After the disastrous defeat of his fleet at Salamis, Xerxes withdrew with the bulk of his army from Greece, leaving his general and son-in-law Mardonius, with 300,000, to subjugate Greece. The latter retreated to the Boeotian plain and wintered there. The Greeks also moved there having gathered a strong army. The winter passed with the two rivals keeping an eye on each other. Mardonius had at his disposal elite Persians and Medes, Sakas, Bactrian horsemen and Indian archers. Also, the Thebans, the Macedonians and the Thessalians had sided with him, the last two being his allies.
As spring arrived Mardonius prepared to attack. But before moving he tried to get the Athenians on his side. So he sent the Macedonian king Alexander I as a messenger to the Athenians, with the promise of making them rulers of Greece. The Athenians again refused , but at the same time they developed relations with Alexander, which proved especially useful later, as Alexander constantly informed the Greeks about the plans of the Persians and for the arrangement of their battle.
The Greeks in total gathered 110,000 men, of which 38,700 were hoplites. Of these 10,000 were Spartans, 8,000 were Athenians, 5,000 Corinthians, 3,000 Sicyonians, 3,000 Megarians, 1,500 Tegeans, 1,200 from Phliunda and Triphylia, 300 from Potidaea, 600 from Plataea, 600 from the Arcadian Orchomenos, 100 from Trochomenos. . The rest of the men were lightly armed lancers, spearmen, slingers and stone throwers. The Athenians also had a few small archers.
From Erythrae, the Greek army took up positions at the foot of Kithairon, having secured its supply of food and water. Also, the lightly armed Greek troops had occupied all the mountain passes of Kithairon. For this reason the Greeks were in no hurry to fight. But the Persians did not have the luxury of time. The Persian supply convoys had become the permanent target of the Phocians, who would rush out of the mountains, destroy and disappear as quickly as they had appeared. Mardonius began to face a serious supply problem. However, he did not decide to move for battle, as long as the Greeks were encamped on the slopes of the mountain, in a terrain unsuitable for the use of his main weapon, the cavalry.
The other option open to Mardonius was to retreat to Thessaly, where he could feed his army and where the terrain was suitable for cavalry. However, this eventuality presupposed the passage of his army either through the mountainous roads of Phocis, or, even worse, through the glorious field of Thermopylae, which he did not control. And if he marched through Phocis it was certain that the Phocians would collect very expensive "tolls" from the army, which would risk disbanding before even fighting. If, however, he moved through Thermopylae, he would be in danger of finding himself between the Greek guard of the pass and the Greek army of Pausanias pursuing his army.
The first blood
All he could do now was fight the battle he so longed for and either win or die. So he decided to lure the Greeks to the plain of Plataea, in a territory of his choice. For this purpose he organized a difficult operation, at the head of which he placed his cavalry commander, Masistio. The Persian cavalry was ordered to make a raid against the Greeks, relying on surprise.
So at first light, the elite Persian islands moved swiftly against the Greek lines. The Greek targets, however, spotted them and gave the signal for the alarm. Immediately, the Greeks took up arms and prepared to repel the opponents. Each section tried to cover their backs and flanks, advancing their front and the forest of spears it presented.
When the Persians approached they saw the Greek phalanxes aligned and did not dare to advance on the forests of spears. Masistius ordered his isles to line up in depth and one by one to approach the Greek divisions within a javelin or arrow throw distance and to attack them with everything they had. He believed that this would cause enough casualties to the phalanxes that they would disorganize and break their formations. Then they could march against them and destroy them.
Everything now depended on the resistance of the Greeks to the missiles and the losses, that is, on the level of education and on the composure of the Greeks. The tactics of the Persians, however, did not work, since, despite the losses, the Greeks did not break their formation, nor did they attempt to pursue them. But there was also a Greek body that had not had time to take positions. It was the body of the Magarean hoplites, which occupied an exposed position, having both their flanks exposed. Masistios immediately ordered his men to advance against the exposed flanks of the Megarians.
