PERSIAN WARS

Battle of Marathon

490 BCE

The battle of Marathon was fought by the Athenians against the Persians.The Athenians were outnumbered 2 to 1. The Greeks won by attacking the Persian's weaker wings using Hoplites in a Phalanx and then finishing off the isolated, though stronger, troops in the center. This resulted in expelling the Persians temporarily. The image is Pheidippides, the Athenian who ran all the way to Sparta to ask for help in Marathon only to be denied before dying in vain. Marathon is best known for his act.

Battle of Thermopylae

481 BCE

The battle of Thermopylae was an attempt by the Greek states of Athens and Sparta to defend against a force of Persians that numbered 180, 000 men. The Greeks numbered only 7000, including 300 Spartans led by King Leonides. After being led by a Greek traitor through the high mountain pass, the Persians killed the 300 Spartans holding them back and won the battle, a tremendous loss for the Greeks. The picture represents the Spartan soldiers that likely would have held the pass before death.

Battle of Salamis

480 BCE

This battle was fought off the coast of the island of Salamis, where the Athenians were evacuated to as the Persians sacked the city. Using their navy built at the orders of Themistocles, the Greeks won the battle by leading the Persian ships through a narrow strait, rendering their numbers useless. This image shows the narrow neck that the Persians were tricked into passing, the reason the Greeks won the war despite being outnumbered.

Delian League

478 BCE

This league that emerged after the Persian Wars was meant to protect the region from anymore Persian threats. The 150 state alliance had each member contribute either money or men. Athens emerged as the most powerful state and used many of these common funds for their own use, straining the unity that was so shortly felt. This image shows the city-states in the Delian League from an Athenian perspective, seeing as how it was they who came out on top.