Now just like in the first war Sparta couldn’t do it alone; so they asked the Persians to help conquer Athens. They asked their own enemy for help. This truly was a good example of history repeating itself. Mainly because Spartans defeated the Persians on land and Athenians defeated them in the sea. This time Spartans defeated the Athenians on land and the Persians defeated the Athenians in the sea.
How could the Spartans have avoided the loss of their leading position in Greece? Sparta emerged as a political force around the 10th century BC, after the invading Dorians conquered the surrounding, non-Dorian population. Owing to its military strength and dominance, Sparta was recognized as the leader of the combined Greek during the bloody Greco-Persian wars. The social system of Sparta was unique in Ancient Greece, with strong focus placed on military excellence. This military strength helped Sparta defeat Athens and emerge victorious from the Peloponnesian War between 431-404 BC.
Miltiades - democratic general given power by Aristides iv. Themistocles - Democratic navy general after Miltiades and Aristides were ostracized b. Battles v. Marathon - 15,000 Persians (lost 6,400) defeated by 10,000 Athenians (lost 200) vi. Thermopylae - Persians overwhelmed the Greeks (they fled to Salamis) vii. Salamis - Athens destroyed half of the Persian ships (forcing them to flee back to Persia viii.
By 46 B.C., through the military genius of Julius Caesar, Rome conquered most of the land surrounding the Mediterranean, which was most of the known world at that time. However, this expansion hurt Rome more than it helped Rome. The Romans had an ever changing government to meet the demands of a growing empire. At first Rome had harsh Etruscan kings, but they soon had enough of these cruel tyrants and eventually ran them out of Rome. In there place they created the Roman Republic, which was modeled after the Greek Democracy.
Pericles was the most prominent politician in Athens from 461 until 429 BC. He encouraged his fellow Athenians to use the tribute money the League collected to underwrite the development of Greek culture. During this time Athens was also known as the “school of Hellas.” Pericles at the time was more of a tyranny than a limited democracy. Sadly, Pericles was a victim of the plague that swept Athens at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War. During the second Persian war,
Skyler Souza September 21, 2011 Tracking Alexander the Great Typed Descriptions Granicus- May 334 B.C. in Asia Minor, Alexander the Great defeated the Persian satraps, including a large force of Greek mercenaries. Gordium Knot Legend- 333 B.C. At the age of 23, Alexander the Great had arrived at the town of Gordium. He went to the Gordium knot and he cut right through the middle of the knot.
The Spartans pretended to flee from the Persian shields only to turn at the right moment and inflict serious losses on the Persian army. The Spartans maintained their supremacy in warfare until the battle of Leuktra in 371 BC, which was a major factor in the decline of Sparta.The Spartans were defeated in the Battle of Lauctra by the great general and strategist Epaminondas of Thebes. His tactic of using and echelon formation with the leading side loaded up with his best troops and in very deep formation allowed him to break the unbreakable, the Spartan hoplite line crumbled. G.L. Cawkwell, a modern historian, argues that Sparta's defeat a Leauctra highlights the failure of its social system - its narrowness and emphasis on
In 498 BCE, Athens carried out a terrorist attack on Sardis, a major Persian city, which made 9/11 seem like child's play. Aristagoras, an Athenian, set fire to the "outlying parts" of Sardis trapping most of its population "in a ring of fire." (Herodotus 5:101) More innocent civilians died at the hands of Aristagoras than Osama bin Laden could ever hope to kill. And just as most of the world supported America's retaliation against Al Qaeda, so did it rally in support of Persia's attack on Athens. The Spartans were not even targets of Persia's attack, until they violated a universal protocol by killing a Persian messenger who Herodotus claims was asking for Sparta's submission but in reality was probably sent by Persia's king, Xerxes to convey the same message America sent to the entire world after 9/11: "you're either with us, or against us."
Greek soldiers formed dense groupings called phalanxes that were usually eight to sixteen men deep. Phalanxes, when packed together, provided an impressive wall of heavily armed men. For the phalanx to succeed, the men had to practice rigid discipline; if the phalanx broke, all of the hoplites might well be killed. b. Macedonian, to 500 BCE The man who finally beat the Greek system was a Macedonian and one of the greatest military minds of all time was Alexander the Great. His use of flexible, fast arms like cavalry and light infantry.
The Greek empire began with consolidation of Macedonia and the Greek city-states to fight the Persians in war by Phillip II. Alexander the great then took power and led the armies through Persia and assumed the throne. He then did not return to Greece he marched his armies east to the Indian Ocean and conquered most of the known world. Alexander did realize that he alone could not control all of his newly acquired territories alone. He received the alliance of the foreign countries by allowing them to continue their customs and traditions.