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The battle of Mycale in 479 was a land
battle that resulted in the destruction of the Persian fleet in Asia Minor, and
that encouraged the Ionian cities to rebel against Persian authority (Greco-Persian
Wars). In the aftermath of their defeat at Salamis in 480 the Persian fleet
returned to Asia Minor. Most of the fleet over-wintered at Cyme, on the
mainland south-east of Lesbos, while the rest of the fleet rested at the island
of Samos, further south along the coast. In the spring of 479 the two
contingents came together at Samos. The combined fleet, now recorded by
Herodotus as consisting of 300 ships, was commanded by Mardontes son of
Bagaeus, Artayntes son of Artachaees and Artaynta's nephew Ithamitres. The
fleet was given the task of guarding against the possibility of a fresh Ionian
Revolt amongst the Greek cities of Asia Minor.
Just before the battle the Phoenicians were sent elsewhere, reducing the size
of the Persian fleet. The Egyptian contingent had been sent home earlier in the
campaign, and so the Persians can't have had much more than 100 ships during
the battle. Moreover many of them must have come from the Greek states under
Persian control. On the other side of the Aegean the Greeks mustered a fleet of
110 ships, under the command of King
Leotychidas of Sparta.
Both sides thus had smaller forces at their disposal than in 480. On the Greek
side the difference appears to have consisted of the Athenian fleet, which was
being kept for use as a bargaining counter in the negotiations about the land
campaign of 479. On the Persian side the difference was caused by the heavy
losses of 480, and probably by a dissipation of naval strength, with some
contingents going home and others presumably supporting the army in Thessaly.
The Greek fleet moved south from Salamis to Aegina, where they were found by a
delegation from Chios, asking to be liberated from the Persians.
Leotychidas might have been sympathetic, but he wasn’t yet ready to risk
crossing the Aegean, and could only be persuaded to take the fleet to Delos in
the centre of the Cyclades.
Meanwhile back in Greece the Athenians finally convinced the Spartans to come
and fight outside the Peloponnesians. After ferrying their army across from
Salamis the Athenian ships joined the fleet at Delos. Herodotus doesn't say how
many ships were involved, but this must have at least doubled the size of the
Greek fleet. At about time a delegation arrived from Samos. The island was then
ruled by the tyrant Theomestor, who had been given the post as a reward for his
performance at Salamis. The three delegates, Lampon, Athenagoras and
Hegeistratus, argued that the time was right for the Greek fleet to move to
Ionian. Their arrival would trigger a fresh uprising against Persian rule. The
Persians would probably not fight, and even if they did their morale was low
and they would be an easy target. Events would show that morale in the Persian
fleet was indeed low.
Build-up to Battle:
The Greeks now decided that the time was right to go onto the offensive. Their
fleet was now much larger than when they had first arrived at Delos, and they
had been promised support by the very island where the Persian fleet was
resting. On the day after the meeting they set sail, heading east towards
Samos. The Greek fleet sailed along the southern coast of the island towards
the town. The Greeks were spotted by the Persians, who put to sea, but instead
of coming out to fight, they were planning to retreat. The Persians turned
east, and made for the Latmian Gulf, the great bay that once sheltered Miletus,
but has since silted up. The Persian fleet split up. The Phoenician fleet was
sent away (Herodotus doesn’t say where too), while the rest of the Persian
fleet moved into the Gulf, and then landed on the slopes of Mt Mycale, on the
northern side of the bay, where they were able to join up with the Persian land
army in the area, 60,000 men commanded by Tigranes (at least according to
Herodotus). The Persians beached their ships, and then built a defensive
stockade. The Greeks didn’t immediately follow. First they had a debate
about what to do next, considering either going home or moving up to the
Hellespont, before deciding to follow the Persians to the mainland. When they
passed the Persian camp no ships came out to fight, and so Leotychidas ordered
the fleet to move past the Persian camp, landed, and prepared for a land
battle. On his way past he also attempted to spread dissension in the Persian
camp by having a crier call out to the Ionians in an attempt to convince them
not to fight.
This may have had some impact on the Persian commander, for the force from
Samos was disarmed, and the Milesians were sent to guard the passes north over
Mt. Mycale.
Just before the start of the battle a rumour began to spread around that the
Greeks had defeated Mardonius
at a battle in Boeotia (battle of Plataea). Given that the two battles took
place on the same day, the possibility of the news arriving is normally
dismissed. However we do know that Mardonius had a system of beacons in place
that would have allowed news of a Persian victory to reach Xerxes at Sardis. It
is possible that the Greeks had a similar system, linking the mainland to Delos
and extended onwards as the fleet advanced. It is also possible that the story
was invented later, or perhaps most likely that is was the sort of rumour that
so easily spreads through armies, and on this occasion happened to be true.
Whatever the truth was, the news greatly encouraged the Greeks.
The Battle:
Both sides were now keen for battle. The Greeks advanced west towards the
Persians in two groups. On the left, nearest to the beach, were the Athenians,
Corinthians, Sicyonians and Troezenians. On the right, following a slower route
through the foothills of the mountain were the Spartans. The Athenian wing
arrived outside the Persian camp first. The Persian navy might have been
demoralised, but the army seems to have been unaffected. They advanced out of
their camp and fought behind a palisade of wickerwork shields. The battle at
this palisade was hard fought, but the Athenians and their allies eventually
managed to break through the Persian lines, encouraged by a desire to win the
battle before Spartans could arrive. The battle then moved back to the Persian
stockade. The Greeks advanced in formation, and soon broke into the stockade.
Probably at this state the Samians began to actively side with the Greeks. Most
of the Persian's allies fled from the field, leaving the Persians themselves to
fight on in small groups. Mardontes and Tigranes, the commanders of the land
army, were killed in the battle. Artayntes and Ithamitres, the naval
commanders, managed to escape, possibly by reaching their own ships.
The Spartans arrived late in the day, but while fighting was still going on in
the stockade, and helped to secure the Greek victory. Those Persians who
attempted to escape north across Mt Mycale ran into the Milesians, who had also
decided to change sides. They guided the fleeing Persians straight into traps,
and according to Herodotus were responsible for the most Persian deaths.
Herodotus doesn't record casualty figures for Mycale. He does say that the
Greeks killed most of the enemy. Diodorus gives the Persian casualties as
40,000. On the Greek side Herodotus says that losses were very high, especially
amongst the Sicyonians.
In the aftermath of the battle the Greeks destroyed the Persian stockade and
burnt all of their ships. They then sailed back to Samos, where they debated
what to do next. The initial plan was to evacuate the Greeks from Ionian and
settle them on the lands of any Greeks on the mainland who had sided with the
Persians. The Athenians were opposed to this idea, and eventually got their
way. The Athenians then entered into a formal alliance with a number of Aegean
islands, including Samos, Chios and Lesbos. The Greeks then moved north to the
Hellespont to attack the Persian bridges. When they discovered that the bridges
had already been destroyed, the Greek fleet split up. The Peloponnesian
contingents returned home, while the Athenians remained in the area and laid
siege to Sestus, the Persian headquarters in the Chersonese (the Gallipoli
peninsula). On the Persian side the survivors escaped to Sardis. Soon
afterwards Xerxes decided to return home, leaving part of his army to continue
the war. The conflict would drag on for another forty years, with the Persians
on the defensive for most of that time).
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