Ancient PersiaAchaemenid ruleXerxes the Great
Iran's attack on the Greeks (Cappadocia)
Xerxes went to Cappadocia in Asia Minor with the intention of attacking Greece and made this city the center of his command headquarters..
He was engaged in equipping the army for three whole years and finally mobilized the army, which is known in history as the "great army" and according to Herodotus, 46 different races and ethnicities were present in it, and in the spring of 480 BC to He moved to Greece.
Arabs, Indians, Persians, Medes, Scythians, Phoenicians, Egyptians and even the inhabitants of the Persian Gulf islands.(always) also……..
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They were present in this campaign. Of course, it should be noted that Greek historians have exaggerated the number of Iranian troops in this campaign and sometimes up to five million people have been mentioned.
But according to the writings of other historians, the number of people in Xerxes army was one million people, not all of them were soldiers and many were cooks and sailors. … They served in this army.
Source:Rezaei, Dr. Abdul Azim, Ten thousand year history of Iran, Tehran:Iqbal, print 16 ,1384,tables.
Apparently, the war between Xerxes and Greece happened at the instigation of the Greeks living in Iran. For example, Demartus, the former king of Sparta, who fled to Iran during the reign of Darius, told Xerxes that if you attack Greece, you can easily take Peloponnese and make me king there.. Of course, in this case, he would be Iran's puppet. Influential families in Thessaly have similar motivations (A regional name in Greece) And other people did it too.
It was in this way that Khashari Shah held a consultative assembly and asked for the opinions of Iranian nobles and courtiers. In this parliament, Khashayar Shah said that since Greece is a fertile land, a lot of money and wealth flows to Iran.. Also, we can penetrate into Europe and bring many countries under the citizenship of the Iranian government. In confirmation of his words, Mardounieh also said some things, but Erdovan (Artaban) Khashoggi's uncle opposed him and said that I had told your father Darius not to go to the Scythian country because you will not succeed.. Now the Greeks are a more warlike people than the Scythians and it is difficult to win over them. But Khashoggi was upset by Ordavan's words and threatened him with torture. Then Herodotus writes about the dreams of Xerxes and Ordovan, which ultimately leads to Ordovan's acceptance of Iran's invasion of Greece..
The movement of the Iranian army towards the Dardanelles :
Xerxes spent about forty years gathering the necessary supplies for the invasion of Greece and was able to prepare the largest army up to that time to attack Greece.. He was able to get the naval force from the ships of Rome(triremes) (It is a type of rowing boat whose rowers were placed in three rows on both sides of the boat.) And prepares the oar to fight with the Greeks. He also shipped a lot of supplies to Turkey and Macedonia so that his troops would not suffer from food shortages..
Iranian infantry moved from Krital located in Cappadocia and went to Sard. Then Xerxes joined his army there, and his army from Halys river (The current Qezal of Irmaq) He passed and entered the Ferange. To cross the Dardanelles or Hells Pont, the Iranian army connected the big ships in two rows so that the small ships could pass through them.. They also built bridges over the gorge.
The passage of the Iranian army from Helles Punt (Dardanelles) :
At Hellas Pont, Xerxes asked to see Sun from his army. According to him, the local people had previously built a white marble bed on a hill. Then the king stood on it and saw the sea battle and the soldiers who were on land.. He gave a speech to them and encouraged them to resist and fight.
After the prayers and prayers, Xerxes ordered the army to cross the Dardanelles. On one of the bridges, the infantry and cavalry crossed, and on the other bridge, which was towards the Aegean Sea, the cargo horses and the crew crossed.. Khashoggi's army included various nations such as Arabs, Medes, Persians, Indians, Scythians, and Thracians. (Turkish people) and... were.
In the place of Helles Pont, after the long talks that Xhasyar Shah has with his uncle Ordvan, he sends him to Sush to manage the government of Persia temporarily..
Xerxes' movement towards Greece and the capture of the northern cities of that country :
According to the writings of Herodotus, Xerxes went to Greece from Drisk. They subjugated these areas up to the Thessalian region of Megabyses and after that Mardonia, and they all paid ransom to Xerxes.. Then Xerxes passed through different cities of Greece and reached Akante. All the people of the city respected him. It was in this place that Xerxes ordered the digging of a canal that Herodotus mentions as the Etes Canal, and the Iranian navy passed through it.. There were several cities on the route of this canal, from which the Iranians received several ships as help.
From this route, Xerxes entered northern Greece and the city of Thessaly. The area of Thessaly is surrounded by high mountains, among which Mount Olympus can be mentioned. Xerxes' army entered Thessaly through a gorge and they immediately surrendered.
The situation in Greece :
When the news of Iran's invasion reached Greece, the Athenians were more afraid than other Greeks because they knew that the main goal of the Iranians was Athens.. Some thought to leave their homeland and go to Italy, but most of the Greeks stayed there and built warships..
When Xerxes was in Sardis, the Greeks sent spies there to find out about the condition of the Iranian soldiers and navy.. The Iranians realized that they were spies, so they took them to Xerxes. But Khasyarsha not only did not punish them, but showed them the entire Iranian army and told them to go back to Greece and tell the Greeks how many people there are in the Iranian army and the number of ships.. Because Xerxes thought that if they found out about the large number of Iranian ships, they would consider the war pointless and surrender..
The Greeks send ambassadors to the king of Sicily and ask him for help. He says that the Sicilians help the Greeks, but they also demand the command of the Greek army, which is not accepted by the Spartans and the Athenians.. As a result, the king of Sicily does not help the Greeks.
Trompeil Strait and its conquest by Xerxes :
After the people of Thessaly surrendered to the Iranian army, the Greeks returned to the East region. It was in this area that Alexander the Great (Grandfather of the famous Alexander the Great) He suggested to the Greeks to settle in the Trompeil Strait. Because this area is narrow and the passage of the Iranian army can be blocked easily. He also said that the Greek navy should be stationed at the Arte Meseum, because it was close to Tromple, and as a result, the naval and land forces could easily help each other.. Iranian ships started their movement from Terme and reached Arte Mesium, where they chased Greek ships and were able to capture one of them.. The rest of the Greek ships also retreated. According to the writings of Herodotus, when the Iranian navy reached the coast of Magnesi, there was a stormy sea and a number of Iranian ships were damaged.. The Athenian observers reported the damage to the Iranian ships to Athens and the Athenians were very happy..
Xerxes camped in Melian and the Greeks occupied Trompils. Xerxes sent spies to the Greek army to get information. Then Xerxes announced the war for four days so that the Greeks might surrender, but this did not happen. Then the war started, but the Iranian soldiers could not take the strait. until a Greek person, greedy for the great reward that Xerxes had promised him, suggested to the Iranian soldiers to go around the Trompeil Strait at night with a torch through a mountain road and get behind the Greek soldiers.. The Greek soldiers, who saw the Iranians coming down from the forested mountains, all fled and only the Spartans resisted and they were also killed.. In this way, the Iranians were able to attack the Greeks from two sides and destroy the wall that the Greeks had built in front of the strait.. The Iranians finally won.
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