Essay The Persian Wars: How the Greeks Won

His force further had innumerable archers. It was with this in mind that the Athenians made the “fateful” decision to train 40,000 men for 200 ships in 481BCE. This force was relatively inexperienced compared to the Persian contingent, which included skilled Phoenician sailors (D.S 11.18.1). The Persians had light, fast boarding ships compared to the Greeks who had stout, strongly built ramming ships (8.10,60). This would prove critical later at the crowded straits of Salamis in 480BCE. If it were not for this fleet, the “Persian conquest of Greece would have been assured.” (7.139). If Persia had control of the sea, defeat by land would quickly have followed due to the inability of the city-states to hold a united front. The halt in city-state squabbles and the creation of the Hellenic League was “no small achievement” and was to the great disadvantage of Xerxes. This clearly was a factor in the overall demise of the campaign. The construction of the Athenian fleet, advocated by Themistocles, was a precursor to this.

The Role of Themistocles in the Greek Defeat of the Persians in 480 - 479 BC.

The reasons for the Greek victory against the Persians in 490 to 480/479 BC was a mixture of exceptional leadership, skilful tactics and strategy, superior weapons and soldiers, and Greek unity. Strong leadership was the most important aspect of the Greek defence, as without the intelligence and bravery of the leaders, the Greeks would have been easily defeated. As a result of the excellent leadership; Greek tactics, strategy, and unity were greatly strengthened. Combined with their better weapons and soldiers, the Greeks held the advantage and seized opportunities at the perfect moment. Also, with each

when the Persia’s fleets of 20,000 soldiers and their top generals sailed across the Aegean Sea to reach the plain of Marathon, north of Athens. As a result, the Athenians sent Philippides, the fastest runner, “who ran approximately 150 miles in two days to request the help of the Spartans.” However, the Spartans insisted on “celebrating the religious festival of Artemis-Carneia” before going into battle. After the Athenians received the dreadful news, the Athenian general named Miltiades and his outnumbered Athenian soldiers marched to the top of the hills of the Marathon. The Athenian soldiers and Miltiades charged down the hills in unison using the hoplite technique as they smashed into the lightly armed Persian’s defense lines and they strengthened their two wings as they pushed the Persian’s soldiers around and back into the sea. Most of the Persian’s soldiers were either killed in battle or drowned in the sea, but some of Persian soldiers escaped back to their ships. The Athenian soldiers who fought heroically to try to climb over the side of the Persian’s ships were praised and honored for their amputated right hand when they returned home to Athens.

The victory that sealed the deal for the Greeks was the Battle of Plataea. It took place the following spring after the Persian general Mardonius wintered in Thessaly with the Persian army. Hoplites from Athens and Pelopennesia combined to make the largest army in Greek history. A Spartan king, Pausanias, who routed the Persian army and killed their general, led them.

This was a naval battle between about 370 greek ships from various city states, and about 1200 Persians. The Greeks were led by their commander, Themistocles. The Persians were once again led by Xerxes. The Greeks lined their ships up between two river banks at a narrow point. The Persians charged ahead, but the Greeks were ready. The Persians got too bunched up at the blockade and were soon defeated. This is similar to what happened at the Battle of Thermopylae. We know this happened because we have a knife with a wood handle and an iron blade that was used in the battle. This battle proves yet again that numbers mean little when your opponent has a good

Themistocles was aware that the only way to defeat the Persians was to cut of their naval power, so he devised a plan. He sent a slave to the Persians with a message that they were escaping, and the Persians sent ships to meet there escapees. The Athenian ships were prepared to face them. Their specialty in sea battles, along with the narrowness and swirls of the sea gave the Athenians an advantage. This strategy is what ultimately brought victory to the Greeks, as it left the Persians without a supply line and weakened their forces. The two events, the battle at Marathon and the battle at Salamis, showed that Athens was a great contributor to the war, both land and sea.

These wars occurred during and after Pericles and lasted until the end of Alexander the Great. It ended with the defeat of Athens. The Persian wars were fought because Darius I was out to attack the land of the Greeks. Their were two Persian wars that occurred. The first was the Battle of Marathon, under control of Darius I was a battle of Persia vs Athens. During the first war the Athenians used phalanx formation which meant they had long spears to defeat the Persians. The second war was when Persia was under control of Xerxes I. The Persians invaded them so badly that Athens was to weak to fight back on their own. They had to request help from other city-states. Athens asked Sparta to be their allies in war and Sparta agreed to help defeat the Persians. The Battle of Thermopylae was the next when it was the Persians against the Spartans. They fought the battle in the mountain of Thermopylae. The Spartans distracted Persian troops

Hence, the tactics and the paramount strategy devised by Miltiades in the Battle of Marathon as well as the unification of the Greek forces, both effectively crushed the Persian onslaught and significantly increased the confidence of the Greeks to incline themselves in a common cause if the Persians attacked again.

