Talk:Siege of Eretria

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[edit] Thermopylae and Darius???

"Darius sent envoys to Greece demanding earth and water which symbolized surrendering.[14] Most of the islands surrendered because of the Persian's dominance at sea.[14] A lot of the mainland states also surrender, but when the envoys went to Athens they were thrown into a pit and told to get there own earth.[14] The envoys got a similar response in Sparta where they were thrown down and well and told to get water. [14] This was the last time Darius tried to subdue the Greeks with diplomacy."

I thought that it seemed strange that this should be so similar to the stories told of the methods and fates of the messengers sent by Xerxes to Athens and Sparta in 480 B.C., but thought perhaps 'like father like son'. But, when checking the reference, I note that it is titled: Bradford, Thermopylae: The Battle For The West.

So, this is out of place in this article, yes? A tad inaccurate?

67.183.45.98 06:47, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Well, he is a passage from Bradford, Thermopylae: The Battle For The West: "Darius was not deterred by one attempt against mainland Greece, especially since it had been aborted not by Greeks but by weather and natural hazards. As evidence of his intentions he sent heralds to demand formal submission from the islands and citystates. All the islands, menaced by the overrding seapower of Persia, submitted, as did most of the mainland states - Athens and Sparta being notable in refusing. Sparta, as has been seen, treated the envoys with compemt and threw them down a well "to get their earth and water from there' "

So please when you make accusation please make sure that your sources are right. Thanks. Kyriakos 07:14, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Agreed Kyriakos. Anonymous, sorry I don't know your name so I will call you anon for the moment. I think you were either relying on an incorrect source or mixed something up. Kyriakos is quite correct. It was Darius I that sent emissaries demanding capitulation from Athens and Sparta. The two prominenet city-states who did not capitulate like most of the other Hellenes. As far as I can recollect, Xerxes never sent any emissaries because he had witnessed what happened to the ones his father sent. Infact there is a follow-up story that showed shortly after Darius I death (486 BC) and Xerxes come to the throne, Sparta sent two old and wealthy men to Persia and suggested that it was Persia's right for retribution on these two men because Sparta admitted they broke international law/conduct by killing the two emissaries 4-5 years earlier under Darius' rule. Apparently Xerxes' response was a laugh and said that he would never reduce himself to the level of the Lacedemonians. Claiming that Sparta had broken international conduct and he would not commit such similar and atrocious crime. Thus he sent them back. Having said this, Xerxes didn't feel he needed to warn the Greeks again, he launched the invasion in 480 BC without any emissaries sent under his order.--Arsenous Commodore 21:38, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

"So please when you make accusation please make sure that your sources are right. Thanks. "

Wasn't an accusation. Was a question. You say it's accurate, I say ok. I'm no expert on this subject which is why I said I found it strange and then asked the question because the source was about Thermopylae which was Xerxes' invasion rather than Darius'.

Also, I find it strange that 'like father like son'. I give you now the wikipedia page on The Battle of Thermopylae: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Thermopylae

"After the expedition to Greece had got under way, Xerxes sent messengers to all the states offering blandishments if they would submit and asking earth and water from their soil as a token of submission. Many smaller states submitted. The Athenians threw their envoys into a pit, and the Spartans threw theirs into a well, taunting them with the retort, "Dig it out for yourselves." "

This, the reason for my question. I'm no expert. I'm just interested in learning about the subject because of an interest amped up by the upcoming film 300. I can't say which is right, but apparently your source explicitly states Darius. So be it. I can only assume that Xerxes was an imitator of his father in more ways than one.

And anon will work for the time being. Doubtful that I'll sign up, I only was inspired to ask because of my confusion.

67.183.45.98 02:20, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

"I can only assume that Xerxes was an imitator of his father in more ways than one."

Oh. And let us not forget that Xerxes sending messengers for Earth and Water might be imitative of his father, but the Athenians and Spartans precisely replicated their response to Darius... Strange, that's all. 67.183.45.98 02:28, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Harvard Referenceing

I took the liberty to start a conversion to harvard referencing. I have a few examples in place. The first citation in the prelude section, and the citations in the notes section. If you do not like this format, feel free to undo my work. Otherwise, I'll try to make more changes later. Meanwhile, you're welcome to mimic my citations. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by StudyAndBeWise (talk • contribs) 05:58, 16 January 2007 (UTC).

There, I completed the transition. I think there are too many citations. I suggest that in cases where you are using the same citation for several consecutive sentences, including the same page number, that they be combined into one citation. But that is just me. I'll leave every cited sentence remain as is, and leave it to the discreation of the author.

StudyAndBeWise 01:36, 17 January 2007 (UTC)