Download The Persian Wars

The Persian Wars
 Do Now: Who was the man who ran from Marathon
to Athens?
 Obj:
 Origins of Persian War
 Battle of Thermopylae
 Consequences of Persian Wars
 HW:
 Active Read 5.3 Critical Thinking # 7 & 8
A New Kind of Army Emerges
 Iron vs. Bronze
 Intro of lighter/cheaper iron in weapons production
allowed common man to fight in military
 Phalanx – Battle formation that allowed Greeks to
stand side by side protected by another mans shield
and spear
 Most powerful fighting force of the ancient world
The Persian Wars Begin
 Battle of Marathon
 Athens sends aid to Greeks rebelling against Persians in
Western Anatolia
 Persian King Darius the Great vowed to destroy Athens
as revenge
 490 B.C.E. 25,000 Persians sail to Marathon to fight
10,000 Athenians
 Persians no match for Greek phalanx; sent back to sea
What’s A Marathon???
 After battle Pheidippides sent to bring news back to
Athens of Victory
 “Rejoice and Conquer”
 Pheid. Ran the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens;
delivered his message and died!
 That’s why today a “marathon” is 26 miles…
Battle of Thermopylae
 480 B.C.E. Darius’ successor Xerxes assembled an
army to crush Athens
 Greek city-states very divided:
 Some wished to allow Xerxes to crush Athens, some
fought for the Persians and some vowed to fight against
 Xerxes marches army down the Greek coast
unchallenged until narrow mountain pass of
Thermopylae….
Battle of Thermopylae cont…
 7,000 Greeks including 300 Spartans fought Xerxes
armies for 3 days
 Traitor shows Xerxes path to surround the Greeks
 Greeks retreat but Spartans stay to fight!
 Their sacrifice gives all other Greeks strength and
motivation to defeat the Persians
The Delian League
 The Delian League
 478 B.C.E. several Greek city-states ally to fight against
the Persians and protect Greece
 Greeks drive Persians out of Greece and limit threat of
future attack
Consequences of Persian Wars
 Athens’ Golden Age:
 Athens takes control over
the Delian League moving
its headquarters to Athens
 Now 200 city-states most
become absorbed in
Athenian Empire
 Prestige from Persian
victory and wealth from
Athenian Empire – set the
stage for Athens’ brief
“Golden Age”