The Persian Wars |
*SURVEY: Chronological and geographical context, key powers and the nature of contact
*origins: Persian imperialism, Ionian Revolt |
SURVEY: Chronological and geographical context of ancient Greece, key powers and the nature of contact in the region
*At the turn of the 5th Century B.C.E., Greece was a geographical expression. There was a Greek language, a rich cultural heritage stretching back over centuries and shared religious/mythological beliefs. While they all shared a common identity, they had not been united since the Trojan War - roughly 1150BC.
*Greece was a collection of independent city states called POLIS. Modern estimates of both LARGE and SMALL states is over 1,500. A polis would function as a city centre for what we would understand as a 'nation'. For example, ATHENS dominated the Attican peninsular. In Attica, there were many other smaller cities, towns, farming and fishing villages who were all responsible to Athenian taxation and laws. *The world of the Greeks went through some clear thresholds of change. They were brought about by either war, movement of peoples or overpopulation. Terms of these periods include: The Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greece, Greek migration/colonisation, The Dark Age & Classical Greece. An overview of these eras is summarised in the video below. *Contacts with the ancient world are easy to track through archaeology and the written record. Trade networks were core to the Greeks position in the Mediterranean. Sea born trade in the Aegean Sea and beyond had existed for over a thousand years before the 5th century. Trade networks were established to Egypt, the Black Sea, North Africa and as far as Spain. Their contact with these civilisations were named in the written records such as the Hittite archives and Egyptian incriptions and tribute lists in Thebes, they are found abroad in archaeological remains of exports from the Greek mainland such as pottery and religious artefacts. *Short on grain during the years of colonisation, excess populations of Greeks set sail from ports like Corinth and Athens to establish trading towns in other places across the Mediterranean such as Italy and Sicily. The grain trade routes to the Black Sea and Egypt was a necessity for the Greek world to prosper. In return, Greek trade offered their supply of olive oil production, which in the ancient world had many important everyday uses - infusion for perfumes, fuel for cooking and lighting lamps. *Greece, having quite a rocky and mountaious landscape, was in short supply of fertile farming lands. Border wars and conflict over these possessions was a common feature of the Greek world right up until the 5th century. The th century expansion of the Persian Empire into Ionia disrupted their trade networks and threatened their soverignty - a good as reason as any for Greek unity = pan-hellenism. *HELLENES was used as a term to describe the Greeks such as found in Herodotus's The Histories, our main source for 1st half of the unit. Early terms for Greeks also included Homer's word Achaeans - referring to the Greek of the Peloponnese during the Bronze Age. |
What made a Greek, Greek
The importance of the 'polis' Greek unity and internal conflicts Contact with other civilisations Movement of Greek culture Balancing trade and commerce with the region Terms for the Greeks |
A NOTE ON HISTORIORAPHY:
Our main primary source for the period is: Herodotus' The Histories.
Herodotus was able to make use of contemporary Greek and Persian records. In reading his account you need to be aware that often he:
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Thucydides' The Peloponnesian War
Thucyidides was the eyewitness, Athenian General during the Peloponnesian Wars.
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Plutrch's - 'LIVES'
Writing in the 1st century AD, Plutarch gives the most complete ercord of the time after the Greco-Persian Wars. He relied on the writings of his predecessors such as Thucydides, Diodorus and Aeschylus for his sources:
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EPIGRAPHICAL EVDENCE
Included many epitaphs for the dead written and set up in memory of those who died in battle.
EXAMPLE: Pictured is the Assassin's Creed interpretation of the Lion Monument of Leonidas: "Go tell the Spartans, strangers passing by..." |
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
Includes vase paintings, finds from the battle sites, and reliefs on buildings and monuments.
EXAMPLE: Pictured is an Athenian ceramic artwork - 5th century BC. It depicts a Greek holpite and a Persian warrior. CONSIDER VALUE and LIMITATIONS of the source... |
The PRO-WEST FACTOR:
Western civilisation is very much the product of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Much of western architecture, language, philosophy, law, education, science and a host of other disciplines, owe an enormous debt to the two great classical civilisations. It is important to be aware of this ancient context when the Persian Wars are considered. For Greece, and by inference for the modern west, the victory of the Greek states is seen in heroic and indeed epochal terms.
However, to view the Persian Wars in such a way is to be unhistorical. As Dr Douglas Kelly of the ANU argued in a lecture some years ago, even the defeats of 480-479 B.C.E. were but a pin prick on the power of the Persian Empire. The Greek playwright, Aeschylus, referred to the Persian defeat of 480 B.C.E. as the greatest disaster ever to befall Persia. However, even the Greek historian, Herodotus, was sensible enough to see that Persian power had not been destroyed. The poet Robert Graves penned a work during the years of World War II called The Persian Version. Graves' opening lines suggest a Persian view of the defeat against Greece: |
"The ancient Persians themselves wrote almost nothing - at least nothing that has survived - in the way of narrative history. As with many ancient peoples, records were kept alive through oral tradition. These 'records' manifest themselves in the written sources in a number of compelling, but often puzzling ways."
