Persian & Peloponnesian War

Persian &

Peloponnesian war

Greece v. Persia: Athens v. Sparta

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Persian conflict

Persia (Iran) grew powerful with strong leadership from Cyrus the Great. Persia began conquering neighboring lands including Greek colonies. Even though the Persians were tollerant of their conquered peoples, the Greeks did not want to be controlled. The Ionians, located on the Anatolia Peninsula, rebelled against Persian with the help of Athenian ships. Persia crushed the rebellion but did not forget the support Athens gave to the rebels. His son, Darius, sought revenge.

Battle of Marathon

• 490 BCE Darius (king of Persia) sent 600 ships to attack Athens- blew off course landed at Marathon
• Greeks waited and did not arrive to face the Persians on land, so Persians attacked Athens by sea
• Athenians waited until Persian ships were loaded with soldiers and supplies before attacking
• Persian foot soldiers were standing in water without help from cavalry- Persians were defeated
• According to legend- messenger raced 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to spread news of victory
• thus "Marathon" refers to a race of 26 miles

Click the image to see the full timeline.

This is Sparta!

Ten years later, in 480 BC, the son of Darius I, King Xerxes, decided to get his revenge on the Greeks. He amassed a huge army of over 200,000 soldiers and 1,000 warships. The Greeks put together a small force, led by the Spartan King Leonidas I and 300 Spartans. They decided to meet the Persians at a narrow pass in the mountains called Thermopylae. The Greeks held off the Persians killing thousands, until the Persians found a way around the mountains and got behind the Greeks. King Leonidas told most of his troops to flee, but stayed behind with a small force including his 300 Spartans in order to allow the rest of the Greek army to escape. The Spartans fought to the death, killing as many Persians as they could.

Battle of salamis c. 480 BCE

The Persian army continued to march on Greece. When they arrived at the city of Athens, they found it deserted.

The people of Athens had fled. The Athenian fleet, however, was waiting off the coast by the island of Salamis.

The much larger Persian fleet attacked the small Athenian ships. They were sure of victory. However, the Athenian ships, called triremes, were fast and maneuverable.

They rammed into the sides of the large Persian ships and sunk them. They soundly defeated the Persians causing Xerxes to retreat back to Persia.

After the Persian War, Athens and Sparta agreed to a 30 year peace. Each needed to recover after the war.

During this peaceful time, Athens grew powerful and wealthy under Pericles' leadership.

Sparta and its allies became jealous and distrustful of Athens.

In 431 BCE, Sparta and Athens took sides in a conflict over the city of Corinth, and Sparta declared war on Athens.

Peloponnesian league c. 505 BCE

Delian league c. 478 BCE

The Peloponnesian League was a grouping of Sparta, Corinth, Elis, Tegea, and other city-states with similar allies and enemies as Sparta. Membership did not require tribute (taxes) to Sparta, rather required sending troops to serve under Spartan command.

Following the victories at Marathan, Salamis, and Plataea, Greek city-states formed an alliance to protect themselves from the Persians. The league consisted of 330 city-states, but quickly became dominated by Athens. City-state members were expected to give tribute to the treasury (bank) to help maintain the navy, which was run by Athens. The original amount was 460 talents, but was raised to 1,500.

The first peloponnesian War...

Although the Spartans never breached the walls of Athens during the first war, many people died inside the city due to plague. This included the great leader and general of Athens, Pericles.

The first Peloponnesian War lasted for 10 years. During this time the Spartans dominated the land and the Athenians dominated the sea. Athens built long walls all the way from the city to its seaport Piraeus. This enabled them to stay inside the city and still have access to trade and supplies from their ships.

the secondpeloponnesian war

After ten years of war, in 421 BC Athens and Sparta agreed to a truce. It was called the Peace of Nicias, named after the general of the Athenian army. In 415 BC, Athens decided to help one of their allies on the island of Sicily. They sent a large force there to attack the city of Syracuse. Athens lost the battle horribly and Sparta decided to retaliate starting the Second Peloponnesian War.

The Spartans began to gather allies to conquer Athens. They even enlisted the help of the Persians who lent them money to build a fleet of warships. Athens, however recovered and won a series of battles between 410 and 406 BC.

athens downfall

In 405 BC the Spartan general Lysander defeated the Athenian fleet in battle. With the fleet defeated, the people in the city of Athens began to starve. They did not have the army to take on the Spartans on land. In 404 BC the city of Athens surrendered to the Spartans.

The city-states of Corinth and Thebes wanted the city of Athens destroyed and the people enslaved. However, Sparta disagreed. They made the city tear down its walls, but refused to destroy the city or enslave its people.

Effects of war

The Peloponnesian War brought disaster to the Greek city-states. The governments were left divided and weak, and many people died from disease. Fighting destroyed farms and left people unemployed. Thousands of young Greeks left to join the Persian army to make a living. Sparta took control of Greece similarly to Athens previously. This harsh treatment angered Sparta's former allies and over the next 30 years, Sparta tried to put down rebellions and fought Persia, again. Finally, in 371 BCE, Thebes seized Sparta and ended the Spartan empire. About 10 years later, Thebes collapsed.

As city-states fought one another, no one noticed the growing threat of Macedonia to the north. Their growing strength and expansion would eventually cost Greek city-states their independence.

Map

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The Plague

75,000-100,000 people died in Athens from the plague. That is 25% of the population or 1 in 4 people. At the time, some believed the Spartans purposefully poisoned the Athenians drinking water, but historians believe it was spread by merchants trading with Athens.