Greece & Persia

 Originally, Persians were an unorganized, nomadic group of people.  Leaders such as Cyrus the Great and Darius I united them and created an empire.

 Cyrus led a revolt against the MEDES, a group of people that ruled the Persians for 150 years.  The revolt was successful and marked the beginning of the Persian Empire.

 Conquered much of Asia Minor, Southwest Asia, some Greek city-states, Mesopotamia and Central Asia  By his death in 529 BC, Cyrus ruled the largest empire the world had ever seen.

 Cyrus let the people he conquered keep their own customs.  Because of this, few people rebelled against his rule.  This increased the strength of Cyrus and the empire—therefore, historians call him CYRUS THE GREAT.

 Strong, well-organized, and loyal  IMMORTALS – 10,000 soldiers chosen for bravery and skill  CAVALRY – units of soldiers on horseback  Cavalry would shoot enemy with arrows before the Immortals attacked, which weakened their enemies.

 After the death of Cyrus’s successor, there was no clear leader of Persia.  DARIUS I claimed the throne by killing his rivals for power.  Once he was securely in place, he worked to restore order, improve Persian society, and expand the empire.

 Darius divided the empire into 20 provinces  He chose governors called SATRAPS  Satraps collected taxes, served as judges, and put down rebellions.  Although powerful within their provinces, satraps still had to answer to Darius.

 ROADS – over 1,700 miles stretching across the empire. Used by messengers and traders.  NEW CAPITAL CITY – Persepolis – reflected the glory of the empire. Filled with art, gold, silver, and precious jewels  NEW RELIGION – Zoroastrianism – forces of good and evil fight for control of the universe, and people must fight for good.

 Conquered into the Indus Valley  Tried to expand into Europe, but had to crush some rebellions within the empire.

 Darius invades Greece nine years after the invasion.  This invasion begins the PERSIAN WARS.  Athenians had only 11,000 soldiers and the Persians had 15,000— but the Greeks won because of better weapons and clever leaders.

 Legend says a messenger ran the distance from Marathon to Athens – 26 miles to deliver the news of the Greek victory. He delivered the news and fell over dead of exhaustion.

 XERXES I invades Sparta in 480 BC  THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE  1,400 Spartan soldiers stood in a mountain pass for three days to hold off the Persians  A Greek traitor showed the Persians a back path.  Surrounded, the Spartans fought to the death.  Persians moved on to Athens and burned the city.

 THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS – Athenian navy led the large Persian navy into a narrow strait. Trapped and unable to turn around, the large Persian ships were easily sunk by the small Athenian ships.  Persian ships that were not sank retreated and headed home. The Greeks had won!

 THE BATTLE OF PLATAEA: The final battle of the Persian Wars where the Greeks defeated the Persians.  For the Persians: Losing the war was humiliating, but didn’t destroy the empire.  For the Greeks: The defeat of the Persians was a major triumph. They saved their homeland.