What are the fears of Persians?

Spartan, who is steel-like, harsh, bloody and resolute, has given future generations a belief, a loftiness, a tolerance and glory that only ambitious people can show.

Portrait of the Spartan army

"Never give in until you die in battle. Fighting for the country is the highest glory in life. " -This is the voice of every Spartan. After reading this article, we remember a kind of history, and history has left a kind of spirit. Although the last Spartan fell, the brave and strong Spartan spirit will be remembered by future generations forever.

Looking back at Shihai

Sparta (from the end of 7th century BC to 396 AD) was a city-state in ancient Greece. The so-called polis is a country, which is centered on a city and surrounded by many towns and villages. Athens was the most powerful city-state in ancient Greece, followed by Sparta. The Spartan city-state is located in the Ragogna Plain in the south of the ancient Greek peninsula. Ragogna Plain is located in the southeast of Peloponnesian Peninsula in ancient Greece, with Aegean Sea in the east and Mediterranean Sea in the south, surrounded by mountains on three sides and a small plain in the middle. The land is fertile and suitable for farming. "Sparta" means "a plain that can be cultivated". What we are going to tell is that the powerful Dorian army who came here in the 1 1 century BC, after several years of conquest and expansion, finally completely occupied this fertile land in the 7th century BC. Let's go back to medieval Europe and review the establishment and development of the Spartan city-state.

Around the beginning of the 20th century BC, a group of Greek tribes composed of Akayas came to the Peloponnesian Peninsula in ancient Greece. In the middle of the 20th century BC, the Akayans established some cities in Lagonia. At that time, the city of Lagonia was under Mycenae. Around 1 100 BC, another group of Greek tribes composed of Dorians invaded the Peloponnesian Peninsula from the northern part of the Greek peninsula, and one of them entered Lagonia, destroying the urban civilization of Mycenae. The Dorians who entered Lagonia were divided into three tribes, which were still at the end of primitive society. From the 10 century BC to the 9th century BC, they united five villages and formed a new political center, which was Sparta, a Dorian city. It is called a city, but in fact it has neither walls nor decent streets. The Dorians living in this area are called Spartans.

From 800 BC to 730 BC, Spartans gradually conquered Ragogna, forcing the conquered residents to pay tribute to it. These conquered peoples lived around the Spartans and were called Pyrrhians (meaning residents of surrounding areas). Later, the conquered people living in the southern coastal city of Hiilos could not bear the oppression of Spartans and launched an uprising. After the Spartans suppressed the insurgents, they turned them into slaves and called them heroes.

In the middle of the 8th century BC, due to the intensification of social differentiation and the increase of the population of Spartans themselves, in order to solve the shortage of land, Spartans colonized abroad on the one hand and invaded Messenia on the other, which was called the first Messenia War (about 740-720 BC). As a result, Spartans occupied the whole of Messenia and turned the residents into heroes. Divide the occupied land between Spartans and Pirasians, with Spartans sharing the plain land and Pirasians sharing the mountain land. From about 640 BC to 620 BC, the Messenians resisted slavery and oppression (known as the Second Messenian War in history). Although it dealt a heavy blow to the Spartans, it failed in the end. By the 7th century BC, the slave state power of Sparta had basically taken shape.

From the middle of the 6th century BC, Sparta gradually formed the Peloponnesian League with most of the city-states of the Peloponnesian Peninsula and became the leader of a Greek city-state group. Through this alliance, Sparta often interfered in the internal affairs of Athens and other countries. At the beginning of the 5th century BC, it did not send troops to support the uprising of the Greek city-states in Asia Minor against Persia. In 480 BC and 479 BC, Spartans served as commander-in-chief of the allied forces of Greek states in Bo Shi War, and joined forces with Athens and other countries to oppose Persian aggression. Since then, with the establishment of Tyrol League and the growth of Athenian power, the contradiction between Sparta and Athens has become increasingly acute.

