The war continues after Salamis
Mardonius continues the land campaign. Boeotia and Thebes’ support provide a plain suited to his cavalry; Pausanias leads the Greeks at the foot of Mount Cithaeron.
Battle
Plataea
479 BC
Cavalry deprives the coalition of water before its pursuit breaks apart
Military history
How does a disordered Greek withdrawal lead to Mardonius’s defeat?
In 479 BC, Mardonius’s cavalry threatens the Greek coalition’s water and supplies in Boeotia. His night withdrawal falls into disorder. The Persians pursue, but meet two separate lines of resistance: the Spartans and Tegeans on one side, the Athenians on the other. Mardonius is killed and his army gives way; the Persian camp is then taken.
Cavalry pressure before the main battle
The death of Masistios in an earlier skirmish is a Greek success. It does not prevent Persian cavalry from later threatening the convoys and access to water.
A coalition difficult to move
The contingents follow their own commanders. During the night withdrawal, the groups do not take the same route or keep the same pace.
Highly disputed strengths
Herodotus adds the Greek categories to 110,000 men and gives much higher Persian totals. These ancient figures are not verifiable counts.
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Chronological dossier
MarathonA thinned Greek centre falls back, then the victorious wings turn against the Persian centre.ThermopylaeThe wall, sea and slopes allow the allies to repel two days of assaults; Hydarnes's night march along Anopaia creates a second front, compels the main body's withdrawal and destroys the rearguard.ArtemisiumIn 480 BCE, the Greeks jointly defend the land passage at Thermopylae and the naval front at Artemisium. They resist several engagements while a storm destroys the Persian detachment sent to outflank them. But the fall of Thermopylae forces them to withdraw. The surviving fleet will fight at Salamis.SalamisIn 480 BCE, the Greek allies hesitate to remain near Salamis. The message from Themistocles prompts Xerxes to watch their exits. Forced to fight together, the Greeks exploit congestion among the opposing squadrons in the strait. The victory removes the immediate naval threat but does not end the Persian invasion.
Military history
Sources
Primary source — ancient text, scholarly editionHérodote, Histoires, livre IX, traduction A. D. Godley, Loeb Classical Library
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 ↗Late primary source — ancient text, scholarly editionDiodore de Sicile, Bibliothèque historique, livre XI, traduction C. H. Oldfather
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 ↗Late primary source — ancient biography, scholarly editionPlutarque, Vie d'Aristide, traduction Bernadotte Perrin
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 ↗Specialist and cartographic reference — Oxford Classical DictionaryJohn F. Lazenby, « Plataea, battle of, 479 BCE », Oxford Classical Dictionary
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 ↗Academic article — HistoriaRoel Konijnendijk, « Neither the Less Valorous nor the Weaker: Persian Military Might and the Battle of Plataia »
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 ↗Institutional source — Center for Hellenic Studies, Harvard UniversityThe Battle of Plataea 2.5K, programme scientifique du Center for Hellenic Studies
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 ↗Institutional survey report — Australian Archaeological Institute at AthensRobert Jones, « The Plataia Battlefield Survey », AAIA Bulletin 15
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 ↗Specialist synthesis — Livius.orgJona Lendering, « Plataea (479 BCE) »
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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