<Ul> <Li> Thermopylae </Li> <Li> Artemisium </Li> <Li> Salamis </Li> <Li> Potidea </Li> <Li> Olynthus </Li> <Li> Plataea </Li> <Li> Mycale </Li> </Ul> <P> Having crossed into Europe in April 480 BC, the Persian army began its march to Greece, taking 3 months to travel unopposed from the Hellespont to Therme . It paused at Doriskos where it was joined by the fleet . Xerxes reorganized the troops into tactical units replacing the national formations used earlier for the march . </P> <P> The Allied' congress' met again in the spring of 480 BC and agreed to defend the narrow Vale of Tempe on the borders of Thessaly and block Xerxes's advance . However, once there, they were warned by Alexander I of Macedon that the vale could be bypassed and that the army of Xerxes was overwhelmingly large, thus the Greeks retreated . Shortly afterwards, they received the news that Xerxes had crossed the Hellespont . At this point, a second strategy was suggested by Themistocles to the allies . The route to southern Greece (Boeotia, Attica and the Peloponnesus) would require the army of Xerxes to travel through the narrow pass of Thermopylae . This could easily be blocked by the Greek hoplites, despite the overwhelming numbers of Persians . Furthermore, to prevent the Persians bypassing Thermopylae by sea, the Athenian and allied navies could block the straits of Artemisium . This dual strategy was adopted by the congress . However, the Peloponnesian cities made fall - back plans to defend the Isthmus of Corinth should it come to it, while the women and children of Athens were evacuated to the Peloponnesian city of Troezen . </P> <P> Xerxes's estimated time of arrival at Thermopylae coincided with both the Olympic Games and the festival of Carneia . For the Spartans, warfare during these periods was considered sacrilegious . Despite the uncomfortable timing, the Spartans considered the threat so grave that they dispatched their king Leonidas I with his personal bodyguard (the Hippeis) of 300 men . The customary elite young men in the Hippeis were replaced by veterans who already had children . Leonidas was supported by contingents from the Allied Peloponnesian cities, and other forces that the Allies picked up on the way to Thermopylae . The Allies proceeded to occupy the pass, rebuilt the wall the Phocians had built at the narrowest point of the pass, and waited for Xerxes's arrival . </P>

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