{{Bitka
|konflikt= Bitka pri Platajách
|súčasť= Grécko-perzských vojen
|obrázok=
|text k obr=
|dátum= august 479 pred Kr.
|miesto= Plataje
|casus=
|územie=
|výsledok= presvedčivé víťazstvo Grécka
|protivník1= grécke mestské štáty
|protivník2= Staroperzská ríša
|velitel1= Pausanias
|velitel2= Mardonios†
|sila1=110&nbsp;000 
|sila2=pravdepodobne 250&nbsp;000
|straty1=159
|straty2=207&nbsp;000
|straty3=
|poznámky= Zoznam bitiek pred rokom 601
}}

'''Bitka pri Platajách''' bola jednou z posledných veľkých bitiek grécko-perzských vojen. Odohrala sa v roku Boiótii (Bojócia, Bojótia) v strednom Grécku.

==Predohra==
Počas tretej výpravy do Grécka smeroval perzský útok po zemi i po vode. Porážka perzského loďstva v bitke pri Salamíne spôsobila, že sa kráľ Atiku a obsadil helótov. Velil im Pleistarcha. O niečo neskôr sa k nim pridalo ešte 5000 ťažkoodencov z radov periokov. 

Keď sa Mardonios dozvedel o spartskom vojsku, opustil Athény, pričom spustošil a zničel všetko, čo ešte zostalo z mesta. Odtiahol na sever k Tébam, aby tam mohol využiť svoju kvalitnú jazdu. 

Medzitým spartské vojsko prišlo na Eleusíny, kde vykonali obete. Tam sa k nim pripojili Aténčania a spojené grécke vojsko pritiahlo k Kithairónu.

==Bitka==
Mardonios poslal do boja najprv svoju kvalitnú jazdu, ktorej velil Megarčania a Aténčania. Aténski lukostrelci spôsobili perzskej jazde ťažké straty. Masistiov kôň sa naľakal, vzopäl a svojho jazdca zhodil. Gréci sa na neho vrhli a pretože mal na sebe zlaté šupinové brnenie, zabili ho tým, že ho bodli do oka. Po tomto prvom úspechu grécke vojsko zostúpilo k Platajam, pretože na Kitairóne nemali dostatok vody. 

Pri Gargafskom prameni sa rozmiestnilo grécke vojsko tak, že na pravej strane stáli Sparťania, na ľavej Aténčania a medzi nimi sa rozmiestnili ďalšie oddiely z rozličných gréckych mestských štátov. Celkovo Gréci zhromaždili 35 000 ťažkoodencov a takmer 70 000 ľahkoodencov a s ďalšími druhmi vojakov ich bolo celkovo 110 000. 

Aj perzské vojsko bolo pestro zložené. Mardonios postavil proti Sparťanov svojich najkvalitnejších vojakov Peržanov, vedľa nich boli Baktrovia, Indovia, Sakovia, napokon proti Aténčanom stáli oddiely zložené z gréckych vojakov, verných Peržanom. Celkovo mal Mardonios k dispozícii 300 000 vojakov. 

Pred začatím bojov sa na oboch stranách konali obete bohov. Pre jednu i druhú stranu boli nepriaznivé, preto vojská stáli proti sebe bez boja desať dní. Ku gréckemu vojsku sa pripájali ďalšie oddiely, takže jeho počet narastal. Na jedenásty deň sa však v gréckom tábore začal prejavovať nedostatok vody, preto niektoré oddiely opustili líniu a odišli k mestu Plataje. Za nimi sa po dlhých sporoch presunuli aj Aténčania a Sparťania. Keď Peržania zistili, že Gréci opustili pôvodné stanovište, začali ich prenasledovať. Najprv narazili na Sparťanov, ktorým chceli Athénčania pomôcť, ale na tých zase zaútočili grécke oddiely v Mardoniovom vojsku.

