Persian Wars
 Series of conflicts between Greek city-states and Persians
Persians
 ________________
o Son - Cambyses II
 ________________
 ________________
Cyrus the Great
 Expanded Persian Empire to Asia Minor
 Greek colonies along Ionia coast
 Cyrus _________________________________________________________________________
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Darius
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Cyrus dies
Calls for more Persian control of Greek colonies
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Darius crushed revolt
Darius wants revenge – __________________________________________________________
First attempt
 492 BC – Darius sends fleet to Greece but it is shipwrecked
Second attempt -- Marathon
 490 BC – Marathon not far from Athens on Attica Peninsula
 Athens asks Sparta for help – doesn’t get it
 Much to the surprise of both the Persians and Greeks – ________________________________
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Runner from Marathon to Athens to report news of the victory = 26 mile marathon
Athens leader, Themistocles, knew this wasn’t the end and ordered a fleet of warships and other
defenses prepared.
486 – Darius dies
480 – Xerxes
 Sends a much larger force by both land and sea, to invade and conquer Greece
 Sparta and other city-states join the fight
 _________________________________________
 Sparta controls land forces
 Athens controls sea forces
Battle of Thermopylae
 Narrow mountain pass north of Athens
 Persian troops need to pass through to get to Athens
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Greek/Spartan troops gather at the pass _______________________________________
Greece betrayed by a local – _________________________________________________
Spartans surrounded
Spartan 300 fight to the last man
o __________________________________________________________________
 Persian army continues on to Athens
o Athens has been evacuated
o Athens is ____________________________________________
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Persians need fleet to bring in supplies
 Athenian fleet lures Persian fleet into the narrow __________________________
o _____________________________________________________________
o Greek ships had underwater battering rams
o Persian fleet is sunk while King Xerxes watches from the shore
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Persian army
o Stuck in Greece
o Short on supplies
o Demoralized
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479 BC
o
o
o
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Persian War is over
o From time to time, Persia continues to meddle in Greek affairs
Northwest of Athens
Athens and Sparta combine forces
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