The
Siege of Eretria took place in 490 BC, during the
first Persian invasion of GreeceThe first Persian invasion of Greece, during the Greco-Persian Wars, began in 492 BC, and ended with the decisive Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. The invasion, consisting of two distinct campaigns, was ordered by the Persian king Darius I primarily in order to punish the...
. The city of
EretriaEretria was a polis in Ancient Greece, located on the western coast of the island of Euboea , south of Chalcis , facing the coast of Attica across the narrow Euboian Gulf. Eretria was an important Greek polis in the 6th/5th century BC. However, it lost its importance already in antiquity...
, on
EuboeaFor the mythological figure, see Euboea Euboea is the second largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from the mainland of Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait...
, was besieged by a strong
PersianThe Achaemenid Empire or Persian Empire was the successor state of the Median Empire, ruling over significant portions of what would become Greater Iran. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, succeeding the Neo-Assyrian Empire...
force under the the command of
DatisFor other uses of the word Dati, see the disambiguation page.Datis or Datus was a Median admiral who served the Persian Empire, under Darius the Great...
and
ArtaphernesArtaphernes, son of Artaphernes, was the nephew of Darius the Great, and a general of the Achaemenid Empire.He was appointed, together with Datis, to take command of the expedition sent by Darius to punish Athens and Eretria for their support for the Ionian Revolt...
.
The first Persian invasion was a response to Greek involvement in the
Ionian RevoltThe Ionian Revolt, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus and Caria, were military rebellions by several regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 to 493 BC...
, when the Eretrians and
AtheniansThe History of Athens is one of the oldest of any city in Europe and in the world. Athens has been continuously inhabited for over 7000 years, becoming the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC; its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of western...
had sent a force to support the cities of
IoniaIonia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
in their attempt to overthrow Persian rule. The Eretrian and Athenian force had succeeded in capturing and burning
SardisSardis, also Sardes , modern Sart in the Manisa province of Turkey, was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, one of the important cities of the Persian Empire, the seat of a proconsul under the Roman Empire, and the metropolis of the province Lydia in later Roman and Byzantine times...
, but was then forced to retreat with heavy losses. In response to this raid, the Persian king Darius I swore to have revenge on Athens and Eretria.
Once the Ionian revolt was finally crushed by the Persian victory at the
Battle of LadeThe Battle of Lade was a naval battle which occurred during the Ionian Revolt, in 494 BC. It was fought between an alliance of the Ionian cities and the Persian Empire of Darius the Great, and resulted in a decisive victory for the Persians which all but ended the revolt.The Ionian Revolt was...
, Darius began to plan to subjugate Greece. In 490 BC, he sent a naval task force under Datis and Artaphernes across the Aegean to subjugate the
CycladesThe Cyclades are a Greek island group in the Aegean Sea, south-east of the mainland of Greece; and an administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name refers to the islands around the sacred island of Delos...
, and then to make punitive attacks on Athens and Eretria. Reaching
EuboeaFor the mythological figure, see Euboea Euboea is the second largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from the mainland of Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait...
in mid-summer after a successful campaign in the Aegean, the Persians proceeded to put Eretria under siege. The siege lasted six days before a
fifth columnA fifth column is a group of people who clandestinely undermine a larger group, such as a nation, from within, to the aid of an external enemy.- Origin :...
of Eretrian nobles betrayed the city to the Persians. The city was plundered, and the population enslaved on Darius's orders. The Eretrian prisoners were evetually taken to Persia and settled as colonists in
CissiaKhūzestān is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq's Basra Province and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and covers an area of 63,238 km²...
.
After Eretria, the Persian force sailed for Athens, landing at the bay of
MarathonThe marathon is a long-distance foot race with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres that is usually run as a road race. The event is named after the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens...
. An Athenian army marched to meet them, and won a famous victory at the
Battle of MarathonThe Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. It was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate...
, thereby ending the first Persian invasion.
