The Greco-Persian Wars

The Greco-Persian Wars, also known as the Persian Wars, were a series of military campaigns carried out by the Persians against the Greek city-states. The war started when the Greeks settled in the region known as Anatolia, rose up in revolt against their Persian overlords. Asking for help, the Ionians recruited the aid of the Athenians. Although initially successful, the Ionians and their allies were beaten back by the Persians, with the revolt eventually failing. The Persian king of kings, Darius, was so offended by Athens coming to the aid of the rebels that he ordered an immediate invasion to bring them to heel. The Persians would invade Greece in 499 BC, landing at the Bay of Marathon. Athens had managed to assemble several small towns together to fend off the Persians. Through luck, the Persian cavalry left the field to go and raid Athens. The Athenians and their allies charged down the hill, defeating the remaining Persian force. The victorious Athenians then left the battlefield to go and make ready the defences of Athens. When the Persian cavalry saw the Athenian army manning the walls, they retreated. The first Persian invasion of Greece was a resounding Greek victory, with the Battle of Marathon becoming one of the most famous battles in history. The Persians would not give up though. Darius died before he could reassemble his army, so his son Xerxes carried on his father's mission. Marching a huge army across Thrace and down towards Greece in 480 BC. Xerxes faced a small coalition force led by the Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae. The Spartans and their allies held out for three days before being outflanked. The Spartans, Thebans and Thespians opted to stay behind and hold the Persians off, whilst the rest of the coalition's forces retreated to Corinth. The famous last stand of the Spartans would go down as the greatest in history, with every Greek left behind fighting to the death. Xerxes marched down towards Athens, eager to burn it down. He found Athens deserted and so he fulfilled his father's wishes of ransacking the city. However, in reality, the Athenians have fled with their fleet to the island of Salamis. There, on top of a mountain, Xerxes watched as his fleet battled the Athenians' fleet to disastrous consequences, with the Athenian ships decimating the Persians. Xerxes then left Greece after this disaster, leaving his army in the command of his generals. However, it would be little more than a year later that this army would be destroyed by the Spartans and the coalition allies at the Battle of Plataea. It would not be long after this that the coalition destroyed the remains of the Persian fleet. Following this, several Greek kingdoms, such as Macedon, declared their independence from the Persian Empire, with the Athenians forming a defensive alliance to fend the Persians off in the future. This alliance began to look suspiciously more like an empire, which eventually resulted in war between the Athenians and the Spartans, but that is a story for another time. Thank you for watching and listening to our videos. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe if you've enjoyed. All sources are listed and linked in the description below. I've been the Ancient History Guy, and as always, I'll be seeing you later.