g it appears almost impossible to see the logic in Darius’ decision. But the war was not over yet, victory at Marathon resulted in Greek confidence in their way of fighting, superiority of the tight phalanx formation and courage of hoplites seemed to be absolute. In 480 BC King Xerxes, Darius’ son, came back to Ellas. This time Persians were well prepared for a full on invasion. Herodotus describes different peoples that Xerxes’ army employed as mercenaries on the way to Greece. The army was not a small expeditionary force, but rather an integrated army, concept yet unfamiliar to Greeks. Xerxes’ army had skirmishers, javelin throwing Thracian peltasts, cavalry, and various types of infantry. For the first time Greek phalanx were fighting with foreign invaders in a war where stakes were much higher than a number of cut down trees. The existence of all Greek peoples was at stake. It was a different type of warfare for Greeks where adversaries employed different, unfamiliar tactics and engaged in battles not for the sake of solving some property argument but rather for the domination of all Greece. Therefore, while the expansion of Xerxes’ colossal war machine continued, Athens and Sparta had to devise a way to stop it. So when the decision was made it reflected the Spartan view, the decision was to stop Xerxes by a decisive land battle. Armies met in the pass of Thermopylae. ...