After the earthquake in 464 BC, Spartan slaves took the opportunity to rebel. In order to save the crisis, Sparta once turned to Athens. In 404 BC, with the help of Persia, Sparta defeated Athens and became the winner of the 27-year Peloponnesian War and the overlord of all Greece. Its tyrannical rule quickly aroused the dissatisfaction and resistance of the polis. From the 4th century BC to the 3rd century BC, Sparta competed with Athens, Thebes and Corinth for a long time and gradually lost its advantage. The polarization between the rich and the poor of Spartan citizens is accelerating, the number of people who have lost their land and citizenship is increasing, and their army is weakening. In 37 1 year BC, Sparta invaded the Greek city-state Thebes and suffered a great defeat. The king is dead. Subsequently, Messenia became independent and the Peloponnesian League disintegrated. In the late 3rd century BC, the social contradictions in Sparta were particularly fierce, and the reforms of Achilles IV and Cleo Menez III ended in failure. In BC 192, the Spartan tyrant Nabis was killed, and Sparta was forced to join the Ahaya League, which actually lost its independence. After the Roman Empire conquered the Peloponnesian Peninsula, Sparta was destroyed by the Goths in 396 AD, and then Byzantium came to power.

Long-term armed suppression of slaves-The Silos gave Sparta a cold, resolute and militant army, and its fighting capacity was fully reflected in the Bo Shi War in the 6th century BC. After the hot spring pass, although the Spartans were outnumbered and the Persian army captured Athens, the powerful fighting capacity of the Spartan army was well known.

Characteristic training

In order to maintain the oppression and exploitation of heroes and suppress their resistance, Spartans need a strong army. As a result, the Spartans formed a unique political system, and the whole society lived a militarized life. The education that children received from childhood was military training. In order to prevent the polarization between the rich and the poor in Sparta, Spartans were not allowed to engage in industry and commerce. Instead of using gold and silver as money, they used low-value iron coins. Spartans were not allowed to make a living except soldiers. Spartans advocate the spirit of force, and the whole Spartan society is like a big military camp with strict management.

Spartan babies were taken to the elders for examination when they were born. If the elders think he is unhealthy, throw him into the abandoned baby farm in the barren hills. The mother bathed the baby with strong liquor. If he has convulsions or loses consciousness, it proves that he is not strong enough. Let him die, because he can't grow into a good soldier. The boy was raised by his parents before he was seven years old. Parents pay attention to cultivate children's habit of not crying, not picky about food, not noisy, not afraid of darkness and loneliness from an early age. After the age of 7, the boy was incorporated into a team and lived in a collective military life. They demand absolute obedience to their leaders and enhance their courage, physical strength and cruelty. They practice running, discus throwing, boxing, fencing and fighting. In order to cultivate children's obedience and patience, they will be whipped once a year when they worship God at festivals. They knelt in front of the temple and the burning whip rained down, but they were not allowed to beg for mercy or shout.

As children grow older, training becomes more and more strict. Students often hold exercises and performances, and the king himself is present to watch. One practice is to play in two teams. The night before the fight, the children sacrificed puppies to the gods. It is said that dogs are smart and brave. After the sacrifice, I have to fight the wild boar again. The next day, a formal battle began. Both sides are unarmed and have no protective clothing. When fighting, you can punch and kick, bite with your mouth, and even get your opponent's eyes gouged out. After a cruel struggle, you can get honor by knocking down the other child. When boys 12 years old or older, they will be incorporated into the youth team, bareheaded and barefoot. No matter whether the weather is cold or warm, they are only allowed to wear a coat, and they are only allowed to eat a little in the military camp, forcing them to steal food outside and exercise their skills. If someone finds out, he will be beaten again, because it proves that he is inflexible.

At the age of 20, Spartans began to live in military camps and receive formal military training. Spartan tactics are phalanxes. This tactic not only requires every soldier to fight bravely, but also depends on strict organization and discipline. It is very important to practice for a long time in order to ensure that the phalanx can advance and retreat skillfully and react quickly in the battle. Therefore, every young person should receive this kind of training from the age of 20 to 30. Spartans can't get married and start a family until they are over 30. However, the collective military life has to continue. They must join a kind of civil society called "Fidi Tiya", each group has 15 people. Usually eat together, camp together, and it is a combat team in wartime. They must also do sports every day until they retire at the age of 60, but they are still reservists.

Spartan girls stayed at home at the age of seven, but instead of weaving and doing housework all day, they engaged in physical exercise and learned to run, run, throw discus and fight. Spartans believe that only a strong mother can give birth to a strong warrior. Spartan women are brave and strong. They are not afraid to see their son injured or killed on the battlefield. When a Spartan mother sent her son to the battlefield, she did not wish him a safe return, but gave him a shield and said, "Take it or lie on it." It means that you can either come back with a shield and win with honor, or die with honor and be carried back with a shield.

