Athens and Sparta
Persian Wars
500 – 448 BCE
the greatest understandable event in human
memory; distinguished the Greek from the
"barbarian" .
The Persian Empire
Cyrus the Great
Darius I: “Remember the Athenians…”
Battle of Marathon
And the Winner is…Athens!
Xerxes: “I’ll be Back!”
To Awe his Opponents: The Pontoon Bridge and Canal through Mt. Athos
The Greek Hoplite Army
Greek vs. Persian
Prophecies of Delphi
• Athens
– “Wooden Walls”
• Sparta
– “Death of a king”
Battle of Thermopylae
and the winner is…Persia!
Burn Athens burn!
Battle of Salamis
And the winner is…the Greeks!
Persian War Aftermath:
Athens and Sparta- “I ain’t your BFF!”
Delian League vs. Peloponnesian League
Meanwhile… Athens achieved its “Golden/Classical Age”
Peloponnesian Wars
“A war to end all wars…”
The 2 Sides: Athens vs. Sparta
Fast Facts…
• Source of information - Thucydides
– “This day will be the beginning of great evils for the Greeks.”
• Greeks called “the war b/w Peloponnesians and Athenians”
• Lasted 27 years
• Fighting ranged across Greek world
• At wars end, “Golden Age” of Greece over
Why did the Peloponnesian war start?
• According to Thucydides…
– “Spartan fear of the growth of Athenian Power”
• Big Idea: War of Opposing Ideologies
“This day will be the beginning of great evils for the
Greeks.”
The War is On!
Sparta attacks Athens
Stage 1: The Age of Pericles
• War strategy:
– Caution
• Major Event:
– Athens overrun with
plague
• End of Stage 1:
– Death of Pericles
Stage 2: Age of Cleon
• War strategy:
– Aggressive
• Major Events:
– Colonization
– Mytilene
• End of Stage 2:
– Death of Cleon
– Peace of Nicias
Stage 3: Age of Alcibiades
• War strategy:
– Aggressive
• Major Events:
– Ended Peace of Nicias
– Punishment of Melos
– Invasion of Sicily
• End of Stage 3 and the
War:
– Spartans launched surprise
attack on Athenian fleet;
starved Athens into
submission
Thucydides
• “For never had so many cities been captured
and destroyed, whether by the barbarians or
by the Greeks who were fighting each
other…Never had so many men been exiled or
slaughtered, whether in the war or because of
civil conflicts.”
The Macedonians
Destroyer of Greek Independence OR
Saviors of Greek Culture?
Macedonia
• North of Mt. Olympus
• Largest & wealthiest
Greek city-state
• Warlike people w/ loyalty
to throne
• “Lovers of things Greek”
– Considered Barbarians by
Greeks
Phillip II
• Father Alex. Great
• United Macedonia lands
• Created new and improved
phalanx
• Conquered Greek
peninsula; dreamed of
defeating Persians
• Big Idea: Alex. Great
nobody, w/o daddy
Alexander the Great
• Arguably one of the
greatest military generals
of all time
• Created vast Empire
– Ionian Sea to Himalaya
Mts.
• Responsible for
preservation and
diffusion of Hellenism