The Persian Wars: Phase 1 c. 513-490 BC
In 546 BC Lydia had fallen to the armies of a new eastern power, Persia, and in short order the Ionian cities were subdued too.
Persian rule was at first light, and so long as the cities paid their tribute they were left more or less to get on with their own affairs. However, the Persians’ demand for taxes and men for their expeditions steadily increased, and the Persians progressively installed tyrants congenial to their rule in all these cities.
In 513 BC the Persian king, Darius, led an expedition across the Dardanelles into Thrace, which achieved little but served notice on Greece that Persian ambitions in this region were by no means sated.
In 499 BC, the Ionian cities of Asia Minor rose in revolt against their Persian masters. They sought aid from Sparta and Athens. Sparta refused but Athens agreed. The revolt was slowly put down by the Persians, and, after some sever reprisals, they imposed a more lenient settlement than before on the Greek cities: tribute was eased and the citizens were left to organize their own affairs with less interference from the imperial authorities – even democracies were permitted.
However, the mainland Greeks, and Athens in particular, were now in the Persians’ direct line of fire, a fact about which they had no doubts. As in most states faced with this kind of threat, the Athenians were divided into those who felt it best to come to terms with the enemy, and those who stood for no surrender.
Gradually the Athenians came round to the “no surrender” view, and put their faith in Themistocles, one of the most brilliant statesmen Athens ever produced. By 490 BC the Persians had completed the re-conquest of Ionia, and in that year launched a large sea-borne invasion across the Aegean, landing at Marathon, near Athens. Here their army was trounced by the much smaller Athenian army, and the Persian fleet sailed away leaving many dead.
The Persian Wars: Phase 2 490-479 BC
The Persians tried again ten years later, this time under the personal command of their king, Xerxes, and with a huge force.
Having thrown a bridge of boats lashed together across the Bospherus, the narrow sea passage between Europe and Asia; and having dug a canal through an isthmus at Mt Athos to avoid the particularly dangerous coast there; they marched along the Aegean coast, their fleet and army keeping in close touch and moving in tandem, and approached Greece from the north.
Meanwhile, under Themistocles’ prodding, Athens had taken more steps to strengthen its democracy by placing the important magistracies into the hands of the people, and by greatly expanding its navy. In Athens, naval power and radical democracy went together. The men who rowed the galleys were the poorest citizens, who could not afford their own armour. So, they had a vested interest in increasing the amount of galley-work, for which they were paid a generous daily rate. They were also the section of the community who wished to see the most radical democracy, as it was this form of government that gave them the most power. On this occasion, this vested interest turned out to be in the interests of all Greece. Themistocles had successfully called for the revenue from the expanded silver mines at Laurion to pay for the fleet.
The preparations of the Persians, especially the digging of the canal at Mt Athos, gave due notice to the Greeks of the Persian intentions, and the Greek city-states held a conference to plan their defence. An army under Spartan command was positioned at the pass of Thermopylai, and a mainly Athenian fleet was positioned close by, at Artemision.
The Persians broke through this barrier, but only after hard fighting and the withdrawal of most of the Greek army intact, covered by the magnificent courage of a small Spartan force.
The Greek army having taken up a strong defensive line across the Peloponnesian Isthmus, Xerxes then decided to turn the Greek lines by sea. The Athenian navy stood in his way, and at the resulting battle of Salamis, crippled the Persian fleet.
Xerxes withdrew his army from Athens (which the Athenians had evacuated and he had burnt), and himself left for Asia. The Persian forces left in Greece were, early in the following year (479 BC), heavily defeated at the battle of Plataia by a combined Greek army under Spartan command. The Persians evacuated Greece as best they could.
Next:
The History of Ancient Greece, Part 7: Athens: Golden Age
Article © TimeMaps 2007.
Last updated: 13th August 2007
