The 7 most decisive battles of the Greco-Persian Wars

In the late 6th century BCE, the Ionian Greek city-states on the western cost of Asia minor had fallen under the control of the Persian kings.

However, these cities had an uneasy relationship with their conquerors. As such, tensions grew between the local populations and their imperial rulers.

The Persian Empire, under Darius I, chose to control Ionia through the appointment of local Greek rulers who were sympathetic to Persia, and who were called ‘tyrants’.

These leaders answered directly to the satraps of Sardis. As a result, they were often seen as oppressive and self-serving, especially when they collected heavy tribute and enforced Persian interests over local autonomy.

One of these was know as Aristagoras, the ambitious tyrant of Miletus. He had exploited local unrest by inciting a rebellion in 499 BCE during which he convinced the Ionians to overthrow their Persian-backed leaders.

He knew that the cities would be at a military disadvantage, so had sought troops and aid from mainland Greece.

Two Greek cities who were eager to weaken Persian influence were Athens and Eretria, and they sent ships to support the revolt.

With there new-found allies, the Ionian Greeks attacked the local Persian-controlled centre of Sardis and set it alight. 

Horrified by the success of the assault, Persian forces launched a ruthless counteroffensive.

Even though the initial Greek victories had encouraged other cities to join the uprising, Persian strength soon overwhelmed the disorganized rebels.

Darius’ forces crushed resistance in several rebellious cities, which culminated in a decisive confrontation at Lade in 494 BCE, where the Ionian fleet, assembled to protect Miletus, faced a superior Persian navy.

The Greeks initially held their formation, but internal divisions weakened their resolve.

The Samian contingent in particular, who feared an impending defeat, withdrew from battle, and left the remaining ships vulnerable.

Persian forces capitalized on this disorder, overwhelmed the Greek fleet, which resulted in the fall of Miletus.  

Persian troops stormed into Miletus and imposed brutal consequences on its inhabitants.

The city was plundered, and its people were enslaved. Any of the surviving rebels were scattered, and Persian control over Ionia was firmly restored.

However, Darius I turned his attention toward the Greek mainland, and was determined to punish Athens for its interference in supporting the original revolt. 

Once Ionia was suppressed, Darius I sent his forces on an expedition against Greece in 490 BCE.

The Persian fleet was commanded by Datis and Artaphernes and it transported thousands of troops across the Aegean Sea.

They landed at the site of Marathon, a broad plain which was well-suited for cavalry operations.

The Athenian troops who prepared for the landing were clearly outnumbered and, without Spartan support (due to commitments at a religious festival), faced the prospect of fighting alone.

The Athenians were led by an experienced general named Miltiades. He convinced the Athenian assembly to meet the Persians in open battle rather than waiting behind the city’s walls.

Callimachus, who was the elected polemarch, supported this decision and, as a result, the army marched to Marathon to block the Persian advance inland.  

Eager to compensate for their numerical disadvantage, the Athenians under Miltiades devised a strategy that took advantage of Persian weaknesses.

When his hoplite warriors were arrayed in a battle line, he reinforced the Greek flanks by thinning the center, which was intended to draw the Persian forces inward.

If it worked, the formation should envelop the enemy. When the Persian archers unleashed a barrage of arrows to start the battle, the hoplites advanced at a rapid pace to minimize their exposure.

Running into battle as a heavily armored Greek soldier, since they carried large shields and long spears, was not common practice, and it seems to have caught the Persian off guard.

The Greeks then crashed into the lighter armored Persian infantry, and the stronger Greek wings pushed back the Persian flanks.

The invaders were pushed toward the center, where they became trapped and cut down.  

Panicked by the sudden collapse of their formation, the Persians attempted to retreat toward their ships.

However, the Athenians sensed victory and pressed forward. While some Persians drowned in the marshes, others were pursued to the shoreline.

By the end of the day, the Athenian army celebrated a decisive victory, during which they had killed thousands of enemy soldiers and capturing several ships.

Following the success, the Athenians rushed back to Athens to prevent a secondary Persian landing near the city.

Upon seeing the Athenians back in the city, the last of the Persian forces gave up the invasion and returned to their homelands.

Darius planned to get his revenge but would die before he could implement it. Instead, his son would take up the challenge. 

After almost years of preparation, the new Persian king, Xerxes I, raised a new, much larger, invasion force, and personally led it into Greece.

He openly declared that he would complete the conquest that his father, Darius I, had failed to achieve.

Rather than travelling by boat, Xerxes led his army into the north of Greece and started heading south, towards Athen.

