Editing Battle of Thermopylae (section)

==Strategic and tactical considerations==
[[File:Nicolo arena battleofthermopylae.svg|thumb|A flow map of the battle]]
From a strategic point of view, by defending Thermopylae, the Greeks were making the best possible use of their forces.<ref name = L248/> As long as they could prevent a further Persian advance into Greece, they had no need to seek a decisive battle and could, thus, remain on the defensive. Moreover, by defending two constricted passages (Thermopylae and Artemisium), the Greeks' inferior numbers became less of a factor.<ref name = L248/> Conversely, for the Persians the problem of supplying such a large army meant they could not remain in the same place for very long.<ref name = h285>Holland, pp. 285–287</ref> The Persians, therefore, had to retreat or advance, and advancing required forcing the pass of Thermopylae.<ref name = h285/>

Tactically, the pass at Thermopylae was ideally suited to the Greek style of warfare.<ref name = L248/> A hoplite [[phalanx formation|phalanx]] could block the narrow pass with ease, with no risk of being outflanked by cavalry. Moreover, in the pass, the phalanx would have been very difficult to assault for the more lightly armed Persian infantry.<ref name = L248/> The major weak point for the Greeks was the mountain track which led across the highland parallel to Thermopylae, that could allow their position to be outflanked. Although probably unsuitable for cavalry, this path could easily be traversed by the Persian infantry (many of whom were versed in [[mountain warfare]]).<ref name = h288>Holland, p 288</ref> Leonidas was made aware of this path by local people from Trachis, and he positioned a detachment of Phocian troops there in order to block this route.<ref name = h262>Holland, pp. 262–264</ref>

===Topography of the battlefield===
[[File:Plan du passage desThermo-Pyles accomodé au temps de l’invasion de Xerxes dans la Grèce - Jean-Jacques Barthélemy - 1832.jpg|thumb|Map of Thermopylae area with a reconstructed shoreline of 480 BC.]]
It is often claimed that at the time, the pass of Thermopylae consisted of a track along the shore of the Malian Gulf so narrow that only one chariot could pass through at a time.<ref name="VII176" /> In fact, as noted below, the pass was 100 metres wide, probably wider than the Greeks could have held against the Persian masses. Herodotus reports that the Phocians had improved the defences of the pass by channelling the stream from the hot springs to create a marsh, and it was a causeway across this marsh which was only wide enough for a single chariot to traverse. In a later passage, describing a Gaulish attempt to force the pass, Pausanias states "The cavalry on both sides proved useless, as the ground at the Pass is not only narrow, but also smooth because of the natural rock, while most of it is slippery owing to its being covered with streams...the losses of the barbarians it was impossible to discover exactly. For the number of them that disappeared beneath the mud was great."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D10%3Achapter%3D21 |title=Pausanias, Description of Greece, Phocis and Ozolian Locri, chapter 21 |access-date=20 February 2021 |archive-date=11 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511071121/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D10%3Achapter%3D21 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On the north side of the roadway was the Malian Gulf, into which the land shelved gently. When at a later date, an army of Gauls led by [[Brennus (3rd century BC)|Brennus]] attempted to force the pass, the shallowness of the water gave the Greek fleet great difficulty getting close enough to the fighting to bombard the Gauls with ship-borne missile weapons.

Along the path itself was a series of three constrictions, or "gates" (''pylai''), and at the centre gate a wall that had been erected by the Phocians, in the previous century, to aid in their defence against [[Thessalian]] invasions.<ref name="VII176">Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.176.1 VII, 176] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183019/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.176.1 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref> The name "Hot Gates" comes from the [[hot spring]]s that were located there.<ref name="VIII201">Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.201.1 VIII, 201] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831183022/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+7.201.1 |date=31 August 2021 }}</ref>

The terrain of the battlefield was nothing that [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]] and his forces were accustomed to. Although coming from a mountainous country, the Persians were not prepared for the real nature of the country they had invaded. The pure ruggedness of this area is caused by torrential downpours for four months of the year, combined with an intense summer season of scorching heat that cracks the ground. Vegetation is scarce and consists of low, thorny shrubs. The hillsides along the pass are covered in thick brush, with some plants reaching {{convert|10|ft|m}} high. With the sea on one side and steep, impassable hills on the other, King Leonidas and his men chose the perfect topographical position to battle the Persian invaders.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Battle for the West: Thermopylae |last=Bradford |first=Ernle |publisher=McGraw-Hill Book Company |year=1980 |isbn=0-07-007062-8 |location=New York |pages=68–69}}</ref>

Today, the pass is not near the sea, but is several kilometres inland because of [[Sedimentation#Geology|sedimentation]] in the Malian Gulf. The old track appears at the foot of the hills around the plain, flanked by a modern road. Recent [[core sample]]s indicate that the pass was only {{convert|100|m}} wide, and the waters came up to the gates: "Little do the visitors realize that the battle took place across the road from the monument."<ref>Dore, pp. 285–286</ref> The pass still is a natural defensive position to modern armies, and forces of the [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Empire]] in the [[Second World War]] made a [[Battle of Thermopylae (1941)|defence in 1941]] against the invasion by [[Nazi Germany]] mere metres from the original battlefield.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.leonidas.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Battle-of-Thermopylae.pdf |title=1941 Battle of Thermopylae |access-date=1 August 2019 |archive-date=14 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914183853/http://www.leonidas.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Battle-of-Thermopylae.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

* Maps of the region:<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Cities/Thermopylae.jpg |format=JPG |title=Map of Thermopylae |access-date=26 November 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930030341/http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Cities/Thermopylae.jpg |archive-date=30 September 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://uoregon.edu/~klio/maps/gr/Thermopylae.jpg |title=Map of Thermopylae |publisher=Uoregon.edu |access-date=26 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524094702/http://uoregon.edu/~klio/maps/gr/Thermopylae.jpg |archive-date=24 May 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Image of the battlefield, from the east<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/pictures/greece/thermopylae/thermopylae-attempt-to-reconstruct-the-ancient-landscape/ |title=Thermopylae, Attempt to reconstruct the ancient landscape – Livius |access-date=30 January 2022 |archive-date=30 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130130135/https://www.livius.org/pictures/greece/thermopylae/thermopylae-attempt-to-reconstruct-the-ancient-landscape/ |url-status=live }}</ref>