Here are my sources: Military History Online and Ancient History Encyclopedia | The battle was fought between the Greeks and the Persians and won by the Greeks. Some of the factors that decided the outcome were numbers, leaders, equipment, and terrain. The Greek armada was around 30,000 hoplites and twice that many light troops. They were lead by the general Pausanias. The Greeks focused on heavily armored hoplites. They held the rough, broken terrain during the battle. The Persian numbers are unknown. They were led by Mardonious. They focused on light weight troops, archers, and cavalry. But they also had the Immortals, a group of heavily equipped soldiers. The Persians fired arrows rapidly, though ineffective against the greek phalanx. They would have to lure the Greeks out onto the plains to move in with their cavalry. In the end, the alliance between Athens and Sparta and the hoplites' superior armor and weaponry proved decisive. |