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Pasquale Cavaliere
Clean
Ironmaking and
Steelmaking
Processes
Efficient Technologies for Greenhouse
Emissions Abatement
Clean Ironmaking and Steelmaking Processes
Pasquale Cavaliere
Clean Ironmaking
and Steelmaking Processes
Efficient Technologies for Greenhouse
Emissions Abatement
Pasquale Cavaliere
Department of Innovation Engineering
University of Salento
Lecce, Italy
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
World steel demand and production is continuously growing. Being a high energy-
intensive and high-impact industry, the energy consumption and the greenhouse
gases emissions are destined to double by 2050 if the actual processing routes are
completely preserved. To avoid this, new paradigms must be developed and
approached in order to transform the sector, making it sustainable in the future and
compatible with the global warming reduction. By introducing and optimizing
energy-efficient solutions to the actual route, only a maximum of 25% of global
saving is expected; this target is insufficient for the goals, leading to global warming
control and reduction. So, based on current climate change forecast, it is predicted
that the steel industry will face greater challenges which cannot be solved with the
past incremental technologies in the future. US and European reports underline that
if the global warming should be avoided, the only way is to develop and apply
breakthrough technologies very fast. The book describes the main available tech-
nologies employed in the traditional or innovative routes capable of reducing the
energy consumption and the dangerous greenhouse emissions as well as the research
efforts that see many scientists involved all around the world from industry, acade-
mia, and research centers. Obviously, the energy topic is largely described, taking
into account the direct and indirect consumption per each analyzed technology and
suggested solution. Regarding coke making, the last years’ technological innova-
tions led to lowering air emissions and to the deep limiting of hazardous solid
wastes. It is showed that the different technological choices are driven by regional
and logistic issues. The treatment of wastewater as a very crucial issue in coke
making is largely described. The development and the diffusion of technologies,
such as coke dry quenching and coke stabilization quenching, are discussed. The use
of coke oven gas in order to abate the dangerous emissions is largely taken into
account. Those technologies leading to operational efficiency, coke quality, and
productivity are underlined. Another fundamental process for raw materials prepa-
ration in the integrated ironmaking/steelmaking route is sintering. CO2, NOx, SOx,
PCDD/Fs, and particulate matters are continuously produced during the whole
sintering cycle; this is because of the fuel combustion, carbon in the fed material,
v
vi Preface
and other carbonaceous sources such as limestone and dolomite. All those solutions
leading to these dangerous compounds’ abatement are described. The employment
of biomass as inhibitor and the energy consumption reduction solutions are
underlined. Heat recovery at the sinter plant is a means for improving the efficiency
of sinter making. Exhaust gases are processed, adsorbed, decomposed, and/or
collected as nontoxic by-products to increase the quantity and improve the quality
of steam recovery, reaching high fuel savings; all the most efficient methods are
reviewed. Computer control technologies for the sintering process were developed
along with sinter technology, as sinter quality requirements for the blast furnace
were upgraded. Many parameters are involved during sintering. The optimization of
these parameters control can lead to the increase in productivity and in the quality of
the sintered ores. All the emissions optimized sintering technologies are largely
described. The technological evolution of the blast furnace plants led to high
efficient reactors very close to their thermodynamic limits. The blast furnace-based
production route covers the majority of the steel production all around the world with
hundreds of plants. One of the main disadvantages of the integrated route is the
necessity of a coke plant with high energy intensity and very high emissions levels.
In the direction of reducing these impacts, the injection of carbon-bearing reductants
at the tuyere level has given new impetus to blast furnace operational practice to
reduce the coke consumption significantly. Another important innovation is
represented by the top gar recovery technologies. In the new-generation blast
furnaces, oxygen is employed as substitute of the air. Many online process moni-
toring and control are in use or under development with the overall goal of increasing
the process efficiency and fuel consumption and environmental impact reduction.
