Transcript Persian_Peloponnesian Wars_Golden Age

Persian and Peloponnesian Wars
SOL WHI.5d
 Why were wars with Persia important to the
development of Greek culture?
 Why was the Peloponnesian War important to the
spread of Greek culture.
 The Persian Empire was an autocratic empire ruled by
a hereditary king.
 In 490 B.C.E. the Persian Empire reached from India to
Macedonia, a region just north of Greece.
 The Persians exacted taxes and tribute from conquered
people but usually let them rule themselves and
practice their native religions.
 The first Persian Greek War started because Athens
supported Greek cities in modern day Turkey when
they revolted against the Persians. The revolt was
called the Ionian Revolt.
 The Ionian Revolt lasted from 498 - 493 B.C.E. when
the Greek cities surrendered to Persia.
 The ruler of Persia, Darius, decided to punish the
Greek cities in Greece because they had supported the
Ionians.
 The army of Darius invaded Greece by sea in 490
B.C.E. and landed 25 miles from Athens at the Plain of
Marathon.
 Run of Pheidippides
 The Greeks were heavily outnumbered but they
attacked the Persian force and won.
 The Greeks lost less then 200 men. The Persians lost
over 6,000 men.
 The average Greek soldier, called a hoplite, was well
trained and wore heavy armor and carried a large
shield.
 Before Darius could send another army against Greece
he died. His son, Xerxes, attacked Greece again in 480
B.C.E.
 Xerxes invaded Greece by land and sea with a massive
army and fleet.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuihHUFEqPM
 The Oracle at Delphi said that Greece would be safe
behind a “wooden wall”
 Themistocles’s interpretation: Trireme
 Xerxes army was blocked at a narrow pass called
Thermopylae by 300 Spartan soldiers.
 All of the Spartans died but they delayed the Persian
army.
 The Persians burned Athens but were later defeated at
sea and on the land.
 The sea battle was at Salamis. The land battle at
Plataea in 479 B.C.E.
1.
2.
Greeks remained independent and continued to
develop unique political institutions that influenced
western civilization.
Athens and Sparta united to defeat Persians and
continued to liberate Greek city states in the Aegean
and Ionia from Persian rule.
 At the end of the second Persian War the Greeks
controlled the Aegean.
 Athens formed the Delian League. A group of Greek
city states that contributed money or ships to fight the
Persians.
 The Delian League became the Athenian Empire.
 Time to progress and growth
 Pericles led the Athenians through the Golden Age
 Why do you think Athens was considered the city-
state with “the Golden Age”
 What did they just accomplish that gave them power?
 Expanded Democracy
 Most adult males had an equal voice
 The Parthenon was built during this time
 Temple in Athens for the goddess Athena
 One of the greatest architectural achievements of
Ancient Greece
 Still standing (in ruins) today!
 http://www.history.com/topics/peloponnesian-
war/videos#the-peloponnesian-war
 In 431 B.C.E. the Peloponnesian War started between
Athens and Sparta.
 The war lasted until 404 B.C.E. with the surrender of
Athens.
 The war weakened both Sparta and Athens and led to
the decline of the Greek city states.
 Competition between Sparta and Athens caused the
Peloponnesian War.
 Athens controlled the Delian League and Sparta
controlled the Peloponnesian League.
 Both cities feared the power of the other and this fear
and distrust was a primary cause of the war.
Sparta
Athens
1. Land power
1. Naval power
2. Oligarchy
2. Democracy
3. Economy based 3. Economy based
on agriculture
on agriculture
and trade
4. Little money
4. Reserves of gold
and silver
 Alcibiades
 Tried to take over the island of Sicily
 Arrested for “defacing statues”
 Angry at the Athenians
 Helped the Spartans
 The Peloponnesian War was the end of the golden age
of Athens.
 Slowed down cultural advance
 Weakened political power
 Marks the fall of Athens all together
 Begins the fall of Greece (Rome takes over in 146BC)
 Many Athenians died in a plague during the first few
years of the war including Pericles, the man who had
been instrumental in building the Parthenon and
expanding Athenian power.