To win a war, you must have a good strategy and use good tactics. The Greek word “strategos” is the Greek word for “general”. Their word “taktos” meant “ordered or arranged”. We now use strategy to refer to the overall plan to win a war. Tactics refers to the Read more
Greek civilization passed on many achievements to Rome and then Western Civilization. Had the Persians won the Persian Wars, it is possible that we would not have the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripedes, and Aristophanes. We might not have all the teachings of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Our civilization Read more
480 – 479 B.C. was a wild time for the Greek city-states. The year before, the Spartans lost at Thermopylae, Athens was sacked, a Greek fleet defeated the Persian fleet at Salamis, Persian emperor Xerxes took the remainder of the fleet home and left a huge army in Greece. Read more
The Battle of Thermopylae is famous for the stand the Spartans made against a huge Persian army. Everyone knows that all 300 of Leonidas’ men were killed in the battle. But it was actually not all 300. After holding off the Persians for several days, a Greek traitor told Read more
In 480 B.C., Athens learned that a huge Persian army and fleet were coming to get revenge for the Battle of Marathon. The chances of defeating the Persians were small. Many Greek city-states gave “earth and water” symbolizing surrendering to Persian control. It was that or be sacked. Some Read more
The battle was a result of Persian Emperor Darius I’s desire for revenge. From 499-493 B.C., the Greek colonies in Asia Minor had rebelled against Persian rule. Athens had provided military aid. After putting down the revolt, Darius was intent on punishing Athens for interfering in Persian affairs. He had Read more
August 23, 480 B.C. is the suggested date for the start of the Battle of Thermopylae. There have been two movies about it. “The 300 Spartans” was a B-movie that has its fans, but “300” was a huge box office success. It has been criticized for its supposed historical inaccuracies, Read more