Lawrence Redmond
Mardonius
During the 5th century BC, the Persian Empire was embroiled in military conflict, as the Persian Empire was attempting to rule the Greek city states. During early 5th century BC, which ranged from 499 BC to 449 BC, one Persian military leader, Mardonius, was regarded as one of the bravest and most trusted of all Persian military commanders. Mardonius, who shared a close relationship with the King Darius I and King Xerxes of Persia, was an ambitious man, who rose through the Persian military ranks to become a trustworthy military commander, who fought on behalf of the Persian Empire, to conquer the Greek city-states and promote the ideas of further expansion of the Persian Empire.
Mardonius was born to a wealthy noble family that provided the aspiring Mardonius with privilege and opportunity. First, Mardonius was the son of Gobryus, who along with six other men in 522 BC was responsible for usurping the throne from Magian and vesting Darius I with the Persian throne (“Mardonius”). Because of Gobryus’s loyalty to King Darius I, Gobryus was given great power and wealth (“Mardonius”). Second, Mardonius married King Darius I’s daughter, Artozostre; thereby, cementing a close relationship between Mardonius and King Darius I. Third,
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Mardonius was the brother-in-law of King Darius I’s son, Xerxes, who followed King Darius I to the throne. This relationship between Mardonius and Xerxes allowed Mardonius to continue to have access to the throne and promote ideas of further Persian expansion long after King Darius I’s death. (Stewart 1). In 492 BCE, King Darius I gave Mardonius a special representative position in which he sent Mardonius to Lydia, which is now Turkey, after the Persian Empire’s conquering of the Ionia Greeks by the Persian Empire. While in this region, Mardonius’s job was to stabilize and reorganize the area, as he explored and prepared operations for the conquering of Greece by King Darius I. While in Ionia, Mardonius moderately reorganized the region by changing the governments into democracies, from the former tyrants, who were causing high levels of civil unrest (“Mardonius”). Mardonius was highly successful in his reorganization efforts while in Ionia. After Mardonius’ reorganization of Ionia, he traveled to Hellespont, where he met with a navy of 300 Ships and 20,000 men (“Mardonius”). Once Mardonius met with the ships, he moved onto Thasos, which was rich in ore, and he conquered it. However, as the ships traveled around Athos, which is a point near Macedonia, they encountered heavy storms which destroyed a large portion of his ships. At this same time, Mardonius’ land forces came under attack by the Thracian tribe of Byrges (“Mardonius”). After a long and arduous battle, Mardonius’ troops were victorious but Mardonius was injured and ordered a retreat of his remaining troops. Mardonius returned and was removed from his command by Darius in which Darius appointed other leaders appointed in his place (“Mardonius”). After Mardonius was stripped from his position in the army, he participated in the Persian conquest of the islands in the Aegean Sea as a soldier of lower ranks. A fleet of 600 ships were sent to conquer these islands. They were led by Datis and Artaphernes, who were key military leaders in the Persian army (“Mardonius”). Their plan was to add Naxos, and the surrounding islands to the Persian Empire creating a buffer zone between the Greeks and the Persians. The second part of the plan was to attack and conquer Euboea and inset the tyrant Hippias into the government which would make it a pro-Persian island (“Mardonius”). After a large scale invasion of the islands in 490 B.C., the plan was incredibly successful and well executed. The only objective that failed was the insertion of Hippias into the Euboea government, but the government was able to stay pro-Persian after the fleet left allowing the Persian empire to keep control of these islands as a buffer and forward operating base on the attack against Greece (“Mardonius”). Once the fleet returned to Persia, Mardonius’s strong avocation allowed him to be reinstated to his commanding ranks.
However, before an assault on the Greek mainland could be executed, King Darius I died and the throne was given to King Darius I’s son, King Xerxes. Xerxes was Mardonius’ brother in law and Madonius had considerable influence over his brother-in-law; therefore, it was not surprising that Mardonius assisted King Xerxes in choosing the seven commanders to lead the continued invasions of the Greeks (“Mardonius”). Historians note that of the seven military commanders of the Persian invasion of Greece, Mardonius was by far the most trusted and respected by the King (Stewart
1). As Xerxes traveled towards Greece, he had an army of about 600,000 troops who were consciously moving at a slow pace, so that the troops could arrive in time for the harvest in Thrace (“Mardonius”). As the army moved from Thrace, the Persian troop’s encountered little trouble as the army easily conquered all of the cities it passed (“Mardonius”). As the Persian Army moved down into Greece, it easily destroyed the garrison at Thermopylae, and Boeotia was added to the Persian Empire (“Mardonius”).
The Persian invasions of 470 – 479BC saw the Battle of Thermopylae, The Battle of Artemisium, The Battle of Salamis, The Battle of Plataea and The Battle of Mycale. These battles also saw the contributions of many key individuals, which lead to the victory of the Greeks in the ends as well as the rise of the Greek navy.
In Sparta, Xeones became a helot and he was given to a Spartan soldier named Dienekes. Xeones was trained to fight like a Spartan and later became Dienekes’s battle squire. When Xeones was about twenty, the Spartan king, Leonidas, announced that three hundred Spartan men would be sent on a suicide mission to Thermopylae to hold off the invading Persian army. Dienekes was chosen to go. On the first and second day of battle, many Persians were killed, but only a few Greeks. At the end of the second day, Xerxes found a secret path where part of his army could go through and completely surround the Greeks on the next day. Leonidas was informed of this and sent a group of Spartans, including Xeones and Dienekes, on an unsuccessful mission to kill Xerxes. On the third day, the Persians surrounded the Spartans and they all were killed.
Although the Spartans and Athenians fought for almost 20 years, there was a time when they lived in harmony. Almost 15 years before any disturbances the Athenians and Spartans fought together in the Persian war. During the Persian war, the Spartans were thriving in their fight against the Persians, however over time the Persians began to grow stronger. After being to lose their fighting streak, the Athenians came in to help the Spartans and bring an end to Persian dominance once and for all (The Delian League, 1). After defeating the Persians in 449 B.C., the...
There are times in history that something will happen and it will defy all logic. It was one of those times when a few Greek city/states joined together and defeated the invasion force of the massive Persian Empire. The Greeks were able to win the Greco-Persian War because of their naval victories over the Persians, a few key strategic victories on land, as well as the cause for which they were fighting. The naval victories were the most important contribution to the overall success against the Persians. The Persian fleet was protecting the land forces from being outflanked and after they were defeated the longer had that protection. While the Greeks had very few overall victories in battle they did have some strategic victories. The Battle of Thermopylae is an example of a strategic success for the Greeks. The morale of the Persian army was extremely affected by the stout resistance put up by King Leonidas and his fellow Spartans. The Greeks fought so hard against overwhelming odds because of what they were fighting for. They were fighting for their country and their freedom. They fought so hard because they did not want to let down the man next to them in the formation. Several things contributed to the Greeks success against the Persian invasion that happened during the Second Greco-Persian War.
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He was planning to lead their joint forces for an invasion of the Persian empire
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