The Battle of Plataea was the decisive ground battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place in 479 BC near the town of Plataea in Boeotia, between an alliance of Greek city states, including Sparta, Athens, Corinth and Megarida, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I. For lack of a clearer picture of the situation Mardonius was led to a strategic operational error, but we believe he could still have tactically won if he had better employed his main forces, that is, his cavalry (not dispersing it). and the historically cited elite infantry, which we will consider to be one of the Immortals divisions, probably ceded by their king and father-in-law for the continuation of the ground campaign. In the simulation it will be considered that the Greek device was unbalanced by the confusing nocturnal withdrawal, relying on the shocking action of the hoplite masses, particularly from the Spartan East Wing, to balance and / or reverse the situation the following day. The equilibrium of the Persian device will be based above all on the hold of the opposing wings by the infantry, allowing penetration through the center and subsequent overflowing of the flanks, by the cavalry and the heavy infantry (the “Immortals”).

In the simulation it will be considered that the Greek device was unbalanced by the confusing nocturnal withdrawal, relying on the shocking action of the hoplite masses, particularly from the Spartan East Wing, to balance and / or reverse the situation the following day. The equilibrium of the Persian device will be based above all on the hold of the opposing wings by the infantry, allowing penetration through the center and subsequent overflowing of the flanks, by the cavalry and the heavy infantry (the “Immortals”).

Plataea was one of the biggest and most important land battles of pre-20th century history. Close to 100,000 hoplite and light-armed Greeks took on an even larger barbarian army that included elite Asian cavalry and infantry, and troops from as far away as India, with thousands of Greek hoplites and cavalry also fighting on the Persian side. At points in the several days of combat, the Persians with their greater mobility and more fluid, missile tactics came close to breaking the Greek defensive line and succeeded in cutting off their supplies. But, in a fatal gamble when he nearly had the battle won, their general Mardonius committed the cream of his infantry to close-quarters combat with the Spartans and their Peloponnesian allies. The detailed reconstruction of this complex battle draws on recent studies of early 5th-century hoplite warfare and a fresh reading of the ancient textual sources, predominantly Herodotus, and close inspection of the battlefield.

"In this next offering for the Witness to Ancient History series, Robert Garland writes about the Persian invasion of Greece in the 5th century BC. After introducing the reader to the contextual background of the Greco-Persian Wars, including the famous Battle of Marathon, Garland describes the various stages of the invasion from both the Persian and Greek point of view. He focuses on the Greek evacuation of Attica (the peninsular region of Greece that includes Athens), the siege of the Acropolis, the eventual defeat of the Persians by Athenian and Spartan armies, and the return of the Greek people to their land. Coming off his 2014 PUP book on the experience of diaspora in ancient Greece, Garland is well placed to speak authoritatively on this important time in ancient history when the Greeks had to flee their homeland. Garland is an experienced and productive writer whose experience producing video lecture courses for The Great Courses company makes him an ideal author for this introductory volume"--Provided by publisher.

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