Thermopylae: The Greco-Persian War

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Throughout history when a war has broken out between two or more empires the many often defeated the few due to the close combat style. Before modern weaponry there was only close combat; the only weapon that could have been used in long combat was bow and arrow. Even the bow and arrow wasn’t capable of covering a large distance to be able to kill a great amount before your opponent being able to encounter. Once the close combat fighters of both armies engaged arrows could not be fired. A war that happened centuries ago still remembered by a great number of people. The Greeks faced the Persians who outnumbered them by a huge difference of fifty to one still has the world mesmerized. This war is known worldwide for its amazing act of courage,…show more content…
It is also called the Greco- Persian war, because this war brought all the city-states of Greece together to fight against the Persian. It was a logical choice to pick one of the Spartans as their leading commander of the army. Leonidas one of the two kings of the Spartans was chosen for that role. Thermopylae was the place that the Greeks decided to stand their ground against the enormous army of the Persians. Thermopylae is a small passage between the Aegean Sea and the high mountains of Greece. This location was chosen to distinguish the large numbers of Persian army and make their advantage turn in to their disadvantage. A battle in a war that lasted 3 days is better known than the war itself. An act of courage, strategically intelligence is what this stand was at Thermopylae. To fight the supreme force of that time with one fiftieth of its army was something unbelievably hard thing to do. Xerxes king of the Persians at the time tried to persuade to make the Spartans side with the Persians, Leonidas declined the offer. The stand was set at Thermopylae because it was the passage from the south of Greece to the north that was the only route. Xerxes had asked the traitor Ephialtes about the Greece soldiers whether there is a force in Greece that could stand against his army. Several fights had been fought no Persian army could defeat the defense of the Greeks. The new fighting style of the Spartans was new and crucial decider of the direction the war was going. They call it the phalanx, which is rather than all fighting alone and for one selves glory, the soldiers stick together and fight together to be stronger. In a phalanx the fighting style is to stay your ground and crush the morale state of the opponent once they realize hundreds of their comrades died but the Spartans stay alive and not wounded. The Spartans also had long spears better swords that was from harder
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