Well, the war's losses caused much distress which led to a group of antidemocratic citizens to overturn the democracy in 411 B.C. Other citizens were not fond of this so they restored the democratic government. Athens continued to fight on and the end came during the last ten years of the war. This is because the actions had moved to the east, along the western coast of Anatolia and its islands; this was known to be the western boundary of the Persian Empire. The Persian Empire had sent money to help the Spartans build a strong navy.
At the beginning of the period of interest, that is, the beginning of the 5th century Athens is one of the most powerful Greek city states attempting to gain support of other States. Through the Persian Wars they build up their reputation as a protector of the Greek states until near the end of the period where the Athenian empire is formed with allies becoming subjects to the more powerful Athens. Throughout this period Athens built alliances made enemies that led to Athens eventual downfall. The Ionian revolt in 499 BC can be seen as a first attempt by Athens to gain support from Greeks in Asia Minor as Athens provided assistance to the Ionian Greeks in liberating them from Persian occupation therefore allowing them to gain their autonomy back. At this time the Greek states were continually at war with one another and there was no unity between them.
The involvement of Athens and Eretria in the Ionian revolt according to Ehrenberg “put Athens into the center of the unfolding story of the Persian wars”. Herodotus agrees, stating that the dispatch of the ships from Athens and Eretria was “the beginning of the evil for both Greeks and barbarians.” The conflict brought about strong feelings from Athens toward Persia that were carried into future battles. Herodotus records that “the whole episode was probably most important for the later attitudes which it engendered.” The Greeks were motivated into defending their land from the Persians after seeing the fate of the Greeks in Ionia. They knew that if they were conquered according to Ehrenberg that “the freedom of the Greek states would be lost.” Public support in Athens against Persia was gained due to the fate of Miletus. Many Athenians felt that more help should have been provided to protect the cities destruction.
The Persian Wars by: Alec Norwood World History Mr. Jordan 1st Period October 12, 2007 The Persian Wars INTRODUCTION The Persian Wars were fought between the Greeks and the Persians between the years 490 and 479 B.C.E. The main conflict between the Greeks and the Persians began in Ionia, home of Herodotus. Many Pre-Socratic philosophers believe it started because the empire building (land hungry) Persians tried to capture and bring the Ionians under their power and control. The Persians were successful with some of the Ionian Greeks but others asked the mainland Greeks for help because they did not want to be ruled by the Persians (Hooker, 1999). IONIAN REVOLT The wars began in 490 B.C.E.
The cause or causes of that war, however, are far more ambiguous. Is it likely for the Greeks to have waged a ten year war over one woman as Homer seems to suggest? Examining the nature of warfare, the roles of women in society and the way adultery was viewed provides evidence of Helen of Troy’s involvement; as well as another possible reason for a war between the Greeks and the Trojans during this time. The Trojan War presented
If this were to have occurred then the Greeks alliance with the Spartans could have potentially been lost, as the Spartans may have withdrawn from the war. This would have had a significant impact on the strength of the Greek army as the Spartans intimidated the Persians after the battle of Thermopylae and they also had a skilled military tactics. Also by having Greeks navy roaming the shores of Athens it complicated the Persians tactics, as they were not
Twice at the end of the 5th century in Athens the demos voted their democracy out of existence and replaced it with an oligarchy. This happened in 411 BC and 404/3 BC near and at the end of the Peloponnesian war. There are some similarities in both of these events but also some major differences we will see. The reasons of why these events took place, who the organisers were and how they were orchestrated need to be looked at if we are going to be able to answer the overall question of why the Athenians took these actions to replace democracy. For the two coups there were distinctively different backgrounds involved.
The actual battle happened five days after the Persians had arrived in Thermopylae. This was when Xerxes had finally decided to give his orders to attack. On the first day, the first initial attack started with 5000 archers from Xerxes’ army firing arrows at the Greeks, but the attack was ineffective as the light Persian bows were no match for the Greeks’ thick bronze shields, helmets and armor. Xerxes then sent in ten thousand infantry soldiers. They charged the Greek phalanx and were powerless against it as their training and equipment were completely inferior to those of the Greeks.
The Greek World 500-440 BC Account for the democratic reforms of Athens during this period. Athens was greatly affected by the Persian Wars and the aftermath of those wars. Significant changes were made to the internal government of Athens. The changes that took place between 500 and 440 BC were part of the democratisation process, but they must also be seen as responses to the Persian Wars and as consequences of the growing imperialism of Athens. It is also important to understand the interrelationship of the democratic changes with the events of the 5th century.
First they besieged the island of what is now Cyprus and then moved toward the mainland. They moved toward the epicenter of the rebellion, Lade. Once the leadership of the rebellions was apprehended, the leaderless rebellion was crippled. In a single day, the Persian army recaptured the rest of the rebellious cities and assimilated them back into the Persian Empire. But King Darius was not going to forgive the Athenian insult.