Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The wreckage of the Persian fleet still washed against the shores of the Saronic Gulf when King Xerxes made his fateful decision. The stunning defeat at Salamis had not destroyed his vast land army, but it had shattered his confidence and threatened his supply lines back to Asia. Fearing that the triumphant Greek navy might sail north to sever his pontoon bridges across the Hellespont, Xerxes withdrew. However, the King of Kings did not concede the war. He left behind a formidable force of his finest infantry and cavalry, entrusting the conquest of Greece to his most capable general, Mardonius.
Mardonius withdrew his men to the northern plains of Thessaly to wait out the winter. He knew that the fragile Greek alliance was held together only by the immediate threat of annihilation. Through emissaries, he offered the Athenians a tempting peace: full autonomy, the rebuilding of their burned temples, and an expansion of their territory, provided they submitted to Persian overlordship. The Athenians, living as refugees on Salamis while their city lay in ashes, flatly refused. When the fighting season returned in the summer of 479 BC, Mardonius marched south once more. Athens was evacuated again, and the Persians occupied the ruins.
The Athenians sent desperate, angry envoys to Sparta, demanding that the Peloponnesians finally march out from behind their defensive wall at the Isthmus of Corinth. The Spartans hesitated, citing religious obligations to the festival of Hyacinthus, but the threat of an Athenian defection to the Persian side ultimately forced their hand. Under the command of the regent Pausanias, the Spartans mobilised the largest army they had ever fielded: 5,000 elite Spartiate hoplites, supported by thousands of perioeci (free non-citizens) and a massive levy of helots.
The Spartan force marched north, joining with the Athenians under the command of Aristides, alongside contingents from Corinth, Megara, Tegea, and dozens of other city-states. This united Hellenic army, numbering perhaps 80,000 men, crossed the rugged passes of Mount Cithaeron and descended into the plains of Boeotia, near the city of Plataea.
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PATREON : bit.ly/3b0VixZ
MERCH : bit.ly/2X4d8rX
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Filmed at :
The Drawing Rooms
Beau Nash House,
19 Union Passage,
Bath
BA1 1RD
thedrawingrooms.co
__________________________________________________________________________
#ancientgreece #grecopersianwars #ancienthistoryguy
The wreckage of the Persian fleet still washed against the shores of the Saronic Gulf when King Xerxes made his fateful decision. The stunning defeat at Salamis had not destroyed his vast land army, but it had shattered his confidence and threatened his supply lines back to Asia. Fearing that the triumphant Greek navy might sail north to sever his pontoon bridges across the Hellespont, Xerxes withdrew. However, the King of Kings did not concede the war. He left behind a formidable force of his finest infantry and cavalry, entrusting the conquest of Greece to his most capable general, Mardonius.
Mardonius withdrew his men to the northern plains of Thessaly to wait out the winter. He knew that the fragile Greek alliance was held together only by the immediate threat of annihilation. Through emissaries, he offered the Athenians a tempting peace: full autonomy, the rebuilding of their burned temples, and an expansion of their territory, provided they submitted to Persian overlordship. The Athenians, living as refugees on Salamis while their city lay in ashes, flatly refused. When the fighting season returned in the summer of 479 BC, Mardonius marched south once more. Athens was evacuated again, and the Persians occupied the ruins.
The Athenians sent desperate, angry envoys to Sparta, demanding that the Peloponnesians finally march out from behind their defensive wall at the Isthmus of Corinth. The Spartans hesitated, citing religious obligations to the festival of Hyacinthus, but the threat of an Athenian defection to the Persian side ultimately forced their hand. Under the command of the regent Pausanias, the Spartans mobilised the largest army they had ever fielded: 5,000 elite Spartiate hoplites, supported by thousands of perioeci (free non-citizens) and a massive levy of helots.
The Spartan force marched north, joining with the Athenians under the command of Aristides, alongside contingents from Corinth, Megara, Tegea, and dozens of other city-states. This united Hellenic army, numbering perhaps 80,000 men, crossed the rugged passes of Mount Cithaeron and descended into the plains of Boeotia, near the city of Plataea.
__________________________________________________________________________
SUBSCRIBE NOW : bit.ly/3aYZCOh
PATREON : bit.ly/3b0VixZ
MERCH : bit.ly/2X4d8rX
__________________________________________________________________________
Filmed at :
The Drawing Rooms
Beau Nash House,
19 Union Passage,
Bath
BA1 1RD
thedrawingrooms.co
__________________________________________________________________________
#ancientgreece #grecopersianwars #ancienthistoryguy
