The battle of Mycale is one battle of the Greco-Persian Wars, which occurred in 479 BC, near the Cape of Mycale. In the battle of Mycale, the Persian army suffered a crushing defeat. Under the leadership of the Spartan King Leotychides, and the Athenian Xanthippus, almost the entire Persian army was destroyed. Ionian cities, which had been under Persian rule, allied with the Hellenes.
The Battle of Mycale was the first victory of the Greeks over the Persians in Asia. The Battle of Plataea and Mycale marked the final destruction of the Persian army, assembled from all over the territory of the Empire. After this, the Greeks could conduct offensives against the Persians.
History
Greek city-states Athens and Eretria helped the Greeks of Ionia in an unsuccessful uprising against Persian King Darius in 499-494 BC. At that time, the Persian Empire was in its’ infancy. After the death of its creator, Cyrus II in 530 BC, the state was often shaken by insurrections of conquered peoples, which threatened its integrity. The Greek rebels, together with the Athenians, managed to capture and burn the important city of Sardis’ satrapy. Darius wanted to avenge the Greeks who took part in the uprising.
In 492 BC, Thrace was conquered, and Macedonia recognized the supreme authority of the Persian Emperor. In 491 BC, Darius sent ambassadors to all independent Greek cities with the demand for “land and water”, which corresponded to submission and recognition of the power of the Persians. Sparta and Athens did not accept the humiliating demands.
In 490 BC, in the Battle of Marathon, the Persians were defeated. After Darius’ death, the throne was taken by his son Xerxes. Persians were assembling an army for conquest, and the Athenians created a powerful fleet.
In 480 BC, the Persian army conducted a campaign along the coast of the Aegean Sea. The attempt led by the Spartan King Leonid to block the Persian army in Thermopylae, ended in failure. The Persians broke through into central Greece. The Greek fleet, which met the Persian ships at Cape Artemisia, was forced to withdraw to the south.
The Persian army occupied Athens. Residents of the city were evacuated to the island of Salamis. The Greek fleet was concentrated in the narrow straits between Salamis and the mainland. Thanks to the military cunning of Themistocles, the Greeks managed to defeat the Persian fleet.
After the Battle of Salamis and the destruction of the Persian fleet, the Greeks had an advantage on the sea. In the early spring of 479 BC, The Greek fleet gathered near Aegina. Ambassadors from the Greek cities of Ionia, who were under the dominion of the Persians, came to the island with a plea for help.
Before the Battle
When the Persians learned that the Greeks were on the way to help their allies in Asia Minor, their fleet did not dare start a sea battle. The Persians pulled their ships ashore and built a fortification. The Greeks were hesitant about further action, and some of them wanted to return home, and others preferred to go to the strategically important strait of Hellespont between Europe and Asia. However, in the end, they decided to fight the Persians. The Greeks landed on shore and prepared for battle. The Persians expelled inhabitants of Samos and Miletus for lack of trust. The Greeks could assemble by modern estimates a force of at least 20,000. The Persians at Mycale gathered around 60,000.
Battle
The Greek Allies arranged their army into two columns. The Athenians, the Corinthians, and the Tzęsens were closer to the shore, and the Spartans with the warriors from other cities were closer to the mountain. The Athenians, under attack, moved along the flat surface of the coastline, while the Spartans were forced to go through the mountainous gorges. The first battle began with the Athenians on the right wing. They managed to crush and turn the Persians to flight and soon, with the help of the Spartans, completed the victory.
After the battle, the Greeks had a military council, and offered to relocate the Ionians to the European part of Greece, since they did not consider it possible to protect them from the Persians. The Athenians sharply opposed this proposal. According to them, Ionia had to become a bulwark against the barbarians, preserving this area was necessary to control the Aegean Sea and sea trade. The Athenians were also helped by the insistence of the Ionians, who did not want forced resettlement.
The significance of the battle
Almost simultaneously with the battle of Mycale, the battle at Plataea took place, in which the Greeks also defeated the Persians. These two battles marked the victory of the Greeks over the invading army of the Persian Empire. If the Battle of Marathon showed the Greeks that the Persians could be defeated, the sea battle at Salamis saved Greeks from destruction, then the Battle of Plataea and Mikal led to the complete destruction of the enemy’s troops.
The destruction of the army, which had provided the power to the Persians in Asia Minor, led to falling away of Greek cities from the Persian Empire. They joined the Athenian maritime union. After a series of crushing defeats, the Persians could not again gather enough troops to continue the war.
Sources:
- Barron JP The Liberation of Greece // Cambridge History of the Ancient World
- Kurtzius E. History of Ancient Greece.
- Stavnyuk V. V. The socio-political activity of Themistocles
- Strogetsky VM Introduction to the “Historical Library”
- Surikov I. E
- Holland T. Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West