Transcript the Persian Wars

PERSIAN WARS CHALLENGE
1) Who was Cyrus the Great, what did he do, and approximately when did he rule?
King of Persian Empire who took over the Greek colonies in Ionia in about middle of
the 500s (6th Century BCE)
2) What sort of ruler was he
Good – they only had to pay taxes and serve in the Persian army
3) Where & when was the Athenian colony in Asia Minor?
Ionia, at the start of the 5th Century
4) The Greeks in Ionia revolted at the start of the 5th century. What was the cause?
The Greeks in Ionia under Persian rule revolted because of the oppression the new king
5) Why was it so serious for Athens?
Because Athenians sent help to the ionians, and incurred Persian anger
6) Who was the Persian Shah (king) at that time (499)
Darius I (the great – the 4th Shah of Persian empire)
7) Darius set out to punish the Athenians, and teach them a lesson. He crossed to a two
near Athens and a great battle occurred. Where?
Marathon
8) What was the role of Miltiades in the battle of Marathon
He was the commander of the victorious Athenians
9) What was the role of Pheidippides in the battle of Marathon (detail)
He ran to get help from Sparta, then into Athens with the news of victory before dying
10) King Darius was determined to get vengeance against the puny Athens after his defeat,
but died in 5 years. He was succeeded by his son who continued the mission. Who was
he?
Xerxes
11) In 482 BCE Xerses began his invasion of Greece by crossing between 300,000 and a million
troops across the straits separating Europe and Asia. What was it called? And what was
unusual about how they crossed?
The Hellespont. Crossed by tying boats together and planking a bridge
12) The Greek cities were united for the first time to defend against the Persian invasion by
which great Athenian Leader?
Themistocles
13) He had earlier built up the Athenian navy expecting a Persian attack. What were the state
of the art war ships he made 200 of called?
Triremes
14) He also heard the Delphic prophecy that only walls of wood would hold back the
Persians. How was this interpreted?
That the city walls were useless, the ships (wood) would be the defense – so evacuate Athens
to the Persians
15) He also called on Athens’ great rivals to help. Who were they, and who was their king?
The Spartans. King Leonidas
16) A Delphic Prophecy helped determine him to help, as well as self interest “after Athens , us”. What
was the message from Delphi?
Greece will only survive if a son if Heracles is sacrificed – Leonidas descended from Heracles
17) What was Leonides to do?
Led an advanced Greek force to delay the Persian Progress to give Athens time to evacaute.
18) Where was this stand to be made? And what was the outcome? (in Autumn 480BE)
At Thermopylae. They held the Persians briefly, but their courage (the 300) had an overwhelmingly
positive effect on Greek moral
19) The positive effect gave courage to the Greeks to meet and defeat the Persians a few weeks later
after they had sacked & burned Athens. What was this important battle called
Battle of Salamis which destroyed the Persian navy, and drove the Persians out of Greece.
20) What is the most extraordinary thing about Themistocles plan regarding Athens after Thermopylae in
479BC?
Desert it to the Perians and use the Triremes (wooden walls) as defense.
21) How did Themistocles get the Persians to fight at Salamis?
Send a messenger to say the Greeks were in disarray and resistance had crumbled,
22) How did the choice of site of the Battle of Salamis resemble Thermopylae?
The narrow straits reduced the effective of the Persians greater numbers
23) Why is it true to say that Themistocles was responsible for Greek victory over the world’s greatest
empire? (give At least 2 ways)
He persuaded the Athenians to invest silver mines in the building of the navy after Marathon /
persuaded then to evacuate Athens as it wasn’t defendable / planned the winning tactics at Salamis.
24) This destroyed the Persian naval capacity. A Few months later (in summer 479) A final battle sealed
the Persian wars in favour of Greece. What was it called?
Battle of Plataea
25) To whom do we owe this history?
Herodotus