Episode 19

The Greeks Prepare

Quote:

“Why sit you doomed ones? Fly to the world’s end, leaving home and the heights your city circles like a wheel. The head shall not remain in its place, nor the body, Nor the feet beneath, nor the hands, nor the parts between; But all is ruined, for fire and the headlong god of war speeding in a Syrian chariot shall bring you low. And give to pitiless fire many shrines of gods, Which ever now stand sweating, with fear quivering, While over the roof tops black blood runs streaming in prophecy of woe that needs must come. But rise, Haste from the sanctuary and bow your heads to grief”.

Hello I’m Mark Selleck and welcome back to Casting Through Ancient Greece, episode 18, Greece prepares.

Introduction:

Last time we saw Xerxes gather together the largest invading force that the world had yet seen, made up of peoples from all corners of his empire. He defied the natural world by making sure no barriers would hinder his march on Greece. He had bridged the Hellespont so that his army could walk over the water from Asia to Europe. He also had a canal cut through a peninsular so that Mt Athos wouldn’t bother his fleet with any storms it would whip up.

The army had set off in April of 481BC with all the contingents converging on the bridges of the Hellespont. In May the entire force had assembled and crossed into Europe where they would then march through Thracian lands drinking rivers dry and stripping the land and its people of everything they produced. The villages were hopeful that no delays would hold up the army in their regions, though this all-consuming force, once entering a village would take over a week before the rear of the army would pass through.

While Xerxes had been planning, assembling and beginning the invasion the Greeks had not been sitting by idle. The threat had been in most people’s minds since the end of Marathon and especially in Themistocles’. We had seen how he had taken steps to move Athenian policy in the direction of the creation of a fleet. But it was in the last couple of years leading up to the invasion that all of Greece, well those city states that wanted to take action, attempted to develop a united plan to meet the invasion. As we have seen the Greeks operated in city states, this was in effect dozens of independent political entities trying to decide on the best course of action.

Athenians interpret the Delphic Oracle:

Helping guide the action that should be taken by each polis would have been the prophesies received at Delphi. With all important matters, cities would send delegations to Delphi to aide in their decision making. One can imagine in the years leading up to Xerxes invasion, Delphi would have probably seen representatives from just about every polis in Greece seeking guidance in the face of a Persian invasion. We will see a few prophesies given to different cities, but first we will turn to what Athens received. The passage I opened with in this episode was the first prophesy received by the Athenian delegation. As we heard it didn’t seem very ambiguous at all, very unusual for Delphi who seemed to normally cover all bases. What the Athenian delegation emerged from the shrine with was all doom and gloom, they couldn’t return to Athens with this.

After some discussion and advice from a distinguished man from Delphi, the Athenian delegation lined up at the shrine again to see if they could get a more favourable prophesy. They entered the shrine standing before the priestess with olive branches. Apollo then, through the Pythia delivered another prophesy.

“Not wholly can Pallas win the heart of Olympian Zeus, 

Though she prays him with many prayers and all her subtlety;

Yet will I speak to you this other word, as firm as adamant:

Though all else shall be taken within the bound of Cecrops

And the fastness of the mountain of Cithaeron,

Yet Zeus the all-seeing grants to Athene’s prayer

That the wooden wall only shall not fall, but help you and your children.

But await not the host of horse and foot coming from Asia, 

Nor be still, but turn your back and withdraw from the foe.

Truly a day will come when you will meet face to face.

Divine Salamis, you will bring death to women’s sons

When the corn is scattered, or the harvest gathered in”.

Still not the most positive message, but at least it was now something to work with. The delegation recorded the Prophesy and then made their journey back to Athens to report what Apollo had revealed to them. On their return and with the Prophesy revealed the debating on what it meant began. Two main interpretations emerged, with one believing that the wooden wall that was referred to was the old thorn hedge that had enclosed the acropolis in the times of old. This they believed if reinforced, would see that the acropolis would be spared. The other was that the wooden wall actually meant the Athenian fleet that Themistocles had successfully won over the public in supporting the construction of. Though, if this second interpretation was to be followed, one of the last lines made the supporters very nervous: “Divine Salamis, you will bring death to women’s sons”. It was thought that this would mean their defeat at sea since the Island of Salamis lay off the coast of Attica not far from Athens’ port. 

