A+ Club Lesson Planner & Study Guide

Persian Wars

See Ancient Greece Outline



Background

Persian Empire

  • referred now as "Achaemenid Empire" (Wikipedia)
  • creation of Persian Empire
    • Cyrus consolidation and conquest of Persia, Media and surrounding regions, 553-550 BC
    • Cyrus conquest of Lydia (Asia Minor) with defeat of King Croesus at the battles of Pteria and Thymbra and took over the Lydian capital at Sardis, 547 BC
    • Cyrus conquest of Mesopotamia and Bablyon ("Neo-Babylonian empire"), 539 BC
    • Cambyses II (son of Cyrus) conquest of Egypt, 525 BC
  • Persian rule
    • "Earth and Water" as symbols of submission
    • three capitals of
   >> todo
    • satrapy
    • "Eyes" >> emperor's spies
    • tribute
      • Babylon, India, and Egypt were the largest sources of tribute for the Persians (in order of contribution)
      • Egypt paid 700 talents of siler per year plus 120,000 bushels of grain
        • this single annual tribute from Egypt exceeded the total tribute collected annually by the Athenians from the Delian league members

Ionia

  • Ionia = Greek but with Asian cultural and political influence
  • Lydian empire (Asia Minor)
    • Alyattes of Lydia conquered Miletus (Ionian city state) and formed alliance with Miletus
    • terms of alliance = internal autonomy but overall Lydian direction
  • Alyattes' son, Croesus, expanded Lydian control of Ionia

Persian conquest of Ionia

  • Persian empire creation and expansion under Cyrus the Great
    • as Cyrus invaded Lydia, he asked Ionian states to assist; they refused
    • Cyrus conquers Lydia
      • Cyrus threatens punishment for Ionian support of Lydia against Persia
      • Lydians offer same terms as they had had with Lydia
      • Cyrus refuses and administers direct rule
    • Ionian political structures are too difused for easy rule by Persians
      • unlike other conquered states, where existing autocratic rule allowed for easy replacement by Persian rule, Ionian states were not centralized and thus had no centers of power to adopt
      • rival factions were difficult to place under single rule: no consensus
      • Cyrus institutes rule by tyrants appointed by the Persians and supported by Persian arms
    • the "tyrants' paradox" = Persian chosen, but not chosen by local people
    • as result, Ionian populace was not fully subjugated and not loyal to tyrants or to Persia
      • however, Ionia was generally accepting of Persian rule under Cyrus and Darius I
  • Cyrus conquered Ionia in 547 BC

Persian Rule of Ionia

    • Ionian city-states were independent and in the Greek tradition were not used to centralized, foreign rule
    • he appointed tyrants to rule the city-states of Ionia
    • the tyrants reported to his satraps (governors)

Warfare techniques

  • Persia
    • large army from across empire
    • had general uniformity of armor and strategies
    • infantry:
      • weapons = bow, short thrusting spear, sword or ax
      • protection = wicker shield and leather armor
      • metal armor for higher ranks
    • "Sparabara" (wikipedia)
      • = "shield bearers"
      • trained Persian soldiers who carried large wicker shields and long spears
      • not full-time soldiers (returned to homes when not campaigning)
      • highly maneuverable
      • protected archers
    • cavalry
      • lightly armed with bows
    • strategies
      • archers launched initial attacks
      • Sparabara lead charges
      • followed by foot soldiers
    • "Immortals" -- the Persian Imperial Guard and standing army
      • described by Herotodus as the "Ten Thousand Immortals"
      • core 10,000 member unit led during Xerxe's invasion of Greece by the satrap Hydarnes
      • "immortals" because if one died was immediately replaced by another to keep numbers at 10,000
      • professional, full-time soldiers, used similar weapons, armor and shields as infantry, except with metal armor under their cloaks
    • Persian navy
      • recruited from conquered states, especially Egypt, Phoenicia, Cyprus and Ionia
    • Persian strengths
      • massive armies
      • mobile and quick
      • highly centralized for effective decisions and commands
    • Persian weaknesses
      • non-professional armies = not dedicated soldiers
      • not used to fighting against Greek heavy armor and closed formations ("phalanx")
      • highly centralized command structure weakens with death of a general or leader
  • Greece
    • hoplite

