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IONIAN REVOLT
WHY?
• Persia took control of all Greek
city-states along coast of Asia
Minor in 547 BC
Where?
Region
known as
Ionia off the
coast of Asia
Minor, east
of Greece
When?
• 499 BCE
What?
• Ionian city-states rebelled against
Persian rule
– Sought aid from mainland Greece
– Put up a fierce resistance to Persians
• Revolt defeated in 494BCE
Who?
• Only Athens
and Eretria
responded to
Ionian plea for
aid
• DARIUS I
Persian
emperor
BATTLE OF MARATHON
Why?
• Darius I determined to
punish Athens and
Eretria for aiding Ionian
rebellion
– Darius sent fleet to
Greece
– goal to conquer both
city-states
– teach Greece a lesson
it would never forget
What?
• Eretria fell to Persians
• Persians enter
Where? plain of
Marathon
and head for Athens
– Athenians debate strategy
• request reinforcements from Sparta
– Athens had won battle
When? 490 BC
Who?
• Darius (Persians) and Miltiades
(Athens)
AFTERMATH OF MARATHON
• Athenians saw victory at Marathon as
vindication of their adoption of democratic
reforms of Cleisthenes
– More democratic reforms followed
• More elected offices opened up to
demos
• Introduction of practice of ostracism
– To check against overly
ambitious men
– To make a clear-cut decision
between conflicting policies
advocated by different individuals
• Athens also embarked on huge naval
construction program
– Financed by silver in Laurium
– Resulted in fleet of 200 ships
BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE:
A NEW ATTACK
BATTLE OF SALAMIS: Where?
• When? August, 480
BC, bad news of
Battle of Thermopylae
• Athens evacuated to
Salamis
• Where? Strait
between Piraeus
and Salamis Island,
an island in the
Saronic Gulf near
Athens.
What?
–Athenians tricked Persians
–Smaller, more maneuverable
Athenian ships led by Who?
Themistocles then destroyed
Persian fleet
•Xerxes withdrew back to Asia
Minor
FINAL VICTORIES: Who?
• Xerxes had 300,000 in
Greece
• Spartan commander
Pausanias in plain below
at Plataea
– Spartans achieved
victory
• Later, Athenian navy
liberated Ionian citystates
• Alliance of Sparta
Athens
PROBLEMS AMONG THE GREEKS
• Sparta should have led an alliance
designed to protect Greece
– But this did not happen
• Because Spartan army could
never be gone from city for long
because of danger of helot
uprising
– Could not therefore provide
long-range military
leadership required
• Persians still raided Asia Minor
– Naval power required to
handle this threat
• Athens therefore became the head of
new Greek alliance
DELIAN LEAGUE
• New alliance known as Delian
League (478-77 BC)
– Sparta created smaller alliance
called Peloponnesian League
• Purpose of Delian League was
offensive and defensive
– Athens dominated decisionmaking process
– Military commanders were all
Athenians
– Athens administered finances
and took 50% of all loot
• Athens dominated the Delian
League from the very start
EXPANSION OF ATHENIAN
DEMOCRACY
• Athenian democracy continued to evolve under reforms of Pericles
– Fundamental motivation was military necessity
• With rise of Athenian naval power, the military importance
of rowers increased
– Generally poor men who did hard physical labor for low
pay under hazardous conditions
– Generally were not citizens
• Began to pressure government for political participation and
rights
• Their demands were ultimately granted and thereby paved
the way for an expansion of democracy in Athens
CIMON vs PERICLES
• Pericles’ most powerful
rival was Cimon
– Successful general and
talented speaker
– Advocated pro-Spartan
foreign policy
• Pericles advocated
opposite policy
– Advocated crippling
Sparta before she would
take inevitable revenge
on Athens
Pericles
Cimon
PERICLES WINS
• Cimon insulted by Spartans when
he arrived to help them put down
revolt by helots
– Pericles used episode to work
up public opinion against
Cimon
• Cimon ultimately
ostracized
• Pericles’ anti-Spartan
orientation became official
Athenian policy
– Athens makes alliance
with Spartan enemies,
Argos and Thessaly
Athenians
Spartans
VS.
Even after the Persian Wars ended, the Persian threat remained.
 Athens persuaded most of the citystates (except Sparta) to ally against the
enemy.
 This alliance became known as the
Delian League b/c the treasury was
made on the island of Delos.
 Athens provided naval and land forces while other city-states
provided money and ships
 Delian League succeeded in freeing Ionia from Persian rule and
sweeping the Aegean free from pirates
Overseas trade expanded, and Greece grew richer.
 Athens gradually began to dominate
other city-states
 Pericles used part of the treasury to
build the Parthenon.
 As Athen’s trade and political
influence grew, some city-states formed
an alliance opposed to Athens
 Sparta, a long-standing Athenian rival, became the leader of
the anti-Athens alliance.
Since Sparta was located in Peloponnesus, the war became
known as the Peloponnesian War.
 Sparta’s fear and jealousy of Athens were so strong that the Spartans
made a deal with the Persians to return Ionia to Persian control.
In exchange, Sparta received gold to build its own fleet
430 B.C. – a plague weakened Athens. More than 1/3 of pop. Die,
including Pericles.
 Eventually, several allies of Athens switched
sides and joined the Spartan-led alliance.
The Spartans destroyed the Athenian fleet and
laid siege to Athens itself
404 B.C. – Athens surrendered.
 Disaster for both the winner and the loser
City-states declined in population
Fields and orchards destroyed
Unemployment led to mercenaries, or hired soldiers, in the Persian army
Greeks lost their ability to govern themselves
Forgot about common good and thought only of money.
 371 B.C. - A new alliance of city-states, led by Thebes overthrew the harsh
incompetent Spartan rulers.
Thebans were also later overthrown.
City-states became weaker than ever.
When Macedonians threatened Greece in the 350’s B.C., the city-states
were unable to resist.
END OF THE GOLDEN AGE
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