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In the spring of 481 BCE, the Persian King Xerxes set out on his invasion of Greece and began the journey that would take him to his historic confrontation with the Spartans and their Greek allies at the narrow pass called Thermopylae, or the Hot Gates. Below are some passages taken from the Greek historian Herodotus, whose Histories provide the earliest account of the wars between the Persians and the Greeks. As you read these excerpts and think about the questions that follow, you will be able to retrace Xerxes' path and discover how the Greeks responded to the Persian invasion. You can also follow Xerxes' invasion on the interactive map and reconstruct his amazing bridge across the Hellespont.

Passages from Herodotus’ Histories in the EDSITEment LaunchPads are based on the English translation by George Rawlinson (1858-60).

Maps and Interactive Activities

Herodotus Histories, 7.20-21

Reckoning from the recovery of Egypt, Xerxes spent four full years in collecting his invasion force and making ready all things that were needed for his soldiers. It was not until the close of the fifth year that he set forth on his march, accompanied by a mighty multitude. Of all the armaments whereof any mention has reached us, this was by far the greatest; so much so that no other expedition compared to this seems of any account, neither that which Darius undertook against the Scythians, nor the expedition of the Scythians (which the attack of Darius was designed to avenge), when they, being in pursuit of the Cimmerians, fell upon the Median territory, and subdued and held for a time almost the whole of Upper Asia; nor, again, that of the sons of Atreus against Troy, of which we hear in story; nor that of the Mysians and Teucrians, which was still earlier, wherein these nations crossed the Bosphorus into Europe, and, after conquering all Thrace, pressed forward until they came to the Ionian Sea, while southward they reached as far as the river Peneus.

All of these expeditions, and others, if such there were, are as nothing compared with this. For was there a nation in all of Asia which Xerxes did not bring with him against Greece? Or was there a river, except those of unusual size, which sufficed for his troops to drink? One nation furnished ships; another was arrayed among the foot-soldiers; a third had to supply horses; a fourth, transports for the horse and men likewise for the transport service; a fifth, ships of war towards the bridges; a sixth, ships and provisions.

The Persians Cross the Hellespont

In the fall of 481 BCE, Xerxes’ great army reached the city of Sardis, where they spent the winter. The following spring, 480, they began their march to the Hellespont, where his engineers and components of his navy, composed primarily of Egyptians and Phoenicians, had prepared a bridge across the entrance to the Black Sea, which the Greeks called the Euxine Sea. Herodotus' description captures many of the details of this marvel of ancient engineering.

Herodotus Histories, 7.36

They joined together triremes and penteconters, 360 to support the bridge on the side of the Euxine Sea, and 314 to sustain the other; and these they placed at right angles to the sea, and in the direction of the current of the Hellespont, relieving by these means the tension of the shore cables. Having joined the vessels, they moored them with anchors of unusual size, so that the vessels of the bridge towards the Euxine could resist the winds which blow from within the straits, and so that those of the more western bridge facing the Aegean might withstand the winds which set in from the south and from the south-east. A gap was left in the penteconters in no fewer than three places, to allow a passage for such light craft as chose to enter or leave the Euxine Sea. When all this was done, they made the cables taut from the shore by the help of wooden capstans. This time, moreover, instead of using the two materials separately, they assigned to each bridge six cables, two of which were of white flax, while four were of papyrus. Both cables were of the same size and quality; but the flaxen were the heavier, weighing not less than a talent the cubit. When the bridge across the channel was thus complete, trunks of trees were sawn into planks, which were out to the width of the bridge, and these were laid side by side upon the tightened cables, and then fastened on the top. This done, brushwood was brought, and arranged upon the planks, after which earth was heaped upon the brushwood, and the whole trodden down into a solid mass. Lastly a fence was set up on either side of this causeway, of such a height as to prevent the pack animals and the horses from seeing over it and taking fright at the water.

