Concetti Chiave
- The disparity in means between Xerxes' massive army and the Greeks was apparent, yet the Greeks chose to resist rather than submit.
- A Greek exile explained to Xerxes that, despite being free, Greeks were bound by the law, which they feared more than any ruler.
- Herodotus emphasizes the ideological clash between Eastern monarchy and the Greek city-states based on free association.
- The Greek resistance was driven by their organization for both civil and military needs, believing they fought for a just cause.
- A Greek defeat would have meant the end of their democratic regime and the loss of their political legacy to modern culture.
Disparity of means
The huge disparity of means was known to all. Shortly before moving with his army towards Greece, Herodotus tells that(his stories were written some decades after the events narrated) the king Xerxes could not understand why the Greeks thought to resist her invasion and preferred not to submit: "How could a few free men oppose such a great army? If they were subject to only one command, as is customary among us, for fear of this master perhaps they might fought valiantly, and forced by sjambok, they might have even attacked more of their opponents; the Greeks who are intolerant of any order will not certainly "...
Greek resistance and law
At this point, a Greek exile intervened in the Court of the King of Persia, and the question posed by the King was been replied as followed: "O King, be aware that the Greeks, despite being free, they aren't completely in that condition, because on each of them is a terrible master: the law, which they fear even more than your subjects have not for you".
Herodotus clearly made it present that was not only a clash between two States, but that in the game were there were two opposing political beliefs: on one hand, the Eastern monarchy with its hierarchical structure and manifest, from the other hand, the city founded on the free association of persons. Of course, behind the words of Herodotus we can feel the echo of a propaganda, but they effectively express the decisiveness that animated the resistance of the Greeks.
Greek organization and legacy
In addition, the Organization for both civil and military purposes of the Greeks was to rise to the occasion, as well as the awareness was to fight for a just cause. A defeat would have meant, for the Greeks, the subjection to the Persian Empire, and would have made it impossible for the survival of a democratic regime such as that of Athens: in other words, this great "invention" policy, in which lies a fundamental historical heritage transmitted by the Greeks to modern culture, would have been stifled in the bud.
Domande da interrogazione
- What was King Xerxes' perspective on the Greek resistance to his invasion?
- How did a Greek exile explain the Greek resistance to King Xerxes?
- What was at stake for the Greeks in their resistance against the Persian Empire?
King Xerxes could not comprehend why the Greeks, being fewer in number, chose to resist his vast army instead of submitting. He believed that if the Greeks were under a single command, like his subjects, they might fight valiantly out of fear of their master.
The Greek exile explained that although the Greeks were free, they were governed by a powerful master: the law. This law was feared more by the Greeks than Xerxes' subjects feared him, highlighting the Greeks' commitment to their legal and political systems.
The Greeks were fighting not only for their freedom but also to preserve their democratic regime, particularly that of Athens. A defeat would have led to subjugation under the Persian Empire and the potential end of their democratic political system, which was a significant historical legacy.
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