1. Greece Around 546 B.C., Persian forces attacked and conquered Iona.
Iona was a Greek city
Greece
Persian Empire

2. Ionian Greeks revolted and Athens sent ships filled with soldiers to aid their fellow Greeks.
The Persian King Darius the Great destroyed the rebels and the soldiers sent from Athens
He vowed to crush and conquer Athens as well.

3. In 490 B.C., the Persians launched their attack on Athens
A fleet carrying 25,000 Persians crossed the Aegean Sea and landed in Marathon
Marathon was 26 miles away from Athens

4. When the massive Persian fleet arrived in Marathon, there were 1,000 Athenians waiting for them.
The Athenians arranged their forces into many phalanxes and attacked the Persians.
The Persians had lighter armor
The Persians were not well trained in land combat

5. The Persians lost more than 6,000 men in the battle
The Greeks lost fewer than 200
The Persians fled the battlefield
Though the Athenians won the battle in Marathon, the city of Athens was defenseless
The army leaders sent a young soldier named Pheidippides to run back to Athens and tell the city’s forces
 26 miles
*Why we call it a marathon*

6. When Pheidippides reached Athens he told the news of the Persian forces
He fell dead after he delivered the message
The Athenian forces prepared for the arrival of the Persians
The forces from Marathon raced back to help defend Athens

7. When the Persians arrived to attack Athens, the Athenians were waiting and ready.
The Persians didn’t risk attacking the heavily defended city.
Turned the ships around and retreated

8. Ten years later, King Darius the Greats’ son, Xerxes decided to finish what his father couldn’t  conquer Athens.
Xerxes created an enormous army to invade and conquer Athens
*Remember: Greece was NOT united
Many different city-states
Some Greek city-states joined the Persians

9. There, he was met by a group of three hundred Spartans.
In August, 480 B.C. Xerxes set out to conquer Athens, he had to cross a narrow mountain pass in Greece called Thermopylae.
There, he was met by a group of three hundred Spartans.
Led by King Leonidas I

10. Persian forces had 2.5 million men and the Spartans had only 300 men.
*Remember: The Spartans’ military training*
The Spartans did not retreat

11. The Spartans’ use of the phalanx prolonged the Persian victory.
King Leonidas I and all 300 Spartans met their death.
The Spartans’ sacrifice left a great impression on the other Greek states
Greek Respect

12. During the battle of Thermopylae, an Athenian military leader created a plan to defend Athens from the Persians.
Themicostles convinced the Athenians to flee the city and fight the Persians at sea.
Set up a Greek base on an island near Athens, Salamis
The Battle of Salamis

13. Xerxes took advantage of an empty Athens
Set fire to the city
After burning the city, Xerxes sent Persian ships to block any Greek forces.
The Persian ships were too big for the small Greek waterways.
The Greek ships were built for the small waterways.

14. The tinier Greek ships were equipped with battering rams.
Rammed and put holes in the Persian ships
Xerxes couldn’t do anything but watch the smaller Greek ships destroy the immobile Persian ships.
Xerxes’ massive force had to retreat

15. After the battle of Salamis, several of the Greek city-states formed an alliance.
The Delian League
The headquarters was located on Delos Island
The Delian League successfully pushed the Persian forces out of Greece.

16. The Delian League created a new sense of confidence amongst the Greek city-states.
More than 200 Greek city-states joined the league
Eventually, Athens emerged as the leader of the Delian League
Moved the league’s headquarters to Athens.

17. Athens’ Golden Age
For close to fifty years (477 – 431 B.C.), Athens experienced a growth in intellectual and artistic learning.
This time period is referred to as Athens’ Golden Age

18. During the golden age, drama, sculpture, poetry, philosophy, architecture and science reached new heights in ancient Greece.

19. Greek Drama The Greeks wrote two kinds of dramas Tragedy
A tragedy was a serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war, or betrayal
Featured a main character or a tragic hero
Comedy
A comedy contained scenes filled with slapstick situations and crude humor. Usually ridiculed made fun of politics and other respectable people.

20. From 461 – 429 B.C., a politician named Pericles led the Athenian government.
The Age of Pericles
Pericles had three goals:
Strengthen the Athenian democracy
2. Strengthen the Athenian empire
3. Glorify Athens

21. 1. Stronger Democracy
To strengthen the democracy, Pericles increased the number of public officials.
Made being a public official a paid job
Was an unpaid profession before Pericles
Before only the rich could serve in office, now it was possible for the poorest person to become a public official.
Many voters
Athens became one of the most democratic governments of all time

22. Athens was a direct democracy
*Direct Democracy- A form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives
Direct Democracy spread from Athens to most of the Greek city-states

23. 2. Strengthening the Empire
Pericles realized that the Athenian navy was a big factor in the defeat of the Persians.
He used money from the Delian League’s treasury to strengthen Athens’ navy
Increased overseas trade to increase Athens’ economy

24. 3. Glorifying Athens
Pericles also used money from Delian League to beautify Athens.
Did this without the League’s approval
Hired artists and architects to work allover the city.
Structures made out of
Gold
Ivory
Limestone

25. The Peloponnesian War
As Athens grew in wealth, other city states became dissatisfied.
There was a lot of tension between Athens and Sparta
Athens was the leading city-state of the Delian League
Sparta was the leading city-state of the Peloponnesian League

26. After much disagreement and tension between the two states, Sparta declared war on Athens in 431 B.C.
Athens had a stronger navy
Better on water
Sparta had a stronger army
Better on land
Pericles wanted to avoid battle on land, but Sparta was too far inland to have sea battles.

27. Athens
Sparta

28. The Spartans marched onto the Greek main lands and attacked the surrounding villages outside of Athens
The Spartans burned the countryside
Burned massive amounts of crops
Pericles brought in all of the surrounding citizens into the Athens’ city walls
Safer
Larger food supply

29. Disease struck Athens during the siege.
Massive plague killed one third of the population
Pericles died as well
Athens continued to fight.
In 421 B.C., both sides signed a truce

30. The peace lasted for only six years.
In 415, Athens sent a fleet of 20,000 soldiers to attack Syracuse.
Syracuse was Sparta’s allies on the island of Sicily
Athens’ forces in Sicily were crushed by the Spartans
In 404, Athens surrendered to Sparta.
Athens lost everything that Pericles created
Empire, power, and wealth.