Thermopylae was a passage through a large Greek mountain area. The Greeks chose to try to defend their land here once they found out the large Persian army would have to go through this small mountain pass in order to capture the Greek land they wanted (Herodotus, 1972). The Spartans led the Greek forces in the unsuccessful defense of this land and every Spartan warrior was killed. Some scholars say the Spartans realized they would be killed before they went into battle but they still chose to fight and defend their land (Bradford, 2004). The Persians were led by Xerxes and with this victory, he led the Persian troops from Thermopylae through Locris and Phocis into Boeotia without resistance.
When Philip of Macedon conquered Greece in 1338 B.C.E., Greeks did not feel the gods had deserted them. They simply believed that Philip for all his power and glory, was just one more tool in the hands of the Olympians. When he was assassinated in 336, only two years after his dramatic triumph, his new subjects nodded knowingly to one another: the gods had grown tired of him. These sorts of intriques, of course, would have been typical among the gods, and therefore familiar to both Greeks and Macedonians. Ruling the former Persian Empire turned out to be more difficult than defeating it.
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
After his death the downfall of the empire he was building for 10 years fell. Alexander III deserves the title great because he accomplished things that hardly anyone can do, he did things that were never before seen and never again will be seen. Alexander III was able to take over most of Asia Minor in his 10 years of being king. He took over places by force and if you were standing in his way he will take you down. Taking over most of Asia is a very high accomplishment
However, his dream of burning Athens to the ground would not be realized, and this lust for revenge would be passed down to his son Xerxes. In 480BC, Xerxes assembled the largest army the ancient world has ever seen. With around 300,000 men, he marched towards Greece with a navy following closely behind. As Xerxes marched toward Athens, they were met with a combined Greek force of 300 Spartans and 4000 free Greeks defending a narrow pass, nullifying the numerically superior Persian force. At the same time, the Persian navy attempted to sail behind the Greek forces and box them in.
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.
He spent the year 335 subduing restive people to the north and west of Macedonia, and crushing an Athenian-endorsed uprising at Thebes. Now mistrusting the Athenians, Alexander the Great declined to employ their fleet against Persia. He crossed the Hellespont into Asia Minor with his substantial army of thirty-five thousand Macedonians and Greeks overwhelming the Persian army and gaining enough spoils to restore the meager Macedonian treasury. The key to Alexander’s success there was timing, and one of his great abilities was knowing when and where to strike defensively. Then, he would pursue the retreating enemy, who more often than not, could not regroup after Alexander’s strikes.
In 490BC, two armies faced each other across the plain of Marathon, 26 miles from Athens. On one side were 9,000 Athenians, supported by 1,000 men from Plataia. On the other were between 18,000 and 25,000 Persian warriors (including men from various parts of the Persian empire). The Persian army had come to conquer Athens, as a first step to taking over the whole of Greece, adding it to the already enormous Persian Empire. On the way to Marathon they had defeated several other Greek cities, killing the men, enslaving the women and children, and burning down the towns.
Denise Sanders Management 4424 November 4, 2013 Section 476 “MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND FAILURES” Alexander accomplished a great deal during his lifetime. One of those accomplishments was becoming the ruler of Macedonia after the death of his father in 336 B.C. In 334 BC, Alexander defeated the Persian king Darius 3rd army near the Grancius River. In 333 BC, Alexander once again defeated the Persian Army even though his army was outnumber he used military strategies to create formations that ultimately gave him the advantage that ultimately win the war. Alexander declared himself King of Persia after capturing Darius the 3rd and making him a fugitive.
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.