At this point Themistocles came forward to offer his interpretation and to calm the people’s nerves. He said that surely, if the prophesy was referring to their sons it would not have used the word divine, but rather something gloomier. He believed Apollo spoke this line in reference to their enemy. Also as we would expect he added that he believed the Athenian ships to be the wooden wall that would not fall. Apparently, the professionals in divine matters had also been at work on the prophecy and had come to the conclusion that Athens should be abandoned and a new city elsewhere should be established. Though the majority agreed with what Themistocles had put forward and accepted that they put their fate in the hands of the Athenian fleet. 

This was hardly a strategy in how to fight the Persians and this time around one city state wouldn’t be able to defend the whole of Greece like at Marathon. To have any chance against the Persians this time around the Greeks would need to unite and agree on how to meet Xerxes forces.       

Congress of Corinth:

In 481BC the city states that were prepared to resit the Persians met at the Isthmus of Corinth and in later times this collection of poleis would be known as the Hellenic league. Delegates from only a fraction of the city states in Greek lands affected by Xerxes campaign attended, with the Athenians and Spartans being the most influential. It doesn’t appear that any clear strategy in dealing with the Persians came out of this first meeting but some first steps were taken to create a more informed and united coalition. 

Firstly, there were many quarrels and outright open hostilities existing between some of the city states. One of the longest tensions existed between Athens and Aegina due to both their influence exerting into the same sea area. They both, as well as the other polis decided to put aside their differences for now and focus on their common enemy. If the Greeks were to act as one and have any chance at meeting the Persians as a united force, they would need to put to one side any differences they once had. Well, for now anyway.

At this meeting also, the decision to send out spies to get an idea of the Persian forces was taken. These were the spies that we spoke of last episode, who were captured but instead of being executed, Xerxes had given them a full tour of the camp his army occupied. Once Xerxes was happy that they had an idea of what was going to be marching against them, he allowed them to return to Greece with what they had learnt. It is also thought that this could be the origin of the numbers given in Herodotus’ account. An official roster of the Persian army provided by the Persians themselves.

Leadership of the defence of Greece needed to be put in place so that the different polis could act as one united force. In this point of time Sparta was considered to be the strongest power in the Greek lands, plus they had a large backing from the other Peloponnesian poleis that were part of the league.  The cities in the Peloponnese made up the majority of the leagues members at this stage and supported the bid for command over that of any other polis including Athens. Their command of the army seemed to be a straight forward choice due to the reputation of their army. The Navy though would also be commanded by a Spartan even though they only made up less than 20 of the 321 ships deployed. Again, Sparta’s backing by the other poleis helped their argument for taking command plus it was thought not advisable to give command to the Athenians who made up the majority of the fleet as it was thought the navy would end up being used for Athenian interests, not taking into account all of Greece. Or perhaps more likely Peloponnesian interests. It would seem that Themistocles and other contingent commanders would have some bearing on strategy as they would come together to vote and voice their view on the best courses of action. As we will see as the campaign progresses, Herodotus gives us the impression that Themistocles would really shape the strategy at sea. 

Lastly, although they had set up a league with this first meeting, they decided that officials should be sent to other regions to try and secured more allies in the coming campaign. There were still some relative strong regions and neighbours who could bolster their armies and navies who had not yet committed. 

Seek Allies: (Argos, Syracuse, Corcyra, Crete)

Argos:

Argos, was Sparta’s long-time rival on the Peloponnese but the league needed more support so they sought Argos to join the alliance against Persia. Though more likely, the Spartans were looking to call out their rivals’ willingness to side with the Persians and expose them to the rest of the League. Ultimately Argos would not join the Hellenic league with conflicting reason explaining their decision. Supposedly early on as the crisis was developing the Argives had sent delegates to Delphi to seek advice one their best course of action. The prophesy they received told them:

“Hated by your neighbours, but dear to the god’s immortal,

Hold your spear withdrawn, and on your guard, sit still.