Now that you’ve read Herodotus’ description, try your own hand at recreating the Persian’s engineering feat with this interactive bridge-building challenge.

Herodotus Histories, 7.37

At the moment of departure, the sun suddenly quitted his seat in the heavens, and disappeared, though there were no clouds in sight, but the sky was clear and serene. Day was thus turned into night; whereupon Xerxes, who saw and remarked the prodigy, was seized with alarm, and sending at once for the Magi, inquired of them the meaning of the portent. They replied- "God is foreshowing to the Greeks the destruction of their cities; for the sun foretells for them, and the moon for us." So Xerxes, thus instructed, proceeded on his way with great gladness of heart.

Is Herodotus mistaken about the date, or does he find the later date more dramatic?
Why should Xerxes be alarmed by a solar eclipse?
Would it help to know that the Persian god Ahuramazda was associated with goodness and light, also sometimes represented by the light of the sun, and opposed to evil represented by darkness?
How do the Magi interpret the meaning of the eclipse so that it brings encouragement rather than alarm to Xerxes?

Herodotus' Histories, 7.57-58

When the whole army had crossed, and the troops were now upon their march, a strange prodigy appeared to them, whereof the king made no account, though its meaning was not difficult to conjecture. Now the prodigy was this: a mare brought forth a hare. Hereby it was shown plainly enough, that Xerxes would lead forth his host against Greece with mighty pomp and splendor, but, in order to reach again the spot from which he set out, would have to run for his life. There had also been another portent, while Xerxes was still at Sardis, a mule dropped a foal, neither male nor female; but this likewise was disregarded.

So Xerxes, despising the omens, marched forwards; and his land army accompanied him.

Xerxes and his whole force of Persians are now in Greece, at Doriscus, and are ready to begin on their final march southward toward mainland Greece. According to Herodotus, Xerxes’ land army numbered 1,700,000 men. Most scholars now agree that this number is far too great, even including all of the auxiliary forces and baggage handlers that would have accompanied the men at arms. A more likely figure is approximately 250,000 men at arms, composed of 180,000 to 200,000 infantry, plus 70,000 cavalry, and 2000 chariots. Herodotus numbers Xerxes’ navy at 3000 transport vessels of all sizes and more than 1200 triremes, with the Phoenicians contributing 300 of these and the Egyptians 200, and the remainder coming from other parts of the Empire. Scholars, however, think the total number of warships was probably closer to 650. Before setting out Xerxes reviews his troops.

Herodotus' Histories, 7.59

The name Doriscus is given to a beach and a vast plain upon the coast of Thrace, through the middle of which flows the strong stream of the Hebrus. Here was the royal fort which is likewise called Doriscus, where Darius had maintained a Persian garrison ever since the time when he attacked the Scythians. This place seemed to Xerxes a convenient spot for reviewing and numbering his soldiers; which things accordingly he proceeded to do. The sea-captains, who had brought the fleet to Doriscus, were ordered to take the vessels to the beach adjoining, where Sale stands, a city of the Samothracians, and Zone, another city. The beach extends to Serrheum, the well-known promontory; the whole district in former times was inhabited by the Ciconians. Here then the captains were to bring their ships, and to haul them ashore for refitting, while Xerxes at Doriscus was employed in numbering the soldiers. (7.208)

The Greeks Respond

At first the Greek response to the Persian threat had been chaotic. Xerxes had earlier sent heralds to ask for gifts of “earth and water” as a sign of obedience from all of the Greek city states except Athens and Sparta. He knew that those cities would not respond or might even mistreat his envoys as they had done previously when Xerxes’ father Darius the Great had sent heralds to demand earth and water. In Athens the Persian heralds had been thrown into a pit of punishment, and in Sparta they were cast into a well and told to get the earth and water from there. In this passage Herodotus describes the differences in the ways the Greeks reacted.

