WHI: SOL 5d, e Persian and Peloponnesian Wars Golden Age of Pericles.

WHI: SOL 5d, e

Persian and Peloponnesian WarsGolden Age of Pericles

Importance of Persian Wars (499–449 B.C. [B.C.E.])

• Persian wars united Athens and Sparta against the Persian Empire.

• Athenian victories over the Persians at Marathon and Salamis left Greeks in control of the Aegean Sea.

• Athens preserved its independence and continued innovations in government and culture.

Battle of Marathon• Persians sought to crush Athens, Persian army

landed at Marathon in 490 b.c. • Athenians were outnumbered but attacked,

broke through the Persian line and engaged in hand to hand combat

• Overwhelmed by the fury of the Athenian attack, the Persians retreated

Battle of Marathon

• Themistocles the Athenian general warned that the Persians would return and urged the Athenians to build a fleet of warships

• Legend of the Modern Marathon:• A runner covered the distance between

Marathon and Athens to report the victory • Distance was 22-25 miles

Battle of Thermopylae

• Spartans guarded the mountain pass• Led by the warrior-king Leonidas, the

Spartans held out against the massive Persian force, but were defeated in the end

Battle of Salamis

• Athenians lured the Persian navy into the narrow strait of Salamis

• Athenian warships, powered by rowers, drove into the Persian boats with underwater battering rams

• Xerxes watched from shore as his fleet sank

Golden Age of Pericles (mostly occurring between the Persian and the Peloponnesian Wars)

• Pericles extended democracy; most adult males had an equal voice.

• Pericles had Athens rebuilt after destruction in the Persian Wars; the Parthenon is an example of this reconstruction.

• After the Persian Wars, Greece formed an alliance known as the Delian League, headed by Athens

• Known for the Funeral Oration to commemorate those who died fighting Sparta in the Peloponnesian War

Parthenon (Athens, Greece)

Importance of Peloponnesian War (431–404 B.C. [B.C.E.])

• Caused in part by competition for control of the Greek world: Athens and the Delian League versus Sparta and the Peloponnesian League

• Resulted in slowing of cultural advance and the weakening of political power