The Histories by Herodotus - 11 - Greek Victory
Book Nine
Quote
Persian soldier: "My friend, an event which has been decreed by the god cannot be averted by man... A great many Persians are well aware of what I've just said [that many Persians are about to die], but we follow our leaders because we have no choice."
Notes
- Since the Athenians rejected his offer of an alliance, Mardonius invades Athens, which was already evacuated, and starts destroying it.
- The Persians hold a banquet with their allies the Thebans. Herodotus reports on a conversation between a Theban and Persian soldier, where the Persian tells him (partially quoted above) that he believes the Persians are about to get killed in this war, that many Persians in the army understand this, but since the leaders will not listen they must go on with the war anyway.
- Fighting begins at the Battle of Plataea in Boeoitia with heavy losses on both sides, though Athens also kills one of the leading Persian commanders. They parade his body around their army as a morale booster.
- The fighting stalls as the armies recoup, consult their oracles, and plan new strategies. Alexander of Macedon (on the Persian side and the one who communicated Mardonius's offer of an alliance to the Macedonians) sneaks over to the Greeks to give them intel on Mardonius's attack plans. He wants to be on the Greeks' good side after this war is over.
- There is some miscommunication and confusion as the Greeks move to reposition themselves in light of this new information. Mardonius taunts them since it looks to him like they're running away. He goes in to attack with more heavy fighting. Mardonius himself is killed.
- With their leader dead, the Persians run away and retreat to a fortress. But the Greeks are on the chase and they break through the walls. With the Persians confined now in a small space, the Greeks slaughter many.
- The Greek navy moves to the island of Samos to attack the Persians who are stationed there. The Persians don't want to face the Greeks at sea so they move their men on land.
- The Ionians are still allied with the Persians and their army is there, too. The Greeks come up with a plan to sow distrust amongst the Persians with the Ionians. They send a message to the Ionians asking them to come back onto their side, since they're Greeks, too. It works. The Persians disarm the Ionians and move them away from the battlefield in fear that they'll betray them.
- Battle begins and the Greeks win another victory. The war is virtually over. They destroy a few remaining Persians and destroy the bridges at the Hellespont which the Persians had built to cross over into Greece.
- The Persian threat is gone, and the Greeks solidify their alliance.
Key Takeaways
Against all the odds, the Greeks win. Even though their army was so much smaller than the Persians, their alliance was fragmented and unstable with many leaving to join the Persian side, the Greeks were able to pull out the win.
We'll look at The Histories as a whole in the next post.