Thermopylae, as part of a force of 7,000 Greeks blocking the pass.
Seven. The last three were to hold the pass to provoke a sea battle in the nearby strait, which was the purpose of holding the pass. The Greek fleet faled to defeat the Persian fleet, so holding the pass uned out to be of no avail.
By blocking the pass at Thermopylae the Persians were forced into a sea battle at Artemesion nearby in order to try to outflank the pass. The Greek fleet was waiting to pounce to defeat the Persian navy in order to eliminate the threat it posed to the Greek cities. Unfortunately for the Greeks, they lost the sea battle and had to withdraw. The blocking force at Thermopylae, no longer required. withdrew back to their cities, the Spartan and Thespian contingents staying behind to cover the withdrawal and being eliminated.
It was a blocking action to bring on a navel action in the nearby strait in which the Greeks hopd to destroy the Persian naval threat. The naval battle failed so the Thermopylai pass was abandoned. The Spartan force of 2,400 (300 armoired infantry and 2,1oo light infantry) selflessly continued to hold the pass to let their 4,000 Greek allies escape, and died.
At Thermopylai (Hot Springs), a pass on the east coast of Greece opposite the strait between the maniland and the island of Euboia, just south of the Malian Gulf. The Battle of Thermopylae, 480 BC , was fought at Thermopylai , Greece . ~ See related link below .
The Phoenicians were not anywhere near the Thermopylae Pass, so they could not betray the Greek force there.
Thermopylae
The pass of Thermopylae.
Thermopylae, as part of a force of 7,000 Greeks blocking the pass.
The Pass of Thermopylae.
The Greeks defended, the Persians attacked to get through the pass into southern Greece.
The Spartans, alongside other Greeks were able to hold the Persians by fighting in the narrow pass of Thermopylae with the sea on one side and cliffs on the other. They were a…
The Spartans led a frce to hold the pass to force a sea battle in the nearby strait. When the Greeks lost the sea battle, the reason to hold the pass no longer existed. The Spartans selflessly kept holding the pass to let their allies escape, and were overwhelmed.
The narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae . August or September 480 BC
Its blocking of the pass was designed to precipitate a sea battle to defeat the Persian navy. Unfortunately for the Greeks their fleet lost, and the force at the pass was withdrawn.
The Phocians did not betray the Greeks at Thermopylai. They were given the job of protecting the track to the west of the pass, and when 10,000 Persian infantry came along the track to outflank the pass, the 1,000 Phocians were unable to block them.
Holding the pass at Thermopylae was used to force a naval battle. The Greeks lost the naval battle, so it was to no avail or effect.