After the battle, the Persian weapons were melted down to create a large bronze statue of a three-headed snake. The 'Serpent Column' was dedicated to Apollo at Delphi where it stood for 700 years. It was taken to Constantinople in the 4th century and placed in the Hippodrome where it can still be seen to this day. Few objects from the ancient world have such incredible provenance.
@@BioHydroniC The Persian armies of the 5th Century BC were poorly armed in comparison to their Greek counterparts, and bronze was still widely used by the Eastern levies for weapons and armour. They were required to provide their own equipment which would often consist of just a wicker or animal hide shield and a bronze tipped spear. Fine until you have to take on a Greek Phalanx.
@@jarlborg1531 persian army were poorly armored? It's totally nonsense persians were rich and modern for their era they massively used heavy armors for immortals and heavy cavalry cataphracts when parthians and sassanid persians adopted from them and crushed romans and byzantine greeks several times for retaliation Actually greek swords adopted from akinakă which pronounced acinaces in Greek which used by Iranian peoples like scythians medians and Persians
And so my king died, and my brothers died, barely a year ago. Long I pondered my King's cryptic talk of victory. Time has proven him wise. For from free Greek to free Greek, the word was spread that bold Leonidas and his 300, so far from home, laid down their lives. Not just for Sparta, but for all Greece and the promise this country holds. Now, here on this ragged patch of earth called Plataea, Xerxes' hordes face obliteration! Just there the barbarians huddle, sheer terror gripping tight their hearts with icy fingers - knowing full well what merciless horrors they suffered at the swords and spears of 300. Yet they stare now across the plain at 10,000 Spartans commanding 30,000 free Greeks!... The enemy outnumber us a paltry 3 to 1, good odds for any Greek. This day, we rescue a world from mysticism and tyranny and usher in a future brighter than anything we can imagine. Give thanks, men, to Leonidas and the brave 300. TO VICTORY!
Lets not forget the Spartan Aristodemus. Who lived in shame and was called Aristodemus the Coward because he returned to Sparta after Leonidas offered him the option to leave Thermopylae due to partial blindness from a double eye infection. Herodotus says he often left the phalanx wall to fight the Persians like a mad man and was eventual fell in battle. Herodotus called him the most brave of the Spartans that fought that day, though some Spartans considered him reckless and gave him no special honors other than restoring his honor.
When your soldiers started to panic, they are just a pile of meat, no matter how many they are. Mongols scared the shit out of people, in Islamic world 1 mongol can usually kill a entire village. because people lost the courage only want to die faster
It was done by the Spartiates, and Thespians on land and by the Athenian contingent on Artemisium. In fact if Thermopylae was not routed, then Artemisium would fall anyways due to Persians deploying the Egyptian forces that were able to actually defeat Greek forces at the sea. Both fronts knew that their position is pretty much going to end one way or another, either Thermopylae or Artemisium shall fall to the Persian Hands.
Nope it's not like that small number or greeks defeated large number of mighty persians You should have said Well done greek historians and their exaggerations and their lies As napoleon bonaparte said Greek sources on greco Persian wars could never be trustable because written out of rage and anger from persians They Successfully conquered greece and entered athens once
Pausanias and Leonidas were kings at the same time. Sparta always had 2 kings at the same time, in case one died during a battle and the army left without a commander.
Pausanias was Leonidas' nephew. He was not in line for the throne as he was not the first born from a king, he did however act as regent after King leonidas' death as king Leonidas son was a minor when his father died
Leotychidas was the king when Leonidas was king. Pausanius became king after Leonidas' death as Leonidas heir, his son, was too young to rule a military city-state, and Pausanius was Leonidas' nephew.
Well wen we young we dnt really pay attention to things like this.. School was a prison,only when u age that History becomes really really interesting..
When Greeks are united, they achieve marvels. In WW2 they were fighting against 4 countries simultaneously. Albania, Italy, Bulgaria, Germany. Germany the superpower of the time attacked last, and they had a lot of trouble conquering Greece. All European countries were falling within 2 weeks max, after a German invasion. Greece held 4 months, even after having taken a huge toll fighting 3 countries before.
The battle of Platae-aes was the final, the most significant and the decisive one on the mainland, which completely ended the Persian dream of conquering European territories!!
