardonius' troops consisted of not only Persians and Medes, but also Bactrians, Scythians, Indians, Boeotians, Locrians, Malians, Thessalians, Macedonians, Thracians, and 1,000 Phocians. Herodotus described the composition of the principal troops of Mardonius: [57] [56] Along the path itself was a series of three constrictions, or "gates" ( pylai), and at the centre gate a wall that had been erected by the Phocians, in the previous century, to aid in their defence against Thessalian invasions. [53] The name "Hot Gates" comes from the hot springs that were located there. [83] Hodkinson, Stephen (1996). "Agoge". In Hornblower, Simon (ed.). Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Influencing a king

Cox, Jeremy (2016). "They Died the Spartan's Death". Thermopylae, the Alamo, and the Mirrors of Classical Analogy, Advances in the History of Rhetoric. Plutarch, /main.html Apophthegmata Laconica, section "Leonidas, son of Anaxandridas", saying 6, Vol. III of the Loeb Classical Library edition, 1931 Bradford, Ernle (1980). The Battle for the West: Thermopylae. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company. pp.68–69. ISBN 0-07-007062-8. Herodotus' colorful account of the battle has provided history with many apocryphal incidents and conversations away from the main historical events. These accounts are obviously not verifiable, but they form an integral part of the legend of the battle and often demonstrate the laconic speech (and wit) of the Spartans to good effect. The Spartan army stood at the center of the Spartan state, citizens trained in the disciplines and honor of a warrior society. [1] Subjected to military drills since early manhood, the Spartans became one of the most feared and formidable military forces in the Greek world, attaining legendary status in their wars against Persia. At the height of Sparta's power – between the 6th and 4th centuries BC – other Greeks commonly accepted that "one Spartan was worth several men of any other state." [1]

Greek allies: Boeotians ( Thebans), Locrians, Malians, Thessalians, Phocians (1000 men), Macedonians [61] [58]Until the late 5th century, however, each file seems to have had a depth of only 8 men. Connolly (2006), p. 40 Main articles: Battle of Mycale and Second Persian invasion of Greece Greek hoplite and Persian warrior depicted fighting on an ancient kylix. Fifth century BC Strachey, Edward (February 1871). "The Soldiers' Duty". The Contemporary Review. London: Strahan & Co. XVI: 480–485.