{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Battle of Plataea
|partof=the Persian Wars
|image=<!--  Commented out because image was deleted: 150px -->
|caption=Map of the battlefield at Plataea
|date=August 27, 479 BC
|place=Plataea, Greece
|result=Decisive Greek victory.
|territory=Persia loses control of Attica.
|combatant1=Greek city-states
|combatant2=Achaemenid Empire
|commander1=Pausanias
|commander2=Mardonius
|strength1=110,000 (Herodotus)<br>100,000 (Pompeius)<br>~40,000<br> (Modern Consensus)
|strength2=300,000 (Herodotus)<br>120,000 (Ctesias)<br>50,000 - 70,000 <ref>Peter Green, ''Xerxes at Salamis'',  1970.</ref><ref>Tom Holland, ''Persian Fire'', 2006. ISBN: 0385513119.</ref><ref>Julius Beloch, ''The Greco-Persian Wars''.</ref><br> (Modern Consensus)
|casualties1=10,000+ (Ephorus and Diodorus)<br>1,360 (Plutarch)<br>759 (Herodotus)
|casualties2=43,000 survived (Herodotus)
}}

The '''Battle of Persians. 

==Background==
After the disastrous defeat of his navy at the Battle of Salamis, Xerxes I, the king of Persia, retreated home leaving his general Mardonius in charge of the conquered Greek territories. Mardonius (through Alexander I of Macedon) first sought a truce with Athens, offering autonomous government and Persian aid in rebuilding their destroyed city. The Athenians rejected this offer and instead sent an envoy to Sparta asking for Spartan assistance in securing their city and driving the Persian army out of Greece. The Spartans however appeared to be more interested in protecting their homeland (to which end they were building a wall across the isthmus of Corinth, gateway to the Peloponnese.) Mardonius recaptured Athens and again made the same offer of peace but the Athenians once again rejected his offer outright. 

Athens, Megara and Plataea sent emissaries to Sparta demanding assistance. The Spartans hesitated, using the celebration of the Hyacinthia religious festival as an excuse. In the end, Chileos of Tegea convinced the Spartans of the grave danger they would face if Athens made peace.

According to Pausanias,  5,000  Spartiates (full citizen soldiers), 5,000 Perioikoi and 35,000 Thebes, hoping to lure the Greek army there<ref>Herodotus 9, 1-18</ref>.

==Battle==
Mardonius fortified the phalanx on hilly terrain.<ref>Ιστορία του Ελληνικού Έθνους (History of the Greek nation) vol. Β', Ekdotiki Athinon, Athens 1972</ref> Masistius met resistance from the Megarans and Athenians under the command of Olympiodorus, in the centre of the Greek formation. Masistius was killed and his cavalry retreated. The Greeks began to move away from the pass towards the plain of Plataea where Mardonius had built a fortified camp, and where the Greek hoplites could fight more easily. The Athenians formed the left wing of the army, with the Spartans on the right and the Tegeans in the center.

right|thumb|300px
    
By this point, the Greek army had been reinforced by many other city-states, giving them a total strength of 110,000 men, consisting of 38,700 hoplites and 71,300 light troops, according to Herodotus. The hoplites came from the following city-states:

{|class="wikitable" border="1"
!'''Cities'''
!'''No. of men'''
|+
|-
| Sparta
|align="right"| 10,000
|-
| Athens 	 
|align="right"| 8,000
|-
| Corinth
|align="right"| 5,000
|- 
| Megara
|align="right"| 3,000
|-
| Sicyon
|align="right"| 3,000
|-
| Tegea
|align="right"| 1,500
|-
| Floia
|align="right"| 1,000
|-
| Orchomenus
|align="right"| 1,000
|-
| Troezen
|align="right"| 1,000
|-
| Anactorium and Lefkas
|align="right"| 800
|-
| Epidaurus
|align="right"| 800
|-
| Arcadia
|align="right"| 600
|-
| Eretria and Styra
|align="right"| 600
|-
| Plataea
|align="right"| 600
|-
| Aegina
|align="right"| 500
|-
| Ambrakia
|align="right"| 500
|-
| Chalkis
|align="right"| 400
|-
| Mycene and Tiryns 
|align="right"| 400
|-
| Hermion
|align="right"| 300
|-
| Potidaea
|align="right"| 300
|-
| Cephalonia
|align="right"| 200
|-
| Leprea
|align="right"| 200
|-
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
| Total
|align="right"|38,700 
|-
|}    

Of the light troops, 35,000 were the aforementioned helots, 1,800 were Thespians and the other 34,500 are simply said to be from the other cities, about one per hoplite. The number of helots is disputed because it implies seven helots for every Spartan. Some historians have accepted these numbers and used them as a Pausanias tried to bring political reform to Sparta by giving the helots some rights, it is more likely than not that he had seen them in battle.  Furthermore, if the whole Spartan hoplite force had indeed been sent to Plataea, it would have been risky to have left such large numbers of able-bodied helots at home; therefore having them present at the battle as auxiliary troops would have arguably been the more prudent choice. 

