Battle of Plataea

Background

The Achaemenid Emperor Xerxes I, after his accession in 486 BCE, quickly initiated his preparations for an invasion of Greece, including the task of building two pontoon bridges across the Hellespont. A congress of city states met, probably at Corinth, in 481 BC, and a confederate alliance of Greek city-states was formed, generally referred to as the Allies.

In August 480 BC, after hearing of Xerxes' approach, a small Allied army led by Spartan King Leonidas I blocked the pass of Thermopylae. Famously, the massively outnumbered Greek army held Thermopylae for three days before being outflanked by the Persians, who used a little-known mountain path. Following Thermopylae, the Persian army proceeded to burn and sack Plataea and Thespiae, the Boeotian cities that had not surrendered, before taking possession of the now-evacuated city of Athens. The Allied army, meanwhile, prepared to defend the Isthmus of Corinth. The ensuing naval Battle of Salamis in 480 BC ended in a decisive victory for the Allies, marking a turning point in the conflict. Following the defeat of his navy at Salamis, Xerxes retreated to Sardis with a minor portion of his army.

Xerxes left Mardonius in charge of his troops. Mardonius decided to spend the winter in Thessaly. Mardonius tried to win over the Athenians through the mediation of Alexander I of Macedon. Upon their refusal, the Persians marched south again. Athens was again evacuated and left to the enemy, leading to the second phase of the Destruction of Athens. Mardonius now repeated his offer of peace to the Athenian refugees in Salamis. Athens sent emissaries to Sparta demanding assistance, and threatened to accept the Persian terms if it was not provided. These events occurred sometime in the month of June. According to Herodotus, the Spartans were at that time celebrating the festival of Hyacinthus, and delayed making a decision for ten days, until they were persuaded of the danger to all of Greece if the Athenians surrendered. When the Athenian envoys went to the Spartan ephors to deliver an ultimatum, they were told by the ephors that their army had already departed. The 5,000 Spartiates had advanced up the Eurotas River and were now in Oresthasium.

Order of battle

Greeks

According to Herodotus, the Spartans sent 45,000 men – 5,000 Spartiates (full citizen soldiers), 5,000 other Lacodaemonian hoplites (perioeci) and 35,000 helots (seven per Spartiate). Pausanias, the regent for his cousin Pleistarchus, was chosen to command the Spartan troops. The historian Ian Macgregor-Morris argues that the 5,000 Spartiates sent to Plataea were 3/5th of Sparta's troops, while the historian Hans van Wees argues that these 5,000 were all the Spartan citizens fit to serve at the time. The Spartan troops at Plataea might have been the largest army the Spartans had sent beyond the Isthmus of Corinth. Pausanias chose Euryanax to be his deputy commander. Each phyle of the Athenians had its own strategos (commander).

The historian Nicholas Sekunda argues that Herodotus had assumed that each Greek hoplite was accompanied by a lightly armed attendant from the ranks of the psiloi, which had led to Herodotus inflating his numbers for the allied Greek army to 110,000. Sekunda argues that these attendants were present in the Greek camp but not on the battlefield. He further argues that these attendants served as skeuphoros (baggage carriers), and were either slaves or the relatives of the hoplites who were too young to serve in the military. In addition to the 35,000 helots, there were also 34,000 light infantry soldiers in the Greek camp. Other than the state of Argos, Mantinea and Elis also did not send their troops. The historian Paul A. Rahe estimates that these two states could have sent 6,000 hoplites, and argues that they did not because of Mardonius' bribes.

Achaemenids

The historian John Francis Lazenby, by comparing the size of the Persian camp to later Roman military camps, calculates the number of troops at 70,000, including 10,000 cavalry. The historian Peter Connolly arrives at a potential total of 120,000 from the size of the camp. Most estimates for the total Persian force are generally in this range. The historian Hans Delbrück, basing his calculations on the distance the Persians marched in a day when Athens was attacked, concluded that 75,000 was the upper limit for the size of the Persian army, including the supply personnel and other non-combatants. Delbrück estimated that the Persian army, including the allied Greeks, totaled 40,000. Konecny estimates that the Persians had around 55,000 to 70,000 infantry, and their camps had anywhere from 120,000 to 150,000 people including the camp followers. Thorax of Larissa and his brothers Eurypylus and Thrasydeius, from the Aleuadae family, were with Mardonius at Plataea.

