2500 Χρόνια Thermopyles

 Greek can repeat the glories of Thermopylae, Marathon, and Plataea !!

 

The Persian king Xerxes, who succeeded his father Darius, at the instigation of General Mardonius and the deposed king of Sparta, Dimaratos, began preparing a new campaign against Greece. For four years the whole of Asia was shocked by Xerxes' military preparations! Thousands of men were recruited from the various nations of the Persian Empire. Two great technical works were constructed for the Persian army to pass quickly and safely to Greece: a floating bridge in the Hellespont Strait and a canal on Mount Athos. Preachers were also sent to Greek cities to find business allies. In the meantime, the Greeks, knowing that the Persians would not be late to attack them, were preparing properly. In Athens, the insightful politician Themistocles persuaded the municipality to build warships and made his state the first naval force in Greece. In the autumn of 481 BC. Representatives of the Greeks gathered in the Isthmus and took certain measures to counter the impending Persian invasion: - To defend the Greeks united - To punish the cities that would mourn - To be the leader of the army and fleet the Spartans. In the spring of 480 BC. Xerxes with his numerous army crossed the Hellespont. He proceeded to Thrace and Macedonia. All of Thessaly, Lokrida and Boeotia (except Plataea and Thespies) declared submission. The Persians had reached the Straits of Thermopylae without war. The Persian army consisted of men of different nationalities who differed in language, in dress, in armaments and tactics. Aeschylus, wanting to give the size of the army that began to enslave Greece, states that Asia emptied all men. Herodotus estimates that Xerxes' soldiers - in infantry, navy, cavalry - number two and a half million. This number is too much. Recent historians estimate that the land army would be about 500,000. Despite its numerical superiority, this army was lagging behind in combat tactics, defense armament and prudence. In the straits of Thermopylae he could not develop frontally and take advantage of his numerical superiority… The Greek army gathered in Thermopylae was about 6,000 soldiers from various cities and among the 300 Spartans led by their king Leonidas. The military force deployed by the Greeks in Thermopylae is considered small. Herodotus believes that this body was the guardhouse and that reinforcements were to be sent as soon as the Olympics that year took place. (August 480 BC). Most likely, however, the Greeks considered this force sufficient, because the Strait of Thermopylae could be kept with a small military force, provided that the defenders of the strait would have the protection of the fleet from the sea and if unbalanced factors did not occur. like the betrayal of Nightmare ...

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