Persian War
- new technology
- during the Dorian age, only the rich could really afford to buy the bronze weaponry and armor
- Iron later replaced bronze and allowed the common man to be able to arm himself and fight battles
- also a new formation was formed in battle called the phalanx
- phalanx-spear in one hand, shield in the other
- Start of the Persian War
- war between Greece(Sparta too) and the Persian Empire
- It first began in Ionia on the coast of Anatolia
- Greeks were settled there but Persians conquered it around 546 BC
- The Ionian Greeks revolted
- Athens sent soldier to help in the revolt
- Darius the Great defeated the revolt and then vowed to destroy Athens
- War continues
- in 490 BC, the Persian fleet of 25,000 men landed in an area called Marathon
- 10,000 Athenian meet them there
- after several hours of fighting
- Persians fled the battlefield
- 6,000 Persian lives were lost
- 200 or less Athenians lives were lost
- Why such a victory?
- the Athenians were using this new fighting formation called the phalanx
- the Persians were not well trained in this type of land fighting
- the Persians also wore very light armor compared to that of the Athenians
- Athenians were fighting on their homeland. Only 26 miles away from Athens.
- Marathon
- even though Athenians had won, they left their city without much of an army
- According to tradition, army leaders would send a runner to alert Athens of the battle.
- Pheidippides was that runner
- he ran 26 miles from Marathon to Athens
- Persians tried to quickly attack Athens after their defeat at Marathon, but the Athenians had already returned, so they fled once again
- Ten Years Later
- Xerxes, Darius the Great's son, had become the successor of the Persian army
- he brought an enormous army with him to complete the job that his father once vowed
- Greek issues
- the Greeks were very divided on how to handle the Persian situations
- some city-states thought that they should fight them and defend their city o Athens
- some city-states thought it wasn't worth it, and they should just allow them to burn it
- some even fought with the Persians against Greece
- the Greeks were very divided on how to handle the Persian situations
- Famous Battle of Thermopylae
- a narrow mountains pass was the setting of this battle
- 7,000 Greeks and 300 Spartans stood in the way of Xerxes and his huge arm on this push to get to Athens
- Xerxes underestimated the Greeks and Spartans, however, they stood up for three days to them
- 300
- a traitor went to Xerxes and informed him of a secret path around the pass
- Fearing defeat, the Spartans fought the Persians so that the Greeks could flee to fight another day
- all 300 were killed including Leonidas
- Lasting Effects of Spartan Sacrifice
- made a great impression on the Greeks
- Allowed the remaining Greeks to retreat and fight the Persians again
- Showed Xerxes what he was up against
- Battle of Salamis
- Greeks abandoned Athens, because they thought that fighting at sea was their best chance
- they were right, Xerxes watched as 1/3 of his fleet was sunk. Truly diminishing his army.
- Lasting effects of Persian War
- the Delian League was created, (An alliance of Greek city-states to continue to push the Persian out of all Greece.)
- Athenians was the head of the league and moved the headquarters to Athens
- this gave the Athenians a lot of power and helped push them into their golden age
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