The Greek Success Over Persia The Persian Wars were fought from 492 to 449 B.C. The most intensive fighting occurred during two invasions when Persia attacked mainland Greece between 490 and 479 B.C. The Persian Empire was at its most powerful, but in truth the combined Greek defense against Persia overcame impossible odds (Encyclopedia Britannica). With this in mind, we must examine the events that led up to and took place during the Persian wars in order to understand how the Greek city-states defeated the powerful Persian army. Prior to 522 B.C., King Cyrus II and Cambyses II expanded Persia from the Indus River to the Mediterranean Sea. The Persian expansion eventually grew to include small Greek city-states in the Aegean Sea, the …show more content…
Persian troops traveled across the Aegean Sea and landed in Naxos. They destroyed Naxos for its resistance in 499 B.C. and then went on to destroy Eretria. Athens hated the idea of tyranny being reinstated and were determined not to submit to the Persian forces. Instead the Athenians confronted the Persian at Marathon. Athens requested help from Sparta, but Sparta could not march until their religious observation was over. The only troops to aid Athens came from Plataea. The Persian troops were enormous in number compared to the Athenian and Plataean contingent. The Athenian commanders felt a tremendous pressure to succeed because they feared the imbalance in forces might convince the assembly to surrender or the oligarchic sympathizers to make a deal with Darius. The Greek commanders, led by Miltiades, decided to change their strategy. They thinned out their center line of soldiers and put more men on the outer sides. The plan was to minimize the amount of time their soldiers would be exposed to the Persian archers. They sent their hoplites in a run at the Persian troops. Once in a hand to hand combat, the heavily armed Athenians would be on equal ground with the …show more content…
The Greeks overcame their opponents a result of their longer weapons (a steel tipped spear) and superior armor. They donned leather breastplates covered with bronze, skirts of leather strips, thick belts, and bronze helmets that covered their cheeks and nose. Along with the spear, they carried a short sword and a bronze shield. The Persians relied on the bow and arrow. Most of their soldiers wore no armor and for close combat they had daggers or short spears. The men placed at the sides of the Greek line closed in on the Persians and they were able to turn inward to take over the Persian center. The Greeks drove the Persians back into a swamp where they could not flee and killed them one by one. The Greeks quickly headed to Athens to guard the city against the Persians. Subsequently, the Persian sailed home
The Persian invasions of 470 – 479BC saw the Battle of Thermopylae, The Battle of Artemisium, The Battle of Salamis, The Battle of Plataea and The Battle of Mycale. These battles also saw the contributions of many key individuals, which lead to the victory of the Greeks in the ends as well as the rise of the Greek navy.
In early fifth century BC Greece, the Greeks consistently suffered from the threat of being conquered by the Persian Empire. Between the years 500-479 BC, the Greeks and the Persians fought two wars. Although the Persian power vastly surpassed the Greeks, the Greeks unexpectedly triumphed. In this Goliath versus David scenario, the Greeks as the underdog, defeated the Persians due to their heroic action, divine support, and Greek unity. The threat of the Persian Empire's expansion into Greece and the imminent possibility that they would lose their freedom and become subservient to the Persians, so horrified the Greeks that they united together and risked their lives in order to preserve the one thing they all shared in common, their "Greekness".
Xerxes was a man of power. The Great King of Persia, his empire encompassed the majority of the known world. On his invasion of Greece in the spring of 480BCE, he reportedly commanded a horde of over two million men. Even the Greek oracle at Delphi encouraged prudence in face of such an overwhelming force (7.140). Thus the question arises of why such an army failed to compel Greece into submission. I will explore this with focus on the key battles and the important factors, most notably the timing of the attack, the quality of his expeditionary force and Xerxes’ personal faults.
Xerxes and his army landed on the Greek shores of Thermopylae sometime in the summer of 480 BC. The Persian army numbered somewhere around 100,000 to 150,000 soldiers from across the Persian Empire, most of which were slaves forced to join after they had been conquered (Robinson). Their plan was to march into the heart of Greece through the Thermopylae pass, the only path through the mountains. It was here that King Leonidas thought he had the best chance to stop the Persian advance into Greece. The pass was a narrow path between the mountains, which the massive Persian force would be funneled into and have to face the Greeks one-on-one.
In 480 BC the Persian Empire was once again trying to invade ancient Greece. Under the reign of King Xerxes, an invincible army of a recorded 2 million was marching downwards to enslave all Greeks. An elite force of three hundred Spartans tackled the suicide mission of stalling the Persian wave of doom.
There are times in history that something will happen and it will defy all logic. It was one of those times when a few Greek city/states joined together and defeated the invasion force of the massive Persian Empire. The Greeks were able to win the Greco-Persian War because of their naval victories over the Persians, a few key strategic victories on land, as well as the cause for which they were fighting. The naval victories were the most important contribution to the overall success against the Persians. The Persian fleet was protecting the land forces from being outflanked and after they were defeated the longer had that protection. While the Greeks had very few overall victories in battle they did have some strategic victories. The Battle of Thermopylae is an example of a strategic success for the Greeks. The morale of the Persian army was extremely affected by the stout resistance put up by King Leonidas and his fellow Spartans. The Greeks fought so hard against overwhelming odds because of what they were fighting for. They were fighting for their country and their freedom. They fought so hard because they did not want to let down the man next to them in the formation. Several things contributed to the Greeks success against the Persian invasion that happened during the Second Greco-Persian War.
