Download In 499BC, the Athenians helped cities under

The War with Persia
• As the Athenians expanded,
they came into conflict with
the Persian Empire.
– In 499BC, the Athenians
helped cities under Persian
control revolt.
– These revolts fail, but the
Persian king, Darius, vowed
revenge.
• Seeking payback, Persians
landed outside of the city of
Marathon in 490BC.
– Outnumbered Athenian army
defeats the Persians.
• Pheidippides, ran the 26 miles
from Marathon to Athens to
deliver the news that the
Athenians had won.
Athens prepares for more…
• Athenian leader
Themistocles believed
Persia would attack
again.
– Athens built the largest
navy in Greece, with 200
triremes!
• Darius died four years
later (486BC), and
Xerxes, the new
Persian king, vowed
revenge and planned
to invade Greece
again.
The Persian War Part II
• In 480BC the Persians
invade Greece and head
towards Athens.
– 150,000 men, 700 naval
ships, and hundreds of
supply ships.
• Athenians and
Spartans put aside
their differences and
join forces.
– In both of their best
interests.
• At Thermopylae, 9,000
Greeks (including 300
Spartans) fight to hold
off the Persian army.
– Spartans are ultimately
defeated.
“Go tell the Spartans, thou who passest by,
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.”
The Persian War Part II
• The Athenians
evacuate Athens
and retreat to
island of Salamis.
– Persians sack
and burn
Athens.
• In early 479BC
the united Greek
army defeats the
Persians at the
Battle of Salamis.
The Delian League
• After defeating Persia, Athens
and Sparta form alliances to
protect themselves from
another Persian attack.
• Delian League
– Athens and its
allies.
• Peloponnesian
League
– Sparta and its allies.
Athenian Imperialism
• Over time, Athens
began to abuse the
other city-states in the
Delian league…
– Pericles used Delian
League money for
Athenian building
projects.
• Parthenon
– Athens sacked and
burned smaller citystates that attempted to
withdraw.
• Forced them to pay
“tribute.”
– Claimed that the
“Persian threat is always
near…”
Peloponnesian War - Beginning
• In 431 B.C., Corinth and
Megara are being threatened
by Athens to join the Delian
League.
– Members of the
Peloponnesian League
• Sparta sends a message to
Athens to “back down, or
else…”
• Remember:
– Athens = Strong
navy.
– Sparta = Strong
army.
What would you
do?
The exciting conclusion…
• The Athenians, led by
Pericles, decide to stay
within the walls of their
city and rely on their
navy.
– The Spartans surround
the city.
• Two years go by…
– A plague breaks out in
the overly crowded city.
• 1/3 die, including Pericles.
• War lasts for another
25 years.
– Finally, Athens
surrenders when its navy
is destroyed in 405BC.