1. The Persian Wars Persia vs. Greece

2. How Did the War Start? Greeks start colonizing lands in Anatolia
Later Darius will conquer lands and add them to the Persian Empire
Greeks revolt and Athens sends ships to help
Vows to destroy the Greek nations
490 BCE Darius sends soldiers to Greece
Lands at the city of Marathon – 26.2 mi from Athens
Only Athenian soldiers fought – win battle
Used the phalanx as fighting practice
6400 Persians lost, only 192 Athenians
Pheidippides runs back to warn city of attack
Persians boarded ships to attack the unguarded city of Athens
Pheidippides dies after warning – soldiers make it and defeat the Persian armies

3. The Phalanx Fighting style of Greeks
A line or box of soldiers w/ spear and shield
Incredibly dangerous and effective style

4. Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis
10 years later Persians attack Greece again
Led by Darius’ son – Xerxes and a massive army
Greece deeply divided at this point - easy attack for Xerxes
Battle of Thermopylae
Persians vs Greeks (300 Spartans)
Greeks not willing to work together – Athens’ problem
Traitor shows Persians a secret path to other cities
Spartans stay to slow them, others retreat to protect cities
All 300 Spartans die – Thermopylae a loss for Greeks
Battle of Salamis
Persians make it to Athens – they decide to retreat
Want to make it a naval battle – not a land battle
Athenians defeat Persians with faster ships and sink the entire Persian fleet.
Xerxes and Persian given a devastating loss – but Athens had been destroyed as they planned to do

6. Consequences of the Persian Wars
Two wars in 15 years have huge impacts on Greece
Persians are no longer a threat to Greeks
Greek city-states have a new sense of confidence and freedom
Especially Athenians for the naval defeat
Alliances were created following the wars to provide guaranteed protection
Didn’t want to fight alone in next war
Alliances forced people to go to war if an ally did
Athens creates Delian League first, then Sparta creates the Peloponnesian League to compete
Eventually a huge burst of creativity and progress in Athens thanks to new freedom and money