After a three-year long siege, Thasos was recaptured and forced back into the Delian League, though it also lost its defensive walls and fleet, its mines were turned over to Athens, and the city-state was forced to pay yearly tribute and fines. After being delayed by Leonidas I, the Spartan king of the Agiad Dynasty, at the Battle of Thermopylae (a battle made famous due to the sheer imbalance of forces, with 300 Spartans facing the entire Persian Army), Xerxes advanced into Attica, where he captured and burned Athens. Ancient History Encyclopedia has a new name! Second-in-command was Artaphernes, Darius’ nephew, who perhaps led the 2,000-strong Persian cavalry. The Spartans, although they had taken part in the war, withdrew from the Delian League early on, believing that the war’s initial purpose had been met with the liberation of mainland Greece and the Greek cities of Asia Minor. The Greeks were led by either Miltiades or Callimachus and they commanded a total force of only between 10,000 and 20,000, probably nearer the lower figure. Finally, they had ended Xerxes' ambitions in Greece. Next in king Darius' sights were Athens and the rest of Greece. There would be one more battle, the largest ever yet seen in Greece, and it would decide her fate for centuries to follow. Athens and other Greek cities sent aid, but were quickly forced to back down after defeat in 494 BCE, at the Battle of Lade. The Ionians settled along the coasts of Lydia and Caria, and founded 12 towns that remained politically separate from one another, although they did recognize a shared cultural heritage. He, with 20 years of experience and the confidence from his leadership at Artemision, employed a bold plan to entice the Persian fleet into the narrow straits of Salamis and hit the enemy fleet so hard it had nowhere to retreat to. Persian Wars Timeline. For Greece, however, the victory not only guaranteed her freedom from foreign rule but also permitted, soon after, an astonishingly rich period of artistic and cultural endeavour which would lay the cultural foundations of all future Western civilizations.Â, Related Content In 492 BCE, the Persian general, Mardonius, led a campaign through Thrace and Macedonia. Additionally, he lost his 1200-ship naval fleet to a storm off the coast of Mount Athos. As a result of the allied Greek success, a large contingent of the Persian fleet was destroyed and all Persian garrisons were expelled from Europe, marking an end of Persia’s advance westward into the continent. https://www.ancient.eu/Persian_Wars/. These actions signaled Athens’ continued defiance and brought Sparta into the conflict. After six years, the rebellion was ended. License. The Battle of Thermopylae is particularly famous as a force of 300 Spartans, led by the Spartan king Leonidas, who fought to the death against the Persians. Cyrus conquered one area after another, but allowed the conquered people to worship as they pleased, as long as they gave the great king annual tribute and military service. In September 480 BCE at Salamis in the Saronic Gulf, the Greeks once more faced a larger enemy force. Mark is a history writer based in Italy. Cartwright, Mark. The Battle of Marathon. The Persian advance was blocked at the pass of Thermopylae by a small Allied force under King Leonidas I of Sparta; simultaneously, the Persian fleet was blocked by an Allied fleet at the straits of Artemisium. However, due to their unwillingness to rise against the Lydians during previous conflicts, they were not granted special terms.  Meanwhile, the Persian fleet fled back to Asia but they would be back, and next time, in even bigger numbers. At close quarters the Greeks thinned their centre and extended their flanks to envelop the enemy lines. A combined force of Greek hoplites defeat the Persians at Marathon. Second-in-command was Artaphernes, Darius' nephew, who perhaps led the 2,000-strong Persian cavalry. World History Encyclopedia, 06 Apr 2016. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/Persian_Wars/. The Ionians sought to maintain autonomy under the Persians as they had under the Lydians, and resisted the Persians militarily for some time. The fighting was most intense during two invasions that Persia launched against mainland Greece between 490 and 479. Their strategy was largely successful, and there was no open conflict between the Greeks and Persia until 396 BCE, when the Spartan king Agesilaus briefly invaded Asia Minor. Athens came to the Ionians aid. We have also been recommended for educational use by the following publications: Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. The Spartan withdrawal from the League allowed Athens to establish unchallenged naval and commercial power within the Hellenic world. It was later defeated and forced to tear down its defensive city walls, surrender its fleet, and lost voting privileges in the League. Whatever the exact motives, in 491 BCE Darius once again sent envoys to call for the Greeks' submission to Persian rule. According to Thucydides, the siege of Thasos marked the transformation of the League from an alliance into a hegemony. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. The pivotal moment came in 479, when a massive Persian invasion force was defeated and driven out of mainland Greece and Europe, never to return. In response, a Greek army led by Leonidas' brother Kleombrotos began to build a defensive wall near Corinth but winter halted the land campaign. Historians also speculate that Sparta decided to leave the League for pragmatic reasons, remaining unconvinced that it was possible to secure long-term security for Greeks residing in Asia Minor, and as a result of their unease with Athenian efforts to increase their power. Thank you! While victorious, he was wounded and forced to retreat back into Asia Minor. Persia was a mighty empire, created by Cyrus, the Great. His special interests include pottery, architecture, world mythology and discovering the ideas that all civilizations share in common. Nonetheless, relations between Athens and Sparta were soured by the situation. Following their defeats at the hands of the Greeks, and plagued by internal rebellions that hindered their ability to fight foreign enemies, the Persians adopted a policy of divide-and-rule. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. The Spartans, although they had taken part in the war, withdrew into isolation afterwards. The Greek colony of Ionia was invaded by the Persians. The Persians possessed a similar number of troops, perhaps slightly more but, again, there are no exact figures agreed upon by scholars. The Persian Wars (499-449 BCE) were fought between the Achaemenid Empire and the Hellenic world during the Greek classical period. The Persian fleet continued to sail to Athens but, seeing it garrisoned, decided not to attempt an assault. After the failure of the first Persian invasion, Darius raised a large army with the intent of invading Greece again. This often takes the form of an invasion. Achaemenid Empire Map: The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent. The Persian War is the name generally given to the first two decades of the period of conflict between the Greeks and the Persians that began in 499 BC and ended around 450. 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