Sources
The main source for the Greco-Persian Wars is the Greek historian
HerodotusHerodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture. He was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
. Herodotus, who has been called the 'Father of History', was born in 484 BC in Halicarnassus, Asia Minor (then under Persian overlordship). He wrote his 'Enquiries' (Greek—
Historia; English—
(The) HistoriesThe Histories of Herodotus is considered one of the seminal works of history in Western literature. Written from the 450s to the 420s BC in the Ionic dialect of classical Greek, The Histories serves as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures that...
) around 440–430 BC, trying to trace the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars, which would still have been relatively recent history (the wars finally ending in 450 BC). Herodotus's approach was entirely novel, and at least in Western society, he does seem to have invented 'history' as we know it. As Holland has it: "For the first time, a chronicler set himself to trace the origins of a conflict not to a past so remote so as to be utterly fabulous, nor to the whims and wishes of some god, nor to a people's claim to manifest destiny, but rather explanations he could verify personally."
Some subsequent ancient historians, despite following in his footsteps, criticised Herodotus, starting with
ThucydidesThucydides was a Greek historian and author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century B.C. war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 B.C...
. Nevertheless, Thucydides chose to begin his history where Herodotus left off (at the Siege of Sestos), and therefore evidently felt that Herodotus's history was accurate enough not to need re-writing or correcting.
PlutarchPlutarch, born Plutarchos then, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. AD 46 – 120, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
criticised Herodotus in his essay "On The Malignity of Herodotus", describing Herodotus as "
Philobarbaros" (barbarian-lover), for not being pro-Greek enough, which suggests that Herodotus might actually have done a reasonable job of being even-handed. A negative view of Herodotus was passed on to Renaissance Europe, though he remained well read. However, since the 19th century his reputation has been dramatically rehabilitated by archaeological finds which have repeatedly confirmed his version of events. The prevailing modern view is that Herodotus generally did a remarkable job in his
Historia, but that some of his specific details (particularly troop numbers and dates) should be viewed with skepticism. Nevertheless, there are still some historians who believe Herodotus made up much of his story.
The Sicilian historian
Diodorus SiculusDiodorus Siculus , was a Greek historian who flourished in the 1st century BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doing than is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca historica...
, writing in the 1st century BC in his
Bibliotheca HistoricaBibliotheca historica , is a work of Universal history by Diodorus Siculus. It consisted of forty books, which were divided into three sections. The first six books are geographical in theme, and describe the history and culture of Egypt , of Mesopotamia, India, Scythia, and Arabia , of North...
, also provides an account of the Greco-Persian wars, partially derived from the earlier Greek historian
EphorusEphorus or Ephoros , of Cyme in Aeolia, in Asia Minor, was an ancient Greek historian. Information on his biography is limited; he was the father of Demophilus, who followed in his footsteps as a historian, and to Plutarch's claim that Ephorus declined Alexander the Great's offer to join him on his...
. This account is fairly consistent with Herodotus's. The Greco-Persian wars are also described in less detail by a number of other ancient historians including Plutarch, Ctesias of Cnidus, and are alluded by other authors, such as the playwright
AeschylusAeschylus was an ancient Greek playwright. He is often recognized as the father of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedians whose plays survive, the others being Sophocles and Euripides...
. Archaeological evidence, such as the
Serpent ColumnThe Serpent Column — also known as the Serpentine Column, Delphi Tripod or Plataean Tripod — is an ancient bronze column at the Hippodrome of Constantinople in what is now Istanbul, Turkey...
, also supports some of Herodotus's specific claims.
Background
The first Persian invasion of Greece had its immediate roots in the
Ionian RevoltThe Ionian Revolt, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus and Caria, were military rebellions by several regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 to 493 BC...
, the earliest phase of the
Greco-Persian WarsFor other Persian wars, see Roman-Persian Wars, Arab-Persian Wars, Persian Gulf Wars, and Military history of Iran.The Greco-Persian Wars , were a series of conflicts between the Persian Empire and city-states of the Hellenic world that started in 499 BC and lasted until 450 BC...
