of his army to complete the conquest of southern Greece. The
general in charge of this task was Mardonius, an experienced
military commander.The Battle
x Mardonius chose the 10,000 Immortals, as well as large infantry
and cavalry contingents, as his army. The resulting force was, in
many ways, more dangerous than the bloated force that had invaded
Greece, and it was still much larger than any army the Greeks could
collectively muster.
x Mardonius camped for the winter, during which he made several
attempts to break up the Greek alliance by exploiting traditional
rivalries and suspicions. This strategy almost worked, but most of
the Greeks united and marched north against him.x Mardonius took up a position along the Asopos River, near Thebes,
which had thrown in its lot with the Persians out of jealousy of
Athens. The best modern guess is that probably 80,000 to100,000
Greeks squared off against about 100,000 to 150,000 Persians,
Thebans, and other pro-Persian Greeks.x 0DUGRQLXV PDGH WKH ¿UVW PRYH VHQGLQJ VRPH HOHPHQWV RI KLV
strong cavalry forces to harass the Greeks and search for a weak
spot. During this clash, the popular leader of the Persian cavalry,
a man named Masistos, was unhorsed and killed when an arrow
killed his mount. After some bitter skirmishing over the body, the
Persians retreated, leaving the trophy in the hands of the Greeks.x After a week or so of standoff, Mardonius began sending elements
of his cavalry on raids behind the Greek line, harassing their supply
trains and eventually capturing one of their key water sources.
Running short on food and water, the Greek commanders decided
to pull back during the night to a well-watered and more defensible
area called “the island.”