Conversion operations are necessary in the integrated steel plant. Large effort has
been devoted to the energy efficiency improvement and to the greenhouse gases
emissions reduction. The actual converting technologies are based on a combination
of blowing oxygen from the top laces and inert gas or oxygen plus inert gases from
the bottom of the reactors. Today’s highly efficient electric arc furnaces consume
roughly 300 kWh/t-steel. The appropriate greenhouse gas reduction strategy is
strongly influenced by the source of electricity generation (i.e., fossil fuel or
nuclear). Reduction of indirect emissions requires reducing electrical energy con-
sumption. The current trend toward increased addition of fuel and oxygen has
resulted in chemical energy sources supplying a greater proportion of the furnace’s
energy inputs. Oxyfuel burners in the furnace have become a necessity to increase
the rate of scrap melting in cold spots and thereby make scrap melting more uniform
and to reduce the electricity needing for the metal fusion. Waste gases recovery and
utilization as well as foamy slag practices allow to reduce energy consumption. The
bottom stirring practice is getting more and more important and even essential,
especially for the furnaces having big temperature gradient in the bath, such as big
shell furnace. Modern controls which use a multitude of sensors help to achieve
power saving and precise process monitoring to a greater extent than older controls.
Direct reduced iron production is destined to increase in the next and far future. This
is due to the continuous innovations of the plants leading to less energy consumption
and carbon dioxide emissions. In this direction, the technological solutions push
Preface vii
toward the waste energy recovery and the use of CO and H2 as reductant agents. The
gas-based processes are located in those regions where natural gas is available in
abundance and at reasonable prices. Hydrogen production from water electrolysis to
obtain the reducing agent is under development and appears exceptionally promis-
ing for the zero-emissions ironmaking. The current CO2 capture and usage solutions
that are available or under development are reviewed. Only the capture of CO2 will
be responsible for the achievement of the goals of the Blue scenario. Intergovern-
mental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios associated with a more than even
chance of achieving the 2 C target are characterized by average capture rates of
10 GtCO2 per year in 2050, 25 GtCO2 per year in 2100, and cumulative storage of
800–3000 GtCO2 by the end of the century. Carbon capture, storage, and utilization
are recognized as crucial in climate change mitigations and in particular in a NET
contest to limit warming well below the 2 C scenario. The capture technologies are
grouped as chemical/physical absorption, solid adsorbents capture, membranes or
molecular sieves physical separation, cryogenics separation, and carbonation. Obvi-
ously, this best available technology could be applied globally at current production
levels, taking into account precise energy balances, economic feasibility, transition
rates, and regulatory and social factors. The principal iron ore electrolysis routes
under investigation and development are the molten oxide electrolysis and the
electrowinning. Since electrolysis produces no CO2, it could theoretically be zero-
carbon but only if the electricity needed to power the process is produced without
generating CO2 emissions (renewable sources). They are very promising even if at a
basic research and pre-industrialization stage.
My special thanks to all the Springer editorial office people for their profession-
alism. Finally, I would like to dedicate the work to my “miracle” son Alessandro.