. However, it was also the result of the longer-term interaction between the Greeks and Persians. In 500 BC the Persian Empire was still relatively young and highly expansionistic, but prone to revolts amongst its subject peoples. Moreover, the Persian king Darius was a usurper, and had spent considerable time extinguishing revolts against his rule. Even before the Ionian Revolt, Darius had begun to expand the Empire into Europe, subjugating
ThraceThrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded on the north by the Balkan Mountains, on the south by the Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea and on the east by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara...
, and forcing Macedon to become allied to Persia. Attempts at further expansion into the politcally fractious world of Ancient Greece may have been inevitable. However, the Ionian Revolt had directly threatened the integrity of the Persian empire, and the states of mainland Greece remained a potential menace to its future stability. Darius thus resolved to subjugate and pacify Greece and the Aegean, and to punish those involved in the Ionian Revolt.
The Ionian revolt had begun with an unsuccessful
expeditionThe Siege of Naxos was a failed attempt by the Milesian tyrant Aristagoras, operating with support from, and in the name of the Persian Empire of Darius the Great, to conquer the island of Naxos...
against
NaxosNaxos is a Greek island, the largest island in the Cyclades island group in the Aegean. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture....
, a joint venture between the Persian satrap
ArtaphernesArtaphrenes, was the brother of Darius Hystaspis, and satrap of Sardis.It was he who received the embassy from Athens sent probably by Cleisthenes in 497 BC, and subsequently warned the Athenians to receive back the tyrant Hippias....
and the Miletus tyrant
AristagorasAristagoras was the leader of Miletus in the late 6th century BC and early 5th century BC.He was the son of Molpagoras, and son-in-law of Histiaeus, whom the Persians had set up as tyrant of Miletus. Aristagoras gained control of the city when Histiaeus was appointed as an advisor to the Persian...
. In the aftermath, Artaphernes decided to remove Aristagoras from power, but before he could do so, Aristagoras abdicated, and declared Miletus a democracy. The other
IoniaIonia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
n cities followed suit, ejecting their Persian-appointed tyrants, and declaring themselves democracies. Artistagoras then appealed to the states of Mainland Greece for support, but only
AthensThe History of Athens is one of the oldest of any city in Europe and in the world. Athens has been continuously inhabited for over 7000 years, becoming the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC; its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of western...
and
EretriaEretria was a polis in Ancient Greece, located on the western coast of the island of Euboea , south of Chalcis , facing the coast of Attica across the narrow Euboian Gulf. Eretria was an important Greek polis in the 6th/5th century BC. However, it lost its importance already in antiquity...
offered to send troops.
The reasons that Eretria sent assistance to the Ionians are not completely clear. Possibly commercial reasons were a factor; Eretria was a mercantile city, whose trade was threatened by Persian dominance of the Aegean. Herodotus suggests that the Eretrians supported the revolt in order to repay the support the
MilesiansMiletus was an ancient city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...
had given Eretria in a past war against
ChalcisChalcis or Chalkida, Halkida, Halkis or Chalkis , the chief town of the island of Euboea in Greece, is situated on the strait of the Evripos at its narrowest point...
.
The Athenians and Eretrians sent a task force of 25 triremes to Asia Minor to aid the revolt. Whilst there, the Greek army surprised and outmaneuvered Artaphernes, marching to Sardis and there burning the lower city. However, this was as much as the Greeks achieved, and they were then pursued back to the coast by Persian horsemen, losing many men in the process. Despite the fact their actions were ultimately fruitless, the Eretrians and in particular the Athenians had earned Darius's lasting enmity, and he vowed to punish both cities . The Persian naval victory at the
Battle of LadeThe Battle of Lade was a naval battle which occurred during the Ionian Revolt, in 494 BC. It was fought between an alliance of the Ionian cities and the Persian Empire of Darius the Great, and resulted in a decisive victory for the Persians which all but ended the revolt.The Ionian Revolt was...
