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11/28/2011
THE PERSIAN WARS
499 BCE – 448 BCE
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ORIGINS OF THE CONFLICT
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By 499 BCE Darius the Great had been emperor for 23 years.
East coast of Anatolia settled by Greeks in the Mycenaean era.
 Polis of Miletus (coast of Turkey) rebelled against the Persians
 Tyrant of Miletus was in trouble with Persians – this was
his way out.
 Revolt spread to other poleis
 Went to Greece to get support
 Athens and Eretria sent ships & soldiers
Darius the Great
 Burned Persian city Sardis (important Persian city)
 Darius Swore to punish the Athenians & Eretrians
Persia ended the revolts by 494 BCE
 Miletus was sacked, but the Persians were merciful to other
Ionian city-states.
 Democracies were allowed to form, Greek religion was
allowed to be practiced, Intermarriage between
Persians and Greeks was encouraged
 Propaganda began against mainland Greece.
THE PERSIAN WARS BEGIN
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493 BCE: Persians send messengers to Greek poleis
demanding they surrender – most do, except Sparta &
Athens
492 BCE: Persian military & navy sent to Greece.
Conquered land North of Greece (Thrace & Macedonia)
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490 BCE: Siege of Eretria
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300 ships, 20,000 soldiers lost in a storm
Attacked by a fleet of 600 ships
Eretria held out for 6 days & then was sacked. All citizens were
taken hostage. Taken to the Persian Empire and moved to Bactria.
Persian fleet’s next mission: The destruction of Athens.
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THE BATTLE OF MARATHON,
490 B.C.E.
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Persian army landed at Marathon
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Athenians sent for help
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Sparta did not help - busy.
Plataeans were Athenians only allies.
10,000 Greek soldiers went to Marathon
Greek soldiers charged in Phalanx formation (next
slide)
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Est. 20,000-60,000 soldiers.
6400 Persians killed
192 Athenians killed
420 Plataeans killed
Pheidippides ran 26 miles to Athens to tell them of the
defeat & not to give up the city!
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Athenian Soldiers arrived soon after; Persian fleet retreated
after arriving.
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PHALANX
IMPACT OF MARATHON
 For
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Athenians proved they could fight
Greek poleis saw they could fight against
Persia & renounced submission, joining
Athens & Sparta
 For
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the Greeks
the Persians
First defeat since before Cyrus!
Felt the western part of their empire was
threatened
Had been bested at land & sea by tiny citystates.
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THE NEXT TEN YEARS
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Persian Empire
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Prepare for a second attack of Greece
Darius died. Xerxes I, son of Darius,
became Emperor
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Had to deal with revolts in Egypt & Babylon
Was not ready to deal with Greece until 480 BCE
 200,000 soldiers, bridges built across Hellespont on ships
 Northern Greek Poleis agree to join Persians
Greek City-States
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488 BCE: Athens, built a fleet of 200 Triremes (start
of naval power)
481 BCE: Meeting of all Greek poleis that had
not fallen to Persia called by Sparta & Athens.
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Xerxes I
The Peloponnesian city-states agree to work together
to defeat the Persians.
NOT XERXES
XERXES
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Greek
Triremes
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THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE, 480 BCE
(YES, THE MOVIE 300)
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10,000 Greek troops led by Spartan king Leonidas block a
mountain pass
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only road the huge Persian army could pass through
were Spartans (The Royal Bodyguards)
 Greeks stopped the Persians for 3 days
 300
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On the third day a traitor told the Persians of another
mountain path that led to the back of the Greek line
 300
Spartans along with 700 Thespians (from Greek city of
Thespiae), 400 Thebans, and a few hundred others stayed to
fight while the rest of the Greek soldiers retreated.
 All who remained were killed, but the Persians lost 20,000
 Xerxes ordered the body of Leonidas decapitated & crucified. His
bones were returned to Sparta 40 years later.
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Athens was given time to evacuate before the Persians
arrived.
 When
Xerxes reached Athens he set fire to the city, destroying
the Acropolis.
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SITE OF THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE TODAY
Hill of Thermopylae, Site of
Spartans last Stand.
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Many historians believe
that if the Greeks could
have held out a few days
more the Persians would
have retreated (lack of food
& water)
Boeotia & Attica fell to the
Persians
Decisive Persian Victory
The Mountain Pass
behind Thermopylae
Thermopylae from the East
Today there is a road where the
water is drawn in.. In the 400s the
sea reached this far inland
THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS, 480 BCE
Athens positioned their navy a few miles SW of Athens in a
narrow channel near the island of Salamis
 Xerxes ordered warships to block both ends of the channel
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Sank/Captured 200 Persian Ships
More Persian casualties because they couldn’t swim!
Xerxes retreated with much of his army leaving his general
Mardonius to conquer Greece
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Ships were large & hard to maneuver
Smaller Greek ships with battering rams attached to them
punctured the hulls of the warships
Mardonius hand picked the troops that remained
479 BCE: Mardonius recaptured Athens until the battle of
Plataea
Significance
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The Peloponnesus was safe from invasion
Greeks were on the offensive & on their way to victory!
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ENGRAVING OF A GREEK TRIREME DESTROYING A PERSIAN SHIP
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THE END OF THE CAMPAIGN
THE BATTLE OF PLATAEA, 479 BCE
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After recapturing Athens Mardonias offers peace deals
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Independent gov’t & money to rebuild, but was refused
Athens & several other city states had to beg Sparta for help
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Refused until they came to understand that if Athens
surrendered, they were next.
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Persians were defeated
This was the battle mentioned in the last scene of the movie 300
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Sparta sent 45,000 soldiers (5000 citizens, 5000 noncitizens, 35,000 helots)
Total Greek soldiers: approx. 80,000
Persian forces may have ranged from 50,000-300,000
Greeks outnumbered 3:1; “Good odds for any Greek”
478-448 BCE: Greek counterattacks until the Persians sent
emissaries to Athens, accepted by Pericles & they sign the
Peace of Callais.
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THE DELIAN LEAGUE – START OF THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE
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Created after the Persian Wars (478 BCE)
Purpose: to keep its naval defenses against the Persians strong.
City-states who joined contributed Ships or Money.
Treasury originally kept at the Island of Delos (Delian League)
Athens was made the head of the league due to its naval power.
Athens abuse
 Island of Naxos tried to secede from the league. Athens attacked and
enslaved it, tearing down its walls.
 Athenians stopped accepting payment in the form of ships and
demanded all members contribute money.
 454 BCE – Athens moved the treasury to Athens in order to keep it
“safe from Persia.”
 Money was used to build up the Athenian Navy, but also public
building projects (Parthenon)
 Payment to the Delian League became tribute to Pericles and
Athens.
 465 BCE – Thasos revolted. Athens attacked: walls torn down, naval
ships and mines confiscated by Athens. Yearly tribute to Athens.
Changed from alliance into an Athenian Empire.
Soon after, Peloponnesian War began (see map on next slide)
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