Transcript Persian War - Canyon ISD / Overview

Persian War
520-479 B.C.
Leading to the War
 Greeks living in region of Ionia on
Anatolia were taken over by Persian
Empire 520 B.C.
 Ionian Greeks revolt
 Athens sends aid in form of ships &
soldiers
 Darius squashes revolt & vows
revenge
Battle of Marathon
 490 B.C. Darius sends 25,000 men across
Aegean Sea
 Land northwest of Athens on field of
Marathon
 Athenian Phalanx stands waiting
 Outnumbered by the Persian’s (10,000)
 Attack
 Win the Battle of Marathon
 6,400 Persian casualties vs. 192 Athenian
 Pheidippides warns Athens
 Athens wins battle
Persian Wars
Battles of Thermopylae & Salamis
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480 B.C. Xerxes (Darius’ son)
tries to crush the Greeks
Marches down Eastern coast
Greeks were ÷
Persian’s had Greeks fighting
w/ them
7,000 Greeks, including 500
Spartans fight Xerxes @
Battle of Thermopylae
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Narrow mountain pass
Xerxes underestimated
Greeks
Fight for 3 days
Traitor gives secret passage
to defeat Greeks
Spartans hold off while
others flee (no survivors)
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Athens decides to fight @ sea
Lead by Themistocles
Xerxes set fire to Athens &
tried to hem Athenians in the
channel
Persian fleet could not
maneuver
Greek ships rammed ships
losing 1/3 of his ships
Spartans defeat Persians on
final battlefield of Plataea
(479 B.C.)
Consequences
 Athens b/c’s leader of Greeks
 Alliance of 140 city-states called
Delian League
 Drive Persians out
 Athens enters its brief golden age