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Position:Home>History> Sparta Vs Persia!?Question: Sparta Vs Persia!!? I just watched the movie 300, and realised how one sided it was! I love the movie, but when you think about it, it wasn't only 300 people who fought the persians there were other greeks too! I'm doing an oral on the comparisons between Spartan and Persian warfare and weapons, what do you think the most interesting things i could talk about are!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Herodotus, whom Cicero hailed as 'the father of history', numbers the Greek contingent at Pylae (Thermopylae) at 300 Spartans, 500 hoplites from Tegea, 500 from Mantinea, 120 from Orchomenus in Arcadia, 1000 more from the remainder of Arcadia, 400 from Corinth, 200 from Phlius and 80 from Mycenae!. Herodotus tells us that as well as these troops from the Peloponnese, there were the Boetian contingents of 700 from Thespiae and 400 from Thebes!. Finally the Locrians of Opus sent all the able bodied men they had, he does not give a number and the Phocians sent a thousand!. Aside from his bodyguard of 300 Spartans, which Herodotus does mention was made up of fathers of living sons, Leonidas kept the 400 Thebans close to him!. As the the king of the Spartan contingent he was the commander of the Greek ground forces and felt it proper to have the Thebans close by as it was felt, and rightly so according to Herodotus, that the Thebans sympathised with the Persians!. A clear example of keeping ones friends close but enemies, at least potential ones, closer!. In the final hours of the battle after the betrayal of Ephialtes, the Spartans prepared for their famous last stand!. Unlike the movie they were not alone!. The Thebans were forced to remain against their will, the force from Thespiae volunteered to remain!. One thing to mention to lighten the mood!. In the movie when the Spartans say they will fight in the shade, that line was actually spoken in 480 BC!. Herodotus names the originator of such wit as the Spartan Dieneces!. He writes that before the battle was engaged Dieneces spoke with a native from Trachis!. The man told him that when the Persians fired their arrows, there were so many, they hid the son!. Dieneces was apparently unimpressed saying, "That is pleasant news that the stranger from Trachis brings us: if the Persians hide the sun, we shall have our battle in the shade!." I wish you well and hope that what I and others have offered you helps!. I hope it leads you to further study of the classical world!. Read Herodotus' "Histories", "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey"!. It was a fascinating time!. Good luck!.Www@QuestionHome@Com i think there was 1000 allies who stayed with them for the battle(cant remember the city) but the 300 hundred were worth more than them!. Weaponary!. sparta: spears, swords(sometimes) Persia: Spears(on cavlery and infantry), Bows (large numbers cant remember if had horse archers), swords(elite infantry and cavelry) Armor!. Sparta: Large shield(cant remember name), Helmet, Chest armor(cuiress), shin armor(greaves) all made of bronze and not great deal of it!. Persia: full padded armor, bucklers made of wood(small shields) Warfare!. Sparta: formation, hold postion or attack, would try to flank if possible used manuvers but it was still mostly front on combat!. Perisa: used infantry to frontal attack enemy, use archers to soften up enemy before closing or while enemy attacked, would flank or smash with cavelry!.Www@QuestionHome@Com 1st of all, the Persians didn't have grenades!. The Persians' shields were made of very different materials (maybe you should check it out) and their spear were much, much shorter!. also, the Greek phalanx essentially nullified a pushing match to be caused because the energy from the the Persians would be lost due to them being impaled from Greek spears!. It was essentially a very boring battle with constant backing up to release the bodies, and constant pushing again!. The Greek lines were constantly being refreshed as well!. It was only on the last day that 300 Spartans were left to defend the retreat, but 700 Helots remained with them!. Maybe you can dulge deeper into why maybe the Persian war machine wasn't very good!.Www@QuestionHome@Com In the Battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas chose his spot well!. The numbers of the two sides really don't mean anything as Leonidas chose to make his defense in a very narrow pass -- only one chariot could pass through the pass at a time!. Let's say the Greeks had 10,000 men in the field and the Persians had 100,000 men in the field (consensus is a Persian army of between 150,000 and 200,000), it's still 10-1 in favor of the Persians!. Still, because of where Leonidas chose to defend, the front line was more like 1-to-1 as the Persians could not apply all of their force to the battle!. Only when Ephialtes guided the Persians around the path was Xerxes able to bring his more numerical force to bear!. At that point, most of the Greeks left the battlefield, leaving the Spartans and about 2,000 slaves and allies to take on the Persian army!. Given room to manuever behind the pass, the Persians were able to make short work of the Spartans and their allies!.Www@QuestionHome@Com To me the most interesting thing is the battle in the movie 300 was very similar to the battle of Karbala!. Both were last stand!. & in both the smaller army fought very bravely & but vanished!. & both battles became a legacy which boosts the moral of those who affiliate themselves with the 300 Spartans or the Army of Imam Al-Hussein in Karbala!. However, most Iranians as I noticed were so angry at the movie & never seem to notice the similarities I listed!. Even thought the battle of Karbala is well celebrated in the Iranian tradition!.Www@QuestionHome@Com |