The Persian Wars

  In 546 BC, the Greeks became angry with the Persians because their colonies were under the Persian’s control. They helped their colonies to rebel against the Persians.

The Battle of Marathon

  In 490 BC, a large amount of Persians army landed on the Plain of Marathon. Only the Athens fought bravely with them and the Athens won finally.

The Battle of Thermopylae

  In 480 BC, the Persians invaded Greece again and nearly all Greek states united to fight again them. Sparta king and his 300 soldiers tried to stop the Persian army at a mountain pass called Thermopylae but they lost and were killed. The Persian army marched and burnt the Athens.

The Battle of Salamis

  Also in 480 BC, the Persians invaded Greece by sea this time. They had a larger fleet but the Athenians had a better plan. They met near the island of Salamis and this was the first sea battle in history. The Persian fleet was defeated and the Greece won a great victory. The Persian Wars ended in 449 BC.

After the Persian Wars

After the Persian Wars, Greece became rich, strong and peaceful. The 50 years after the Persian Wars were called the ‘Golden Age of Athens’. In Athens, great thinkers, scholars and scientists gathered. There were great achievements in art. literature, science and many other areas. This period is also called the ‘Age of Pericles’.

Nevertheless, Sparta was jealous of Athens because of its strong and rich power so it united with the other city-states and defeated Athens in 404 BC. After that, fighting continued among the city-states. Greece became weak and was finally conquered by Macedonia.

                                                        Back to the homepage!