The Persian WarsEast v. West

The Timeline

499 BCEWar Begins 479 BCE

Ionian Revolt Begins

Battle of Marathon

490 BCE

Battle of Thermopylae/ &

Battle of Salamis Strait

480 BCE

Battle of Plataea

War Ends 449 BCE

And in this corner…Who was involved in the Persian War?

&What were their strategies?

Persian Soldiers Greek Soldiers called Hoplites

Persian StrategyGreater numbers tended to overwhelm opposing armies

Greek StrategyHoplites used thephalanx formationto drive opponentsoff field

Greek Warfare

• Naval Warfare• Greek Ships called

Triremes- rowed ship with heavy iron ram on front

• Land Warfare • Used phalanx tactics• Metal shields• Spears and swords (close

range weapons)

Persian Weapons• Leather and wood

shields

• Short Swords• Depended on large

number of archers• Had larger navy than

Athens

The Persian Wars

#1 Event Ionian Revolt:(499 BCEHow did the Persian Wars Start?

• Cyrus the Great conquered the

• Greek city-state, Ionia in 547 BCE.

• The Greeks had moved there after the collapse of Mycenae and the beginning of the Greek Dark Ages

• The Ionians revolted against the Persian Tyrants with the support of their Athenian Greek countryman with ships and troops, but lost.

#1 Event Ionian Revolt:(499 BCE• Greeks burns Sardis to the ground. (Persian)

• Persia comes back, burns city of Miletus to the ground. (Greek)

• Darius the Great vowed to punish Athens for their support of the revolt. Darius decided that all the city-states in Greece posed a threat to his empire, so he decided to conquer all of Greece.

#2 Event: Battle of Marathon (Greek Victory) 490 BCE

• Darius decides to invade the Greek mainland and take it over.

• Sends messengers to ask for surrender

• Greeks- according to legend throw messengers into a pit

• The first invasion of Greece by the Persian Empire ended with this battle.

• The city of Marathon was successfully defended against the Persian invasion.

• Marathon was made famous by Pheidippides’ 25 mile run to Athens to alert the city of the victory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkYjE22GP2Y

Battle of Marathon (Greek Victory) 490 BCE

• Sparta is having a religious festival and can’t help until tomorrow

• Athenians meet them with their allies- led by General Militades

• Sweep around the Persians, surround them and defeat them

• Greeks form an Alliance to protect against further Persian aggression

Battle of Marathon (Greek Victory) 490 BCE

This battle took place during the second Persian invasion of Greece.

Who led the Spartan and Athenian Armies?

King Leonidas of Sparta

Athenian General Themistocles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1LBMBo2ZPg

Darius has diedXerxes, his son decides that the time has come to try to invade again

#3 Event: Battle of Thermopylae/ Artemisium (Persian Victory) 480 BCE

• The Greeks use their alliance• Athens and Sparta lead army and fleet to fight

• Sparta makes a stand at Thermopylae (land)• Athens makes stand at (navy) the Straits of

Artemisium

Battle of Thermopylae/Artemisium (Persian Victory) 480 BCE

• Small passage between mountains- makes it hard for Archers to shoot, hard for troops in come in large numbers- Xerxes loses his biggest advantage

• A traitor shows the way around• About 1300 men (300 were Spartans) fought

to the death to stop the Persians army of 100,000-300,000

• Athens voted to abandon the city• Xerxes burns Athens to the ground

http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/war/story/sto_set.html

#4 Event: Battle of Salamis (Greek Victory) 480 BCE

• Athenian navy commander-Themistocles thought of way to defeat the larger Persian navy.

• Used similar tactics to Spartans- Salamis strait was a small channel between two areas of land.

• Themistocles told Persians that he wanted to switch sides.

• Persians came to join Themistocles

• The other Greeks acted like they were retreating, but suddenly attacked and rammed 300 ships down.

• The Persians retreated

Battle of Salamis (Greek Victory) 480 BCE• Once again outnumbered General Themistocles leads Greece to a victory at sea.• According to Herodotus, the Persian fleet initially numbered 1,207 triremes• The Greek fleet numbered 366 triremes• Significance of the battle: it marked the turning point of the war.

#5 Event: Battle of Plataea (Greek Victory) 479 BCE

• Xerxes retreats back to Asia Minor

• Bridges at Hellespont have been destroyed-weather is not a fan of Xerxes

• Leaves an army to attack in the Spring

• Greeks have to decide whether or not to continue their alliance

What Happened?• Greeks continue their

alliance• Xerxes attacks in the

Spring.• 80,000 allied Greek soldiers

defeat the Persian Army.

#5 Event: Battle of Plataea (Greek Victory) 479 BCE

http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/war/home_set.html

Outcome of the Persian Wars

• Alliances were formed to continue protection from Persian threat

• Delian League (Athens)• Peloponnesian League (Sparta)

https://www.google.com/search?q=boxing+ring&safe=strict&espv=2&biw=1093&bih=510&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjkq6uro_TQAhXEIpAKHXAkC8AQ_AUIBigB

https://www.google.com/search?q=pheidippides&safe=strict&espv=2&biw=1093&bih=510&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiekaWYtPTQAhVIIpAKHdxoB4MQ_AUIBigB&dpr=1.25#imgrc=_

https://www.google.com/search?q=themistocles&safe=strict&espv=2&biw=1093&bih=510&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiM88CByPTQAhWBjJAKHQ3DDrYQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=3aSmJGr_BG0UEM%3A

https://www.google.com/search?q=battle+of+salamis&safe=active&espv=2&biw=1093&bih=510&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjV7rTEvffQAhXnJsAKHUD5CcwQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=LBRwssnJLHG4HM%3A

http://slideplayer.com/slide/228183/

http://search.myway.com/search/AJimage.jhtml?n=782b92a4&p2=%5EY6%5Exdm003%5ES17547%5Eus&pg=AJimage&pn=1&ptb=156D124D-AE9F-4BA6-AC5A-20D5736FDED5&qs=&searchfor=phalanx&si=CKrC--vL99ACFdOPswodr18M7g&ss=sub&st=tab&tpr=sbt&trs=wtt

https://www.google.com/search?q=xerxes&safe=active&espv=2&biw=1093&bih=510&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiZocDP-v3QAhXHLyYKHfvhCcIQ_AUIBigB#safe=active&t

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/309411436880869952/

http://www.ancientgreekbattles.net/Pages/47948_Plataea_III.htm