Battle of Plataea
The Battle of Plataea, fought in 479 BCE near the city of Plataea in Boeotia, marked the final confrontation of the second Persian invasion of Greece. Following the earlier Persian victories at Thermopylae and the subsequent sack of Athens, a significant Persian force remained under the command of Mardonius after King Xerxes I retreated. The Greek forces, led by the Spartan regent Pausanias, assembled to counter this threat, with Spartans on the right flank and Athenians on the left. Initial skirmishes between the two sides yielded little decisive outcome, leading to a stalemate. However, as the Persians disrupted Greek supply lines, Pausanias ordered a strategic retreat to preserve his troops. The Persians launched a surprise attack during this withdrawal, but the experienced and heavily armed Greek soldiers, especially the Spartans, successfully repelled the assault. The death of Mardonius demoralized the Persian forces, resulting in their retreat. Although hostilities with Persia continued for some time, the Battle of Plataea effectively ended the Persian threat to mainland Greece and set the stage for future Greek campaigns against Persian-held territories in Asia Minor.
Battle of Plataea
Related civilizations: Classical Greece, Persia.
Date: late summer, 479 b.c.e.
Locale: Plataea, in Boeotia southwest of Thebes
Background
In 480 b.c.e., the Persians invaded Greece, destroyed an advance Spartan force at Thermopylae, and sacked Athens. After the Greek fleet defeated the Persians at Salamis, the Persian king Xerxes I retreated, leaving a sizable Persian army in Greece under Mardonius.
Action
In 479 b.c.e., the Persians sacked Athens again and took up a position in Boeotia. The Greeks, commanded by the Spartan regent Pausanias, marched north from Corinth to meet them. The Spartans held the Greek right wing and the Athenians the left. An initial engagement was indecisive, and for several days, both sides remained idle. When the Persians cut Greek supply lines and polluted their drinking water, Pausanias ordered a nighttime retreat to safer ground.
The Greek withdrawal was not completed by dawn, and the Persians attacked. The Spartans bore the brunt of the Persian assault, but their superior weaponry and discipline overwhelmed the more lightly armed Persians. When Mardonius was killed, the Persians lost heart and fled.
Consequences
Although the war with Persia continued, the Persians never again threatened mainland Greece. In 478 b.c.e., Greek forces crossed the Aegean Sea to Asia Minor and under Athenian leadership fought to free the eastern Greeks from Persian control.
Bibliography
Green, Peter. The Greco-Persian Wars. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996.
Lazenby, J. F. The Defence of Greece, 490-479 b.c. Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips, 1993.