Athens and Sparta Athens and Sparta The Persian

Athens and Sparta

Athens and Sparta The Persian Invade • Persian Empire was extending its control through the middle east around 500 BC • They attacked Greek City-States in Ionia (Asia Minor) • The Ionian Greeks asked the mainland Greeks for help • The help didn’t work and the Ionians were conquered by the Persians • Persians then invaded Greece with a huge army • King Darius wanted to punish Athens for helping the Ionians revolt against the Persians • They intended to conquer all city-states • Athens and Sparta and other city-states joined together and formed an alliance to defend their land • The Athenian army of Hoplite soldiers defeated the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE even though they were outnumbered 20, 000 vs. 10, 000 • The Persians left Greece defeated

Athens and Sparta

The phalanx formation was a block of soldiers of many rows wide and deep carrying 21 foot spears.

The Athenian Hoplite The Hoplite was a citizen soldier who paid for his own armor and weapons

Athens and Sparta The Persian Wars • In 480 BCE the Persians invaded again led by Darius’ son King Xerxes • Athens, Sparta, and many other city-states united to fight the Persians • Famous battle of The 300: 300 Spartans fought 5, 000 Persians at the pass at Thermopylae. They held them for 2 days before all being killed • Athens built triremes, huge ships, to fight the Persians • At the Battle of Salamis, the Persian navy was destroyed • Xerxes left Greece in defeat in 479 BCE never to return

Athens and Sparta

Athens and Sparta Conflict and the Athenian Army • After the Persian War, City-states formed the Delian League to protect themselves from invaders. Sparta did not join • Athens became the most powerful city-state. They controlled the sea, trade, and silver mining • Athens prospered from the alliance, due to tributes paid to them, but other city-states did not Sparta and Athens at War • Athens used the Delian League to become rich and powerful • Pericles was the leader of Athens: He built palaces, temples like the Parthenon, roads and walls. • Pericles often used money from the Delian League to improve Athens • Sparta and other city-states formed the Peloponnesian League to protect themselves from Athens • In 431 BC, the Peloponnesian War began ( Athens vs. Sparta ) • Athens had powerful navy, Sparta had a powerful army • Sparta could not be attacked by sea. • Sparta invaded Athens. The war lasted 27 years • Plague killed 1/3 of Athens’ population • Sparta won the war and Athens never recovered • But, the war weakened Sparta too, and they were eventually conquered as well