The%20Persian%20Wars

1
The Persian Wars

• 500 B.C. 479 B.C.

2
The Beginning

• Darius, king of the Persians, came to power and
  continued to extend the Persian Empire across
  Asia Minor. The Persians had already taken
  control of most Greek colonies, and Darius would
  conquer Ionia (i-o'ne-?), a Greek sister state.

3

• Feeling threatened, the two strongest Greek city
  states, Sparta and Athens, encouraged the Ionians
  to revolt. Darius would eventually crush the
  Ionian revolt in 495 B.C. He would then turn his
  attention to the Greek mainland to seek revenge
  on Athens and Sparta.

4
The Battle of Marathon

• Darius sent a great army, with an estimated size
  of 20,000 soldiers, over the sea to the Bay of
  Marathon, intending to land there, march to
  Athens and then on to Sparta.
• Miltiades (mil-tahy-uh-deez), the Athenian
  general, marched an army of 10,000 men out of
  Athens, hoping to delay the Persians until
  reinforcements were sent from Sparta.

5

• Professional runner, Pheidippides
  (fahy-dip-i-deez), ran 250 km in two days to
  Sparta and back to ask the Spartans for their
  support against the Persians.
• The Spartans said they could not help until after
  the next full moon for religious reasons
• Greatly outnumbered, the Athenians took advantage
  of the Persians overconfidence and their
  knowledge of the terrain.

6

• The strategy The Persians put their best troops
  in the centre, the Athenians put their best
  troops on the side.
• The battle The Persians broke through the weak
  Athenian centre but were pushed back on the wings
  by the superior Athenian troops. The Persians
  were surrounded and defeated.

7

• The remaining Persians returned to their ships
  and attempted to reach Athens. Miltiades
  (mil-tahy-uh-deez), however, marched his army
  overland to meet them and the Persians dared not
  come ashore. The Persian invasion thus failed.

8

• Legend has it that Pheidippides (fahy-dip-i-deez)
  ran the 42 km back to Athens to announce their
  great victory and died on the spot. Todays
  marathon is based on this last run by
  Pheidippides.

9
The Battle of Thermopylae(ther-mop-uh-lee)

• There was fear the Persians might return. Under
  Themistocles (thuh-mis-tuh-kleez), the Athenians
  developed a strong navy of 200 triremes (boats).
• In 485 B.C., Xerxes (zurk-seez) succeeded his
  father, Darius, as king of the Persians. He
  vowed revenge on the Greeks.

10

• Xerxes (zurk-seez) sent a huge army and navy to
  attack the Greek mainland once again (180,000
  troops).
• Xerxes army advanced along the Greek coast until
  coming to Themopylae, a fifty foot wide mountain
  pass.
• The strategy The Spartan king, Leonidas
  (lee-on-i-duhs), and 7000 men wanted to hold the
  Persians at the pass.

11

• The battle The Persians attacks were repulsed
  until a traitor showed the Persians a secret
  path. 300 Spartan elders and 1,000 men stayed
  behind to allow the other Greeks time to fall
  back and mount defenses. All died, but 20,000
  Persians were also killed.

12
The Battle of Salamis (sah-lah-mees)

• As the Persians advanced after their victory at
  Thermopylae (ther-mop-uh-lee), Athens was
  evacuated. The Athenians escaped to the island
  of Salamis, off the coast of Athens.
• The Persian army sacked and burned Athens.
• Themistocles (thuh-mis-tuh-kleez) ordered all
  Greek men onto the triremes and set sail into the
  Straits of Salamis.

13

• The strategy The Greeks wanted to lure the
  Persians into the narrow waters of Straits of
  Salamis, which they knew better. Themistocles
  sent his servant with false information to
  Xerxes, claiming the Greeks would attempt to
  escape through the Straits.
• Xerxes, eager for victory, believed the message.

14

• The battle The Persians sailed into the Straits
  of Salamis, and were trapped by the Greeks. The
  Greeks were outnumbered, but swift and deadly
  Athenian triremes defeated the Persian navy.

15
The End

• The remainder of the Persian army was defeated by
  the Spartans at Plataea (pluh-tee-uh) and the
  rest of the Persian fleet was caught beached on
  shores of Asia Minor and destroyed by the Greeks.
  This twenty year battle had ended in an
  astonishing victory for the Greeks and it filled
  them with pride, confidence, and patriotism,
  leading to the Golden Age.