Exploring the Persian Wars: Origins, Battles, and Historical Impact

This essay provides a detailed examination of the Persian Wars, starting with their origins in the Ionian Revolt and tracing the major conflicts between the Greeks and the Persians. It discusses key battles such as the Battle of Marathon and analyzes the impact of these wars on the development of ancient Greek society, including the rise of Athens' Golden Age and the subsequent Peloponnesian War. The essay explores the political and social consequences of the wars, highlighting the shift in power dynamics among the Greek city-states and the lasting influence of these events on Western civilization. It also touches on the cultural and philosophical developments that emerged during this period, providing a comprehensive overview of the historical significance of the Persian Wars.

The life of ancient Greek society was different from the life of the modern society. The
ancient Greek culture had an important influence on the development of western culture and
civilization. “According to the Cartledge,90 percent of Greek Citizens lived in the countryside
and don’t labeled as Urban”1 Ancient Greek was combination of city-states. The Greeks and
Persian fought wars from 492-449 BCE. But the Persian wars was steamed from the Ionian
Revolt. When Persian conquered the Ionian in 499 BCE. But the Persian’s launched two intense
invasions against the Persia during the 490 and 479. In the upcoming paragraphs, I will discuss
the origins, the main wars and the outcome of the Persian wars.
Origin of the war
The origin of this war stemmed from the from the Ionian revolt, which started in 499
BCE. The Ionian’s become part of the Persian empire in 546 BCE. But after the several
years ,Ionian’s break his bond with the Persians and started the revolt; with the help of Greeks.
“at first this began as a small involvement in the revolt. But, later this become serious. “The
Athenians and Eritrean formed collaboration with Milesian, to attack on the Persian capital
Sardis”2. When Athenians, Milesian and Eritrean forces did a surprise attack on Sardis, in which
they set city on the fire. This revolt was totally unsuccessful. But king of Persia( Darius), become
angry . According to the Herodotus, the king of Persia ordered his servants, “to remind him to
get the revenge from the Athenians, every-day before the dinner.
Battle between Persian and Greeks
The first battle of the Persians was in 490 BCE. It is also called a battle of Marathon. The king of
Persia (Darius). “According to George Cawkwell, Darius sent his troops to Greece, at each
Greek Island and demanding “earth (cawkwell 2005) (lazenby 2004) and water, the Persians
1 Paul Cartledge, Ancient Greek (Great Britain: Oxford University Press, 2009), 3.
2 Philip De Souza, the Greek and the Persian war (New York: Routledge, 2012),15

don’t want to get revenge they want the incorporation of the Greek people”3. The Greeks send
their ten generals to battle against the Persians. The Athenians came victorious, only because of
their military strategies.
The Outcomes of the war:
Athens' amazing Golden Age started in 478 B.C,which stayed for Fifty Years. In this
time of harmony, thriving, and advance in each part of culture and science prospered under the
rule of Pericles. Pericles was a privileged person from a "master vote based family", so it was
common that he put stock in and supported vote based system. Art was also a important piece of
Athens' Golden Age. The motivation behind their specialty was to protect Greek culture and
heritage.. Greek figure was expected to be shown in open spots, which implied that it must be
"deserving of the divine beings". The style of craftsmanship moved from Archaic to Classical.
The most critical change in the craftsmanship style may have been in the postures of the figures.
Previously, the figures were a bit in hardened, impossible stances, and the essences of the general
population dependably appeared to be quiet.
As a result of the allied Greek success, a large contingent of the Persian fleet was destroyed and
all Persian garrisons were expelled from Europe, marking an end of Persia’s advance westward
into the continent. The cities of Ionia were also liberated from Persian control. Despite their
successes, however, the spoils of war caused greater inner conflict within the Hellenic world.
The violent actions of Spartan leader Pausanias at the siege of Byzantium, for instance, alienated
many of the Greek states from Sparta, and led to a shift in the military command of the Delian
3 George Cawkwell, The Greek Wars(New York: OUP Oxford,2005) 87-88

