What if the Persians won at Thermopylae?
Table of Contents
- 1 What if the Persians won at Thermopylae?
- 2 How many Persians did the 300 defeat?
- 3 How many Persians were said to have been killed at Thermopylae?
- 4 Who should have won the Persian War?
- 5 Would a Persian victory have been a horrible outcome?
- 6 Why did the Greeks win the Battle of Thermopylae?
- 7 Was the last stand at Thermopylae a successful delaying action?
What if the Persians won at Thermopylae?
In his book Thermopylae, Cartledge references the contrasting language that Herodotus uses to describe the Greeks and Persians: “Since Sparta’s system stood for freedom, it follows that the Great King’s stood for slavery.” If the Persians had won, the Greeks would have grown to accept what they formerly defined as …
How many Persians did the 300 defeat?
| Battle of Thermopylae | |
|---|---|
| Total 7,000 300 Spartans | 70,000–300,000 |
| Casualties and losses | |
| 4,000 (Herodotus) | c. 20,000 (Herodotus) |
| Location of the battle of Thermopylae |
How many Persians were said to have been killed at Thermopylae?
According to Herodotus the Persians lost 20,000 dead at Thermopylae.
Why didn’t the Persians go around Thermopylae?
The Persian army was tied to the logistics provided by the Persian fleet. Going around Thermopylae via the “goat paths” over an around the rough ground was doable with a small elite force, not so much with the entire Persian army and its train of equipment. They had to stay along the sea.
How did Xerxes lose?
It was decided that Xerxes’ Pontoon Bridges were to be set up to allow his army to cross the Hellespont to Europe, and that a canal should be dug across the isthmus of Mount Athos (rounding which headland, a Persian fleet had been destroyed in 492 BC)….Army.
| Units | Numbers |
|---|---|
| Total of ships’ complements | 517,610 |
Who should have won the Persian War?
Though the outcome of battles seemed to tip in Persia’s favor (such as the famed battle at Thermopylae where a limited number of Spartans managed to wage an impressive stand against the Persians), the Greeks won the war. There are two factors that helped the Greeks defeat the Persian Empire.
Would a Persian victory have been a horrible outcome?
In sum, what have we learned? Persian victory would have led to the political subjugation of the Greek poleis under Achaemenid rule, but would have been unlikely to lead to the “destruction” of Greek culture or society.
Why did the Greeks win the Battle of Thermopylae?
Encouraged by such Spartan actions, the other surviving Greeks fought with greater dynamism against the Persians. Although the Greeks finally beat the Persians in the Battle of Platea in 479 B.C., thus ending the Greco-Persian Wars, many scholars attribute the eventual Greek success over the Persians to the Spartans’ defense at Thermopylae.
What if the Persians won the Peloponnesian War?
If the Persians had won, the king would have whipped the Greeks to make them fight, rather than allowing the Greeks to decide on their own to defend the ideal of freedom. Such an action would have turned the Greeks into barbarians and slaves instead of freemen, thus eliminating the distinction between the Greek poleis and the Persian Empire.
How many Peloponnesians were there at the Thermopylae?
Herodotus agrees with this figure in one passage, quoting an inscription by Simonides saying there were 4,000 Peloponnesians. However, elsewhere, in the passage summarized by the above table, Herodotus tallies 3,100 Peloponnesians at Thermopylae before the battle.
Was the last stand at Thermopylae a successful delaying action?
Alternatively, the argument is sometimes advanced that the last stand at Thermopylae was a successful delaying action that gave the Greek navy time to prepare for the Battle of Salamis. However, compared to the probable time (about one month) between Thermopylae and Salamis, the time bought was negligible.