479 B.C. Plataea—Greece Wins Freedom.......................................

Lecture 3

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ome battles are decisive because of what they prevent from happening.
The Battle of Plataea, which took place in 479 B.C. and was fought
between the united city-states of ancient Greece and the Persian
Empire, is one of these. If the Greeks had lost this battle and become merely
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in the 5th century B.C. might not have taken place. At the very least, a Persian
victory would have resulted in a different course of history.

Background to Plataea
x Plataea is not nearly so well-known as three other battles fought
between the Greeks and Persians within an 11-year span.
Thermopylae was a Greek defeat, and Marathon and Salamis,
although Greek victories, were only temporary setbacks for Persia,
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x Plataea, however, was decisive. It effectively ended the war and

ensured Greek independence and freedom, thus making possible

the Greek golden age.

The Opponents
x On the one side was mighty Persia, a culturally sophisticated,
ethnically diverse, and economically prosperous empire that
stretched from the Mediterranean to the borders of modern India.

x Pitted against this colossus were the Greek city-states, a group of

small, separate political entities on the mainland of Greece and

the islands of the Aegean Sea that shared a common language

and culture.

x The largest was Athens, known for its boldness and creativity,

which had begun to experiment with forms of democracy. Next was

Sparta, inward-looking, suspicious, and possessed of a small but