Reconstructed Persian weapons

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

My own view is that hoplite warfare was superior in the context in which the battles in Greece itself have been fought. What we see from the Persian side,which in all cases had superior numbers (i won't elaborate how much superior)is reluctance to fight hand to hand with the phalanx. We see it in Thermopylae where this reluctance is understandable in any case since the greeks are holding a pass. But we have also seen it in Marathon and in Plataia. Later the same reluctance is evident in the battle of Kunaxa where most probably the engagement with the phahalx was denied and it wasn't a rout. And also in the campaigns of Agesilaos. In many of these battles there were crack persian troops,and yet they didn't opose the phalanx or they tried to avoid it.
It is also evident that the phalanx itself,without support of cavalry and light troops (something that the greeks lacked in the persian Wars) was unable to face the persian armies-even levy ones,in Persian ground.
Thus i see the armies as a product of what they were made to face. The fierce phalanx was designed to face itself! And since it was the ultimate weapon in hand to hand combat,nothing could face it. It's normal that even elite Persian troops failed to face the phalanx head on,something they learnt not to do later on. This doesn't mean that the Persians weren't elite soldiers highly trained, probably much better trained than the greeks,save for the Spartans. Herodotos says that they faught bravely,but they lacked the equipment to opose the phalanx. And since the equipment is what determines the way of fighting(or the oposite), i find it very rational to say that any Persian heavy troops weren't designed to crash on the Phalanx.
I won't support that greek leadership wasn't inspired,but i tend to favor those who give it less credit. On the contrary, if we see the Persian advance in some depth of time,we come to appreciate their leadership much more than any greek one before the time of Philip and Alexander! The answer to this is probably the Monarchy and the total leadership. The Greeks of course were right in all their choises on where and when to fight,and even if in Plataia it was almost a disaster, the superiority of the Phalanx,and much more the discipline and training of the Spartans proved enough to win the day. It is after the loss of the battle where the Persians suffered great casualties. and they continued suffering them all the way to home through land. What happened in Salamis is of a different chapter...
Khaire
Giannis