The Persian Wars “If the Persians darken the sun, we’ll be able to fight in the shade.”

Persian War Map  a/Map_Greco-Persian_Wars-en.svg

Persia Empire Under Darius

Ionian Revolt  The area of Ionia is now under the control of the Persians  499 BCE – 493 BCE the Ionians revolt against Persia  Asks for assistance from other Greek cites  Some responded –Athens  Some did not help – Sparta  The revolt collapsed in 493 BCE

Ionian Revolts

Darius Invades Greece  Darius saw the opportunity to invade Greece and punish those who had assisted the Ionians  In 490 BCE he crossed the Aegean Sea to defeat Athens  The Persians landed at Marathon, 26 miles north of Athens

Battle of Marathon

 Phase I: marathon.gif marathon.gif  Phase II: marathon.gif marathon.gif

And the winner is…  Greece!  However, the Persians go back to their ships and sail south to Athens  The Greeks send a messenger to warn Athens  Athens hears the news and prepares for battle  The troops at Marathon beat the Persian ships to Athens and defeat the Persians again

Darius Defeated  The Persians return home and Darius plans for a second invasion  Darius the Great dies in 486 and his son, Xerxes, takes over the invasion plan  Xerxes devotes four years to building an army and a navy to defeat Greece

Meanwhile back in Greece…  Enter Themistocles, an Athenian statesman  483 BCE he convinces the Athenians to build more warships for the navy  Athens also fortifies their harbor with walls

Greek Alliance  In 480, under the fear of another Persian invasion, 30+ Greek city-states form an alliance  At the head of the league were powerhouses Sparta and Athens

Second Persian Invasion  In 480 BCE Xerxes and his troops began their invasion to Greece  While the navy sails across the northern part of the Aegean Sea, the army crosses the Hellespont on a pontoon bridge

Battle at Thermopylae  Greeks make at stand at Thermopylae, a very narrow location where they could battle the large forces of Persia  300 Spartans and 5,000 other Greek men vs. the Persian army  Persia defeated the Greeks by using a small path to flank the Greek forces

Battle of Thermopylae

Meanwhile at sea…  The Greek navy is defending the Straits of Artemisium  They battled for three days!  On the third day, after heavy losses on both sides, the Greeks heard of the fall at Thermopylae and drew back since they were no longer needed to protect the men at Thermopylae 

Xerxes crosses Greece  After the win at Thermopylae, Xerxes is quickly conquering Greek land  The biggest obstacle that is preventing the fall of Greece is the Greek navy  He decided to end the Greek resistance with a major battle at sea…  The Greeks too, knew that the fate of Greece rested in the hands of the navy

The Battle at Salamis  The Greeks lured the Persian fleet into the bay at Salamis  There the large Persian navy became trapped and disorganized in the small bay  The Greek navy quickly attacked and captured over 200 Persian ships

Xerxes Defeated (kinda)  Xerxes tries to stay and build a causeway to the city of Salamis but abandons the task  Fearing the Greeks will sail to the Hellespont and destroy the pontoon bridges he returns home to Persia

The Persians Remain  Some of the Persian army and fleet remain and attempt to regain parts of Greece  Battle occur at Plataea and Mycale leading to further Persian defeat  The battle of Plataea marked the end of the Persian army and navy  The Greeks were victorious and free…for now