Spartans asked their children to be concise and straightforward, and formed the habit of silence from an early age. Once, the son of the king of Sparta heard an orator say that Spartans had no knowledge in Athens. He replied, "Sir, you are right. Among the Greeks, only we have not learned your bad qualities at all. " On another occasion, a king wrote a threatening letter to the king of Sparta, demanding that Sparta obey his orders, otherwise, Sparta would be reduced to ruins. What did the king of Sparta say? He only used one word: "Please!" Later, people called this concise answer Spartan answer. The adjective "laconic" in English is transformed from the place name of Lagonia where Spartans live. Sparta's unique military social system and martial spirit gave it incomparable military advantages over other Greek city-states. It once ruled southern Greece and defeated Athens. However, apart from its strong military strength, it has made no achievements and development in economy, culture and political system.

army

Sparta is a slave dictatorship, and the state institutions are composed of king, citizens' assembly, elders' assembly and inspectors. Relying on the support of slave heroes, the whole Spartans formed a privileged class that was completely and permanently divorced from production and specialized in military activities. Sparta's military service system is a citizen's military service system. The soldiers and the people are one, the soldiers are the people, and the people are also soldiers, regardless of the soldiers and the people. Spartans are lifelong professional soldiers. They officially became soldiers at the age of 20, married at the age of 30, and served until the age of 60, becoming the longest-serving army in the world.

During this period, they lived in the military camp most of the time, conducted strict military training, including sports, fencing, boxing, drilling and running, and implemented a strict * * * meal system, and were not allowed to be absent without reason. Therefore, the whole city of Sparta is like a big barracks. As long as the Spartans are alive, they will receive endless training and lead a hard military life. The Spartan army was mainly composed of heavy infantry. The establishment of heavy infantry began with five battalions, and there were eight battalions at the end of the 5th century BC. By the 4th century BC, the military establishment was complicated. The smallest unit of the army is platoon, which consists of 64 people. Two platoons form a company, two companies form a battalion, and four battalions form a regiment. In combat, the division of troops has little effect, and all the heavy troops are incorporated into a phalanx to fight as a whole. There are also light infantry, but the number of people is uncertain.

Symbolic equipment

The main weapon of heavy infantry is spear. This spear is generally about 1.8 ~ 2.2 meters long, and the spear shaft is made of wood. The front end of the spear has a spear head, which is in the shape of a flat willow leaf, about 30 ~ 35 cm long and 4 ~ 5 cm wide at the widest point. It is made of iron. The rear end of the spear is equipped with a big spike, which is a cone with a square cross section, shorter than the spear head, and the bottom of the cone is about 2 cm wide and made of bronze. When not in use at ordinary times, the spear is rushed up and nailed vertically to the ground with the sharp nail at the back end; Pull it up when necessary. Probably because the act of nailing a spear to the ground may threaten small creatures on the ground at any time, the bronze nail at the back end of the spear is nicknamed "lizard cone"

The auxiliary weapon of heavy infantry is the very famous Spartan dagger. The length of swords is generally about 60 cm, with different shapes and made of iron. In the 5th century BC, Sparta, the strongest army in the Greek city-state, developed a relatively short (about 30 ~ 40cm) sword with a triangular tip, which was almost a relatively large dagger. This dagger is more effective than a long sword in actual combat.

In addition to spears and swords, heavy infantry sometimes carry machetes. This kind of machete is a little shorter than a long sword and has a different shape, but it has a curved edge and is also made of iron. Because this kind of machete has only one blade, its main function is to split in one direction, instead of having two blades like a sword, it can cut in two directions and go straight. Therefore, machetes are not common equipment in heavy infantry. On the contrary, machetes are common equipment for cavalry on horseback, because the most common action is chopping. For example, Xenophon, a famous ancient Greek scholar and one of Socrates' disciples, specifically recommended this weapon to cavalry in section 12 of On Riding.

Heavily armed Spartan heavy infantry

In terms of protection, the biggest difference between heavy infantry and previous infantry is that the shield of heavy infantry is relatively small. In the past, the big shield that could cover soldiers from their feet to their necks was never seen again. Instead, it is a circular shield, with a diameter of about 1 m, based on a wooden disc and covered with a layer of bronze. Some marks are often drawn on the shield surface, indicating which city-state the holder comes from or what his status is. Several common signs are: "∧" ("∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧∧.

