The Greco-Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Persian Empire and Greek city-states from 490 BC to 479 BC. Key battles included the Persians defeating the Greeks at Eretria but the Greeks winning at Marathon. Over a decade later, Xerxes led a massive Persian invasion of Greece but the Greeks were victorious at Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea. The wars resulted in Greek independence and the formation of the Delian League led by Athens for mutual defense against Persia.

1. Greco-Persian
Wars490BCE- 479 BCE
Copyright © Clara Kim 2007. All rights reserved.

2. Who Fought?
• The Persians Fought against the Greeks
–Persia was ruled by Darius and Xerxes
–Greeks- Athenians, Spartans, Ionians

3. Persians
VS
Greeks

4. • Persia controlled Ionia but Greeks
were already living there.
• in 499BCE when Persian King
Darius raised taxes, the Ionian
Greeks got mad and revolted
–Athens backed them up
• Persians crushed the revolts
What caused the Persian
War?

5. Causes
• Darius wanted
revenge on
Athenians for
helping so
attacked
mainland
Greece.

6. Major Battles
1. Battle at Eretria– City
north of Athens was
burned by the Persians
–Angered Athens asks
Sparta for help

8. Major Battles
2. Battle of Marathon: Sparta and
Athens work together
– Persia- 25,000 soldiers
–Greeks- 10,000 soldiers
–Phalanx battle formation gave the
Greeks the victory
•6,400 Persians died
•192 Greeks died

10. Phalanx Formation

12. Pheidippides
• Ran to Athens from
Marathon = 26 miles
• Told them of the
victory
• Died after giving the
news
* This is why marathons
are now 26 miles!

13. • 10 years later
• Xerxes, son of Darius
vowed revenge.
• Brought between
100,000-300,000 troops
through a narrow
mountain pass
Part 2: Persian War

15. Battle at Thermopylae
• 3,300 Greeks led by the Spartans held
them off at a narrow pass in
Thermopylae.
–A traitor told Persians of another way
around
–Many Greeks retreat but 300 Spartans
stood strong.
–They all died

17. Battle at Salamis
• Athens is evacuated and
fought at sea.
• Athenians had a powerful
navy
• Greeks fought with new
ships called Trireme.
–Triremes punched holes
in Persian ships and sink
a third of the ships.

19. Trireme

20. •While Athens crushed the
Persians at Sea, Spartans
were on the plain of Plataea
and crushes the rest of the
Persian army
•Xerxes retreats
Battle of Plataea

21. Battle Summary:
Greeks 3 – Persians 3
Battle Winner
Ionia Persia
Eretria Persia
Marathon Greece
Thermopylae Persia
Salamis Greece
Plataea Greece

22. • Greece victory creates a sense of unity
• Athens had control of what was left of
Greece through leadership of the
Delian League.
• Delian League- an agreement that the
remaining Greek city states would
help each other
Effects of the Persian
Wars

23. Pictures Cited
• Slide 1 – http://www.post-gazette.com/images4/20070309ho_leonidas_450.jpg
• Slide 2 – http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u117/mikey_albert_photos/leonidis.jpg
• Slide 3 – http://www.the-toy-soldier.com/images/romans4.jpg, http://www.the-toy-
soldier.com/images/romans2.jpg, http://www.markchurms.com/Merchant2/graphics/eagle-l.jpg
• Slide 5 – http://tn1-2.pv.deviantart.com/fs11/150/i/2006/183/c/e/wendy__s_revenge_by_bri_chan.jpg
• Slide 7 – http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Battleofissus333BC-mosaic.jpg
• Slide 9 – http://joseph_berrigan.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/greekinfantry.jpg,
• Slide 10 – http://www.livius.org/a/1/greece/phalanx.jpg
• Slide 11 – http://www.300spartanwarriors.com/images/719_Warner_Bros._Frank_Miller_300_-
_300SpartanWarriors.jpg
• Slide 12 – http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39748000/jpg/_39748185_p_diddy_203.jpg
• Slide 13 – http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k46/mooshy_01/Xerxes.jpg
• Slide 14 - http://sha3teely.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/300movie02.jpg
• Slide 16 – http://students.mnmsa.org/~tkosanke/Thermopylae.jpg
• Slide 17 – http://www.molossia.org/milacademy/salamis.jpg
• Slide 18 – http://www.sikyon.com/Athens/images/salamis_battle.jpg
• Slide 19 – http://students.ou.edu/E/Ryan.C.Emrick-1/greek_trireme.JPG