The Persian War Cause n n n Persian

The Persian War

Cause n n n Persian Empire included Greek citystates in Ionia (present day Turkey) Greek revolt against the Persians crush the revolt and Darius I wants revenge against the Greeks • Decides to invade Greece

Battle of Marathon n Greeks use the Phalanx • Phalanx designed by Miltiades n n n Greeks outnumbered 12 to 1 Greeks win Phidippides runs 26 miles from battlefield to Athens to announce victory • Phidippides announces victory and then dies • A marathon is named after this run

Greek Hoplite Aspis Hoplite Spear

After Marathon n n Darius I still wants to conquer Greece 482 B. C. – Darius’s son, Xerxes, takes a massive army to Greece to conquer the Greeks • Herodotus, know as the “Father of History” (world’s 1 st great historian), writes the Persians had 1 million men • Xerxes takes these men across the Hellespont by building a massive pontoon bridge

Battle of Thermopylae n n n Xerxes has many more men than the Greeks realize that they cannot fight the Persians King Leonidas of Sparta volunteers himself and 300 Spartans to protect a Greek retreat

Thermopylae n n Thermopylae, means “Hot Gates, ” is a narrow mountain pass that neutralized Persian numbers Xerxes asks Leonidas for surrender • • “Come and Get Them” “So much the better, we fight in the shade”

Thermopylae n n Leonidas fights the Persians in the pass Greeks are betrayed by Ephiliates, a fellow Greek, who shows Xerxes a path around the pass • Xerxes surrounds Leonidas and asks Leonidas for surrender • Leonidas fights till death

After Thermopylae n n Xerxes moves his army towards Athens and sacks Athens Greek generals meet to try and defeat Persians

Battle of Salamis n n n A major naval battle between Greeks and Persians Battle plan designed by Themistocles, an Athenian commander and head of the Greek Navy Themistocles lures Persians into shallow water and runs their ships aground • Greek Triremes stay much shallower in the water

Ship Drafts Draft – How much of the ship is below water Persian ships – deep draft Greek ships – shallow draft

Greek Trireme

Battle of Platea n n n After Salamis, the Greek city-states join forces to form a massive army This Greek army meets the Persians on the field of Platea The Persians are completely destroyed and the war ends

Major Greek Military Advancements and Inventions

Helepolis n Name means “The Taker of Cities” • Invented Demetrius the Conqueror n n A massive siege tower used during the siege of Rhodes 130 ft. high, 65 feet wide • Divided into 9 stories • Each story equipped w/ a catapult

The Ram Tortoise n n n A gigantic, armored battering ram The ram tortoise was pushed by a team of men The ram tortoise was covered to protect men from arrows • Also had a platform on top to allow archers to shoot at opposing defenses

The Death Ray n n n Invented by Archimedes, a Greek mathematician Used to defeat the Roman at Syracuse in 214 B. C. Archimedes used concave mirrors to refract sunlight

The Steam Cannon n Also invented by Archimedes regulates the flow of steam through a series of tubes When the pressure built up, it fired a cannon ball out of the cannon

The Archimedes Screw n Also invented by Archimedes A hallow pipe with a spiral tube n The screw scoops up water as it is turned and carries the water up the spiral n • Once the water reaches the top, it drains from the pipe