Persian and

Peloponnesian Wars

Persian War

490-479 BCE●Causes

oPersia takes over

Ionia

oAthens aids Ionia:

angers Persians

oPersia (under Darius)

puts down revolt:

vows revenge against

Greece

Persian War

●Major PlayersoDarius, king of

Persia

oXerxes, son of

Darius, who took

over in 480 BCE

oPersia v. the mostly

united Greek city-

states

Persian War – Major Battles

●Marathono25,000 Persians

defeated by 10,000

Athenians.

oMarathon sent runner

to warn city of

Athens

oPheideppides ran 26

miles, collapsing as

he enters city

Persian War – Major Battles

●Thermopylae-Dramatized

in the Movie 300oXerxes meets Greek

soldiers in narrow

mountain pass

oSmaller Greek armies

hold off Persians for

several days

o300 Spartan soldiers

defend pass as others

retreat

oSpartan soldiers sacrifice

to save fellow Greeks

Persian War – Major Battles

●Battle at SalamisoAthenians convinced to

battle Persians on SeaoAfter burning Athens,

Xerxes sent warships to block narrow sea passage

oSmaller, more maneuverable Greek ships defeat Persian navy

oPersians defeated by combined efforts of Greek city-states

Consequences of the Persian War

●Greeks gain sense of

Nationalism●Athens becomes leader

of a new alliance =

Delian League

●Athens enters ‘Golden

Age’●Tensions between

Athens & Sparta grow

The Peloponnesian War

431 – 404 B.C.

Peloponnesian War - Causes

●Athens gains power through Delian League

●Sparta resents Athens’ influence: forms alliance (Spartan Alliance) of like-minded city-states

●Hostilities grew until war declared

Peloponnesian War – Major

Players●Athens & Members

of Delian League

●Sparta & her allies

●Peloponnesian War

is an Ancient Greek

equivalent of a Civil

War

Peloponnesian War – the

Beginning●Sparta = superior

military

●Athens = superior Navy

●Because of wealth, Athens had nearly unlimited supplies

●Sparta needed

HELP!!

Athens

Sparta

Sparta gains an advantage

●Sparta turns to –

Persia●Navy > Ionia

●Athens falls prey to plague = kills 1/3 population

●Spartan navy defeats Athens in two major battles:

oa battle near Sicily ofinal defeat near the city-

state of Syracuse.

Peloponnesian War -

Consequences●Sparta defeats Athens,

however…

●Sparta unable to rule

Greek –city states

●Other city-states will

attempt to rule but fail

●Greece conquered by

Philip II, king of

Macedonia & by his

son, Alexander the

Great