Persian Wars

By the year 800 BC the Greek city-states had bred too many people and sent out their surplus populations to seize territory and establish new city-states around the Mediterranean and Black seas. The Persians, expanding their empire westward, took in the Greek cities in Asia Minor. These cities were conned into revolt by the Greek tyrant of Miletus, and the Persians spent 499-493 BCE putting it down.

The Eritrea and Athenian city-states had sent forces to help their kindred in this war, and Persia sent a punitive expedition to capture them and install friendly local tyrants. This expedition was turned back at Marathon in 490 BCE.

The Persians then decided that the only way to bring peace was to bring all the Greek city-states under control, and launched an invasion of mainland Greece 480-479 BCE. It failed, and sporadic warfare went on until 449 BCE, when the Persians gave up and left the Greeks to go back to fighting each other and tried to ring-fence them to stop it spilling over into their empire.

• the end of the war brought a golden age to Athens.
• Athens decisively defeated the Persians at the Battle of Marathon.
• Persia attacked Greece after Athens supported a rebellion by Greek colonists.

The Persian Empire versus 180 Greek city-states which banded together, led at first by Sparta and then by Athens. The Persian Wars began with a revolt by the Greek city-states in Asia Minor against Persian rule. When the Greek city-states in mainland Greece intervened, Persia attempted to bring them under control too. This went on for 50 years 499 to 449 BCE, until the Persians gave up attempting to impose peace on the Greek cities and left them to return to their incessant wars against each other.

The Persians Empire gave up trying to impose peace on the Greek city-states and left them to return to their usual warfare amongst each other.

Athens opportunistically converted the anti-Persian alliance into an empire of its own, over-reached itself in a war withe the Peloponnesian League and was stripprd of its empire.

No state dominated Greece - the Greek world stretched from the Western Mediterranean to Asia Minor.

There arose competing leagues - the Athenian empire and the Pe;oponnesian League led by Sparta.

Some of the Greek city-stated joined the Persians. The southern Greek states united against the Persians. Doing so stopped them being absorbed into the Persian Empire. For the Athenians, after the initial Persian invasion was repelled, they took over leadership from the Spartans, who were facing internal revolt by their serf population, and when the ongoing Persian Empire attempts were repelled, the Athenians converted the anti-Persian league, which it led, into an empire of its own - half the Greek city-states were effectively subjected to and ripped off by Athens.

Greco-Persian conflict lasted from 499 to 449 BCE. The contact had begun 50 years earlier, and afterwards lasted until Alexander the Great took over the Persian Empire 334-324 BCE.

The Persian provincial capital of Sardis was burnt be an expeditionary force from the cities of Eretria and Athens, both from outside the Persian Empire, but interfering in the revolt by the Ionian League which was in the empire. This caused Persia to move against them in 480 BCE to prevent such external interference.

Peole learn how to fight by being trained in fighting, not by watching wars.

The Persian empire took over Ionia, and tried to force them to pay tribute. They were also forced to serve the Persian army. They wanted to defeat the Persian Empire, but knew they couldn't because they were a small group of people, so they called to Athens for help. But after Athens had an initial success, they left. This left the Ionians alone, and they lost the battle against the Persians. as a punishment for turning against them, the Persians ruined the city of Meletus.

The Athenian army. After defeating the Persian infantry, they realised that the Persian cavalry was being shipped around to Athens to take the city in their absence. All 9,000 warriors with their armour and weapons ran the 26 miles back to the city and got there in time to repel the Persian cavalry.

Not a bad performance for people who subsisted on bread, wore sandals and carried their weapons with them. Today's Marathon runners get it easy.

Don't be caught in by the story of Pheidippides carrying the message. He had run down all the way to Sparta a week earlier to summon them to the battle and died from exhaustion when he got back.

It did greatly, turning the Delian League it had led into an empire of its own.

They lost the Ionian War, then Athens and Plataia repelled a Persian attack 490 BCE, then the southern Greek states combined to defeat a major Persian invasion in a sea battle at Salamis 480 and land battles at Plataia and Mykale 479, and then later at battles at Eurymedon 466 and Cyprus 450 BCE. Persia then agreed to peace terms.

The Persian word for brother is "برادر" (pronounced "baradar"). This term is commonly used in both spoken and written Persian to refer to a male sibling.

A coalition of a couple of dozen Greek city-states opposed the Persians. Sparta held overall command and provided the largest land contingent, and Athens provided the largest naval contingent

The naval contributions came from Aigina, Ambracia, Athens, Ceos, Chalcis, Corinth, Croton, Cynthos, Epidaurus, Eretria, Leucas, Megara, Hermione, Melos, Naxos, Seriphos, Sikyon, Siphnos, Sparta, Styra, Troezen.

The Greek city-states in Asia Minor revolted against Persian rule.

Most of the battles occurred at sea, which minimised the collateral damage to the civil population.

It lasted 50 years, 499-449 BCE.

First Persia suppressed the Ionian Revolt of Greek city-states in Asia Minor. 499-493 BCE

It then tried to punish Athens and Eretria for interfering in that revolt. 490 BCE

When this failed it then tried to bring all of peninsular Greece within its empire to keep the cities from stirring up trouble within the empire. 480-479 BCE.

When this failed it attempted to keep hold of the Greek cities within it empire but failed. 478-449 BCE.

Athens led the western Greek cities against Persia in the later stage of the 50-year war. After Persia agreed to peace, Athens continued to enforce the annual collection of war funds from the 180 cities, and used the money for its own aggrandisment, putting half its citizens on the public payroll, building programmes, and the arts - a golden age paid for by other cities' gold.

Persia tried to impose its reign over the Greek city-states, first by surrender and bribery, then by military force.

Bows and Arrows, Spears, Shields, and Swords

the Persian war

The Persian Empire versus a coalition of Greek city-states led first by Sparta, then Athens.