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-The Persian Wars- The Persian Empire • As Greece spread across the Mediterranean Sea, they came across the Persian Empire. • Persia had spread across the known world creating a huge army and a massive Empire. • Modern depictions make Persians the “bad guy”, but they were very good to their people: No slavery, keep your religion and your king, just know we are in charge. • When the Persian Empire expanded to the Mediterranean, the Persian Empire attacked a few of the Greek colonies and captured them. Where is Persia? Why were they fighting? Greeks had colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor (Persia) Persia conquered these colonies, claimed them as part of the Persian Empire Greeks colonies revolted against Persian rule (they were used to democracy, all influenced by Athens) Athens sent troops and weapons to support the revolt, and ships, but the Persians were too much. Persia decided to conquer all of Greece for defying them. Crushing the Revolt • Emperor Darius of Persia crushed the revolt quickly, even with Athens helping the colonies. He wanted to punish Athens for helping the colonies. • After training a huge new army for a few years, Darius sent troops to invade Greece by sailing armies into the Bay of Marathon. The Battle of Marathon • Athens asked Sparta to help, but Spartan troops would not arrive for 9 days (they were in the middle of religious festivals) • Other jealous city-states decided not to help Athens against the Persian Empire. • So Athens took on the mighty Persian Empire by themselves… A Serious Mismatch • Persian troops—100,000 • Athenian troops—20,000=Totally outnumbered! • Did Athens really have any hope against these odds? • The Athenian army was well-trained and did not break formation as they charged the Persian lines. • The organized charge surprised the large but scattered (and poorly organized) Persian army • Athenians fought as a unit and used the phalanx formation, a way to fight as a crowd while all shielded. • The Persian soldiers turned and ran from the oncoming Athenians!!! Victory!!! A huge victory against Persia! • The Athenian army almost drove the Persians back to the sea, Persians could not advance any more. They had to retreat. • Final Battle Numbers – Persians—6, 400 dead – Athens—192 dead!!! – Darius returned to Persia, never returned to Greece. But he never forgot… Connection to the Past Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, winner of the 114th Boston Marathon 2010. He won the Boston Marathon with a record time of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 52 seconds. A marathon is 26 miles! • The modern marathon has its roots in the Battle of Marathon • A Greek soldier, Phidippides, ran from Marathon to Athens (26 miles) to tell the Athenians of the Greek victory and to warn them that the Persians had attacked and they had won the Battle of Marathon. • Phidippides died from exhaustion after delivering his message! • Today’s 26 mile marathon races remember his heroic act of martyrdom Gone, but not done… • Although Persia had been beaten at Marathon, the Persians were not done. • Darius would never forget Marathon, and he requested one of his favorite slaves tell him each night as he served Darius dinner, “Sir, remember the Athenians” • He would want revenge, so would his family… The Persian Wars-Day 2 • After the victory at Marathon, the Persians decide to attack Greece again and destroy it! Revenge of the Persians • The Persian Emperor Darius’ son Emperor Xerxes decided to crush Greece once he was Emperor. • In 480 B.C. the Persians returned to Greece, set on conquering it at any cost. Xerxes focus • They brought a lot more soldiers, almost all of their army this time around! Better trained armies! Created a army of 300,000 trained for 5 yrs. • Persians met a small force of Greeks at a area of the coast known as Thermopylae. • Very few soldiers most of Greece didn’t really think Persia would attack unprovoked. • 7000 Greeks=50 to 1 First time the Greeks had ever fought together! • This was a small mountain pass that controlled access to all of Greece. The Greeks tried to stop the Persians from going forward. Funnel them in. The Battle of Thermopylae • A Greek traitors showed the Persians a secret passageway around the armies. The Downfall • This allowed the Persians to get around the Greeks blocking the way. • Faced with defeat, most of the Greek defenders had no choice but to withdraw. Soon the forces of Persia were closing in on both sides! A Heroic Act • About 300 Spartans and 1,000 other Greeks stayed behind and fought to their deaths. They were easily overcome in an afternoon. • This sacrifice allowed the other Greeks to escape capture or certain death, allowing them to regroup for the next battle against the Persians and rally the other Greek city-states. Here come the Persians • After the loss at Thermopylae The Persians poured into Greece. There was no stopping the huge army. • They got their revenge by wreaking havoc, destroying any city-state they could. Most of Greece was unprepared. • They even burned Athens to the ground! The Battle of Salamis • As their city-state burned, the Athenian people and the army escaped to the island of Salamis near Athens. • The Persians wanted to finish the Athenians off for good, ending the war. Those Clever Athenians • The Greeks ships first sailed from shore like they were fleeing the island. • They then turned quickly around and began ramming the Persian ships!!! • Before the Persians knew what had happened half of their fleet was sinking! • The Persians retreated back to Persia, having lost many men and most of their ships. But would try one more time… The Final Battle: The Battle of Plataea • The Greeks and Persians at equal strength, huge armies! • Athens and Sparta fought side by side, decided to use a strategy call the “false retreat”. • They acted like they were running away and the Persians advanced thinking they had won, quickly turned around and fought. Persians had no way to retreat while defending, quickly surrounded. • Greek military superiority won out and remaining Persians retreated for good, ending the war! How did the Greeks do it? • Some reasons: – Inherent advantage of being the defender – They knew their country/geography well – They were better soldiers (Sparta) – They had better strategy (Athens) – They used the element of surprise – They worked together (most of the time) – They never stopped fighting!