Composition and order of battle

The details of the arrangement of the Persian line were given by Herodotus. The Persians were on the left wing, facing the 11,500 Lacedaemonian and Tegean hoplites. Konecny estimates that these Persians on the left wing numbered around 20,000 to 30,000. To the right of the Persians were the Medes, facing the 6,200 soldiers of Corinth, Potidaea, Orchomenus and Sicyon. Konecny estimates that these Medes numbered around 12,000 to 18,000.

Next to the Medes, the Bactrians were deployed in front of the 3,400 soldiers of Epidaurus, Troezen, Lepreum, Tiryns, Mycenae, and Phlius. Konecny estimates that these Bactrians totaled around 6,000 to 9,000. After the Bactrians were the Indians and Sacae, opposite the 3,300 soldiers of Hermione, Eretria, Styra, Chalcis, Anaktoria, Leucadia, Palea, and Aegina. Konecny estimates that these Indians and Sace totaled around 6,000 to 9,000. The Medes, Bactrians, Indians and Sacae formed the center of the Persian line, numbering around 24,000 to 36,000. Against the 11,600 Athenians, Plataeans and Megarians, were deployed the Boeotians, Locrians, Malians, Thessalians, and the Phocians. Konecny estimates that these troops numbered around 11,000 to 13,000. Thus Konecny estimates that the total Persian infantry numbered around 44,000 to 66,000; and the Persian cavalry around 5,000 to 7,000.

Logistics and finance

Andreas Konecny estimates that the Greek supply train destroyed by the Persian cavalry had 120 tons of supplies. He estimates that the Greek army at Plataea had a total of 78,000 soldiers and that these supplies would last for two days if each soldier were to receive one choinix of rations per day, equivalent to 800 grams (1.8 lb). Konecny estimates that each column had to travel 75 kilometres (47 mi) one way, and argues that there were three supply columns in transit at all times in order to supply the Greek army. He argues that at least 500 people accompanied each column. He therefore says that a minimum of 2,000 auxiliaries must have arrived at the Greek camp in the four columns which had already supplied them. Konecny says that at least 1,500 auxiliaries were always working the supply lines.

The historian Nicholas Sekunda argues that the animals in the supply column were pack animals and not oxen, and says that the Persians could only use pack animals after the attack, since oxen could not traverse the unpaved route. Sekunda estimates that the food provisions were at least one choinix per day for both the Greek and Persian soldiers. Sekunda also estimates that the supply column disrupted by the Persians had either 58,000 choinikes of barley or 47,000 choinikes of wheat, half the daily provisions for the 110,000 people in the Greek camp, including the non-combatants.

Sekunda argues that the Greeks had a "common treasury". He cites Plutarch's statement, which says that during the Spartan command of the allied Greeks, the latter paid some type of contribution. The historian Peter Brunt argues that such a treasury could not have existed. Sekunda argues that the Spartans might have had enough time to make financial provisions during the Persian invasions. Based on his estimates for the daily provisions requirements, Sekunda estimates that the daily spending on rations by the Greeks at 10,000 drachmas. He argues that the allied Greeks could have arranged such sums. Sekunda observes that the battle of Plataea was the first instance of a Greek army receiving supplies while encamped on the battlefield, instead of living off the land, getting supplies from allied polities on their route or buying from markets set up by camp followers.Konecny argues that the Spartans had thus mobilized almost all of their fighting age helots to assist on the logistical problems posed by such a large Greek army. He argues that only 10,000 helots were deployed for combat, while the remaining 25,000 helots worked the supply lines. He further claims that if all the 35,000 helots had been on the battlefield, the Greeks couldn't have formed their phalanxes before the first Persian charge. Konecny estimates that during Mardonius' march to Skolos he had traveled around 70 kilometres (43 mi) from Athens in two days, while most of his army would have taken around a week.

