Only in 490 B. C. did the Greeks achieve victory over the Persians. Nor did the Greeks defeat the Persians at Thermopylae but they did delay them for three days. The real decision came in the following year, 479, when the Persian commander Mardonius turned out to have insufficient troops to defeat a united Greek army at Plataea. The Spartans were in charge of the war on land and the Athenians were in charge of the war by the sea. One reason that the Greeks defeated the Persians when the Persians invaded in 480 is that the Persian army under Xerxes took so long to transport their armies to Greece that the Greeks had ample time to prepare a defense. … he sent soldiers in 800 ships to attack Greece. The Persians were forced to return home. 4 Thuc. King Leonidas told most of his troops to flee, but stayed behind with a small force including his 300 Spartans in order to allow the rest of the Greek army to escape. The Greek commander, Themistocles, then lured the Persian fleet into the narrow waters of the strait at Salamis, where the massed Persian ships had difficulty maneuvering. Answer this question. In 500 BC, the Greeks showed the Persians that they weren’t going to allow themselves to be conquered without a fight. Why did the Greeks beat the Persians although the Persians had masses of men. 5 T. Cuyler Young, Jr. "480/479 B.C.-A Persian Perspective," Iranica Antiqua 15 (1980), 213-39. Greek soldiers started training at a very young age and were all very good fighters and extremely fit. The Persians defeated the Greeks at Thermopylae in central Greece, but they suffered heavy losses. The Persian Wars: How the Greeks Won The Persian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between the Greek states and the Persian Empire from 500-449 BC. The colonies from coastal regions united in seceding from Persia and the Greeks from the mainland came to help them (Backman, pg124). The Persian army and navy were too weak to win. How were the Greeks able to defeat the Persians? B. The Persian ruler, Xerxes, fuelled by his father Darius' past defeats, vowed to extend the empire further west into the lands of Greece though was unsuccessful. When he learns of the Persian defeat, Darius condemns the hubris behind his son’s decision to invade Greece and particularly his decision to build a bridge over the Hellespont to expedite the Persian army’s advance, which, he argues, merely angered the gods and led to the Persian defeat. Xerxes never forgot his father's defeat at the hands of the Greeks. Around 522 BC, they started conquering some of the smaller Greek city-states that were located over by the Aegean Sea. In 500 BC, the Greeks showed the Persians that they weren’t going to allow themselves to be conquered without a fight. The first was the sheer tenacity of their soldiers. 5 Answers. How did the athenians defeat the Persians 1 See answer mahimakashyap912 is waiting for your help. Sparta and Athens came together to defeat the Persians. You may need to download version 2.0 now from the Chrome Web Store. Later Alexander invaded and defeated them by his sheer brilliance. Favourite answer. The Spartan army laid siege to the city of Athens. The Greek fleet defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis. If you are on a personal connection, like at home, you can run an anti-virus scan on your device to make sure it is not infected with malware. The Spartans fought alone without the help of Athens. A brief treatment of the Greco-Persian Wars follows. Aeschylus himself had fought the Persians at Marathon (490 BC). Written by GreekBoston.com in Ancient Greek History Naz F . Hope you enjoy. How were the Greeks able to defeat the Persians? 0 0. Have you ever thought about what would have happened to Greece if the Persian Empire were successful in defeating them? Free e-mail watchdog. Nor did the Greeks defeat the Persians at Thermopylae but they did delay them for three days. [ Also present were the 400 Thebans and probably the helots who had accompanied the Spartans. • There was a few reason that contributed to their win against Persia. Tweet. On this occasion, Themistocles persuaded the Greek city-states to stay and force the Persians into battle. In The Persians, Xerxes invites the gods' enmity for his hubristic expedition against Greece in 480/79 BCE; the focus of the drama is the defeat of Xerxes' navy at Salamis. Greek civilization was able to … The defeat at Marathon barely touched the vast resources of the Persian empire, yet for the Greeks it was an enormously significant victory. Relevance. However, on the second night a Greek traitor guided the best … Drag the events to the correct boxes. A. The golden age of Greece came to an end. After battle they managed to expel the Persians in Marathon. First, he wished to punish the Greeks for their support of the cities of Ionia (in modern-day Turkey) during a revolt against Persian rule. Answer Save. and find homework help for other History questions at eNotes At the time of the war, Greece was still divided into multiple city states, each with varying populations and degrees of military strength. Favorite Answer. He may even have fought at Salamis, just eight years before the … In 480 B.C. Robert Drews, The Greek Accounts of Eastern History (Washington D.C. 1973), 69-72. The Greeks held off the Persians killing thousands, until the Persians found a way around the mountains and got behind the Greeks. In August, the Persian army met Greek troops at the pass of Thermopylae while their ships encountered the allied fleet in the Straits of Artemisium. Invading Greece in the summer of 480 BC, Persian troops led by Xerxes I was opposed by an alliance of Greek city-states. As the war progressed, however, the Greeks managed to join forces. recent questions recent answers. Goes to show you how much training and … Explanation: The Persian Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the Greek polis and the Persian Empire, in the 5th century BC. Athens and Sparta formed opposing alliances. Initially the Persians won several battles. In this scenario the Greeks lost some battles again, but, temporarily managed to stop the Persian invasions and for their defense they created an Alliance that was able to unite the different Greek … He spent much of his time building his forces to an even greater number than what his predecessor, King Darius, had. This army was defeated at the Battle of Platea in 479 BC. 1 decade ago. For full treatment, see ancient Greek civilization: The Persian Wars. The greatest example of this is that after the Greeks defeated the Persians in the battle of Marathon, the Persians decided to attack Athens, since the vast majority of it's forces was in Marathon. It started in 500 BC, when a few Greek city-states on the coast of Asia Minor, who were under the control of the Persian Empire, revolted against the despotic rule of the Persian king Darius. A. Having defeated the Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis the Greeks gained the mastery of the seas, and this allowed them to harass and completely cut off the Persian supply lines. Next, the Persians marched on the city of Athens but found that it has been evacuated. The Greek army defeated the Persians. In 480 B.C. Historia, Band XXXVIII/2 (1989) ? [ Also present were the 400 Thebans and probably the helots who had accompanied the Spartans. Comments Off on Greco-Persian Wars: How the Greeks Defeated the Persians. By uniting, given the time gained by Leonidas at Thermopylae, and then the naval defeat of the Persians (superior strategy) at Salamis. Since the Athenians were victorious, this held off the Persians for about ten years before they launched another wave of attacks.Note that about 15,000 soldiers outnumbered the Athenians yet they won the battle with fewer than 200 casualties. The Persians had a long supply line that was vulnerable to attacks. Persia therefore outnumbered Greece 100:1. Parola del Passato 17 (1962), 321-32. The Persians still had more soldiers and sailors than the Greeks. C. Sparta and Athens came together to defeat the Persians. The Greco-Persian Wars, which took place from 492 BC to 449 BC, happened at a time when the Persian Empire was at its peak. Please enable Cookies and reload the page. 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