ix
x Contents
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577
Abbreviations
A/O1/O2 Anoxic/aerobic1/aerobic2
A2/O Anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic system
AA Annual average
AC Alternating current
ACARP Australian Coal Industry’s Research Program
AcC Activated carbon
ADP Aquatic depletion potential
AER Adsorption-enhanced reforming
AFT Adiabatic flame temperature
AISI American Iron and Steel Institute
AOD Argon oxygen decarburization
AOP Advanced oxidation process
AP Acidification potential
ARA Auxiliary reducing agents
ASCM Adsorption-selective carbon membrane
ASU Air separation unit
BAT Best available techniques
BET Brunauer-Emmett-Teller
BF Blast furnace
BFB Bubbling fluidized bed
BFD Blast furnace dust
BFR Blast furnace route
BFS Blast furnace slag
BFSG Blast furnace shaft gas
BFTG Blast furnace top gas
BHZ Bottom heat exchange zone
BIS Blast furnace inner reaction simulator
BM Biomass
BOD Biochemical oxygen demand
BOF Basic oxygen furnace
BOFG Basic oxygen furnace gas
xiii
xiv Abbreviations
ED Electricity demand
EF Anodic electro
EII Energy-intensive industry
EINO Emission index of NO
EMF Electromotive force
EMS Electromagnetic stirring
EMSy Environmental management system
EoL End of life
EOR Enhanced oil recovery
EOS Emissions optimized sintering
EP Eutrophication potential
EPA Environmental protection agency
EPB Environment protection bureau
EPOSINT Environmentally process optimized sintering
EQ Equilibrium
EQS Environmental quality standards
EROI Energy return on investment
ESCS Electrostatic space cleaner super
ESP Electrostatic precipitator
ETC Energy transitions commission
ETS Emissions trading system
EU European Union
EUA European emission allowances
EUD Energy utilization diagram
EW Electrowinning
EWC European waste catalogue
EWHR Exergy of waste heat recovery
FA Fly ash
FAETP Freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity potential
FAF Fuel arc furnace
FB Fluidized bed
FC Fixed carbon
ffs Flame front speed
FGR Flow gas recirculation
FGR Flue gas recirculation
FGRS Flue gas recirculation sintering
FIT Flash ironmaking technology
FOG Fluidized bed reactor’s off-gas
FSCM Fixed site carrier membranes
FST Final sinter temperature
FT Fischer-Tropsch
FWC Freshwater consumption
GA Genetic algorithm
GAC Granular activated carbon
Abbreviations xvii
PG Process gas
PI Pipe inlet
PID Proportional integral derivative
PIT Polymer injection technology
PLA Waste plastics
PM Particulate matter
PM10 Particulate pollution (10 μm)
PM2.5 Particulate pollution (2.5 μm)
PMDR Point of minimum direct reduction
POP Persistent organic pollutants
POR Partial oxidation reforming
POSCO Pohang Iron and Steel Company
POX Partial oxidation
PP Polypropylene
PS Polystyrene
PSA Pressure swing adsorption
PSu Priority substance
PtCR Post-combustion ratio
PU/TU Pyrolysis/torrefaction unit
PVC Polyvinylchloride
PwP Power plant
Q-BOP Bottom-blowing process
R&D Research and development
R&I Research and innovation
R/H Reforming gas/hematite
RAC Regenerated activated carbon
RAFT Raceway adiabatic flame temperature
RC Regression coefficient
RCA Reactive coke agglomerate
RCAt Rotary cup atomizer
RCLA Rotary cylinder atomizer
RCOG Reformed coke oven gas
RD Reduction degree
RDI Reduction disintegration
RE Reference electrode
RHF Rotary hearth furnace
RMP Refractory material plant
RNG Reformed natural gas
RPB Rotating packed bed
RVI Reduction velocity index
RWGS Reverse water gas reaction
S/F Sloping flue
S/S Solidification/stabilization
SBR Sequential batch reactor
Abbreviations xxi
Fig. 6.7 Energy consumption for the DRI addition in the EAF . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Fig. 6.8 Energy consumption for the DRI by varying the temperature . . . 320
Fig. 6.9 EAF outputs as a function of DRI charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Fig. 6.10 Burners for the EAF . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 323
Fig. 6.11 EAF electrodes at high temperature . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 325
Fig. 6.12 Energy saving as a function of the adopted solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Fig. 6.13 Consteel furnace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Fig. 6.14 Preheating schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Fig. 6.15 Scrap heating through waste gas (direct from Tenova) . . . .. . . . .. . 338
Fig. 6.16 Direct and indirect GHG sources for two cases. Top,
convention EAF using Canadian electricity generation
source distribution; bottom, scrap preheating EAF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Fig. 6.17 Bottom stirring effect in EAF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Fig. 6.18 Bottom gas stirring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Fig. 6.19 Electromagnetic stirring (direct from Tenova) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Fig. 6.20 EAF performances with EMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Fig. 6.21 Single electrode furnace .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. . . .. . .. . .. . 352
