Casting Through Ancient Greece

The Greeks had just won the battle at Salamis but it wasn’t immediately clear the extent of their victory. The Persian fleet had been mauled and now had some breathing room to withdraw back across the Aegean unhindered. The Greeks expecting the Persians to resume the attack the next day, eventually gave chase but to no avail.

Xerxes and his commanders discussed the best way forward, he still had an intact and undefeated army on Greek soil. Though, political considerations and possible trouble brewing back in the Empire would see him withdraw back home. 

The Persians would still continue the campaign without Xerxes present. His most trusted general Mardonius had been left in command of a picked fore to attempt to subjugate the rest of Hellas. The Persians would fall back into Thessaly for the winter and attempt you break Athens away from the Hellenic alliance.

Athens was now concerned at the inaction by the Peloponnesians who had returned to the Peloponnese behind the now near completed wall across the Isthmus. Though, Athens would reject the terms given which would see their city occupied for a second time in a year. They were once again taking refuge on Salamis and now desperate to get the Peloponnesians to march north. 

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An update about what has been happening at Casting Through Ancient Greece. 
Talking about what I have been doing over the last month or two while also discussing the direction of the series.
Big announcements regarding featuring ads into the episodes while also setting up a Patreon page. Supports of Patreon will have access to bonus episodes and more.
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In 2014 the sequel to the movie 300 was release, 300: Rise of an Empire. This time around the film would move away from the Spartans as its primary focus and put the spot light on Athens. Rise of an Empire would all have at the centre of its story the battles of Artemisium and Salamis which were both fought at sea and Artemisium occurring on the days as the battle of Thermopylae. Though how much of what is depicted in the movie is based on historical examples?

I will once again explore the main story line and themes that the film puts across while comparing what the ancient sources tell us about the events taking place over the period. This way we can see what the film has put across with fairly accurate historical context. While also seeing where its creators have stretched the historical record to fit their version of events. And of course, where they have basically written their own version of history.

By the end of the episode, hopefully you should have a pretty good understanding of what in the movie has a good grounding in history according to our ancient sources. Hopefully you have also been following the rest of the series where we have covered much of the events depicted from a historical point of view, helping further understanding the film historicity. So sit back and relax as we cast our way through 300: Rise of an Empire.   

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The Greek fleet had assembled at the island of Salamis, but an agreement on strategy was far from united. To make matters worse, Xerxes had arranged for a show of force outside the straits which saw a few contingents panic and set sail at once. For the rest who remained a decision was made that the fleet would withdraw back to the Peloponnese the next morning.

This would see Athens lost for good and the rest of Greece more vulnerable than ever. Themistocles, though had other ideas and now arranged a ruse, bordering on treason, to try and unite the Greeks to fight at Salamis. He would send a messenger to Xerxes to try and entice him into action before the Greeks had a chance to depart.     

Xerxes would act on the information that Themistocles had sent him, mobilising his entire fleet to try and defeat the Greek navy once and for all. The movements become a little confused but appears that both openings of the striates would be blocked in in one way or another. The Greeks would learn of their dire position, which would now see only one option open to them now, to fight.

The battle of Salamis would see the Greek fleet far outnumbered, but the vast number of the Persians would see this inhibit their movement within the striates. With Xerxes looking on, the commanders aboard the Persian ships would foul themselves on one another as they attempted to get into action to impress their king.

The Greeks would suffer many losses in the long days fighting, but the Persians had suffered far worse and were in full retreat out of the striates. As they fell back yet more carnage would follow as Greek ambushes were launched. The Persian fleet was now a spent force and the Greeks had won the battle of Salamis. Though, the level of their victory was not immediately apparent, also the Persian land forces were yet undefeated and the campaign would continue on.  

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This Episodes recommended podcast is Battlefield command History podcast. Check out Ramsey's series here: https://battlefieldcommandpodcast.com/

The defenders of the last stand at Thermopylae and the Spartan king lay dead, the Persians now in control of the pass. At Artemisium, the Greeks had decided to withdraw from their position due to not being able to sustain the losses they were taking and news of the fall of Thermopylae. The path into central Greece was now open to Xerxes and his forces.

The Persian army would march throughout central Greece adding more cities to their list of subjected peoples. Those cities and villages that continued to resit in the face of the Persian forces were raised to the ground with their people fleeing, killed or captured. Though, some divine intervention would see the Persians being unable to add Delphi to it subjected peoples.

With the news of the Persian advance, Athens had been evacuating its people across to the Island of Salamis. Xerxes would arrive to a mostly deserted Acropolis, laying siege to the few defenders and then capturing the city. He was now in control of the ultimate prize and would now take revenge for the destruction at Sardis the Athenians had been involved in some 20 years earlier. 

Athens now lay in ruins but the Athenians were still a powerful Polis. They still possessed one of the largest fleets in all of Greece. The other members of the Hellenic league were also on Salamis, but much debate was taking place on whether they should depart and make their way to the Peloponnese. The fate of Athens now rested on if the Greeks at Salamis could unite and challenge the Persians there. Themistocles, the Athenian leader would try all he could to make this a reality.   

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The Initial defence plan the Hellenic league put into action saw a land force attempting to block the Persian army’s march into Greece. Though, this was part of a larger plan which also saw a Greek fleet take up a position at Artemisium to block the advance of the Persian navy. Their position was located some 40 miles north east of Thermopylae and would help protect the hoplites in the pass being outflanked by Xerxes armada.