Prelude

When Mardonius learned of the Spartan force marching to join the allied Greek army, he completed the destruction of Athens, tearing down whatever was left standing. He then retreated towards Boeotia, hoping to lure the Greek army into territory which was advantageous for the Persian cavalry. Mardonius withdrew from Attica through the Decelea defile, passed by Sphendale, crossed the Parnes range, encamped for a night at Tanagra and then marched to Skolos. Mardonius built a fortified encampment around 1.9 square kilometres (0.73 sq mi) in area on the north bank of the Asopos river in Boeotia, thus covering the ground from Erythres past Hysiae and up to the lands of Plataea.

The Athenians under the command of Aristides joined the Allied army at Eleusis in Attica. The army traveled on the Oenoe road via Panactum, the plains of Skourta and the eastern Pastra mountain, across the passes of Mount Cithaeron and arrived near Plataea. The archaeologist Andreas Konecny estimates that the crossing of Cithaeron took place sometime between late July and mid August. Under the guidance of their commanding general, Pausanias, the Greeks took up positions opposite the Persian lines but remained on high ground. They deployed their lines from Erythrai to Hysiai, and from their positions on the Cithaeron could observe the Persian lines 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) across the Asopos river. The Greek units were camped in order of their positions in the phalanx, so that the formation could be set up easily at the start of battle.

Mardonius initiated hit-and-run cavalry attacks against the Greek lines. During what may have been a reconnaissance patrol, the Persians had noticed a gap in the Greek lines on the western flank. At the foot of a cliff, the Megarians were deployed in terrain accessible to the Persian cavalry, about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the westernmost point of the line. The Megarian line was about 400 metres (1,300 ft) wide at the front, of this frontage, about 250 metres (820 ft) was exposed. The Persian cavalry under the command of Masistius began attacking in continuous waves. Konecny estimates that hundreds of cavaliers were required to attack in each wave. The Megarians requested reinforcements and said they would retreat if these were not sent.

300 Athenians, hoplites or infantry, and their archers replaced the Megarians at the spot where the Persian cavalry was attacking. These Athenians were commanded by Olympiodoros. The Athenians formed a single or double line formation, and from their rear their archers fired their volleys. An Athenian archer managed to hit Masistius' horse when the latter was on the frontline opposite the Athenians. Masistius was flung off his horse and landed near the Athenian line, where the soldiers started stabbing him but were unable to kill him as he was wearing scale corslet armor underneath his clothes. Masistius was finally killed when an Athenian soldier stabbed him in the eye. The Persians tried to recover his body but were pushed back by the Greek infantry, which had just arrived to reinforce the Athenians. The Persian cavalry retreated soon after. The Persians mourned the death of Masistius by shaving their hair and chopping off the manes of their animals.

Battle

During the retreat of the Greeks on the 13th day after their arrival, all of their center wing left the field while their right wing initially did not budge. The Spartans and Tegeans had by now reached the Temple of Demeter. The rearguard under Amompharetus began to withdraw from the ridge to join them. Konecny argues that the Spartans already had Amompharetus' lochos in their formation when the first units of the Persian cavalry started attacking. The historian Andrew Robert Burn argues that the Persian wings by now were converging on the Greek position. He argues that if the Spartans and Athenians had merged, they could have attacked a Persian flank.

Konecny estimates that Pausanias' line, which had 11,500 soldiers, was 1.3 to 1.45 kilometres (0.81 to 0.90 mi) long, assuming it was eight ranks deep and each soldier took up 0.8 to 1 metre (2.6 to 3.3 ft) of space. Pausanias asked the Athenians to reinforce his troops, but the latter had been engaged by the phalanx of the Thebans and Mardonius' Greeks, and were unable to assist Pausanias. Konijnendijk argues that the Spartans' flank had been attacked by the Persians, and notes that Pausanias had asked the Athenians to deploy their archers, who were tactically needed against the Persian archers and missileers, if they could not deploy all of their army.