Fig. 6.22 EAF energy balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Fig. 6.23 Waste heat recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Fig. 6.24 Waste heat recovery strategies in a Consteel furnace . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Fig. 6.25 Contiarc furnace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
Fig. 6.26 iEAF system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Fig. 7.1 Smelting schematic and smelting reactor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
Fig. 7.2 Classification of smelting reduction processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Fig. 7.3 Fluidized bed schematic . . .. .. . .. .. . .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. .. . .. . .. .. . .. 381
Fig. 7.4 RHF-Smelter schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
Fig. 7.5 Corex process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Fig. 7.6 Melter-gasifier schematic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
Fig. 7.7 Bauer-Glaessner diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
Fig. 7.8 Calculations of Bauer-Glaessner and Bogdandye-Engel
diagrams . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 385
Fig. 7.9 Melter-gasifier reaction zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
Fig. 7.10 Thermodynamic model of the melter-gasifier in Corex . . . . . . . . . . 389
Fig. 7.11 Thermodynamic model of the reduction shaft in Corex . . . . . . . . . . 390
Fig. 7.12 Reducing gas requirement in reduction shaft and gas
generation in smelter gasifier with different degrees
of metallization for different types of coal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
Fig. 7.13 Upstream and downstream CO2 emission at different carbon
rates . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 392
Fig. 7.14 Metallization degree as a function of gas composition
and temperature . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
Fig. 7.15 Desulfurizer preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Fig. 7.16 Large-scale plant . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . 396
List of Figures xxxi
From the east gate there runs up the ridge towards the high
mountain the remains of a remarkable wall (vide map). I cannot find
in history any trace or hint of its origin. It was evidently a defence
against an enemy advancing from the westward; for the whole way
along its west front there is a steep fall in the ground. It goes up the
hill for half a mile in a south-west direction, and then, in order to keep
along the ridge, it bends through an angle, and may be traced going
S.S.E. to a point near the foot of the line of cliffs near the summit of
the mountain. It would afford a very strong defensive position to a
large force. I am inclined to think that it cannot be a mediæval work,
because by mediæval times the sea must have retired from the east
gate at its foot. The stones of it are of medium size. I fancy the
outside courses were of squared material, while the interior was of
unsquared stones set in mortar. Its width seemed to vary from eight
to ten feet. The defence of the line of the wall would be a necessary
adjunct to the defence of the east gate. It will be seen, therefore, that
the latter did not afford a position where small numbers could have
faced an enemy in great numerical superiority.
H. vii. 201.
Xerxes, on arriving at the Malian plain, pitched his
camp in Trachinia, commanding the country as far as
Trachis. The Persian encampment would seem to have stretched
from the river Melas, or thereabouts, to the entrance of the west gate
of the pass. The Greek encampment was in the middle gate,
probably behind the first mound, either on the ridge beyond the
valley, or on the stream débris over which the modern road passes.
The numbers of the Greek army must have been about eight
thousand, including the unstated numbers of the Opuntian Locrians.
Of these, however, one thousand Phocians were set to guard the
path of the Anopæa, more than three thousand feet above the gate.
H. vii. 204.
Leonidas was in command. Even before the battle
brought him undying fame he seems to have been a
man whose character excited great admiration. The three hundred
men whom he took with him from Sparta were the royal bodyguard,
picked men all, and fathers of families, so Herodotus says. The
historian evidently implies that in so desperate a venture Leonidas
considered it unadvisable to take with him men whose death would
blot out their name from the land of the living. Is this detail quite
consistent with the presumed intention to send reinforcements? It is
possibly a graphic touch added by Spartan tradition after the event.
