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The Persian Wars were the 5th century BC struggle between the Persian Empire and the Greek city states. It can be said that the success of the small Greek city states' success in maintaining their independence was the birth of Western civilization.
The Greek city state was the central political institution of classical Greece. The Greek speaking world was divided into a number of different
independent city states. A Greek city state was known as the "polis". These ciy states were an important political innovation with began to appear
about 800 BC. These city states appeared on the Greek peninsula, the mainland, and the coast of Asia Minor or modern Turkey. Each important
Greek city was an independent state. They controlled varrying territories around their city. There were alliances and associations between these cities.
Many founded colonies. The dominate city state for much of Greek history was Athens. Although Athens was of enormous impact to western
civilization, it and the other city states were not large. Athens was the largest and at the height of its power had a population of only 0.2 million.
Thebes and Sparta were also important and there were several other smaller city states. Many modern concepts of ancient Greece are based on
available information about Athens. There were many similarities between the different cities of the Greek world. There were, however, important
differences. Sparta contrasted sharply with Athens and the rest of the Greek city states. Sparta was the largest of the city states in area, but not in population. It
was militarily important because of its social structure. While a few city states were well known. There were as many as 1,500 such entities, many extremely small
and would hardly be seen as cities or even towns in modern terms.
Athens had overthrown their brutal tyrant Hippias whose fmily had attempted to return a monarchy to Athens (510 BC). Hippias fled to Persia appeling for ssistance. Athens gradually developed a democratic system of government.
Athens and Ereteria incouraged the Ionian Greek city states in Anatolia to revolt from the Persian Empire. Perian Emperor Darius the Great suppressed the revolt (494 BC). He pledged to reek his revenge on the Greeks.
Darius' first effort to conquer the Greeks was a massive invasion forced placed under the command of his son-in-law, Mardonius (492 BC). Th army marched west, conquering Thrace. It then compeled King Alexander I of Macedon to accept Persian control. The Persin invsion was foiled, however, when the Persian navy was destroyed in a storm. The Persians relied on the navy to mive supplies and equipment. Mardonius had to retreat back to Persia.
It might be said that Western civilization was born on the dusty plains of Marathon.
Darius was determined to subjagate the Greeks. He planned to punish the Athenians and reinstall the deposed tyrant Hippias. Hippias informed him that the Alcmaeonidae, an important Athenian family, were opposed to Miltiades and prepared to assist in his restoration if the Athenian army could be drawn out of the city,
Hippias asured Darious tht Athens under his rule would accept Persian control. This was the basic approach in the Persian Empire to support or impose a local leader which they could control. This seemed a perfect opportunity to defeat the Athenians thus weakening the Greek alliance. He reasoned that subjecting Sparta and the other Greeks would be much easier once the Athenins were disposed of.
Darius sent another massive invasion force of 600 ships and a huge army of 25,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry. The Persian force was more than twice as large as the Athenian army, but much more varied--drawn from all over the vast Persian Empire. The Persians were led by two commanders. Artaphernes, son of a satrap of Sardis, commanded the western Persian army. Datis, a Median admiral, commanded the fleet. It was a foregone conclussion that the massive Persian Empire could easily defeat and humiliate Athens and its allies. Again the Persians launched their attack by sea. The Persian navy including war ships and transports departed from ports streaching frpm Samos to Naxos. They sailed to Carystus on the south coast of Euboea.
The first target was Eretria which had assisted Athens in supporting the Ionian revolt. The Persian fleet sailed up the Euboean channel to Eretria and laid seige to the city. Artaphernes with part of the the Persian army organized the seige. The Persians planned to destroy Eriteria, in part to terrorize the Athenians. Eretria was a smaller, easier target. The Eretrians appealed to Athens for assistance. The Athenians agreed, but needed a larger force to confront the Persians.
The Athenians assembled their army north and sent runners to their allies for assistance. They famously sent Phidippides, a runner, to Sparta. (Given Greece's rocky terraine, runners were often faster than mounted courriers.) The modern marathon race is named after a run made by an Athenian to request Spartan aid. Sparta along with Athens were the two most powerful Greek city states. The Spartans were renounded throughout Greece for the strength and discipline of their hopplite infantry. The Athenian runner reached Sparta in the middle of an important religious festival (September 9). The Spartans agreed to assist, but were very dutiful above civic functions and refused to march until the end of the Carneian festival which meant the full moon (September 19-20). They were to arrive a day after the battle was fought. The Spartans were embarassed to have missed such an important battle.
The Athenian army totaled about 9,000-10,000 men. The Greek force was based on the armoured infantrymen--the hopplites. It was commanded by Callimachus the polemarch. Callimachus and his ten tribal generals marched north from Athens to relieve Eriteria.
