The Persian Wars: How The Greeks Won
The Persian Wars: How the Greeks Won
The Persian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between the Greek states and the Persian Empire from 500-449 BC. It started in 500 BC, when a few Greek city-states on the coast of Asia Minor, who were under the control of the Persian Empire, revolted against the despotic rule of the Persian king Darius. Athens and Eretria in Euboea gave aid to these Greek cities but not enough, and they were subdued by the Persians. The Persians became determined to conquer Hellas and make Athens and Eretria pay for helping the Ionian cities. In 492 BC, the first Persian invasion had its fleet crippled by a storm before it could do any damage. King Darius sent another Persian expedition in 490 which destroyed Eretria and then faced the Athenians at the battle of Marathon. The Persian were defeated and forced to return home. Darius died before his preparations for a third invasion were completed, but they were continued by Xerxes I, his son and successor. In 480, Xerxes reached Greece with a tremendous army and navy. The Persian land forces had to pass through the narrow pass of Thermopylae, which was defended by the Spartan Leonidas. His small contingent held back the Persians but were eventually defeated. The Persians continued on to Athens, which had been abandoned, and burned it. The Athenians had fled with their fleet to the island of Salamis where they met up with other Greek forces. Shortly afterward, the Persians followed and were defeated in a sea battle off of Salamis. Xerxes returned to Persian but left a military force in Greece which was defeated in 479 BC at Plataea by a Greek army under the Spartan Pausanias, ending the threat of the Persians once and for all. (1)
These wars were a defining moment in Greek history. The Persian Empire was bigger, richer, and had more manpower, yet the Greeks were able to unite successfully to defeat them. The Greeks did, however, have several advantages which...
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