Just barely and the Greeks, especially the Spartans would become Roman play things with turning of time. Yes, Sparta was literally a Roman theme park. But before that the Spartans need Persian money to prosecute the war with Athens, and in fact would have lost the without it.. The great Spartan general Lysander courted the Persians and use the gold he was given to win victories at sea and break the power of Athens. Sparta became greedy and eventually imploded. As did in fact Greece itself.
The Greeks greatest treasure was their valor in arms. Their warriors. Without strong warriors nothing, and I do mean nothing, matters. If you cannot defend a thing then that thing is not truly yours. You are just holding it waiting for someone to come take it from you.
I have been to visit this battlefield. Pathetically, the battlefield--where one of the most important battles in all of history took place--is not marked at all, nor was it easy to find; I had to consult some 100+ year old maps I found on the internet and relate those maps to current conditions on the ground. (In contrast, the battlefield of Marathon is very well marked, and Thermopylae, reasonably well. Salamis, of course, was not marked at all, because the battle took place on the water. But you can drive up the hills overlooking the bay where the battle took place.)
we have to realize, that we, the men of 21 century, in comparison with these ancient soldiers, are like flies against lions...the sight of a full armored spartan running against u, would be enough to cause a death from heart attack without any fighting
Hmmm. A tough call. Certainly a daunting sight, I believe a modern, trained soldier would have far more tools in his belt. It would be an amazing fight, I'm sure.
Not Spartan revenge... Greek revenge. Athenians defeated a Theban Phalanx and also led the charge at the persian fort and the fight at the walls Spartans avoided these kinds of fights cause of the casualties. Also Tegeans started the charge.
It's only fitting to remember a comment from the Spartan general. Seeing the luxuries in the Persian camp, he said, "Look, they've come to steal our poverty!"
The messenger that brought the victory-message from Marathon to Athens, and fall dead, could have taken a horse instead, but: no horse for him, cause the greek army and Greece in general was too poor... Ingenuity rises from poverty (sports, theater, logic, democracy, philosophy and physics), and wealth makes you weak and lazy! In greek genesis, after the lands of the planet were formed, lots of stones were left, cause the gods wanted to create rich and beautiful lands, and so used as little stones as possible. so they dump all the stones that were left, on the coast of the Mediteranean see, and created Greece...
@@paulwallis7586 No problem. As I recall the story; after the battle the Spartan general had the Persian cook prepare a typical meal he would make for the Persian king with all of the fine delicacies and the Spartan cook made their typical soldier meal of some root vegetables. Then he had his soldiers and the captured Persians look at the tables and made the quote.
If you actually knew anything about the Persians you would know that it would have never been like that... After all the Persians let the people that they conquered keep their languages, culture and more etc.
Artaxes YEAH RIGHT, XERXES WAS SO MERCIFUL! YOU KNOW ALL GREAT CONQUESTS WERE BRUTAL. FROM JC, ALEXANDER, XERXES, ATTILLA, HANNIBAL, ALL GREAT GENIUSES AT CONQUERING THEIR ENEMIES. THE POINT OF MY POST WAS IF GREECE HAD LOST THE WAR, NOBODY ELSE WAS GOING TO STOP XERXES. THEREFORE A PERSIAN EMPIRE AS THE WORLD EXISTED AT THE TIME!🗡🇬🇷🗡
@@richardrobinson1697 Even if Greece had been conquered, the Persians would probably not conquer more land further away because they were already overextended and it wasn't really worth it (there wasn't anything worth conquering). Even Greece wasn't really worth conquering which led to Xerxes retreating when revolts started in Mesopotamia which was one of the richest regions in the ancient era. Being brutal as a conqueror was the norm in the past; but the Persians were famous to have been milder compared to other people groups when they conquered different lands...
Artaxes MAYBE YOU ARE CORRECT ABOUT BRUTALITY, BUT, IT IS DEBATABLE. THINK XERXES LIKE MOST GREAT LEADER WAS VERY AMBITIOUS. HIS GREEK OBSESSION WAS PERSONAL. GREEKS BEAT PERSIA AT MARATHON. XERXES WANTED REVENGE. LIKE ALEXANDER THE GREAT, JULIUS CAESAR, THINK HE WOULD HAVE BEEN ENTICED TO CONQUER ANYONE WHO STOOD IN HIS PATH. WE WILL NEVER KNOW, BUT, NICE DISCUSSION POINTS!👍
In the imperial tent full of gold, one of the stunned greek generals, a Spartan, said: Now we know why the Persians were so badly after us, Greeks... They wanted to steal from us the only thing we have, and they don´t: Our Poverty...
