Greco-Persian Wars

first invasion of Greece

492 BCE

The first Persian campaign of Greece was in 492 BC and was led by Darius' son-in-law Mardonius. He forced macedon to become a subordinate of Persia. His campaign stopped progressing when his fleet was wrecked in a storm. He then got injured and returned to his expedition in Asia.

First invasion of Greece

Period: 492 BCE to 490 BCE

Interbellum, The greek city states, Sparta

Period: 491 BCE to 480 BCE

The spartan king, Demaratus, was stripped of his power and replaced with his cousin Leotychidas in 491BC. Demaratus would be Exiled where he found Xerxes and acted as an advisor. He would accompany Xerxes on the second persian invasion. He sent a was a tablet to Sparta when the wax was removed it was a warning of Xerxes invasion plans. The exact time this happened is unknown.

Datis and Artaphernes campaign Pt.1

490 BCE

Datis and Artaphernes were given command of an amphibious invasion force in 490 BC. They set sale from cilicia they sailed to Rhodes. They besieged the city if LIndos but were unsuccessful.

Datis and Arphmatis campaign Pt.2

490 BCE

The fleet then sailed to Naxos to punish them for resisting the Persians a decade earlier. They enslaved them then burnt their cities and temples. Their fleet than island hop the rest of the Aegean to Eretria taking hostages and troops along the way.

Datis and Artaphernes Pt.3

490 BCE

They sailed to Euboea for their first big target, Eretria. They allowed the Persians to land and were sieged for six days. They opened the gates and the city was looted and burned. The remaining townspeople were enslaved.

The end of the first Greco-Persian war

490 BCE

The Athenians marched to Athens after the battle where the prevented the sea invasion. Artaphernes saw that they lost and ended the invasion. This loss at Marathon showed the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten. It also showed that their hoplites were effective if used smartly.

The Battle of Marathon

490 BCE

They headed south down the coast of Attica, where they landed at Marathon, around 40 kilometers from Athens. The greeks under Miltiades the Athenian army blocked the Persians exits. A stalemate then ensued for five days. The Persians backed down to their ships to sail to Athens but when the cavalry were loaded on the ship the 10,000 Greeks charged down the hill easily beating the weaker Persians. Herodotus records 6,400 persian bodies while the Athenians lost 192 men.

Interbellum, The Greek city states, Sparta

490 BCE

The Spartan King Demaratus was stripped of power in 491 BC. After he was stripped of power he went to Xerxes and acted as his advisor. Demaratus sent a was a wax tablet with a hidden message warning the spartans of the Persians planned invasion of Greece.

Interbellum, the Greek city states, Athens Pt.1

489 BCE

The hero of marathon Miltiades was injured in a campaign in Paros. The Alcmaeonid family saw his injury as an opportunity to punish him for his failure of a campaign. He was fined a large amount but died to his wound weeks later.

Interbellum, Egyptian revolt

486 BCE

After the loss Darius began raising a huge army to conquer Greece. But in 486 BC the egyptians revolted against the Persians forcing the postponement of the Greece campaign. while this was happening Darius passing the throne to Xerxis l. Xerxis crushed the egyptian revolt.

Interbellum, Greek city states, Athens Pt.2

483 BCE

In 483 a new seam of silver was found in athenian mine. They used the silver to purchase 100 ships because of thoughts of another invasion. Later on they fully prepared Athens for a large scale Persian invasion.

Interbellum, Hellenic alliance

481 BCE

Xerxes sent ambassadors around Greek asking for food, water, and land as tokens for their submission to Persia. Opposed stares began forming alliances to fight against a Persian invasion. The two leading states in this Alliance formed by 70 of the almost 700 states were Sparta and Athens. On year before the war.

Interbellum, Building the invasion force

480 BCE

Xerxes built a bridge at Hellespont to allow troop movements for his Europe campaign. Several Greek city states had pledged allegiance to the Persian Empire in 481 after four years peeperarition Xerxes started moving troops for the invasion of europe. after drafting troops from 46 nations they crossed hellespont to start the invasion. some sources state up to 2.5 million but most modern scholars it was closer to 200k Persians a massive force.