League from Sparta to Athens. This set the stage for Sparta’s eventual withdrawal from the
Delian League.
After the Persian War, Sparta and Athens rose as the two most dominant city-states in Ancient
Greece. According to the Thucydides, “the Athenians got all of credits for the victory and so the
Spartans were fear from the emerging power(Athens)”4. The Delian League was a union of
Greek city-states, which was led the Athenians to set free the eastern Greek from the Persian
rule. However, a large number of the city-states were associated with the union; a large portion
of the cash from the Delian League was utilized to praise Athens. The Spartans were unhapy that
Athens was utilizing the majority of the cash, and also that they were not the leader of the
League, so they shaped their own union called the Peloponnesian League. In time, Sparta's desire
and developing a version of Athens turned out to be great to the point that a common war broke
out, which prompted the destruction of Athens' Golden Age.
in any case, the start of the Peloponnesian War conveyed a sudden end to the Golden Age. It
started with Sparta announcing war on Athens in 431 B.C. what's more, finished with Athens'
surrender in 404 B.C. Sparta's disdain towards Athens expanded after some time, until at long
last; they couldn't contain their hostility any longer. Greek city-states did not get along great;
they were isolated by their bumpy geology, which brought about various governments, societies,
and traditions. The thing that matters was especially incredible among Athens and Sparta in
everything from their administration to what they esteemed the most. What infuriated Sparta the
most was that Athens gotten all the credit for crushing the Persians amid the Persian War; and
this further expanded pressures between the two city-states. “The Kerkyra and Poteidaia were
4 J. F. Lazenby, the Peloponnesian war: a military study ( New York: Routledge, 2004), 14

peace agreement between Sparta and Greece, but this peace broke out when Sparta did a attack
on the Poteidaia5
The war started when Athens forced an exchange ban on Megara, a partner of Sparta. They
wouldn't give any Spartan partner a chance to exchange any ports having a place with the Delian
League. The greater part of the ports was controlled by the Delian League, which suggest that
Spartan partners had no one to exchange with. The Megarians started to keep accordingly from
this ban. Pericles' main motive in this exchange ban was to weaken the Spartans from war.
Although, these agreement was unfortunate, and brought about Sparta announce war on Athens.
The Peloponnesian War left Athens crushed; the land was totally devastated, the food
supply was rare; and the physical assets were almost gone. The war is best known through
Thucydides (an Athenian general). He provided an extraordinary detail on the war, and he
provides the reality of the war. "Nobody could have speculated that the contention would achieve
Pericles' defeat, the finish of the Fifty Years, and the weariness and social decrease of all the
city-states," [Don Nardo, pg. 80]. The Peloponnesian War stripped Athens of its capacity and
significance, and left Greece helpless against any remote intrusions.
With the finish of the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians were looked with the overwhelming
undertaking of remaking their city-state. Individuals started to search for a rule that clarified why
things are how they are, which started the ascent of logic. The old Greeks trusted that rationality
and science originated from a similar part of study; which is the reason researchers demonstrated
things utilizing rationale and reason. Logicians were making a trip educators that needed to gain
5Anton Powell, Athens and Sparta : Constructing Greek Political and Social History from 478 BC (London and New
York, Routledge,2001), 121.

proficiency with reality and looked for astuteness through changed techniques. The three
most well known savants of old Greece were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
Socrates was the most punctual of the Greek thinkers, and took part in the Peloponnesian War.
He was conceived in 469 B.C. also, he lived as a plain and poor man. Amid the Peloponnesian
War, he reached the resolution that Man-not the universe-was the foe of man. He trusted that
everyone knew more than they suspected they knew, and he additionally trusted that man's inner
voice was a superior manual for right lead than what society said. His technique for instructing
was by making inquiries, and has come to be known as the Socratic Method.
Conclusion:
The accomplishments that happened amid the Golden Age of Athens keep on influencing
the cutting edge world. Albeit a great many people don't understand it, the greater part of what is
underestimated, can be ascribed to the Athenians. Pierre Leveque expressed, "One need just to
take a gander at our own language, our political establishments, and our way of life, to find to
what degree the Greek experience lives on." Despite the way that Athens' Golden Age was more
than 2000 years back, the majority of its achievements have not been overlooked, and they are
being survived Western Civilizat

Bibliography
Cartledge, Paul. Ancient Greek. Great Britain: Ocford University Press, 2009.
Cawkwell, George. The Greek Wars. New York: OUP Oxford, 2005.
Lazenby, J.F. The Peloponnesian War. New York: Routledge, 2004.
Powell, Anton. "Contructing Greek Political and Social History From BC." (Routledge) 2001: 121.
Souza, Philip de. The Greek and The Persian War. New York: Routledge, 2012.