Keep your head well-guarded, and it will save the body.” 

Though with this response to hold back and stay on the defensive, Argo offered to join the league once envoys arrived from the league, but on a couple of provisos. They were probably looking to call Sparta’s bluff and provided conditions that they knew Sparta would not accept. Firstly, they wanted a 30-year peace with the Spartans as it had been less than a generation since their last battle where they lost 6000 men against the Spartans. Secondly, they wanted the command of half of the league, even though they thought they were entitled to command all of it. One would think the first demand would have been accepted as other tensions between polis’ had been put aside but to give them the command, they sought was not going to be acceptable from Sparta’s point of view. These were the reasons given by Argos to explain their refusal to join the alliance. 

Though a rumoured had been circulating around Greece that Xerxes had sent envoys to Argos and had secured a friendship with them. Later on, it was said that evidence was discovered at Susa which showed that an agreement had been made between the two.

Crete: Corcyra:

Envoys were also sent to Crete and Corcyra. Crete once asked to join the alliance sent off their own delegation to Delphi to seek their best course of action.  They had asked if they should assist in the defence of Greece and the reply they received was: 

“You foolish men, who complain of all the tears of wrath that Minos sent to you when the Hellenes failed to join you in avenging his death at Kamikos”. This was in reference to the campaign the Createns undertook into Sicily back in the Bronze Age which Herodotus tells us about and we brought up in our episode on the Minoans. The Oracle then continues; “…although you had joined the Hellenes and helped to defend Menelaos for the sake of the woman abducted from Sparta by a barbarian.” With this response Crete decided to not become involved in the coming struggle.

Corcyra, the Island off of the west coast of northern Greece, on the other hand were enthusiastic about joining the league when the leagues envoys arrived. But when it came time to sail the were reluctant and decided to hedge their bets, beaching their 60 ships near Pylos. They waited for the outcome of the campaign with stories prepared for whichever side had won, though they thought the Greeks had little chance. They would tell the Persians that they had been forcibly recruited to the cause but they were able to prevent their large fleet, only second to the Athenians being employed against them. This they thought would please the Persians. Though in the unlikely event the Greeks were victorious, they would tell them that the winds were unfavourable and prevented them from reaching the chosen place of battle in time.

Syracuse:

Another potential ally was sought who would be able to provide large contingents of troops and ships helping bolster the Greek numbers dramatically. The envoys sailed to the Island of Syracuse on the Island of Sicily south of Italy where they met with its Tyrant, Gelon. The Greeks put their case to Gelon, telling him joining the alliance would be also protecting Sicily as if Greece fell, they would be next. Gelon countered the Greeks by bringing up their refusal in coming to his aide against the Carthaginians, who were originally a Phoenician colony, when Syracuse was protecting its trading ports that also benefited Greece. Gelon, though presented himself as the bigger man and offered his assistance. He told the Greeks that he would provide 200 triremes, 20,000 hoplites, 2,000 cavalry and 4000 light troops, as well as feeding all the forces for the duration of the war. He only outlined one condition, that he be in command of the entire Greek force or as Herodotus puts in his mouth, “I would neither go myself nor send others.” 

This condition was unacceptable to the Greeks and after some more exchanges Gelon offered a compromise of taking command of either the army or the fleet. This again was unacceptable, the Greeks didn’t want a foreign Tyrant, although of a Greek background, controlling the forces within Greece. Herodotus also relays that during the campaign Gelon had sent a trusted man with huge amounts of money to the Greek mainland. His mission was that if the Persians won he was to offer Xerxes the riches as well as earth and water. Though, if the Greeks won, he was to return with the money to Syracuse.

This is the story the Greeks circulated about Gelon’s refusal in aiding the league. Though it appears that Gelon may have had other factors to take into account. Herodotus also provides another, perhaps more realistic reason for Gelon not joining the league, he simply could not afford to due to him facing his own threats. During Xerxes campaign, Hamilcar a Carthaginian king with a large mixed force landed at Sicily. Supposedly when the Greeks won their naval battle at Salamis is when Gelon defeated Hamilcar at their decisive battle. History dose record Hamilcar’s invasion which took place around the same time as Xerxes campaign. It has been suggested that Xerxes had made contacts with Carthage and ensured the Syracusans would be tied up in their own war. Remembering Carthage was a Phoenician colony and Phoenicia was now part of the Persian Empire. We will probably look more closely at Gelon and Syracuse a little later on in the series as I plan to look at what was happening on the periphery of the Greek world leading up to and during the Greek and Persian wars.  