In addition to the round shield, the personal protection of heavy infantry mainly depends on armor. The armor of heavy infantry is mainly divided into three parts: helmet, breastplate and tibiae. Heavy infantry helmets are distinctive, usually cast in bronze, and can cover the whole head, including the neck. There is only one T-shaped opening on the front of the helmet, which is convenient for eyes to observe, nose to breathe and mouth to talk. In addition, the helmet extends down between the eyes to protect the bridge of the nose. Sometimes at the top of this helmet, some horse hair is added as decoration. Because this special helmet was first produced in Corinth, it was named "Corinthian helmet". The breastplate and tibia armor are also usually cast in bronze to protect the front of the trunk and calf. The breastplate can wrap the whole chest and abdomen. At first, it was a big bronze cover, and later it was tailored according to the soldier's personal figure. Because the bronze breastplate is too heavy, and the round shield of the heavy infantry's left hand has provided protection for the front of the body, a breastplate made of several layers of cowhide and decorated with copper sheets only at the heart appeared in the late classical era. This kind of cowhide breastplate was popular until Roman times. There were other kinds of breastplates, such as scales and plates. Because the round shield of heavy infantry can't protect soldiers' legs as effectively as the big shield in the past, now Tibioplasty is more important than before, so Tibioplasty and breastplate are the opposite, from the original cowhide texture to the later bronze texture. The total weight of shields, helmets, breastplates and tibiae is about 25 ~ 30 kilograms, so heavy infantry generally do not make long-distance raids.

Spartan citizens' only occupation was warrior, so their equipment was provided by the polis. The uniform equipment of Spartans will naturally give a shock to opponents wearing various equipment on the battlefield.

Combat mode

Spartans kept pace in the battle and had strict military discipline. They use an infantry phalanx with both offensive and defensive considerations, and pay attention to ensuring the key parts of the formation. The depth of the array is generally 6-8 lines, and when there are many people, there are more than a dozen lines, each with 8 soldiers. The soldiers in the phalanx all hold shields in their left hands and spears in their right hands.

Let's talk about protection first. During the battle, the first two rows of soldiers raised round shields to form an iron wall. The shields are raised to the height of their necks to protect their chests, and then the shields of each other are connected together to form a "shield wall". Basically, the left end of the phalanx is closed, because the soldiers hold the shield in their left hand and the spear in their right hand. Every soldier in the Spartan phalanx will protect the soldier on his left when defending. Using this tactic requires considerable strength and accurate judgment. In addition to the attack, the soldiers in the phalanx pointed up with spears on their shoulders. When the heavy infantry array is assembled and each line forms a "shield wall", when approaching the enemy, the middle and rear soldiers insert their spears in front and attack the parts that the enemy helmet can't protect, such as the eyes; Or tie the exposed part between the helmet and the "shield wall", such as the neck.

This phalanx has both offensive and defensive effects. When the enemy charges in front of the phalanx, the pike in the rear can give full play to its length advantage and take the lead in attacking, and the defensive wall composed of the front shield provides good protection; When the Spartans charged, the impact of dense pike and soldiers marched flexibly and alternately, with amazing power. This kind of phalanx was later adopted and improved by Alexander the Great, and reached the extreme in his great crusade.

It is worth mentioning that in order to reduce their own losses, Spartan troops often recruit their slaves-heroes to take the lead. Because Spartans often wage wars abroad, the burden of military service of Luo people in Riccardo Chailly is naturally heavy. During the Greek-Persian War, the Spartans recruited 35,000 heroes at one time to go out with the army. They were forced to take the lead and use their lives to find out the enemy's actual situation and consume the enemy's troops.

A romantic figure-Leonidas I.

"It is really brave to be an enemy with thousands of troops and horses, and the army must be fearless." This is a tribute to the heroism of Leonidas I who led 300 Spartans in the Battle of Wenquanguan.

Leonidas (as brave as a lion), the king of Sparta in ancient Greece, was a hero of ancient Greece against Persian invasion. He is brave and fearless, and he will charge in every battle. The birth of the Spartan king is not hereditary, and we can only prove our own strength through hard work, never give up, and get it from thousands of competitors.

When Leonidas was a child, he received harsh and hellish training. 65 years old, 438+00, began to learn passive beatings, and later learned to fight back. After years of uninterrupted training, he has not only developed a sturdy body, but also developed super martial arts and strong teamwork ability. Leonidas experienced the test of celibacy and inhumanity in the wild, and also experienced the severe challenge of confronting wolves and eventually killing them. Finally, he won and became the king of Sparta. He ascended the throne around 490 BC. "Friends and brothers are powerful guarantees for your success ..." Leonidas: I taught him while playing with his son. This sentence was strongly verified in the later hot spring pass campaign.

