Transcript The Persian Wars Persia vs. Greece

The Persian Wars
Persia vs. Greece
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 25000 soldiers to Greece
– Lands at the city of Marathon – 26.2 mi from Athens
– Only 10000 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
The Phalanx
• Fighting style of Greeks
– A line or box of soldiers w/ spear and shield
– Incredibly dangerous and effective style
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. 7000 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
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