The

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The Persian Wars
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Much of what we know about the Persian Wars comes
from the writings of the ancient Greek historian
Herodotus, called the father of History.
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The Persians, ancestors of modern Iran, conquered
a huge empire that included the Greek city-state
of Ionia. Though the Persians allowed the
Ionians to govern themselves, the independent
Greeks hated Persian rule, and rebelled in 499
bc. Athens sent ships to help them.
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The Persians soon crushed the rebel cities, but
the Persian ruler Darius I was furious that
Athens had jumped in. He sent a huge invasion
force across the Aegean to destroy Athens for its
interference.
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The Greek foot soldier (infantryman) was called a
hoplite. On his side was a razor sharp short
sword, but his main weapon was a long spear,
sometimes up to 20 feet in length.
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Hoplites fought in a huge, heavily-armed
formation called a phalanx. Rows of men stood
shoulder to shoulder, so that each man was
protected his own shield and the shield of his
comrade. Layers of spears pointed toward the
enemy. They were the tanks of their time.
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The Persian infantrymen were similarly armed,
with shields and spears. They wore much less
armor, and carried lighter wooden shields. Their
purpose was speed over power.
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Among the Persian army was a group of
highly-trained, highly motivated soldiers called
the Immortals. They usually fought with their
faces covered.
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The Persian army landed near Marathon, a plain
north of Athens. As they marched into the plain,
they encountered the much smaller Athenian army.
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The Greeks broke into three divisions, and as the
Persians approached, the center retreated.
Thinking they had them on the run, the Persians
rushed forward. Then the Athenian center stopped
and advanced, the two wings closed on the
Persians, and they were surrounded.
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The Athenians slaughtered the Persians on the
plains of Marathon, and the Persians ran to their
boats and escaped.
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According to legend, an Athenian warrior named
Pheidippides ran 26 miles from Marathon to
Athens. He made it to the city, announced, We
are victorious, and dropped dead.
It probably didnt happen, by the way. Another
story says he ran over 100 miles in 2 days.
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Site of the Battle of Marathon, present.
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Darius died before he could mass another army,
but his son did not forget. His name was Xerxes,
and in 480 bc, he sent a much larger force to
conquer Greece.
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In the face of this huge new threat, Athens was
able to persuade other city-states to join them.
Among them were the tail-kickers of the world,
the mighty Spartans.
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The Persians again landed in northern Greece. A
group of a few hundred Spartan soldiers moved
into the pass of Thermopylae, a narrow path
between sheer cliffs on one side and the sea on
the other.
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Standing shoulder to shoulder, three hundred
Spartans filled the narrow pass. Their leader
was King Leonidas, the great warrior-king. The
Persian army was massive some say there were
150,000 men, some say a million. Standing
between them and the heartland of Greece, in the
little pass of Thermopylae, stood 300 Spartans,
700 Thespians, and 400 Thebans. A Persian
messenger told the Spartans to surrender. He
said, Our archers are so many, our arrows will
block out the sun. The Spartan soldier Dienekes
replied Good. Then we will fight in the shade.
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For three days the Persians attacked the tiny
force, over and over, raining arrows down on the
Greeks. They attacked with the Immortals, they
attacked in the dark.
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Finally, a local resident betrayed the Spartans,
showing the Persians a path behind their army.
Still the Spartans stood until Leonidas was
struck by an arrow in the eye, and his body
pulled away. The Spartans rushed forward to
recover his body and were cut to pieces. Almost
every man was killed.
Leonidas
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Modern-day monument to King Leonidas in Sparta
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References to Thermopylae
Don Juan. Canto iii. Stanza 86. 7 Lord Byron
Earth! render back from out thy breastA
remnant of our Spartan dead!Of the three hundred
grant but three,To make a new Thermopylae!
A. E. Housman from The Oracles The King with
half the East at heel is marched from land of
morningTheir fighters drink the rivers up,
their shafts benight the air,And he that stands
will die for nought, and home there's no
returning.The Spartans on the sea-wet rock sat
down and combed their hair.
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The Persians then marched on to burn Athens, but
found the city abandoned. The citizens had fled
to safety. The Battle of Thermopylae gave the
Athenians time to assemble a fleet of warships.
They lured the Persians into the narrow Strait of
Salamis, and slammed into the Persian ships with
underwater battering rams. On the shore, Xerxes
watched helplessly as his fleet sank.
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The Greek ships were called triremes. They were
powered by three levels of rowers with long oars,
and attacked with their battering rams, or by
sliding along the side of an enemy ship, snapping
the oars off and leaving it helpless.
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The Athenians prospered and grew to dominate
Greece under the leadership of Pericles. They
formed the Delian League, an alliance of 140
city-states.
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The Spartans came to resent Athenian power, and
formed their own alliance, the Peloponnesian
League. In 431 bc warfare broke out. This long,
27 year conflict is called the Peloponnesian War.
Sparta eventually sided with the Persians, and
the two captured Athens. Despite the urging of
their Persian allies, the Spartans refused to
destroy Athens.
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We study the history of the Greek city-states in
detail today for many reasons. The honor,
nobility, bravery, intelligence, and learning of
the ancient Greeks stands as an example to us
still. Also. We should remember that the
principles of democracy that guide our government
were invented by the Athenians.