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In the Greco-Persian wars both sides made use of spear-armed infantry and light missile troops. Greek armies placed the emphasis on heavier infantry, while Persian armies favoured lighter troop types.[43][44] Persia Persian (and Median) warriors The Persian military consisted of a diverse group of men drawn across the various nations of the empire. However, according to Herodotus, there was at least a general conformity in armour and style of fighting.[43] The troops were usually armed with a bow, a 'short spear' and a sword or axe, carried a wicker shield. They wore a leather jerkin,[43][45] although individuals of high stature wore high quality metal armor. The Persians most likely used their bows to wear down the enemy, then closed in to deliver the final blow with spears and swords.[43] The first rank of Persian infantry formations, the so-called 'sparabara', had no bows, carried larger wicker shields and were sometimes armed with longer spears. Their role was to protect the back ranks of the formation.[46] The cavalry probably fought as lightly armed missile cavalry.[43][47] Greece The style of warfare between the Greek city-states, which dates back until at least 650 BC (as dated by the 'Chigi vase'), was based around the hoplite phalanx supported by missile troops.[44][48] The 'hoplites' were foot soldiers usually drawn from the members of the middle-classes (in Athens called the zeugites), who could afford the equipment necessary to fight in this manner.[49] The heavy armour usually included a breastplate or a linothorax, greaves, a helmet, and a large round, concave shield (the aspis or hoplon).[44] Hoplites were armed with long spears (the dory), which were significantly longer than Persian spears, and a sword (the xiphos).[44] The heavy armour and longer spears made them superior in hand-to-hand combat[44] and gave them significant protection against ranged attacks.[44] Lightly armed skirmishers, the psiloi also comprised a part of Greek armies growing in importance during the conflict; at the Battle of Plataea, for instance, they may have formed over half the Greek army.[50] Use of cavalry in Greek armies is not reported in the battles of the Greco-Persian Wars. Naval warfare At the beginning of the conflict, all naval forces in the eastern Mediterranean had switched to the trireme, a warship powered by three banks of oars. The most common naval tactics during the period were ramming (Greek triremes were equipped with a cast-bronze ram at the bows), or boarding by ship-borne marines.[51] More experienced naval powers had by this time also begun to use a manoeuver known as diekplous. It is not clear what this was, but it probably involved sailing into gaps between enemy ships and then ramming them in the side.[51] The Persian naval forces were primarily provided by the seafaring people of the empire: Phoenicians, Egyptians, Cilicians and Cypriots.[52][53] Other coastal regions of the Persian Empire would contribute ships throughout the course of the wars.[52] Ionian Revolt (499–493 BC) Main article: Ionian Revolt [show] v t e Ionian Revolt The Ionian Revolt and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus, and Caria were military rebellions by several regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 to 493 BC. At the heart of the rebellion was the dissatisfaction of the Greek cities of Asia Minor with the tyrants appointed by Persia to rule them, along with opposition to the individual actions of two Milesian tyrants, Histiaeus and Aristagoras.[40][54] In 499 BC the then tyrant of Miletus, Aristagoras, launched a joint expedition with the Persian satrap Artaphernes to conquer Naxos, in an attempt to bolster his position in Miletus (both financially and in terms of prestige).[54][55] The mission was a debacle,[56] and sensing his imminent removal as tyrant, Aristagoras chose to incite the whole of Ionia into rebellion against the Persian king Darius the Great.[42] Map showing main events of the Ionian Revolt. Struggling to rule the independent-minded cities of Ionia, the Persians appointed local tyrants to rule each of them. This would prove to be the source of much trouble for the Greeks and Persians alike. In 498 BC, supported by troops from Athens and Eretria, the Ionians marched on, captured, and burnt Sardis.[57] However, on their return journey to Ionia, they were followed by Persian troops, and decisively beaten at the Battle of Ephesus.