(494 BC) all but ended the Ionian Revolt, and by 493 BC, the last hold-outs were vanquished by the Persian fleet. The revolt was used as an opportunity by Darius to extend the empire's border to the islands of the East Aegean and the Propontis, which had not been part of the Persian dominions before. The completion of the pacification of Ionia allowed the Persians to begin planning their next moves; to extinguish the threat to the empire from Greece, and to punish Athens and Eretria.
In 492 BC, once the Ionian Revolt had finally been crushed, Darius dispatched an expedition to Greece under the command of his son-in-law,
MardoniusMardonius was a leading Persian military commander during the Persian Wars with Greece in the early 5th century BC.-Early years:Mardonius was the son of Gobryas, a Persian nobleman who had assisted the Achaemenid prince Darius when he claimed the throne...
. Mardonius re-conquered
ThraceThrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded on the north by the Balkan Mountains, on the south by the Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea and on the east by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara...
and compelled
Alexander I of MacedonAlexander I was ruler of Macedon from 498 BC to 454 BC. He was the son of Amyntas I king of Macedon and Eurydice.According to Herodotus he was unfriendly to Persia, and had the envoys of Darius I killed when they arrived at the court of his father during the Ionian Revolt...
to make
MacedonMacedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paionia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south...
a client kingdom to Persia, before the wrecking of his fleet brought a premature end to the campaign.
However in 490 BC, following up the successes of the previous campaign, Darius decided to send a maritime expedition led by
ArtaphernesArtaphrenes, was the brother of Darius Hystaspis, and satrap of Sardis.It was he who received the embassy from Athens sent probably by Cleisthenes in 497 BC, and subsequently warned the Athenians to receive back the tyrant Hippias....
, (son of the satrap to whom Hippias had fled) and
DatisFor other uses of the word Dati, see the disambiguation page.Datis or Datus was a Median admiral who served the Persian Empire, under Darius the Great...
, a
MedianThe Medes were an ancient Iranian people who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. This area is known as Media...
admiral. Mardonius had been injured in the prior campaign and had fallen out of favor. The expedition was intended to bring the
CycladesThe Cyclades are a Greek island group in the Aegean Sea, south-east of the mainland of Greece; and an administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name refers to the islands around the sacred island of Delos...
into the Persian empire, to punish Naxos (which had resisted a Persian assault in 499 BC) and then to head to Greece to force Eretria and Athens to submit to Darius or be destroyed. After island hopping across the Aegean, including successfully attacking Naxos, the Persian task force arrived off Euboea in mid summer, ready to fulfil their second major objective - to punish Eretria.
Prelude
When the Eretrians had discovered that the Persian task force was heading to attack them, they had appealed to the Athenians to send reinforcements. The Athenians agreed to this, and instructed the 4,000 Athenian colonists from the nearby Euboean city of Chalcis to aid the Eretrians. These colonists had been planted on Chalcidian land after Athens had deafeated Chalcis some 20 years previously. However when these Athenians arrived st Eretria, they were told by a leading citizen, Aeschines, of the divisions amongst the Eretrians, and he advised them to leave and save themselves. The Athenians followed Aeschines' advice and sailed to Oropus, thus avoiding the fate of the Eretrians.
The Eretrians failed to come to a clear plan of action; in Herodotus's words "it seems that all the plans of the Eretrians were unsound; they sent to the Athenians for aid, but their counsels were divided". There were three competing plans - one group wanted to surrender to the Persians, seeking to profit thereby, others wanted to flee to the hills above Eretria, whilst others wanted to fight. However, when the Persians landed in their territory the Eretrians, some consensus was obviously reached not to leave the city, but to try and withstand a siege, if possible.
Eretrians
Herodotus does not estimate numbers for the Eretrians. Presumably, the majority of the citizen body would have been involved in the defence of the city, but the population of Eretria at the time cannot be clearly established.