Acknowledgement: Matt Waters, "Ancient Persia", p.11 "Our image of Achaemenid Persia is usually one of a tyrannical enemy that unleashed an overwhelming onslaught against the freedom-loving Greeks, who because of their society's values and virtues, were able to defeat them. This is the stereotypical view, one that is indebted to the modern recasting of that historical sequence as it is to the Greek tradition itself. Herodotus wrote roughly two generations after the invasion and his first six books build towards the cataclysmic confrontation. His account is suffused with cautionary tales of hubris and imperial overreach." Acknowledgement: Matt Waters, "Ancient Persia", p.120 |
Truth-loving Persians do not dwell upon
The trivial skirmish fought near Marathon. |
In his lecture, Dr Kelly also pointed out that the whole notion of Greek unity in 480-479 B.C.E. was something of a myth. At the Battle of Plataea in 479 B.C.E., there were more Greeks fighting against each other than in any other ancient battle.
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SOURCES: A quick summary...
A key factor in the glorification of the Greek success is the fact that the vast majority of the information available to historians comes from Greek sources.
- The main written source is The Histories, written by the 5th Century B.C.E. Greek historian Herodotus. His credulity and clear admiration for Athens means that his work must be considered with care.
- The Athenian playwright, Aeschylus, wrote his play The Persians in 472 B.C.E., only eight years after the Athenian victory at the Battle of Salamis, a battle in which the playwright fought.
- The Greek historian Thucydides wrote his History of the Peloponnesian War towards the end of the 5th Century B.C.E.
- During the 1st Century C.E., the Greek biographer Plutarch wrote about the lives of leading Greek and Roman leaders.
- There are also various archaeological and epigraphical sources such as the Troezen Decree and the Serpent Column at Delphi.
ORIGINS: Persian Imperialism
There were several strands to Persian imperialism:
To the Persians, an offer of earth and water by foreign cities or states signified submission to the king, and if help was requested from the Persians, these tokens had to be offered. It was seen by the Persians as both a diplomatic agreement, and a solemn oath, and those Greek states that complied were acknowledging the king's superiority in return for his protection and patronage. Breaking the bond, therefore, was an insult, and it required the king to respond. |
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Darius' SCYTHIAN CAMPAIGN 513-512BC
In 513 BC The Great King Darius' forces marched into Thrace (modern Bulgaria/Romania) and defeated the various tribes that opposed him. He then crossed the River Danube into Scythia (southern Russia). Unable to secure a decisive victory, he couldn;t find a centralised capital or a singular enemy army to defeat and subdue.
Darius' motives for the move into Scythia are uncertain. Was it to expand the empire, to establish mining settlements, secure his newly won Thracian province or had he intended to march eastwards across the northern part of the Black Sea? The campaign was a near disaster and Darius was forced to retreat back into Thrace. A Greek commander MILTIADES - who will becomce important later - was left at the Danube crossing by Darius to secure a line of retreat. He was encouraged by the Scythians to destroy the pontoon bridge, he may have attempted it as then marked Miltiades as an enemy of Persia and he would flee to his homeland: Athens. Darius left Megabates in Thrace with 80,000 troops to establish Persian control of Thrace. Megabates even managed to gain the submission of Amyntas, king of Macedon. During Darius' absence, revolts broke out in Chalcedon and Byzantium in north west Asia Minor. They were quickly put down.
At this stage, it was certainly not inevitable that the Persian Empire would go to war with the Greek city states. The Ionian Greeks had by and large remained loyal to Darius and the king would have wanted to consolidate after the events in Scythia. However, gaining the submission of Macedonia certainly showed growing Persian interest in mainland Europe. It was to be events on the island of Naxos in 501 B.C.E. and the Ionia itself in 499-98 B.C.E. that would turn the eyes of Darius towards Greece... THE IONIAN REVOLT |
Darius' Scythian campaign map... in Russian. Still clearly shows his army and navy paths, his difficulty in finding a cultural centre, the pontoon bridge etc.
Wikipedia
Scythian horse archer - wordpress.com
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ORIGINS: Ionian Revolt: 499 to 493BC
![](http://www.weebly.com/weebly/images/file_icons/pdf.png)
pamela_bradley_-_ionian_revolt_499-493.pdf |
Read up on Pamela Bradley's summary of the Ionian Revolt. Probably the best and concise summary you will need. Use it in conjunction with the detailed map link below.
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SUMMARY:It is important to remember the following points:
*The Ionian revolt was not a brief affair. It would take 5 years for the Persians to reestablish control and dominance over the Ionian cities. *The revolt played out in many arenas - not just battles and sieges, but also in politics and governement. *The difference between a Greek tyrant of Persian, an oligarchy and a democracy. Their differences also helps explain the actions of some city-states and individuals. *This narrative of the revolt is a product of Herodotus, some of his artistic flare is obvious. J Jong 2013
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Link to detailed map of the Ionian Revolt...
CAUSES: |
Loss of freedom - The Greeks had lost their freedom, their independence in deciding their own lifestyle. While seemingly benevelont rulers (allowing Greeks to retain governments, religion etc), the Persian Great Kings still denied the Greek's their autonomy. Were the Ionian Greeks erally that proud? It is all for interpretation and retrospect.
