Seige of Sestos - 478 B.C.
The allied Greek fleet arried to lay siege to Sestos, a Persian stronghold in the Thracian Chersonese. The Spartans returned home in the fall
After a while of laying siege to Sestos the Athenian forces began to murmur that they were being kept abroad for too long. The Athenian captain Xanthippus would hear nothing of it until the city fell or the Athenian people ordered them to return home, so the soldiers patiently bore the sufferings. Inside, the city fell apart, with food running out and no help to come, infact the surrounding cities had already defected to Athens, the Sestos leaders knew that time was running out. During the night the leaders went over the wall, and the next day the Athenians took control of the city.
With the Greek victory at Mycale the story from Herodotus has come full circle. The 'Histories' end with the year 478 BC. The Greeks have all but removed the influence of Persia over Europe and the Agean is now firmly in Greek hands, including the Asia Minor coastline. [1]
References:
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*1 'Histories' by Herodotus (1.90)
