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Battle Of Thermopylae Essay

1084 Words5 Pages

The battle of Thermopylae was between the Greeks and the Persian armies. With superior strategy the Greeks try to hold the ground of Thermopylae with only seven thousand men up against over three hundred thousand of the Persian army. This battle shows using terrain, discipline and armor can play a huge part of a battle. Xerxes the leader of Persia wanted to take over Athens either to expand his rule more western of the fact that Athens backed out of their alliance more than 25 years ago. Either way Xerxes was determined to conquer Athens. The Greek army of seven thousand soldiers followed by three hundred Spartans marched to Thermopylae. Spartans were the main fighting force since they grew up and they knew were to be soldiers. Since the …show more content…

It was a narrow pass that would lead to Athens and this would be vital ground because it would be a straight shot to Athens after that. By holding this part of Thermopylae would take the numbers out of the fight because only a certain amount of people could fight at one time. This would play huge for the Spartans because of their fighting style by using phalanx. The Persians would rush forward only to be pushed back by the Greeks. At the very beginning Xerxes orders nearly five thousand soldiers to fire arrows at the Greeks. This did little to no damage at all, and arrows were bouncing off shields and helmets. When the Persian army crash it didn’t move because of the strong phalanx and when it’s linked together it can take a lot of force without taking any damage. Once they stop the Persian charge the Spartans disciplined army goes on the offensive. The Spartans counterattack offers spear attacks from below and above the phalanx. The Persian army is not made for this kind of battle they are built for speed and this is an advantage for the Spartans who are built for this exact kind of battle. So using the terrain to the advantage they have the upper hand in the beginning. Stuck in the narrow pass the Persians can’t maneuver or utilize their cavalry. So think of the phalanx as a big rock and the Persians as waves, so they

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