Historiography

  • Persian perspective untold
  • Greek perspective = from Herodotus: "Father of History"
    • Herodotus' "Histories"
      • wrote history of the background and events of Persian Wars
      • aimed for truthful, factual history, but included myths, rumor, and opinion
      • while biased from Greek view, Herodotus attempted disinterested "objective" perspective
      • = first comprehensive history ever written

Ionian Revolt (499 to 493 BC)

  • Aristagoras, tyrant of Miletus (Ionian Greek city state)
    • with Persian support, invaded Naxos, an Aegean island in between Ionia and Greece
    • the Persian satrap at Sardis, Artaphernes (brother of Darius), supported the invasion
    • the invasion of Naxos failed
    • worried about Persian reaction to his failure, Aristagoras turned on the Persians
    • starting in Miletus, he incited rebellion across Ionia
  • Ionian Revolt
    • discontent with the rule by Persian-appointed tyrants, Ionian Greeks joined rebellion
    • revolt spread into Asia Minor and around the southern coast to Cyrprus(499-493 BC), flamed by some of the Ionian victories which convinced others to join them
    • Aristagoras traveled to Greece and convinced people of Athens and Eretria (port city north of Athens, called "City of Rowers") to assist in the fight against Persian rule. (He failed to convince the Spartans to join him)
    • Athenian and Eretrian forces helped Aristagoras invade Ionia and into Asia Minor
    • the expedition attacked Sardis, the local capital of the Persian satrapy (capital of Lydia, famously ruled by Croesus, and conquered by Cyrus; the Persian Royal Road ended at Sardis)
    • Darius organized his army to suppress the revolt
      • several battles followed, going for and against each side
      • Battle of Lade (wikipedia) 494BC
        • Darius concentrated on Miletus, where the revolt was begun by Aristagoras
        • Persian navy consisted of ships from Phoencia, Cyprus (now re-joined to Persia), Egyptians and others
        • Persian navy won decisively and then the army besieged and captured Melitus
        • Persian forces wrapped up resistance across Ionia
  • Aftermath of Ionian Revolt
    • Herodotus claims severe punishments imposed on places of continuing resistance, including castration of boys and capture of girls for the Persian king's harem
    • Persians likely punished resistance severely, but also knew from experience that local rule had to legitimate in eyes of the conquered, so they sought acceptable terms
    • most places succombed and were welcomed peaceully by the Persians back into their sphere and control
    • Persian peace settlements were perceived as fair by Ionians
      • Herodotus relates how the Persians imposed agreements between feuding Ionian states and thus promoted peace and increased trade
    • Ionian city-states rejoined Persian empire and provided important manpower and boats for the later invasions of Greece
    • Aristagoras fled to Thrace (northern coast of Aegean Sea) and was later killed there by locals

Athos Canal

  • Arthachaees, the "Stentorian" overseer >>?? ... was supposed to have been over 8 feet tall and to have had the loudest voice among the Persians
    • died during construction and buried there
    • locals continued to worshiped him as a demi-god
  • Sources:
  • "The Greco-Persian Wars," by Peter Green; p. 89


sources & links =


Teaching Strategies

Using the movie "300"

>>> todo: outline the movie points for each scene (minute)

