One thing leads to another THE PERSIAN WARS

One thing leads to another…. THE PERSIAN WARS

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Causes of Persian War? �Ionian Revolt gets Athenians involved in Persian Empire’s affairs � Persia doesn’t forget this � Want Revenge

Persia Turns to Athens �Darius I (king of Persia)- decides to start small in his revenge plan � Sends small fleet, which is able to move easily through the weaker city states in Northern Greece �Persians gain confidence from this send larger fleet �Athenians’ prepare for Persian invasion � Make bold move to abandon Athens and fight at Marathon instead

Battle of Marathon �Greeks are the Underdog- have to rely on good fighting skills, good armor, and good strategy �Outlast the Persians, who lost about 6, 000 men � Athenians lose only about 200 �TURNING POINT After this, Persians need to regroup and come up with new strategy � Go home � Are they done just yet?

Interlude… �After the Persian retreat � Athenians discover several silver mines and decide to use that newfound wealth to boost the strength and size of their navy � Between 489 BCE and 480 BCE Athens expands its fleet to 220 triremes (the latest in warship technology) �What’s a trireme? � Triple decker warship- took about 170 oarsmen � 31 on top level, 27 on middle level, 27 on lower level �https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=PCAV 33 AIb. U 8

Xerxes wants Greece �Darius I, in the middle of plotting revenge, dies �His son, Xerxes, takes over � Xerxes = ambitious wants ALL of Greece �Athenians know they cant defeat Xerxes on their own � Meet up with 31 other Greek city-states, who join in the fight against Persia �Why is this a big deal?

“ 300” �Newly formed Greek Army wants to meet Persians at Thermopylae �Traitor ruins the battle strategy �Spartans decide to fight off the Persians, giving Greek army a chance to retreat

Battle of Salamis �Persians closing in on Athens Athenians evacuate and leave city defenseless �Take to the Seas- this is where the Greeks’ strength is �Corner the Persian fleet, win big �TURNING POINT- tips the scales in the other direction

Effects �Greeks gain a sense of intense confidence- after all, they, the underdogs, had defeated the Mighty Persian Empire! �Athens in particular gets glory � Contribution at Marathon and Salamis �Formation of Delian League- city- states band together � Unified force to protect one another � Alliance system � Worked to recover financial losses � Athens becomes de-facto leader

Effects of Persian Wars �Athens’ gains confidence- they emerge as strongest city-state � Political Explosion= �Desire to strengthen government �Desire to strengthen navy �Becomes unofficial Leader of Delian League � Cultural Explosion= “Glorify” Athens � Cultural and political dominance= GOLDEN AGE

�Since the Athenians and other Greeks could not assume that the Persians would not come back, they decided the best defense was a good offense, and formed an alliance known as the Delian League. � 2. What role did the Persian wars play in undermining the democracy at Athens?