Transcript Persian Wars - Taylored teaching

Greco- Persian Wars
First Contact
• Following the fall of Mycenaean empire and the start of the Greek Dark age many Greeks left
mainland Greece. Some resettled in Ionia
• Prince Cyrus of Persia led a series of conquests of Ionia. He would complete his conquest of Asia
Minor by roughly 540 B.C.E.
• The Persian empire installed local tyrants to rule over each conquered Ionian city-state, acting as
a sort of military governor.
• The Greeks now knew the Persians as foreigners who had sacked and conquered their brothers
across the Aegean.
Mainland Greece responds to Persia
• In 499 B.C.E the Ionians along with some Athenian and Eritrean forces rebelled against the rule of
the assigned Persian tyrants and even captured and burned one of the Persian ruled cities
• The Persian military pursued and soundly defeated the rebellious forces and under the Persian
emperor Darius I, the Persian empire sought to punish Greece for its support of the rebels.
First Persian Invasion
• Darius I led his forces on an invasion of Greece by sailing from the Southern coast of Ionia and sailed across the Aegean to an area
near Athens called Marathon in 490 B.C.E.
• The Athenian led Greeks had roughly 9,000-10,000 soldiers while the Persians may have had around 60,000-100,000 soldiers
• To beat the Persians on land, the Athenians charged the
Persian forces and used a tactic called double envelopment.
• The Persians are decisively beaten and driven back to Persia.
• This defeat laid the groundwork for the second Persian
Invasion which is led by Darius’ son.
• Darius I would die 4 years after the battle of Marathon
• The Athenians constructed a massive building called the Parthenon to
Celebrate their victory and insult the Persians.
* From the battle of Marathon came the legend of Pheidippides who ran from Athens to Sparta(about 150 miles) asking
for help, then ran back to Athens, marched with the army to Marathon, and then ran from Marathon to Athens (26.2
miles), yelled victory, and then died.
Second Invasion: Revenge
• Under the Persian emperor Xerxes, the Persians assembled a force of roughly 150,000 and 600
ships and moved against Greece
Thermopylae
• The Persians march along the coastline and are held back for 3 days by a Greek force of 70009000 led by 300 Spartans
• The Greeks were betrayed and surrounded by the 3rd day. 1000 Thespians and the 300 Spartans
stayed behind at Thermopylae while the rest of the Greeks retreated. All 1300 died.
Salamis
• The Persian navy sailed South along the entire Aegean coast and attacked the bay area just South
of Athens at a place called Salamis.
• In this bay the Persians navy was trapped and the Athenian led Greek navy of 200 ships
surrounded and decimated the Persians roughly 600 ship fleet.
• After the defeat of the Greeks at Thermopylae, the Persians marched south and stormed the city of
Athens, destroying it almost entirely.
• Despite their victories at Thermopylae and Athens, the Persians had lost their naval support and so
Xerxes returned to Persia with a large part of his army.
• Xerxes left behind a large force of roughly 80,000-100,000 troops to make another effort at defeating
the Greeks. The Greek city-states managed to unite and met the Persians with an army of roughly
30,000 troops.
The other is Sparta
Aftermath
• Athens entered a period known as the Age of Pericles and grew to be one of the two most powerful
states in Greece.
• It was during this age that Athens began experimenting with new forms of thought and organization
such as democracy and Sophism and men such as Socrates made their mark.
• The rivalry between the Spartans and Athenians now intensified because Athens’ increased strength.
Peloponnesian War and The Macedonians
• The tension between Athens and Sparta eventually erupted into war in 431 B.C.E and lasted roughly 25 years in
405 B.C.E
• The two strategies were the Athenians would out last the Spartans by staying behind their city walls and
maintain supplies from its superior navy.
• The Spartans had a far superior army and planned to surround the Athenians and defeat them in open combat.
• After the Athenian fleet is destroyed at the battle of Aegospotami, the Spartans were able to defeat Athens and
win the war less than a year later.
Macedonia
• To the north the Macedonians had been watching and waiting for the right time to strike mainland Greece, and
now Greece was the weakest it had been in centuries.
• Under the leadership of Phillip II and his son Alexander, the Macedonians were able to conquer all of Greece by
338 B.C.E, only 20 years after Phillip II had taken the throne of Macedonia.
• After Phillip died in 336 B.C.E his son Alexander gained the throne and moved to complete his fathers dream,
conquering the Persian empire.
Hellenistic Empire
• Alexander had helped his father in conquering Greece and now that he had the Greek forces in his now large
army, he turned his attention East towards Persia.
• He marched into the Persian Empire with a force of roughly 40,000 and began his attack with Asia Minor, freeing
the Ionian states in 334 B.C.E
• In 331 B.C.E Alexander fought the Battle of Gaugamela near the city of Babylon. As a result of the battle Alexander
now controlled the majority of the Persian empire. He then began to move east and over a 12 year period
Alexander the Great would create an empire from Greece extending as far east as modern day Pakistan and India.
• Alexander died in the city of Babylon after over a decade at war and a combination of wounds from over the years
and malaria he had contracted from a mosquito bite.
Why does Alexander matter?
Alexander was impressive because of how much he did in such a short amount of time. He is
important because of the lasting effect.
• In conquering the Greek and Persian worlds, Alexander brought and spread with him the culture
of the Greek world including mathematics, philosophy, military styles, architecture, and science.
• He created extraordinarily important cities such as Alexandria in Egypt which was said to have
housed the greatest library of the ancient world.
• He united European and Asian peoples through the spreading of culture.