The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were the height of European colonial activity in the Middle East. This was a period during which the British were involved in the affairs of Egypt and the Sudan as they formed alliances in the region for economic purposes. In 1820 the British and the Gulf-region sheikhs established economic pacts that would guarantee the British access to Gulf-region resources and in 1839 they annexed Aden. The British went to war with Iran in 1856 over rights of way to India and China through Iran and later, in 1907, England and Russia would vie for power in Iran and divide it for their interests. The Italians entered the Middle East also at the beginning of the 20th century, establishing presence in Libya through a series of campaigns over a twenty year period.
The French, in turn, gained control over Algiers in 1830 and also pressed into Lebanon in 1860. In 1881 the French established a protectorate in Tunisia and would through the northern gateway of Africa establish a presence in what are today the modern nations Senegal, Mauritania, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Niger, Guinea, Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, and Benin. France’s intention was to establish a firm east-west axis of control across the African continent in opposition to the British Empire’s north-south axis of power. The two imperial powers were at odds, though by 1904 the two had reached a series of agreements under the Entente Cordiale which eventually led the way for Britain to support France’s grab for Morocco as a French protectorate. Previously, in 1869, the French and British had collaborated with their financing to assist the Egyptians in construction of the Suez Canal. 
The colonies of the Middle East were exploited for their resources and their strategic location as well as for the wealth of their artistic traditions, brought back to Europe in the antiquities trade. Sometimes with the assistance of their hosts, the British and other European powers returned to their countries with cultural treasures 
The negotiations continued through the spring, but as summer approached the army of Mardonius was on the move. Sparta was not ready to meet the invader, and the Athenians once more took refuge on their ships, ten months after their return. Mardonius took possession of the city, and this time effectually destroyed it; but as nothing was to be gained by a further stay, he marched his army to Thebes, which became his headquarters. The Spartans were at length ready to march. They saw their city menaced, and their own safety demanded that the forces of Mardonius should be broken.
With the aid of their allies they put into the field an army, the largest that the Greeks ever mustered, variously reported as numbering one hundred thousand to one hundred and ten thousand men. These were under the command of the Spartan king, Pausanias. In September they set out for Thebes, and in a few days came up to the Persian army, which was stationed at Plataea, a short distance from Thebes. Here Mardonius had established a fortified camp to which he might retreat if defeated on the field. For eleven days the two armies confronted each other, neither anxious to strike the first blow. Then the supply of water for the Greek camp gave out, and Pausanias fell back to a better position.
This movement threw the Greek army into disorder, and the three main divisions became separated from one another. Perceiving this the next morning, Mardonius hastened with his Persians toward the higher ground, where the Spartan troops might be seen winding along under the hillside, for from the river-banks he could not catch sight of the Athenians, who were hidden among the low hills which rose from the level plain.
The last momentous strife had now begun. It was the custom of the Spartans before beginning a battle to offer sacrifice, and to wait for an omen or sign from heaven on the offering. Even now, when the Persians had advanced to within bow-shot and were pouring flights of arrows upon the Spartans, Pausanias offered sacrifice. But the omens were bad, and forbade any action except in self-defence. The Spartans knelt behind their shields, but the arrows pierced them, and the bravest men died sorrowfully, lamenting not for death, but because they died without striking a blow for Sparta. In his distress Pausanias called upon the goddess Hera, and the omens suddenly became favorable, and the Spartans with their Tegean allies threw themselves upon the enemy.
But the disparity of forces rendered the attack desperate. Fifty-three thousand Greeks in all were opposed to the overwhelming numbers of Mardonius. The Athenians were engaged elsewhere and could afford no assistance. The Persians had made a palisade of their wicker
shields, behind which they could securely and effectually use their bows and arrows. By the first fierce onset of the Greeks this palisade went down, but the Asiatics, laying aside their bows, fought desperately with javelins and daggers. But they had no metal armor to defend them; and the Spartans, with their lances fixed and their shields touching each other, bore down everything before them.
The Persians fought with almost Hellenic heroism. Coming to close quarters, they seized the spears of their enemies and broke off their heads. Rushing forward singly or in small groups, they were borne down in the crush and killed; still they were not dismayed; and the battle raged more fiercely on the spot where Mardonius, on his white horse, fought with the flower of his troops. At length Mardonius was slain, and when his chosen guards had fallen around him, the remainder of the Persians made their way to their fortified camp, and took refuge behind its wooden walls.
