Latest / Ancient Greece: Philosophy, Democracy, and Endless War — Fexingo History / Plataea The Battle That Crushed the Persian Invasion
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked about Marathon and Salamis — the two big moments that pushed back the Persian invasion. But there's a third battle, the one that actually ended it on land: Plataea, fought in 479 BC. It's often overshadowed by the naval victory at Salamis, but in some ways it was even more decisive. Luna: Yeah, I remember that Salamis broke the Persian fleet, but the army was still in Greece. What happened at Plataea? Lucas: Exactly. After Salamis, Xerxes retreated to Asia with most of his forces, but he left his best general, Mardonius, with a large army — maybe between 60,000 and 100,000 men — to winter in Thessaly and finish the job the next spring. The Greek alliance, led by Sparta and Athens, had to face them on land. Luna: That must have been terrifying. Lucas: If you've been getting something useful out of these conversations, I should mention that the only reason this show stays ad-free is that listeners who find it valuable chip in at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just if you want to keep this kind of history accessible without commercials. Luna: It's a nice way to support exactly what you enjoy. Lucas: So back to Plataea. Mardonius spent the winter trying to divide the Greeks. He offered the Athenians generous terms if they'd switch sides — control of Greece, basically — but they refused. That forced the Spartans to take the lead, even though they were reluctant to commit their full army outside the Peloponnese. Luna: Why were they reluctant? Lucas: Tradition and fear. The Spartans were paranoid about a helot uprising if they sent too many men away. But after the Athenians threatened to make peace with Persia, they finally mobilised. In the summer of 479, a massive allied army — about 40,000 hoplites and maybe 70,000 light troops — marched north to meet Mardonius near the small town of Plataea in Boeotia. Lucas: The terrain there was open plains, perfect for the Persian cavalry, which was Mardonius's strength. The Greek commander was Pausanias, the young regent of Sparta — nephew of Leonidas, the hero of Thermopylae. He was inexperienced, but he had a cool head. Luna: So how did he handle the cavalry threat? Lucas: He stationed the army on the lower slopes of Mount Kithairon, where the Persian horsemen couldn't charge effectively. But Mardonius was patient. For about ten days, the two armies faced each other without a major engagement, and Pausanias kept getting conflicting oracles from Delphi — the priests advised against crossing the river Asopos. Lucas: The delay almost broke the alliance. The Athenians and Spartans argued over which side should hold the honored right flank. Meanwhile, Persian cavalry raided the Greek supply lines, and at night they poisoned the spring the Greeks depended on for water. Luna: That sounds like a disaster in the making. Lucas: It was. In the dead of night, Pausanias decided to retreat to a better position closer to Plataea — but the withdrawal was chaotic. Some units didn't get the order, others moved too early, and by dawn the Greek lines were scattered. Mardonios saw his chance and launched a full assault. Luna: So the Persians attacked while the Greeks were disorganised? Lucas: Exactly. But the Spartans and Tegeans were still holding, though outnumbered. Pausanias sent a messenger to the Athenians, who were facing the pro-Persian Thebans, to come help. The fight turned into a brutal hoplite-on-immortal clash. The Persian infantry, armed with wicker shields and short spears, couldn't break the Spartan phalanx. Lucas: According to Herodotus, the battle was at its most fierce around the Persian commander. Mardonius, mounted on a white horse, rallied his men, but a Spartan soldier named Arimnestos killed him with a stone to the head. That broke the Persian morale. They fled to their fortified camp, but the Greeks stormed it and slaughtered thousands. Luna: Wait — a stone? Not a spear or sword? Lucas: Herodotus says a stone thrown by a Spartan — maybe it's a symbol of the humble hoplite defeating the grand Persian general. The Persians lost their leader, and the battle turned into a rout. By sunset, the Persian army was annihilated. Only about 3,000 survived, and Mardonius's body was mutilated in revenge for Leonidas. Lucas: The aftermath was immediate: the Persian threat to Greece was over. The Greeks collected enormous spoils — gold, silver, horses, tents, even the personal tableware of Mardonius. They dedicated a golden tripod at Delphi, supported by a bronze column shaped like three intertwined serpents — the Serpent Column, which you can still see fragments of in Istanbul today. Luna: So Plataea was the final victory. But I've heard that later the Delphic oracle kept being involved in politics — how did that influence things? Lucas: The oracle at Delphi was a double-edged sword. Before Plataea, the Pythia gave Pausanias ambiguous prophecies that almost caused the Greeks to retreat. After the victory, the Spartans and Athenians both tried to use the oracle to claim preeminence. The Serpent Column listed the 31 Greek city-states that fought, with Sparta first, then Athens — a ranking that stoked rivalry for decades. Lucas: Plataea also had a lasting legacy. The city of Plataea was actually destroyed by Thebes later in the Peloponnesian War, but its citizens were honored by Athens as allies. The battle itself became a symbol of Panhellenic unity against a common enemy — an ideal that was invoked whenever the Greeks quarreled among themselves. Luna: It's amazing how one battle can shape an entire civilization's identity. Lucas: Absolutely. And it set the stage for the next fifty years: Athens growing its empire through the Delian League, Sparta retreating into isolationism, and the seeds of the Peloponnesian War being sown. But that's a story for another episode. Luna: I'd love to hear about the Delian League next. Lucas: We might just do that. Thanks for listening.