Conflict in the Mediterranean

King Darius ruled the Persian Empire to the east of Greece in 499 B. C King Darius ruled the Persian Empire to the east of Greece in 499 B.C., when the Ionian Greek colonies in (modern) western Turkey rebelled.  Athens sent ships and supplies to help their fellow Greeks. They burned Sardis, the provincial capital.  Darius wanted revenge, so he sent his army (via water) to land at Marathon, south of Athens. 

In 490 BC, a massive Persian army landed at Marathon, 26 miles north of Athens. The outnumbered Athenians sent a runner to Sparta for aid, but the Spartans denied the request.

Despite overwhelming odds, the Athenians rallied their forces, drove the Persian back into the sea, and were victorious.

Ten years later, the new Persian emperor, Xerxes, invaded Greece with several hundred thousand troops. The Persian troops were known as the “Immortals” because when one died, he was immediately replaced with another. A Greek force of 7000 , led by Spartan King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans, held the Persians at the pass of Thermopylae for two days, before they were all killed.

With the Spartans’ defeat, the Athenians abandoned their city to the Persians and fled to the nearby island of Salamis. The Athenian navy then trapped the Persians in a narrow water channel forcing them to withdraw.

Battle of Thermopylae Video

By defeating the Persians, Athens became the leader of the Greek world and created an empire.

Under Pericles, Athens expanded its empire. This period, called the “Age of Pericles,” was the height of Athenian power.

Age of Pericles 461-429 BC Created a direct democracy Every male citizen could participate in the governing assembly and voted on all major issues, including war and foreign policy Assembly met on hillside of the Acropolis

The Athenians developed “ostracism” to protect themselves from overly ambitious politicians. If 6,000 members of the assembly agreed, any citizen could be banned from Athens for 10 years.

The Great Peloponnesian War Athens became the most powerful city-state and formed a military alliance with many smaller city-states, called the Delian League. The Spartans saw this as a threat, and thus formed a defensive alliance, called the Peloponnesian League.  Inevitably the two "superpowers" fought it out in the Great Peloponnesian War of 431-404BC.

Tensions between the two powers in Greece, Athens and Sparta, led to the Great Peloponnesian War in 431 BC.

Athens planned to win by staying behind its walls and receiving supplies from its colonies and powerful navy. The Spartans surrounded Athens.

Athens fought for another 25 years before its final defeat in 405 BC. In 430 BC, a plague broke out in Athens killing 1/3 of the population. Pericles died the following year Athens fought for another 25 years before its final defeat in 405 BC.

The Peloponnesian War weakened the Greek city-states and ruined cooperation among them. For the next 66 years Sparta, Athens, and Thebes struggled for domination.