An Overview of the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars

What are the flaws within Athenian democracy?

• Athens' adult population was roughly 300,000: 150k foreigners and slaves, 100k women and others, 50k male citizens with voting rights.

• Direct democracy - the citizen had to be there to vote (typically 5,000 - 6,000 voted at a time)

• Women had few rights and opportunities and slavery played a major role in the economy.

• Orators used forceful and coercive language often, rather than logic, to sway voters.

What occurred during the Persian Wars (500 - 479BCE):

• Athens and other city-states came to the aid of Miletus

• The Greeks lived in Asia Minor since at least 1000BCE

• Persian Empire expanded in the 5th century BCE to include Asia Minor.

• In 500BCE the Greeks in Miletus led a revolt.

• The Persians won the revolt and King Darius swore revenge against Athens for interfering.

King Darius sent a fleet to attack Athens, and set anchor 26 miles north east of Marathon. This war included the Battle of Marathon, which the Spartans could not help with because of a religious festival. The Athenians were outnumbered but still defeated the Persians:

• First Persian War (490BCE)

• Second Persian War (480BCE)

Xerxes, son of Darius, led an army of 500,000 while the Persian fleet was sent along the Greek coast - Xerxes attacked by land from the north. Consisted of a battle with the 300 Spartans led by Leonidas, who attempted to block the Pass of Thermopylae, but a traitor betrayed them and showed the Persians another route. All 300 Spartans were killed after inflicting heavy casualties to the Persians:

• First Persian War (490BCE)

• Second Persian War (480BCE)

What was the significance of the Persian Wars?

• The Wars started the Greek onslaught of the Persian Empire, which was completed by Alexander the Great of Macedonia in 331BCE.

• The Persian Empire significantly declined.

• Greek civilisation and culture flourished.

• Wealth in Greece increased due to increased trade.

What occurred when Athens led Greece during the Persian Wars?

• Pericles and his 'Golden Age': which led to increased trade which brough wealth.

• Great leadership:

  Aristides and the Delian League (Confederacy of Delos) to protect against possible future Persian invasions.

• The great leadership also led to alliances becoming the basis for the Athenian Empire and members paying protection money to Athens.

• Cimon expelled the Persians from the Black Sea shore.

The Athenian-Spartan rivalry is prevalent throughout the Persian Wars. The Spartans even created the Peloponnesian League to rival the Athenian's Delian League. Why was there strife between the two city-states?

• Sparta led the Peloponnesian League which dominated the land and they valued an oligarchic rule.

• Corinth's allegiances caused a war between Athens and Sparta in 461BCE and in 445BCE both city-states signed a truce.

• Athens led the Delian League which dominated the seas and they valued a democratic rule.

• Corinth initially joined the Peloponnesian League, and this threatened the Athenian sea supremacy.

In 431BCE, war began again - this time the Peloponnesian Wars. What occurred during the extent of the Peloponnesian Wars?

• Sparta met its demise at the hand of the Persians following the defeat of Athens, and shortly followed the fall of the entirety of Greece.

• Circa 430BCE, a plague struck Athens. One-third of the population died, including Pericles.

• The Battle of Aegospotami occurred in 404BCE, and the Spartans allied with the Persians and defeated the Athenians. The Spartans conquered Athens and destroyed its defensive wall.

• Athens attacked Syracuse (ally of Sparta), located in southern Italy, on sea, and Athens lost.

What occurred when Sparta led Greece during the Peloponnesian Wars? (404 - 371BCE)

• Sparta's support of oligarchic rule upset the lower classes in other Greek city-states.

• The Battle of Chaeronea (338BCE) saw Philip II of Macedon defeating the Athenians and Thebans.

• Thebes was the first to revolt against Sparta in the Battle of Leuctra (371BCE), where General Epaminondas led the Thebans to defeat the Spartans.

• In the Battle of Mantinea (362BCE) Thebes was defeated by Sparta and Athens.

• In 337BCE, following Chaeronea, the League of Corinth was created by Philip II who had the Greek city-states pledge to stop warring one another.

What was Greek architecture and art like?

• Greek art maintained an abstract interpretation on Greek life and mannerisms.

• The Parthenon in the Acropolis was designed by Ictinus and was the location of a gold and ivory statue of Athena designed my Phidias.

• The architecture on the Acropolis was designed to create optical illusions and the engineering used was to create the allusion of a curved building from a distance.

• Sculptures in Greece were often lifelike and proportionate, valued attention to detail, and held an emphasis on the beauty of the human form.