Ancient Greece Key Terms and Concepts Chapter 28: Fighting the Persian Wars

1. Ancient Greece Key Terms and ConceptsChapter 28: Fighting the Persian Wars

2. Persian Empire - At it’s height in the 400’s BCE, it was the largest empire the world had ever known, ruling over Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Even though Athens and Sparta were rivals they both had a common enemy – The Persian Empire. They would come together to face the Persians.

3. States that band together to help each other against a common enemy. The Greek city states, who were considered the underdogs, would eventually come together to defend Greece against the tough Persians. Allies

4. One the greatest Persian kings. He split his empire into 20 provinces and collected taxes. King Darius

5. An area of wealthy Greek settlements near Asia Minor which was conquered by Darius and the Persians in 546 BCE. The Ionians asked the Greek mainland for help to revolt against the Persian and Athens responded. Ionia

6. The term used to describe the Ionians and Athenians revolt against the Persians in 499 BCE. It would be the start of the Persian War. After initial success, the Athenians went home leaving the undermanned Ionians to fight alone. In 493 BCE the Persians defeated the Ionians and punished them for their revolt by destroying their city of Miletus. Darius will then set his sights on mainland Greece. Ionian Revolt

7. The 20 year war between the allied Greek city states and the Persians. The Persians wanted to conquer Greece and make it a part of their enormous empire. This war included several famous battles; Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea.The Greeks would eventually win. Persian Wars

8. The first battle of the Persian War. It was fought on the plain of Marathon just east of Athens in 490. With the Persians coming the Athenians sent a runner named Pheidippides to run for 2 days to get the Spartans to help. The Spartans were too busy with a religious ceremony so the Athenians faced and defeated the Persians alone. It was just the beginning. Battle of Marathon

9. The 2nd battle of the Persian War fought on a mountain pass in 480 BCE. (Thermopylae) The Spartans made their stand at Thermopylae and were holding their own as the Persians could not get through the pass. A Greek traitor informed the Persians of another pass and it allowed the Persians to surround and defeat the Spartans. Battle of the Thermopylae

10. The son of Darius who took over the empire of Persia when his father died. Xerxes would the lead the Persians at Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea. Xerxes and his soldiers slaughtered the remaining Spartans at Thermopylae. When the news got to Athens most people fled leaving a small army to defend Athens. Xerxes had Athens burned to the ground. Xerxes

11. Battle at Salamis • Themistocles send a message to Xerxes that he wanted to join the Persian army and if the Persians would attack most of the Greeks would surrender…A TRAP • The 3rd battle of the Persian War fought in channel near a place called Salamis in 480 BCE. Athenian naval leader Themistocles, set a trap for the Persians. The Persians took the bait and were crushed by the Greek Navy losing about 300 ships.

12. The final battle of the Persian War fought just outside of the town of Plataea in 479 BCE. The Persians were in bad shape and were destroyed by a Greek force of 80,000 led by the Spartans. The war was over and the Persians would never bother Greece again. Battle of Plataea