Reasons for the Defeat of the Persians in 490 B.C and 480 - 479 B.C
“Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object” – Abraham Lincoln.
The Persian Wars were a series of destructive and malevolent battles which occurred in the time frame of 490B.C and 480 – 479B.C. The Greek victory over the Persians in the Persian Wars cannot be attributed to only one factor, more it was a commixture of factors. Such factors include unity, leadership, strategy, tactics and the pre-eminence of the Greek soldier. Each contributing factor was to play a distinctive and pivotal role in the various battles to come, which ultimately would lead to the subsequent demise of the Persians.
The Conflict among the Greeks and the Persians all began when Athens and Eretria made the fatal mistake of embroiling themselves in the ‘Ionian Revolt’. Consequently, the help given by the Athenians to the Ionians, according to Pamela Bradley – “drew upon them the vengeance of Darius, who now set in motion his first expedition against Greece”. This first expedition was to be known as the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. According to the Modern Historians Bengtson and Paul K. Davis, a Persian force of 20,000 led by the tyrant Hippias, landed at the Bay of Marathon, about 25.5 miles from Athens. A council was held in Athens to decide whether to march out and meet the Persians, or stay and defend the city. Miltiades, one of the ten Generals, persuaded the Athenians to ‘take food and March’. Miltiades, who had inside knowledge of Persian warfare, played a crucial role in the outcome of the Battle of Marathon in that it was his initiative that produced the success of the Greeks. “Miltiades’ words prevailed, and by the vote of Callimachus (the polemarch, or commander in chief)…the decision to fight was made” – Herodotus. In response, the Athenians marched out from Athens with a force of approximately 11,000 Greek hoplites (10,000 Athenian and 1,000 Plataean) to meet the
The Persian Wars were a series of destructive and malevolent battles which occurred in the time frame of 490B.C and 480 – 479B.C. The Greek victory over the Persians in the Persian Wars cannot be attributed to only one factor, more it was a commixture of factors. Such factors include unity, leadership, strategy, tactics and the pre-eminence of the Greek soldier. Each contributing factor was to play a distinctive and pivotal role in the various battles to come, which ultimately would lead to the subsequent demise of the Persians.
The Conflict among the Greeks and the Persians all began when Athens and Eretria made the fatal mistake of embroiling themselves in the ‘Ionian Revolt’. Consequently, the help given by the Athenians to the Ionians, according to Pamela Bradley – “drew upon them the vengeance of Darius, who now set in motion his first expedition against Greece”. This first expedition was to be known as the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. According to the Modern Historians Bengtson and Paul K. Davis, a Persian force of 20,000 led by the tyrant Hippias, landed at the Bay of Marathon, about 25.5 miles from Athens. A council was held in Athens to decide whether to march out and meet the Persians, or stay and defend the city. Miltiades, one of the ten Generals, persuaded the Athenians to ‘take food and March’. Miltiades, who had inside knowledge of Persian warfare, played a crucial role in the outcome of the Battle of Marathon in that it was his initiative that produced the success of the Greeks. “Miltiades’ words prevailed, and by the vote of Callimachus (the polemarch, or commander in chief)…the decision to fight was made” – Herodotus. In response, the Athenians marched out from Athens with a force of approximately 11,000 Greek hoplites (10,000 Athenian and 1,000 Plataean) to meet the