Phase three of the wars saw the Greek coalition follow up its victories by moving aggressively into the eastern Aegean and making pinpoint attacks at strategic Persian bases, particulary Mycale, thus forcing the Persian Empire to relinquish control of Macedon, Thrace, and the Hellespont.įor the Persians, the stability of Xerxes’ reign and of the empire as a whole was not shaken by these events. The Athenian refusal led ultimately to a confrontation at Plataea ( 479 BCE ), in which the Persian commander was killed and the Persians routed. Persian strategy at this point aimed at weakening the Greek coalition by offering peace terms to the Athenians. Xerxes and the bulk of the Persian forces returned to the empire, leaving a portion in Greece. The strategy of the Greek coalition, however, paid off when they enticed the Persian fleet into battle at Salamis and crippled it badly enough to forestall further action at that time. The successful Persian push allowed their capture of Athens. Control of the sea was thus crucial for the Persians’ numerical advantage on land. The Persian strategy was to move the army south along the coast of Greece toward Athens and rely on the fleet for supplies and support.
The Persian king Xerxes crossed the Hellespont with an army and navy of tremendous size, having already gained the alliance of many Greek states. The defeat at Marathon had raised the stakes for the Persians. Phase two of the Greco-Persian Wars took place in 480/479 BCE. For the Athenians and other Greeks, the victory at Marathon was the stuff of legends and was memorialized in poetry, painting, and a monument at the site to the fallen Greeks. The Persians successfully sacked Eretria, but were unexpectedly routed by a joint Athenian-Plataean force at Marathon. The first phase of the Persian Wars occurred in 490 BCE when a punitive Persian force was sent in response to Athenian and Eretrian involvement. For the Persians, rebellion was a sacrilege it was the king's duty to restore order and punish the offenders, including the Athenians, who had aggressively sent ships into Persian territory and broken their treaty with Persia. The bulk of the revolt was suppressed relatively quickly. Several Ionian cities joined Miletus, while Athens and Eretria sent modest naval support. Herodotus attributed the revolt to the personal ambitions of the tyrant of Miletus. Herodotus leaves the most complete record of the Persian Wars, including an account of how the Athenians and Persians first came into conflict during the Ionian Revolt of 499-494 BCE. The Gatehouse of Xerxes' Palace at Persepolis, 5th Century, BCE (Artstor/UCSD Slide Gallery)Herodotus & the Persian Wars
0 kommentar(er)
