Xerxes Five Million Men

[floofthegoof]

You picked some interesting examples, but I imagine you will agree that France in 1813 was far more advanced in general than Xerxes Persian Empire, yet the largest field army Napoleon could muster were 195.000 men at Leipzig, far away from Herodotus 1.7 million, so i find that simply impossible to believe.

I agree that France in 1813 was more advanced, but I don't think that raw numbers are an indication of advancement. Napoleon was a very succesful general. Xerxes was not. Napoleon would have told Xerxes to give him 100,000 men to conquer Greece, and he would have done it.

So, let´s resume our proposals, 1) what are the numbers you propose, and 2) on what are based those numbers

I think the method of counting given by Herodotus would lead to considerable inflation of the numbers. I scale it back from 1.7 million to 1 million fighting men. The number must be large enough so that, though the Persians had allied with everyone north of Thessaly, they starved to death without more than a numerically insignificant battle. Mind you this isn't Russia in the wintertime, it's Greece! Quite known for a pleasant climate.

As for the followers and allies gained on the march, I think that the number should be very much lower that what was estimated by Herodotus. I would say that an additional 100,000 would be the maximum. Also, I think anyone who had a chance of survival in Greece, who had an ounce of courage, would have deserted rather than fight for a king who they probably hadn't even heard of before they were pressed into service, whos motivation consisted mainly of the whip. So there may have been less men with him at Thermopylae than in Asia.

I say one million total human beings in the land army.