World History Chapter Four Section Three

Conflict Greek city-states would put aside differences and fight against a common enemy Persians had a huge empire that stretched from Asia Minor (turkey) to the border of India Ionian Greeks were under Persian rule and wanted to be free Rebelled against the Persians in 499 B.C. – Athens sent ships to them to help fight the Persians

Persians Persians defeat the rebel Ionian city-states and Darius I – the Persian King – was mad at the Athenians for helping the Ionians and sent a massive force to destroy Athens Persians crossed the Aegean Sea and landed at Marathon – Athens asked for help but did not receive much Athens charged the Persians and broke their ranks – Persians fled back to their ships

Uniting of Greek States Persian King Darius I died before he could bring another attack on the Greeks Xerxes, Darius’ son, did not forget his fathers defeat and sent an even larger army to battle the Greeks Athens convinced the other city-states to fight with them against the Persians Persians landed at Thermopylae were they met a band of Spartans led by warrior-king Leonidas

Greece v. Persians 300 Spartans fought against the Persians killing many more than their numbers were In the end the Spartans were defeated by Persians at Thermopylae Persians went to Athens and burned the city – it was empty though as the Athenians had already abandoned the city The Athenians engaged the Persians on the open sea in a naval battle

G v. P The Athenians had underwater battering rams on their boats and they used them to ram the Persian ships Persian ships were sank and Xerxes watched this from the shore as most of his army drowned in the sea The Greeks then defeated the Persians on land in Asia Minor (Turkey) – this Persian defeat stopped their invasion of Greece

Delian League The Greeks victory over the Persians made them feel even more superior than they already did – they felt the gods favored them and protected them Athens was the most powerful city-state in Greece Organized alliances – agreements with other nations or powers – Delian League – Meeting held in Delios, leaders of city-states agreed to alliances with each other

Delian League Athens was the strongest member Moved the treasury to Athens and used its money to rebuild Athens When the other members in the alliance did not like what Athens was doing, Athens made them stay in the Delian League by threatening them with force

Direct Democracy After the Persian War there was a golden age for Athens Pericles – Athenian statesman who was wise, skillful leader, helped the economy thrive and helped the government become more democratic

Athenian Democracy Under Pericles the Athenians practiced direct democracy Citizens take part in the day-to-day affairs of the government Today, we take part indirectly – through elected representatives Council of 500 – conducted daily government business Pericles believed alls citizens – rich or poor should take part in the government- started to pay a stipend to assembly men

Athenian Democracy Athenians served on juries – panel of citizens that make judgments on a trial Chosen to serve for a year Jury may include hundreds or thousands of jurors while our jury system only uses 12 Athenians could banish someone they thought was a threat to their society – called ostracism Person had to leave the city for about ten years

Peloponnesian War Many Greeks did not like the fact that Athens was the dominant state Sparta and other formed the Peloponnesian League to counter the Delian League that Athens ran Peloponnesian War – Sparta and Athens went to war along with their allies The war lasted for 27 years

Peloponnesian War Sparta was inland so Athens could not use its superior navy to attack Sparta The Spartan army marched north to Athens to attack Pericles let the people living outside the walls in, overcrowding led to an outbreak of the plague that killed many Athenians and Pericles Sparta allied with Persia, used its navy to attack and defeated Athens

End of Athenian Rule Peloponnesian War ended Athens dominance in Greece Athens remained the cultural center of Greece but never returned to prominence Greek city-states continued to fight and did not realize a threat in the north – the Macedonians – who would conquer the Greeks