The Battle of Marathon

Darius
~ In 490 BC, he sent troops to Greece where he and his ships
docked at Marathon.
a bay on the eastern side of Attica near
Athens.

Philippides
~ when the Persian soldiers were spotted in the dock by the
Greek side, he was sent to run all the way to Sparta to seek
their help.
o Sparta did not offer any help but the Athenians still won the
battle.
o When the battle is over, they sent Philippides again to Athens
to deliver the good news. died of exhaustion after
delivering the news of the victory
non-stop.
o The word “marathon” today has become synonymous with
long range running races or an uninterrupted and often
strenous activity.
 Battle of Thermophylae
o Ten years after their defeat at Marathon, the Persians
launched another invasion of Greece. It was led by Xerxes,
King Darius’ son.

o The Persians built a bridge made up of boats tied together at

a place called Hellespont on the strait of Dardanelles located
between the Marmara Sea and Aegean Sea.

Thermophylae
- it is where the Greek and Persian soldiers
squared off a second time.
o The outnumbered Spartan soldiers under King Leonidas who
were left to fight at Thermopylae fought to death against the
Persian army.

o A traitor revealed a hidden passage that enabled the Persians

to attack from behind.

o The Persians marched on to Athens which they captured and

burned down.

o The Athenians retreated to the hills. And

the Persians later returned to Asia.
 Battle of Salamis
o After their defeat on land, the Greeks turned to the sea to retaliate
against the Persians by harassing their shipping lanes to parts of their
empire, particularly Egypt.

o The Persians sent an armada of 800 ships against Greece. Facing

them were 400 Greek warships under Themistocles.

o On land, the Spartans defeated the Persian army and the Persians
finally withdrew from Greece.

o The Persian Wars showed that despite the

political and social differences between Athens
and Sparta, they spoke the same language
and believed in the same gods and epics.
 Athenian Empire
o The key to the victory over the Persians was the strength of united
Greek forces. This alliance, however, only lasted before the
Spartans decided to break away.

o They returned to their former colony where there were threats of

an uprising by the helots.

o Delian League  an alliance of city-states of Asia Minor and

Aegean isles; named that way because they met on the island of
Delos and the treasury of the League was also located on this
island; actually an Athenian confederation or
empire.
 Peloponesian War
o Rival Sparta was threatened by the growing power of Athens
and the influence of the Delian League.

o Peloponesian League an alliance of Sparta with other city-

states in Peloponesus

o Sparta attacked the cities near Athens and this

sparked the Peloponesian War.
o Athens under Pericles felt that the Athenians
were no match for the Spartans.

o Following the death of Pericles, Athens was left with no

able leader.

o The Spartans overrun and sacked Athens.

o On the whole, the Peloponesian War exhausted the

economic and military power of Greece.