Meanwhile, Mardonius had learned of the Greek retreat and rushed to Pausanias' position with the Persian left wing he was personally commanding. They had marched around 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from their camp behind the Asopos river to the Argiopios. The Greeks had put up their shields at their front line and were fighting the Persian cavalry. The Persians were not advancing in a formation but managed to form their lines opposite the Greek phalanx. Konecny argues that the distance between both fronts might have been 50 to 70 metres (160 to 230 ft). Another estimate for the distance between the Greek and Persian lines is 100 to 150 metres (330 to 490 ft). When the Persian infantry arrived, the Persian cavalry temporarily withdrew to rest their mounts and refill their arsenal. By now, the Persians had formed their shield wall and their archers continued to fire while covered behind it. The Persian Immortal lines were probably ten files deep, where sparabara were on the front wearing scaled iron corslets, armed with spears, bows and shields. The nine soldiers to the rear were armed with bows and spears, or axes.

According to Herodotus, Pausanias refused to advance because he was waiting for good omens. At this point, as Greek soldiers began to fall under the barrage of arrows, the Tegeans started to run at the Persian lines. Pausanias finally received favorable omens and ordered the Spartans to also charge the Persian lines. Konecny argues that the Persian arrow volleys were dispiriting for the Greeks, since their arrows might have managed to hit undefended gaps and body parts.

Accounts of individuals

Herodotus recounts several anecdotes about the conduct of specific Spartans during the battle.

Amompharetus: The leader of a battalion (lochos) of Spartans (specifically Pitanates), he refused to undertake the night-time retreat towards Plataea before the battle, because he thought it was cowardly. At dawn, the rest of the Spartan army finally began to retreat, leaving Amompharetus' division behind. Amompharetus eventually led his men to join the retreating Spartans. Spartan tradition remembers Amompharetus as winning great renown at Plataea, and it has thus been suggested that Amompharetus, far from being insubordinate, had instead volunteered to guard the rear.

Aristodemus: The lone Spartan survivor of the Battle of Thermopylae, Aristodemus was branded a coward. Anxious to redeem his name, he charged the Persian lines by himself, but was killed. Although the Spartans agreed that he had redeemed himself, they awarded him no special honour, because he had failed to fight in the disciplined manner expected of a Spartan.

Callicrates: Considered the "most beautiful man in the whole Greek camp", Callicrates was eager to distinguish himself that day as a warrior, but was deprived of the chance by an arrow that pierced him while he was sitting behind his shield.

Aftermath

According to Herodotus, the Battle of Mycale occurred on the same day as Plataea. After the twin victories of Plataea and Mycale, the second Persian invasion of Greece was over. Moreover, the threat of future invasions was abated; although the Greeks remained worried that Xerxes would attempt an invasion again, over time it became apparent that the Persian desire to conquer Greece was much diminished. The Spartan hoplites who died were buried in two different graves, while the helots were buried in a third one. Those buried at the first grave were either priests (irees) or "young men in their twenties" (irenes). In the first grave were buried Poseidonius, Philokyon, Amompharetus and Callicrates. The Spartans present at the battle had declared Poseidonius the most valiant among them. Sophanes of Athens was also said to have fought valorously. According to Herodotus, there were four other tombs built by the allied Greeks: one each for the Athenians and Tegeans, and two for the Megarians and Phleiasians. Fallen soldiers from other Greek states were probably buried in a common grave. Herodotus had also remarked that the tombs built by these other Greek states were vacant. Sacrifices were offered at these tombs in Plataea annually.

After the battle, Pausanias did not permit the desecration of Mardonius' corpse as revenge for the mutilation of Leonidas' body, a proposal put forth by Lampon of Aegina. Pausanias had also freed a Coan woman, who had been captured and put into concubinage in the Persian camp. According to Thucydides, after the battle, Pausanias had offered at "the agora (public square) of Plataea a sacrifice to Zeus Eleutherios". A marble altar was constructed for the deity and sacrifices continued to be offered to him in Plataea. The goddess Homonoia (Concord) was also added to the altar. The Athenians also built the Stoa of Zeus in their city's agora to honor Zeus Eleutherios, who had helped them in their victory against the Persians at Plataea. The Stoa was used to store the shields of the Athenians who had fallen at Plataea.

