Persian Wars - Question (1 Viewer)

[Arkie]

Evaluate the impact of the battles of Marathon AND Plataea on the Greek victory in the Persian Wars.

Marathon - Boosted the greeks belief in themselves
- Marathon caused the Persians to come again, causing Themistocles to make a navy and Salamis helped win the P.W for them

Plataea - Actaully won the Persian Wars for them

thats as much as i got.. What are every one elses thoughts as to the impact these battles had on the Greeks win over Persia

 

[clintmyster]

I sorta done the wars in yr 11 so my knowledge is a bit brief:

In the Battle at Marathon, it was Miltiades, a military general who had inside knowledge of Persian warfare. Outnumbered, he was aware that the enemy’s finest soldiers would fight in the centre exposing the weaker ones at the wings . According to Herodotus, he extended the Greek line to sufficiently cover the whole Persian front, placing his more superior soldiers on the wings, causing a break in the centre. Subsequently, the Greeks could converge on their enemy and engage them in hand-to-hand combat where they could prevail with ease.
Although Miltiades played an essential role in Marathon, it was the foresight and application of naval warfare by Themistocles that ensured the slow demise of the Persians. Hearing a grim prophecy from the Delphi Oracle, Themistocles interpreted its lines, “the wooden wall only shall not fall” and “Divine Salamis, you will bring death to women’s sons” as a reference to ships saving Greece and the death of sons referring to their enemy

The Persians possessed hundreds of military generals that lead their various contingents however none threatened the well-being of Greece much like Mardonious. Herodotus tells of his final stand at Plataea, coercing the strategically based Greeks by capturing their water supply and killing off their food prospects. It was his ignorance however, of reading the Greek’s move to new territory as a retreat that resulted in the massacre of a vast number of Persians. The Persian’s inability to use their cavalry in previous encounters due to terrain issues may have played a role in Mardonious’s order to attack at their first real opportunity (the Greeks resided in higher grounds prior to this moment for that very reason). His mistake however allowed the Greeks under Pausanias to make use of the elite close-range prowess of their hoplites, pushing the Persians into the rivers and thus killing the last remnants of their land army.

 

[B_B_J]

 

[Arkie]

I sorta done the wars in yr 11 so my knowledge is a bit brief:

In the Battle at Marathon, it was Miltiades, a military general who had inside knowledge of Persian warfare. Outnumbered, he was aware that the enemy’s finest soldiers would fight in the centre exposing the weaker ones at the wings . According to Herodotus, he extended the Greek line to sufficiently cover the whole Persian front, placing his more superior soldiers on the wings, causing a break in the centre. Subsequently, the Greeks could converge on their enemy and engage them in hand-to-hand combat where they could prevail with ease.
Although Miltiades played an essential role in Marathon, it was the foresight and application of naval warfare by Themistocles that ensured the slow demise of the Persians. Hearing a grim prophecy from the Delphi Oracle, Themistocles interpreted its lines, “the wooden wall only shall not fall” and “Divine Salamis, you will bring death to women’s sons” as a reference to ships saving Greece and the death of sons referring to their enemy

The Persians possessed hundreds of military generals that lead their various contingents however none threatened the well-being of Greece much like Mardonious. Herodotus tells of his final stand at Plataea, coercing the strategically based Greeks by capturing their water supply and killing off their food prospects. It was his ignorance however, of reading the Greek’s move to new territory as a retreat that resulted in the massacre of a vast number of Persians. The Persian’s inability to use their cavalry in previous encounters due to terrain issues may have played a role in Mardonious’s order to attack at their first real opportunity (the Greeks resided in higher grounds prior to this moment for that very reason). His mistake however allowed the Greeks under Pausanias to make use of the elite close-range prowess of their hoplites, pushing the Persians into the rivers and thus killing the last remnants of their land army.

Thanks mate... Its pushing me into the right direction. On top of that what way do u reckon it would be best to structure my answer.
I got a general structure in mind but its not gona gain me good marks

 

[clintmyster]

I got that stuff from my essay entitled "Assess the Reasons for a Greek Victory in the Persian Wars"

Would you like a copy of that instead? I really forget how to structure these types of stuff haha. Too much Rome over the last 2 terms!

 

[-may-cat-]

whats your structure at the moment?

EDIT: you should definitely take on clintmysters info, but you need to look a bit deeper than just the battle tactics, as awesome as they are. your question asks for the impacts of the battles, ie their significance, look at the consequences of the battles, what they actually meant for both sides in regard to the war effort as a whole.

 

[Arkie]

I got that stuff from my essay entitled "Assess the Reasons for a Greek Victory in the Persian Wars"

Would you like a copy of that instead? I really forget how to structure these types of stuff haha. Too much Rome over the last 2 terms!

yeh dude that would be sick...