As the Persians advanced toward Thermopylae, a narrow pass between steep mountains and the Malian Gulf, they encountered a small for of warriors from several Greek city-states.

These cities had used the decade since the first invasion to form an alliance against Persia.

Their combined forced decided to block the invasion in the narrow pass of Thermopylae, as it would limit the effectiveness of the Persian numerical advantage.

The Greek army only numbered approximately 7,000 men, but were fortified behind the ancient Phocian Wall.

Meanwhile, the Persians were as many as a quarter of a million. Regardless, the terrain would force the Persians into a narrow front.

Xerxes expected the Greeks to retreat in the face of his larger force and sent messengers demanding their surrender.

The leader of the Greek force, Leonidas, the Spartan king, refused and prepared for battle. 

So, for two days, the Greek defenders resisted repeated Persian assaults and caused heavy casualties for Xerxes’ army.

The Persian infantry struggled against the Greek phalanx, which was a dense formation of hoplites carrying large shields and long spears.

The elite Persian Immortals even attempted to break through the Greek lines but were repelled with heavy losses too.

To maintain their energies, the Spartans rotated with fresh units regularly, which allowed them to fight efficiently despite being outnumbered.

Each failed assault gradually weakened Xerxes' forces. They had expected a swift victory but instead faced a frustratingly determined resistance. 

Then, on the third day, a Greek traitor named Ephialtes revealed a hidden mountain path, which allowed the Persians to bypass the main pass and outflank the defenders.

Once Leonidas was made aware of this, he recognized that the battle was lost and dismissed most of the Greek army to preserve their strength for future battles.

He personally remained behind with 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, and 400 Thebans.

They planned to make a final stand. The Greeks fought until they were eventually overwhelmed by missile fire and surrounded.

The Persians, who had lost thousands of men in the engagement, eventually took control of Thermopylae. 

As the Persian army advanced through central Greece to Thermopylae, their fleet of supply ships had moved along the coastline to support the land invasion.

To the south, a Greek fleet had assembled under Themistocles, an Athenian commander.

He knew that controlling the sea was essential for delaying Persian progress. The Greek fleet was composed of triremes from Athens, Corinth, and other allied states, and it had positioned itself at Artemisium: a narrow strait north of Euboea.

This location was chosen for its defensive advantages, as it limited the ability of the larger Persian navy to maneuver freely.

So, at the same time that the land forces under King Leonidas defended the pass at Thermopylae, the Greek fleet at Artemisium coordinated resistance against the Persian ships.

Over the course of three days, the Greek navy engaged the enemy in a series of skirmishes. 

Themistocles ordered a series of repeated frontal assaults in order to force the enemy to fight in close quarters.

The Greek triremes were smaller and more agile than their opponent’s and were able to ram into the Persian ships with their reinforced prows.

This broke the hulls and disabled the vessels. The Persian navy, which was composed of ships from Egypt, Phoenicia, and Ionia, struggled to coordinate in the narrow waters.

What made matters worse was a violent storm wrecked many Persian ships, which meant that their numerical advantage was temporarily reduced.

This allowed the Greeks to hold their positions, despite suffering significant damage to several triremes and losing experienced rowers. 

Once news arrived that the Persian army had broken through Thermopylae, the Greek fleet had no choice but to retreat as well.

As a result, Themistocles ordered a withdrawal toward Salamis to avoid encirclement, and to ensure that the Greek ships could regroup for another confrontation.

The battle at Artemisium was costly for both sides but did delay the Persian advance long enough for the Athenians to evacuate their city. 

As a result of the Greek defeat at Thermopylae, the Persian army advanced southward, where they encountered little resistance as they marched into central Greece.

The Greek Thebes supported the Persians and welcomed the invaders, while other cities evacuated.

When Xerxes and his soldiers arrived at Athens, they discovered that it was deserted. In his frustation, he ordered his army to sack the city.

He soon learned that the Greek inhabitants had fled to safety of the nearby island of Salamis.

That is where the Greek fleet had gathered once more. It was here that Themistocles was convinced that the Greek commanders to make a stand.

Some allies, who feared destruction, argued for a withdrawal to the Peloponnesus, but Themistocles, who understood the tactical advantages of the straits, devised a strategy to trap the Persian fleet. 

The Greek triremes were still fewer in number but could use a confined battleground where their agility and experience could counter Persian numerical superiority.

The narrow waters between Salamis and the Attic coast, which were surrounded by rocky shores and limited maneuverability, provided the ideal conditions for the Greek ships.