Leonidas I

When Persia made its second expedition to Greece in 480 BC, Leonidas I was the commander-in-chief of the anti-wave coalition forces in Greece, leading about 7,000 people to guard the hot spring pass between northern China and preventing 65,438+10,000 Persian troops from going south. In mid-August, he commanded the defenders to stubbornly block for two days and repeatedly beat off the Persian army's attack. After being betrayed by the local Greeks, the allies were caught between Scylla and Charybdis. Leonidas I ordered the allied forces to retreat in order to save their strength, and led 300 Spartans to hold on and fight to the death with the Persian army, and finally died heroically because of being outnumbered. After the war, King Xerxes I of Persia retaliated, ordered to find Leonidas's body, cut off his head, and blamed him. The Greeks later built tombstones for 300 Spartan, including Leonidas, in Wenquanguan.

Classic example-hot spring pass activity

Today, the inscription on the lion-shaped monument at Demobichon Pass in Greece commemorates the Hot Spring Pass in the Greek-Persian War in 480 BC. It reads: "Past guests, tell our Spartans that we are determined to stay here until death do us part."

Statues and reliefs commemorating the Battle of Wenquanguan

The battle of Wenquanguan is a classic battle in the Greek-Persian war, and it is also a famous patriotic battle model in Greek history. The heroism of the Spartan army in this battle has always been praised by future generations. Although the Spartan army was defeated in this battle, their fearless spirit shocked the enemy and inspired the morale of the Greek city-state army.

In 485 BC, Xue Xisi succeeded to the throne of Persia and became the fourth emperor of the Persian Empire. Persia, which rose in the Iranian plateau in Central Asia, developed through endless expansion. However, the Persian emperor's insatiable greed for land and wealth made him never satisfied with the status quo. He looked at the thriving Greek city-states on the other side of the Aegean Sea and ordered to attack Greece.

48 1 year BC is the fourth year of Xue Xisi's preparation. Xue Xisi * * * recruited an army of 250,000 people from 46 countries and more than 65,438,000 nationalities to surrender to Persia. His battle plan was to cross Thrace and Macedonia, and then go south to Greece. Although this road is long, it is safer than crossing the Aegean Sea, and it is conducive to giving full play to the advantage of the large number of Persian troops.

Facing the aggressive Persian invaders, the Greeks organized an unprecedented joint action. More than 30 city-states gathered in Corinth in the northeast of Peloponnesian Peninsula to form an anti-Persian alliance, vowing to unite as one enemy and resist powerful enemies. Spartan King Leonidas was elected as the commander-in-chief of the army, and the commander-in-chief of the navy was also the Spartan Yuri BuAddis. The army is dominated by the most elite Spartan army, and the navy is dominated by Athens, which is known as a maritime power. The whole army has 1 10000 people and 400 warships.

All the military forces mobilized by Greece are very thin compared with the powerful Persian opponents. According to Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian, there are 5 million Persian troops, but according to a reasonable estimate, it should be around 500,000. There are only 7,000 Greek Coalition forces. Because this year coincided with the ancient Greek Olympic Games, the Greeks only sent so few troops to fight. Among them, Leonidas, king of Sparta, led a 300-person king's guard. Spartans' martial tradition and unremitting training all the year round make these 300 people brave warriors. However, even so, the Greek Coalition forces are in a weak position. As a result, the allied generals made suggestions one after another, and finally decided that only by holding the hot spring pass could the Greek Coalition forces with insufficient troops stop the Persian army's attack.

Now let's go back to the ancient battlefield and take a look at the geographical location of Wenquan Pass. Wenquanguan is a narrow passage along the coast, which runs from east to west. The terrain is extremely dangerous, so narrow that only one chariot can pass. Once the Greek army falls, the Persian army will go south.

After the battle began, the Persians took advantage of their numbers. First, heavy infantry were sent to attack in turn, and former Greek prisoners were put in front as cannon fodder. Leonidas, on the other hand, made full use of the favorable terrain and weapon advantages of Wenquan Pass, ordered the Spartan phalanx commander to occupy the commanding heights, and stabbed the enemy armed with short weapons with a spear, causing heavy casualties among Persian soldiers. Well-trained Spartans sometimes deliberately showed weakness and dropped their spears to retreat. When the enemy caught up, he turned around and launched a counterattack with a long sword. This tactic of "returning to the carbine" has won many battles, and the Persians have been unable to break through the pass. When the first wave of Persian attacks was completely shattered, the Spartan army lost only two or three Spartans. Xue Xisi, king of Persia, fully realized what a terrible army he was facing after the first wave of attack failed, so he sent his most elite "undead team". This 12000-man Royal Guard was called Persian Ace Reserve, but in the end it was still unable to break through the Spartan defense. The next day, Xue Xisi sent a total of 50,000 men to storm the defenders of Sparta, but they still failed. Xue Xisi was so anxious that he stood up from his throne three times, frowning, shaking his beard and shouting wildly.

