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Battle of Plataea

Battle of Plataea was a battle fought on 27 August 479 BC at Plataea, in what is now Greece. It was part of the Greco-Persian Wars, which ran from 499 BC to 449 BC. The recorded result: Greek victory.

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Scene of the Battle of Plataea
Scene of the Battle of Plataea. John Steeple Davis, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought27 August 479 BC
WherePlataea, Greece38.240N, 23.318E
OutcomeGreek victory
BelligerentsSparta; Athens; Corinth; Tegea; Megara; Plataea; Other Greek city-statesagainstAchaemenid Empire; Greek vassals: Boeotia; Thessaly; Macedon
Part ofGreco-Persian WarsSecond Persian invasion of Greece

Where it sits in the Greco-Persian Wars

Siege of Naxos, 499 BCSiege of Eretria, 490 BCSiege of Naxos, 490 BCSiege of Lindos, 490 BCBattle of Marathon, 490 BCBattle of Artemisium, 480 BCSiege of Olynthus, 480 BCSiege of Potidaea, 480 BCBattle of Thermopylae, 480 BCBattle of Salamis, 480 BCBattle of Mycale, 479 BCSiege of Sestos, 479 BCSiege of Potidaea, 479 BCBattle of Plataea, 479 BCSiege of Byzantium, 478 BC499 BC478 BCBattle of Plataea, 479 BC
16 placed engagements of the Greco-Persian Wars in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date27 August 479 BC
PlacePlataea, Greece
38.240N, 23.318E
KindBattle, ancient
Territorial changePersians lose control of Attica and Boeotia and retreat from Greece
Strengthabout 75,000–85,000 (modern consensus)300,000 (Herodotus) plus 50,000 (estimation by Herodotus) Greek allies; 500,000 (Diodorus); 70,000–120,000 (modern consensus)
Casualties and losses10,000+ (Ephorus and Diodorus); 1,360 (Plutarch); 159 (Herodotus)257,000 (Herodotus); 100,000 (Diodorus); 50,000–90,000 (modern consensus)
Commanders
  • Pausanias the Regent
  • Amompharetus
  • Aristodemus (died 479 BC)
  • Callicrates of Sparta
  • Euryanax
  • Aristides
  • Mardonius (nephew of Darius I)
  • Hegesistratus
  • Masistius
  • Artabazos I of Phrygia
Battle of PlataeaBattle of PlataeaSiege of PlataeaBattle of PlataeaBattle of ThebesSiege of ThebesBattle of LeuctraSiege of PlataeaBattle of ThebesBattle of LeuctraPatraKalamataAgrinioTripoliPirgosErmoupoliPiraeusVolos100 km38.240N, 23.318E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.
Sketch map, and diagram of the the initial movements in the Battle of Plataea (479 BC), after Holland (2005). There is a second diagram showing later movements in the battle.
Sketch map, and diagram of the the initial movements in the Battle of Plataea (479 BC), after Holland (2005). There is a second diagram showing later movements in the battle.. MinisterForBadTimes, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Plataea
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 50 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Plataea today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-08-30. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 353 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 253 to 995 m, 742 m of relief, steep country and today it is 72% cropland, 19% grassland, 4% tree cover.

cropland: 72%grassland: 19%tree cover: 4%built-up: 2%cropland 72%grassland 19%tree cover 4%built-up 2%
west to east, 10.0 km273 to 364 mnorth to south, 10.0 km271 to 686 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 3 times between 479 BC and 429 BC.

In the same war

Battle of Plataea is one of 102 engagements of the 5th century BC in the atlas and one of 529 in present-day Greece.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q204636, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Plataea, revision 1384632101, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.