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Compare And Contrast The Battle Of Thermopylae

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Since early history, the concept of conquering vast amounts of land to either establish or expand an empire has been very prominent. One of the biggest part of any empire and their success relies greatly on its military system, as it is crucial in protecting their land and keeping invaders and rebellions away. While most of the empires had similar military strategies and battle techniques, some of them progressed over time and advanced to newer, better technologies that would aid them during war. The pass of Thermopylae, a famous battle fought between the Greek polis Sparta versus the Persians shows how these new technologies and battle strategies, at that time, were advantageous or disadvantageous to different empires. The Spartans had a strong …show more content…
When the Greeks heard that the Persians are attacking them again, they decide to try and stop the overwhelming number of Persian soldiers in Thermopylae (See Fig. 2). The Spartans decide on this location as it was a narrow field in between mountains which would limit the number of Persian soldiers who could be there. Having geographical knowledge about the land, the Spartans were able to hold off the Persians for seven days. Leonidas, one of the Sparta king was able to keep “most of his force together at the pass, grouped in their national units in the in the normal manner…” holding off the Persians from advancing further. By holding off the Persians at Thermopylae, the Spartans were able to drastically cut down the number of Persian soldiers they would be facing during battle. The Spartans attacked the Persians as a unit by using the phalanx formation, and this left fewer soldiers exposed resulting is lower casualties. Starting training at a young age was very beneficial the the Spartan soldiers because this made them fiercer and better fighters. Their loyalty to Greece and fighting for its independence made them very motivated and wanting to fight to death. Unfortunately, the Persians still vastly outnumbered the Spartans and the numbers alone was enough for them to be victorious and move on to conquer the rest of

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