One night, when Xue Xisi was sulking in the camp, the guards quietly brought in a man who turned out to be a local farmer named Ebiastes. The Greek traitor fell to his knees and said humbly, "Your Majesty, I know a way for you to bypass the back of the Greeks unnoticed. As long as you pay me, I'll show it to your people right away. " Xue Xisi was overjoyed when he heard this, and immediately ordered the Greek traitor to lead the body guard into the back hill along the thorn road. It turns out that Leonidas has deployed more than 1 1,000 defenders on the hill beside the highway. But there was no war for several days in a row, and they let their guard down. Only when there were noisy footsteps in the silent darkness did they rush into battle. Persian generals were stunned by these swarming Greek troops, which was quite different from the terrible enemy they faced two days ago. The Persian general once dared not order his troops to attack immediately. The traitor reminded him that these people were not terrible Spartans. The Persian army attacked on a large scale, defeated the soldiers of Foces, the city-state responsible for defending this area, and detoured behind the lines of the Spartan army at dawn.

In the face of danger, Leonidas and his 300 Spartan soldiers did not leave, because according to the tradition of Sparta, soldiers can never give up their positions! 700 soldiers from the city of Cesbia volunteered to stay and fight with them.

Imagination map of Wenquanguan campaign

The moment of decisive battle has come. The last stop, a Spartan, was attacked between Scylla and Charybdis, which caused great losses to the Persian army. King Xue Xisi's two brothers Abu Roccas and Hippellansis were killed in the melee. The Persians, flanked from front to back, rushed to Spartan, where the defense was weak, and stabbed the enemy with their spears. The spears were broken and they drew their swords to cut them. When the sword was broken, they resisted with their bodies. But the Persians swarmed, Spartan repelled the enemy's four attacks, and Spartan King Leonidas died heroically. After his death, strong men struggled to get back his body. There are fewer and fewer Spartans left, and they are gradually compressed into a hill. Sibian people's psychological defense collapsed and surrendered to the Persians, but all the Persians who killed their eyes were slaughtered. Persian troops surrounded the remaining Spartans until they were all killed. When the Persians cleaned up the battlefield after the war, they found that the death toll of the Persian army was about 20 thousand, while the bodies of Spartans were only 298. It turns out that two Spartans didn't take part in the battle. One was because of eye disease, and the other was ordered to go out at that time. After returning home, the two men were greatly despised by people, so one of them committed suicide and the other died in the later battle to avenge themselves.

About 20,000 Persian soldiers died in a bloody hot spring battle, which was like a nightmare for Xue Xisi. He brutally cut off the head of the dead Spartan king Leonidas and crucified his body. This kind of post-war behavior is rare in Persian tradition. Usually, Persians have great respect for those brave and unyielding enemies, which can also explain how much pain Spartan has caused the Persian army, so that the Persian king made such a terrible move.

After capturing the hot spring pass, the Persian army marched straight into Athens. However, the city of Athens is empty and there is nothing. Xue Xisi was furious and ordered to set fire to the most prosperous and wealthy city in Greece. Although the land war won, the powerful Persian imperial army was defeated in the naval battle of Salamis, which eventually led to the initiative of the war being completely manipulated by the Greeks, which not only completely drove the Persians out of Europe, but also liberated the Greek immigrant city-states along the coast of Asia Minor occupied by Persia for a long time. In 449 BC, the Greek army completely defeated Persia on the island of Cyprus and the two sides signed a peace treaty, thus ending the Greek-Persian war.

Historical evaluation

The historical legacy left by the Spartan army to future generations is not only their brave spirit of dying, but also their achievements in army building and combat, which has a great influence on future generations.

Through this war history, we will find that the Spartan army has two magic weapons to win: one is the martial spirit of the nation, which makes every Spartan brave and good at fighting; The second magic weapon is that this army has strict discipline, unified pace and absolute obedience to its leaders. Under the influence of this consciousness, the Spartan army can always maintain a strict battle formation in the face of strong enemies and give full play to its operational effectiveness. On the other hand, Persian army tactics are dull and backward; Most soldiers were forced to join the army and their morale was low; Labor expedition, supply difficulties, and ultimately lead to failure.