The Arsenal

The dory was the primary weapon of the Greek hoplite — a thrusting spear of 7–9 feet, with an iron tip and a bronze 'lizard-sticker' butt that could be used if the tip broke or when fighting over bodies. Held overhand in tight phalanx formation, it gave the first two or three ranks of Greek infantry the reach to stab at enemy faces and throats while remaining behind their own shields. At Marathon and Plataea, the dory's reach advantage over Persian infantry weapons was decisive.

The aspis (also called the hoplon, which gave hoplites their name) was a large circular shield roughly 90 cm in diameter, faced with bronze over a wooden core, weighing about 8 kg. Its distinctive feature was a double grip — a forearm band (porpax) and a hand grip at the rim — which allowed a soldier to carry it for hours. In phalanx formation, each man's shield protected not just himself but the man to his left, meaning the formation's integrity was literally life and death. 'Come back with your shield or on it' — the supposed Spartan maternal injunction — refers to this: dropping your shield to run meant your comrades died.

The Persian composite bow — made from layers of horn, wood, and sinew — was a powerful and accurate weapon with an effective range of around 50–100 metres. Persian armies relied heavily on mass archery to disrupt enemy formations before close combat. At Marathon, the Greek charge at a run was specifically designed to cross the 'arrow-kill zone' before Persian archers could do significant damage. At Thermopylae, Persians famously threatened that their arrows would 'block out the sun' — a Spartan reportedly replied 'Then we shall fight in the shade.'

The trireme was the decisive weapon of the Persian Wars. A warship about 37 metres long, powered by 170 oarsmen arranged in three banks, it could achieve burst speeds of 7–8 knots and turn within its own length. Its main weapon was a bronze ram at the waterline. Athenian triremes were considered the finest, crewed by experienced citizen rowers (thetes — the poorest class of Athenian citizen) who had developed extraordinary skill and coordination. Themistocles built 200 of them with Laurion silver; they won Salamis. The trireme required enormous maintenance and skilled crews — the Persian fleet, crewed partly by subject peoples with less motivation, was its match in open water but decisively inferior in the confined straits of Salamis.

The akinakes was the standard sidearm of Persian infantry — a short, straight iron sword of about 35–45 cm, worn on the right thigh or suspended from a belt. It was a stabbing weapon for close combat after the initial archery exchange. Persian infantry at Marathon, Plataea, and Thermopylae were described by Herodotus as brave fighters, but their shorter swords and lighter armour put them at a severe disadvantage against armoured Greek hoplites in close melee, particularly in confined terrain where Persian numerical superiority was nullified.

Persian cavalry was the arm of decision in Persian military doctrine — drawn from the Iranian nobility and allied peoples of the empire, armed with spears, bows, and javelins, and riding unshod horses without stirrups. At Marathon the Persian cavalry was absent (unloaded from ships or sent to outflank Athens), which was a critical factor in the Greek victory. At Plataea, Persian cavalry under Masistius effectively harassed Greek supply lines for eleven days, and it was Mardonius's confidence in his cavalry that led him to attack at the crucial moment. Without its cavalry advantage, the Persian army was substantially less dangerous.

Persian infantry often carried large wicker or leather-covered shields called spara, deployed in a wall formation (the sparabara) with archers shooting from behind. The front rank held the shields; the ranks behind shot over their heads. This formation was devastating against cavalry and lightly armed opponents but failed against armoured Greek hoplites who simply pushed through the wicker shields with their spears and armour. The mismatch between Persian infantry equipment and Greek hoplite equipment was the core reason for Greek tactical success at Marathon and Plataea.

The kopis was a heavy forward-curving single-edged sword used by Greek cavalry and some infantry — its forward curve gave it chopping power when used from horseback or in close combat. While the hoplite's primary weapon was the spear, many carried a kopis as a sidearm for when the spear broke or fighting became too close for its length. At Plataea, Greek cavalry used kopis swords to cut down fleeing Persians during the pursuit phase that turned the battle into a rout.

At Salamis and Artemisium, Greek ships used incendiary projectiles — fire pots, burning arrows, and at least once fire-bearing small craft — to set Persian ships ablaze. Ancient triremes, built of wood and powered by oarsmen in tight quarters, were extremely vulnerable to fire. The psychological effect of burning ships visible to both fleets affected Persian morale significantly. The confined straits of Salamis, filled with burning and sinking Persian ships, prevented the Persian fleet from manoeuvring and amplified the Greek victory.

The Ten Thousand Immortals were the elite infantry corps of the Achaemenid Persian army — so named, according to Herodotus, because their number was always maintained at exactly 10,000: any casualty was immediately replaced, so the corps 'never died.' Armed with spears, swords, bows, and wicker shields, they were the finest Persian infantry and served as both the royal guard and the vanguard of Xerxes' army. At Thermopylae they were sent against the 300 Spartans multiple times and each time driven back with heavy losses — an embarrassment that highlighted the quality gap between even elite Persian infantry and armoured Spartan hoplites in confined terrain.