War in Ancient Greece

The Persian Wars Darius invades Greece – 490 B.C.E. 20,000 Persian soldiers land on Marathon near Athens – Persians out numbered the Athenians, and had archers and a cavalry – Athenians attacked at dawn and won an unexpected victory Xerxes Attacks – 480 B.C.E. Darius’ son (Xerxes) assembles a force of 100,000 soldiers – Led by King Leonidas a small Spartan force attempted to hold off Xerxes but they were unsuccessful

Victory for Athens – The Persians continued to advance on Athens after the defeat of Leonidas – Athens was evacuated – Xerxes send his ships to pursue the Greek navy – But a trap had been set Perisan ships filled in a narrow straight in pursuit of Greek Ships Greek ships were being hidden Once entire Persian navy was in the straight the Greeks began attacking (Battle of Salamis) 200 Persian ships destroyed Persian naval power is broken 40 Greek ships destroyed

Athens Rivals Sparta After defeating the Persians at Salamis Athens enjoyed a “golden age” Athens vs. Sparta – Strongest navy vs. strongest army The Delian League – Formed after the Persian wars between Athens and many other Greek city-states (150 members) – Members promised to protect one another from Persia

The Peloponnesian League – Alliance between Sparta and other city-states on the Peloponnesian Peninsula – 433 B.C.E. Athens placed a ban on trade with Megara (member of Peloponnesian League) This angers Sparta and its allies

The Peloponnesian War 431 B.C.E. Read diary entries from “War Between the City-States” and complete Thinking Map activity on the last page