Battle Of Thermopylae Research Paper

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Introduction

The three day Battle of Thermopylae took place in 480 B.C. in the present country of Greece. This was a battle between the invading army of the Persian Empire against the alliance of the city-states of the Greeks. The scene of the battle took place on a very narrow passage on the north side of the Kallidromos Mountain range that almost dropped immediately into a rough coastline into the Malian Gulf. The narrow passage was approximately three miles long from west to the east and close to 15 meters wide in some areas between the steep cliffs of the mountains and coastline. This was also a battle of epic proportions; the numbers that the Persian army had brought with them compared to the small but highly organized army of the Greeks were staggering. This site was selected by the Greeks because they lacked in numbers compared to the Persians and would be able to use the terrain to their advantage. This battle is also known today as the “Last Stand of the 300.”
Just as the ground troops of Greece used the terrain to their advantage on land, the Greek navy used the terrain to their advantage at sea. The Greek and Persian navies engaged in battle at the same time as the ground forces off the coast of Artemision in the Trikeri Channel. This was another engagement of a larger force against a much smaller force. But, just like the land battle, because the Greeks were so highly outnumbered by the Persians, they used the terrain to their advantage so they would not have to fight the Persians on a full scale. While there is much to discuss with the Battle of Thermopylae, I will be focusing on the main, three-day battle that occurred on land and not the battle at sea.

History
The Greco-Persian Wars began several yea...

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...is, and they did so in Spartan fashion. To this day, the legend of the Spartan warriors lives on.

Lesson Learned
We learned many lessons from this epic battle. One lesson is that no matter what the number of the enemy is, solid tactics by a smaller force can still devastate a much larger enemy. Another lesson is that a smaller force using the terrain to their advantage could hold off the enemy and even possibly win the battle. We all know war is never fair, but the third lesson we can learn from this is that betrayals can always occur and to always be prepared for an attacking flank. Unfortunately, this was considered a bad thing for the Greeks, because it worked out in favor of the Persians. These lessons have occurred many times throughout history and will continue past our present day. We can learn from these and should apply them to all future engagements.

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