The Greek formation, according to Herodotus, was arrayed in the following order (from right to left): Spartans, Tegeans, Corinthians, Potideans, Troezenians, Lepreats, Mycenians and Tirynthians, Fleiasians, Hermionians, Eretrians and Styrians, Chalcideans, Ambracians, Lefkadians and Anactorians, Palians from Cephalonia, Aeginians, Megarans and Athenians.

Mardonius, on the other hand, according to Herodotus, had 300,000 Persians, of which 50,000 under Artabazus did not take part in the battle because their leader disagreed with Mardonius' tactics. Ctesias who wrote in the 4th century BC a history of Persia based on Persian archives, claimed 120,000 Persian and 7,000 Greek soldiers, but placed the battle before Salamis. This discrepancy is probably due to the fact that his work did not survive and what is known of it is a fragment in the Myriobiblos, which was compiled by the Ecumenical Patriarch Photius in the 9th century AD.

The figure of 300,000 has been doubted by several modern historians, who have given figures as low as 50,000, beginning with Ctesias' number [http://www.herodotuswebsite.co.uk/plataea.htm] [http://monolith.dnsalias.org/~marsares/warfare/battle/plataea.html] [http://wildfiregames.com/0ad/page.php?p=1503] [http://www.geocities.com/caesarkevin/battles/Greekbattles2.html] [http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/ancient/plataea/default.aspx]. JAR Munro and Macan <ref>Cambridge Ancient History vol IV 1929</ref> note that baivarabam. The baivarabam was the tactical unit of the ancient Persian infantry that numbered 10,000 men.<ref>Papademetriou Konstantinos Περσικό Πεζικό: Η δύναμη που κατέκτησε τη νοτιοδυτική Ασία (Persian Infantry: The force that conquered southwest Asia), Panzer magazine, issue 22 September-October 2005 Athens, Periscopio edition</ref> While it is possible that Xerxes, on leaving Greece after the battle of Salamis accompanied by probably 60,000 troops,<ref>Garoufalis Demetrius Η ''ναυμαχία της Σαλαμίνας : Η σύγκρουση που άλλαξε την ιστορία'' (=The battle of Salamis, the clash that changed history, Στρατιωτική Ιστορία (=Military History) Magazine, issue 24 August 1998, Athens</ref> did leave his formations undermanned, it would have been unwise to leave a small force since he knew that Persian archers could defeat hoplites only with superior numbers. Also, Mardonius did have a force of allied Greeks - all Greek states north of Athens - especially the ever-"''medizing''" (i.e. allied to the "Medes") Thebans and allies from Thessalia. Ancient sources say they numbered perhaps 50,000, and while this may seem exaggerated, the northern states were certainly able to field 30,000 hoplites. British historian N.G.L. Hammond accepts that there were 300,000 Persians at Plataea, though he claims that the invasion force that was gathered in Doriskos one year earlier was smaller.

The Persian formation pitted the Persians against the Spartans and Tegeans, Indians against Hermionians, Eretrians, Styrians and Chalcideans, Egyptians who were only lightly armed (if at all).

Both armies camped in front of each other for 10 days with the Greek force repeatedly attacked by the Persian cavalry, one such skirmish by the Persian cavalry against Greek lines saw the death of the Persian cavalry officer Masistius, greatly raising the morale of the Greeks<ref>Herodotus, ''The Histories'', BK 9</ref>. However, with no sign of either side beginning the battle due to unfavourable omens on both sides <ref>Herodotus, ''The Histories'', Bk, 9, 36</ref> the Persians forced the Greeks hand by fouling the Greek water supply and capturing a convoy with 500 oxen, so the Greeks were forced to find a new camp. Finally Mardonius, after a council where Artabazus suggested retreating to Thebes where they had many supplies, decided to attack. According to traditional accounts, during the night, King Alexander I of Macedon crossed the Asopus river, and appeared before the Athenian generals (Aristides only according to Plutarch) and said the following: