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Persian War
Background
Persia was an area that covered the region of the Middle East
and more of Asia. Persia was the biggest and most powerful
empire in the world. Their King’s name was Darius. He
took over a Greek polis called Ionia. Ionia asked Athens for
help. Athens and another city-state sent a few ships that
Darius and the Persians easily beat. It angered Darius that
anyone would dare go against him. He decided to punish
mainland Greece for helping the Ionians.
The Battle of Marathon (NIKE)
Darius sent a large army to a plain called Marathon that was
26 miles from Athens. The Athenians were ready for them.
The Persians had them outnumbered, but the Athenians had
a better strategy. Both sides waited for the other to strike
first. Athens attacked from the middle of their army only.
While the fighting was going on, Athens sent in their troops
on the sides to surround the Persians on all sides. The best
runner in the army ran the entire 26 miles to Athens to tell the
polis. When he arrived in Athens he cried out, “Nike!” the
Greek word for victory and died of exhaustion. The Greeks
now had confidence that they could win the war.
The Battle of Thermopylae (300)
Darius died and his son, King Xerxes, took over. Xerxes
sent an army of 180,000 soldiers south from the top of
Greece. They defeated a few city-states and headed towards
Athens. A Spartan king and military leader, Leonidas, knew
the route they were taking and used a good strategy to try to
slow them down. He only had about 6,000 soldiers, but
knew he could beat the Persian’s 180,000 soldiers at the
narrow mountain pass of Thermopylae. The Persians could
only send in a few at a time, so the Spartans could beat them
little by little. While they fought, the people in Athens fled
for the island of Salamis. Most of the 6,000 non-Spartan
Greek troops left Leonidas in Thermopylae to help the
Athenians prepare for the battle of Salamis. There were 300
fierce, brave Spartans left to defend the narrow passageway.
The Spartans were much better warriors than the Persians.
They fought until their weapons broke. When their weapons
broke, they fought with their bare hands. The brave 300 died
fighting, but killed 30,000 Persians in the process. They lost
the battle, but their bravery allowed the rest of the Greeks to
assemble at Salamis.
The Battle of Salamis (NAVY)
Xerxes was surprised when he reached Athens and nobody
was there. He burnt the polis to the ground. The Athenian
general, Themistocles, came up with a great plan. The
Athenians led the Persian Army to the island of Salamis,
where a trap was waiting. The Greek’s continued to have
better war strategy than the huge Persian army. When the
huge Persian ships reached a narrow channel between the
islands and the main land, they had to go through single file
to fit. The Athenian navy had smaller ships called triremes
that were lighter and faster. They were able to move around
better. The Greek boats had rams on the front and the men
had many spears and fire. They sunk 300 Persian ships and
only lost 40 of their own. The Persians that made it to shore
were met by the Spartan army and were killed. The Greeks
won the biggest battle of the war.
The Battle of Plataea (VICTORY)
Xerxes fled to Persia, but left most of his army behind to
attack on land at Plataea. Plataea was near Athens. The
Spartans and Athenians fought side by side in this epic
battle. A force of 80,000 Greeks defeated the Persians for
good and kept them from conquering all of Europe.
Summary
The Greek city-states of Sparta and Athens hated each other,
but they were still Greeks. They put aside their differences
and defeated the mighty Persian Empire. It was difficult and
lasted 20 years, but after 4 major battles, they achieved the
impossible. If they didn’t work together they would not have
had a chance to win.