Persian War Essay

The Persian War is referred to as a conflict between Greece and Persia which occurred near the beginning of 5th century BCE. The War itself involved two main invasions happening around the years of 490 BCE and 480 BCE. Within these two main invasions, four historically important battles were fought between the Greeks and Persians. These battles took place in the Greek states of Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea. The Greek states were ultimately victorious in the Persian War, with the Greek army itself being primarily composed of the strategic and powerful naval force of the Athenians and the brute and able terrestrial force of the Spartans. The war itself was a result of Persian Ruler Darius I’s ever-growing desire to expand his empire.

The Spartan army is described as “traditionally the best trained and best disciplined of the Greek warriors”(Califf). This is made evident when looking at the battle of Marathon. A Spartan led army clashed with the unstoppable Persian army for the first time in the Persian War at the plain of Marathon in September 490 BCE. The Greeks decimated the Persians in this heavily one-sided battle. The exact death toll according to tradition was six-thousand four-hundred dead Persians compared to a staggering one-hundred ninety-two Greeks. The Greeks ability to do so well was in large part due to their longer spears, heavier swords, and better armor (Cartwright). This is shown evident when looking at specific moments within the battle of Marathon. To better understand how useful the Greek’s equipment was, one needs to also better understand how unstoppable the fighting style of the Persians was at that time. The Persian army was mainly known for their long-range style of fighting battles. The Persians would set up on high mountains or hills, and would then fire tens of thousands of flaming arrows into the sky at once. This strategic advantage of Persia was one of the many reasons they were so successful in past wars. When this was attempted at Marathon, however, the large shields and perfect discipline of the

At the battle of Thermopylae, the Persian king Xerxes gathered a huge invasion force to Attack Greece again. This time, however, they attacked via the pass at Thermopylae on the east coast. Like the battle of Marathon, The two opposing armies of Persia and Greece were essentially representing the two approaches to Classical warfare. Persian warfare favored long-range assault using archers followed up with a cavalry charge, whilst the Greeks favored heavily-armored hoplites, arranged in a densely packed formation called the phalanx, with each man carrying a heavy round bronze shield and fighting at close quarters using spears and swords (Cartwright). A small Spartan army led by general Leonidas successfully defended the strait of Thermopylae for three days, before being killed by the Persian army. The significance of this is the bravery and honor that these soldiers made, a bravery that would once more be seen in the future battle of Plataea, noted by Persian general Mardonius (Sacks). The entire Greek army comprised roughly seven-thousand people, whereas the Persian army consisted of a staggering three-hundred thousand soldiers. Instead of retreating, the Greek army stood their ground, and fought back. Death did not scare these people, as they