The Persian Wars

The Battle of Marathon

Our Plan 5 W’s Who (Who was fighting who?) Where? Why? When? What happened?

The Battle of Marathon Who? The Persian Army vs. Athenian Army King Darius I of Persia

The Battle of Marathon Where? Marshy plains of Marathon outside of Athens

The Battle of Marathon Why? When? The Persians wanted to invade & conquer Greece. When? 490 B.C.

The Battle of Marathon What happened? In 490 B.C.E., the Persian navy sailed down the coast of Greece and landed at the bay of Marathon, about 40 miles north of Athens. The Athenian army, led by General Miltiades, moved to block the Persians' advance and trapped them on the plains around the bay. This led an Athenian victory and was the first major victory for Greece in the Persian Wars.

Pheidippedes The battle is most famous for the myth of Pheidippedes. The story has been told that he ran 40 miles form Marathon to Athens in order to tell the people of the victory. This led to the idea of running marathons today.

The Battle of Marathon Who won? Athens! (The Greeks)

The Battle of Thermopylae

The Battle of Thermopylae Who? Xerxes (Son of Darius) & The Persians King Leonidas & 300 Spartans Where? A mountain pass called Thermopylae or the Hot Gates

The Battle of Thermopylae When? 480 B.C.

The Battle of Thermopylae Why? Xerxes was eager to defeat Greece after their loss at Marathon ten years earlier. When? 480 B.C.

The Battle of Thermopylae What happened? 10,000 Greeks led by Leonidas met the Persians at Thermopylae The Greeks led the Persians into the narrow pass. A Greek traitor showed the Persians an alternate route. Leonidas and 300 Spartans stayed to defend the pass. All of the Spartans and Leonidas were killed.

The Battle of Thermopylae Who Won? The Persians… Xerxes burned Athens to the ground But… The Spartans had held on long enough to allow many others to get to safety.

The Battle of Salamis

The Battle of Salamis: Who? Athenian Admiral Themistocles Persian King Xerxes

The Battle of Salamis Who: Athenian Admiral Themistocles & the Athenian Navy Vs. Xerxes and the Persian Navy

Greek Triremes

The Battle of Salamis Why: Xerxes burned Athens down after his victory at Thermopylae He chased the Athenians Greeks were protecting Greece!

The Battle of Salamis When: 480 B.C. Where: The narrow straights of Salamis west of Athens (Saronic Gulf)

The Battle of Salamis What happened: Themistocles evacuated Athens and knew the Athenians were better at naval warfare Positioned his fleet near the island of Salamis west of Athens Themistocles lured the Persians in The Persians had trouble turning in the narrow channel Greek triremes destroyed over 1/3rd of Xerxes ships Now the Persians were on the defensive, not offensive