The Persian War ..... Greece vs. Persia
The Persian Empire, at the time, was one of the largest and most powerful developing civilizations. It reigned from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus River Valley. During this time, Greek was tiny and only covered the southern tip of the Greek peninsula. The Greeks had built towns on the Turkish coast that were under Persian rule. The resulted in the anger of the Greek colonists. Athens began to send these towns weapons and other supplies. The Persians realized what was going on and figured they could easily take over Greece. The Persians had the "How hard could it be?" mentally. What they did not know was how powerful the Athenian navy and Spartan military was. These incredible warriors were highly trained and prepared for wars to come, considering the Spartan city-state was military based. The Persians penetrated Greece three times and fought three battles- the Battle of Marathon, the Battle of Thermopylae, and the Battle of Salamis. Each time the Persians came in confidently and sure and each and every time the Greeks managed to drive them away. Xerxes, the Persian King was furious with the outcomes of the first two battles. For the final battle, the Battle of Salamis, he sent an enormous number of ships to Greece. He was not looking for a victory he was looking for the total destruction of Greece. Xerxes, a greedy and overconfident man had slaves carry a golden throne from Persia all the way to a hillside in Greece so that he could watch the defeat and casualties of this battle. To Xerxes' surprise, the Greeks were not defeated. The Athenian ships were smaller and were more capable to weaving and maneuvering through the large Persians ships. This gave the Greeks the opportunity to throw burning wood overboard on the Persian ships, burning their boats to ashes. If any Persians were lucky enough to reach the sea, the Spartan's were on their feet waiting to kill as the enemy came ashore. Xerxes realized his army's reality and rapidly and cowardly fled from Greece, leaving his people behind to suffer and die. In the end, the Greeks came out on top. From that point on, there was always the threat of another Persian attack. In response to this fear, the Delian League was created so that if war were to come again, Greece would have the funds, resources, and soldiers to be prepared for any attack.
Causes of the Persian War
The Battles of the Persian War |
Effects of the Persian War
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The Battle of Marathon |
The Battle of Thermopylae |
The Battle of Salamis |