Persians
- For a full discussion of the size of the Persian invasion force, see First Persian invasion of Greece
According to Herodotus, the fleet sent by Darius consisted of 600
triremeThe trireme is a class of warship used by the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean, especially the Phoenicians, ancient Greeks and Romans. In English, no differentiation is made between the Greek triērēs and the Latin triremis...
s. Herodotus does not estimate the size of the Persian army, only saying that they were a "large infantry that was well packed". Among ancient sources, the poet
SimonidesSimonides of Ceos , Greek lyric poet, was born at Ioulis on Kea. He was included, along with Sappho and Pindar, in the canonical list of nine lyric poets by the scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria. He was uncle to Bacchylides, another of the nine lyric poets...
, another near-contemporary, says the campaign force numbered 200,000; while a later writer, the Roman
Cornelius NeposCornelius Nepos was a Roman biographer. Supposedly he was born at Hostilia, a village in Cisalpine Gaul not far from Verona. His Gallic origin is attested by Ausonius, and Pliny the Elder calls him Padi accola...
estimates 200,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry, of which only 100,000 fought in the battle, while the rest were loaded into the fleet that was rounding Cape Sounion;
PlutarchPlutarch, born Plutarchos then, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. AD 46 – 120, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
and
PausaniasPausanias was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between...
both independently give 300,000, as does the
SudaThe Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century historical encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly wrongfully attributed to an author called Suidas. The text belongs to the Byzantine Empire and was written in Greek...
dictionary.
PlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world...
and
LysiasLysias was a logographer in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace in the third century BCE.-Life:According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus and the author of the life ascribed to...
assert 500,000; and Justinus 600,000.
Modern historians have proposed wide ranging numbers for the infantry, from 20,000–100,000 with a consensus of perhaps 25,000; estimates for the cavalry are in the range of 1,000
Siege
The Eretrian strategy was to defend their walls, and undergo a siege. Possibly this was the only plan that could be agreed on, or became the default option when no plan was agreed. At any rate, since the Persian army had only suffered two defeats in the last century, and since a Greek army had never successfully fought the Persians, this was probably a sensible strategy. Since the Persians arrived by ship, it is probable they had little siege equipment, and indeed, they had already been foiled in the siege of Lindos earlier in the expedition.
The Persians landed their army at three separate locations, disembarked, and made straight for Eretria. The Persians then began besieging the city. Rather than passively besieging the city, the Persians seem to have vigorously attacked the walls. Herodotus reports that the fighting was fierce and both sides suffered heavy losses. However, after six days of fighting, two eminent Eretrians, Euphorbus and Philagrus, opened the gates for the Persians. Once inside the city, the Persians plundered the city, burning the temples and sanctuaries in revenge for the burning of Sardis. Those citizens who were captured were enslaved, as Darius had ordered.
Aftermath
After staying at Eretria for a few days, the Persians made their way down the coast towards
AtticaAttica is a periphery in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece. Attica is subdivided into the prefectures of Athens, Piraeus, East Attica and West Attica.-Overview:...
. The Persians dropped the captured Eretrians off on the island of
AegiliaAegilia is a genus of moths of the Noctuidae family.-Species:* Aegilia describens Walker, [1858]* Aegilia indescribens Prout, 1922-References:* *...
, before landing at the bay of
MarathonThe marathon is a long-distance foot race with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres that is usually run as a road race. The event is named after the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens...
in
AtticaAttica is a periphery in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece. Attica is subdivided into the prefectures of Athens, Piraeus, East Attica and West Attica.-Overview:...
. The Persians' next target was Athens. However, the Athenians had marched out from Athens to meet the Persians, and blocked the exits from the plains of Marathon. After several days of stalemate, the Athenians finally resolved to attack the Persians, winning a famous victory at the ensuing
Battle of MarathonThe Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. It was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate...
. After the battle, the remaining Persians fled to their ships, picked up the Eretrians from Aegilia, and then sailed back to Asia Minor, thereby ending the campaign, and the first Persian invasion of Greece.
