GRECO-PERSIAN WAR

DARIUS I• was the third king of Achaemenid

Empire • Also called Darius the Great• Darius ascended the throne by

overthrowing Gaumata• Darius organized the empire by

dividing it into provinces and placing satraps to govern it. He organized a new uniform monetary system, along with making Aramaic• Darius then began to plan to

completely conquer Greece, but died in 486 BC

XERXES• ruling over heroes• called Xerxes the great• ruled from 486 until 465 (assassinated)• Xerxes was induced by the message of Themistocles

to attack the Greek fleet under unfavorable conditions,

• rather than sending a part of his ships to the Peloponnesus and awaiting the dissolution of the Greek armies.

• Son of Darius • responsibility for the conquest from Darius passed

on to Xerxes in 480 Bc• Xerxes personally led the second Persian invasion of

Greece with one of the largest ancient armies ever assembled

LEONIDAS• Leonidas was the son of the Spartan king Anaxandrides• In short, not as much as suggested. It is true there were only 300 Spartan soldiers at the Battle of

Thermopylae but they were not alone, as the Spartans had formed an alliance with other Greek states. It is thought that the number of Greeks was closer to 7,000. The size of the Persian army is disputed.

• A monument to Leonidas was erected at Thermopylae in 1955. It features a bronze statue of Leonidas.

• Leonidas I "son of the lion"• Although Leonidas lost the battle, his death at Thermopylae was seen as a heroic sacrifice

because he sent most of his army away when he realized that the Persians had outmaneuvered him. Three hundred of his fellow Spartans stayed with him to fight and die.

• As king, Leonidas was a military leader as well as a political one.• Hoplites were armed with a round shield, spear and iron short sword.

BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE• was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of

Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. 480 BC

• The Persian invasion was a delayed response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece, which had been ended by the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. Xerxes had amassed a huge army and navy, and set out to conquer all of Greece.

• When the body of Leonidas was recovered by the Persians, Xerxes, in a rage against Leonidas, ordered that the head be cut off and the body crucified.

• There are several monuments around the battlefield of Thermopylae

PAUSANIAS• was a Greek traveler and geographer• Pausanias was born in 110 AD• Pausanias' Description of Greece is in ten

books, each dedicated to some portion of Greece.

• He famously leaves out key portions of Greece such as Crete.

• he was the son of Cleombrotus and nephew of Leonidas I

• Pausanias was leader at the Greek victory over Mardonius and the Persians at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC

THEMISTOCLES

• There are several monuments around the battlefield of Thermopylae.

• Themistocles was a populist, having the support of lower class Athenians, and generally being at odds with the Athenian nobility.

• Themistocles died in 459 BC, probably of natural causes.• -was a command/leader of Sparta• Themistocles probably turned 30 in 494 BC, which

qualified him to become an archon, the highest of the magistracies in Athens

• Themistocles tried to claim command of the naval forces• Themistocles had to show them that the Athenians were

willing to do everything necessary for the success of the alliance. In short, the entire Athenian fleet must be dispatched to Artemisium.