What are two causes of the Persian War?

Answer 1

The Persians expanded their empire to what they thought was a defensible frontier in the west - the Mediterranean Sea coastline. However the coast was dotted with hundreds of Greek city-states, who resented this dominance.

Those cities were colonies of cities in the Greek mainland, and these mother-cities supported sporadic uprisings by the cities in Asia Minor against Persian rule. When Athens and Eretria supported an uprising by Miletus, they went too far by burning the Persian provincial capital of Sardis. Persia sent a punitive expedition against the two cities, which was turned back at Marathon 490 BCE.

Realising there would always be this trouble, Persia decided to subdue mainland Greece, and so establish an ethnic frontier. They invaded in 480 BCE but failed. Athens orgainsed a defensive anti-Persian league, so sporadic clashes continued. This concluded in 449 BCE with a treaty under which the Persians agreed to stay out of Greek waters. The Greek cities then went back to their usual fighting amongst themselves.

Answer 2

The Persians appointed a Greek tyrant to rule each of the Greek city-states within their empire. One tyrant facing punishment by the persians stirred up the other cities to revolt against Persian rule, which was put down, but it spread t oother cities in thw Greek world.

Answer 3

The Greek city-states within the Persian Empire in Asia Minor revolted, and the mainland Greek city-states of Eretria and Athens intervened. After putting the revolution down, Persia decided to punish the two cities and bring them under control of tyrants to stop further interference into its empire.

This intervention was defeated at Marathon, so Persia decided to bring all of mainland Greece under its control to put an end to unrest. This resulted in continuing war for fifty years, until Persia gave up and left the Greek world to its ongoing internal fighting.

Athens opportunistically converted the anti-Persian league it headed into an empire of its own and this polarised the Greek world, leading to the 27-year Peloponnesian War which devastated the Greek world from Sicily to Asia Minor.

Answer 4

The Greek city-states of Asia Minor within the Persian Empire revolted. The Persians put the revolt down, and as mainland Greek city-states had supported the revolt, Persia decided to incorporate them into its empire to keep them quiet.

Answer 5

The Greek Ionian city-states revolted against Persian rule.

When Persia was putting down the revolt Eretria and Athens intervened to help them, bring attempted punitive action against them.

The conflict spread throughout the Greek world.

Answer 6

Persia tried to impose peace on the Greek city-states, first by persuasion and bribery, then by military force.

Answer 7

There were three Persian Wars in the 20th & 21st centuries: 1. Iran-Iraq War 1980-1988 2. Operation Desert Storm Jan/Feb '91 3. Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003-