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490 BCE
The Battle of Marathon
The battle between Greece and the Persian Empire, where King Darius seeks for revenge against Greece. An early battle in the Persian war, the Greeks won through the phalanx formation at the city-state, Marathon.This formation used foot soldiers, called hoplites, to fight side by side with a spear and a shield. Following this victory, Pheidippides ran 26 miles to inform Athens of Greece winning the Battle of Marathon. Today the Marathon race is named after this run. -
480 BCE
The Battle of Salamis
The Battle of Salamis was the final battle of the Persian Wars. The Greeks were familiar with the oceans and seas, therefore they knew they could defeat the Persians. The Greeks used ships called Trireme which had a battering ram that could ram into the side of other boats and destroy them. Through this, The Greeks sunk ¼ of the Persian fleet, winning the Persian Wars. -
480 BCE
The Battle of Thermopylae
The Persian Empire attempts to defeat the Greeks, again. The Greeks united to stop Xerxes from taking Athens. 300 Spartans and 7000 other Greeks came together to fight against 10,000 Persians. These 300 Spartans held Thermopylae, a mountain pass, for 3 days, but eventually lost. The Spartans has found a secret passage around the mountain pass given by a Greek traitor. This passage allowed the Spartans to avoid the Greeks by a trail through the mountains. -
Period: 449 BCE to 431 BCE
Golden Age
Athens became very wealthy and powerful as the leader of the Delian League, after the Persian Wars. This led to the Golden Age of sculptures, theatre, philosophy, and democracy. Between 461-429 BC the leader Pericles was the leader of Athens, who increased democracy, and created the strongest navy. He made many magnificent buildings that were built with 3 different types of columns, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. During this time, classical art portray beauty and human sculptures were celebrated. -
Period: 431 BCE to 404 BCE
Peloponnesian War
Athens became powerful as the leader of the Delian league. As a result, some Greek city-states wanted to leave. This angered Athens and they chose to punish them Therefore, Sparta created the Peloponnesian League to counter the Delian League and went to attack Athens. Pericles, the leader of Athens, brought all citizens into the city walls for protection and a plague killed ⅓ of the population. As a result, Sparta won, but was weakened and soon conquered by Philip the II of Macedonia. -
Period: 359 BCE to 336 BCE
Macedonia
Macedonia was a region north of Greece that was mountainous and cold. Macedonia was ruled by the conqueror of both Athens and Sparta, Philip the II. The people in Macedonia considered themselves Greek. Although, they lived in mountain villages instead of city-states. -
Period: 336 BCE to 323 BCE
Alexander the Great Rule
After the Peloponnesian Wars, Alexander the Great’s father conquered Greece. After his father’s death, Alexander the Great became king at age 20. He was well educated and well trained as a military officer by the philosopher, Aristotle. As king, Alexander conquered Greece and the Persian Empire. Therefore, he conquered Greece, Anatolia, Egypt, Persia, and India. After turning back after conquering India, Alexander shortly died at age 33 of malaria. -
323 BCE
Hellenistic age
Alexander the Great was the ruler during the Hellenistic age. His empire combined the knowledge of Greece, Persia, Egypt and India. The combination of Eastern Ideas and Greek influence created the Hellenistic culture. Many mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers studied at Alexandria, Egypt, the most important city. Hellenism included a museum and a library with ½ a million scrolls. The art in Hellenistic was realistic. The sculptures look natural, have emotion, and show movement.