The Persian War began with the Ionian Revolt

• Persia was trying to broaden its empire and started with the area occupied by the Ionians

Greece sided with the Ionians and the rivalry between Persia and Greece began

490-The Persians invade the Greece mainland

• This was a war of revenge against the Greeks for "daring to stop the Persians' imperial advance"
• Darius became the Persian leader
  • his fleet had first been sent to conquer some nearby islands and were then ordered to move on to Athens
• Miltiades soon became the Athenian general
  • heard about the Persian plan
• An Athenian surprise attack drove the Persians back with heavy losses

Battle of Marathon

• Persia struck back with large forces
• The Greeks (Athenians and Plataeans) were outnumbered
• Surprisingly, the Greeks defeated the Persian force and captured seven ships
  • The Greeks explained the victory as an outcome of their strong nationalism

480-Persians under Xerxes invade Greece

• Xerxes was Darius's son and the new king of Persia
  • invaded Greece at the Sardis of Asia Minor
  • Possessed and used 60,000 men and 1200 ships, "the largest invasion force the world had yet seen"
  • His best soldiers were called the "10,000 Immortals"
  • His foot soldiers were armed with spears, and he also possessed great archers
  • All of his empire were required to send him men to fight in the war
• His men marched into the narrow channel which divides Asia Minor from Europe
• The Greeks chose to defend:
  • Their land at Thermopylae
  • The sea at Artemesium
• Both were losses for the Greeks, but bought time

479-Battle at Salamis

• The Greeks had recently found silver mines and under the Greek admiral Themistocles, used the new found wealth to build warships
  • By the beginning of the war they possessed 200 ships
• At the battle at Salamis he greatly outsmarted Xerxes' fleet commanders
  • To stop army he made a wooden wall of ships at the isthmus
  • Xerxes found Athens empty and burned it to the ground
  • Themistocles sent a servant to tell Xerxes she was a traitor, and relay that:
    • There was a Greek escape at dawn and that Xerxes should send his main fleet across the Bay to catch them
  • Following this advice, the Persians entered the Bay at a bad angle and got jammed together, making it impossible to fight back well
• The outcome was a Greek victory, with the Persian fleet almost completely destroyed

Battle at Plataea

• Right after the Battle at Salamis, the Spartans, lead by their king, Pausanias defeated what remained of the Persian army
• The Persians were finally driven off Greek soil and Greek independence was gained 

477- Aristides forms Delian League

• Athens assumed the presidency of the Delian League
• Greece soon became aggressive economically, politically, and militarily and quickly grew very powerful
• The main purpose of the league was to keep the Persians away from Greek lands
• Each country in their empire was required to give money to fulfill this goal

451-Athens and Sparta sign 5 yr. Treaty

• There were earlier troubles between the two:
  • In 464, during the Hevolt revolt, the Spartans had called for help but then sent the Athenians home
  • In 449, Athens allied with Spartan enemies
  • In 433, the Delian League was transferred to Athens
    • Both Athens and Sparta were part of Greece and wanted to hold the head of the Delian League
    • Because of the move, decisions of the league were now made largely by Athens
• These sources and others relay that the treaty was probably signed to delay the inevitable conflict

449- Persia and Athens sign peace treaty

• This treaty ended warfare which had been existing between the two for more than 40 years

446-Athens and Sparta sign 30 Years Peace

• Athens acknowledged that Sparta was getting dangerously powerful
• Panicking, they negotiated

431-Pelopennesian war

• This war was the climax of the rivalry between Athens and Sparta
• The Athenian leader was Pericles
• The Spartans had the superior army so the Athenians avoided land battles and relied instead on control of the sea
• The Spartan strategy was to invade yearly, encouraging Athenians to rebel
• During the first battle, a plague removed 1/4 of the Athenian population and caused Pericles' death
• Next, the Spartan army invaded Attica, hoping to incite Athenian subjects to rebel, it was unsuccessful
• Athens retaliated by raiding the Peloponnesian coast, to retain control of the sea, this too was unsuccessful

421-Peace of Nicias

• The Peace of Nicias was signed between Athens and Sparta, but failed to stop the war
  • Neither side liked what they got with the treaty so it was quickly broken

413-Sicily

• Athens intervened in a Sicilian civil war to help out Sicily, an ally
• A surprise attack by the Persians caused devastating results for Athens

404-Pelopennesian war ends

• Sparta became a great naval power and gradually drove Athens from the sea
  • Sparta now had Persian financial aid for their fleet
  • Now they outdid Athens with both their army and navy
• Under siege, Athens finally surrendered and agreed to the destruction of its fortifications and gave up their navy and empire
• The Thirty Tyrants took charge in Athens
• Sparta becomes the acknowledged leader of the Greek world

403-Democracy is restored

• Sparta could not govern the empire and retain its conservatism
  • tax money and tribute poured in as wealth and factionalism broke Sparta apart
• The Thirty Tyrants are ousted and the Athenian Democracy takes its place again