THE GRECO-PERSIAN WARS Peter Green UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley Los Angeles London TIe Greco-Persian Wars THE GRECO-PERSIAN WARS Peter Green UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley Los Angeles London University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England First Paperback Printing 1998 © 1996 by Peter Green This is a reissue, with a new introduction and an update to the bibliography, of the original edition, published in 1970 as The rear of SafLtmis in England and as Xerxes at SafLtmis in the United States. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Green, Peter, 1924- The Greco-Persian wars / Peter Green. p. cm. Rev. ed. of: Xerxes at Salamis. 1970. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-520-20313-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Salamis, Battle of, Greece, 480 B.C. 2. Xerxes I, King of Persia, S19-46S or 4 B.C. I. Green, Peter, 1934- Xerxes at Salamis. II. Title. DF22S.6.G7 1996 938'.03-dc20 Printed in the United States of America IS 14 13 12 11 10 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/ NISO z39·48-1992 (R 1997) (Permanence afPaper). 8 CONTENTS List rg Illustrations VB List rg Maps IX Abbreviations Xl Introduction to the 1996 reprint Xlll Priface and Acknowledgments xxv Part One: Darius and the 'Vest 3 Part Two: The Legacy ofl\larathon 43 Part Three: Waiting for the Barbarian 75 Part Four: The Corner-stone of Freedom I09 Part Five: The Wooden Wall I53 Part Six: The Doors of the Peloponnese 20I Part Seven: The Last Enemy 239 Notes 289 Bibliography 303 Supplementary Bibliograp!?J 3 5 I Index 33I ILLUSTRATIONS (Between pages 46 and 47) Themistocles portrait-herm discovered near the theatre of Ostia in 1939 (Ostia Museum: photo James Austin) The 'Troezen Decree' (American School in Athens: photo Alison Frantz) Kallidromos, the pass over the mountains behind Thermopylae (photo R. Schoder, SJ) (Between pages 78 and 79) The 'Aristion stele', an Attic burial marker (National Museum Athens: photo Hirmer) Late-archaic torso of Greek hoplite (Sparta lv!useum: photo /v!ansell Collection) The Marathon plain, from the summit of the Burial Mound (photo David Beal) Salamis: the Megara Channel looking eastward (Archeological Institute ifA merica) (Between pages 174 and 175) Xerxes as Crown Prince: detail from the Trea sury Frieze at Persepolis (Museum Teheran: photo Rene Percheron) Persepolis: the east stairway of the Apadana (Museum Teheran: photo Rene Percheron) The 'Serpent Column', a memorial dedicated at Delphi (photo R. Schoder, SJ) The city-walls of ancient Plataea (photo R. Schoder, SJ) VB ILLUSTRATIONS Aerial view of the Tempe gorge from the south (photo R. Schoder, SJ) (Between pages 206 and 207 ) Two ostraka bearing Themistocles' name (American School in Athens) Olympias under sail and oar, from Frank Welsh's Building the Trireme (London: Constable, 1988), p. 214. Reconstruction sketch of the ancient bridge of boats over the Hellespont, from C. M. Bowra's Classical Greece (New York: Time-Life, 1965), P·75· Modern bridge of boats on the Kabul River, from Volume 4, Historia tou Hellenikou Ethnous [~, '0 MEyaM~av8po~ KaL Ot 'EM77VurTtKOL XPOVOL (Ath ens: Ekdotike Athenon, 1973), p. 178. Vlll MAPS The Persian Satrapies I4 The Plain of Marathon 33 Xerxes' route to Greece 76 Xerxes' Campaign in Greece 90 Thermopylae: the Hot Gates I I3 Thermopylae I25 Battle of Himera I47 Sea approaches to Salamis I68 The Salamis Channel I73 Plataea and Cithacron 242 Samos and Mycale 278 Battle of Myc alc 279 Maps drawn by Design Practitioners IX