Invasion of the Greek mainland
Darius left to his son the task of punishing the
Athenians, Naxians, and
Eretrians for their interference in the
Ionian Revolt and their defeat of the Persians at
Marathon. From 483 BC Xerxes prepared his expedition: A channel was dug through the
isthmus of the peninsula of
Mount Athos, provisions were stored in the stations on the road through
Thrace, two bridges were thrown across the
Hellespont. According to the Greek historian
Herodotus, Xerxes' first attempt to bridge the Hellespont ended in failure when a storm destroyed the
flax and
papyrus bridge; Xerxes ordered the Hellespont (the strait itself) whipped three hundred times and had
fetters thrown into the water. Xerxes' second attempt to bridge the Hellespont was successful. Xerxes concluded an alliance with
Carthage, and thus deprived
Greece of the support of the powerful monarchs of
Syracuse and
Agrigentum. Many smaller Greek states, moreover, took the side of the Persians, especially
Thessaly, Thebes and
Argos. Xerxes set out in the spring of
480 BC from
Sardis with a fleet and army which Herodotus claimed was more than two million strong.
Xerxes was victorious during the initial battles. At the
Battle of Thermopylae, a small force of warriors, led by King
Leonidas of
Sparta, resisted the much larger Persian forces, but were ultimately defeated, after a Greek man called
Ephialtes betrayed his country by telling the Persians of another pass around the mountains. After Thermopylae,
Athens was captured, and the Athenians and Spartans were driven back to their last line of defense at the
Isthmus of Corinth and in the
Saronic Gulf. At Artemisium, large storms had destroyed ships from the Greek side, and so the battle stopped prematurely as the Greeks received news of the defeat at Thermopylae and retreated. Xerxes was induced by the message of
Themistocles (against the advice of
Artemisia of
Halicarnassus) to attack the Greek fleet under unfavourable conditions, rather than sending a part of his ships to the
Peloponnesus and awaiting the dissolution of the Greek armies. The
Battle of Salamis (
September 29, 480 BC) was won by the Athenians. Although the loss was a setback, it was not a disaster, and Xerxes set up a winter camp in
Thessaly. Due to unrest in
Babylon, Xerxes was forced to send his army home to prevent a revolt, leaving behind an army in Greece under
Mardonius, who was defeated the following year at
Plataea. The defeat of the Persians at
Mycale roused the Greek cities of
Asia.
