Transcript The Persian Wars 2016

The Persian Wars
Maps and Pictures
Cyrus conquers Lydia
Persian Rule
• How did the Persians rule
the cities?
– They appointed local
aristocrats as tyrants under the
supervision of the Persian
satraps.
• When was the Ionian revolt
and what was the result?
– 499-494 BC
– The Persians squashed the
revolt.
The Empire of Darius (490 BC)
Persian Empire 490 B.C.
Darius invades Greece
• Why did King Darius I attack Athens?
– To punish it for sending a [small] fleet to assist the
Ionian rebels.
• What was the result of his invasion (what, where,
when, by whom)?
– He was defeated at Marathon in 490 BC by the
Athenian hoplites under Miltiades.
• What was Sparta’s role in the Ionian revolt and the
battle of Marathon?
– None.
Persian War Events
Miltiades
Athenian victor at Marathon
Map of Marathon (490 B.C.)
Greek Hoplite
The Greek Phalanx
Persian Warrior
Dariac
The Plain of Marathon Today
The Battle of Marathon
Burial Mound at Marathon
Xerxes Invades Greece
• How and when did Xerxes respond to his father’s
defeat?
– He attacked Greece in 480 BC.
• Why did he take this action?
– He believed it was necessary to subjugate the free Greeks
of the Greek mainland in order to secure his control over
western Asia Minor.
• How did his invasion route differ from Darius’ route?
– Darius’ army sailed directly across the Aegean Sea while
Xerxes led his army along the coast with the fleet sailing
along side it to provision it.
Xerxes’ Invasion Route
Xerxes
Xerxes’ Canal at Athos
Thermopylae
• What happened at Thermopylae and when?
– In 480 BC the Spartan king Leonidas sacrificed
himself and 300 of his men to delay the Persians.
Though they were all killed, their valiant effort
inspired the Greeks.
• What happened to Athens after Thermopylae?
– The Athenians evacuated their city and took
refuge on the island of Salamis. Xerxes destroyed
Athens.
King Leonidas
(Spartan king at Thermopylae)
The Battle of Thermopylae
Thermopylae Today
Thermopylae – the Anopaea
Persian Arrowheads from Thermopylae
The Spartans’ Last Stand
Plaque Memorializing the
Spartan’s Last Stand at Thermopylae
‘Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,
that here, obedient to their laws, we lie.’
- Poet Simonides (c. 556-469 BC)
Themistocles
Athenian victor at Salamis
• What was Themistocles’
advice and how was his plan
funded?
– He advised the Athenians to
build a large navy with the silver
discovered at Laurium in
southern Attica.
• What happened at Salamis?
– The Athenians and their allies
defeated the Persian fleet in the
bay of Salamis.
The Battle of Salamis
Greek Trireme
Air View of Salamis Today
Pausanius
Spartan victor at Plataea
• What happened at Plataea
and when?
– In 479 BC the Greeks, under
Spartan leadership, defeated
the Persian army.
• What subsequent actions
did Athens take after the
defeat of the Persians?
– The Athenian fleet liberated
the Greek cities along the
coast of Asia Minor.
The Battle of Plataea
Plataea Today
The legacy of the Persian wars
• The battles inspired the Greeks for many
years.
• In Europe, they later came to represent the
triumph of free Greek states (western
freedom) over Asia (eastern despotism).
• This saved Greek culture, the source of
Western civilization.
That’s all folks