The Persian Wars

The Persian Wa rs tric D. Blanco Persia, known as Iran, was the largest empire the world had ever seen by the 5th century B,C. E. The name Iran derlves trom the word “Asyran,” and durlng the first half of the first millennium, the Iranian-speaking people moved gradually Into the area of the Zagros Mountains, the largest groups known as the Medes and Persians. According the author of The Greek and Persian Wars 499-386 3C by Philip de Souza, The Persians were part of a group of ancient peoples who spoke languages similar to modern Iranian (Souza, Pg. 9). The origin of the Persian Empire can be attributed to the leadership ot Cyrus the Great. A brilliant and powerful Persian king. he enlarged nearby Islands and united them Into one empire. Cyrus was able to create a vast empire that would last more than two hundred years. As time went by, the Greek city- states were under the rule of the Persians. The Persian wars began. But what was the Persian war? According to the “Encyclopedia of Ancient History, Greece”, it was a serious of conflicts fought between Greek states and the Persian Empire.

Greece was Invaded twice during the Persian wars. The wars with Greece and Persla were a result due to rebellion, but who won the war? The Persians wanted to conquer more of Greece, then a war broke out, but how did it all began? After the death of King Croesus of Lydia died, Greece was under the rule of the Persian Empire which they much resented. In result to this, they fought to throw out the Persians. The city-state Ionia revolted. Athens and Eritrea supported the Ionians with a token force of twenty ships from Athens, five ships from Eritrea.

The Ionian revolt was successful at first, but after the Greeks sailed home It was rushed. Persian temples had been violated, and whether they did it or not the Athenians and Eritreans were blamed for it. King Darius I of Persia ordered a punitive expedition to these two cities, but a storm smashed his fleet. Another fleet was assembled. and the tlrst Persian war began, Which city-state was saved, and which was destroyed from the fleet of Persia? Before finding the answer of which city-state was saved and destroyed, and victor, let’s look at the important kings, generals during the wars.

Darius l, he was the king of the Persian Empire during the first war. His son Xerxes took the title as king of the Persian Empire at the start ot the second war. Mardonius is a Persian general In both wars. Datls and Artaphernes were generals at the Battle of Marathon, the first war. 1 OF3 Marathon. At the Battle of Thermopylae, the second war, Leonidas, Spartan general, and king fought the Persians with three hundred men. In Thermopylae 480 BC by Nic Fields, Leonidas as the commander-in-chief, held off the Persians to their rear by a mountain track, the Anopaia path (Fields, Pg. ). Themistocles was an Athenian dmiral at the Battle of Salamis. Pausanias was also a Spartan general but at the Battle of Plataea. They are the important people during this time of event. Fought to the death, some survived, but who won the wars? Persians have returned home with a low supply of weapons after the first war, they were defeated by the Greeks at the Battle of Marathon. Persians attacked Athens to teach them a lesson for revolting against the Great Darius l, but the Athenians defeated the Persians. The second invasion returned with the new king, Xerxes.

With a huge army he gathered, they ttacked the Greeks at Thermopylae. That’s when the Spartans came in, with three hundred men under the leadership of Leonidas. The Persians ended up reaching the city of Athens and burned it. The Persians were finally defeated by the Greek Navvy in a bloody sea battle. Fewer than four hundred Greek ships under the Athenian general Themistocles beat twelve hundred Persian ships. Xerxes went home after the defeat. However, he left a large army in Greece. The Spartans and Athenians fought the Persian army. The combined forces were able to beat the Persians.

Looking back at the question, Athens was the city-state that was destroyed and Eritreans survived. The war may have been won by the Greeks, but when did it all started? According to the author of The Greek and Persian Wars 499-386 BC book by Philip de Souza, In 499 the Persians launched a major naval expedition against Naxos, the largest and most prosperous of the Cycladic islands. Herodotus presents this expedition as the result of an appeal by some exiled Naxian aristocrats to Aristagoras, the ruling tyrant of Miletos, to help them force their compatriots to ccept them back and return to power.

Miletos was one of the largest and most important Ionian cities. According to the text, it had enjoyed privileged, semi- independent status in relation to the Lydian kings, which the Persians allowed to continue. The Ionians rebelled, some of the Ionian cities and island had been developing a form of democratic government when they came under Persian influence. Such developments continued in mainland Greece, especially in Athens, but the move to widespread popular participation in government was prematurely halted in Ionia.