Peloponnesian War

1. Victory and Defeat
in the Greek World
Main Idea: Competition among the
Greek city-states led to conflict after the
Persian Wars.

2. Setting the Stage…
 492 BCE, the Persian Empire was the strongest
in the Mediterranean world.
 Persian king, Darius I, sent messengers through
Greece demanding gifts as symbols of
submission to Persia.
 The Athenians and Spartans both killed his
messengers in defiance.

3. Persian Wars
 The Greek historian, Herodotus is considered the
“Father of History” and most of what we know about
the Persian Wars, comes from Herodotus.
 The Greeks were often bitterly divided despite having
the same language, gods, and festivals.
 But when the Persians threatened, the Greeks put aside
their differences in order to unite and defend their
freedom.

4. Persian Wars
 In 499 BCE, Ionian Greeks rebelled against
Persian rule and Athens sent ships to help.
 Darius I was furious at Athens’ role in the
uprising and he sent a huge force across the
Aegean to punish Athens.
 The mighty Persian army landed near
Marathon, a plain north of Athens.

5. Persian Wars – Battle of Marathon
 The Persians greatly outnumbered the Athenians but
because of fierce fighting by the Athenians, the
Persians had to retreat.
 After the battle the Athenians sent Pheidippides, their
fastest runner to carry home the news of their victory.
 He sprinted 26.2 miles to Athens and said
“Victory!”…and dropped dead…
 Today, in honor of Pheidippides, marathon runners still
cover the same distance that he ran 2,500 years ago.

6. Persian Wars – Battle of Thermopylae
 Darius I died before he could send a counter attack but
his son, Xerxes sent a large force to conquer Greece in
480 BCE.
 Athens persuaded Sparta and other Greek city states to
fight with them.
 Spartans and 7000 thousand other Greeks were sent to
guard a 300 ft. wide mountain pass at Thermopylae –
the only road by which the Persian army could pass.
 Leonidas, the Spartan warrior-king, led the Greek
forces during the 3-day battle.

7. Persian Wars – Battle of Thermopylae
 On the 2nd
day of battle, a local Greek resident betrayed
the Greeks by revealing a small path that led behind
the Greek lines.
 Finally aware that he had been outflanked, Leonidas
dismissed the bulk of the Greeks and guarded the pass
with a remaining 300 Spartans.
 The Spartans were defeated and the Persians marched
to Athens and burned the city.
 A year later, the Greeks defeated the Persians in Asia
Minor, marking the end of Persian invasion.

8. Persian Wars
 After the Persian Wars, Athens emerged as the
most powerful Greek city-state
 Athens organized the Delian League, an
alliance with other Greek city-states
 Athens dominated the Delian League,
controlled the economy, and used donated
money to rebuild their city.

9. Athens in the Age of Pericles
 Years after the Persian Wars were a Golden
Age under the leadership of Pericles.
 Pericles created a direct democracy where
citizens take direct part in the day-to-day
government.
 All male citizens could participate in
government and were paid a stipend if they held
public office.

10. Athens in the Age of Pericles
 Athenians were chosen by lottery to serve on juries for
one year.
 Citizens could vote to banish a public figure who they
saw as a threat to their democracy by a process called
ostracism.
 Pericles is also known for his famous “Funeral
Oration” given at a mass funeral for thousands of
Athenians slain in battle during the first year of the
Peloponnesian War.

11. Peloponnesian War
 To counter the Delian League, Sparta and other
enemies of Athens created the Peloponnesian
League.
 In 431 BCE, the Peloponnesian War began bt
Athens (Delian League) and Sparta
(Peloponnesian League) which lasted for 27
years and engulfed all of Greece.

12. Peloponnesian War
 Athens had a powerful navy, but Sparta was
located inland and could not be attacked by sea.
 Sparta had a short march north and attacked
Athens.
 Finally, in 404 BCE, with the help of the
Persians, Sparta captured Athens.
 However, they did not destroy the city out of
respect for Athens role in the Persian Wars.