Download Persian and Peloponnesian Wars

Persian and
Peloponnesian
Wars
Who were the Persians?
 Location: modern-day Iran
 Established: one of the largest empires of the ancient
world
 Conquered: the Chaldeans, Babylon, Lidia, Greek cities
in Ionia, Egypt
 Built: numerous roads
 Longest road was the: Royal Road
 World’s first long highway, 1,500 miles
Persians con’t
 Communication consisted of: messengers on horseback
(relay race)
 Four main kings: Cyrus the Great, Cambyses II, Darius I,
and Xerxes
 Cyrus the Great created: the Persian Empire
 Allowed conquered peoples to: keep their own
customs
 Many conquered peoples: respected Darius
 Freed the Jews in Babylon
 Cambyses II was known for conquering: Egypt
Persians con’t
 Darius I
 Reformed the: army and created a permanent army
 Highly trained soldiers called: the Ten Thousand
Immortals
 Conquered parts of: India
 Failed to conquer: Greece
 Surrounded himself with: symbols of power
 Minted: first coins in Persia
 High point of: Persian culture
 Xerxes tried to conquer what area like his father:
Greece
 The Persian Wars (490 BC - 479 BC)
 Greeks in Ionia rebel against Persian rule, ask for help
from other Greeks
 Persian emperor Darius decides to get revenge on the Greeks
 First Persian Invasion – 490 BC
 Battle at Marathon – Athenians attack the Persians
while they are unloading and the Persians retreat
 An Athenian messenger runs 26 miles from
Marathon to Athens to announce the victory
 He dies after delivering the message
 Darius is furious over the humiliating defeat and starts
to plan another invasion
 However he dies and his son Xerxes vows to get
revenge for his father
 Second Persian Invasion – 480 BC
 Battle at Thermopylae
 Greeks are afraid they won’t have enough time
to prepare
 A group of 300 Spartans decide to hold off the
entire Persian army at the mountain pass of
Thermopylae
 Are successful for several days until a local shows
the Persians an alternate path through the
mountain and they kill all the Spartans
 The Persians advance and burn Athens
 Need the Persian navy to bring additional
supplies
 Battle of Salamis
 An Athenian navy commander lures the Persian
navy into the narrow Strait of Salamis
 Persian ships were very large and could not
maneuver well
 Xerxes watches from a throne on the shore as his
navy is destroyed
 The Persian army is now stranded in Greece with
few supplies
 In 479 BC a large Greek army led by the might of
Sparta crushes the Persians, ending the war
Persian
Battles
The Golden Age of Athens
 Athens and Sparta became the two most powerful
city-states as leaders in the Persian Wars
 Sparta not popular, Athens becomes the leading
city-state – Why were Spartans not as popular?
 Dozens of Greek city-states banded together for
defense
 This alliance was to be a league of equals
 Athens, as the largest and richest, ended up
controlling the entire alliance
 Became known as the Delian League
 As the League’s leader, Athens controlled its ships and
money
 Would not allow unhappy members to quit
 Would attack rebelling members with the League fleet
 The League more or less turned into an Athenian Empire
 Used League funds to rebuild Athens
 Built the Parthenon = a grand temple dedicated to the goddess
Athena
 Pericles
 Great champion of democracy and most influential politician in
Athens
 Commissioned the Parthenon
 Introduced payment for those who served in public offices and
juries
 Believed in the superiority of Athens
 Trade brought much wealth to Athens
 Athens at the time was the heart of Greek culture
 Greatest rival was Sparta
 Had its own allied city-states = Peloponnesian
League
 Athens fears the military might of Sparta and allies
 Sparta fears that the Athenian navy would stop
Sparta from trading
 This mutual fear led to Sparta and Athens declaring
war in 431 BC
The Peloponnesian War
 War between Athens and Sparta
 Sparta and allies dominate the land
 Athens and allies dominate the sea
 Spartans surround Athens hoping for an open battle
 Athens avoids any battles on land
 Knowing they can’t compete in open battle, they
hide behind their city walls, relying on supplies from
their navy and colonies
 In 430 BC a terrible plague breaks out in Athens,
killing a third of the people, including Pericles
 421 truce, war breaks out six years later when Athens
attacks one of Sparta’s allies
 This time Sparta destroys the Athenian navy and
Athens surrenders - The walls of Athens are torn down and
the Empire destroyed
 Costs of the war
 Weakened major Greek city-states
 Athens nearly destroyed, Sparta exhausted as well
 Sparta tries to act as Greece’s dominant power
 Lost too many resources, defeated by Thebes who also
can’t maintain control
 Struggle for power in Greece led to a long cycle of
warfare that left all of Greece vulnerable
 Ignored the growing power of Macedonia to the
north
 Loss of freedom