The Theban contingent was four hundred in number. Herodotus’
account of all relating to it is so full of disputable motives that it has
been suggested that he followed a tradition which developed either
under the influence of the bitterness of feeling called forth by the
attitude of Thebes later on in the war, or of the violent enmity which
sprang up between Athens and Thebes in after-time, and which was
at its height at the time when Herodotus wrote. He represents
Leonidas as taking the Thebans with him under a sort of compulsion,
because he suspected them of a tendency to medize. There are
several reasons urged for doubting this version of the story of the
Theban participation in the campaign.
1. It is doubtful whether Leonidas with so small a force as he
had with him could have coerced so powerful a State as
Thebes.
Diod. xi. 4.
2. Ephoros says these Thebans were of the party
opposed to medism.
3. If they were not, Xerxes committed a gross error of policy in
branding their prisoners after Thermopylæ.
H. vii. 211.
The battle lasted all day; for when it became clear
that the Medes could effect nothing, Xerxes sent his
picked Persian troops, the Immortals, to the assault. Even these
signally failed to make an impression on the Greek defence.
The excellence of the Lacedæmonian drill and discipline seems to
have been remarkable. They employed tactics which very few troops
in the world could employ in a narrow space in face of immensely
superior numbers:—an advance; then a pretended retreat, to draw
the enemy on; and then once more a right-about-face to the attack.
The object of this was, no doubt, to keep the enemy at close
quarters. The one thing they had to fear was that the lighter armed
Xen. Anab.
foe should confine himself to an attack with missiles,
iii. 3, 9. in which form of fighting they must have suffered
severely, without being able to retaliate in adequate
fashion.
The attack was repeated next day. The Persians hoped to win the
pass by sheer weight of numbers, knowing that they could afford to
lose ten men for every one of the enemy whom they placed hors de
combat. But again the attack failed.
The king’s position at this time must have been very critical.
Neither army nor fleet had forced a passage, nor had they been able
to resume touch with one another. They maintained a
communication, no doubt, by the coast road running along the north
shore of the Malian gulf; but the transport of supplies to the army,
whether by that route from the fleet, or from the Thessalian plain by
the way of Thaumaki, must have been a work of such difficulty and
magnitude that it is hardly possible to believe that it could have been
adequately maintained.
The failure to reinforce the garrison at Thermopylæ was the most
disastrous mistake which the Greeks made in the course of the war.
Even with the ridiculously small force which was sent, the defence
came very near being a success. Had an army only half the size of
that which fought at Platæa been there, neither pass nor path could
ever have been forced, and the fleet at Artemisium, or at least the
Peloponnesian section of it, would have fought with a very different
spirit to that which it actually displayed. Their stake at Thermopylæ
was too small, and their stake at the Isthmus too great to render
them aught but vacillating defenders of the channel. Had the stakes
been reversed, had the safety of their compatriots at the pass been
largely involved, the fleet would have been inspired with unanimous
courage. And had it been so, the advance of the Persians, in spite of
their superior numbers, might have been definitely checked. It is not
probable, judging from the results of the fighting which did actually
take place, that either side could have gained a decisive advantage
over the other. Though the Greek fleet suffered severely in the final
combat, the Persians were not successful in forcing the strait; and to
them failure in both strait and pass would have meant failure of the
expedition.
Thuc. i. 69.
Men said in Greece in after time that the Persian
was the rock on which he himself made shipwreck.
That expressed but half the truth. It was true in the sense that the
success in the war was not owing to good management on the part
of the Greeks. It was not true in the sense that
THE PATH OF THE
ANOPÆA.
the Persian’s mistakes were the main factor in
his failure. The main factor was conspicuously
the superiority of the Greek weapons in close fighting, a form of
combat which the Persian as the assailant could not avoid. It was a
lesson which the European Greek took long in learning. Aristagoras
the Ionian had pointed it out to Kleomenes when he visited him at
Sparta in the first year of the fifth century. And yet it was not until the
early years of the next century that the Greeks of Europe came to
appreciate to the full the effectiveness of their national panoply as
compared with that of the Persian. The incidents of the strange
adventure of the 10,000 which Xenophon recorded at last convinced
them of the real nature and magnitude of their strength when
matched with the great Empire of the East.
