Not long after, the Greek army arrived. The Persians decided they had enough of these Greeks and sailed home. The Battle of Marathon is perhaps the single most important battle in Greek history. Had the Athenians lost, Greece would have eventually come under the control of the Persians and all the subsequent culture and accomplishments of the Greeks would probably not have taken the form they did. However, the Persian were not finished.
In the summer of 480 B.C a battle took place that would forever change the history of the Greeks and that would eventually influence the way in which the Western world looked at war. The Spartans took their stand against the massive army of Persians in a three day battle which resulted in the Persians taking the win but may have very well led to the Greeks winning the Greco-Persian War. A culmination of strong tactical skill and bravery contributed to the Spartans making a stand much longer and stronger than anybody could have ever predicted. The Persian king Xerxes led his massive army through the narrow mountain pass known as Thermopylae expecting no considerable fight on the part of the Spartans. The Persians bid to conquer Greece was significantly
This resulted in the founding of an Arcadian League under the leadership of the new found city of Megalopolis. Most important however was that Thebes refounded Messenia as an independent state in 369 after many years of helotage. Sparta sank to second-class among the Greek Poleis, and this allowed Thebes and Athens to pursue their rivalry in the vacuum created by the sudden disappearance of Sparta. After the battle they sent heralds to Athens proclaiming their victory over the Spartans, but Athenians were not satisfied with the turn of events. Now they had a new superpower a few miles from Athens.
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.
- from The Persians, by Aeschylus. The Battle of Marathon was the Darius I's first chief attempt to overcome Greece. In comparison to the great battles which would succeed it, it was, in terms of men involved, a war of smaller size although its significance in uniting the Greek city-states against Persia cannot be underestimated. According to Aechylus, this battle of Marathon happened to be one of the most important battles in world history. In 490BC, two armies faced each other across the plain of Marathon, 26 miles from Athens.
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 Persian Empire had sent money to help the Spartans build a strong navy. The Spartans aggressive actions forced the Athenians to surrender in 404 B.C., which finally ended the Peloponnesian
After Philip II’s death in 336 B.C., Alexander the Great took over the war effort. Greece was currently under Macedonian control and Darius III tried to use this situation in his propaganda effort. In response to an offering of peace from Darius III, Alexander responded in a letter which included several accusations towards the Persian king. He accused the Persian king of calling for a war against Alexander, and bribing politicians in order to destroy the peace that had been established in Greece. Darius knew that the Greek’s wanted to free themselves from Macedonian rule and things would be a great deal easier for him with the Greek’s on his side.
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.
At one point, Alexander also pronounced himself as a god. In 323, he became very ill and died ten days later; Alexander the Great was thirty-three years old. Alexander’s influence on culture had a tremendous effect. He spread Greek culture through Hellenistic culture. Which was a combination of Greek and traditional cultures.