Herodotus' Histories, 7.138

The expedition of the Persian king, though it was in name directed against Athens, threatened really the whole of Greece. And of this the Greeks were aware some time before; but they did not all view the matter in the same light. Some of them had given the Persian earth and water, and were bold on this account, deeming themselves thereby secured against suffering hurt from the barbarian army; while others, who had refused compliance, were thrown into extreme alarm. For whereas they considered all the ships in Greece too few to engage the enemy, it was plain that the greater number of states would take no part in the war, but warmly favored the Persians.

According to Herodotus, only the Spartans (also called Pelopannesians and Lacedaemonians, from the geographic names of their territory) and the Athenians seemed determined to resist the Persians, and of these two the more important were the Athenians, for they held the key to Greece’s naval power. Herodotus explains his reasons for thinking that Athens holds the key to Greek success against the Persians.

Herodotus' Histories, 7.139

And here I feel constrained to deliver an opinion, which most men, I know, will dislike, but which, as it seems to me to be true, I am determined not to withhold. Had the Athenians, from fear of the approaching danger, quitted their country, or had they without quitting it submitted to the power of Xerxes, there would certainly have been no attempt to resist the Persians by sea; in which case the course of events by land would have been the following. Though the Peloponnesians might have carried ever so many breastworks across the Isthmus, yet their allies would have fallen off from the Lacedaemonians, not by voluntary desertion, but because town after town must have been taken by the fleet of the barbarians; and so the Lacedaemonians would at last have stood alone, and, standing alone, would have displayed prodigies of valor and died nobly. Either they would have done thus, or else, before it came to that extremity, seeing one Greek state after another embrace the cause of the Persians, they would have come to terms with King Xerxes—and thus, either way Greece would have been brought under Persia. For I cannot understand of what possible use the walls across the Isthmus could have been, if the king had had the mastery of the sea. If then a man should now say that the Athenians were the saviors of Greece, he would not exceed the truth. For they truly held the scales; and whichever side they espoused must have carried the day. They too it was who, when they had determined to maintain the freedom of Greece, roused up that portion of the Greek nation which had not gone over to the Medes; and so, next to the gods, they repulsed the invader. Even the terrible oracles which reached them from Delphi, and struck fear into their hearts, failed to persuade them to fly from Greece. They had the courage to remain faithful to their land, and await the coming of the foe.

The Athenians Abandon Their City

When the Athenians sought advice from the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, they received the warnings that Herodotus mentioned above. At first the oracle urged the Athenians to flee, predicting ruin and destruction for Athens, but when the Athenian envoys requested a second audience with the priestess, she responded with another ambiguous but this time somewhat more hopeful prophecy:

Herodotus' Histories, 7.141

Pallas has not been able to soften the lord of Olympus,
Though she has often prayed him, and urged him with excellent counsel.
Yet once more I address you in words firmer than adamant.
When the foe shall have taken whatever the limit of Cecrops
Holds within it, and all which divine Cithaeron, shelters,
Then far-seeing Jove grants this to the prayers of Athene;
Safe shall the wooden wall continue for you and your children.
Wait not the tramp of the horse, nor the footmen mightily moving
Over the land, but turn your back to the foe, and retire.
Yet shall a day arrive when you shall meet him in battle.
Holy Salamis, you shall destroy the offspring of women,
When men scatter the seed, or when they gather the harvest. (7.141).

Like most ancient prophecies, this one was couched in ambiguity. Many interpreters thought the oracle was predicting only more doom, but Herodotus tells us that the Athenian statesman Themistocles interpreted this second prophecy to mean that the Athenians should abandon their city and man their naval fleet to defend Athens and Greece by sea:

Herodotus' Histories, 7.143

Themistocles came forward and said that the interpreters had not explained the oracle altogether correctly—"for if," he argued, "the clause in question had really respected the Athenians, it would not have been expressed so mildly; the phrase used would have been ‘Luckless Salamis,’rather than ‘Holy Salamis,’ had those to whom the island belonged been about to perish in its neighborhood. Rightly taken, the response of the god threatened the enemy, much more than the Athenians." He therefore counseled his countrymen to make ready to fight on board their ships, since they were the wooden wall in which the god told them to trust. When Themistocles had thus cleared the matter, the Athenians embraced his view, preferring it to that of the interpreters.

