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this page is about the historical figure; for the millipede genus, see Mardonius

Mardonius (d. 479 BC) was a Persian commander during the Persian Wars with Greece in the 5th century BC.

He was the son of Gobryas and the son-in-law of Darius I of Persia, whose daughter Artozostra he had married. After the Ionian Revolt, Mardonius was sent in 492 BC to punish Athens for assisting the Ionians. He first stopped in the Ionian cities to depose the Persian tyrants and set up democratic governments, probably so the Ionians would not revolt a second time after the Persian army had passed through. His fleet and army then passed across the Hellespont, but the fleet was destroyed in a storm off of Mount Athos; according to Herodotus the Persians lost 300 ships and 20,000 men. Mardonius himself was commanding the army at the time, which was fighting a battle in Thrace. Mardonius was wounded, but was victorious; nevertheless, the loss of the fleet caused him to retreat back into Asia Minor. He was relieved of command by Darius, who appointed Datis and Artaphrenes to lead the invasion of Greece in 490 BC and though they were subsequently successful in destroying Eritrea, Datis and Artaphernes were defeated at the Battle of Marathon.

Mardonius came back into favour under Darius' successor Xerxes I. Xerxes was at first not interested in renewing the war with Greece, but Mardonius repeatedly tried to convince him that he must avenge Darius' defeat, in opposition to another advisor, Artabanus, who urged more caution in the matter. Herodotus, who portrays Mardonius as a somewhat evil advisor (as opposed to a number of other good advisors whose arguments are never followed), says that Mardonius simply wanted to become governor of Greece. He was present at the Battle of Thermopylae, and after the Persian defeat at the Battle of Salamis, he attempted to convince Xerxes to stay and fight yet another battle. This time Mardonius could not persuade Xerxes, but when Xerxes left he did become governor of the parts of Greece that had been conquered. He subdued Macedon of king Alexander I, but Alexander himself gave valuable informations about Mardonius' plans to the Athenians, saying that, as a Greek, he didn't bear to see Greece enslaved. Then Mardonius recaptured Athens, which had been deserted before the Battle of Salamis. He offered to return Athens and help rebuild the city if the Athenians would accept a truce, but the Athenians rejected the truce and prepared for another battle.

Mardonius prepared to meet them at Plataea, despite the opposition from another Persian commander, Artabazus, who, like Artabanus, did not think that a much larger Persian army could automatically defeat the Greeks. Mardonius was killed in the ensuing battle (see Battle of Plataea).

After the battle, a soldier called Lampon is attributed as saying to the commander-in-chief Pausanias:

When Leonidas was killed at Thermopylae, Mardonius and Xerxes had him decapitated and his head stuck on a pole. If now you pay them back in kind, you will win the applause of not only all Spartans but the whole of Greece. Impale Mardonius's body, and then Leonidas, your father's brother will be avenged.

Pausanias's famous reply:

What you suggest would be more fitting for barbarians than for Greeks, and even in barbarians we would find it repulsive... It is enough for me to win the approval of the Spartans by acting and speaking righteously.

(1)

(1)Herodotus 9.78-9, from Thermopylae by Paul Cartledge, p. 151-152

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