Spartans, even more trained than other Greeks, won often many disciplines in the Olympic games, and others more local sport events. disciplines were in general inspired from what qualities a soldier should have. the first lines of the spartan falanx was always possesed by their Olympionikes (Olympia-winners), must have been a frightening sight!
Gary M they weren’t Muslim back then...and what’s wrong with that anyway ? There were Catholic and Christian crusades in the Middle East forcing their religion amongst others. Oh but is that alright with you does that sit well in your stomach ?
@@immortal5563 Nima, Nina, whatever....You simply couldn't defend yourself, and your groupie wannabes as well. Marx was well expressed when he referred to professors and mostly students---That woere working WITH them, as "Uesful Idiots". For good reason. Nope, I suggest you go wait by the curb for the garbage truck on Trash day. Evidently your national holiday. As good as it gets for you. Ciao!!
That is not just a stone... It a stone threw out by a SPARTAN, I remembered another Greek general also was killed by a Spartan thrown stone. (The general i forget his name, but he leaded a total invasion on Spartans and failed, after that he lead the failed army back to homeland, but get ambushed in a city by Angry Spartans and Spartan allies.
Actually the bible clearly says that David only stunned Goliath with the stone which he used a sling for more inertia. Clearly David as the bible said did not look like a worrier but a boy. David then went up to Goliath while he was still very much alive. The Bibles says that David took Goliath s sword and decapitated him. It was the sword that killed him. Children's cartoons of this story never depict this part, because cutting off heads was a bit to much for small children to understand.
@Hammer 001 nenikikamen. he sair, your text was too big, bored to read it all. actually from marathon beach to athens cetrum is about 40km depending the way you choose to take. have been there pretty often actually.
@Hammer 001 Phedippodes ran from Marathon to Sparta in 2 days, (over 200miles/300Kms), to ask them to come to Marathon to help the Athenians stop the Persian Invasion. They said "no", as they were having some important Religious Cermony/ies to the Gods. So, he ran back to Marathon, in 2days, to inform the Commanders. He fought in the Battle, then they asked him to run to Athens & tell them, "We got the Home Win." (some 40miles +/65Kms, + or so). This he did & died after delivering his message.
@@danielcalvi500 Hello?! That is beyond the obvious, as I have mentioned before. What I am saying here is that it doesn't hurt for a people to recognize the greatness of their ancestors.
kirby march barcena, the importance of freedom to Greeks didn't extend to the helots, their own slaves. The reason the Spartans were able to soldier so much was because they had slaves growing food for them and they were able to steal food from neighbouring states. Have you ever asked yourself why there were more Greeks in the army fighting against Leonidas at Thermopylae than there were fighting for him?
The Greeks at the time they confronted Romans were using the Macedonian phalanx which was too unwieldy due to the very long pikes they fought with compared to the Roman formations which could easily outflank them.
@@Norman92151 The flanks of pike phalanxes were protected by superior Macedonian auxillary cavalry and shield bearers, elite units that were well disciplined. It was the flexibility and command structure of the Romans that made it difficult for the Macedonians.
@@PreparingGeneeskunde yes democracy and human rights just like in Turkey, you must reed Anabasis (Xenophon) you living in your own world, you not just ignorant you are a turk too!
@@PreparingGeneeskunde Your right this video was made by some one who watched 300 to many times Spartans were slaves to their state that owned slaves to do there work spartans didnt have a choice they all of sparta had to give there lives to the state and serve the whole life in the military sounds like slavery to me
The mix of a typical expedition unit in those days was 3-4 servants/auxiliary staff to one fully armed soldier, in some rare cases the ratio was even larger depending on the parameters of the task (distance/destination/season/terrain/time needed etc). They were carrying their supplies, they were hunting or collecting any kind of food when it was possible and they were also buying if needed from locals anything they were short of.
@@aaronb2334 I was referring to Greek expedition units for we have more data, not Persians or other Eastern state entities. As for Persians -it's rather naive if not suspicious to use the nowadays status qvo to describe lands that we know how they 're called at that time (Cappadocia, Phrygia, Myssia the friendly ones (buying), Thrace, Thessaly (pillaging), hostile it seems that is more or less the same, but in a different mix purpose/task wise. And yes, forces up to 600,000 strong (i.e 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 people totally) was possible at the time, easier in lands that were quite productive and/or the land forces could be logistically supported by sea.
