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I.
The Rise of the Persian Empire
A.
B.
C.
D.
Conquered Babylon
Conquered Egypt, Western India, Thrace
Built roads to connect empire
Built roadside stations- provided food, shelter, and fresh horses for
messengers
E. Allowed Jews to return home
F. United Persia
G. Treated subjects well
II.
What was the Persian Government Like?
A. divided empire into 20 states- too big to manage- satrapies
B. government paid full-time soldiers
C. 10,000 trained soldiers to guard king
III.
The Persian Religion
A.
B.
C.
D.
Zoroastrianism- believed in one god
God- supreme being- creator- good
Evil was also in the world
Human had freedom to choose between right and wrong
Satrapies- states- empire was divided into these to manage
Satrap- official that rules the smaller state- collected taxes, judge, chief of police and
recruited soldiers for army.
Nomad- Someone who moves from place to place, with no permanent home
Empire- land conquered by one group of people and under the control of a central
government
Why did Darius create satrapies? The Persian Empire was too large to manage so
he divided it up and each state was manage by an official.
Marathon- Battle of Marathon happened hereBattle of Marathon summary 20,000 Persian soldiers waited at Marathon for Athenians to attack
 10,000 Athenian soldiers- did not attack
 Persian soldiers prepared to sail to Athens to attack there
 Persian soldiers on horses boarded ships first
 Persian foot soldiers left undefended and vulnerable
 Athenian army attacked and won
Thermopylae- narrow pass through the mountains- Greeks cut off the Persians
here- Greeks lost battle
Salamis- Greek fleet attacked Persians at this strait- because Persian ships were so
big and difficult to move in the narrow area- they lost.
Strait- narrow strip of water between 2 pieces of land
Xerxes- Persian King- son of Darius
Themistocles- Athenian general- came up with a plan to fight the Persians
His plan- Persians were marching to Greece- plan was to cut off food
supplies to the Persian army
What led to the Persian Wars? Persians and Greeks were rivals- each wanted more
land- land close to each other- fought for power.
How did the Persian Empire bring together such a wide area? They conquered the
land- Babylon, Egypt, Western India, Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Asia Minor, Thrace
What role did Athens and Sparta play in defeating the Persians?
They united and fought together against the Persians.