+ greece at war an overview of war and battles in classical greece
TRANSCRIPT
+Trojan War
Tell me about it… Who was involved? Why were they fighting? What is the most notable part of the story?
+Trojan War
1200s BCE
Mycenaeans against the city of Troy – 10 years
According to legend, a Trojan Prince captured Helen, the beautiful wife of a Greek King (Spartan).
More legend than fact (written about in both the Illiad and the Odyssey
+Persian Wars
Persian Army’s attempt to take over Greek city-states – greatest threat to Greece
New type of warfare – iron replaced bronze – much cheaper and enabled ordinary people to join the military
Phalanx – most effective military formation
+
Phalanx was generally 8-16 across/deep, but could be as large as 32
Each man carried a pike, a spear 10-25 feet long
What are the benefits of this formation?
+Persian Wars – Battle of MarathonPersian Wars began in Ionia – Persian
Army was successful
Greeks regrouped and the Ionians got support from Athens, together, they were able to defeat a much larger Persian Army (Persia now HATES Athens)
Pheidippides was a runner who was selected to bring the news back to Athens that the Greeks had won. He ran 26.2 miles from Marathon to Athens – delivered the news, then died. Hence, the modern marathon
+Persian Wars – Battle of Thermopylae
Ten years after the Persian defeat at Marathon, Xerxes wanted revenge and to destroy Athens
Xerxes and his impressive army were matching towards Athens when they ran into a a Greek army of about 7000 blocking the narrow pass
Persian advance stopped almost entirely for three days and they suffered heavy losses
Persians caught a break when an ugly, disfigured traitor told them of an alternate route to bypass Thermopylae
King Leonidas ordered the rest of the Greeks to retreat and kept 700 Thespians and 300 Spartans to defend the pass/delay Persian advance
Persians made it to Athens and burned the city to the ground
+Persian Wars – Battle of Salamis
Immediately after Thermopylae
Athenian soldiers who fled the imminent danger of Thermopylae positioned their navy in a small channel near the island of Salamis
After Xerxes burned Athens, he headed to the sea and ran into the Athenian fleet
Xerxes ships were too big to turn around in the narrow pass and the small Greek ships were able to sink 1/3 of Xerxes’ fleet
Outcome of the Persian Wars – Greeks formed the Delian League (an alliance), to continue to defend against Persian advances, eventually, they drove the Persians out of Greece. This enabled the Greeks to become very powerful – Athens was the leader of Greece.
+Peloponnesian WarAthens grew in wealth, power and prestige leaving the other city states bitter, especially Sparta.
Tensions between the two city states continued to grow and neither city state tried to avoid conflict
Eventually, Sparta declared war on Athens in 431 BCE
+Peloponnesian WarAthens had a stronger navy, Sparta a stronger armyGeographic location of Sparta protected against Athens’ navy
The two city states fought back and forth, eventually, the victory went to Sparta and Athens lost its position as the most powerful city state
However, Sparta didn’t last too long either