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492 BCE
Darius i Invades Greece
The first Persian invasion of Greece, during the Persian Wars, began in 492 BC, and ended with the decisive Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. The invasion, consisting of two distinct campaigns, was ordered by the Persian king Darius I primarily in order to punish the city-states of Athens and Eretria. These cities had supported the cities of Ionia during their revolt against Persian rule, thus incurring the wrath of Darius. -
490 BCE
Greeks Defeat persians at Marathon
the Persians were in a state of utter confusion. Their tactics had failed, their cavalry was absent and their archers were useless. Their more heavily armed and armored opponents, who could sense that victory was close, were attacking them from three sides and pushing them into the sea. The Persians fled back to their ships. Many of the Athenians, buoyed by their success, dragged several of the Persian vessels to shore, slaughtering them on board. -
480 BCE
Battle of Salamis
Eurybiades and the Spartans continued to argue with Themistocles about the necessity of fighting at Salamis. They still wanted to fight the battle closer to Corinth, so that they could retreat to the mainland in case of a defeat, or withdraw completely and let the Persians attack them by land. Themistocles argued in favor of fighting at Salamis, as the Persian fleet would be able to continually supply their army no matter how many defensive walls Eurybiades built. -
480 BCE
Battle of Thermopylae
Location of the battle of Thermopylae. The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. -
445 BCE
Thirty Years Peace
After the Persian War, Athens and Sparta had agreed to a Thirty Year Peace. They didn't want to fight each other while they were trying to recover from the Persian War. During this time, Athens became powerful and wealthy and the Athenian empire grew under the leadership of Pericles.
Sparta and its allies became increasingly jealous and distrustful of Athens. Finally, in 431 BC, when Sparta and Athens ended up on different sides in a conflict over the city of Corinth. -
424 BCE
Athens Invades Megara
The history of Megara after 630 bce is largely that of its losing conflict with its powerful neighbour, Athens, to which it lost the island of Salamís about 570. Forced to accept Athenian defensive assistance after 461, it revolted in 446 and in 432 suffered an Athenian trade embargo throughout its empire. Though its surrounding territory was subjugated by Athens during the Peloponnesian War (431–404 bce), the citadel of Megara itself did not fall. -
404 BCE
End of the Poloponneian War
The Peloponnesian Wars fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies came in two stages, the first from c. 460 to 446 BCE and the second and more significant war from 431 to 404 BCE. With battles occurring at home and abroad, the long and complex conflict was damaging to both sides but Sparta, with financial help from Persia, finally won the conflict by destroying the Athenian fleet at Aegospotami in 405 BCE.
