So here I am within sight of the finish line of this project I semi-unwittingly tackled and I’m slamming on the brakes to post about a topic I glossed over in Book Seven. For this post I wanted to look at the battle of Himera in Sicily that was supposed to have occurred on the […]
Tag: The Histories
The Persians were not inferior in courage or strength, but they did not have hoplite arms, and besides, they were untrained and no match for their opponents in tactical skill. They were dashing out beyond the front lines individually or in groups of ten, joining together in larger or smaller bands, and charging right into […]
This map covers earlier battles, but it also provides the topography of the area surrounding Plataea (located just below the “oe” in Boeotia) Picture source After dinner, as they lingered drinking, the Persian on the couch with Thersandros asked him in Greek what country he came from, to which he replied, “Orchomenus.” The Persian then […]
The Athenians first answered Alexandros as follows: “We ourselves are already well aware that the forces of the Mede are many times greater than our own, so there is no need to admonish us about that. Nevertheless, we shall defend ourselves however we can in our devotion to freedom. So do not attempt to seduce […]
Sea Fight at Salamis, Wilhelm von Kaulbach, 1868 Picture source As Themistokles was saying this, Adeimantos the Corinthian again attacked him, ordering him to be silent since he had no fatherland, and forbidding Eurybiades to allow any man who had no city to propose a motion for a vote. He told Themistokles that when he […]
The Troizen decreePicture source When the allies brought their ships to Salamis, the Athenians put in at their own shore and made a proclamation that every Athenian should try to save his children and other members of his household in any way that he could. Most of them dispatched their households to Troizen, through some […]
Thermopylae & Artemision campaign Picture source We know very little of Pindar’s life. He was born in or about the year B.C. 522, at the village of Kynoskephalai near Thebes. He was thus a citizen of Thebes and seems to have always had his home there. But he travelled among other states, many of which […]
The Spartans provided the commander who had supreme authority over them all, Eurybiades son of Eurykleides. For the allies had refused to follow Athenian leaders and had asserted that unless a Laconian led them, they would call off the anticipated assembly of their armed forces. … [T]he Athenians yielded to them because they considered the […]
Xerxes at the Hellespont, Jean Adrien Guignet I exercised my kingship on condition that I led a hard, sober and industrious life, just like that of my people. I was king solely to defend my fatherland and to ensure the rule of law. My kingship gave me the power to do good without permitting me […]
Jacques-Louis David, “Leonidas at Thermopylae” (1814) Picture and poem shamelessly lifted from Stephen Pentz Thermopylae Honor to those who in the life they lead define and guard a Thermopylae. Never betraying what is right, consistent and just in all they do but showing pity also, and compassion; generous when they are rich, and when they […]