Key parties
GreeksThe Greek force was a coalition of over 60 Greek Polises (city-states) including Sparta, Athens, Thesbiae, Mantians etc. These were lead throughout both Greco-Persian conflicts by the Spartans and Athenians. Early in the second Persian War there was two key conflicts occurring simultaneously - the battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium; the Greek side spearheaded by the Spartan and Athenian polises respectively. Although the battle at the Hot Gates was a joint effort the Spartans are commonly attributed the fighting skill that allowed the force to hold of Persian invaders for a week despite being severely outnumbered. Of these 300 Spartans, specifically King Leonidas is remembered for leadership, fighting skill and courage in the battle of Thermopylae.
"for they [the Thespians] said that they would not depart and leave Leonidas and those with him, but they stayed behind and died with them" |
pERSIANSThe Persians were the invading force that would conquer most of Greece. The army was led by King Xerxes I, son of Darius I (defeated in the first Persian War), “the God King”. .The total amount of combat personnel Xerxes amassed for the second invasion attempt varies across sources. With this we can see Herodotus claiming there was at least 2.6 million military personnel. Also in some cases we see more recent historians claiming figures as low as 40,000 (von Fischer, R. 1932). The general consensus modern scholars have for the number of combat troops is between 100,000-200,000. Even with the seemingly low guess of 40,000 the initial Greek force would have been outnumbered almost 6:1, the rearguard even more so. We can see through the severe over-exaggeration of the number of Persians by primary sources that they are not always reliable. Such exaggerated numbers are typically attributed to boasting - basically to convey that 7000 Greeks were better warriors than over 2 million Persians.
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