A NEW
WEAPONRY
•Bronze-–Expensive
•Only rich could afford to be in army
What was the Hoplite
soldier?
•Foot soldier in Greek
army
•Wore a linen shirt w/
metal armour plates, a
bronze helmet with a tall
crest on his head
The Hoplite
military formation
The
The Stage is set: The Ionian
Revolt
• Remember Persia?
– Cyrus conquered Ionia
– Cambyses conquered Egypt
and Greek islands
– Darius tried and failed to
conquer an area N of Greece
• Greeks thought they were next
– Ionia tried to fight back with
the help of other city-states
• Unsuccessful
The First Persian War:
The Battle of Marathon
• By land or by sea??
– 490 BC-Sea invasion Landed at Marathon
• Athenians-Some wanted to
surrender; others wanted to give
up democracy to help in the fight
• Took position around Marathon
– Sent Pheidippides to Sparta for help
• Ran 150 miles in 2 days
– Greeks beat Persians; Persians
boarded ships and left
• Where were they going?
– Athenians ran back to Athens (~25 miles)
The Second Persian War:
The Battle of Thermopylae
• After Marathon, Persians left Greece alone for 10 yrs
• Xerxes-son of Darius comes to power • By land or by sea?
– 480 BC: Sea didn’t work before; decided to come by land
• The Famous “Mountain Pass”
– Greeks knew the Persians were coming
• Sent soldiers to fight at the pass – Successful for several days – Greek traitor told the Persians
of a back way around the pass – Group of ~300 Greek soldiers agreed
to stay and fight while the other retreated
The Second Persian War:
The Battle of Salamis
• Athenians moved entire city to a
nearby island
– Persians burned the city to
the ground
• Began to fight a naval battle
– Athenians tricked the Persians
into thinking that they would
attack at night
• Persians stayed up all night
waiting to be attacked
while the Athenians slept
• Greeks attacked and won
against a sleepy Persian
navy
Consequences of Persian
Wars
• Athens decided that the city-states had to do
something in case the Persians came back
– Delian League-alliance to keep the strong Greek navy
together
• Led by Athens
– Soon Athens told the other city-states to stop sending ships and men, and just send money so Athens could build and defend the ships
» Led to Athenian “golden age”
» Golden Age -period of peace that leads to prosperity
