Plataea represented the first large-scale deployment of siege technology and engineered tactics in Greek warfare: an evolution that redefined how cities were attacked and defended. But its legacy reached further. It signaled the beginning of a deeper collapse: the unraveling of the social fabric and psychological cohesion that had once bound the Hellenic world. From that point forward, betrayal carried more currency than loyalty, and expediency replaced shared memory as the foundation of alliance.

Plataea. 429 - 427 B.C.
Spartan Forces: Unknown. Modern historians speculate at ~ 30,000 Soldiers.
Plataean: 400 Plataean, 80 Athenian Soldiers.

Additional Reading and Episode Research:

• Kern, Paul. Ancient Siege Warfare
• Jowett Translation: Thucydides. The Peloponnesian War.
• Crane, Gregory. The Case of Plataia.

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