While Persian financial support undeniably contributed to the Spartan’s victory over Athens in the Peloponnesian War, modern historians have over-emphasized the importance of that assistance to their eventual victory. Persian money allowed the Peloponnesian forces to stay in the fight, which had quickly dissolved into a war of attrition after the Athenian’s defeat at Syracuse. However, there were several negative aspects of the Persian/Peloponnesian alliance which detrimentally affected Sparta’s ability to effectively wage war against Athens. Included in this was the tendency for Persian Satraps to withhold pay and reinforcements, or to provide that pay irregularly. Additionally, Persia’s insistence that Sparta recognize their control over all Ionian cities prior to any treaty being completed led
Compare and Contrast the Persian War and the Peloponnesian War? Focus on answering the following questions: What led to the beginning of each war? Who were the major parties involved on either side of each of the conflict? At the conclusion of each war, who was victorious? Most importantly, how were the parties involved impacted immediately after each conflict? Why is each war important in the development of Ancient Greek history?
Greece and Persia are two of the four great empires that rose to the top rapidly. Both empires have well organized political systems that greatly influenced the way later governments were structured in the United States and Europe. Greece and Persia empire’s structures weighed greatly on their development and growth, but the diverse topographies of Greece and Persia also made a vast impact. These features affected the cultures and even how the political government changed overtime.
The Persian war brought massive change to the people of both Sparta and Athens. The Persians were great conquerors who crushed rebel cities with ease. King Darius sent a large force to punish Athens with its interference. The Persian army landed at Marathon where Athenian forces attacked. Though they were outnumbered 2 to 1 they emerged victorious. Athens had convinced Sparta and other city-states to join them in their battles.
The Battle of Thermopylae began in 480 BC and was a product of the Greeks attempt help defend the Ionians from the Persians. This irritated the Persian Emperor, Xerxes, because he thought of Greece as a small kingdom that had no place revolting against the Persian Empire. The Athenians sympathized with the Ionians because the Persians had also tried to invade Greece on multiple occasions. The Athenians provided feeble help to the Ionians and in retaliation the Persians struck at athens (23B). Xerxes was known to be irrational with his temper, and may have thought of his invasion as retaliation for the fact that his father, Darius the Great, was defeated at the Battle of Marathon against the Greeks. His temper was so great that at Hellas Point he had the water whipped because it would not obey him (E49). One of several Greek war leaders in the Battle of Thermopylae was Leonidas, the second born son of King Anaxandridas. It was not until his half brother was killed under controversial circumstances that Leonidas rose to power (G72). Apart from misconceptions spread by the popular film “300,” the three hundred Spartans did not go into battle alone, and were accompanied by over eight hundred allies. Nevertheless, the Persians still outnumbered the Greeks ten to one, which is why it is incredible that the Greeks were able to hold them for three days before eventually losing that specific battle. Despite losing the battle in terms of soldiers and defending greece, the battle of thermopylae was somewhat successful in that it was a demonstration of the courage of greek soldiers, impressive battle tactics,
The Battle of Salamis is said to be one of the most important battles in all of history. It was a naval battle fought between the massive Persian army and smaller Greek army in the Bay of Salamis in 480 BCE. This battle was one of the many battles that were a part of the Greco-Persian war. This paper will explore the events leading up to the battle, the battle itself, including advantages and disadvantages both sides had on one and other, and finally will discuss the affects the result of this battle had on each side. Surprisingly, the much smaller Greek army defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis. How did this happen, one may ask? Although the Persians appeared to have the military advantage in this battle, particularly in terms of sheer size and numbers, the Greeks successfully defeated them with the help of their leaders, tactics, and many Persian blunders.
In the years following the Persian Wars in 479 B.C., Athens had come out on top being the most dominantly powerful of any Greek city with a navy that had superior strength that increased day by day. The Athenians “ruled with heavy-handed, even brutal force as well as with reason” (Kagan 2). This was due largely to the fact that Athens had a stable and effective government, which only increased their advantage in proving themselv...
I am here today to talk to you about the Persian Empire. One of the reasons I chose this topic is that I am Persian myself. Another reason for me choosing this topic is that there is a large Persian community in Lower Mainland.
Beginning in 492 B.C., a series of wars erupted, appropriately entitled the Persian Wars, which lasted around thirteen years. Because of the constant battles between the Persians, led by Xerxes, and Greece, both civilization started growing weaker and weaker. When the wars ended, the Greeks were successful at defeating the Persians. However, being in a weakened state caused the Greek city- states (mainly Athens against Sparta) to fight amongst themselves in order to have more influence over the rest of the city-states. This type of war was termed the Peloponnesian War and continued from 431B.C. to 404 B.C. (History of Greece:The Golden Age of Greece) and