Barbarian overlords - Were made subject to an oriental power, a barbarian king who made them pay heavy taxes in which wasn't put back into social circulation. The government to Asia Minor were tyrants that were Greek, pro-persian and ‘puppets’ of the persian king. When Cyrus conquered Greece and Asia Minor, tyrants were put into place, but were thrown out by the people, it was no longer acceptable from the Greeks point of view, so they then also had to rebel against the persian king that controlled them. Aristagoras ambitions - Histiaeus, a tyrant under the rule of Cyrus, who was a Satrap of Miletus, was sent to Susa for his ambitions were a concern of Cyrus’. Histiaeus’ son in law Aristagoras was placed as ruler and was approached by the ologarchs from Naxos, an island in which Aristagoras wanted to either rule over, or make aailable to the Persian masters in Sardis. |
COURSE: |
Planned attempt to seize Naxos
Failure to take Naxos Aristagoras alarm Seeks support from mainland - Sparta 1st!!! Athens and Eretria motives The new found democracy within Greece opposed to Tyranny What did they help with Darius and Athens Ionian defeat |
1. Aristagoras got the help from Sardis, a satrap of the persian empire and their ruler Artaphernes , he proposed that they take Naxos to use it as a stepping stone to expand the Persian empire as far as Euboea. Artaphernes gained consent from his half brother Darius, the persian Great King.
2. The plan misfired, due to the Naxons being warned of the invasion ad prepared for a long siege. Aristagoras became fearful of Artephernes reaction to the situation and felt like he needed to take action against Sardis and their Satrap. 3. According to Herodotus, Histiaeus sent a slave from Susa, with ‘revolt’ tattooed on the back of his head as a secret message, which was intended for his son in law Aristagoras . Herodotus said “urging him to do precisely what he was thinking of, namely, to revolt” . Histiaeus’ had his own motive = to finally be allowed to go back to Mileatus by ‘restoring peace’. 4. Aristagoras renounced his own tyranny, and commanded other Greek leaders of ionia follow suit. If not they were forcibly removed. Then went to mainland Greece to get help, first going to sparta, they turned the offer down due to their distance from the upcoming conflict, perceiving no threat from the Persians. Went to Athens and Eretria, who said yes, Athens sending 20 ships and Eretria sending 5. 5. Athens were openly hostile to Persia, after a tyrannical Hippias kicked out after the uprising in Greece, with the Persians taking him in, Aristagoras took in the exiled tyrant and Hippias supported the expansion, in hopes that he could become the satrap of Athens when it becomes city of the Persian empire. Herodotus, he was moving Heaven and Earth “ to procure the subjection of Athens to himself and Darius.’ 6. Greeks were worried about darius’ expansion, trying to target thrace in recent times. Aristagoras really pursued the link between Ionia and mainland Greek. “Miletus had been founded by Athenian settlers, so it was only natural that the Athenians, powerful as they were, would help her in her need.” Eretria was repaying a ‘debt of honour” , due to a previous war with their neighbour Chalcis, in which Mileatus helped with the war effort. 7. Herodotus, “...the sailing of this fleet was the beginning of the trouble not only for Greece but for other peoples.” The mainland Greeks landed at Ephesus, joined by Ionian troops and marched inland towards Sardis. Took the city, except for the Citadel, then set majority of it on fire. Temple of the goddess Cybele destroy in the burning. The troops retreated and Artaphernes plus persian troops pursued them. There was a battle near Ephesus, lost alotta men and the Greeks retreated home, taking no further part in the revolt. 8. Darius wanted revenge for Athens part in this revolt and ordered his servants to repeat three times before dinner “remember the Athenians”. Darius also prayed “Grant o god, that I may punish the Athenians.” Herodotus spin? Not implausible though. 9. The Persians had great resources to maintain a war effort against the revolt. According to Herodotus, the Ionians lacked unity, failure to work under one leader. They "became faint hearted” through the withdrawal of the Samians, wishing to save their homes, temples etc. |
CONSEQ'NCE: |
Destruction of Miletus - Miletus was sacked, burned to the ground and everyone was taken to Susa or killed, Miletus was no more, economic supremacy passed to the mainland of Greece. Apparently it had a great impact on the Athenians, feeling they could’ve done more, Phrynichus , a poet, created a play on their downfall and it moved the crowd to shame. He was later fined and the play was banned.
Persians innate reforms - Artaphernes encouraged peace with the Ionians, bringing in reforms to help settle them. Encouraged arbitration rather then raids to settle a feud between people, bounding them by oath to follow this. He conducted surveys to see what a was a fair land tax. Cyprus realised that they hated tyranny, so the year after, he sent Mardoniu s to set up democracies. Weren’t free till 478 when they were liberated by the Athenians. Escape of Miltiades to Athens- Miltiades was a crucial key for the future defence of Greece at Marathon. He escaped the Phoenician fleet and went to Athens, he has intimate knowledge on Persian military tactics and ‘ways’. Darius seeks revenge - The vengeance of Darius, set out his first ‘expedition’ to Greece, with the Ionian revolt the first round of wars, it was the catalyst, between persia and Greece. |