Editing Battle of Thermopylae (section)

==Background==
{{Main|Greco-Persian Wars|Second Persian invasion of Greece}}
[[File:Map Greco-Persian Wars-en.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.5|Map of Greece during the Persian Wars from the Ionian Revolt.]]
The city-states of [[Athens]] and [[Eretria]] had aided the unsuccessful [[Ionian Revolt]] against the Persian Empire of [[Darius I]] in 499–494 BC. The Persian Empire was still relatively young and prone to revolts amongst its subject peoples.<ref name = h47>Holland, p. 47–55</ref><ref name="h203"/> Darius, moreover, was a
usurper and had spent considerable time extinguishing revolts against his rule.<ref name = h47/>

The Ionian revolt threatened the integrity of his empire, and Darius thus vowed to punish those involved, especially the Athenians, "since he was sure that [the Ionians] would not go unpunished for their rebellion".<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+5.105 V, 105] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183046/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+5.105 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref> Darius also saw the opportunity to expand his empire into the fractious world of Ancient Greece.<ref name = h171>Holland, 171–178</ref> A preliminary expedition under [[Mardonius (general)|Mardonius]] in 492 BC secured the lands approaching Greece, re-conquered [[Thrace]], and forced [[Macedon]] to become a client kingdom of Persia.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+6.44.1 VI, 44] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183044/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+6.44.1 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref>

[[File:Spartians throw Persian envoys into a well.jpg|thumb|left|The Spartans throw Persian envoys into a well]]
Darius sent emissaries to all the Greek city-states in 491 BC asking for a gift of "[[earth and water]]" as tokens of their submission to him.<ref name = h178>Holland, pp. 178–179</ref> Having had a demonstration of his power the previous year, the majority of Greek cities duly obliged. In Athens, however, the ambassadors were put on trial and then executed by throwing them in a pit; in Sparta, they were simply thrown down a well.<ref name = h178/><ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.133.1 VII, 133] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183010/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.133.1 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref> This meant that Sparta was also effectively at war with Persia.<ref name = h178/> However, in order to appease the Persian king somewhat, two Spartans were voluntarily sent to [[Susa]] for execution, in atonement for the death of the Persian heralds.<ref>"Two Spartans of noble birth and great wealth, Sperthias son of Aneristus and Bulis son of Nicolaus, undertook of their own free will that they would make atonement to Xerxes for Darius' heralds who had been done to death at Sparta. Thereupon the Spartans sent these men to Media for execution." in {{cite book |title=LacusCurtius Herodotus Book VII: Chapter 134 |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Herodotus/7B*.html}}</ref>

Darius then launched an amphibious expeditionary force under [[Datis]] and [[Artaphernes (son of Artaphernes)|Artaphernes]] in 490 BC, which [[Siege of Naxos (490 BC)|attacked Naxos]] before receiving the submission of the other [[Cyclades|Cycladic Islands]]. It then besieged and destroyed Eretria.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+6.100.1 VI, 101] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183132/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+6.100.1 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref> Finally, it moved to attack Athens, landing at the bay of [[Marathon, Greece|Marathon]], where it was met by a heavily outnumbered Athenian army. At the ensuing [[Battle of Marathon]], the Athenians won a remarkable victory, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Persian army to Asia.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+6.113 VI, 113] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183105/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+6.113 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref>

