HISTORY
WAR & CONQUEST
480 BC
Darius’ son and heir
Xerxes seeks revenge
for the defeat at Mara-
thon. The enormous
forces sent to crush
Greece defeat Leonidas
at Thermopylae and
then sack Athens, but
are routed at sea off
Salamis (Salamina).479 BC
The Greeks pay back
their defeat at the
hands of Xerxes by
smashing the Persian
army of Mardonius
at the decisive Battle
of Plataea under
the Spartan leader
Pausanias. The Persian
Wars are fi nally over.477 BC
Seeking security while
building a de facto
empire, the Athenians
establish a political
and military alliance
called the Delian
League. Many city-
states and islands join
the new club.461–32 BC
New Athenian leader
Pericles shifts power
from Delos to Athens
and uses the treasury
wealth of the Delian
League to fund massive
works, including the
construction of the
magnifi cent Parthenon,
an enduring legacy.An explosion in form and light, Greece’s Golden Age, from the 6th to
4th centuries BC,saw a renaissance in cultural creativity. Literature and
drama blossomed as many city-states enjoyed increased economic re-
form, political prosperity and a surge in mental agility, led by the noble
works of Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles who contributed dramatic
tragedies, and Aristophanes who inspired political satire with his com-
edies. Today the potency of this fertile era still resonates – many ideas
discussed today were debated by these great minds. And that’s not for-
getting the journalistic blogs of historians Herodotus – widely regarded
as the father of history – and Thucydides.
Athens reached its zenith after the monumental defeat of the Persians
at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC (see The Persian Wars), founding
the Delian League, a naval alliance formed to liberate city-states still oc-
cupied by Persia. Many Aegean and Ionian city-states swore an allegiance
to Athens, making an annual contribution to the treasury of ships, bring-
ing it fantastic wealth unrivalled by its poor neighbour, Sparta, and also
turning it into something of an empire.
When Pericles became leader of Athens in 461 BC, he moved the
treasury from Delos to the Acropolis, reappropriating funds to construct
grander temples upon it, including the majestic Parthenon, and else-
where, including the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. It was also during this
Classical period that sculptors developed a more naturalistic, aesthetic
style for marble pieces and bronze casts, and it was Pericles who com-
missioned the Athenian sculptor Pheidias to create the enduring marble
friezes of the Parthenon and the sculpture of the city’s patroness, Athena.
With the Aegean Sea safely under its wing, Athens began to look
westwards for further expansion, bringing it into confl ict with the
Sparta-dominated Peloponnesian League. A series of skirmishes and
provocations subsequently led to the Peloponnesian Wars.War & Conquest
The Persian Wars
Athens’ rapid growth as a major city-state also meant heavy reliance on
food imports from the Black Sea; and Persia’s imperial expansion westward
threatened strategic coastal trade routes across Asia Minor. Athens’ support
for a rebellion in the Persian colonies of Asia Minor sparked the Persian
drive to destroy the city. Persian emperor Darius spent fi ve years suppress-
ing the revolt and remained determined to succeed. A 25,000-strong Per-
sian army reached Attica in 490 BC, but was defeated when an Athenian
force of 10,000 outmanoeuvred it at the Battle of Marathon.The Histories,
written by
Herodotus in the
5th century BC,
chronicles the
conflicts between
the ancient Greek
city-states and
Persia. The work
is considered to
be the first narra-
tive of historical
events ever
written.Persian Fire, by
Tom Holland, is
a compelling ac-
count of the war-
ring city-states
of Athens and
Sparta and how
they had to finally
pull together to
face the Persian
threat.