Ancient Greece 4-3
Persia Attacks the Greeks
Spartan phalanx
The Persian Empire
Circa 500 B.C.
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Idea: The Persian Empire united a wide area
under a single government
► Persia = today Persia is the area of southwest Iran
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Cyrus the Great (r. 559 BC529 BC) = king of Persia
who united the Persians into
a powerful kingdom and built
one of the world largest
empires
 Conquered northern
Mesopotamia, Asia Minor
(Turkey), Syria, Canaan,
and Phoenician cities
► Remember:
He is the guy
who allowed the Jews to
return to Canaan from
Babylon (ended the
“Cyrus Cylinder” - The cylinder was created in
Babylonian Captivity)
539 BC, when Cyrus overthrew the Babylonian
king. It goes on to describe how Cyrus had
improved the lives of the citizens of Babylonia,
repatriated displaced peoples (Jews) and
restored temples and cult sanctuaries.
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Leaders following Cyrus added even more land to the Persian Empire.
 To connect all their lands = built miles of roads. The Royal Road stretched from
Asia Minor to Susa, the Persian capital.
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Persian continued to grow and therefore became more difficult to control.
Darius = reorganized the Persian gov’t to make it work better.
 Divided the empire into 20 provinces = satrapies
 Satrap = officials who ruled each satrapy (like a governor). Means
“protector of the kingdom”
Kings power depended on his troops/army
 Persia’s military = full-time, paid soldiers.
► Elite soldiers who guarded the king were the “Immortals” (called this
because it one died, they were immediately replaced)
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Persian Religion = Zoroastrianism
 Founder by Zoroaster (b. 660)
 Believe in one God (monotheistic) and the human freedom to choose
btw right and wrong.
 Believed goodness would triumph in the end.
Some historians believe Zoroastrianism predates Judaism as the world first
monotheistic religion.
Still practiced today in central Asian countries and India
Persian War
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Main Idea: Both Sparta and Athens played roles in defeating the Persians
 499 B.C. = Athenian army helped the Greeks in Asia Minor rebel against
their Persian rulers, but failed
► King Darius decided the Greeks needed to be stopped from
interfering.
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The Battles
1) Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.)
 Darius invades the Greek mainland
 20,000 Persians vs. 10,000 Athenians
 Greek messenger, Pheidippidies, is sent to Sparta to get help (140 miles
both ways). The Sparta don’t come on time.
 Athenians charged the Persian foot soldiers while the Persian cavalry
(horsemen) were on the boats
 Athens win!!!
 Athenian send a messenger (Pheidippidies) to run back to Athens to
report the good news. He yells out “NIKE, NIKE” (“victory”) and
collapses dead. This is where we get our modern marathon
“Winged Victory”
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2) Battle of Thermopylae (480 B.C.)
 Persia vs. Sparta and Athens, and other Greeks (fought for 2 days)
► Persians win
► Persian King Xerxes wanted revenge against the Athenians
► Defeat caused by a Greek traitor who directed the Persians to a
mountain path allowing a rear attack
► With Sparta’s valiant/brave stand, Athens had enough time to
assemble 200 ships
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3) Battle of Salamis (480
B.C.) = Persians vs. Greeks
 Greeks win, but Persians
entered Athens and burn
the city!!
 Sea Battle in the Strait of
Salamis. Greeks with
their smaller faster ships
defeat the Persian navy.
►strait = a narrow strip
of water between two
pieces of land. Greek
ships could maneuver
well in tight spaces.
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4) Battle of Plataea (479 B.C.) = Persians vs. Greeks
 Greeks win with largest Greek army ever
 Battle was turning point for the Greeks, pushing the Persians
back into Asia Minor.
By working together, the Greek city-states saved their
homeland
History of the Persian War – book by Herodotus
Fall of the Persian Empire
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Weakened by war
Rulers created high taxes
Royal families fought over who would be king
Sons had little power, so they killed rulers to get power, such was the way with six
of the nine rulers after Darius
By 330 B.C., the last king was dead and Alexander the Great ruled all old Persian
land