IONIAN REVOLT

1. IONIAN REVOLT • Persia took control of all Greek city-states along coast of Asia Minor in 547 BC • Region known as Ionia • Ionian city-states rebelled against Persian rule in 499 BC • Sought aid from mainland Greece • Only Athens and Eretria responded • This aid allowed Ionian city-states to put up fierce resistance to Persians • But revolt was nonetheless defeated by 494 BC

2. DARIUS I • Persian emperor Darius I determined to punish Athens and Eretria for aiding Ionian rebellion • Sent fleet to Greece with goal of conquering both city-states and teaching the entire mainland a lesson it would never forget

3. BATTLE OF MARATHON • Eretria fell quickly to the Persians • Persians then entered the plain of Marathon and headed for Athens • Athenians wasted several days debating strategy • Finally decided to request reinforcements from Sparta and send a 9000 hoplite army met Persians at Marathon • By the time Spartan reinforcement arrived, Athens had won battle • By using new tactic of “collapsing center”

4. AFTERMATH OF MARATHON • Athenians saw victory at Marathon as vindication of their adoption of democratic reforms of Cleisthenes • More democratic reforms followed • More elected offices opened up to demos • Introduction of practice of ostracism • To check against overly ambitious men • To make a clear-cut decision between conflicting policies advocated by different individuals • Athens also embarked on huge naval construction program • Financed by silver in Laurium • Resulted in fleet of 200 ships

5. A NEW ATTACK • Persians made plans for another invasion • With goal of conquering entire peninsula • Led by new emperor, Xerxes • Greeks prepare for invasion by setting up defensive line stretching from pass at Thermopylae to northern tip of Euboea

6. BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE • Thermopylae was narrow pass through mountains • Since only a few soldiers could get through at a time, Greeks hoped it would nullify Persian numerical advantage • 7000 men held pass commanded by King Leonidas of Sparta • Persians could not make any headway against Greeks for several days • Greek traitor led Persians around pass and they came in behind Greeks • Leonidas sent most men away and kept 1400 to hold pass • Wiped out by Persians

7. BATTLE OF SALAMIS • Athens evacuated population to nearby seaside fort of Salamis • Persians hesitated to attack because Bay of Salamis was full of Athenian ships • Athenians tricked Persians into entering bay with their navy • Smaller, more maneuverable Athenian ships then destroyed Persian fleet • Xerxes withdrew back to Asia Minor

8. FINAL VICTORIES • Xerxes still had 300,000 man army in Greece • Spartan commander Pausanias set up camp in plain below Persian army at Plataea • Persians attacked but Spartans counter-attacked and achieved victory • A few weeks later, Athenian navy liberated Ionian city-states • Alliance of Spartan land power and Athenian naval power had defeated the most powerful empire in the world

9. PROBLEMS AMONG THE GREEKS • Sparta should have led an alliance designed to protect Greece • But this did not happen • Because Spartan army could never be gone from city for long because of danger of helot uprising • Could not therefore provide long-range military leadership required • Persians still raided Asia Minor • Naval power required to handle this threat • Athens therefore became the head of new Greek alliance

10. DELIAN LEAGUE • New alliance known as Delian League (478-77 BC) • Sparta created smaller alliance called Peloponnesian League • Purpose of Delian League was offensive and defensive • Athens dominated decision-making process • Military commanders were all Athenians • Athens administered finances and took 50% of all loot • Athens dominated the Delian League from the very start

11. EXPANSION OF ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY • Athenian democracy continued to evolve under reforms of Pericles • Fundamental motivation was military necessity • With rise of Athenian naval power, the military importance of rowers increased • Generally poor men who did hard physical labor for low pay under hazardous conditions • Generally were not citizens • Began to pressure government for political participation and rights • Their demands were ultimately granted and thereby paved the way for an expansion of democracy in Athens

12. CIMON vs PERICLES • Pericles’ most powerful rival was Cimon • Successful general and talented speaker • Advocated pro-Spartan foreign policy • Pericles advocated opposite policy • Advocated crippling Sparta before she would take inevitable revenge on Athens Pericles Cimon

13. PERICLES WINS • Cimon insulted by Spartans when he arrived to help them put down revolt by helots • Pericles used episode to work up public opinion against Cimon • Cimon ultimately ostracized • Pericles’ anti-Spartan orientation became official Athenian policy • Athens makes alliance with Spartan enemies, Argos and Thessaly

14. OUTBREAK OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR • Hostility between Athens and Sparta escalated until it culminated in war in 459 BC • Spartan army blocked from returning from Boeotia by Athenian army • Spartans retaliated by attacking Athens • Resulted in Battle of Tanagra • Spartans win but suffer such horrible losses that they return home

15. ATHENS GAINS THE UPPER HAND • Athenians regroup and attack Sparta’s allies between Attica and the Peloponnese • Especially Megora • Blocked future invasion by Sparta • By 457, Athens had Sparta bottled up and had firm control over rest of Greece • Athens and Sparta sign 5 year truce in 455

16. CHANGES IN THE DELIAN LEAGUE • Athens began to act unilaterally • Did not consult “allies” in Delian League • Did not even hold meetings anymore • Naxos and Thasos tried to drop out of the League but Athens forced them to stay • League funds began to be used exclusively for Athenian purposes • By 446, Athens had clearly transformed the League into its personal empire

17. TROUBLE FOR ATHENS • Argos left Delian League in 451 and made alliance with Sparta • Boeotia did same in 446 • Megara broke free in 446 • Exposed Athens to land assault by Sparta • Athens signs 30-year truce with Sparta • Prompted by these reversals

18. SECOND PELOPONNESIAN WAR • Truce remained in force for 15 years • Sparta was afraid that Athenian power and imperialistic designs would inevitably lead to attack on her allies and Sparta itself • Sparta went to war again against Athens in 446 • Because of Athenian attempts to take over Corinth and Megara • Athens lost everything • Because its allies used war to assert independence • Because it wasted resources on useless attack on Sicily • Because of internal turmoil after death of Pericles • Because Sparta was aided by Persia

19. SPARTAN PROBLEMS • Sparta won but did not emerged unscathed • Population decimated • Still tried to establish empire in Greece • Broke down isolation which had long preserved Spartan society • Left it open to corrupting influences from rest of Greece • Fundamental egalitarianism of city-state broke down • Power struggles erupted between different factions

20. MORE SPARTAN PROBLEMS • Sparta experienced chronic manpower shortage in its army • Increasingly forced to rely on mercenaries • No longer had a citizen army • Drained Sparta of economic resources • Committed fundamental foreign policy errors • Attack on Persians in Ionia allowed creation of anti-Spartan alliance in Greece • Spartan forces defeated several times by members of alliance • Slipped into the ranks of just another poor Greek city-state

21. END OF THE GOLDEN AGE By 336, Thebes was completely exhausted and all of Greece was in a state of chronic decay Too weak now to defend itself against any foreign invader who decided to attack Greece Wasted its advantage in population and resources in a series of useless wars Thebes then emerged as the supreme power in Greece and immediately tried to establish an empire Thebes Thev