The Greek fleet was commanded by the Spartan, Euryrbiades although they supplied one of the smallest contingents. The majority of the fleet was made up of Athenian vessels, with them being commanded by their cunning leader, Themistocles. Themistocles also comes down through history as a driving force in the fleet’s strategy and would influence the decisions made in the Greek camp. 

Tradition has it that while the fighting was raging in the pass at Thermopylae, the naval action at Artemisium was also unfolding over the same 3 days. The Greeks would use the position at Artemisium to their advantage and look to nullify the Persian’s superiority in numbers. They would also employ cleaver tactics to avoid a decisive action, while the “gods” would also provide some assistance.

The final day at Artemisium would see the Persians attempt to force a full-scale engagement. Both sides would suffer in the action with the Persian fleet receiving the worst of it. The Greeks though, decided they would need to withdraw as they could ill afford the losses taken, the Persians could sustain a battle of attrition. News had also arrived that the Greek position at Thermopylae had fallen. The position had also now become irrelevant, the march into central Greece was now open. 

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In 2006 the movie 300 hit the screens of cinemas across the world depicting a battle that took place nearly 2500 years ago. Though, more accurately it depicts a group of 300 warrior’s involvement in that battle. For most, this would be their first and only exposure to Greek history, leaving them to either take on face value what they saw as basically fact, as it was based on actual events after all. Or, they would assume this was a fictional story with a historical theme, this is Hollywood.  

I explore the main storyline with all of the themes present, where the smaller details can be brought up with more context behind them. I want to be able to show what the film manages to present fairly accurately historically. Or alternatively has presented in its own interpretation with examples in the historical record that can be pointed to. I will also point out some of the fanciful elements and what appears to be inserted for dramatic purposes, but not based on anything from the historical record.

Ultimately, I hope after this episode people can walk away with a better understand of what has been presented and that can be connected to the ancient sources, therefore in line with the historical record. While also recognising what liberties have been made and perhaps why these things are presented or told the way they are. We are not looking to much at what was historical fact but what exists in the historical record that could be drawn upon which will also let us see how the Greeks saw their own history.

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The Greeks had now arrived at the pass of Thermopylae, in all there were some seven thousand Greeks present. They were led by the Spartan King Leonidas at the head of his three hundred strong Spartan force. Their position would be further supported by the combined Greek fleet some 40km away at Artemisium.

Defensive arrangements in the pass were undertaken as Xerxes forces drew closer outside the pass. It was also learnt that a small track in the mountains posed a threat to the Greek position down below in the pass. A sizable force would be detached from the main force and sent up into the mountains to guard this route.

Xerxes would attempt to convince the Greeks to surrender their position, but after four days sitting by idle he would launch the beginning of the battle of Thermopylae. No matter the quality of the troops Xerxes sent against the Greek position they failed to dislodge them from the pass. Even his most vaunted Immortals fared no better than those who went in before them.

Finally the nightmare, Ephalities would inform Xerxes of the existence of the trail in the mountains, betraying the Greek position. Now instead of having to meet the Greeks head on in the narrow pass, his troops could now surround them. Knowing their fate the remaining Greeks fought till the end with a shower of arrows finishing off the resistance in the pass. The final act of the battle seeing the Spartan solider Dienekes’ response realised, “Good, we shall fight in the shade then”

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With Xerxes arranging the full resources of the Persian empire in an invasion against Greece, word would have filtered back to Greece of the preparations. The Greeks would not sit by idle but would now attempt to take measures to see a halt be put to the Persian advance. This time around it wouldn’t just be Athens and Plataeans meeting the Persians on the field of battle.

In the years between Marathon and Xerxes invasion, politics had been continuing in Athens. The new public figure to have risen, Themistocles would see that a policy shifting Athens to a naval power would emerge. This would have huge impact on the coming war and also well into the future.

To have any hope against the force assembled by Xerxes, the Greeks would need to unite in a common cause. This would prove to be a difficult task in a land dominated by fiercely independent city states with their own interests. 

A league would be formed, though with only a fraction of the thousands of city states that dotted the Greek main land and Aegean. This would become to known as the Hellenic league and cooperation within it would rest upon a razors edge. Finally, the league would meet the second Persian invasion for the first time at the pass of Thermopylae and the straights of Artemisium.

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The Athenians and their Plataean allies had effectively put an end to the first Persian invasion at the Bay of Marathon in 490 BC. Athens would continue to emerge as a powerful city state with their confidence after their victory. The Hero of Marathon, Miltiades would fall from favour with a new figure coming to dominate the political landscape for a number of years to come.

Back in the Persian Empire the defeat at Marathon would not be a disaster but would still be an annoyance to Darius. Though, before further action could be taken against the Greeks Persia had problems within their own Empire that had to be resolved, with two important regions attempting to revolt, Egypt and Babylon.  

Once the empire had been stabilised preparations began to attempt a second invasion of Greece. A new king would lead this invasion as Darius had died of an illness before he could see the plans through. Xerxes was Darius’ son and would lead the forces against Greece unlike his father who had remained in Persia during the first invasion.

The army Xerxes assembled was larger than anything that had come before it in the ancient world. This time around there would be no doubt that the conquest of Greece was the main objective. Great feats of engineering would also be undertaken to assist in the march of this colossal force. To put a stop to the invasion this time around the fiercely independent Greek city states would need to unite against this common enemy. 

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