[[File:Thermopylae ancient coastline large.jpg|thumb|The site of the battle today. [[Mount Kallidromon]] on the left, and the wide [[coastal plain]] formed by accretion of [[fluvial]] deposits over the centuries; the road to the right approximates the 480 BC shoreline.]]
At this, Darius began raising a huge new army with which to completely subjugate Greece; however, in 486 BC, his [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] province revolted, indefinitely postponing any Greek expedition.<ref name = h203>Holland, p. 203</ref> Darius died while preparing to march on Egypt, and the throne of Persia passed to his son Xerxes I.<ref>Holland, pp. 206–206</ref> Xerxes crushed the Egyptian revolt and quickly restarted preparations for the invasion of Greece.<ref name = h208>Holland, pp. 208–211</ref> No mere expedition, this was to be a full-scale invasion supported by long-term planning, stockpiling, and conscription.<ref name = h208/> Xerxes directed that the [[Hellespont]] be bridged to allow his army to cross to Europe, and that a canal be dug across the isthmus of [[Mount Athos]] (cutting short the route where a Persian fleet had been destroyed in 492 BC).<ref name = h213/> These were both feats of exceptional ambition beyond any other contemporary state.<ref name = h213>Holland, pp. 213–214</ref> By early 480 BC, the preparations were complete, and the army which Xerxes had mustered at [[Sardis]] marched towards Europe, crossing the Hellespont on two [[pontoon bridge]]s.<ref name=VII35>{{cite web |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.35.1 |title=VII, 35 |publisher=Perseus.tufts.edu |access-date=26 November 2014 |archive-date=13 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913070756/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.35.1 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Herodotus, Xerxes' army was so large that, upon arriving at the banks of the Echeidorus River, his soldiers proceeded to drink it dry. In the face of such imposing numbers, many Greek cities capitulated to the Persian demand for a tribute of earth and water.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cox |first=Jeremy |year=2016 |title=They Died the Spartan's Death |journal=Thermopylae, the Alamo, and the Mirrors of Classical Analogy, Advances in the History of Rhetoric.}}</ref>

The Athenians had also been preparing for war with the Persians since the mid-480s BC, and in 482 BC the decision was taken, under the strategic guidance of the Athenian politician [[Themistocles]], to build a massive fleet of [[trireme]]s to resist the Persians.<ref name = h217>Holland, p. 217–223</ref> However, the Athenians lacked the manpower to fight on both land and sea, requiring reinforcements from other Greek city-states. In 481 BC, Xerxes sent ambassadors around Greece requesting "earth and water" but very deliberately omitting Athens and Sparta.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.32.1 VII, 32] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183038/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.32.1 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref> Support thus began to coalesce around these two leading cities. A congress met at [[Corinth]] in late autumn of 481 BC,<ref name=VII145>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.145.1 VII, 145] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183027/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.145.1 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref> and a confederate alliance of [[History of Greece|Greek city-states]] was formed. It had the power to send envoys to request assistance and dispatch troops from the member states to defensive points, after joint consultation. This was remarkable for the disjointed and chaotic Greek world, especially since many of the supposed allies were still technically at war with each other.<ref name = h226>Holland, p. 226</ref>

The congress met again in the spring of 480 BC. A [[Thessaly|Thessalian]] delegation suggested that the Greeks could muster in the narrow [[Vale of Tempe]], on the borders of Thessaly, and thereby block Xerxes' advance.<ref name = h248>Holland, pp. 248–249</ref> A force of 10,000 [[hoplite]]s was dispatched to the Vale of Tempe, through which they believed the Persian army would have to pass. However, once there, being warned by [[Alexander I of Macedon]] that the vale could be bypassed through Sarantoporo Pass and that Xerxes' army was overwhelming, the Greeks retreated.<ref name=VII173>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.173.1 VII, 173] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106023457/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.173.1 |date=6 November 2023 }}</ref> Shortly afterwards, they received the news that Xerxes had crossed the Hellespont.<ref name = h248/>

Themistocles, therefore, suggested a second strategy to the Greeks: the route to southern Greece (Boeotia, Attica, and the Peloponnesus) would require Xerxes' army to travel through the very narrow pass of [[Thermopylae]], which could easily be blocked by the Greek hoplites, jamming up the overwhelming force of Persians.<ref name = h255>Holland, pp. 255–257</ref> Furthermore, to prevent the Persians from bypassing Thermopylae by sea, the Athenian and allied navies could block the straits of Artemisium. Congress adopted this dual-pronged strategy.<ref name = h255/> However, in case of Persian breakthrough, the Peloponnesian cities made fall-back plans to defend the [[Isthmus of Corinth]], while the women and children of Athens would evacuate ''en masse'' to the Peloponnesian city of [[Troezen]].<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+8.40.1 VIII, 40] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203235338/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+8.40.1 |date=3 December 2020 }}</ref>