The Decisive Battles of World History

Lecture 3: 479 B.C. Plataea—Greece Wins Freedom

o But the Greeks bungled the retreat. One contingent of refused

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to move, they were strung out.

o Seeing an opportunity to destroy them, Mardonius ordered

a general advance, and the Persians and their allies swept

forward. Almost unintentionally, the main battle was joined.

x The battle came down to a savage close-quarters shoving match in

which desperate Persians grabbed and broke the Greeks’ spears. In

this melee, the heavier armor of the Greeks gave them an advantage.

Mardonius and his bodyguard were killed, along with many of the

best of the Persian troops. The battle turned into a rout, with the

triumphant Greeks chasing and slaughtering the defeated Persians.

Outcomes

x On the same day as the Battle of Plataea, a naval battle against

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and this moment marked the end of the Persian threat. The war

would continue for decades, but it was the Greeks who were on

the offensive.

x The victory at Plataea ushered in a period known as the Pentekonteia,

a 50-year period regarded as the golden age of Greece that ended

when they once more fell prey to their old rivalries, resulting in the

disastrous 30-year Peloponnesian War.

x To commemorate Plataea, the Greeks melted down some of

the Persian weapons and used the bronze to erect a column at

Delphi. It was stolen 800 years later by Constantine and moved to

Constantinople, where it decorated the horse-racing arena. It can

still be seen in Istanbul, and it still legibly bears the names of the 31

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