The allied Greek army rested for ten days, then proceeded to besiege Thebes and rebuke those among the city's politicians who had advocated for the Persian cause. Attaginus, the foremost medizing politician, escaped; his sons were pardoned by Pausanias. However, all the other remaining medisers were executed without being tried, because it was believed they were going to evade punishment through bribery. The Spartans did not send any troops for the allied effort after the battle; the historian Marcello Lupi contends that the Spartans did so because they did not have any naval experience, because they believed their soldiers could have been corrupted by the Persians, and because they wanted to solidify their dominance in the Peloponnese. The allied forces were commanded by the Athenians for the remainder of the war.

Spoils

The cuirass armor of Masistius, the Persian cavalry commander, was displayed at the shrine of Athena Polias in the Erechtheion, located in the Acropolis complex in Athens, and was still to be found at the same location in the 2nd century AD. The geographer Pausanias had seen a sword, said to be Mardonius' acinaces, in the Acropolis. Pausanias had also said the tomb of Mardonius was open to the public in his time. The manger of Mardonius' horse, fabricated in bronze and captured by the Tegeans, was gifted to the Temple of Athena Alea in Tegea. The loot pillaged from the Persians was sold to fund the construction of multiple buildings, like the Athenian Treasury at Delphi. It is possible that originals, misattributions or replicas of the Persian spoils from Plataea were stored at the Acropolis complex, particularly in the Parthenon.

The historian Irene de Jong argues that the spoils of the Persian wars were instrumental in advancing the Athenian assimilation of Persian culture. She argues that Pausanias had sent the helots, and not the Greek regulars, to collect the loot either because he wanted it to be distributed fairly, or because he wanted most of it for himself. However, the helots did steal some of the loot while collecting the luxury articles and the armor and gear of the fallen Persian soldiers. She argues that the loot was a windfall, composed of riches which were greater than what the Greeks were accustomed to. The loot included tents, couches, vessels, cauldrons, weapons and armor; all of these were fashioned in either gold, silver or bronze. Three artifacts, made of gold and bronze and created from the Persian spoils, were offered to the gods. A tripod was dedicated to Apollo at Delphi, and one statue each to Zeus at Olympia and to Poseidon at the Isthmus of Corinth.

de Jong notes that the Greek soldiers had divided between themselves the "women, horses, talents, camels and yoke animals" captured from the Persian camp. She also notes that the Plataeans later come about treasure chests in the area. She notes that Herodotus was surprised when the colorful Persian garments, which he was very interested in, were not taken by the Greeks sent to pick up the loot. She notes how Pausanias had, after the battle, asked the Persian and Spartan cooks to prepare meals for him. Observing the difference between the two, and also the luxurious nature of the Persian furniture and decor in Mardonius' tent, he had asked the other Greek commanders to come over. Pausanias then pointed out these luxuries and told them it was absurd for the Persians, who lived luxurious lifestyles, to invade the Greeks, who lived austerely. She argues that this experience had attracted Pausanias to the luxurious Persian lifestyle and might have led to his medism, especially since he had claimed and received a greater share of the loot at Plataea.

Legacy

A bronze column in the shape of intertwined snakes, the Serpent Column, was created from melted-down Persian armor, acquired during the plunder of the Persian camp, and was erected at Delphi. It commemorated all the 31 Greek city-states that had participated in the battle, listing them on the "coils" of the column. Most of the column still survives in the Hippodrome of Constantinople in present-day Istanbul, where it was carried by Constantine the Great during the founding of his city on the Greek colony of Byzantium.

The poet Simonides of Ceos was instrumental in commemorating the victory at Plataea. He wrote an encomium and an elegy about the battle. The historian Marcello Lupi contends that these texts were commissioned by the Spartans, possibly by Pausanias, since they glorify both of them. In Spartan propaganda, the victory at Plataea was seen as having avenged the Spartan defeat at Thermopylai. A festival dedicated to Zeus Eleutherios was initiated in order to honor the Greeks who had died during the battle. This festival was the Eleutheria, a race where the competitors ran for 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) while carrying a shield and wearing full body armor.

