A continent-spanning empire bore down on a patchwork of rival city-states—and out of that pressure, a people discovered themselves. We follow the Greek victories over Persia from raw survival to a moral origin story, showing how memory, art, and ritual transformed urgent alliance into a lasting idea: Hellenic freedom. We start with the fragile coalition that met the Persian advance at Salamis and Plataea, then uncover how the meaning of those battles grew in the retelling. Simonides’ epigram...
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A continent-spanning empire bore down on a patchwork of rival city-states—and out of that pressure, a people discovered themselves. We follow the Greek victories over Persia from raw survival to a moral origin story, showing how memory, art, and ritual transformed urgent alliance into a lasting idea: Hellenic freedom. We start with the fragile coalition that met the Persian advance at Salamis and Plataea, then uncover how the meaning of those battles grew in the retelling. Simonides’ epigram...
Teaser: Plataea, Clash of Military Systems (Patreon)
Casting Through Ancient Greece
6 minutes
3 months ago
Teaser: Plataea, Clash of Military Systems (Patreon)
Two distinct military systems, two worldviews, one decisive battlefield. The clash at Plataea in 479 BCE represents far more than a Greek victory over Persian invaders – it embodies the collision of fundamentally different approaches to warfare, each reflecting the society that created it. Following the naval defeat at Salamis, Persian King Xerxes withdrew with most of his forces, but left his trusted commander Mardonius with an elite army estimated at 70,000 men. This wasn't merely an occup...
Casting Through Ancient Greece
A continent-spanning empire bore down on a patchwork of rival city-states—and out of that pressure, a people discovered themselves. We follow the Greek victories over Persia from raw survival to a moral origin story, showing how memory, art, and ritual transformed urgent alliance into a lasting idea: Hellenic freedom. We start with the fragile coalition that met the Persian advance at Salamis and Plataea, then uncover how the meaning of those battles grew in the retelling. Simonides’ epigram...
