Download Persian Wars

Dr. J. Taylor
Greek and Roman Humanities
Name __________________
A Brief History of the Persian Wars
The Ionian Revolt:
In the late sixth century the Persian Empire had conquered the Ionian coast of Asia
Minor. Greeks had previously colonized this area. In 499 BCE these Ionian city-states longed
for their freedom. They tried to revolt against their Persian overlords. They were led by the citystate of Miletus. The leaders of Miletus appealed to the Greek mainlanders for help. The only
city to send aid was Athens, who sent several ships but no soldiers to aid the Ionians. When the
revolt ended unsuccessfully there was an inquiry by the Persian rulers into its causes. During the
process the Persian Emperor, Darius, learned of Athens’ aid to the Ionians. Darius decided to
teach the tiny upstart a lesson for daring to aid his cities in the revolt.
The Battle of Marathon:
In 490 BCE Darius assembled an army of approximately 22000 men and sent them to
crush the Athenians. The Athenians appealed to the other city-states in Greece for aid against
the incoming invaders. Because of their independent and individualistic natures, most of the
other city-states, particularly those in the lower portion of Greece, the Peloponnesus, refused to
help unless the Persians personally threatened them.The basic attitude was “we’ll worry about
them when they knock on OUR doors…” Very few city-states sent soldiers to the plains at
Marathon.
The Persian forces outnumbered the combined Greek forces, approximately 11,000 men.
The Persians had better training, more experience and were a professional army. The Greeks
were mostly amateur warriors. The only Greek city-state to maintain a standing army was
Sparta; they were in the Peloponnesus and thus not threatened by the invading Persians.
The Greeks were the first to arrive at Marathon and therefore able to pick the higher
ground. Something unbelievable happened on the plains of Marathon. The Greeks, against
overwhelming forces, were able to pull together to soundly defeat the Persians. Their losses
were minimal. The Greeks lost 192 men whereas the Persian casualties numbered close to six
thousand.
After the battle at Marathon the Persian forces were angry at their loss. According to one
story they boarded their ships and sailed for the port of Athens, trying to make it there before the
Greek soldiers returned to defend the city. News of the treachery reached the Athenians at
Marathon. Immediately they loaded up their equipment and high-tailed it home to defend their
city. The story goes on to say that by the time the Persian fleet rounded the harbor the Athenian
soldiers had made it back to the city and were standing on the city walls. The Persian treachery
was aborted. From this story comes the concept of a “marathon”. *

An alternate to the story says that it was one man, Pheippides, who ran back from the battlefield
at Marathon to the city with the warning that the Persians were coming. After reporting the news
of the victory as well as the imminent threat of the Persian fleet, the runner collapsed.
When the Persian forces returned home Darius was very upset. He could not believe that
such a tiny force from Athens could defeat his imperial army. It was his life-long goal to
assemble an even larger army and utterly crush all of Greece for the disgrace they had caused
him. Unfortunately, Darius did not live long enough to accomplish this goal. It remained to his
son, Xerxes, to carry out his father’s ambitions.
Xerxes’ Invasion of Greece:
In the 480s BCE Xerxes began assembling an even greater force, between 80,000100,000 men, to conquer Greece. He planned his attack to be two-pronged, by land and by sea.
News of the impending invasion reached the Greeks who were forced to recognize the common
threat. They organized a defensive alliance, called the Hellenic League, to fight the Persians.
This time most of the city-states were involved. The League elected Sparta as the leader of their
combined army due to the Spartans’ known military skills. Athens was not chosen as the head of
the navy since the Hellenic League preferred a trained Spartan as commander. This decision
caused some resentment since the Athenians had been responsible for defeating the Persians at
Marathon without any Spartan assistance. However, the Athenians did supply the majority of the
ships for the navy.
Xerxes was an interesting character. In Persia he was treated as a god. He led his army
across Persia toward the coast of Asia Minor. In the area just north of the city of Troy, he tried
to have his vast army cross the Hellespont on a series of connected boats (like a pontoon bridge).
A storm blew up destroying the bridge and causing chaos. Xerxes issued orders that the bridge
be rebuilt and then decreed that the Hellespont should be punished. Xerxes sent a herald to read
out his decree to the waters. He officially told the Hellespont that it was now bound to his will,
and as a sign of its servitude Xerxes’ servants cast shackles and chains into the water and struck
the water with red-hot pokers. After the ceremony the army passed over the bridge (which took
hours) while Xerxes watched from his golden throne on a nearby hill. The Hellespont remained
calm, obedient to Xerxes’ will.
The battle of Thermopylae:
Once across the Hellespont, Xerxes’ forces split. One group went by a land route down
through Thrace and parts of Macedonia toward the Greek pass called Thermopylae. The other
group embarked on the ships and prepared to wage war by sea. The Greeks were ready for these
attacks. Unfortunately, they were not ready enough. The story of the battle at Thermopylae is
one of tragedy and triumph.
Thermopylae was a narrow little pass high up in the mountains. The smaller Greek army
could have defended it easily. But a traitor passed along information to Xerxes of a goat track
over the mountains. Xerxes sent his crack imperial guards to attack the Greeks from behind.
The Greek army found out in advance and the leader of the forces, the Spartan king Leonidas,
sent the majority of the Greek forces back to Greece. He, however, stayed with a force of
approximately 300 Spartans and about 700 Greek warriors who refused to leave. Spartans were
trained to win or die. They remained in the pass, fighting back to back against the overwhelming
number of Persian warriors that surrounded them. Even though they were outnumbered and
surrounded, the Spartan warriors fought until the last one of them died. Their heroic sacrifice
allowed the other Greek warriors to get away and fight again later. A monument was erected in
ancient times, at Thermopylae, to commemorate their dedication and courage. It still stands
today.
