Assyrians
“Bandit-Kings”, destroyed in 612 BC
- First major aggressive power in this part of the world
- Would terrorize villages to get food and money and then would leave
- Never took control of an area
- If they were obeyed, it was fine, but if a village disobeyed, they were very ferocious
- Final China, Egypt, Babylon and Persia came together and destroyed the Assyrians
Rise of the Persians (559-522)
- Began as a relatively minor race, living in a poor and tough area of the world
- Powerful race who pushed around neighbors
Cyrus (550-530) and King of Media
- “Tough land, makes tough people”
- Established Persia after the Assyrians were destroyed
Zoroastrianism
- Monotheism
- Believed in the force of light and the force of darkness
Darius (521-486)
- Decided to create an empire
- Largest on this western side of China
- Decided that if an area was conquered, the people and area became Persian
- Divided up the empire into provinces, appointed generals, create roads, collected taxes
- Was generous to the conquered people
- Some Greek cities welcomed the Persians and were absorbed by the Empire
- Most Greeks really resented the Persians because the polis was supposed to stand alone, no Greek should have to bow to a king
The Ionian Revolt (499-494)
- A Greek governor appointed by the Persian king, borrowed some money from the Persian king and then lost it all
- Knowing he was going to be punished, he started a revolt and convinced other polis to kick out their governors and even went to mainland Greece for support
- Spartans had nothing to do with it
- Athenians did send 20 ships
- Had initial success, attacked a Persian city and ransacked and burned it
- Persian king sent troops to do combat them, Ionia lost
- Darius executed the ring leaders of the revolt and killed their families but was generous to the rest
- Because of this revolt, Darius took notice of Greece and decided to absorb it
1st Persian Invasion (490)
- Darius sent ambassadors to Athens and Sparta asking for submission
- Some earth and water
- Both Sparta and Athens refuse so Darius sends a military expedition to deal with it
- Sends troops to an area called Marathon in the polis Athens
- Athenians asked Sparta for help but Sparta couldn’t because of religious festival
- 25000 Persians to 10000 Athenians
- Athenian general came up with a strategic plan
- Plan was to have a weak middle and strong weeks so that when Persians broke through the middle the Greeks could surround them
- Plan worked with Persian losses of 6000 and Athenians under 200
- Persians fled to their ships and decided to sail to Athens and attack the city since nobody was there
- Raise between Athens on the ground and Persians on the sea
- Some Athenians wanted the Persian rule
- Marathon represents the freedom of Greece – small band of men fought the tyranny
Themistocles
- Discovered a large deposit of silver in the nearby mountains
- Themistocles convinced the citizens to build a large fleet of ships and harbor
- Because of the continuing threat of Persia
Great Persian Invasion: 480
- 10 years later, the next Persian king Xerxes sent another expedition to Greece; 500,000 men & 1,000 ships (?)
- Mind boggling numbers
- Deliberately chose soldiers from all over the empire
- Supposed to be a multi-cultural attack that would wipe out the Greek blob
Dissension among the poleis
- Did not know what to do
- Some Greek poleis decided to go over to the Persians
- But a significant number decided to resist
Thermopylae
- Sparta wanted all Greeks to come to the south end but Athenians refused and told Spartans to face the Persians to the north
- In the end the Greeks decided to make a stand at Thermopylae because the mountains go right up to the sea
- Only a narrow path to pass for the Persians to pass through so their large numbers did not work
- Might have worked but the Greek fleet was defeated so there was large numbers of men stranded on land
- 300 Spartans stayed to hold the pass while the rest of the Greeks retreated
- The small force lasted for days resisting the Persians
- Somebody betrayed the Spartans and told them of pass to get behind and eventually overwhelmed the small force
- Persia marched on and burned Athens to the ground as the Athenians watched
Battle of Salamis
- Themistocles convince the Greeks to fight a naval war
- Pretended to betray Greece and told Persians to come and trap the Athenian fleet
- This battle was the turning point of the war
- Athenian fleet had triple the amount of rowers, triple the power
- Had large amount of practice in the boats
- Would charge into the Persian fleets, turn sharply and drive into the boats
Plataea and Mycale, 479 BC
- The Persian king thought they still had enough ground forces to keep attacking
- It was Spartans turn to show their might and crumple the Persian ground force
Hoplite & Phalanx
- Phalanx is the style of how the Spartans assembled
- Large shields lined up in the front and worked as a bulldozer type
- Soldiers were heavily armored in the front
- At this point in Greek history the classical era begins
- This victory triggers a huge confidence in the people