When the Persian fleet arrived in Asia Minor, Datis and Artaphernes took the Eretrians before Darius in
SusaSusa ; Syriac: ; was an ancient city of the Elamite, Persian and Parthian empires of Iran, located about 250 km east of the Tigris River....
. The Eretrians were not harmed by Darius who decided to settle them in the town of Ardericca in
CissiaKhūzestān is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. It is in the southwest of the country, bordering Iraq's Basra Province and the Persian Gulf. Its capital is Ahvaz and covers an area of 63,238 km²...
. They were still there, using their own language and customs, when Herodotus wrote his history, and were encountered by
Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
during his conquest of Persia a further century later.
In the meanwhile, Darius began raising a huge new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece; however, in 486 BC, his
EgyptianAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. The civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and...
subjects revolted, indefinitely postponing any Greek expedition. Darius then died whilst preparing to march on Egypt, and the throne of Persia passed to his son Xerxes I. Xerxes crushed the Egyptian revolt, and very quickly re-started the preparations for the invasion of Greece. The epic
second Persian invasion of GreeceThe second Persian invasion of Greece occurred during the Greco-Persian Wars, as King Xerxes I of Persia sought to conquer all of Greece. The invasion was a direct, if delayed, response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece at the Battle of Marathon which ended Darius I's attempts...
finally began in 480 BC, and the Persians met with initial success at the battles of
ThermopylaeThe Battle of Thermopylae took place over three days during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August or September 480 BC, at the pass of Thermopylae . It was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by Sparta,...
and
ArtemisiumThe Battle of Artemisium was a series of naval engagements over three days during the second Persian invasion of Greece. The battle took place simultaneously with the more famous land battle at Thermopylae, in August or September 480 BC, off the coast of Euboea and was fought between an alliance of...
. However, defeat at the
Battle of SalamisThe Battle of Salamis , was a naval battle fought between an Alliance of Greek city-states and the Achaemenid Empire of Persia in September 480 BC in the straits between the mainland and Salamis, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens...
would be the turning point in the campaign, and the next year the expedition was ended by the decisive Greek victory at the
Battle of PlataeaThe Battle of Plataea was the final land battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place in 479 BC near the city of Plataea in Boeotia, and was fought between an alliance of the Greek city-states, including Sparta, Athens, Corinth and Megara, and the Persian Empire of...
.
Ancient sources
- Herodotus, The Histories Perseus online version
- Ctesias, Persica (excerpt in Photius's epitome)
- Diodorus Siculus, Biblioteca Historica.
- Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
- Cicero, On the Laws
- Cornelius Nepos, Miltiades
- Plutarch, Moralia
- Pausanias, Description of Greece
- Suda
The Suda or Souda is a massive 10th century historical encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly wrongfully attributed to an author called Suidas. The text belongs to the Byzantine Empire and was written in Greek...
Dictionary (unknown author)
- Plato, Menexenus
- Justin, epitome of Trogus Pompeius's Philipic History
- Lysias, Funeral Oration
Modern sources
- Holland, Tom. Persian Fire. London: Abacus, 2005 (ISBN 978-0-349-11717-1)
- Lloyd, Alan. Marathon:The Crucial Battle That Created Western Democracy. Souvenir Press, 2004. (ISBN 0-285-63688-X)
- Green, Peter. The Greco-Persian Wars. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970; revised ed., 1996 (hardcover, ISBN 0-520-20573-1); 1998 (paperback, ISBN 0-520-20313-5).
- Lazenby, JF. The Defence of Greece 490–479 BC. Aris & Phillips Ltd., 1993 (ISBN 0-85668-591-7)
- Fox, Robin Lane. Alexander the Great. Penguin, 1973 (ISBN 0140088784)
- Fehling, D. Herodotus and His "Sources": Citation, Invention, and Narrative Art. Translated by J.G. Howie. Leeds: Francis Cairns, 1989.
- Higbie, C. The Lindian Chronicle and the Greek Creation of their Past. Oxford University Press, 2003.