The Persian Wars

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The Persian Emperor Darius never returned, but his son Emperor Xerxes did

In 480 B.C. the Persians returned to Greece

They brought even more men this time around

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The Battle of Thermopylae

Persians met a force of Greeks at Thermopylae

This was a small mountain pass that controlled access to all of Greece

For two days 7,000 Greeks held the Persians back, but…

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The Downfall

A Greek traitor showed the Persians a secret passageway

This allowed the Persians to sneak up from behind and attack the Greeks

Most of the Greek defenders ran away

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A Heroic Act

About 300 Spartans stayed behind and fought to their deaths

This allowed the other Greeks to escape capture or certain death

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Here come the Persians

The Persians poured into Greece

They got their revenge by wreaking havoc

They even burned Athens to the ground

What were the Greeks to do?

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The Battle of Salamis

As their city-state burned the Athenian people and the army escaped to the island of Salamis

The Persians were quick to follow the retreating Greeks to Salamis

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Those Clever Athenians

The Greeks ships first sailed from shore like they were fleeing the island

They then turned quickly around and began ramming the Persian ships

Before the Persians knew what had happened half of their fleet was on the ocean floor

The Persians once again retreated back to Persia

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The Final Battle

The Battle of Plataea

The Greeks and Persians at equal strength

Athens and Sparta fought side by side

Greek military superiority won out and Persia retreated for good

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How did the Greeks do it?

Three reasons

Inherent advantage of the defender

They were better soldiers