commanders such as Themistocles and Leonidas‚ the effective Greek strategy and the cooperation of all the Greek city states to unite against a common threat. Ancient historians such as Aeschylus in his play ‘The Persians’ and Herodotus attribute the Greek victory to the so called ‘hubris’ or extreme confidence and arrogance showed by Xerxes. All these reasons played a crucial role in the Greek victory over the Persians in the Second Persian War. The leadership showed by men such as Themistocles and Leonidas
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lost due to superior Greek military capabilities residing in the exceptional Greek generals and professional troop contingents. Athenian democracy ensured that talented individuals rose to positions of power and influence such as Miltiades and Themistocles. Miltiades was elected to serve as one of the 10 stratagoi (generals) to command the Athenian forces in 490 BC and was crucial to the victory at the Battle of Marathon. According to Herodotus Miltiades was the architect of several Greek strategies
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Salamis The naval battle of Salamis was one of the last great battles of the Greco-Persian Wars‚ An invasion of Greece by the Persians Led by Persian King forces cunningly defeated Xerxes larger fleet under the leadership of Athenian general Themistocles. Xerxes‚ the son of King Darius was aggressive in the building of his empire. To get revenge for his late his father’s defeat at Marathon‚ he led an army of 150‚000 men and a navy consisting of 600 triremes (war vessels) into Greece‚ defeating
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Darius I & Themistocle were 2 of many people who played a sig. role in Xerxes’ reign. Themistocles was known as the great Athenian strategist who united the Greekstates & saved Greece. Darius the 1st was the father & predecessor of Xerxes‚ he played the role of being the most influential person to Xerxes & believed Xerxes was the most deserving to become his heir. Herodotus records that the Persians accounted Darius a ‘merchant’ for his great achievements on setting the empire onto a sound
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education and arts had occurred and that advanced civilization globally. Themistocles could have never been able to do what Pericles had accomplished. Pericles had a vision for what he wanted Athens to look like and he went and achieved it. Pericles did not have as many enemies as Themistocles‚ because if he did he would have too been voted out of the democracy. Overall the better fit to rule over Athens was Pericles. Themistocles may have not been a bad choice‚ but he was not the best. The people of
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battles; at the Battle of Marathon‚ Miltiades used the Vrana Valley to prevent a Persian march on Athens‚ at the Battle of Thermopylae‚ Leonidas used the narrow‚ Thermopylae pass to invalidate the Persian numbers‚ and at the Battle of Artemisium‚ Themistocles used the Artemisium Strait to aid in his battle against the Persian fleets. The best manipulation and use of terrain by the Greeks in the Greco-Persian War was at the Battle of Marathon. In the Battle of Marathon Miltiades and his men chopped
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against the Persians in the years 490BC-479BC. The three main points of view on the matter is that they were not united at all‚ which can be seen from the accounts of Herodotus‚ that they were united‚ which can be seen in the Themistocles Decree and that it was Themistocles himself that made them unified. It is on the research of Herodotus that we rely most heavily on for our information of the Persian War period. He is often criticised for his inaccuracy‚ bias and failure to evaluate events properly
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On the day‚ when the battle of Mycale (479 BC) was concluded‚ and the joint Athenian and Spartan forces were about to celebrate its victory over the Persian armies; Athens found itself in the position to dominate the Greek world. The Athens will dominate this period not only because it was the Athenian leadership and vision that saved the Greece from Persian tyrrany; but because the Athens won the allegiance‚ and eventually the contributions of most Aegean Cities. (Durant 1966:474) When the war was
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The Ancient Greek city-states of the 5th century BCE took on one of the most powerful and dangerous empires of the ancient world in a struggle to maintain independence from the Persians. The Persians represented the opposite in ideals of everything that is Greek and threatened the end of political sovereignty‚ higher thinking‚ and innovation. Overcoming the Persians was a critical accomplishment by the Greeks in the Greco-Persian wars of the 5th century and can be attributed to their superior strategizing
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“Kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars‚ pretending generally‚ if not always‚ that the good of the people was the object” – Abraham Lincoln. The Persian Wars were a series of destructive and malevolent battles which occurred in the time frame of 490B.C and 480 – 479B.C. The Greek victory over the Persians in the Persian Wars cannot be attributed to only one factor‚ more it was a commixture of factors. Such factors include unity‚ leadership‚ strategy‚ tactics and
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