Hippias had helped select Marathon as the best place to land. Marathon proved to be the decisive battle of the first Persian War. The Persians split their force. Part of the army laid seige to Eriteria. Datis with the bulk of the Persian force landed at Marathon from where he could threaten Athens itself. Marathon offered a broad plain, perfectly suited for deplying a large military force.
Callimachus upon hearing of the landings at Marathon turned from Eriteria to confront the Persians at Marathon. Upon reaching the nearby valley of Avlona, he camped by the shrine of Heracles. Here 1,000 hoplites from Plataea joined with the Ahenians. Even without the vaunted Spartan infantry, the Athenians prepared for battle. The Persians' disposition mde it clear that they were not preparing to immediately march on Athens. The Persians were waiting for Eriteria to fall to free up the seige force. They also hoped for a revolt in Athens as Hippias as promissed. The Athenians positioned on the hills overlooking Marathon, hoping that the Soartans would soon arrive, also waited. The two armies faced each other for 8 days.
After facing the Persians for 8 days, the Ahenians learned that Eretria had fallen (september 21). The Persians had been aided by traitors. This put the Athenians in a difficult possition. Artaphernes was now free to move his force. He could join with the force at Marathon and strengthen the Persian position or he could use the mobility offered by the Persian navy to attack Athens which was largely undefended. The Greeks debated their strategy. The Greeks had a rotating system of command. On this day, it was the turn of Miltiades and he proposed an immediate assault on the Persians even though the Spartans had not yet arrived. There was considerable discension. Five of the Greek Strategoi voted to attack and five voted to wait for the Spartans. Callimachus, the Polemarch, cast the deciding vote to support Miltiades plan of attack. [Herodotus]
The Persins had decided on a naval attack on Athens while the Athenin army was engaged at Marathon. Datis embarked the Persian calvary to participate in the attack by sea on Athens.
The Athenian battle plan was prepared by Miltiades. Historians know very little about him. His Athenian force augmented with troops from it allies, especially Plataea faced a much larger Persian force, but as the Persians was split the Persian advantage was not as great as it might have been. The large Persian army had a vaunted force of archers which kill at some distance. Miltides planned an advance in tight formation until they reached the most effective zone for the archers (about 200 meters). Then the Greeks would rush the Persian lines. This meant they would have to break fornation, but it meant the archers could do less damage. Miltiades extended his battle line by weakening the center, but keeping the flanks strong. The well armoured and drilled hopplites smashed the less heavily armored Greeks. The armor and pikes the Greeks had did great damage to the lightly armored Persians with short spears and swords. For a while it looked like the larger Persian forced might carry the day. The Persians began breaking through the weakened Greek center. But as the powerful Greek flanks closed in on the Persians, they finally broke fleeing for their ships. It is at this time that large numbers of Persians were killed. Miltiades then rushed the army back to Athens. When the Persians arrived off Athens with his ships, he was suprised to see the Athenian army awaiting them. They decided against invasion and returned to Persia.
The Persian defeat at Marathon was not an overwealming one. Ancient accounts are notoriously inaccuate. One account suggests that the Persians lost only 6,400 men and the Athenians less than 200. [Herodutus] For the mighty Persian Empire, 6,400 was a pin prick. Yet the impact of the battle was staggering. The Persians possessed a vast empire. Their army had ammased a record of victory after victory, adding many non-Persian principalities to their empire. The Persian defeat at Marathon, cused inumerable difficulties for Darius. Many subject princes attempted to revolt and it took considerable time and effort for Darius to restore control and supress rebellion.
Darius vowed revenge for his defeat at Marathon. This was the third campaign of the Persian Wars. Darius planned a massive campaign, but died before the
invasion could be launched. It was his son Xerxes who deployed a huge army and naval force to conquer all of Greece and add it to his Empire. This time the
Spartans were involved. A small Spartan force under Leonidas delayed a massive Persian Army at Tghermopylae. The Athenian commander Themistocles
abandoned the city. The Persian fleet was destroyed at the decisive battle of Salmis (480 BC). The naval victory was especially important. Greece was exceedingly
mountaneous. War with the Greeks was only practical for the Persians by transporting and supplying its large army by sea. Without the fleet, the Persian Army was
cut off from supplies. Xerxes returned to Persia. The Persian Army was left under the command of Mardonius. The next year the Greeks comanded by the Spartan
general Pausanias and the Athenian general Aristides destroyed that army at Plataea (479 BC). The Athenian fleet also defeated another Persian naval force at
Mycale. Conflict between the Persians and Greeks continued for years, but never on the same scale. The Greeks had maintained their freedom and with followed
one of the greatest cultural floweing in history.
Herodutus.
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