 

[Arkie]

whats your structure at the moment?

Intro - Start off with something catchy but directly answering e.g The battles impacted the Victory of the greeks to a huge extent. then say why (meaning my points). then finish up with something catchy

Para 1 - Marathon impacted the way the rest of the wars were fought and inturn caused thier victory

Para 2 - Marathon showed that they needed a navy. Bring in abit about good old Them, then say that the navy was the main reason they won etc.

Para 3 - Plataea actually finsihed the invasions and won the wars for them

Conclusion- Reinforcing and finshing up.

Any suggestions? I reckon i need more about Plataea.

P.s I gotta right this in class, so its gotta be written in 45 minutes.

 

[-may-cat-]

Intro - Start off with something catchy but directly answering e.g The battles impacted the Victory of the greeks to a huge extent. then say why (meaning my points). then finish up with something catchy

Para 1 - Marathon impacted the way the rest of the wars were fought and inturn caused thier victory

Para 2 - Marathon showed that they needed a navy. Bring in abit about good old Them, then say that the navy was the main reason they won etc.

Para 3 - Plataea actually finsihed the invasions and won the wars for them

Conclusion- Reinforcing and finshing up.

Any suggestions? I reckon i need more about Plataea.

P.s I gotta right this in class, so its gotta be written in 45 minutes.

How long is the essay? this seems a bit short for a major essay. As i mentioned before you need to look more at the consequences eg: Marathon allowed the Greeks to get a real feel for Persian fighting techniques - aided them in other battles, Plataea resulted in the obliteration of xerxes best warriors, the immortals, he simply had no means to continue warring for the time being (debatable..).


Try to look at things objectivly, for example while Themistokles was important in rallying for a strong use of Naval forces, when he commissioned the fleet there was no way in hell he could have known of the impeding persian threat. while its cool to see him as super tactical genius who had the fleet built to counter the persians, more likely he was orginally just a political opportunist. The fact that he had the fleet all set and ready to go when the persians showed up was really just a stroke of goodluck.

 

[Arkie]

How long is the essay? this seems a bit short for a major essay. As i mentioned before you need to look more at the consequences eg: Marathon allowed the Greeks to get a real feel for Persian fighting techniques - aided them in other battles, Plataea resulted in the obliteration of xerxes best warriors, the immortals, he simply had no means to continue warring for the time being (debatable..).


Try to look at things objectivly, for example while Themistokles was important in rallying for a strong use of Naval forces, when he commissioned the fleet there was no way in hell he could have known of the impeding persian threat. while its cool to see him as super tactical genius who had the fleet built to counter the persians, more likely he was orginally just a political opportunist. The fact that he had the fleet all set and ready to go when the persians showed up was really just a stroke of goodluck.

there is no word limit, just a time limit of 45 minutes.

Ok ill take that on board... So how do you reckon i should structure it?

 

[-may-cat-]

there is no word limit, just a time limit of 45 minutes.

Ok ill take that on board... So how do you reckon i should structure it?

Intro- state your thesis, briefly introduce your main points with regards to your thesis and how you will be defending them, talk about what sources you will be using, acknowledge possible problems with them (they're there, believe me).

1st para- Marathon, talk about the battle itself, lead up, tactics etc. Then discuss the significance of the battle in depth, talk about inconsistencies/problems with the sources, general historical criticisms etc.

2nd para- keep talking about the significance (it really should make up the bulk of your essay), acknowledge alternate ideas that may disagree with the ones your going with, use plenty of source info.

3rd/4th para- keep discussing significance for as long as need be, though three paras seems more practical for a 45 minute essay.

5th/6th/7th para- do the same for Plataea as for marathon, be sure to acknowledge the other major battles between as they are important in framing the conditions of the armies/nations and the context of the battle.

conclusion: sum up, restate your thesis, main points, don't bring in any new info.

 

[Arkie]

Intro- state your thesis, briefly introduce your main points with regards to your thesis and how you will be defending them, talk about what sources you will be using, acknowledge possible problems with them (they're there, believe me).

1st para- Marathon, talk about the battle itself, lead up, tactics etc. Then discuss the significance of the battle in depth, talk about inconsistencies/problems with the sources, general historical criticisms etc.

2nd para- keep talking about the significance (it really should make up the bulk of your essay), acknowledge alternate ideas that may disagree with the ones your going with, use plenty of source info.

3rd/4th para- keep discussing significance for as long as need be, though three paras seems more practical for a 45 minute essay.

5th/6th/7th para- do the same for Plataea as for marathon, be sure to acknowledge the other major battles between as they are important in framing the conditions of the armies/nations and the context of the battle.

conclusion: sum up, restate your thesis, main points, don't bring in any new info.

Thanks... should be something i will work towards