Fact v. Fiction and Exageration

  • well Scene: killing Persian diplomats
    • Persian ambassador showing skulls of conquered kings:
      • Persian strategy was to negotiate submission through dividing enemies and threatening destruction
    • "Earth & Water": symbolic token of "Earth and Water" as sign of submission to Persian rule
    • Leonidads calls Athenians "boy lovers"
      • truth is that pederasty was common throughout Archaic & Classical age Greece, especially in Sparta which used "Spartan Pederasty" as part of military training / upbringing
      • also, the Athens of poets and artists, i.e. Golden Age of Athens, arises after the Persian Wars
    • Leonidas kicks Persian ambassador into the well
      • prior to the 2nd Persian invasion (culminating in the battle of Marathon), the Persians sent ambassadors to Greece seeking surrender ("earth and water").
      • the Athenians rejected the offer, tried and killed the Persian messengers and buried them in a pit
      • the Spartans rejected submission as well, and killed the Persian messengers and threw them into a well, where they could find "earth and water" if they wanted it (Herodotus)
  • "300" soldiers scene, Leonidas gathers his troops
    • each Spartan king had full command of 100 soldiers, and had full decision-making power over them (>> to confirm)
    • when at war, traditionally both kings fought, but by time of Persian Wars, only one king would leave, with the other staying at Sparta
    • the king who went to fight kept a royal guard of 300 soldiers or "hippeis" (word for cavalrymen, although the Spartan did not use calvary until late in the Peloponnesian Wars)
  • hoplite scene: Spartans meet other Greeks (>>Thebians??) on the way to Thermopylae
    • in the movie, Leonidas asks the other Greeks their profession, to which they answer of the various trades, potter, blacksmith, etc.
    • he then asks the Spartans what is their profession, to which they all affirm being full-time soldiers
    • historical source is from another Spartan king, Agesilaus; when questioned by his allies why he had brought so few solders to a campaign, whereas they had brought far more, Agesilaus had all the soldiers declare their professions, demonstrating that his Spartans were not tradesmen, but full time solders. From Plutarch, "the Life of Agesilaus":
      • "...the allies of the Lacedaemonians were offended at Agesilaus, because [...] they themselves [provided] so many [soldiers], and the Lacedaemonians, whom they followed, so few. [...] Agesilaus, wishing to refute their argument with numbers [...] ordered all the allies to sit down by themselves promiscuously, the Lacedaemonians apart by themselves. Then his herald called upon the potters to stand up first, and after them the smiths, next, the carpenters in their turn, and the builders, and so on through all the handicrafts. In response, almost all the allies rose up, but not a man of the Lacedaemonians; for they were forbidden to learn or practice a manual art. Then Agesilaus said with a laugh: 'You see, O men, how many more soldiers than you we are sending out.'"
  • destroyed village & crucifixion scene:
    • the "300" run across a destroyed city, with a lone survivor, a young boy.
    • bodies of the dead have been nailed to a tree
      • the Persians, as other Mideastern conquerers, would crucify defeated leaders as a show of force
      • the Persians did destroyed cities that refused to surrender, killing the populace or taking them as slaves
  • Storm destroys Persian fleet
    • three storms ravaged the Persians naval effort
      • at the Hellespont, destroying Xerxes boat bridge as he attempted to cross from Asia to Europe (fixed and crossed successfully)
      • just prior to Thermopylae the Persian fleet off the coast was struck by a "meltemi" ("Hellesponter") storm that ruined about a third of the Persian fleet, along the coast of Magnesia, by Mt. Ossa, north of Thermopylae
        • flotsom littered the coast, and salvagers and shoreline scavengers scooped up treasure and supplies form the wreck
      • the night of the 1st day of fighting at Thermopylae, another storm (a "sirocco") hit parts of the Persian fleet off the coast by Mt. Pelion; many boats were destroyed, but not a large number, which escaped by moving into the narrow Strait of Euboea
      • it was the storm off of Mt. Ossa that is depicted in the movie; however, it was not near to Thermopylae and therefore was not seen by Leonidas' troops
  • "giant" battle scene
    • the Persian overseer of the workers on the Athos canal project was known as a "giant"; supposedly 8-feet tall, Artachaees. He died during construction and did not see battle at Thermopylae
  • Persians threaten to blacken the sky with arrows:
    • from Herodotus:
      • “Although extraordinary valor was displayed by the entire corps of Spartans and Thespians, yet bravest of all was declared the Spartan Dienekes. It is said that on the eve of battle, he was told by a native of Trachis that the Persian archers were so numerous that, when they fired their volleys, the mass of arrows blocked out the sun. Dienekes, however, quite undaunted by this prospect, remarked with a laugh, 'Good. Then we'll have our battle in the shade.' “(The Histories)


  • >> section to do



[Category:Ancient Greece] [Category:Persia]

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