Western Civilization I / Unit 3 WC1 0224 short lesson, about 20 seconds
479: Plataea, Mycale, and Why the Greeks Won
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The idea
In four seventy-nine a Spartan-led army won at Plataea and an Athenian-led fleet at Mycale, names the witnesses supply, and Persia abandoned the invasion. The Greek sources' explanation: every man in a phalanx was a real soldier, while Persia's mass was unwilling conscripts.
In practice
Four seventy-nine opens the Classical Age.
Where people slip
Fighting continued for twenty years. Persia lost the invasion, not the war.
Your place on the trail
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