Persian EmpireGreece and Persia fought a series of wars that determined the balance of power in the Mediterranean. In 492 B.C., Persia was of one of the world's largest empires. It controlled a huge expanse of territory, including Greek cities in Asia Minor. Greece, which consisted of bunch of disparate states that fought against one another more than they were united, seemed like an easy target. Herodotus wrote Histories , a nine-volume account of Persian wars between 490 to 479 B.C. Sometimes called The Persian Wars or History, the work contains many events and seems to leave no detail out.
|
Marathon |
In the middle of the Ionian Revolt, the emperor of the Persian Empire, Darius I, sent out an army to Greece to punish those city-states that had helped the rebels. Led by Mardonius, they succeeded in punishing Thrace and Macedonia in 492 BC. Moving south towards Greece, Mardonius' men were traveling and wrecked off Cape Athos during a massive storm. Losing 300 ships and 20,000 men in the event, Mardonius elected to head back towards Asia. Unhappy with Mardonius, Darius began planning a second expedition for 490 BC after learning of political instability in Athens.
|
Thermopylae |
After having been turned back by the Greeks in 490 BC at the Battle of Marathon, the Persians decided to begin preparing a larger trip to dominate Greece. First planned by Emperor Darius I, the mission fell to his son Xerxes when he died in 486 B.C. It was meant to be a full-scale take-over, the task of gathering the needed troops and supplies took many years. Walking from Asia Minor, Xerxes intended to bridge the Hellespont and advance on Greece through Thrace. The army was to be supported by a large fleet which would move along the coast.
|
Salamis |
Entering Greece in the summer of 480 B.C., Persian men led by Xerxes I were opposed by the forces of an alliance of Greek city-states. Pushing south into Greece, the Persians were supported offshore. In August, the Persian army met Greek troops at the pass of Thermopylae while their ships encountered the allied fleet in the Straits of Artemisium. The Greeks were defeated at the Battle of Thermopylae forcing the fleet to retreat south to aid in the evacuation of Athens. Assisting in this effort, the fleet then moved to ports on Salamis.
|
Weaponry and Armor |
The bow was the core weapon of the Persian army, but they also often used a short type of spear called a thrusting spear. They sometimes used short swords to fight up close and personal.
They used a type of shield called a Spara, and they made a wall with them to protect archers while they shot from afar. When they used this strategy with swords, they were almost impenetrable. Greek armor also made a huge difference, protecting them more from short-ranged attacks on vital organs such as the heart and lungs, and the brain. |