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.
Under Pericles leadership, Athens refused to back down and this war started. After 10 years of war, a truce cane in 421, but only lasted until 415. The last straw was when the Athenians launched a massive attack on Sicily. The expedition consisted of Athens, led by Alcibiades) attacking Sicily because they were the food providers for Sparta. Almost the whole Athenian army and navy was sent to cut off the supplies, however the plans backfired and Athens was greatly affected and barely recovered its military, finally in 405 the Spartan navy defeated Athenians in the battle of
Spartan military king who bravely led a small force of Greeks (the famous 300) against the much larger Persian army of Xerxes, at the pass of Thermopylae. During this battle, 480 B.C., the 300 small Greek army lead by Leonidas himself fought hard and delayed the Persians from pushing forward for a while. The small Greek army would decrease the size of the Persian army and hold them off until Persians found a route to outflank the Greek army. King Leonidas realizing this, commanded his army to retreat and him and a handful of loyal soldiers that wanted to stay with him willingly fought the Persian army. The number of Greeks left was around 300 all of which fell including Leonidas.
Faced with overwhelming odds, they retreated to a hilltop and planned to make a final stand but they were no match. Leonidas had learned about this and convened a council of war with his surviving generals ordering them to retreat. Most of the Greeks then retreated with only a mixed unit of around 1400 men stayed with the 300 Spartans to defend the pass against Xerxes. As daylight came, Xerxes paused allowing time for the immortals to advance towards the rear of the Greek forces. He then ordered a fresh wave of ten thousand infantry to advance against the Greeks.
The Athenian ownership of the Delos treasury, suppression of revolts as well as the challis decree marks the transformation of the delian league into the Athenian empire. The role of the delian league was to protect those Greek states which had already revolted from Persia and to liberate those still under Persian rule. The league was very active in overthrowing Persian power and consolidating the role of Athens as hegemon’s in the Greek world. It was clear that the alliance was unequal from the beginning because, the leadership was Athenian, they had the largest fleet and they were also superior in resources. This was a result from their successes in the Persian wars, in particular the battle of Salamis.
It was fought at the pivotal point in the conflict when things were looking grim for Greece, with Athens abandoned and only the Peloponnese remaining free. The engagement was supposed to be an easy victory for the Persians: their ships were better-designed and more numerous. Their crews were also more experienced and better-trained. However, it was Greek tactics and Persian over-confidence that changed the course of the battle, the result of which was thought by many to be a foregone
The Greeks being citizen soldiers fought for their homes; families; religious shrines; city states; to preserve their new democratic way of life; and their desire to be free and rule themselves without an oriental overlord. The Persian army were conscripted and therefore they were not fighting to defend their homeland. As a result of this they were often poorly trained and some only took part in the army and battles as a way of impressing the king. As well as conflicting reasons behind the victory, the Persians and Greek army adapted many different fighting strategies. The Greeks had their advantage in close range.
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
He convinced Eurybiades that a battle fought at Salamis would benefit the Greek forces for two main reasons. The first is that fighting in the narrows at Salamis would favour the smaller and heavier Greek fleet where as a battle on the open seas near Isthmus would favour the greater numbers of the Persians. The second is that if the Greeks were able to defeat the Persians at Salamis then the Persians would be forced back from Isthmus therefore greater protecting it. Through his earlier mentioned strategy of deceiving the Persians, Themistocles had also provided the Greek forces with a surprised, unprepared Persian enemy. It is through all of these contributions made by Themistocles that guaranteed the Greek victory at Salamis.
Aristagoras, tyrant of Miletus, persuaded the Persians to assist him in overtaking the whole Cycladic island chain and possibly mainland Greece. When that plan failed to come to fruition, Aristagoras convinced the Ionian Greeks to unite in revolt. After resigning from his tyranny, Aristagoras set out to overthrow all of the other Ionian tyrants, and even attempted to seek help from the Spartans, who rejected his proposal. He moved on to Athens, who were more receptive to his plans, out of fear of the return of exiled leader Hippias, who had found his way to Persia. The Athenians agreed to send twenty ships to the shores of the island of Lade near Miletus in 494 BCE.