The Persian War

Detail of Persian Campaigns

Difference Between Persia, Greece

Persians• Absolute monarchy,

centered on Persian “King of Kings”

• Empire of conquered people, fighting b/c their king told them to

• Small educated class• Land power w/ weak navy• Persian king wanted

everyone to be Persian

Greeks • Many different forms of

government• Free people fighting to

stay free• Large educated class• Strong navies, good

armies• Greeks wanted everyone

to think like Greeks

Causes of the First Persian War• Ionian Greeks (living

along coast of Black Sea) were being oppressed by a client king of the Persians

• In 499 BC, Ionian Greeks rebelled against client king and asked for help from mainland Greeks; Athens sent 20 warships to assist them

First Persian War• Persians reasserted control

by 495 BC; Darius decided to punish Athens

• In 492 BC, he sent a large fleet and army across Aegean Sea, landing near Athens

• Persian army approximately 30,000 troops; Athenian army about 9,000

• Outnumbered Greeks met the Persians at the seashore

Battle of Marathon, 490 BC

• Persian camp was on seashore

• Persian warships were beached

• Greeks assembled for battle– Made center of phalanx

purposefully thinner– Massed troops on ends of

lines

Battle of Marathon, 490 BC

Battle of Marathon, 490 BC• . . . And performed a double envelopment of the Persian army• Most of Persian navy launched without waiting for Persian

soldiers; many drowned or were speared in water

First Persian War Aftermath

• For the first time, all Greeks were unified in face of perceived threat to their way of life, form Greek League

• Son, Xerxes, assumed power, and prepared massive invasion force for return to Greece to avenge father’s loss

vs.

Second Persian War (480-479 BC)

Second Persian War• Xerxes invaded Greece

– Huge army drawn from all over empire, brought together

– Accuracy of troop numbers: Herodutus claimed up to 4 million!!

– Modern estimates, based on supply limitations = 250,000

– Herodutus claimed Persians had a fleet of over 1000 ships, paralleling army

– Crossed Hellespont over bridge of boats

Battle of Thermopylae

• Met Spartans in battle in mountain pass at Thermopylae, in central Greece

• King Leonidas of Sparta led 300 Spartans and 3700 other Greeks in a desperate stand to slow Persian advance

Hollywood’s Leonidas

Greece’s Leonidas

Battle of Thermopylae• For three days, Leonidas held Persians off, killing

thousands of Persians; but a Greek traitor showed Persians a way around the Spartan blockade; they were attacked from rear and destroyed to the man

Fall of Athens and Salamis• Persians marched on

Athens & destroyed the abandoned city

• Xerxes brought fleet up to destroy Athenian navy and kill Athenians who took refuge on island of Salamis

• Battle of Salamis ensued; – Outnumbered Greeks

destroyed Persian navy– Lured Persians into narrow

straits & negated their #s

Salamis

• Following defeat, Xerxes abandoned his army and returned to Persia

Significance of Persian Wars

• Greek victory allowed Golden Age of Greece to occur

• Western philosophy, art & culture came into its own and spread throughout Europe (and eventually to the US)

• Persian victory would have snuffed out idea of democracy

• Persian victory would have changed our world today