Ancient essays: sources (Persian wars)

Reasons for Greek victory and defeat - Leadership (Themistocles)

Thucydides states that Themistocles ‘showed an unmistakable natural genius’

Reasons for Greek victory and defeat - Leadership (Themistocles surrender)

he “surrendered his own command to Eurybiades” (Herodotus)

Reasons for Greek victory and defeat - Leadership (Pausanias morale)

“leave their ranks and come to view” the corpse (Herodotus)

Reasons for Greek victory and defeat - Leadership (Pausanias difficulties)

Pausanias faced difficulties of “an army consisting of over 100,000 men from some twenty-four city states, plagued by dissension, insubordination and lack of food and water, as well as the difficulty of warding off the constant threat of the excellent Persian cavalry.” (Fine)

Reasons for Greek victory and defeat - Weapons and armour (Greeks)

The “material equipment and training of the Greek infantry-man” allowed Greek victory (Sealey)

Reasons for Greek victory and defeat - Weapons and armour (Persians)

Persians ‘perfected’ the bow (Kontorlis)

Reasons for Greek victory and defeat - Strategy

he “surrendered his own command to Eurybiades” (Herodotus)

Reasons for Greek victory and Persian defeat - unity (Greek secondary)

“Victory was due to intelligent leadership as well as great courage and discipline by almost everybody on the Greek side” (Ehrenburg)

Reasons for Greek victory and Persian defeat - Unity (Greek archaeological)

8m Serpent column - 31 city states inscribed

Invasion: Salamis (strategy)

Herodotus describes Themistocles plan.

Invasion: Salamis (Themistocles)

Themistocles’ ‘showed an unmistakable natural genius’ (Thucydides)

Invasion: Plataea (Pausanias)

Pausanias secured a victory “exceeding in glory all that to which our knowledge extends” (Herodotus)

Invasion: Plataea (Pausanias - secondary)

Pausanias faced difficulties of “an army consisting of over 100,000 men from some twenty-four city states, plagued by dissension, insubordination and lack of food and water, as well as the difficulty of warding off the constant threat of the excellent Persian cavalry.” (Fine)

Invasion: Plataea (Strategy)

“(The Greeks) had the training and discipline to make their superiority tell” (Sealey)