In last few years, films like 300 and Alexander have renewed interest in the military exploits of the ancient Greeks and have contributed to a rather popular mythology of Greek hoplites (particularly Spartans) as seemingly invincible supermen. This history, however, is just not the case.
Ancient Greeks outfought their Persian rivals from the days of Marathon to Gaugamela through a combination of superior tactics and weaponry and sound leadership. These advantages were employed to great effect at the legendary battle of Thermopylae and allowed a vastly outnumbered force of Greeks, led by the Spartan king Leonidas, to stand firm against Xerxes’ massive army. The ancient record of the battle from Herodotus explains why and teaches five fundamental lessons of war in the process.
Lesson 1: Numbers Don’t Win a Battle
On the first day of the battle, Herodotus mentions the use of conscripts in the initial attack on the Greek line:
"[Xerxes] sent forward the Medes and Cissians with orders to take [the Greeks] alive and bring them into his presence. The Medes charged, and in the struggle which ensued many [Greeks] fell; but others took their places, and in spite of terrible losses refused to be beaten off. They made it plain enough to anyone, and not least to the king himself, that he had in his army many men, indeed, but few soldiers."[1]
It seems much of Xerxes’ army was made up of conscripts like the Medes and Cissians, and Herodotus speaks also of the Hydarnes, another non-Persian militia being used to charge the Spartan ranks.
Lesson 2: Use Your Feet
The tactics of the Greeks gave them a distinct advantage against the Persians. The Greeks utilized deceptive feints within the narrow pass of Thermopylae by "pretending to be retreating in confusion."[2] This lure seems to have worked several times as Herodotus notes:
"...the enemy would come on with a great clatter and roar, supposing the battle won; but the Spartans, just as the Persians were on them, would wheel and face them and inflict in the new struggle innumerable casualties."[3]
The success of such tactics bears testament to the disorganized nature of Xerxes’ massive army as compared to that of the Greeks. Effective officers would have been able to recognize the feints for what they were and not swallow the bait, certainly not as often as the Persians seemed to have done.
Lesson 3: Don’t Bring a Knife to a Gun Fight
The Spartans were also equipped with larger spears and heavier armor than the Persians, and used them to great effect in the confines of the pass, thus neutralizing the hitherto invincible Immortals of Xerxes’ own bodyguard.[4] The success of the Greeks against such odds clearly defines an important military principle: Success more often lies in superior tactics, training, and weaponry than in superior numbers, which can be neutralized, if not crushed, by these three criteria.
Lesson 4: Practice Makes Perfect
When evaluating the superiority of the Spartan’s military discipline over the Persians, it is important to note the fundamental differences between the Spartan and Persian cultures. Sparta was a militaristic state in which the physical fitness of the body was preeminent, and boys trained to be soldiers from the age of seven.[5] By the time a Spartan actually saw battle, he would have completed years of training. Herodotus notes the Spartan focus on warfare and its centrality to their customs:
"[Spartans] were stripped for exercises, while others were combing their hair... Xerxes was bewildered; the truth, namely that the Spartans were preparing themselves to kill and to be killed according to their strength was beyond his comprehension..."[6]
Such focus on warfare would indeed seem strange to a Persian culture that, though militarily powerful, made no major contributions to the science of warfare, but focused their civilization on science, the arts, and the development of the state. Soldiering was a way of life to Sparta, while it was an imperial necessity to Persia, and the differences between these two military mindsets became blatantly clear at Thermopylae.
Lesson 5: Home Field Advantage
The initial Greek success at Thermopylae was not only due to the superior training, weaponry, and tactics of the Greeks. It was also due to King Leonidas’ selection of the battle site. The geography of the pass brought the tactical and technological advantages of the outnumbered Greeks to full effectiveness. The tight phalanx expounded the strengths of Leonidas’ army and would have led to victory had not the traitor Ephialtes led the Persians around the Greeks by a secret path.
Even in their defeat, the Greeks left enduring lessons of warfare, applicable even in today’s age of global positioning, laser-guided bombs, and special ops. Commanders and military planners still study maps of the immediate environment; and nations still race to make sure their armies are equipped with the best weapons, receive the best training, and are led by the best officers. In the past, and in the present, victory is achieved by the combatant who is better prepared and better led, enabling even small countries, like modern-day Israel, to stand against larger adversaries.
Sources
- "Herodotus," World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 9, Chicago. World Book, Inc., 1989.
- Robinson, C.E. Everday Life in Ancient Greece, Oxford. At the Clarendon Press, 1933.
- Spodek, Howard. The World’s History: Volume 1, 2nd Edition, Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2001.
[1] Herodotus, “Empires and military glory,” The World’s History Document Set, Raymond Hylton, ed., (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2001), 89.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] C.E. Robinson, Everday Life in Ancient Greece, (Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1933), 36.
[6] Herodotus, 89.
Tim Milosch - Tim Milosch writes from Southern California and welcomes comments on his articles. If you'd like to read more his writing, please view his ...
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