The historian Christel Müller argues that Plataea became a lieu de mémoire (place of memory) because of the battle. According to Herodotus, some Greek city-states had built cenotaphs for the people who would come to visit the site in the future. Müller argues they had built these cenotaphs because they were ashamed at not having taken part in the battle. Nyland notes that this was actually Herodotus' view. Lazenby argues that these states indeed had suffered casualties in the battle, but were either unable to recover their soldiers' bodies, or had buried their fallen soldiers in a collective grave; and put up their own cenotaphs later. Aeimnestus, who had killed Mardonius, was commemorated at the temple of Athena Areia in Plataea, established with 80 talents taken from the spoils.

Historiography

Herodotus' account says that the Corinthians did not follow Pausanias' orders and did not participate in the battle. Simonides, however, says they played a major part in the battle. In the History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, the Syracusan commander Hermocrates says Persian errors and lack of supplies were the reason for their defeat; and also says the Persian army was not bigger than the allied Greek army. In another instance in Thucydides' work, the Corinthians also say that the Greeks won due to Persian mistakes. However, Thucydides might be voicing his own thoughts here, conforming to his negative views on the Persian Wars.

Ctesias, a Greek physician at the court of Artaxerxes II, had written an account of the battle, largely drawn from Persian sources. Diodorus Siculus had based his account largely on works by Ephorus. Plutarch cited Idomeneus of Lampsacus and Simonides for his account. Nyland argues that the sources for the contingent of Olympiodoros relieving the Megarians could be the relatives of Lampon of Thurii, the son of Olympiodoros. Nyland further argues that the source for Amompharetus' refusal to retreat is likely to be an Athenian; because Amompharetus is said to have cast his vote using a stone, which was not a Spartan practice but an Athenian one. Nyland also argues that the Greeks Herodotus had consulted for his narrative of Plataea hadn't fought in the battle, while the medizing Greeks and Persians he had consulted were highly likely to have fought. Nyland argues that these medizing Greeks were the primary sources for Herodotus' account of Plataea, and argues that Herodotus did not cite them explicitly because they were not considered reliable due to their medism.

Analysis

Strategy and technology

The historian Roel Konijnendijk argues that technological advantages, if these existed, were not among the reasons for the Greek victory over the Persians at Plataea. He argues that there were multiple other reasons for the outcome of the battle. He claims that the Persians' iron cuirass armor was of better quality than the Greek bronze cuirass armor. Konijnendijk states that only some soldiers of both armies wore armor, and that their numbers were not greater than 10%. He thus postulates that the Greeks did not have better armor than the Persians. He argues that it was not the Greeks but the Persian soldiers who were "uniformly trained and equipped for close combat". He claims that the Persian shield wall was the Greeks' target during the early clashes, and that the Persian Immortals had kept fighting even after the shield wall broke, but stopped after their commander Mardonius was killed. He also notes that the Spartans were the only experienced and skilled soldiers in the Greek camp, and that all the other Greek soldiers were amateurs.

Konijnendijk notes the dominance of the Persian cavalry over the Greek infantry, and how the former had initiated the battle at Plataea. He argues that these cavaliers could fire arrows and javelins at the Greeks without coming within the range of the latter's spears; and that the Persian infantry inflicted much damage on the Spartans, who did not have long-range weapons to counter and defend themselves. He also observes how the Persians used their archers for area denial by putting the banks of the Asopos river within their arrows' range and thus cutting off the Greeks' source of fresh water. Konijnendijk argues that the Greeks could have lost at Plataea if their army had been all hoplites, and that the light infantry missileers, who were two-thirds of the Greek army, could counter the Persians' long-range weapons more effectively. He argues that these missileers sought cover behind the hoplite shields at Plataea. He argues that Pausanias knew the hoplites were weaker in such a scenario and that archers were needed.

Konijnendijk notes that the Greeks had sent hoplites and archers for the first few skirmishes, and that the archers had managed to turn these into a pitched battle by injuring the Persian commander's horse. He argues that the Persians had advantages in mobility, range, flexibility and lethality over the Greeks. He argues that the Persians could have outflanked the Greeks easily, but they did not because they actually did not outnumber the Greeks by a lot. He also argues that Mardonius normally would not propose a duel of champions between the Persian Immortals and Greek hoplites because it would reduce his numerical advantage. Konijnendijk argues that Mardonius had proposed the duel because he wanted to reduce the Greeks' numbers, and postulates that the Greeks may have been the ones who outnumbered the Persians, since the latter feared the size of the former's army. Konijendjik argues that the Persian strategy was to pursue a lengthened war and thus force a Greek retreat, since the latter had limited access to supplies and water. He argues that the Greek strategy was to pull the Persians into a pitched battle, because the former were logistically constrained while managing their large army for long; and because they might have believed the terrain was advantageous for them.