[58] This campaign was the only offensive action taken by the Ionians, who subsequently went on the defensive. The Persians responded in 497 BC with a three-pronged attack aimed at recapturing the outlying areas of the rebellious territory,[59] but the spread of the revolt to Caria meant the largest army, under Darius, moved there instead.[60] While at first campaigning successfully in Caria, this army was wiped out in an ambush at the Battle of Pedasus.[61] This resulted in a stalemate for the rest of 496 and 495 BC.[62] By 494 BC the Persian army and navy had regrouped, and they made straight for the epicentre of the rebellion at Miletus.[63] The Ionian fleet sought to defend Miletus by sea, but was defeated decisively at the Battle of Lade, after the Samians had defected.[64] Miletus was then besieged, captured, and its population was enslaved.[65] This double defeat effectively ended the revolt, and the Carians surrendered to the Persians as a result.[66] The Persians spent 493 BC reducing the cities along the west coast that still held out against them,[67] before finally imposing a peace settlement on Ionia that was considered[by whom?] to be both just and fair.[68] The Ionian Revolt constituted the first major conflict between Greece and the Achaemenid Empire and represents the first phase of the Greco-Persian Wars. Asia Minor had been brought back into the Persian fold, but Darius had vowed to punish Athens and Eretria for their support for the revolt.[68] Moreover, seeing that the political situation in Greece posed a continued threat to the stability of his Empire, he decided to embark on the conquest of all Greece.[68] First invasion of Greece (492–490 BC) Main article: First Persian invasion of Greece [show] v t e First Persian invasion of Greece After conquering Ionia, the Persians began to plan their next moves of extinguishing the threat to their empire from Greece; and punishing Athens and Eretria.[69] The resultant first Persian invasion of Greece consisted of two main campaigns.[69] 492 BC: Mardonius's campaign Map showing events of the first phases of the Greco-Persian Wars The first campaign, in 492 BC, was led by Darius's son-in-law Mardonius,[70] who re-subjugated Thrace, which had nominally been part of the Persian empire since 513 BC.[71] Mardonius was also able to force Macedon to become a client kingdom of Persia; it had previously been allied but independent.[72] However, further progress in this campaign was prevented when Mardonius's fleet was wrecked in a storm off the coast of Mount Athos. Mardonius himself was then injured in a raid on his camp by a Thracian tribe, and after this he returned with the rest of the expedition to Asia.[72][73] The following year, having given clear warning of his plans, Darius sent ambassadors to all the cities of Greece, demanding their submission.[74] He received it from almost all of them, except Athens and Sparta, both of whom instead executed the ambassadors.[74] With Athens still defiant, and Sparta now also effectively at war with him, Darius ordered a further military campaign for the following year.[75] 490 BC: Datis and Artaphernes' campaign In 490 BC, Datis and Artaphernes (son of the satrap Artaphernes) were given command of an amphibious invasion force, and set sail from Cilicia.[75] The Persian force sailed from Cilicia first to the island of Rhodes, where a Lindian Temple Chronicle records that Datis besieged the city of Lindos, but was unsuccessful.[76] The fleet sailed next to Naxos, to punish the Naxians for their resistance to the failed expedition the Persians had mounted there a decade earlier.[77] Many of the inhabitants fled to the mountains; those that the Persians caught were enslaved.[78] The Persians then burnt the city and temples of the Naxians.[78] The fleet then proceeded to island-hop across the rest of the Aegean on its way to Eretria, taking hostages and troops from each island.[77] The task force sailed on to Euboea, and to the first major target, Eretria.[79] The Eretrians made no attempt to stop the Persians from landing or advancing and thus allowed themselves to be besieged.[80] For six days, the Persians attacked the walls, with losses on both sides;[80] however, on the seventh day two reputable Eretrians opened the gates and betrayed the city to the Persians.[80] The city was razed, and temples and shrines were looted and burned. Furthermore, according to Darius's commands, the Persians enslaved all the remaining townspeople.[80] |
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