The advance was made and the Megarians suffered great losses, but were not dispersed. With unimaginable composure they formed a square and, covered by their shields, received the Persian barrage of spears and arrows untouchable. But the situation was critical and if they were not reinforced they would all be killed. The Greek commander-in-chief, the Spartan Pausanias, saw the critical situation of the Megarians and ordered the Athenian archers to rush to their aid. The archers moved quickly and before the Persians could react they were within the square of the hoplites. Covered by the hoplites, they began to cut down the Persian horsemen with their arrows.
Masistius fought, brave and proud, on the front lines, personally leading his men. An arrow left the bowstring with a deadly hiss and pierced the chest of the Persian general's horse. Horse and rider collapsed to the ground. Immediately a hoplite jumped from the yoke and stuck his spear in the face of the still dazed Masistius. The Persian horsemen when they saw their leader lifeless on the ground launched a furious but completely uncoordinated charge against the Greek square. The Greek archers let them approach, taking cover between the shields of the hoplites and when they reached a distance of a few meters they turned on them en masse. The Persians were swept away.
Maneuvers
After this victory, Pausanias rearranged the Greek troops. The army moved northwest, towards an area where there were three low hills. The Athenians and Plataean hoplites - 8,600 men - lined up on the left. The center was occupied by the divisions of the other Greek cities and 11,500 Spartans and Tegean hoplites lined up on the right. From their new positions, the Greeks threatened the exposed Persian right and at the same time had better control of the famous Gargafia fountain, the only source of water in the area. The problem was that the terrain on which the Greek army was deployed was almost flat and therefore perfectly suitable for the action of the enemy cavalry. But Pausanias, taking into account the elevated Greek and the fallen Persian morale, due to the previous conflict, considered the risk negligible.
Moreover, the two armies were separated by the river Asopus, which was an obstacle for the Persian cavalry, but not the Greek infantry. Mardonius commanded his army with the elite Persians against the Spartans, Medes, Bactrians, Indians and Sakas in the center and the Greek allies on the left. The opposing armies now faced each other on a front about 5 km long. For 8 days the two armies stood facing each other, without anyone daring to cross the river. Only skirmishes occurred, mainly on the Greek left, when rival horsemen harassed the Athenians who were watering from the river.
In the meantime, pressed by the lack of supplies, Mardonius had no other choice but to fight, and indeed as quickly as possible. However, his deputy, the experienced general Artavazos disagreed and asked Mardonio to retreat. Mardonius was nevertheless unconvinced. The next day he would launch his attack.
The Greek "spy"
That same night a man sneaked across the river and approached the Athenians' positions. The targets spotted him and approached him. He removed his cloak, revealed his face and asked to meet the Greek generals. “Men of Athens,” he said, “I entrust you with secret words, which only Pausanias should know. I wouldn't be talking to you if I wasn't also interested in Greece, because I am also Greek, from an ancient generation and I don't want to see it enslaved, instead of free". This mysterious man was none other than the Macedonian king Alexander, who responded to the Skopians.
Alexander informed the Athenian generals of Mardonius' intention to attack at first light. "My intention was to announce to you the plan of Mardonius, so that the barbarians would not suddenly fall upon you and surprise you," said Alexander, and disappeared again into the darkness. It seems, however, that Alexander said other things to the Athenian generals, regarding the food situation of the Persians, but also that he was determined to order his men to only perform armed demonstrations and not to actually fight against their countrymen.
The Athenians immediately after Alexander's departure informed Pausanias and the other generals. Herodotus mentions that it was then decided to rearrange the Greek divisions, with the Athenians siding with the Persians – with whom they had fought again at Marathon – and the Spartans taking over the left wing. He also mentions that Mardonius understood this move and he also rearranged his army so that the Persians were once again facing the Spartans. However, this information of Herodotus is checked.
It would indeed be improbable that all these movements of an army of 110,000 men and 300,000 men respectively could be effected without these movements being noticed. On the other hand, it was also unlikely that the Spartans would entrust the burden of the fight to the Athenians, not only because such a thing would embarrass them, but mainly because they had the most numerous and strongest forces – 40% of the army – the only one able to cope to the elite Persian forces.