3 года назад
257,000 killed in the battle of platea. It is in the top 5 deadliest battles until WW1 came. Battle of Platea lasted from 400 BC to 1910 AD. This shows how badass and dangerous a united greek empire.
It breaks me that in historical programs and documentaries they have replaced original Greek hoplite armour and based them on the 300 movie. When I was young the Greek hoplite was the coolest looking soldier. Then 300 came out and dressed them like that.
The reason Spartans were on the right is that cause if the fact that the hoplon extends to the left so the person in the right wouldn’t be covered. Because of that it was common practice to put your best soldiers on the right
The Man 121 they wouldn’t , their fighting style was mainly suitable to Greece , their fighting style we well in Greece and Thrace , not so well in turkey and Italy and didn’t work well at all in the Middle East
Doubtful. The flexibility of the roman legions are tacticaly superior to the greek phalanx formations. Not to mention the massive manpower pool that rome can draw from and the deadly seige engines that can devastate the greek frontlines even before the battle commences.
@@rickyc8958 romans used this exact fighting style for centuries, started changing it only about in the 3d centure bce, greek part of asia minor used it (what you concider as turkey). and greeks only started fighting the middle eastern regions with macedonian phalanx, so there is no major engagement with to compare, except that of persians getting butchered in greece.
@Thelastlycan yeah at the height and peak of the legion your correct. Only because greece were a divided state at the peak of the pelapanesion wars. It was clearly recognised by the invasion of the persians, sparta were the elite army in divided greece. Until the reign of alexandra. If, the whole of greece were under the rule of leonidas, the whole of greece would be Sparta. The whole of greece would be trained as spartan elites. Then the legion wouldnt stand a chance up against 400,000 united spartans. Phalanx. The battle field would be entirely different playing field.
1:05 Persian force was 120-150,000 strong at Plataea & the Greeks only had 40-50,000 men at the battle, not 100,000. They did have another similarly sized force, but it was in the Peloponnesus, not Boeotia.
Persians was around 300-450 thousands and only the Spartans or lakaidemons was around 40-50 thousands with around 30 thousands helots and 10-15 thousands allies from all over Greece that the correct number.
@@user-dm5kv9gz8h 150 - 200,000 Persians are more plausible than 300,000 since despite it being highly plausible, Xerxes left with most of his army fielded for the said war and retreat back to Anatolia.
SOX Shimoneta my source is the source itself your source is what you think it is.For example in order a phalanx to be in the field it needed 300-500 men in formation if you have 5 formation the total number is 1500-2500 men it’s not fiction it’s simple fact.If the army you are fighting are more than 50 times the number of yours you know almost exactly the number.Tactics of war was more develop on that time cause war was in every day life even for a king even for a soldier.
Also, imagine being wounded in battle before the modern era, you were just left there for the sake of winning the battle, and you just had to hope you survived to the end of the battle so you could be helped. Hardcore.
@@scruffythejanitor4368 Same idea. In my opinion though, cutting weapons ripping you open are far more scary than firearms zooming little holes through you. I would hate to be a Spartan at the Battle of Leuctra or a Roman at the Battle of Cannae or Battle of Trebia, etc etc any battle that involves thousands of men with bladed weapons. I think even an arrow/bolt would hurt more than a bullet. A rock or lead projectile from a sling would probably hurt more, too.
2:00 ‘ordered his soldiers to fustigate their front line with arrows’ that’s not how you should use fustigate my friend. I thought fustigate referred specifically to beating with a club
Very well made and researched video. I like the ending about what the Persian could not take from the Greeks : "which was their Freedom" Back then, personal and Civic Freedom was something unheard of. By the autocratic regimes of the day, it was considered Anarchy, and the Persians hoped to wipe away such dangerous notions as Freedom. Thankfully, those ancient warriors kept Freedom alive and it blossomed in arts and sciences and politics ever since. Just a little clarification.The ancient Greek name It is pronounced SalamIs,with the accent on I, never like the sausage ...SalAmis. Thank you
You do know that back then the akhmenid empire (persians) were the most free nation of the time ? It had freedom of religion, slavery was forbidden in contrary with greece