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The Persian Empire and Wars
Calvin Shaw
January 4, 2016
I. Introduction
A. Dynasty Review (remember the Dynastic Cycle that Heather and Priscilla talked about)
familial rule
one group in one place
cultural similarities
rise and fall from within (once they lose the mandate of heaven)
B. Empire Definition: A major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of
territories or peoples under a single sovereign (supreme) authority. (Merriam-Webster
Dictionary)
cover a wide range of cultures, people and places (rather than one group in one place)
multiple cultures and religions
fall due to inside and outside factors
C. “Arc of Empire” (today we will use the Persian Empire as a case study for this pattern that
happens in many/most empires. it will be interesting to see where we are in the US, in the arc of
our empire)
1. Starts with a visionary leader. This leader is powerful, charismatic, and smart.
Sometimes they are adored by the people.
2. There is peace and prosperity. Economic growth, surplus of food and resources.
3. Eventually, though, there is a decline in prosperity. (for various reasons)
4. fall of empire/death or overthrow of leader (this can come from outside or internal)
Once the leader is gone, it creates a power vacuum. Who will take over? This can be a major
point of contention. Sometimes this happens smoothly, sometimes violently.
5. a new visionary leader
II. The Persian Empire: how did each of the Persian rulers contribute to the rise and fall of the
empire?
A. Cyrus the Great (why do some leaders get called “the great”?) 558-530 BCE
Founder of the Persian Empire
Expanded the empire through tolerance. (a leader should be able to expand and
keep the majority of the people happy. This may be what makes a leader great.) Often the
leaders who end up ruling for the longest have brains and brawn. They can make the people
happy, but if they can’t, they can also kick their butts through war. But you don’t want to have
to use the military force if you don’t have to. Like Lao Tse says, if you are a good ruler people
don’t even know you are there. He had a wide range of cultures and religions. When you have
this range, the ruler needs to be tolerant.
Freed Jews from Babylonia (538 BCE). He is even mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.
B. Darius I. (reigned 522-486 BCE).
United the Persian Empire. He brought all the people together.
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He used adaption of local laws and practices. In other words, he used the existing
laws and practices of the cultures he took over. This kept the people happy because they were
doing what was familiar.
Established a fair rule under “Satrapy.” This is how he could rule over such a
wide area and maintain power. The satraps were local governors of the conquered provinces.
Satrapy: a system of trusted members of the royal family. Responsibility of Satraps: answer to
the emperor; rule over smaller portions of the empire. Darius employed local leaders to be
satraps. This meant these local leaders were already familiar and popular with the local
population. These satraps were the “eyes and ears” of the emperor.
Darius’ mistake: waging war against Greek city-states! As the Persian empire was expanding
west into Asia Minor. They encountered a group of small, autonomous city states, calling
themselves Hellas.
C. Xerxes (r. 486-465 BCE) He was on the down side. Why:
No cultural or religious tolerance
Brutal military campaigns
Obsession with crushing the Greeks. This was started with Darius’ war against the
Greeks. They had major cultural differences.
III. the Persian Wars
Let’s go back to Darius I. Darius’ mistake was to engage the Greek city-states in war. As the
empire was going west to Asia Minor, they would go over to Ionia (see map on back of handout).
All throughout Ionia (and Greece on the Peloponnesian peninsula) there were a bunch of
autonomous city-states. They were independent with different forms of government. The first
one they encountered was Miletus.
How do we know this happened? One of the ways is to read a historian, Herodotus. He is
known as the “Father of History.” 484-430 BCE, author of The Histories. Different historians
may disagree on what happened. Herodotus is also referred to as “The Father of Lies.” It is
important to see which side a historian is on, as we look at history.
How did the Persian wars start? Herodotus says: Persia continued to expand. Too much
expansion, felt threatened by the Greeks as well. The Greek ideas were threatening – the idea of
autonomy. The Greeks fought to defend their way of life, their autonomy. they refused to be a
part of the empire.
The first encounter was over Miletus. 494 BCE. Miletans wanted to maintain their autonomy.
They asked Athens to help, and Athens sent 20 ships. Athens was a maritime powerhouse, but
Miletus was crushed in 494. The Persians didn’t want to forget the Athenians. Darius had a
trusted servant whisper “remember the Athenians” in his ear every night. The result of this was
The Battle of Marathon, 490 BCE (four years later). Darius sent troops to punish Athens for
the sack of Sardis (498 BCE) and he wanted to expand the empire. Persia had twice as many
men, with cavalry and skilled archers. However, the Athenians had the hoplite phalanx. This is
a row of soldiers with huge shields and long spears. The shields would overlap the shields and
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move as one unit. This would negate the archers’ arrows. The Athenians asked the Spartans for
help. The Athenians and Spartans didn’t get along that well but they united against outside
enemies. The Athenians ended up defeating the Persian army, without any need for Spartan
help. By the time the Spartans showed up (a little late), the Athenians had already defeated the
Persians, so they were like “thanks anyway, guys.”
Lasting legacies: Influence of the Greeks on the western world! If the Persians had crushed the
Greeks, we might not have all the influences from the Greeks that we have! There was a
Renaissance (rebirth) of Greek values 2000 years later! This might not have happened without
the battle of Marathon and the other Persian wars.
B. Battle of Thermopylae (480 BCE). After losing the battle of Marathon, Xerxes decides to go
back to crush Athens, with a lot more people this time. Persia has three times as many men.
Cavalry, archers, ships. The Athenians called upon the Spartans, and King Leonidas, to help
them. Thermopylae was a strategic location – a sea of Persian forces advancing, and
Thermopylae is a very thin pass between mountains and water. The Spartans drew the whole
Persian army into this small pass. In order to fight them, they needed to negate the size of the
Army. The Spartans sent 300 men to assist the Athenians. Some accounts say that there were
more men (up to 1000). The Spartans hold off the Persian army for three days. This gave the
Athenians time to come up with a plan. Persian victory, but it would bring about the Spartan
legend.
C. The Battle of Salamis (480 BCE)
Themistocles, brilliant Athenian naval commander. He went to see an oracle, who told him to
“defeat the Persians by means of a wooden wall.” He interpreted this as the sides of ships, called
triremes. The trireme had three rows of rowers, one on top of the other. This allowed them to go
very swiftly. Just below the water line, there was a giant battering ram, so they could RAM the
Persian ships. The Greeks drew the Persians into the straits of Salamis. They were able to then
just ram the Persian ships, one after the other. Look at the video on Calvin’s teacher page. The
Athenians were once again, through their wisdom and technology, able to defeat the Persians.
IV. Legacies of the Persian wars.
A. The rise of Athens as the hegemon (the leader of the powers in Greece)
B. Rivalry between Athens and Sparta.
C. Flowering of Greek Culture and Philosophy – this means that 2000 years later there can be a
Renaissance of Greek culture and values.
so do I know the answers to these questions?
What are the consequences when two different societies interact with each other?
How was a group of small city-states able to conquer a powerful empire?
How did a short series of events that took place 2500 years ago shape civilizations for years to
come?