By Malian treachery and Phocian cowardice Xerxes was saved
from the desperate position in which he found himself after the
failure of the two days’ assault on the pass.
The tale runs thus in Herodotus:—
H. vii. 213. “When the king was now at a loss to know
what to do in the circumstances in which he
found himself, Epialtes, a Malian, came to speak with him,
thinking he would get some great reward from the king,
and told him of the path leading through the mountain to
H. vii. 215. Thermopylæ.... Xerxes approved of Epialtes’
proposal, and being much pleased thereat,
immediately despatched Hydarnes and those he
commanded.”
H. vii. 211.
Herodotus says in an earlier chapter that these
were the Immortals.
“He started from the camp about the time of the lighting
of the lamps. Native Malians discovered this path, and,
after doing so, led the Thessalians by it against the
Phocians, at the time when the latter, after blocking the
pass with a wall, were under cover from attack. Ever since
that time the path has been put to an ill use by the
Malians. The path is as follows: it begins from that part of
120
the Asopos river which flows through the defile.”
“The mountains here and the path are both called by
the same name, Anopæa. This Anopæa extends along the
ridge of the mountain, and debouches at the city of
Alpenos, which is the first Locrian town as you come from
Malis, and by the stone called Melampygos, and at the
seats of the Kerkopes, where it is narrowest. Such is the
nature of the path along which the Persians, after crossing
the Asopos, marched the whole night long, having the
mountains of Œta on their right, and those of Trachis on
their left. Day was dawning when they arrived at the
summit of the mountain. At this part of the mountain, as I
have already shown, a thousand Phocian hoplites were on
guard, protecting their own country, and watching the path.
For the pass below was guarded by the troops I have
mentioned; but the path through the mountains Phocian
H. vii. 218. volunteers undertook to guard for Leonidas. It
was not until the Persians reached the summit
that the Phocians discovered their presence in the
following way. Owing to the mountain being covered with
oak forest, the Persian ascent had been unobserved.
There was no wind, but inasmuch as considerable noise
was inevitably made by the trampling of the feet upon the
leaves, the Phocians proceeded to run up and put on their
armour. The Persians came up immediately. When they
saw men putting on their armour they were amazed, for,
never expecting that any one would appear and oppose
them, they had come upon an army. Hydarnes, then,
fearing that the Phocians were Lacedæmonians,
questioned Epialtes as to the nature of the force; and on
hearing the truth, he drew up the Persians in fighting
order. The Phocians, however, assailed by a thick shower
of arrows, betook themselves in flight to the peak of the
mountain, thinking at first that they were the main object of
attack, and prepared to defend themselves to the death.
Such was their intention; but the Persians with Epialtes
and Hydarnes paid no regard to the Phocians, but
proceeded to descend the mountain with all speed.”
H. vii. 219.
The news that the Persians had discovered the
existence of the path, and had despatched a body of
men to seize it, was brought to the Greek camp by deserters during
the night; its actual seizure seems to have been reported after dawn
by scouts, who probably made their way down from the Phocian
position by the precipitous mountain slopes east of the middle gate.
The tale of what ensued is thus told by Herodotus:—
“On hearing this news, the Greeks consulted together;
and their opinions were divided. Some were against
deserting the position, others of the opposite view. After
this they separated, and some went off, and, dispersing,
went each to their several cities, while others prepared to
remain where they were with Leonidas. There is another
tale to the effect that Leonidas sent them away, in his
anxiety to save their lives, telling them, however, that it did
not stand with his honour and that of the Spartans present
to leave the post they had originally come to guard. I
myself am most inclined to think that Leonidas, when he
saw that the allies were dispirited and unwilling to share
the danger, ordered them to depart, but thought it ignoble
to do so himself. For if he remained at his post, a great
and glorious name awaited him, and the prosperity of
Sparta would not be blotted out.”
