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Why did the Greeks win the Persian Wars - Coggle Diagram
Why did the Greeks win the Persian Wars
Greek Leadership
Miltiades:-Herodotus says was eager to fight for freedom at Marathon when others did not.
Leonidas:-Sacrifice bought time for southern greece to prepare + set example for rest of greece after herodotus mentions how morale was low
Themistocles:-Pioneered many schemes, drove the plot forward, forced Greeks to fight at Salamis, Herodotus gives him lots of attention so must be significant, Themistocle's speech rallied the Athenian marines before Salamis
Leaders all get involved in the Battle
Greek Army/Style
Phalanx allows a small number of Greeks to stand up to large numbers of Persians: Thermopylae, Herodotus says pass was too narrow for Persians to use numbers advantage
Greeks discipline and less prone to surrender + bravado: Leonidas and 300 + Greeks entered salamis singing: motivated
Greek Equipment: Greeks more heavily armoured and have aspises - Herodotus during plataea states main weakness of persians were lack of armour in comparison to Greeks
Greeks picked all Battlefields excpet marathon
Greek Skill
Spartans:Herodotus states persian immortals terrified by the prospect of fighting Lacadaemonians
Athenian Strategy: Under leadership of miltiades, Athenians mixed up their strategy to surprise persian forces + feigned retreat at Salamis to draw persians into the narrow straits
Spartan arrival at battle of Plataea turned the tide of battle
Persian Leadership
Importance of leaders: Persian rabble scattered at Plataea once Mardonius was killed
Persian Army/Style
Organisation: Persian Soldiers no worse than Greeks, but fought in large unorganised hordes
Persian Special Units e.g Cavalry, Archers, Immortals less effective on the terrain of Greece in comparison to the ground of Asia
Persian Mistakes
Salamis: Persians hubris + fell for Themistocle's ruse, led them to fight in narrow straits where they couldn't use their full strength