Section 3 (continued) The Persian Wars

Persia – Cyrus II 559 B.C. – Persian King, Cyrus the Great begins conquest of Mesopotamia

545 B.C. – Persia conquers Ionia

Ionia

539 B.C. – conquers Babylon 538 B.C. – occupies Jerusalem 530 B.C. – Cyrus is killed in battle 521 B.C. – Darius takes throne

Persia under Darius 520 B.C. – commissions a canal to Nile to Red Sea 520 B.C. - Ionians revolt but are suppressed 499 B.C. – Ionians revolt again

Ionian Revolt Against Persia Ionians request help from Greek city-states Athens and Eretria sent a few warships to help After 5 years, Ionians were defeated

Darius was angry with Athens for helping!

Persians Attack “Greece” 490 B.C. – Darius sends 600 ships and a well-equipped army to Greece Persians landed at Plain of Marathon 26 miles NE of Athens

The Battle of Marathon After several days, Persians decide to sail directly to Athens As soon as Persians boarded ships, Greeks ran down hills around Marathon Persians caught off-guard and were defeated

Importance of the Battle of Marathon Gave Greeks a great sense of confidence!

After the Battle of Marathon Silver mines were found near Athens Athenians built triremes (warships with three levels of rowers on each side, one above the other) Athens soon had largest Navy in “Greece”

Hellenic League 481 B.C. - Athens & Sparta (and other city-states- 20) formed Hellenic League Athens was prepared if Persia decided to attack again Athens led Navy Sparta led army

Second Persian War 480 B.C. – Xerxes (Darius’ son) sent 250,000 soldiers and conquered northern Greece Battled Greeks at Thermopylae

Battle of Thermopylae 7,000 Greek soldiers held off Persian Army for three days Allowed enough time for Athens to flee to island of Salamis Greeks withdrew

300 Spartans and 700 other Greeks stayed behind but were betrayed and killed Persians reached Athens, found it deserted, set it on fire Persian fleet was tricked into sailing between the strait between Athens and Salamis

Strait was narrow; only a few ships could pass at a time Large Persian ships could not maneuver in strait 483 Greek ships attacked Greeks defeated Persian fleet

Battle of Plateau Xerxes returned to Asia 479 B.C. Persians attack again at Battle of Plateau Persian general is killed Persian fleet is destroyed