Persia Attacks the
Greeks
and
The Age of Pericles
Mr. Roe
6th Grade
Social Studies
Review
-You learned that tyrants seized power from the
nobles with the help of wealthy merchants and
artisans
-You also learned that Sparta created a powerful
military society while Athens created a powerful
democracy and both of them fought eachother in
the Peloponnesian war
K-W-L Chart
• Begin by filling out the “K” section of your K-W-L chart for
this section.
BIG IDEA (s)
• The Persian Empire united a wide area under a
single government.
• Both Sparta and Athens played roles in defeating
the Persians.
• Under Pericles, Athens became very powerful and
more democratic.
• Athenian men and women had very different roles.
• Sparta and Athens went to war for control of
Greece.
Content Vocabulary
• Direct Democracy
• Representative Democracy
• Philosopher
Places
Delos
Persia
Marathon
Thermopylae
Salami
Plataea
People
Pericles
Aspasia
Cyrus the Great
Darius
Xerxes
Themistocles
After This Section, You Will Be Able To:
-Discuss the history of the Persian people
-Explain how Cyrus united Persia
-Describe the organization of the Persian
government
-Explain how under Pericles, Athens became
powerful
-Explain the difference between direct and
representative democracy
-Discuss the roles of Athenian men and women
-Describe the events of the Peloponnesian war
The Persian Empire
Under Cyrus the Great, the Persians built an empire
larger than any yet seen in the world! (559 to 530 B.C.). It
was about the same size as the USA is today!
Rise of the Persian Empire
*Cyrus treated captured subjects “well”
-Remember, her allowed captive Jews in Babylon to return home
PARTNER CHECK:
By treating his enemies better than previous rulers, do you think it
helped keep the Persian Empire together better? Why or Why not?
* Most of Cyrus’s subjects were
nomads. Why might nomads make
good warriors?
Persian Government
•
•
1)
2)
3)
4)
Persian government was large and difficult to manage
Darius needed to reorganize it
HOW?
Divided empire into 20 provinces called satrapies
Each was ruled by an official called a satrap
Satraps had to answer to the Persian king
Government paid people to be full-time soldiers. Unlike
Greece, whose citizens became soldiers in wartime.
Take a moment, and create an outline that represents the
organization of the Persian Government
Note: Satrap means “protector of the kingdom”
King Darius
• King himself had 10,000 men as his personal guards.
They were called the immortals, because when one died,
they were immediately replaced!
Zoroastrianism
Zoroaster claimed to see visions as a young
man
He believed in one god
Thought that good would eventually triumph
over evil
Ancient Persians practiced Zoroastrianism
Partner Check
Have you ever had to set aside your
differences with somebody you didn’t agree
with in order to achieve a common goal?
Explain
Persians began to worry that the Greek colonies were
starting to interfere with the Persian Empire. So, Persia
decides to invade Greece.
Persian Wars (499-479 B.C.)
•
Sparta and Athens had to stop fighting each other in
order to face the Persian invasion
A. Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.)
1. Persian navy lands 20,000 soldiers at Marathon
2. Athenians had 10,000, but defeated Persians p.355
3. Athenians sent a runner to Athens with the news
THIS is how we got the marathon race! The runner,
Pheidippides ran 25 miles from Marathon to Athens,
and died from exhaustion in Athens.
Persians Strike Again
*Xerxes became king after Darius’s death
-wanted revenge for the loss at marathon
• 7,000 Greeks held off the Persian army in a narrow
mountain passage near Thermopylae
• Themistocles took Athenian navy to cut off Persian
supply ships in the sea
• Greeks were betrayed by another Greek who showed
the Persians a passage through the mountains
• King Leonidas and his Spartans fought the Persians
while they saved time for the other Greek armies to get
to safety
HENCE, the movie 300!
CAUSE/EFFECT
They say because the Spartans fought to the death against
the Persians, the Athenians were able to gather enough
ships to destroy the Persian navy!
Greeks attacked Persian fleet in straight of Salamis
Yet, the Persian army marched to Athens and burnt the city
to the ground. (cause/effect: how do you think the Greeks
responded to this?)
Persian Empire Declines
*Greeks weakened and defeated
Persian army (Battle of Plataea)
*Empire became too big and too hard
to manage
*Taxed subjects to much=led to revolts
*This would set the stage for
Alexander the Great to invade Persia
Athenian Empire
*Formed something called the Delian League
-Group formed of Greeks to defend
members against Persians and continue
to drive Persians out of Greece
-Athens gained control of league, and
turned it into an Athenian empire!!
Direct vs. Representative Democracy
•Athens had a direct democracy (every citizen can vote
during a mass meeting)
•The United States has a representative democracy
(citizens choose a small group of people to vote on their
behalf)
In what situations would one type of democracy be “better”
than another?
Look at the chart on pg. 360 and compare Athenian and
American democracy
Agora
Pericles (Elected 461-429 B.C.)
*Rebuild much of Athens after the war
*Paid officials and encouraged all men of different social rank to run
for office
*Demanded loyalty and tribute from other Greek city-states under
Athenian control
*Encouraged creativity and the arts in Athens (and Philosophy!!!!)
*Pericles referred to Athens as “the school of Greece”
Turn to Page 361
• Read the biography about Pericles
• Decide whether or not you agree that the Age of
Pericles was Athens Golden Age
• Do you agree with the BIG IDEA that “Under
Pericles, Athens became very powerful and more
democratic.”
Why or why not?
Daily Life in Athens
*Athens had the largest population of any Greek city-state
Men
Usually worked in the day, and drank and met together in the
evening to discuss philosophy
Women
-home and family, married at 14 or 15
-Could leave the house only with a male relative
-Could not own property/attend school
*Some women, like Aspasia, were well educated and became
important leaders for people like Pericles to look to for advice
Peloponnesian War (431 B.C.-404 B.C.)
* Sparta’s allies (other Greeks) wanted Sparta to fight
against Athens
* Athens had become very powerful, and was threatening
nearby Greek city-states and making them pay tribute
*Many people dies, and one winter, Pericles gave the
Funeral oration to remind people what it meant to live in
a democracy and have citizenship
-Turn to page 366 and read the excerpt
Athens is Defeated
•Athens navy allowed it to withstand the Spartans
•Then, a deadly disease killed 1 of every 3 people in
Athens, including Pericles
•Spartans made a deal with the Persians!!!!!! Persians
gave the Spartans money so the Spartans could built a
navy. Athens eventually surrendered.
•Spartans and their allies tore down Athens’ walls and
broke apart the Athenian empire.
Effect of the Sparta/Athens War
•Many people died, and it costs Greece in both manpower and
resources
•Sparta created an empire after, but Thebes fought Sparta for
control and won
•Persians would fight against Greece again
•All in all, Greece became very weak while the Macedonians to
their north became very strong. Guess what happens.
Summary
*Democracy and culture in Athens flourished under Pericles
*Athens and Sparta fought each other in the Peloponnesian
War and this led to the weakening of ALL of Greece
*Athenian men and women had very different roles
*The Persian Empire united its lands under a single
government
*Persia attacked Greece but were defeated by Athens and
Sparta
K-W-L Chart
Please take this time to
complete your KWL chart for
this section!
Culminating Project
• Pg. 333 Foldable Project