With the agenda items from the first meeting of the league completed or exhausted in the case of additional allies, a second congress at Corinth would now take place in 480 just as word had arrived of the Persians crossing into Europe. 

Second Meeting of the Congress:

With Xerxes force now entering Europe and on the march west, the Greek states met once again at Corinth, this time with discussions revolving around on how best to defend Greece. This time around, one of the most northern regions had sent delegates as theirs would be the first Greek territory that had not yet submitted that the Persians would march into. Thessaly shared its northern boarder with Macedonia who had come to an arrangement with the Persians. The envoy from Thessaly put a case forward for the Greeks to make a stand as far north as the boarder they shared with Macedonia or else they would have no choice but to come to an agreement themselves with the Persians. In response to the Thessalians pleas the rest of the congress decided that they would send a force of around 10,000 hoplites to defend the pass at Mt Olympus known as the pass of Tempe in the north east. The force appears to be mostly made up of Athenians and Spartans as we only hear of two commanders, Themistocles in command of the Athenians and Euainetos commanding the Lacedaemonians or Spartans. It is hard to tell if the Spartan force was at all sizeable, this has been raised as a point since the commander was not one of the Spartans kings. So perhaps if they were sent in a great number the force was mainly other Lacedemonians, not full Spartites.

Greek first deployment:

The Greek army assembled and boarded ships which took them up the eastern coast line, coming ashore just south of Thessaly. The Hoplites then marched up to the Tempe pass where they met the cavalry of the Thessalians. The Greeks were not known for their cavalry but the Thessalians were an exception to this view as they were considered some of the best cavalry that the Greeks could muster. The large open plains in Thessaly, which suited horse riding most likely led to their competency in this arm. They made their camp at the Peneios River which flowed through the pass into the sea. After a couple of days of establishing themselves at the pass, messengers arrived into the Greek camp from Macedon. Even though they were assisting Xerxes, they came with a warning not to engage the Persians as the force bearing down on them was so great, they would have no hope. It is also presumed that they would have informed the defenders of another pass at Mt Olympus that the Greeks were not aware of and would see their position outflanked. The league’s force decided the advice given by the Macedonians was in good faith and came to the conclusion that their position was untenable and a new plan was needed. 

Its also worth noting that if the Greeks had managed to hold the Persians up for a time, this would have seen them delayed in Macedonian territory where the Macedonians would have been expected to provide provisions. In their eyes even though they had submitted to them, the faster they moved through their territory the better for the Macedonians. Though, how much of a factor this was in their thinking when warning the Greeks at the pass is unclear as ultimately the Persians would take the pass that the Greeks had not been defending.

Much to the disappointment of the Thessalian’s, the league broke camp and marched back to their ships. They set sail back to the Isthmus of Corinth where hopefully a new course of action could be arranged before the Persians marched south into Greece.

The New Plan

What resulted from this regrouping at the Isthmus is what appears to be a more coherent strategy although there were still other factors that helped shaped the response. If the Peloponnesians who made up the majority of the league had it their way, the main defensive line would have been on the Isthmus itself. This course of action didn’t address the fact that the Persians were operating with a combined land and naval force which could see the wall out flanked with amphibious landings using the fleet. So it was important that the Greeks also had a fleet that could challenge the Persians and the largest contingent in the Greek fleet was that of the Athenians. They wouldn’t endorse this plan which would have left Athens effectively an open city to the Persians. A plan was settled upon that would see the Greeks use a land and naval force in tandem to counter the Persians, 

The Army: 

The first half of the plan involved a land force that would march to the pass at Thermopylae, south of Thessaly in the region of Phocis. Thermopylae translates to hot gates and it got it name due to the natural hot water springs in the area and the passes or gates that were created due to the mountains coming down and almost meeting the gulf in a number of places. At some points the pass was only around 15 meters wide, a great place to nullify an army superior in numbers. Today though the coast has been silted up and lays a number of kilometres from where the battle took place. The Hollywood movie 300 and many popular re telling’s of this battle give the impression that only 300 Spartan hoplites fought here but around 7000 Greeks from a number of regions marched and prepared to defend the pass. More than half of this land force would be made up of Peloponnesians, with the rest coming from regions close to Thermopylae. The Athenians were not apart of the land force as they had mustered all of their man power to crew the large fleet they possessed.    

