Download Thermopylae

Thermopylae: Myth, History, &
Archaeology
Herodotus
• 484-c.425 B.C.
• Father of History
but Son of Myth
• Access to
veterans of
Persian wars
Plutarch
• 46-127
A.D.
• Life of
Lycurgus
the Lawgiver
• Spartan
Institutions
& Life
Xenophon
• c.430-c.354
• Mercenary in
Persian “civil war”
• Anabasis
• “Warriors”
• Spartan
Institutions
The Persian Empire 490 B.C.
Persian
Empire
IRAN
Afghanistan
Iraq
Pakistan
Turkmenistan
Levant
Syria, Lebanon,
Jordan, Israel,
Palestine
Anatolia (Turkey)
Egypt
Bulgaria
Origin of
Persian Wars
• 500 B.C. Ionian Revolt
• Greek Colonies on Coast of Asia
Minor rebel against Persian taxes
& military service
• 498 B.C. Athens sends help,
burns Sardis
• 495 B.C. Darius regains control
of Ionia
• Darius (521-486 B.C.) plots
revenge - invasion
• 492 B.C. Persian General
Mardonius campaigns in Thrace
• 490 B.C. Persian Fleet sent to
invade Greece
Battle of Marathon 490 B.C.
• Athenians led
by Miltiades,
former
mercenary in
Persian army
• Greek losses
“192”
• Persian dead
“6,400!”
2nd Persian
Invasion
• Xerxes, son of Darius
• 481 B.C. Greek
League against Persia
• Sparta commands but
Athens the true naval
power
• 480 B.C. Battle at
Thermopylae
Xerxes
Reliefs at Persepolis
Leonidas at Thermopylae (David)
Battle of Thermopylae
Battle of Salamis
• 480/479 B.C.
Battle at
Salamis
• Greeks lose
c.40 ships
• Persians lose
c.200 ships,
and Persians
couldn’t
swim!
• Immortals
slaughtered
on Psyttaleia
Triremes
Battle of
Plataea
• 479 B.C. Battle at
Plataea
Death of
Mardonius, End of
Persian Invasion)
• Herodotus:
only 43,000 of
250,000 Persians
survived the battle,
while the Greeks
lost only 159 men!
The Hoplite
Panoply
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Helmet
Shield
Breastplate/Cuirass
Greaves
Sword
Spear
Total Weight 50-70 lbs
Full Panoply
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(1) Helmet
(2) Cuirass
(3) Armguard
(4) Shield
(5) Belt
(6) Thigh Piece
(7) Greave
(8) Ankleguard
(9) Footguard
(10) Forearm Guard.
The Shield
• Convex wooden disc
• Bronze overlay
• Individual Decoration for
non-Spartan hoplites
The
Cuirass
• Front and
back pieces
• Linothorax
The Helmet
• Corinthian helmet
late 6th - early 5th
century
• Beards to prevent
chafing?
The Chigi Vase 640-630 B.C.
Spartan
Superiority
• Uniformity of
Panoply
• Distinctive Spartan
Shield
• Scarlet Cloak
• Regular training
together & bonding
in syssitia
The Phalanx
Spartans as Defenders of
Freedom?
• “Dorian Invasion”
• Northern Greek People displace
or conquer Achaean Greeks in
Laconia & then Messenia
• Spartiates rule local residents,
perioeci (merchants) & helots
(agricultural serfs through fear
and brutality inspired by the
Krypteia (secret police)
Ephialtes
From Trachis
Spartan Eugenics
Greek Collusion
Not deformed
Spartan Bounty
on his Head
Tactics: Phalanx or
Monomachia?
Spartan
Sexuality
• “Spartan hotties vs.
Persian trannies”?
• Athenian Boy-lovers?
• No home life until 30!
• The Mess-hall is cold
at night…
• Institutionalized
(chaste?) pederasty
• Husband-doubling &
Adultery
Spartan…
Ummm…
Errr…
• This slide IS important
but I have forgotten
why…
• Karneia
– 9 day festival of Apollo
Spartan Society
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Agoge:
Krypteia:
Syssitia:
Homoioi
Reserves:
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Women’s Rights?
Property
Sex
Education
Sports
7-17
18-20
21-30
31-60
Spartan Government
• 5 Ephors elected from the
Spartiate class for 1 year
• 2 hereditary kings with equal
authority (cp.2 Roman consuls)
• Gerousia (council of 28 elders
over 65, elected for life, usually
from
royal households +
the 2 kings)
• Damos – citizen assembly
Archaeology of Persian Wars
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Schliemann excavations!
Excavation of Burial Mound of Plataeans
Tomb of Spartans found near Thermopylae?
Persian Chariot Wheels as Votives in
Temple of Apollo and Artemis at Kalapodi