Download Origins of the Persian Wars

Origins of the Persian Wars – packages of information
1. Persian imperialism:
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In the middle of the 5th century, there were three great empires in the East: the Lydian
Empire (in Modern day Turkey), the Babylonian Empire (in modern day Syria, Jordan,
Palestine and Iraq) and the Median Empire (in Modern day Iran and Afghanistan).

In 559 BC, Cyrus (later known as ‘the Great’) became ruler of Persis, a small kingdom in
the south of the Median Empire.

In 550, he rebelled against the Medes and conquered the whole of their empire. In 546,
he conquered the Lydian Empire and declared himself “King of the Medes and
Persians”. In 539, he conquered the Babylonian Empire.

Cyrus died in battle in 530, and was replaced by his son Cambyses, who conquered
Egypt in 525.
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Cambyses died in 522 was replaced by Darius, who was one of Cyrus’ and Cambyses’
satraps. Darius put an end to imperial expansion, concentrating instead on consolidating
his empire.
2. Persian expansion into Europe:

Greeks began migrating across the Aegean Sea in the 9th and 8th centuries BC. They
settled on the coast of Asian minor. Their cities – such as Miletus, Mycale, Ephesus,
Halicarnassus and Mytilene – became known as the Ionian cities. They became trading
links between the Mediterranean world and the great Mesopotamian empires.

In 546 the Ionian cities fell under the control of the Persian Empire. As was their custom,
the Persians put local tyrants in power in these cities, to rule on their behalf. These
Greek tyrants were not always popular with their subjects, and needed Persian support
to remain in power.

In 513 BC Darius conquered Thrace (modern day Bulgaria). The Ionian states were
obliged to contribute 600 ships to this invading force.

Darius then invaded Scythia, to the north of Thrace, but the campaign was unsuccessful.
Even so, he did manage to get Macedonia to submit to him.

The Persian Empire was now at the very gates of mainland Greece. It seemed likely that
Darius would invade the Greek city states and incorporate them into the empire.
3. The Ionian Revolt:

By 500, the Ionian cities had become very unhappy with Persian rule. Although ruled by
tyrants prior to their conquest by Persia, these cites had been independent entities and
had grown rich from trade. Now, their leaders had to serve the interests of Persia, which
meant paying taxes to both the local satrap and the Great King, and providing ships and
soldiers to the Persian army.

The Ionian Revolt began in 500 BC on the island of Naxos, when the oligarchs (rich
families) who ran the island were expelled by democrats. These oligarchs fled to
Miletus, where they requested help from the local tyrant, Aristagoras. Aristagoras
persuaded the Persian satrap Artaphernes to send a fleet of ships to Naxos to restore
the oligarchs to power, however the invasion failed after a four month siege. Fearing
Artaphernes would now punish him for failing to subdue Naxos, Aristagoras led a revolt
against the Persians.
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Aristagoras now went to Athens to try to persuade it to join the rebellion. Herodotus
tells us that Athens agreed because Artaphernes (the Persian satrap) was demanding
that it accept the return of its former tyrant, Hippias, who had taken refuge in Persia
since his overthrow in 512 BC. Historians have also suggested that Athens resented
Persia’s control of the Hellespont, as it was interfering with its Black Sea trade.
With Athens onside, the revolt spread quickly. Many Ionian cities joined because they
resented Persian control of their affairs. They also felt that they had a real chance of
success following the Persians’ disastrous campaigns against Naxos and the Scythians.
Herodotus notes that Athens’ decision to help the Ionian Revolt “was the beginning of
trouble not only for Greece but for other peoples.”
4. The course of the Ionian Revolt:

The revolt began with the Ionian cities driving out their tyrants and establishing
democracies. Even Aristagoras gave up power in Miletus and allowed the people to rule.
Then, together with a force from Athens, the Ionians marched on the local Persian
capital Sardis and, according to Herodotus, unintentionally burnt it to the ground. On
their way back to the coast they met with a Persian force and were defeated.

The revolt continued until 494 BC, when the Persians captured Miletus. As punishment,
they destroyed the city, killed all the men and sold the women and children into slavery.
They then defeated the Greek fleet at the Battle of Lade. The revolt was over.
5. The impact of the Ionian Revolt:

Darius sent his son-in-law Mardonius to recapture the Ionian cities, which he did in 492.
Surprisingly, he did not put the tyrants back in power, but allowed those cities to retain
their democratic governments. Even so, they were still under Persian control and had to
pay their taxes.

Mardonius also moved into Europe, reimposing Persian control over Thrace and
conquering Macedonia. Herodotus says that Darius intended Mardonius to continue on
to Greece but that this was prevented by a disaster at sea at Athos on the coast of
Thrace. The Persian navy was destroyed by a storm. (Herodotus claims the Persians lost
300 ships and 20,000 men, though this is almost certainly an exaggeration.)

Herodotus tells us that Darius was furious about the destruction of Sardis, and vowed to
exact revenge on Athens. It is unlikely that he would have planned to destroy the city, as
it would have been a valuable asset to him. Instead, he probably planned to put Hippias
back in power (as evidenced by the fact that Hippias accompanied the invasion force).
Herodotus says Darius wanted to enslave the Athenian population, and have these
slaves brought before him.

Darius might have had other reasons for the invasion of Greece. In 507 BC Athenian
envoys had visited Sardis to propose an alliance between Athens and Persia. Some
historians believe Darius might have got the impression that Athens was already a
supplicant state, and therefore viewed Athens’ participation in the attack on Sardis as
treason.
6. Causes of the First Persian War:

Long-term causes:
 Raphael Sealey attibutes the Graeco-Persian wars to “the tendency of empires to
expand” and the fact that “the Persian ruling class set a value on conquest.”
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King Darius may have felt the need to outdo, or at least match, the achievements of
his predecessors. Cyrus the Great conquered Media, Lydia and Babylonia; Cambyses
conquered Egypt; Darius’ contribution would be to expand into Europe. This is the
view propounded by Herodotus.
 Herodotus also saw the conflict as one between two incompatible civilisations –
tyranny and democracy. J.B. Bury points out that the Ionian tyrants would never have
rebelled against Persia because they depended on it to remain in power; therefore
the spread of democracy must be seen as a major cause of the war.

Short-term causes:
 Darius wanted to punish Athens and Eretria for supporting the Ionian revolt. In
particular, he needed to avenge the destruction of Sardis.
 Hippias, the former tyrant of Athens, helped persuade Darius to invade Greece as a
way of regaining power for himself.
 The Greek states chose to resist the Persian invasion through fear that they would
meet the same fate as Miletus.

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