An alternative theory for the battle of Thermopylae

Map: Map of Boeotia and Phthiotis where the alternative itineraries of the Persian army are shown. Thermopylae was on a very narrow passage between the Kallidromon Mountain and a marsh controlling the entrance of the smoother coastal road. The alternative path includes a very steep ascend at the Mpralos pass.

The main and shorter road towards Athens was crossing Thermopylae, a very narrow passage where the Persian cavalry and numeric superiority were useless. However, a secondary mountainous but wider road would allow Xerxes to advance but with a considerable loss of time. That was the road through the Mpralos pass leading to the Boeotia plains (Map). Mpralos pass is a very steep road leading from the Lamia plain to a wide valley formed between the mountains Parnassus and Kallidromon. In its first ten kilometers, the path climbs up 750 m above the sea level. The heavy loaded supply trains of the Persian army would have substantially delayed if Xerxes had decided to follow that mountainous road. After the summit of Mpralos, the path becomes smooth as it descends towards Chaeronea in the Boeotian plain. Both the modern railway and the national road connecting Levadia with Lamia follow this path. King Philip II of Macedonia, preferred that route during his campaign against Thebes and Athens in 338 BC. Herodotus overlooked that possibility. Therefore, the Greek army that was sent to Thermopylae knew a priori that they could not stop the Persian advance. Their actual plan was to delay the Persians’ advance for two to three weeks.


(Excerpt from the book The years that gave birth to Democracy 507- 450 B.C. by A. Mystriotis)