Battle
Cavalry deprives the coalition of water before its pursuit breaks apart
Military history
At Plataea, Greek victory comes neither from a perfectly prepared initial clash nor from mechanical superiority. Mardonius retains the advantage of the plain, missiles, and cavalry; Pausanias holds the slopes of Cithaeron and refuses to offer him an easy line. Cavalry cuts the convoys and makes first the Asopos, then the Gargaphia spring unusable. The night withdrawal towards the “Island” does not unfold as planned: the centre reaches the vicinity of Plataea, the Spartans and Tegeans depart late, and the Athenians take a separate route. Mardonius then crosses the Asopos believing he is pursuing an army in flight. The pursuit becomes two separate battles; the Spartans and Tegeans break the Persian core after Mardonius's death, while the Athenians drive back the Boeotian allies and then open the palisaded camp.
After returning to Attica, Mardonius burns Athens, then chooses Boeotia: the plain and proximity of Thebes better suit his cavalry and provide a friendly base. The Greeks arrive under Pausanias and establish themselves beneath Cithaeron rather than cross the Asopos in the open.
The first engagement is local: cavalry attacks the Megarian sector, the Athenians and their archers intervene, and Masistius is killed. Greek success encourages a move down towards Gargaphia, but the cavalry retains the ability to strike the passes and deny water.
Herodotus describes wings and a centre composed of contingents from many cities. The night council and Amompharetus's refusal reveal negotiated coordination, not an army in which orders circulate uniformly. The CHS stresses the multinational and unstable character of this coalition.
Herodotus adds 38,700 hoplites, 69,500 light troops, and 1,800 Thespians, then proposes 300,000 imperial troops and about 50,000 Greek allies. Diodorus gives other totals. Modern work refuses to turn these incompatible catalogues into mapped strengths; the diagram shows functions, not a numerical scale.
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Military history
IX.20–25 pour le combat de cavalerie et Masistios ; IX.26–32 pour les lignes et contingents ; IX.39–42 pour le convoi et le débat Artabaze–Mardonios ; IX.49–58 pour l'eau, l'« Île » et le repli ; IX.59–70 pour la poursuite, les deux combats, la mort de Mardonios et le camp
Backbone of the sequence, named references, relative positions, actions, and limits of ancient figures.
View ↗XI.28–30 pour la campagne et les effectifs ; XI.30.2–31.2 pour la tradition alternative du terrain et de l'avance ; XI.31.3–33.4 pour le camp, les pertes et les suites
Divergent testimony on manoeuvre and numbers; used to preserve the dispute rather than merge two accounts.
View ↗Aristide 14 pour Masistios ; 16–18 pour l'échange des ailes, le repli et Amompharète ; 19 pour les deux combats, Mardonios, le camp et les pertes
Check of a late tradition centred on Aristides and comparison of details on withdrawal, fighting, and losses.
View ↗Entrée de référence, résumé en trois étapes : contreforts du Cithéron et cavalerie ; déplacement vers l'Asopos, harcèlement et source Gargaphie ; repli nocturne, deux combats et défaite de Mardonios
Modern check of the causal chain and relational Cithaeron–Asopos–Gargaphia–Plataea map.
View ↗Historia 61.1 (2012), pp. 1–17 : pp. 2–7 pour les sources et l'équipement ; pp. 7–11 pour cavalerie et tactiques ; pp. 11–17 pour logistique, poursuite, combat et pertes
Avoid a simplistic narrative of automatic hoplite superiority; cross-check mobility, missiles, logistics, cohesion, and collapse of command.
View ↗Présentation et sessions : gestion des armées multinationales ; coopération Perses–Thébains ; contexte du commandement de Mardonios ; quête topographique de Gargaphie, Héra et Déméter ; portée de Platées dans la mémoire de la guerre
Distinguish coalition, enemy cooperation, construction of blame around Mardonius, memorial topography, and strategic significance.
View ↗pp. 14–15 et figures 1–4 : secteurs recherchés, orientation relative de Platées, Gargaphie, Asopos et Déméter ; anomalies UAV et GPR non transformées en identification certaine
Bound the topographical reconstruction and justify directional relationships instead of asserted modern coordinates.
View ↗Paragraphes sur la plaine au nord de Platées, la rivière, la source et le camp ; paragraphe sur Hérodote comme source principale et sur la confusion des marches
Comparative check of the mechanism and caution over the Greek manoeuvre.
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