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Notes III: Persia Attacks the Greeks
III. Persia Attacks the Greeks
A. Persian Empire
1. Persia: an area of present day Iran
a). Started out as a small group of nomads
b). Developed a large empire by conquering neighbors
1). Cyrus the Great expanded them from present day Turkey and NE
Egypt to Iran
2). Their expert archers helped them surprise enemies
3). Built roads such as the Royal Road connect the empire
4). Many places surrendered to Persia, Greece would not
2. Darius was one of Persia’s greatest Kings
a). Divided empire into 20 provinces
b). A satrap ruled each province and collected taxes
c). Conquered areas were allowed to maintain own customs and religions
B. Persian Wars (499-479 B.C.)
1. Ionian Revolt (499 BC)
a). Persians had taken control of this colony in 546 BC
b). Ionians disliked Persian rule
1). Wanted to be a Greek colony
2). Did not like paying tributes to Persia
3). Did not like serving in Persian army
c). Athenians help Ionians revolt
1). Athens sends small fleet and they are successful
2). Athenians go home after first victories
3). Ionians left on their own
4). Ionians are defeated
d). Persia is angry the Ionians revolted
1). Persians destroy Miletus an Ionian city
2). Persians want revenge on Greece for helping
2. Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.)
a). According to legend, Persia goes to Greece and asks for “presents of
Greek earth and water”
1). If Greece offers it means they are surrendering and Persia would
control them
2). Greeks (Athens and Spartans each separately) instead push the
messengers into pits and wells
3). Greeks are now at war with Persia
b). Persia sends about 20,000 soldiers to the shores of Marathon
c). Athenians gather an army of about 10,000
1). They send a runner to Sparta for help
2). Sparta does not send help
d). Athenian Advantages
1). Better weapons
2). Strategy
i. Assembled in a narrow valley and waited to attack
ii. Athens attacked down the middle of the Persian line then had
soldiers on the left and right attack
iii. Athens surrounded the Persians who had to retreat
Notes III: Persia Attacks the Greeks
3). Persians hoped to return to their boats and sail to an undefended
Athens
e). “Marathon”
1). Pheidippides, a messenger, ran back to Athens to spread news of
victory and to warn of an attack on Athens
i. As he finished the approximately 26 mile run and shared the
message he collapsed
ii. This is where we get the modern day marathon race
2). The Athenian troops also quickly made it back to Athens to fend off
the Persians
i. The Persians saw the troops and would quickly sail away
ii. Even though the Persian troops outnumbered the Athenians
iii. Athenians seemed superhuman
3. Battle of Thermopylae (480 B.C.)
a). Xerxes, son of Darius, would plan an attack with about 180,000 troops
b). Athens and Sparta Unite
1). Sparta would send soldiers under King Leonidas to stop the Persians
on foot
2). Athens would send a navy to cut off supplies
c). Thermopylae was a narrow pass between the mountains and the sea
1). About 6,000 Spartans held off the Persians for two days
2). Ephialtes, a traitor, defied the Spartans and showed Persians a path
around the Greeks
3). Leonidas sent most troops to safety while he and reportedly 300
soldiers held off the Persians
4). This gave Athens enough time to assemble their ships
4. Battle of Salamis (480 B.C.)
a). Athenians attacked the Persians in the strait of Salamis
b). The Athenians had small ships that could move easy in the narrow sea
c). Persia had large ships
d). The Greeks were able to out maneuver the Persians and destroy their
fleet
e). Athens, which had been abandoned, was burned by the Persians on foot
5. Battle of Plataea (479 BC)
a). Spartans worried with Athens destroyed the Athenians would give in to
Persia
b). Spartans along with Athenians created a strong army of over 80,000 and
defeated the Persians
C. Fall of Persia
1. Bad leadership and a destroyed army would lead to the end
2. Six of nine rulers would be murdered as people rebelled
3. Alexander the Great would invade around 334 B.C.
Notes III: Persia Attacks the Greeks
1. How did
Pericles help
create a
“Golden Age”
for Athens?
2. What was
the goal of
Pericles in
delivering the
Funeral
Oration?
3. What led to
the end of the
Peloponnesus
War?
IV. The Age of Pericles
A. The Athenian Empire
1. Age of Pericles or Athen’s Golden Age (PEHR-uh-KLEEZ)
a). Pericles was a leading general in Athens after Persian wars
b). He was first elected in 461 B.C. and led for 30 years
c). He pushed the other city-states in the Delian League to pay Athens (they
provided most of the troops for the league), be loyal to Athens, and to
adopt the ways of Athens like their money
d). He enabled even poor citizens to be a part of the government
e). He pushed for the rebuilding of temples and statues after the Persian
War and pushed for creativity and learning
B. Peloponnesian War (431 B.C.-404 B.C.)
1. As Athen’s grew other city-states, led by Sparta, grew weary
2. War broke out between Sparta (located in the Peloponnesus) and Athens
3. Pericles’ Funeral Oration
a). In honor of those who had died in the war there was a large funeral
b). Pericles gave a famous speech known as the “Funeral Oration”
1). He described democracy and its importance
2). It helped unite Athens and gave them courage to fight for their rights
under democracy
4. The war
a). Athenians knew they would lose if they fought Sparta in an open field
war
1). All the people moved in behind the city walls.
2). The navy brought in the supplies they needed
i. Sparta did not have a navy so they could not attack the ships
3). This worked until a disease spread throughout the city killing 1/3 of
the people
b). After 25 years Sparta became desperate and made a deal with Persia that
enabled them to build a navy
c). This navy enabled the Spartans to break up the Athenian empire
5. Collapse
a). The war left Greece crushed
b). Sparta would be unable to unite Greece
c). Rebels often rebelled and the Greeks were fighting themselves
d). Eventually Macedonia would take over Greece
Notes III: Persia Attacks the Greeks
VII. Alexander the Great
A. Macedonia Attacks Greece
1. Philip II was king of Macedonia
a). He had lived in Greece as a child
b). He greatly admired the Greeks
2. To defeat the Persian’s Phillip II wanted to unite with Greece to be
stronger
a). He trained his army to fight like the Greeks
b). He took over Greek city-states one at a time
c). Some city-states voluntarily united with Macedonia
3. Greeks saw the danger too late and Macedonia controlled most of
Greece by 338 B.C.
B. Alexander the Great
1. When Philip II died his son, Alexander took over
a). He was only 20
b). As a boy he had gone to battlefront with his father
c). At age 16 he commanded the Macedonian army
2. Alexander’s Conquests (see map p. 176)
a). Battle of Granicus: start of the conquests to take over Asia
Minor
b). Battle of Issus 333 B.C.: Huge victory for Alexander as a large
Persian army was defeated in Asia Minor
c). By 332 B.C. Alexander captured Syria and much of Egypt
1). Built the city of Alexandria in northern Egypt
2). It became an important city of trade and business
d). Battle of Guagamela in 331 b.C. opened up Alexander’s
advance on the remainder of Persia
e). By 326 B.C. he had reached India but he turned home because
they were tired of continuous war
1). He led his troops home
2). Thousands died of thirst as they crossed the desert in Iran
3). Alexander died in 323 B.C. in Babylon
3. Alexander was known as “Alexander the Great” because of his
courage and great leadership
a). He spread Greek and Macedonia culture from Africa to Asia
b). He brought many ideas back to Greece from Asia and Africa
c). His conquests start the Hellenistic Era
1). Means “like the Greeks”
2). Greek ideas and language would spread to SW Asia