The numbers here for the army seem quite small considering the threat faced and compared to the 10,000 hoplites at Marathon in 490, and the force sent to Tempe a couple months earlier. Here though religious festivals would come into play affecting the number of troops deployed. The Olympic festival that took place every 4 years was now in process, this wasn’t just an athletic competition like in modern times but the arts featured heavily and like most festivals in Greece it was highly religious. Many men would have been on the roads travelling to Olympia on the Peloponnese and taking part in different elements of the festival. Another festival which saw only a small faction of the Spartan army deployed was that of the Carniea, the same festival which had seen the Spartans arrive to late to take part in the battle of Marathon. The 300 Spartan hoplites that would be sent were chosen due to the fact that they each had a living son that was left behind to carry on their family line. This may be suggestive of the nature of the task they were sending their small force to.  It may seem silly to us that taking part in religious festivals would prevent an effective mobilization to take place. But this was a very different world, where superstitions were taken very seriously and one did not want to risk offending the gods. Also, the ancient works left to us present the Spartan’s as extremely pious people, with the archaeological sites today confirming this view.     

Leonidas:

Commanding this force was one of the two Spartan kings, named Leonidas. He has gone down in history as one of the most recognisable Spartan figures, but outside of Thermopylae not much is known about him. At the time of Thermopylae, it is thought Leonidas was between 50 and 60 years old. From birth Leonidas was not expected to become king as he was 3rd youngest out of his 4 male siblings. His father, Anaxandridas II ended up taking a second wife as he it was thought his first wife was unable to conceive. With his second wife he fathered a son who they called Cleomenes, but not long after he ended up having three sons with his first wife, Dorieus, Leonidas and Cleombrotus. Cleomenes would succeed the kingship of his father’s death much to the displeasure of Dorieus who then left Sparta to attempt to establish colonies afar in Africa and Italy; during his time in Italy he would be killed. In our episodes on Sparta and Athens we met Cleomenes and after his plot against his co-King Demaratus was discovered he was imprisoned. During his imprisonment, he apparently went mad and committed suicide, though it has long been though a plot by the man who would succeed him was another likely explanation for his death. Leonidas who had also married Gorgo, Cleomenes daughter, was now the next in line for the throne on the Agiad side of the ruling lines and became king in 489.

The Navy

The second part of the plan involved the Greek fleet which was also commanded by a Spartan, named Eurybiades even though their contingent only made up a small fraction of the total fleet. Eurybiades wasn’t one of the Spartan kings and reportedly not from either of the royal lines either. Remembering here, that under Spartan law only one of the kings could be out on campaign at a time. Not much else is know about Eurybiades background as we only hear about him through his involvement in the Salamis campaign. This initial fleet was made up of 324 triremes according to Herodotus and would set sail to take up position at a place called the Straights of Artemisium. The Athenian contingent made up around 200 of the ships that set sail with eleven other poleis making up the remainder. The straights ran between the Island of Euboea and the Greek mainland before exiting out into the Aegean Sea. The Greek fleet set up base on Euboea at Pevki Bay some 64 km north east of the Thermopylae pass. Although this area of the straights wasn’t the narrowest it allowed the Greeks to challenge the Persian fleet if they tried to sail in the Aegean around the eastern shore of Euboea or if they attempted to land on the Island. Their position also blocked the Persians from attempting to land reinforcements south of Thermopylae, outflank the position. Also occupying this position denied the Persians one of the best harbours and access to large sources of fresh water in the region. Since the Persians were shadowing their army on land It seemed likely that the fleet would make for the straights so as to stay in contact. Breaking away to sail around the eastern coast of Euboea would fly in the face of their invasion plans and would be a much risker voyage as opposed to the calmer waters of the straights.  

