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Who was there

The 300 Spartans were Spartan king Leonidas' bodyguard. Sparta was concerned with defending its own land from a Persian amphibious raid, and so was not about to send off a main force. Leonidas also had about 2,000 serf-light infantry. There were also about 4,000 warriors from those Greek states in the Thermopylai area which had not already gone over to the Persians.

How do we tell who won?

Who won hangs on the objectives of the both sides, and who was successful in achieving them.

What were the objectives and outcomes?

The Persian objective was to capture peninsular Greece to establish an ethnic frontier, as the latter had been supporting revolution in the Greek cities along the coast of Asia Minor, which was part of the Persian Empire. Xerxes had a large land force of about 150,000 infantry and 30,000 cavalry, and 600 warships with 120,000 crewmen.

The Persian war fleet was superior to the Greek one, so it provided both outflanking amphibious capability and protection for the resupply fleet; the amphibious capability meant the Greek forces could not concentrate, remaining at home defending their cities, and so able to be picked off one by one.

The Greek strategy was to neutralise this war fleet, both to even up the operational mobility equation and, by depriving the Persians of their essential sea supply route, ultimately force their withdrawal. Given the inequality of the fleets, the Greeks determined to force sea engagements in narrow waters to minimise the effect of the opposing superior ships and numbers: they closed the land route to the south at the Thermopylai pass to force a Persian outflanking amphibious operation in the adjacent strait. When three days of naval engagements failed to give a Greek victory, and the Thermopylai position was outflanked on land, the fleet withdrew to the strait between Salamis and Athens, and by a stratagem of splitting the Persian fleet, defeated the main force and so exposed the sea supply line.

With no resupply, Xerxes was obliged to take half his army back to Asia Minor and the remaining part had to withdraw and winter in northern Greece. The following spring the southern Greek states, no longer threatened by enemy amphibious landings, were able to concentrate in full strength at Plataia and defeat the remaining Persian army and its Greek allies. In parallel, the Greek naval forces captured the rump of the Persian fleet at Mykale in Asia Minor.

Romantic stories of the stand at Thermopylai, based on it being designed to defeat the invasion, conceal the real strategies of both adversaries. The centre of gravity of the might of Persia outside Asia was its Egyptian, Phoenician and Asian-Greek war fleet. Its neutralisation mandated a critical enemy land force reduction and removed the threat of amphibious invasion of the Peloponnese states, allowing them to concentrate against the reduced enemy land forces.

So who won at Thermopylai?

The Persians continued with their invasion until stopped elsewhere.

The Greeks lost the naval engagement offshore, which was set up by the Thermopylai defence, so the latter was to no avail. When Leonidas got news of the Persian outflanking of his position through the mountains, he sent the other contingents off to get inside the walls of friendly cities so that they wouldn't be ridden down in open country by the Persian cavalry when they broke through. He kept the Theban contingent as they were suspected of having already gone over to the Persians, and set up a last stand with his 300 Spartan hoplites and 2,000 serf-light infantry to give the dismissed contingents a head start. The Thebans quickly surrendered and the Spartan 2,300 went down to a man. The other contingents took the benefit of this sacrifice and got away safely.

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Related Questions

Who fought in Battle of Thermopylae?

The Spartans and the Persians


Who was the leader who fought Persians in the was between Spartans and Persians?

The leader was called Leoleadre and they fought at Thermopylae


Who did the 300 spartan fight with in the battle of Persia?

The Spartans fought the Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae .


What was the battle names of Sparta and Athens when Sparta sent olny 300 men?

Thermopylae is the pass where the Spartans fought the Persians. The Athenians simultaneously fought the Persians in the battle of Salamis (a naval battle)


What was the location where 300 Spartans fought the Persian army called?

Thermopylae!


What is the battl of the 300 Spartans known as?

The Battle of Thermopylae is the historical name for the battle where the 300 Spartans fought.


Did troy happen before the Spartans fought the Persians?

The siege of Troy probably happened around 1100 BC. The battle of Thermopylae was in 480 BC - about six hundred years later.


What was the battle where 300 Spartans fought in the Persian Empire?

Thermopylae.480 BCE.


What city states fought the Persians?

Both the Spartans and the athenians


Who is king leonidus?

King Leonidus was the ruler of the Spartans. He fought in the battle between the 300 Spartans and the Persians


Does the movie 300 have Greek mythology?

The movie 300 is based on the Battle of Thermopylae, an actual battle that took place in ancient Greece. The war was between The Greeks and the Persians. There really were 300 Spartans, but there was also about 10,000 other Greek soldiers, so the Spartans were not alone. The Greeks lost the Battle of Thermopylae, but the Spartans fought bravely and more valiantly than the rest with their superior phalanx military strategy.


How did the Sparta and the Athens unite to defeat the Persians?

daa Sparta brought the soldiers ndd the Athens brought theirr navy (: