Download Fighting the Persian Wars

Fighting the PersianWars
28.1Introduction
In Chapter27. you learnedabouttwo very differentcity-states,
Athens and
, Sometimes
theirdifl'erences
led thesecity-states
to distrusteach other.
Butbetween499 and 419 s.c.F,..they had a corlmon enerriv-the Persian
Empire.
At thetirne.Persiawas the largesternpirethe world hadeverseen.Its
'ul kin-9sruledover landin Afi'ica.the Middle East,andAsia.During
400se.c.E.,the Persians
invadedGreece.andthe Persian wars began.
Tofight the Persians.
the Greekcity-states
eventr-rally
bandedtogether
allies.
Allies are statesthata-eree
to helpeachotheragainsta common
Thror-r-ehout
history.soldiers
vewrittenhomebefbrebatWecanimasethe kind of
anAthenianmi-shthave
ittento his family."The
iansare fiercefi-ehters.
I will standshoulderto
lder with the brave men
Greece-Spartans
as well
fellowAthenians-and fight
thedeath.if that is what it
to stopthesemurderous
S.
Thetinv Greekcitv-states
muchlesslandand far
r peoplethanPersia.How
theypossiblytr"rrnback
powerfr.rl
invaders'lIn this
you
will
learnabout
,
nt battlesduringthe
warsanddiscoverwho
them.
Fightin-uthe PersianWars 211
K i n gD ar iu o
s f Per sia
holding
a
c o u n cil
of wa r .
28.2The Persian Empire and
the lonian Revolt
28.3'l
A Stu
The Persiansstartedout as a small tribe in present-day
Iran.
They built a largeempireby conqueringtheir neighbors.Persian
archerswon many battlesby unleashinga storm of arrows before
their enemieswere closeenoughto usetheir lances,or spears.
At its height,the PersianEmpirewas the largestempirethe
world had ever known. It was ruled by powerfulkings who
conqueredMesopotamia,
Asia
Minor, Syria,Egypt,and partsof
India and Europe.
To rule such a large area,
King Darius,one of the greatest
of the Persiankings,dividedthe
empireinto 20 provincesknown
as satrapies.
He established
a tax-collectionsystemand
appointedofficialsto rule local
areas.But he allowedconquered
peopleto keeptheir own customs
and religions.
The IonianRevolt,which
beganin 499 B.c.E.,markedthe
beginningof the Greek-Persian
wars.In 546 s.c.s.,the Persians
had conqueredthe wealthyGreek
settlements
in lonia, in Asia
Minor. The Persianstook the
Ionians'farmlandand harbors.
They forced the Ioniansto pay
tributes,or the regularpayments
of goods.The Ioniansalsohadto
servein the Persianarmy.
The Ioniansknew theycould
not defeatthe Persiansby themselves.so thev askedmainland
Greecefor help.Athenssentsoldiersand a small fleet of ships.
Unfortunatelyfor the Ionians,the Athenianswent homeafter
their initial success,
leavingthe small Ionian arrnyto fightalone.
ln 493 B.c.E.,
the Persianarmy defeatedthe lonians.To punish
After
city-state
preSents(
that the (
the Ioniansfor rebelling,the Persiansdestroyedthe city of
Miletus.They may havesold someof its peopleinto slavery.
272 Chapter
28
refused tr
gers into
want Gre
Darius
soldiersa
Aegean S
The army
plain of IV
map on pa
A brilli
Miltiades r
Greek con
the Persia
Desperate
Athenians
named Phe
Pheidippid
and two ni;
arrived, he
celebrating
They totd l
not leave S
full moon.
The Ath
allies had t,
men across
hesitatedtc
Finally,
portion of I
to meet the
to sweep d<
Soon thr
the Greeks
against the
The Gre,
the Persianr
28.3The Battle of Marathon:
A Stunning Victory
Iran.
Persian
s before
leATS.
'e the
no
Asia
parts of
eO'
;reatest
Cedthe
known
ed
rd
: local
rquered
customs
rich
ed the
ersian
:rsians
y Greek
;ia
the
bors.
) pay
/ments
I had to
could
themrland
rhips.
ter
alone.
punish
ry.
Afier the IonianRevolt,King Dariusdecideclro conquerthe
city-states
of mainlandGreece.He sentmessengers
to ask fbr
presents
of Greekearthand water.The presentswould be a sign
thatthe Greeksagreedto acceptPersianrule. But the Greeks
refused
to handover the tribute.Instead,they threw the messengersinto pits and wells. Legendhasit that they shouted,..lf you
wantGreekearthand water.help yoLrrselves!"
Dariuswas furious.In 490 B.c.E.,he senta largearmv of foot
soldiers
and cavalry acrossthe
*..,
Aegean
Seaby boat to Greece. '
cavalry soldiers
who ride
on horses
Thearmy assembled
on the
plainof Marathon.(Seethe
mapon page277.)
A brilliant generalnamed
Miltiades
convincedthe other
Greek
commandersto fight
thePersians
at Marathon.
Desperate
for help, the
Athenians
senta runner
named
Pheidippides
ro Sparta.
Pheidippides
ran for two days
and
two nights.When he
anived,
he found the Spartans
celebrating
a religiousf'estival.
They
told him that they could
rtot
leaveSpartauntil the next
fullmoon.
TheAtheniansand their
allies
hadto facethe Persiansalone.Miltiadesstretchedhis
nenacrossa narrowvalley.For severaldays,both sides
hesitated
to attack.
Finally,Miltiadesdecidedto attack.He orderedthe center
prtionof his army to advance.when the persianscameforward
t0meetthem.
he then orderedthe lefi and right sidesof his army
t0sweep
down and attackthe Persiansfiom the sidesas well.
TheBattleof Marathon
wasthe
firstof manybattles
between
the
G re e kasn dP e rs ia n s .
Soonthe Persiansoldierswere runningfor their ships.Then
lhe
Greeksmarchedback to Athensin time to def'endthe citv
qainst
the Persiancavalry.
TheGreekshad won a stunningvictory.But theirfighr with
tlnPersians
was only beginning.
Fightingthe PersianWars 273
Helle sp o n t thelong,narrow
bod yo f w aterbetween
E urope
p
r
esent-day
andAsi ai n
Turkey
28.4 The Battle of Thermopylae:
The Bravery of the 3OO
Alicr King Darius died. his son. King Xerxes.organizedanother
attackon Greccc.Xerxes pLrttouethera huge army of more than
I tt0.(XX)soldicrs.To
t his arrny to Greece.Xcrxes choseto cross
-ee
thc Hellespont, a ltarrow seachannelbetweenEurope and Asia,
Thcre he nradctwo bridgcs by ropinr hundredso1'boatstogether.
with wooden boardsacrosstheir bows. Then he walked his arnr
acr'ossthc chartnclinto Europe.(See the rnap on pa_se277.)
The Persians
were delayedby the
In'180 B.c.l:..Xerxes ntarchedwcst from the Hellespontand
tl-rcnsouth.SevcralGreek city-stateswcre overwhelmed.Athens
fiercefightingin the narrowpass
anclSpartaclecidcdto work togetherto fight the enerny.The
at Thermopylae.
Athenian nar,'ywould try to stop tl-rePcrsiannavy. Meanwhile.
sl
,;,
r$
' lJ
t
4l
t
#
o3+,
hl;'-
;r*
the Spartankin_s.
Leonidas.would
try to stopthe Persianarmy.
The Spartans
choseto maketheir
standat a placecalledThermoprlae.
wherethe Persianarrnywouldhave
to go throu_9h
a narrowpassbetueen
the ntountllins
and the sea.Leonidas
had only 6.000to 7,000soldiers
ro
stop 180.(XX)
Persians.
Still.when
the Persianstried to
throu-ch
the
-eet
pass.thc Greeksdrovethentback.
Then a Grcek traitorofferedto shou
thc Pcrsians
a sccrctpaththrough
the nrountains.
The pathwould
allow thernto attacktheGreeks
fiorn thc front and the rearatthe
s a met in re .
Leonidasknew thathc could
onir
delaythe Persians.
To kcephisarmr
fronr bcing dcstroyed.he ordered
nrostof his troopsto escape.
\\'ithl
nruchsrnallerarmy.including
300
Spartans.he prcparedto ii-sht.
Thc Spartans
wcreobcdient
to
the end.Lcgendsaysthevfburht
Lrntilthcir weaponsbroke.Then
ftet
fitu-shtwith theirhands.In theend.
all 3(X)werekilled.ButtheGreeks
would never tirrsettheirbraven.
2a.5
The
Whe
its citiz
islands
behind.
fbllon in
Only
weeks.l
An At
to def-ea
channels
find it ha
For his
into a cha
a loyal sla
that Them
Xerxesatt
Xerxes
row watert
As the t
But thiswa
the channe
s h i p sh a d w
Persianboa
the bottom<
the Greekst
ther
m
ross
r,sia.
her,
my
rd
]ns
.,
Lld
5 The Battle of Salamis:
Navy to the Rescue
their
ylae,
lave
ween
ridas
rto
en
r the
ck.
show
gh
;
re
I only
afinyi
sd
tth a
100
:
toI
,ht
n
en4
ceks
ry.