The Greeks Meet the Persian Advance

At first the Greeks determined to stop Xerxes' advance in Thessaly at the pass of Olympus, but when they sent an advance party of men, they realized that Xerxes’ army was far too numerous, and so they abandoned that idea and decided to defend the much narrower pass at Thermopylae and to send the Greek fleet under the command of the Athenians to nearby Artemisium. Herodotus explains the Greek's decision.

Herodotus' Histories, 7.175-177

Then it was determined that they should guard this pass at Thermopylae, in order to prevent the barbarians from penetrating into Greece through it; and at the same time it was resolved that the Greek fleet should proceed to Artemisium, in the region of Histiaeotis, for, as those places are near to one another, it would be easy for the fleet and army to hold communication. . . . These places, therefore, seemed to the Greeks fit for their purpose. Weighing well all that was likely to happen, and considering that in this region the barbarians could make no use of their vast numbers, nor of their cavalry, they resolved to await here the invader of Greece. And when news reached them of the Persians being in Pieria, straightway they broke up from the Isthmus, and proceeded, some on foot to Thermopylae, others by sea to Artemisium.

Mother Nature Enters the War

As the Greek army and fleet advanced to Thermopylae and Artemisium, Xerxes’ army continued to make its way south over land, and Xerxes’ fleet was proceeding down the coast. Suddenly, disaster struck the Persians: storms, usual in northern Greece at this time of year, blew into the coast. (Herodotus, Histories, 7.188-192)

The Persian fleet had no harbors and was therefore unprotected from the winds. On the 13th of August, 480 BC, severe storms destroyed a third of the Persian fleet of 700-800 triremes. By the end, the loss of these ships would be very important for the Greek victory in this war.

The Greeks, who knew their own winds and waters, had taken refuge behind the island of Euboea. Their fleet was unscathed, and the Greeks offered prayers to the gods for helping them in their time of need. Notice again the importance placed on the favor of the gods.

Herodotus' Histories, 7.192

The scouts left by the Greeks about the highlands of Euboea hastened down from their stations on the day following that when the storm began, and acquainted their countrymen with all that had befallen the Persian fleet. These no sooner heard what had happened than straightway they returned thanks to Poseidon the Saviour, and poured libations in his honour; after which they hurried back with all speed to Artemisium, expecting to find a very few ships left to oppose them, and arriving there for the second time, took up their station on that strip of coast: nor from that day to the present have they ceased to address Poseidon by the name then given him, of Saviour.

The Greeks and Persians Meet

Xerxes was, of course, undaunted; he believed he could provide new ships after winning on land. By August 14th-15th, the Persians pitched camp close to Thermopylae with their battered fleet anchoring nearby, and by August 16th, 480 BCE, the storm had blown itself out.

Meanwhile, an advance force of several thousand men from the Spartan alliance, lead by 300 Spartans, had marched north to guard the narrow pass at Thermopylae, with the rest of the Spartan army scheduled to follow. At the same time (late July, 480 BCE) an allied Greek fleet of 271 vessels, mostly Athenian, had sailed for Artemisium, so that from the beginning of August both the land and the sea defenses of this point on the Greek coast were in place.

The Greeks and Persians were ready to fight each other for the pass at Thermopylae. Herodotus describes the scene.

Herodotus' Histories, 7.201

King Xerxes pitched his camp in the region of Malis called Trachinia, while on their side the Greeks occupied the straits. These straits the Greeks in general call Thermopylae (the Hot Gates); but the natives, and those who dwell in the neighborhood, call them Pylae (the Gates). Here then the two armies took their stand; the one master of the entire region lying north of Trachis, the other of the country extending southward of that place to the verge of the continent.