What was the most important battle in history?

[Will9]

Originally posted by Nikolai
A good point.

Yes a very good point.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Agathon


= No spread of Hellenistic culture.

No great spread of Hellenistic culture to the East perhaps.

Greeks from different cities were already established in Spain, France, North Africa and Egypt and Sicily and lower Italy.

The Greek colonies in Asia Minor prospered under Achaemenid rule too.

On the other hand, the Macedonian empire (and the later states of the Diadochi) did allow for a Hellenistic 'common market', at least of ideas and culture, so Greek theatre, art and philosophy and science could spread from the Punjab to Marseilles, from Viet Nam to Ethiopia...

[Alexander I]

I'll have to go with Hastings in 1066.

[BeBMan]

It's always questionable to tell something like "if battle A was lost, historical development B would never have happened". It surely would not have been "fired" in the same way, at the same time, but that doesn't mean it would have been made impossible from that point on.

For example it's difficult to imagine what a Persian win at Marathon would have meant for Greek city state culture and for Europe later. First the Persian force was not large enough to subdue all of mainland Hellas at this time. The best they could hope for was to punish Athens for supporting the Ionian Revolt and to establish an operational basis in central Greece to prepare to fight against Sparta and the rest in the following time, but not without serious reinforcements.

But even then it wouldn't have been that easy to control Hellas permanently, like it wasn't easy to permanently control other parts of the Persian realm esp. the more they were on the periphery. And even Ionian cities under Persian control didn't lose their Greek character.