The battle of Salamis

480 BCE

The Persians had most of Greece no but Xerxes didn't expect the resistance of the people. The Greek navy stayed at Salamis to try and lure Xerxis in. The navies met in the straits but the Persians numbers caused them to get mixed and disorganized where the Greeks got a victory sinking 200 Persian ships. This loss caused Xerxes to fear his pontoon bridge at hellespont and fled their leaving Mardonius in control of the Greek campaign. The Greeks were able to spend the winter in the burnt Athens.

The battle of Thermopylae

480 BCE

The invasion took place during the olympic games so the spartans sent 300 men and Leonidas with 7000 Greeks. The Greeks arrived and prepared for the Persian advance. When the Persians arrived they held for three days. On the third day the Persians heard of a lightly defended pass that went behind the Greeks. The force is estimated to be as large sa 100,000 to 150,000

The Second Invasion of Greece

480 BCE

The Persians crossed into Europe in early spring and marched for three months unopposed all the way to Greece. The Allied Greek city-states met in the spring
of 480 BC where they agreed to defend the Vale of Tempe. They were than warned of a bypass and that the Persian Invasion force was overwhelmingly large. They backed up their army in a way to force Xerxes through the narrow passage at Thermopylae. To prevent passing by sea the Athenians lined their boats at the strait of artemisium.

The Straits of Artemisium

480 BCE

While the battle of Thermopylae was happening a Greek allied naval force defended the straits of artemisium. The Greeks naval force held off the Persians for three days but when they heard of what happened to Leonidas they retreated. With the Greeks fleet being badly damaged they retreated to the islands of Salamis.

The sack of Athens

480 BCE

Xerxes victory at Thermopylae gave Persia all of Boeotia. The population of Athens was evacuated to the island of Salamis. They abandoned Athens to the Persians who destroyed the city.

Second Invasion of Greece

Period: 480 BCE to 478 BCE

Buildup to the Battle of Plataea

479 BCE

The Athenians did not join the Greeks navy because they didn't get respect. The Persians than offered an alliance to the Athenians which they responded no to. The Athenians than threatened Sparta to help them or they will join Persia. The Spartans than gathered a large army to aid the Athenians on the ground. Where they prepared for an attack on Isthmus.

Battle of plataea and Mycale

479 BCE

The Persians retreated to Boeotia around plataea. there he would try and draw the Greeks out into open land but the Greeks did not budge. A stalemate was born for multiple days from this. The Persians then snuck out and separated the Spartans, Athenians, and Tegeans on different hills and their he would attack them. The Persians didn't stand a chance against the heavy Hoplites and lost And killed Mardonius. This win inspired the Greek navy who would win at Mycale, crippling Xerxes sea powers.

The Greek counter Attack

479 BCE

Mycale marked the start of the Greek counter attacks. This started a second revolt in the Greek cities in Asia minor. It started with Samians and milesians at Mycale. As other cities Joined a second Ionian revolt had started.

Siege of Sestos

478 BCE

The Greeks sailed to Hellespont to destroy the pontoon bridge, but when they got their they found it already destroyed. The peloponnesians left but the Athenians wanted more. The Persians made for Sestos, a strong town in the region, but they weren't prepared for a siege. The Athenians would siege them for several months before starving them out. They escaped and the Athenians took possession of the city. They pacified the region and took home the pontoon bridge cables to Athens as a trophy.

Greek Raid of Cyprus

478 BCE

The Greeks still under the Hellenic alliance sailed to cyprus. Its described they subdued but most historians say the raided cyprus stealing the Persians treasures. Nothing says they took land as they sailed to Byzantium right after.

Byzantium

478 BCE

The greek alliance sailed to Byzantium, where they besieged and captured it. control of byzantium and sestos gave them control of them control of the straits in europe. This also allowed trade in the black sea.

The Delian Wars

Period: 477 BCE to 449 BCE

The Delian league fought against the Persians multiple times to remove them from the region. In the later years of the league the Athenians tried to start a revolt in Egypt, it started out successful but with wars in greece the Athenians left. This campaign marked the end of the Greca-Persian wars.

Greco-Persia peace

449 BCE

Peace between the Greeks and Persia isn't fully known. But we know the terms of the treaty, One rule was the Greek city states in asia were to remain independent outside of Persia's control. The end of the Greco-Persian wars resulted in Greek victory in both Persian invasions and proved the Persians were not as strong as once thought.