Compare And Contrast The Persian Wars

The Persian wars were a series of battles between, the strong and unified Persian empire, and the weak unorganized Greek polis. The first war begin with the revolt by the Ionians against their Persian subjugators. The Ionians were, at first, able to capture the capital of sardis, with help of city states of Athens and Eretria. However, this did not last, as without the continued backing from the Athenians and Eretrians, the Ionians were soon completely defeated. Furthermore, The Ruler of Persia, Darius, was not contempt and dispatched his troops against, the upstart poleis of Athens and Eretria. Next followed, a complete destruction of Eretria polis, as Darius' forces enslaved its population and burned the city to the ground.

They then turned their attentions towards Athenia, as they crossed the strait of Attrica towards the plains of Marathon. The Athenians, with the support from Plataea, began to fight back and eventually defeated the mighty Persian force. The Persians did not take this defeat and humiliation kindly, and under the tutelage of Xerxes, Darius' son, began preparing for another battle. He prepared a grand battalion of 600 ships and 150,000 men, and began large scale invasion of mainland Greece.
The Greeks prepared for this with two different strategies, while some polis surrendered, the polis of Athens, Sparta, Corinth, and others formed the Hellenic League. This strong Greek Confederation, although still outnumbered, encountered the persians at Thermopylae. The Greeks used a multi pronged strategy, while small force let by Sparaties fought on land and did so to block the persian's path. Although the land resistance failed, another naval force, led by the athenians were able to exact grand damage on the Persians.
Unfortunately for the Greeks, the prior battles left the city state of Athens unprotected. The Athenians were able to flee, and therefore avoided enslavement and subjection by the Persians. Even Though, the persians were able to torch the city of torch the city of Athens, they still faced
many problems. These problems, worsened by the weather and their own military tactics, left the Persians frantic and unable to face another battle.
The Persians hastily retreated and sailed back home, and left a much smaller elite force behind. This small brigade was met by a unified Greek army, with a favorable terrain, promptly defeated the Persian elites. This marked the end of the Persian onslaught on Greek mainland, as the greek prevailed and defeated the mighty Persian Army. This marked the beginning of the golden age of Greek history, as without the threat of incursion