The Persian Wars
By Bridgitte Feldman
The Persian Wars in a Nutshell
The Greeks sent supplies to city-states near Persia because they needed help defeating the Persians. This caused the Persians to become upset, so they attacked Greece three times. Each time, the Greeks won. In the most famous battle, the Athens used their small and nimble ships to get the big Persian ships into a small area and they threw burning logs on their boats.
The Battle of Marathon
The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC, during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, helped by Plataea, and a Persian force led by Datis and Artaphernes. At the end of the battle, Pheidippides is said to have run from Marathon to Athens to deliver news of a military victory against the Persians in the Battle of Marathon. He ran 26.2 miles.
The Battle of Thermopylae
The 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. The Persians were defeated once again.
The Battle of Samalis
The Battle of Salamis was a naval battle fought between an alliance of Greek city-states under Themistocles and the Persian Empire under King Xerxes in 480 BC which resulted in a decisive victory for the outnumbered Greeks. After the Greeks won, the Spartans began to get very upset and this led to the Peloponnesian War, and then, Greece was taken over by Alexander the Great.
Thanks for Reading!
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