In the mean time the Athenian army had been confronted by the Persian-Theban allies. Here it was not a conflict between disciplined valor and barbaric hordes, but between Greek and Greek. The battle was long and bloody, but in the end the defenders of Greek liberty were victorious over those who would destroy it. The Theban force was not only defeated but annihilated, and then the Athenians hastened to the support of Pansanias. While the Spartans were the best-drilled soldiery in Greece for the field, they had little skill in siege operations, and the wooden walls of the Persian camp opposed to them an effective barrier.
While the Spartan force was engaged in abortive attempts, the Athenians and their allies came up fresh from their victory over the Thebans. Headed by the Tegeans, they burst like a deluge into the encampment, and the Persians, losing all heart, sought wildly to hide themselves like deer flying from lions. Then followed a carnage so fearful that out of two hundred and sixty thousand men not three thousand, it is said, remained alive.
Thus ended this formidable invasion, which threatened the very existence of Greece. The great wave of Oriental despotism had spent its force without submerging freedom. Thenceforth the wonderful Greek energy and creative power might be turned away from matters military and expended upon the arts of peace.
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The Athenians returned to their city and found everything in ruins. Fire and hate had destroyed home and temple alike. All the accumulated wealth of generations was gone. Nothing was left but the indomitable energy which had been tested on so many trying emergencies, and the wonderful skill of eye and hand which came of inherited aptitude and long personal experience. Upon the old site a new city grew in a single generation, marvelous in its splendor of temple and palace, so light and airy, yet so strong and enduring, that after the lapse of twenty-five centuries the marble skeletons, though in ruins, stand, the admiration of all men and of all ages. | |||||||||||
Previous Articles in Series:
The Greco-Persian Wars Part I: The Persian Empire
The Greco-Persian Wars Part II: Battle of Marathon
The Greco-Persian Wars Part III: Battle of Thermopylae
The Greco-Persian Wars Part IV: Battle of Salmis
Source: Ten Great Events in History, James Johonnot, 1887.
Tags: 480 B.C., Acropolis, ancient athenians, Ancient Greece Store, Ancient Greek Bronze Cuirass, Ancient Greek History, Ancient Greek Store, Ancient Naval Warfare, Ancient Persian History, Ancient Sparta, Athenian Hoplite Helmet, Athenian Hoplite Shield 490 BC, Athenian Navy, Authentic 480-450 BC Greek Lion Head Coins, Battle of Plataea, Battle of Salamis, Classic Hoplite Sword, Darius, Defeat of Persia, Greco-Persian Wars, hellas, Hellespont, Hera, Herodotus, Macedonian Helmet, Mardonius, Persian Navy, Royal Corinthian Helmet with Plume, Spartan King Pausanias, Thebes, Themistocles, Thespians
While the passage of Thermopylae was disputed, the Greek fleet advanced and took position in the strait of Artemisium, to prevent the Persian fleet from advancing farther into Greek waters. During the battle the fleets were also engaged in an indecisive conflict. A storm, however, arose and destroyed two hundred of the Persian ships. When Thermopylae fell there was no longer reason for defending Artemisium, and the Greek fleet returned to defend the approach to Athens at the strait of Salamis.
The fleet was anchored in the strait of Salamis, and beside the two hundred ships of Athens, it consisted of a large number from other ports of Greece. Among the Greeks there were divided counsels; some were for giving immediate battle, and some were for flying from the thousand Persian ships now advancing upon them. Themistocles saw that to retreat would be ruin, and he by stratagem kept every ship in its place. He sent secret word to the Persians that the Greek fleet would soon be in full retreat, and the Persian admiral sent two hundred vessels to blockade the farther extremity of the strait, so that flight was impossible.
Themistocles remained all night at his anchorage, ready to renew the conflict on the morrow, but Xerxes, fearful for the fate of his bridge across the Hellespont, ordered the eight hundred remaining ships to sail for its protection, while he and his whole army marched as rapidly as possible for the same point. The number assembled to pass back into Asia was greatly diminished from the hosts which a few months before had so proudly marched to assured victory. Besides those lost in battle, thousands had perished through disease and famine. But
