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492 BCE
The Invasion of Greece
Darius the First of Persia invades Greece in an act of revenge after the Athenians helped Anatolia, one of their colonies in the Persian Empire, rebel against Persian rule. -
490 BCE
The Battle of Marathon
A combined force of Greek hoplites defeat the Persians at the Greek city-state of Marathon. This is an early battle won by Greeks through phalanx formation, a Greek fighting formation. After their victory, Pheidippides ran 26 miles to inform Athens of the Greek triumph. The modern 26.2 mile marathon race is named after this famous battle. -
480 BCE
The Battle of Salamis
September 480 BC - In the Battle of Salamis, the Greek naval fleet led by Themistocles defeated the invading armada of Xerxes the First of Persia. -
480 BCE
The Battle of Thermopylae
August 480 BC - In the Battle of Thermopylae 300 Spartans and 7000 other Greeks held back 10,000 Persians.The Spartans held Thermopylae, a mountain pass, for 3 days, but eventually lost because the Persians were informed of a secret passage around the mountain pass, given to them by a Greek traitor, which allowed them to surround the Greeks at Thermopylae, where they proceeded to kill all the Greeks who held Thermopylae. -
479 BCE
Final Defeat of the Persians
Xerxes' Persian forces were defeated by Greek forces at Plataea, Greece. This battle effectively ended Persia's imperial ambitions in Greece. -
479 BCE
The Golden Age of Athens Begins
Athens emerges as the leader of the Delian League (an alliance of Greek city-states). With the League Athens requires all Greek city-state members to pay dues in order for them to receive protection from Persian invasion. Due to this Athens has a large empire (colonies along the Black Sea, Turkey, and islands in the Mediterranean), and becomes very wealthy and powerful.
Athens’ economic prosperity leads to its Golden Age of culture (sculpture, theatre, philosophy) and democracy. -
449 BCE
The End of the Persian Wars (Peace of Callias)
A treaty established around 449 BC between the Delian League (led by Athens) and Persia. The peace was negotiated by Callias, an Athenian politician, and was the official ending the Persian Wars. -
431 BCE
The Peloponnesian Wars begin
An ancient Greek war fought by the Delian League (led by Athens) against the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta). Sparta begins to launch repeated invasions of Attica, while Athens takes advantage of its naval supremacy to raid the coast of the Peloponnesia and attempts to suppress signs of unrest in its empire.