Formations

Konecny argues that the phalanx formed by all the hoplites was 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long if it was 8 files deep. He argues that all the Spartan helots were not deployed on the battlefield, because the 35,000 helots in the seven rows to the back plus the 5,000 Spartiates in the front would make the phalanx 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) long. The historian Peter Hunt argues that all the helots were deployed in the Spartan formation. Hunt notes that the Athenian center at Marathon was only a few ranks deep and did not have light infantry in its ranks, and argues that it broke because of this reason. Hunt argues that the Spartans had the helots as light infantry in their formation at Plataea in order to form long lines which could counter the Persians.

Konijnendijk and historian Paul M. Bardunias observe that Plataea was the first battle since Thermopylai and the last battle ever where the Persian Immortals fought the Spartan hoplites. They argue that multiple features of a typical hoplite battle are missing in Herodotus' narrative of Plataea, however, later authors have guessed they were. They argue that the general narrative of Plataea as a phalanx battle is contrary to the evidence. They note that Herodotus had provided any details about the depth of the Greek ranks at Plataea, but had written about the greater depth of the Persian ranks. They thus argue that the Greek forces at Plataea were not arrayed in grids, and did not fight in the manner of Classical hoplite phalanxes. They note that the Spartans at Plataea did not execute the movements attributed to them by later authors like Xenophon.

Konijnendijk and Bardunias argue that the helots were indeed deployed alongside the other Spartans during the final battle, and were not auxiliaries. They argue that the Spartan formation could not have been eight ranks deep with one hoplite in front and seven light infantry to the rear. They argue that such a line was 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long, which is not possible on Plataea's terrain. They also observe that the Persian Immortals could not have formed a line of similar length. They note that the Spartan phalanxes were eight ranks deep in only one instance in recorded history. They argue that the Greeks formed a defensive line during the final battle, sent small groups out to provoke the Persians into breaking their formations, and only then did they start pushing like Classical hoplite phalanxes. They argue that the Greeks did not form tight phalanxes, and instead kept some distance between each soldier to allow individual soldiers to attack.

Konijnendijk and Bardunias note that the Spartans may have arranged their units according to their syssitia (meal groups). They argue that the Spartan line had a depth of four ranks, while some other columns on the line had greater depth, arrayed together in a "rough formation". They posit that the Persians lost because of overspecialization. They postulate that Plataea was a battle of shield walls, where the Greeks won because their shield wall was capable of movement, sending out skirmishers and moving in on their opponent. The Persian shield wall, in contrast, was better for shielding archers, missileers and cavalry. They observe that the sparabara (heavy infantry) were the only Persians who could face off against the hoplites in close quarters, and when the former were defeated, the outmatched light infantry had to fight the hoplites. They note that the Persians could not retreat quickly, and their cavalry, which could have assaulted the Greek flanks, did not engage, perhaps because of adverse terrain. The battle of shield walls at Plataea, according to them, was a phase in the development of Greek combat, where it morphed from "fluid" combat in Archaic Greece into Classical hoplite phalanxes.

Casualties

The Greek casualties at Plataea were 652 according to Herodotus, 1,360 according to Plutarch and 10,000 according to Diodorus. Konecny notes that the second estimate indicated a casualty rate of 4% for the Greeks. Herodotus probably could not estimate the total casualties among the Spartan perioikoi. He had also estimated that there were a total of 52 Athenian casualties. The Greek writer Cleidemus had posited that Herodotus had come across a memorial to the casualties incurred by the phyle (tribe) of Aiantis, and assumed these were the total Athenian casualties. The historians Michael A. Flower and John A. Marincola argue that Herodotus had given the Greek casualties only for the final day of the battle. The historian Peter Hunt notes that Herodotus did not state the casualties incurred by the perioikoi, and argues that they could not have emerged unscathed from the Persian arrow volleys.