However, the Persians did not finally launch their attack and another three days passed with only skirmishes. However, at dawn on the 12th day, Mardonius finally attacked . The Persian cavalry engaged the Greek divisions at the Gargafia fountain, causing them considerable attrition. Pausanias reacted to the Persian attack by ordering a retreat to new positions, about 2 km further back from the original ones. Herodotus again states that the army retreated disorderly and that the battle was ultimately fought literally in random order!
The battle begins
But probably here too his information should be treated with skepticism. It appears that the retreat was executed in absolute order and according to plan. The Greek army lined up in their new positions in an inverted triangle formation, with the Athenians on the left horn and the Spartans on the right forming the two extended ends of the triangle and with the other Greeks in the center forming the apex. And the retreat was a tactical maneuver of Pausanias, to lure the Persians, so that they would fight with the Asopus River at their backs.
As for the episode with the Spartan captain Amompharetos, mentioned by Herodotus, that this particular officer refused to obey the orders of Pausanias and retreat with his company, delaying the retreating maneuver of the entire army , is apparently an afterthought, as it is quite impossible for a Spartan officer to ignore the orders of his superior.
Pausanias's plan was brilliant in conception and was evidently based on the information he had from Alexander of Macedon. The Spartans and Tegeans, by far the best soldiers in the Greek army, would engage the Persian right and the Persian center. The forces of the rest of the Greeks would be kept in reserve in the center, with the mission, at the right moment, to flank the Persian center and the Athenians with the Plataeans would fight – in theory – with the Greek allies of the Persians.
At dawn, the Persian cavalry scouts informed Mardonius about the Greek retreat. Immediately Mardonius ordered a direct attack. Against the Spartans was arrayed the bulk of the enemy's army. Pausanias had arranged his divisions between two hills, thus securing his flanks. Mardonius himself led the bulk of the army against the Spartans. When they got within range the Persians began to shoot thousands of arrows at their opponents. But Pausanias did not allow his men to attack. Instead, he passively accepted the enemy barrage. Herodotus mentions that the reason for this was the "against" sacrifices. In reality, however, Pausanias was waiting for the Corinthian hoplites to take up positions, that is, the section charged with flanking the section of Mardonius' army.
Invasion of Greeks
When all was ready the signal was given and the Spartan phalanx advanced, with the Tegeans at its side. The Greeks charged furiously at the Persian lines. They easily broke through the line of Persian shields and began to annihilate the opponents. Then the Corinthians also appeared on the side of the hard-hit and pinned down Persians. Nevertheless, the Persians held out, for a while. But when a Laconian slinger, Arimnistos (or Eimnestos), struck Mardonius on the head, killing him instantly, their resistance collapsed. At the same time Artavazos, with 40,000 men, began to retreat, without attempting to engage the Greeks in the center. At the other end, the Macedonians and Thessalians did not engage in battle, but began to retreat as soon as the Athenians opposite them began to move. Only a few Thebans attempted to fight for the Persians but they were soon massacred – about 300 were killed.
With the whole of the Persian army then in disorderly flight, the Greeks attacked the fortified camp of the Persians, within which the fugitives tried to find shelter. Soon, the Greeks broke through the last lines of defense and entered the camp, spreading death. Only the division, under Artavazos, which had not been involved in the battle at all, escaped the slaughter. All the rest of Mardonius' men were killed. It is estimated that at least 200,000 Persians were killed in the battle, compared to 759 Greek hoplites and an unknown number of soldiers. The disproportion in the number of dead is in itself the best explanation for the conduct of the battle. It is obvious that the Persians were outflanked and that's why they perished.
August 27, 479 BC had already passed into history. On that summer day, under the bright Greek sun, an army of free men crushed Oriental despotism forever. The victors honored their dead heroes and dedicated part of the rich spoils to the gods. Among the others stood out a golden tripod, on which the victors engraved the names of the 31 Greek cities that participated in the national struggle against the Persians, winning glory immortal through the ages, still remembered by all free people on Earth.