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The Persian Empire was founded by Cyrus the Great he built the largest empire in the world, Zoroastrian was the religion. Darius I got the throne in 522 BCE, and took over parts of Greece, Egypt and Central Europe

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Sparta was located in Southeast Greece, Militaristic society had a huge population of enslaved people, and was leader of the Peloponnesian league.

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Athens was Democratic, greater appreciation for arts and culture, few rights for women, leader of Delian League

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Ionians revolt against the Persians

Athens sends aid to the Ionians

Persians defeat Ioanians and Persians want revenge at Athens for sending aid

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Darius I assembles an army of 20,000 to invade Greece in 490 BCE

Persian fleet lands at Marathon, about 25 miles away from Athens

The outnumbered Athenians defeat the Persians at the Battle of Marathon

The Athenians won Marathon because the Persians came in from the sea at a narrow pass, so Greece rained down arrows and artillery

(Side note) -According to Herodotus, an Athenian runner named Pheidippides was sent to run from Athens to Sparta to ask for assistance before the battle. He ran a distance of over 140 miles, arriving in Sparta the day after he left.

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Darius I dies and Xerxes, his son, takes power in Persia

Xerxes starts planning an invasion to avenge the first loss

Xerxes set out in the spring of 480 BCE with supposedly the largest army ever assembled

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Xerxes takes power in Persia and the massive army crosses the hellespont from Asia to Europe

Herodotus relates in that for the Second Persian invasion of Greece a canal crossing the Hellespont was constructed. 360 ships were tied together. When a storm destroyed much of the bridge, Herodutus wrote that Xerxes was enraged and had those responsible for building the bridges beheaded. He is then said to have given it three hundred whiplashes, and branded it with red-hot irons as the soldiers shouted at the water.

After Xerxes anger subsided, they built bridges with boats strapped together and planks laid down on top. Wooden planks were laid across the cables, and brushwood and soil used to cover the planks and form a dirt roadway. Screens were put up on either side of the bridges to prevent the horses and other animals from panicking at the sight of the sea below.

The crossing of the Hellespont took seven days and nights, the army using the northeasterly bridge and the huge crowd of attendants and baggage animals the southwesterly bridge.

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An alliance of city-states forms to defend Greece

Athens builds a massive navy

Xerxes’ route would require the army to travel through a narrow pass at Thermopylae

Spartan King Leonidas &300 elite warriors meet them there

Leonidas told his troop that they were dedicated to battle and would probably die

Leonidas and Spartans hold off Persia for a week, eventually they all die, and it gave time to Greeks to prepare for invasion

Athens is captured and burned by Persians

Athens was evacuated and sacked by Persia, The Athenian navy engages the Persians at sea, and are victorious at Salamis

In 479 BCE, Athenian and Spartan hoplites defeat the Persian army at battle of Plataea

Xerxes is forced to retreat back to Persia

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Sparta was weakened

Athens emerges as the most powerful city-state

Athens creates the Delian League & builds an empire

Athens rebuilds better than ever & experiences a Golden Age

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Credit to Mrs. Wisor for putting together a Pear Deck for the information.