The Battle of Plataea in 479 BCE is one of world
history's unjustly neglected events. It decisively ended
the threat of a Persian conquest of Greece. It involved
tens of thousands of combatants, including the largest
number of Greeks ever brought together in a common
cause. For the Spartans, the driving force behind the
Greek victory, the battle was sweet vengeance for their
defeat at Thermopylae the year before. Why has this
pivotal battle been so overlooked? In After Thermopylae,
Paul Cartledge masterfully reopens one of the great
puzzles of ancient Greece to discover, as much as
possible, what happened on the field of battle and, just
as important, what happened to its memory. Part of the
answer to these questions, Cartledge argues, can be
found in a little-known oath reputedly sworn by the
leaders of Athens, Sparta, and several other Greek
city-states prior to the battle-the Oath of Plataea.
Through an analysis of this oath, Cartledge provides a
wealth of insight into ancient Greek culture. He shows,
for example, that when the Athenians and Spartans were
not fighting the Persians they were fighting themselves,
including a propaganda war for control of the memory of
Greece's defeat of the Persians. This helps explain why
today we readily remember the Athenian-led victories at
Marathon and Salamis but not Sparta's victory at
Plataea. Indeed, the Oath illuminates Greek anxieties
over historical memory and over the Athens-Sparta
rivalry, which would erupt fifty years after Plataea in
the Peloponnesian War. In addition, because the Oath was
ultimately a religious document, Cartledge also uses it
to highlight the profound role of religion and myth in
ancient Greek life. With compelling and eye-opening
detective work, After Thermopylae provides a
long-overdue history of the Battle of Plataea and a rich
portrait of the Greek ethos during one of the most
critical periods in ancient history.
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