1. The Persians lived in the region east of Mesopotamia. Under the leadership of Cyrus the Great, the Persians began a series of conquests in the Fertile Crescent and beyond. E. Napp

2. In his sweep across Asia Minor, Cyrus had conquered Ionia, a Greek colony located along the eastern Aegean coast. E. Napp

3. Although the Persians did not interfere with the Ionian’s culture, they limited the Ionians’ political freedom. E. Napp

4. The Athenians helped the Ionians rebel against the Persians. In 490 B.C., the Persians landed in Attica at Marathon. Surprisingly, the outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. E. Napp

5. In 480 B.V., Xerxes, the son of Darius, tried again to conquer Greece. Once again, the Greeks defeated the Persians. Following the Persian Wars, Athens entered a period of glory and power. E. Napp

6. Athenian architecture, art, philosophy, and dramas still astound people today. E. Napp

7. But while the Athenians joined with other Greek city-states in an alliance called the Delian League during the Persian Wars, after the wars, the Athenians began to use the alliance’s wealth to build an empire. E. Napp

8. Led by Sparta, the other city-states rebelled. From 431 to 404 B.C., Sparta and Athens fought. The Peloponnesian War weakened Greece. E. Napp

9. Eventually, Sparta with help from Persia, defeated Athens. Sparta became the leader of Greece and ended democratic government in Athens. E. Napp

10. While the Greek city-states were destroying themselves, the kingdom of Macedonia was building its power to the north of the Greece. E. Napp