1. Notes 1 Greece And Persia

2. Persia’s Empire Persian’s built a powerful empire in Southwest Asia. Today is Southwest Iran. A dynasty of kings brought the Persians together into a powerful kingdom in 500s B.C.

3. Creating an Empire 540s B.C., Persian troops brought Mesopotamia, Syria, Judah, and the Greek city-states of the area of Anatolia under Persian rule. King Cyrus the Great built a strong Persian army. Cyrus the Great treated conquered people fairly. Rulers that followed Cyrus would continue to expand the Persian Empire. The Persian Empire at this time was the size of the United States today.

4. Persian Government Darius I who rules Persia from 522-486 B.C. divided the empire into provinces called satrapies. Each satrapy was ruled by a satrap who collected taxes, judged legal cases, and recruited soldiers for the Persian army. Persia maintained a full-time, paid, professional army. Immortals- 10,000 soldiers who were trained to guard the king.

5. Who was Zoroaster? Zoroaster preached a new monotheistic religion. One supreme god. Their deity was called Ahura Mazda, or “Wise Lord”. Because of Zoroastrianism, the Persians began to view their monarchy as a sacred institution or role. Today the religion has about 200,000 followers.

6. How Did the Greeks Win at Marathon? 490 B.c. Darius sent a fleet of 600 ships an army to invade Greece. Athenians had 10,000 troops, Persians 20,000 soldiers. Athenians refused to march forward and fight the Persians. Persians attacked Athens but suffered a terrible defeat. Today Marathon races are named for the famous run and are just over 26 miles.

7. Land and Sea 480 B.C. a new Persian king named Xerxes, invaded Greece with about 200,000 troops. Greek city states banded together to fight the Persians. King Leonidas supplied the most soldiers. Leonidas became aware of Persia's plan to defeat them and quickly dismissed most of the troops remaining with only 300. Spartans fought to their death. Peace between the Greek allies and the Persians did not come until 449 B.C.