The Naval Battle at Artemisium:
While the Greek land forces were being overwhelmed at Thermopylae, the Greek navy
suffered a stalemate at sea at the battle of Artemisium. Neither side gained any clear advantage
other than to delay each other from helping the land forces. The Greek navy was able to get away
to fight on another day.
The Greek warriors fled to the island of Salamis, delaying only long enough to evacuate
Attica. With the way unbarred before them, the Persians sacked the Greek mainland including
Attica, the land around Athens. The city itself was burned including the acropolis with its
temples.
The Battle of Salamis:
The leaders of the various Greek forces debated where to make their last stand. The
Athenians wanted to go back and fight on the mainland to regain their homes. The city-states
from the Peloponnesus wanted to draw up their forces at the Isthmus of Corinth where they could
guard the passage into the Peloponnesus. The arguments continued endlessly. Finally, matters
were taken out of their hands when the announcement came that the Persian fleet was bearing
down on Salamis. Quickly, the Greeks mobilized. The Athenians took the Spartan warriors on
board their ships. They brought with them boarding planks so that the Spartans could fight as if
on land. The Athenian ships were small and sleek. They easily outmaneuvered the larger
Persian ships. In the waters around Salamis this was an asset. More familiar with the tides and
currents, smaller Greek forces were able to thoroughly rout the Persian fleet. This was a decisive
victory for the Greeks.
Once the battle of Salamis was over, the Persian forces withdraw to winter quarters in
Thessaly and Macedonia. Xerxes, fearing rebellion in the empire, left Mardonius in command
and returned to Sardis with many of the land forces. Mardonius was instructed to finish the
conquest of Greece during the campaign season of 479-478. Unfortunately for Mardonius, he
was killed in a major battle with the Hellenic League on the mainland in 479. Without sufficient
leadership, it was fairly easy for the Greek forces to continue their victories against the
Persians.There was a last land battle at Plataea (478 BCE) and some skirmishes at sea, but
otherwise the Persian conquest was over.
The Delian League:
In the aftermath of the battle of Plataea, the Hellenic League disbanded and the warriors
returned home. Athens, in the glow of victory, declared that she would form a new alliance to
help get rid of those Persians still hanging around the Aegean. Many of the island city-states
wanted to join. Sparta and most of the land-bound city-states refused. The Athenians named the
new defensive alliance the Delian League. Members were required to support the Athenian fleet
by giving money or donating ships. The treasury was kept on the island of Delos, thus the name
Delian League. Soon Athens only requested money as she had enough ships. Over the next
decade her navy was able to rid the Aegean of any remaining Persian pirates. The league’s
purpose was over; however, Athens was not about to give up her new empire.
As Athens’ power spread into the Aegean, she was able to use her influence to encourage
democratic systems of government. However, Athens was far more democratic at home with her
own citizens than she ever was with the members of the Delian League. After the League’s
purpose had been served – to rid the Aegean of the remaining Persian fleet – the Delian League
should have been disbanded. Athens refused. The League had become a source of revenue, used
by the statesman Pericles to help rebuild the city after the Persian destruction of its temples
during the Persian Wars. He commissioned architects to rebuild the acropolis temples, the most
important of which was the Parthenon. The Delian League’s treasury was eventually moved from
the island of Delos where it was vulnerable to attacks, to the city of Athens where it was housed
in the temple of Athena, the Parthenon. Many of the sculptures on the Parthenon reflect themes
related to the Persian Wars such as the victory of civilization over the forces of barbarianism.
As various League members protested the abuses of Athens or sought to leave the
membership of the Delian League they would quickly find themselves assaulted by the Athenian
navy, which would form a barricade around the island and force the inhabitants into paying their
tribute. In some instances, the conflicts became violent. Athens was not about to lose her
prestigious empire. If that meant she had to use more forceful measures to ensure cooperation,
then she would do so. This aggressive attitude would eventually lead to war with Sparta (The
Peloponnesian War).
Study Questions for Persian Wars and Greek History from Chapter 6 of Sayre’s textbook.
Persian Wars information is on pages 175-178, Athens’ politics is on page 188-192, and the
rebuilding of the Acropolis is on pages 194-201, most of which is images.
1. The independent city-states were called ______________ in Greek.
2. How many city-states did Ancient Greece consist of?
3. How large were the city-states?
4. What did all of the Greek city-states have in common?
5. How did the city-states differ?
6. In the sixth century BCE _________________ had conquered most of the territories between
the western frontier of India and Asia Minor. (Look at a map-this is impressive!)
7. What battle was fought on the Greek mainland in 490 BCE? Describe it.
8. Which city-state was chosen to lead the Hellenic League in its preparations for war with
Persia?
9. What was Xerxes’ attack plan against Greece in 480 BCE?
10. What battles did the Persians win, if any? Describe them.
11. What happened when the Greek council met at Salamis to discuss battle options?
12. What were the names of the battles fought at sea in 480 BCE? Describe them.
13. Who was the world’s first known historian? What did he write?
14. Outline a brief history of Athens’ government. Describe how the Athenian democracy
operated. How did the Athenian government structure differ from that of Sparta? Describe.
(Sparta is discussed in Chapter 6 of Sayre, Athens is discussed in Chapter 7 of Sayre)
15. What projects did Pericles begin with the money from the Delian League’s Treasury?
(Chapter 7 of Sayre)