A Summary Of The Historical Greek Persian Wars

By Brenda Moore


History back in the BC eras was an amazing thing. Reading about them seemed like a matter of fiction. The development of the civilization of mankind was in itself always an interesting read. Geographical differences made up for different cultures and humans were eventually able to grow into a species that became exceedingly territorial. Wars were a matter of obtaining land and power from one empire to another.

Wars have always happened over the course of time that man has graced the earth. A notable one that is often taught in history class is the Greek Persian Wars. This happened around 499 BC. It all started when the Persians led by Cyrus the Great conquered a region in Greece called Ionia.

Persia, now called Iran, has been conquering so many nations during this era and has reached Greece. They were starting to invade Ionia and with the leader being Cyrus the Great, a notable conqueror of empires. After Ionia, they proceeded to Anatolia, which unfortunately for the invaders, decided to have an uprising. The revolt was not a success but prompted the people from Athens and Eretria to prepare.

Since Persia was already able to conquer many kingdoms, it was easy for them to increase the number of their forces. But this would also have made tactical training and strategy difficult. Greece, did not have this advantage but they highly valued strategy which placed them at an advantage. During a battle in Plataea, there were 6,400 Persians lost in battle while there were only 192 Greeks lost.

Persia decides to attack again 10 years after their loss in Plataea. During that battle they were lead by Cyrus the Great, this time his successor Xerxes, leads the forces. They were notorious for being very rich and lavish and since by then they had already conquered a lot of other places.

You can tell that Persia was not invested in the tactical methods of war. When they were heading to one of the battles their soldiers suffered from losses while they advanced slowly. Greece at the time handed the command for the army to Sparta.

The fight lasted for about three days at a place near the see while Persia tried to spring a surprise attack at the Greek fleet. Greek was well informed and attacked the main fleet instead. Luckily for Greece, their soldiers were already at the port when a bad storm strike. Persia lost a squadron from the same storm.

Here is the plot twist. There was a Greek traitor that guided the opposing troops around to pass behind the soldiers of Greece. This was after the battle of Thermopylae that transpired for two days. While the Persian forces had the advantage of important information, Greece had the great Spartan general, Leonidas. They fought to the death after the general has sent most soldiers to the south for safety.

Despite the loss of Persia during this ambush, they were still able to push through with invading Athens and burning it down. There was not many casualties since the evacuation was efficient. At this same event, a battle of fleets was happening in a strait. This was led by Themistocles who used the narrowness of the strait against the opponent making them win that war.




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