The Persian army waited four days after their arrival on the Greek shore before actually engaging the Spartans in combat. On the fifth day Xerxes launched an assault on Leonidas’ position. To begin the attack the Persians fired a huge barrage of arrows at the Spartans. About 5,000 arrows were launched at the Spartans with no effect. The large bronze shields and helmets used by the Spartans proved to be too much for the Persian arrows. King Xerxes then ordered 10,000 troops forward to take the Spartans prisoners (Robinson). The wave of Persians moved forward and soon found themselves in a full frontal assault with a wall of spears and shields. The Spartan phalanx stretched from each side of the pass. The phalanx formation put each man shoulder to shoulder with their large shields forming a wall of bronze. Each man was armed with a spear that would protrude from the wall making it almost impossible for the Persian soldiers, with much smaller and weaker swards and shields, to penetrate their defense. The Spartan phalanx was positioned right behind the stone wall they had constructed as well.

To retaliate against the Greeks, Darius sent a force to attack the Greek mainland. In September of 490 BCE, the Greeks and Persians met at Marathon, Greece in the first large scale battle between the two sides. The Greeks had an estimated force of between 10,000 and 20,000, while the Persians numbered nearly 90,000

Nearly three quarters of the earth is covered with water, so it is only natural that navigation plays a crucial part in the course of human history. A brief review of maritime history illustrated the impact of water on the life as we know today. Perhaps, exploring the seas started from a curiosity for men, yet, slowly but surely it evolved into an indispensable aspect of life, providing a reliable and fast transportation path, whether for trade, exploration, or warfare, while playing the role of a reliable source of food through fishery. Historically, navigation played a crucial and undeniable role in the determination of the victorious side of warfare and conflicts. The Greco-Persian Wars, a half of century battle among the Achaemenid Empire

The first battle of the Persian War, the Battle of Marathon, took place in 490 BC. King Darius sent troops to Greece which stopped at each Greek island along the way demanding "earth and water," which both literally and symbolically represented submission to the Persian empire. The Battle of Marathon exemplifies the heroic action of the Greeks. The Athenians, led by one of their ten generals, Miltiades, unflinchingly faced the Persians, an army over twice the size of theirs, and triumphed. The Athenians won the Battle of Marathon because they employed superior military strategy. There are some discrepancies, however, between different literary sources about how the Greeks fought the Battle of Marathon. For instance, Herodotus claims that the ten Athenian generals could not decide whether to go into battle. He writes that Miltiades talked the other generals into fighting. Herodotus writes that they waited for days for Miltiades to lead the army, and then they went into battle (Hdt. 6.110-111.2). According to Nancy Demand, however, Herodotus, unaware of the right of the polemarch to make all final decisions, wrote that Miltiades decided when to lead the men into battle, because the longer they delayed the battle, the better chance the Athenians had that the Spartans would make it in time to help. Regardless of any conflict between sources, the heroism of the Athenians cannot be denied. Marathon represents "the victory of a small contingent of men fighting

The Battle of Thermopylae was one of the most significant battles in all off ancient history. It occurred in 480 BC between the invading Persian army, led by the self-proclaimed god-King Xerxes, and the Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas. Analysis of the battle of Thermopylae presents a classic case study highlighting how proper training; pre-battle planning and preparation; superior implementation of observation and fields of fire, avenues of approach, key terrain, obstacles, and cover and concealment (OAKOC); and cultural differences allowed a smaller military force to withstand a much larger opposing military force. This paper will apply the United States Army’s Four Steps of Battle Analysis to evaluate the key factors that

The Persian Invasion of Greece occurred in 492 B.C, during the Persian Wars. Persian King, Darius I wanted to extend his empire into Europe. Darius I ordered to punish the city- states of Athens and Eretria. After 2 years of battle, King Darius I got what he wanted. Most of Athens and Eretria were punished, and Aegean was brought under Persian Rule. Even after the invasion of Greece, King Darius I was not done, he wanted to rule it all. However, King Darius died of old age and it was left to his son Xerxes I. Xerxes led the second Invasion of Greece that began in 480