Xerxes Five Million Men

[floofthegoof]

Concerning Plataea, I have a couple of thoughts.

First, the Greeks force was, by Greek standards, enormous. I cannot, offhand, think of any comparable sized Greek army. A Persian army of the same size was still huge by Greek standards. When trying to evaluate the odds, many observers must have felt rather overwhelmed.

As we discussed, a moderate superiority in numbers can be enough to win a battle - so if the Persians numbered, say, 120,000 to 100,000 Greeks; or 100,000 Persians to 80,000 Greeks; that is still a noticeable advantage in numbers, and might cause concern among Greek observers.

There are a couple of indications from Herodotus that the morale of these remaining Persians was very bad. There is the example I posted above with the dinner conversation, and the following; Mardonius attacked while the Greeks were in a very confused state, yet his army just couldn't keep the pressure up. Herodotus writes that after the death of a popular Persian cavalry general, the vast majority of the Persians were slaughtered huddling in unarmed masses inside the walls of the Persian camp.