The Danger Zone (DZ)

There was an important email from the gods that Xerxes wasn’t copied in on. Boy, I bet he would soon be wishing that he had been. What did it say?

Tag words: Xerxes; Delphi Oracle; wooden wall; Divine Salamis; Themistocles; Persia; Greece; Athens, Sparta; Artemesium; Thermopylae Pass; Eurybiades; Herodotus; Histories; Mnesiphilus; John Marincola; Demaratus; Dicaeus; Demeter; Persephone;

Who was the spy in Xerxes court? And how genius was the way he got his message to the Greeks that revealed Xerxes’ plans for the invasion of Greece?

Tag words: Xerxes; Spartans; Thermopylae Pass; Persians;  kill ratio; Darius; Herodotus; Histories; Demaratus; best fighting men in the world; Victor Davis Hanson; Carnage and Culture; JFC Fuller; The Decisive Battles of the Western World; John Lewis Gaddis; On Grand Strategy; Salamis;

You’d be surprised at the last words spoken by Leonidas before he died with his fellow 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae Pass in 480 BC.

Then again, maybe you wouldn’t be. Let me tell you what they were and you can decide for yourself.

Tag words: Leonidas; 300 Spartans; Battle of Thermopylae Pass; the Immortals; Persians; Mardonius; Hydarnes; Ephialtes; Victor Davis Hanson; The Western Way of War; Spartan pipes; Herodotus; Histories; Churchill; Carnage and Culture; Xerxes;

For the last stand at Thermopylae, only some of the Greeks would remain. There were compelling reasons for Leonidas and the Spartans to stay and die. They had been sent to defend the Pass and they would never leave.

Well – there’s always one exception I guess, and I’m going to tell you about the one Spartan that got away. One minute, there were two that got away. This is the story of how that happened.

Tag words: Thermopylae Pass; Leonidas; Xerxes; Herodotus; Histories; The Immortals; Persians;Ephialtes; Spartans; Richard Nelson; Armies of the Greek and Persian Wars; Victor Davis Hanson; The Western Way of War; Aristodemus; Dieneces; Plato; The Republic;

The Greek soldiers blocking the Thermopylae Pass that Xerxes army needed to pour through to get into Greece, appeared pretty warlike and fierce. But Xerxes understood men. He knew exactly what was needed to drive this small band of peasant farmers out of his way and how to motivate his men to achieve this task. Now he was going to unleash them.

Tag words: Thermopylae Pass; Leonidas; Persians; Xerxes; Battle of Marathon; Herodotus; Victor Davis Hanson; Spartans; The Western Way of War; Socrates; Hoplites; Carnage and Culture; Richard Nelson; Armies of the Greek and Persian War; Hydarnes; Immortals; Old Guard; Waffen SS;

As unbelievable as it is, this was Xerxes first move soon after his mighty army arrived at the Thermopylae Pass when he found it was defended and when he discovered that the defenders would not flee.

Tag words: Xerxes; Thermopylae Pass; Herodotus; Histories; John Marincola; JFC Fuller; Decisive Battles of the Western World; Adolf Hitler; Leonidas; Spartans; Sparta; Heracles; Hercules; Zeus; Plutarch; Sun Tzu; Carneia; John Lewis Gaddis; Lacedaemonians; Persians; Demaratus; Artabanus; Darius; Cyrus the Great;

You’ll never believe what the Spartans did just before they faced the final attack by Xerxes mighty army – knowing they would be wiped out to a man. Herodotus tells us that they were being observed from a distance by a Persian spy who watched them in astonishment.

Tag words: Spartans ; Xerxes; Thermopylae Pass; Herodotus; Histories; Persians; Heracles; Argo; Golden Fleece; J.F.C. Fuller; Decisive Battles of the Western World; Salamis; Italian campaign; Inchon landing; King Leonidas; Euboean Channel; Pysttaleia; Pass at Tempe; Thessalians; Euanetus; Themistocles; Artemisium;

Who was it that was crucified – but then was taken down before he died and survived?

Tag words: Crucifixion; survival, anatomical effects; emergency room; Dr Mark Eastman; Koinonia House

Now some friction, as Clausewitz called it, was going to enter Xerxes life and planned invasion, in the form of an unknown unknown, in the form of what Herodotus tells us the people in the area called a Hellespontian, which is a south-easterly gale. Perhaps this was the wind that the Oracle at Delphi had told the people of Delphi to pray to. If they did, they must have set up their alter at Thyia, that I spoke of in Part 13, in record time – and not a moment too soon.

Tag words: Clausewitz; Herodotus; The Histories; Oracle at Delphi; JFC Fuller; Decisive Battles of the Western World; Euboean Channel; Eurybiades; Xerxes; Darius; Crucifixion; Artemisium; Diodorus Siculus; Richard Nelson; Warfleets of Antiquity; diekplus; John Marincola; Homer; Troy; Iliad; Odyssey; Larry Siedentop; Inventing the Individual;

Xerxes the wise ruler, making intelligent decisions, is on show in this programme. Decisions of great insight, brilliance even.

In previous programmes we’ve seen examples of decisions by Xerxes of profound stupidity.

But right now, I have no trouble in calling Xerxes a smooth operator.

Tag words: Xerxes; Greeks; Persians; Thermopylae; Oracle at Delphi; Herodotus; The Histories; penteconters; John Marincola; Richard Nelson; Warfleets of Antiquity; Luke; Acts 27; Paul the Apostle; 2 Corinthians 11:25; Jefferson White; Evidence and Paul’s Journeys: An Historical Investigation into the Travels of the Apostle Paul; Suetonius; Emperor Claudius; Lucian; Euroclydon