PERSIA ATTACKS THE GREEKS
CHAPTER 7, SECTION 3
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
• Cyrus the Great began ruling Persia in 559 B.C.
• The Persian empire grew large.
• The armies took over Northern Mesopotamia, Asia
Minor, Syria, Canaan and the Phoenician cities.
• Also under Cyrus’ rule, Egypt, Western India,
and Thrace were added to the Persian Empire.
• ***Royal Road- miles of roads to connect
Persians vast landholdings. It stretched from Asia
Minor to Susa, the Persian capital.
PERSIAN GOVERNMENT
• King Darius came to the throne in 521 B.C. and reorganized
the government.
• The empire was divided into 20 provinces called satrapies.
Each was ruled by an official called a satrap.
• Satraps acted as tax collector, judge, chief of police and head
recruiter for the Persian Army.
• In Persia, the government paid people to be fulltime soldiers.
• There were 10,000 specially trained soldiers
called the Immortals who protected the king.
• When a member died, he
was immediately replaced.
THE PERSIAN RELIGION
• The Persian religion was called Zoroastrianism.
• Zoroaster, the founder of the religion, believed in one
god, the creator of all things.
• He taught that humans had the freedom to choose
between right and wrong, and that goodness would
triumph in the end.
THE PERSIAN WARS
• Persia took control of some of the Greek cities in Asia
Minor.
• The Greeks tried to rebel, but failed.
• Because of this attempt at rebellion, King Darius
decided the mainland Greeks must be stopped from
interfering with the expansion of the Persian Empire.
BATTLE OF MARATHON
• In 490 B.C. 20,000 Persian soldiers landed on the plain of
Marathon, close to Athens.
• Athenians only had 10,000 soldiers and Persians had 20,000.
• Athenians out-smarted the Persians by attacking when the
strongest part of the army had already boarded the ships.
• They easily defeated the Persian foot soldiers standing in the
water.
• The Athenian sent a messenger named
Pheidippides back to Athens to spread the
news of victory.
• He ran nearly 25 miles. Modern marathon
races are named after this famous run.
The Battle of Thermopylae
• Xerxes, son of Darius, vowed to have revenge on the Athenians
so he sent 180,000 troops and thousands of warships.
• Sparta and Athens joined forces…Sparta provided soldiers and
King Leonidas served as commander. Athens provided the navy,
or fleet of ships.
• Themistocles, an Athenian general, planned to attack the
Persians’ ships and cut off food supply, but they needed time
to build their ships.
• To hold off the Persians, the Greeks blocked them at a narrow
pass in the mountains called Thermopylae.
• They held off the Persians for two days.
• A Greek traitor told the Persians how to get around the
mountain pass.
• The Greeks were defeated, but they held off the Persians long
enough to assemble 200 ships.
Persian Wars
(The plan of Themistocles)
– 1. Attack Persian ships and cut off food supply
– 2. Blocked the path at Thermopylae (narrow
mountain pass)
– 3. Greeks attacked and lost battle
– 4. Greeks beat the Persians at the Battle of
Salamis (Greek fleet against Persian fleet)
– 5. Most of the Persian fleet was destroyed
– 6. Persians burned the city of Athens
– 7. Greeks fought back at the Battle of Plataea
and forced the Persians back to Asia Minor
Fall of the Persians
• A. Greeks defeated Persians, weakening
the empire
• B. Persian kings became wealthy by
raising the taxes which angered the
people. This caused many rebellions.
• C. By 330 B.C. the last Persian king was
dead and Alexander the Great took over
the Persian land