GHOSTS OF THE DAWN

During the sixth century BC, the people of Phocis pulled off a significant raid against their Thessalian enemy which outnumbered them many times over. The Phocians not only survived but defeated the enemy totally.

By Warren Gleeson

We do not have an accurate date. Herodotus just states: “not many years before the King's expedition, the Thessalians and their allies had invaded Phocis with their whole army …” This puts it sometime before Marathon in 490 BC. Herodotus states further: The Phocians had taken refuge on Mount Parnassus. Their diviner Tellias of Elis devised a clever stratagem for them. He had six hundred of the bravest Phocians completely cover themselves with chalk, along with their weap- ons and armour, and led them to attack the Thessalians by night, telling them to slay anyone they should see who was not similarly whitened like they were. The Thessalian sentries were the first to see these men and to flee for fear, supposing falsely that it was something supernatural, and after the camp…

You're reading a preview of

Wargames, Soldiers & Strategy (Digital) - 1 Issue, WSS 127

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.