To lure his enemy into the trap, Themistocles sent a message to Xerxes, which was intended to deceive the Persian king into believing that the Greeks planned to retreat.

He tried to convince the Persian king that a swift attack would trap the Greek forces before they could escape. He took the bait.  

As the Persian fleet entered the strait, the Greek commanders signaled for a direct assault.

The triremes surged forward in tight formation. The Athenian ships, which were positioned at the center, struck the Persian vessels head-on.

Themistocles had stationed the more experienced Aeginetan and Corinthian squadrons along the flanks, which allowed them to outmaneuver and encircle the enemy.

The Persian fleet struggled to coordinate its movements and chaos spread in the Persian ranks.

The narrow strait became a battleground of splintered wood and sinking ships.

The Persians went into a retreat. Many sailors, who were unable to swim, drowned as their vessels capsized. 

By the end of the engagement, Persian losses far exceeded those of the Greek allies and had shattered Persian confidence in their naval superiority.

Xerxes, who had observed the battle from the shore, recognized the severity of the defeat, which forced him to withdraw much of his fleet and leave Greece under the command of Mardonius. 

After Xerxes withdrew to Asia, he left Mardonius in Greece with a sizable Persian force, which was estimated to be around 100,000 soldiers.

Clearly, they were still a real threat. So, the Greeks assembled a new army of nearly 40,000 hoplites, which was supported by thousands of light infantry from various allied cities.

They marched north to engage the Persians. The two forces encountered each other near Plataea, where the Persians occupied a fortified camp along the Asopus River.

For days, both sides maneuvered cautiously, each waiting for a good opportunity to strike.

The Greeks, who were dependent on their heavy infantry, avoided direct engagement until they could fight on favorable terrain.

So, without a quick battle, Mardonius relied on cavalry to target Greek supply lines, which forced the hoplites to reposition toward more defensible ground.  

Determined to break the stalemate, Mardonius finally launched an aggressive assault, designed to target and disrupt the Greek line’s center.

To achieve this, the Persian cavalry was sent forward under the experienced commander Masistius, where they harassed the Greek lines.

However, the Spartan hoplites resisted these attacks, which then forced the Persians to commit more troops.

When Masistius fell in battle, the Persian cavalry lost its coordination, and the commander of the Greeks, named Pausanias, ordered the hoplites to push forward.

The lighter Persian infantry could not match their strength and overwhelmed the Persian troops. 

As the Greek assault intensified, the Persians suffered heavy casualties.

Mardonius attempted to rally his forces, but was personally killed in the melee.

Unsurprisingly, this led to a rapid collapse of Persian resistance. Thousands of Persian soldiers fled toward their fortified camp, which was soon surrounded by Greek forces.

The Athenians, who attacked from the opposite flank, breached the defenses, which triggered a brutal massacre.

Of the Persian army, fewer than 10,000 escaped. The remaining Persian garrisons then abandoned Greece entirely.

The independence of the Greek city-states was finally secured and the threat of Persian domination was over. 

At the same time as the land forces were fighting at Plataea, the allied Greek fleet had sailed toward Ionia to confront the remaining Persian forces.

The Persians had stationed their own fleet near the shores of Mycale. Wary of their previous defeats, the Persian commanders had ordered their ships to be drawn ashore and then fortified their men’s position with a wooden palisade.

It was clear that they wanted to avoid another naval engagement, and wanted to transform the upcoming battle into a land confrontation instead.

Regardless, the Greek commanders saw an opportunity to strike. Once at Mycale, they disembarked their troops.

The allied force included contingents from Athens, Sparta, and Corinth, and by now, knew that their superior armor and discipline could overwhelm the Persian defenders. 

Due to the rough terrain near Mycale, the Greek phalanx advanced cautiously towards the Persian fortifications.

The Spartans on the right wing, engaged the enemy first, pushing through Persian archers and light infantry.

The Athenians, who attacked from the left, outflanked the Persian lines, forcing the defenders into disarray.

Very soon, the Greek hoplites overpowered the lightly armed Persian troops.

Then, the Ionian Greeks, who had been conscripted into the Persian army, turned against their commanders.

This betrayal shattered the last of the Persian coordination and the Greeks stormed into the enemy camp, destroying what remained of the fleet. 

Following this overwhelming defeat, the Persian presence in Ionia collapsed, which led to widespread revolts among the Greek cities under Persian rule.

The destruction of the Persian fleet, which had been a central part of Xerxes’ campaign, ensured that no further invasions of Greece could be launched.

The war had been won.