Transcript The Persian War

The Persian War
Detail of Persian Campaigns
Who were the Persians?
• Centered in modern day Iran, which literally
means “Land of the Aryans”
• At height, the Persian Empire covered the
territory shown above
Rise of Persia: the Achaemenids
• Ruling Dynasty from 700-330 BC
• Controlled a vast empire from 530 BC
forward
Darius I: “King of Kings” (521-486 BC)
• Established Imperial Government
– Divided empire into 20 Satrapies
– Maintained large bureaucracy and spy
network
– “Royal Road” from Persepolis (capital) to
Sardis, in Asia Minor
• Ruled through local “client kings” who paid
homage to Darius as their leader
Causes of the First Persian War
• Ionian Greeks (living
along coast of Black Sea)
were being oppressed by
a client king of the
Persians
• In 499 BC, Ionian Greeks
rebelled against client
state’s rule and asked for
help from mainland
Greeks; Athens sent 20
warships to assist them
First Persian War
• Persians reasserted control
by 495 BC; Darius decided
to punish Athens
• In 492 BC, he sent a large
fleet and army across
Aegean Sea, landing near
Athens
• Persian army approximately
30,000 troops; Athenian
army about 9,000
• Outnumbered Greeks met
the Persians at the
seashore
Battle of Marathon, 490 BC
• Persian camp was on
seashore
• Persian warships were
beached
• Greeks assembled for
battle
– Made center of phalanx
purposefully thinner
– Massed troops on ends of
lines
• Persian preparations
Battle of Marathon, 490 BC
Battle of Marathon, 490 BC
• . . . And performed a double envelopment of the Persian army
• Most of Persian navy launched without waiting for Persian
soldiers; many drowned or were speared in water
First Persian War Aftermath
• Greeks unified in face of
perceived threat to their way
of life, form Greek League
• Persian empire was in
disarray due to loss; Darius
spent next 4 years putting
down revolts, until his death
in 486 BC
• Son, Xerxes, assumed
power, and prepared
massive invasion force for
return to Greece to avenge
father’s loss
Second Persian War (480-479 BC)
Second Persian War
• Xerxes invaded Greece
– 250,000 soldiers from all over
empire (Asia / Africa / SW Asia)
– 1000 ships paralleling army
– Crossed Hellespont over bridge
of boats
Hollywood’s Leonidas
• Met Spartans in battle in
mountain pass at
Thermopylae, in central
Greece
• King Leonidas of Sparta led
300 Spartans and 3700 other
Greeks in desperate stand to
slow Persian advance
Greece’s Leonidas
Battle of Thermopylae
• For three days, Leonidas held Persians off, killing
thousands of Persians; but a Greek traitor showed
Persians a way around the Spartan blockade; they were
attacked from rear and destroyed to the man
Fall of Athens and Salamis
• Persians marched on
Athens, destroyed
abandoned city
• Xerxes brought fleet up to
destroy Athenian navy and
kill Athenians who took
refuge on island of Salamis
• Battle of Salamis ensued;
– Outnumbered Greeks
destroyed Persian navy
– Lured Persians into narrow
straits & negated their #s
Salamis
• Following defeat, Xerxes abandons army and returns to
Persia; army defeated in 478 BC at Battle of Platea
Significance of Persian Wars
• Greek victory allowed Golden Age of
Greece to occur, allowing for Western
philosophy, art, culture to come into its
own and spread throughout Europe, US
• Persian victory would have snuffed out
idea of democracy
• Persian victory would have changed our
world today