This revised plan would now see the Greeks able to provide obstacles to both the Persian army and fleet preventing them from easily supporting one another in their engagements. The positions of Artemisium and Thermopylae would also enable the Greeks to maintain contact between their forces so they would be aware of each others situation. 

The overall strategic plan of the Greeks is hard to gather from Herodotus’ account. One of the most popular views is that this force was sent out to delay the Persians long enough so that a much larger force of all the Hellenic league members could be assembled after the completion of the festivals currently in progress. Though what is unclear is if Leonidas’ force set out with the knowledge that they were intending to be martyrs for the cause. Or were they setting out with the belief that they would hold the pass long enough until a larger army would reinforce their position while they still held it. Herodotus’ account provides reasoning that would support both of these view points as well shall see as the story continues.

Outro: 

It was now August of 480 BC and the Greeks had put in place a plan of defence as best they could. More Greek city states had supported or were marching on the side of the Persians than were members of the Hellenic league. 

The Greek fleet was beached at the picturise bay of modern day Pevki, lookouts had been sent out north with instructions to light signal fires which would announce the approach of the Persians. Also to make sure the Persian fleet did not allude them, 3 scout ships were sent to also detect the advancing fleet. Though, it was going to be difficult to miss such a large armada, the Persians with 1207 ships, according to Herodotus, as well as another 120 joining them on their journey through regions who had or would medize. As large as this fleet was the historian Barry Strauss has likened it to a “floating tower of Babble”, communication and coordination was going to be a challenge with so many different peoples of the Persian Empire, speaking different languages making up the contingents.  The Greeks waiting in the straights had just 324 ships to oppose them, the Greeks though shared a common language and culture as well as fighting for their freedom. Hopefully this would outweigh the revelries and disputes between themselves. Being so vastly outnumbered the Greeks would need a firm and resolute leader to emerge with a touch of cunning. While also meeting the Persians with superior tactics and strategy, and perhaps a little help from the gods wouldn’t go astray also.      

Leonidas had set out from Sparta with his 300 Spartans, joining up with other contingents along the way and at Thermopylae, where 7000 Greeks would prepare to block the hundreds of thousands of Xerxes troops in the narrow passes. With their arrival Leonidas had become aware of a trail through the mountains which could potentially outflank their position. Though, unlike the pass at Tempe the Greek force would stay and defend the pass at Thermopylae. Leonidas reasoned that this was only a narrow trail which could be defended, plus where could they fall back to and Spartans don’t flee in the face of danger. With all of the Spartans remembering the words that would be reportedly uttered to them as they departed for war by their mothers or female relatives. “Come back on it, or with it.” This referred to the shield, or aspis that they carried. To effectively retreat in the face of the enemy one would need to dispense with their heavy aspis, to return home without it would be a great dishonour. Though if a Spartan was carried by his comrades lying dead on his aspis , it would show that he had stood his ground to the last and shown himself a truly worthy Spartan.  

Back during the preparations for the defence of Greece, the cities states had their envoys travelling the roads throughout Greece to Delphi, getting advice on what action they should take. Spartan had also consulted the Oracle at Delphi during this time to see what their response should be. The prophesy wasn’t as bad as the ones received by other city states like that of Athens. But the words that were spoken would still be in the back of one mans mind, Leonidas. Either, Sparta would be laid waste by the invaders or a Spartan king had to die, it was clear what had to be done as a Spartan existed for Sparta. We will end the episode with what the Spartans had been told by the priests at Delphi.

“Hear your fate, O dwellers in Sparta of the wide spaces

Either your famed, great town must be sacked by Perseus’ sons,

Or, if that be not, the whole land of Lacedaemon

Shall morn the death of a king of the house of Heracles,

For not the strength of lions or of bulls shall hold him,

Strength against strength; for he has the power of Zeus, 

And will not be checked till one of these two he has consumed”.

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I hope you can join me for episode 20, The Battle of Thermopylae.