Whennews of the slaughterat ThermopylaereachedAthens,
citizenspanicked.They boardedshipsand sailedfor nearby
They left in such a hurry that they had to leave their pets
ind.Legendhas it that one loyal dog swam alongsidea ship,
ing its masterall the way to shore,where it died.
0nly a small army was left to defendthe city. Within two
Xerxeshad burnedAthens to the sround.
AnAtheniannavy leader,Themistocles,thoughthe knew a way
defeatthe Persians.He wanted to fieht their navv in the n:urow
betweenthe islandsand the mainland.The Persianswould
it hard to move their shipsaroundto attackthe Greek navy.
Forhis plan to work, Themistocleshad to get the Persianships
a channelneara placecalledSalamis.So he set a trap. He sent
loyalslaveto Xerxes' camp with a message.The messagesaid
Themistocleswantedto changesidesandjoin the Persians.If
attackednow it said,half the Greek sailorswould surrender.
Xerxesfell for the trick. He orderedhis shipsto enterthe narwaterwaybetweenSalamisand the mainlandto attack.
Asthe Persiansapproached,the Greek shipsseemedto retreat.
thiswasjust anothertrick to draw the Persiansfarther into
channel.Soon the Greekshad them surrounded.The Greek
ipshadwoodenrams at the front. They rammedinto the
ianboats,crushingtheir hulls and sending300 of the shipsto
bottomof the sea.The Greekslost only 40 ships.Once again,
Greekshad beatenthe mighty PersianEmpire.
At theBattleof Salamis,
the
Greeks
trickedthe Persians
into
entering
a narrowchannel,
where
theGreeks
rammed
the Persian
s h ip s .
Fighting the PersianWars 275
28,.
In
forcer
with r
victor
Af
will t<
about
T heSpa r tanled
s thefightagainst
the Persians
in a fiercebattleoutsid eth ecityof P lataea.
276 Chapter28
28.6The Battle of Plataea:
The End of the Persian Wars
After the defeatat Salamis,Xerxes fled with someof his soldiers. He was afraid the Greekswould get to the Hellespontfirst
and destroythe bridgeshe had built. As it turned out, the bridges
had alreadybeenwreckedby a fierce storm. Xerxes had to ferry
his men acrossthe waterby boat.
Xerxes left the rest of his army in Greecewith ordersto attack
again in the spring.When spring arrived,the Persiansapproached
Athens once more. The Spartansfearedthat the Athenians,with
their city destroyed,would agreeto make peacewith Persia.But
the Atheniansproudly declaredtheir "common brotherhoodwith
the Greeks."They would fight.
in
The decisivebattle took place outsidethe town of Plataea
419 e.c.E..Led by the Spartans,a force of 80,000Greek troops
destroyedthe Persianarmy.The threatfrom the PersianEmpire
was finally over.
This importantvictory preservedthe Greeks'independence
and kept Persiafrom conqueringall of Europe.The Greekspaid
high price for their victory. Thousandsof Greekswere dead,and
the city of Athenswas in ruins.But the Athenianswould soon
rebuildtheir city and raiseit to evengreaterglory.
I
I
I
28.7 Ghapter Summary
In this chapter,you learnedhow Athens and Spartajoined
forcesto defeat the PersianEmpire. The Persianwars began
with the Ionian Revolt and ended20 yearslater with the Greek
victorvat the Battle of Plataea.
After the wars,Athens would becomethe centerof Greek
cultureand expandits own empire.In the next chapter,you
, will tour the city at the height of its power and learn more
iaboutGreek culture.
AS IA
M INOR
his sol)ont first
e bridges
. to ferrY
(*4&'
4\
--\j
o-
\A
i to attack
pproached
rns,with
:rsia. But
rood with
lataeain
( troops
r Empire
corinth
'\|n >
lo rtittrt
Sea
eZ2
D
a
oQ-
ru-\v/(
b
(2(1" o
o'
"!-VcO" _t .1/oo
szv
_l
+
Greekstatesallied
againstPersia
.
NeutralGreekstates
*
o.D
n
| Hersrantsmptre
|
\rv
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\Q
. . ,^
G
' DE
$
l.
:ndence
'eeks paid a
dead, and
rld soon
orympia
\\
{eu
Site of majorbattle
Routeof Darius'army
Routeof Xerxes'army
Mediterr0nean
Sect
Fighting the PersianWars 27'l