H. vii. 220.
The explanation of the last words is given in the tale
which Herodotus then proceeds to tell, to the effect
that the Pythian oracle had announced to Sparta, quite at the
beginning of the war, that either Sparta would be destroyed by the
barbarians, or that its king would perish. Herodotus thinks that it was
because Leonidas remembered this oracle, and wished to gain glory
for the Spartans alone, that he sent the allies away. He is more
inclined to believe this than that the allies, owing to a quarrel with
him, went after so undisciplined a fashion.
He regards as evidence in favour of this view the fact that
Leonidas ordered the seer Megistios, an Acarnanian, who had the
previous night warned them of the coming disaster, to depart; which
he refused to do.
H. vii. 222.
“The allies, then, who were dismissed, went
away and obeyed Leonidas, save the
Thespians and Thebans, who alone remained with the
Lacedæmonians. Of these the Thebans stayed against
their will, and not wishing to do so, for Leonidas kept them
in the guise of hostages. The Thespians showed every will
to remain, refusing to leave Leonidas and those with him
and depart. So they stayed with them and shared their
death. Their leader was Demophilos, the son of
Diadromos.”
This is a very remarkable incident in the narrative of an episode
which is itself undeniably one of the most remarkable in history. It
contains but little of that reliable element in Herodotus,—fact; it
contains much of the unreliable element,—motive. The facts are
plain, and there is no reason to doubt them. The Spartans, Thebans,
and Thespians remained and took part in the final struggle; the rest
of the allies departed. Who were the latter? By reference to the list of
those present in the pass it will be found that they were Tegeans,
Mantineans, other Arcadians, Corinthians, Phliasians, Mykenæans
Paus. ii. 16,
(though Pausanias mentions a tradition to the effect
5; x. 20, 2. that they remained), and the Opuntian Locrians. The
calculation can only be an approximate one, but,
excluding the Phocians, who were up on the path, and the Opuntian
Locrians, whose number we do not know, 3500 remained, and 2800
121
departed. This division is a somewhat significant one.
The central motive in Herodotus’ story is undoubtedly the reported
oracle delivered to Sparta “quite early in the war.” It is unfortunate,
from the historical point of view, that the tradition assailed the
historian on his weakest side. He was incurable in this respect. Even
the most glaring cases of oracular dishonesty,
DIFFICULTIES IN
THE NARRATIVE.
to which he could not shut his eyes, such as
the tampering of the Alkmæonidæ with the
oracle at Delphi in order to bring about the expulsion of the
Peisistratidæ, never killed his faith in oracular responses in general.
But in cases where, as in the present instance, an oracle came to
point a moral and adorn a tale, he completely surrendered his critical
faculty. The whole of Herodotus’ narrative hangs by this oracle. He
rejects the story that half the army deserted the defence of its own
free will, in order, in accordance with his prime motive, to produce a
story to the effect that Leonidas dismissed them, knowing that he
himself had to make the great act of self-abnegation, and not wishing
to involve them therein. And yet Leonidas keeps the Thebans with
him, and the Thespians remain of their own free will; and, apparently,
he allows them to do so.
If this account be true, what was the position of those three
thousand five hundred Greeks who remained to face the Persian
attack on front and rear? It is not said that they sacrificed themselves
to give their friends time to escape, nor is there the slightest cause to
suppose that there was any reason whatever for their doing so. The
scouts from the top of the mountain must have been down in the
camp at least two hours before the Persians could arrive at the site
of Upper Drakospilia; and, even arrived there, the latter could not
possibly have descended into the pass before their numbers had
gathered. It must have been late in the morning before they came
down, and probably past midday before they began to assail the rear
of the Greek position. Those who escaped had only a mile and a half
to go before they were out of the pass at the east gate; and, once
outside, they were in an easy country, over which they could travel
rapidly.
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