Titans Collide: The Graeco-Persian Wars

The Graeco-Persian Wars, sometimes referred to as simply the Persian Wars included some of the most epic clashes in human history. Spanning a 50-year period, these conflicts between the Greek city-states and the mighty Persian Empire reshaped the course of Western civilization. Beginning with the Ionian Revolt and culminating in decisive battles like Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis, these wars were not merely about territorial expansion but clashed ideologies of freedom and autocracy. Led by visionary leaders like Themistocles and Leonidas, the Greeks defended their homeland with unparalleled courage and strategic brilliance, leaving a legacy that echoes through millennia of military and political history.

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The Graeco-Persian Wars: East Vs. West Before the Wars

The origins of the Graeco-Persian Wars are deep and complex, and historians today are still debating how far the conflict's roots can be traced. Some historians claim the best place to start is the beginning of Darius’ reign in 522 BC, some go further back to the Achaemenid expansion of 559 BC - 500 BC while others would argue the origins of the conflict go all the way back to the Greek Dark Ages and the collapse of the Mycenaean civilization (which led to some Greeks emigrating to Asia Minor).

For our purposes, 559 BC and the reign of Cyrus II seem a good place to begin. That was the year he established the Achaemenid Dynasty and began expanding his fledgling empire. In 546 BC Cyrus took the Kingdom of Lydia, which had subjugated Greek city-states along the Ionian coast. From there Cyrus kept expanding, subjugating more and more of Asia Minor’s Greek city-states as he went.

Fast forward a little to 522 BC and Persia was now under the rule of Darius. Under his rule, the Achaemenid Empire’s bureaucracy and military improved and its expansion sped up further. During his reign, the Persian empire expanded into mainland Europe, claiming Ionia, Thrace, and Macedonia by the beginning of the 5th century BC. With so much land under its control and the resources that went with it, there’s a strong argument to be made that at this point the Achaemenid Empire had become the world’s first true superpower.

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Darius the Great of Persia. (Public Domain)

Yet that wasn’t enough for Darius. He had set his sights on Athens, and then, the rest of Greece. Exactly why Persia was so keen on taking Greece is unknown. The Achaemenid Empire was already so rich and powerful it had no real need for Greece’s wealth or resources. It may be that Darius simply wanted the prestige that came with such a victory. Some historians believe he hoped defeating Greece would put down rebel states on his western border. 

Or his motives may have been simple revenge. The Persians had long memories and the Ionian revolt of 499-593 BC against tyrants put in charge of Greek cities by the Persians had not been forgotten. Likewise, the offering of earth and water in submission to the Persian governor in 508 BC was an insult that was still fresh, as was the attack by Athens and Eretria on Sardis in 499 BC. 

Clearly, Darius had plenty of motives. In 491 BC he sent envoys to Greece’s most important cities demanding that the Greeks submit to his rule. Most of the cities quickly submitted, but not all of them. Athens and Sparta, not having heard the saying “don’t shoot the messenger,” promptly executed the envoys. They then vowed to form an alliance against Persia.

Darius received the message loud and clear. The Greeks weren’t going to simply submit and were happy to play dirty. His next move was to launch 600 ships and 25,000 troops to attack the Cyclades and Euboea. After a costly seven-day siege, Euboea fell to the Persians, who burned it down, enslaved its people, and sacked its shrines. This move put him on Greece’s doorstep.

The Battle of Marathon

Darius was a busy man and opted not to lead his invasion of Greece in person. Instead, he put his favored general, Datis, in charge, with his nephew, Artaphernes, as second-in-command. The Persian army consisted of roughly 90,000 men (about the seating capacity of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum), dwarfing the 10,000 to 20,000 Greek soldiers led by either Miltiades or Callimachus. 

The Persian fleet sailed south down the coast of Attica until they reached Marathon, just 40 km (25 miles) from Athens. The Greeks met them there and attempted to block the plain of Marathon’s two exits. 

Despite the difference in numbers, the two sides were well-matched. Miltiades had fought the Persians before and prepared accordingly. The Persian army liked to initiate combat with massive long-range volleys of arrows that could decimate the enemy from a distance. The Greeks prepared by bringing their heavy infantry, the hoplites, who were equipped with round shields, spears, and swords. Arranged either in a solid line or phalanx position, their shields formed an almost impenetrable wall of bronze.

When the two forces met on the plain of Marathon in September 490, the Persians opened with their usual volleys. Against the well-armored hoplites, however, this tactic was ineffective. For five days, there was a stalemate as the Persians pelted the Greeks with arrows and the Greeks held their ground.

On the fifth day, according to tradition, the Persians decided to give up the fight and head straight for Athens instead. It was a major mistake. The Greeks waited until the Persian cavalry (its strongest unit) had been loaded onto its ships, and then they struck.

In close-quarters combat, the Greeks had every advantage. Their long spears, heavy swords, and better armor let them slice through the Persian center and envelop the enemy. The Greek phalanx formation and better discipline led to a major victory. The historian Herodotus claimed that the Persians lost 6,400 men compared to the Greek’s 192.

The Greeks then rushed back to Athens so that they could stop the Persians from landing there. This Persian force, led by Artaphernes, decided it was better to return to Asia and lick their wounds, ready for another attempt. The Greeks simply celebrated and erected statues to honor their victory. The Battle of Marathon quickly became legendary. For the first time in a long time, someone had proven the Persians could be given more than a bloody nose.

Scene of the Battle of Marathon (Public Domain)

The 10-Year Intermission and the Achaemenid Empire

Following the Battle of Marathon there was a ten-year intermission. Darius planned on attacking Greece again as quickly as possible and began raising another huge army. Unfortunately for him, in 486 BC, his Egyptian subjects revolted, putting his plans on hold. 

He died that same year while preparing to march on Egypt. He was succeeded by his son, Xerxes I, who easily crushed the Egyptian revolt and then began preparing for an attack on Greece.

Xerxes attending the lashing and "chaining" of the Hellespont (Illustration from 1909). When a storm shattered the bridges over the Hellespont, Xerxes had the waters whipped 300 times and shackles dropped into them as a mark of enslavement. (Public Domain)

Unlike his father, Xerxes was in no rush. He knew that a full-scale invasion would mean long-term planning, stockpiling, and mass conscription. To make it easier for his massive army to move into Europe, he also ordered the Hellespont to be bridged and a canal to be dug at the base of Mount Athos (the Persians had lost a fleet there once). He then began negotiations with Greek city-states he knew were sympathetic to the Persians, arranging for them to defect once his invasion began.

After four years of preparation, and a one-year delay (the Egyptians revolted again), Xerxes was about ready. According to Herodotus, he conscripted men from 46 nations. How many men this included is up for debate. Herodotus claimed Xerxes commanded 2.5 million, but the number was much more likely closer to 200,000. His navy is estimated to have numbered anywhere between 600 and 1,200 ships.

The Greeks

The Greeks spent most of this intermission period doing what the ancient Greeks did best- politics. Shortly after Marathon, Miltiades was injured in another battle, and a powerful Athenian family, the Alcmaeonids, used this as an opportunity to get rid of him.

After Miltiades died from his wound, the two most powerful men in Greece were Themistocles and Aristides. Themistocles recognized that the Persians were still a major threat and believed the best way to defeat them the next time around was with a larger navy. Aristides, who was part of the upper hoplite class, disagreed, thinking infantry was the way to do it. When in 483 BC a massive silver seam was found at Laurium, Themistocles suggested the money should be spent on the Athenian navy. 

Themistocles honored at Sparta, illustration from 'Hutchinson's History of the Nations', 1915 (Public Domain)

After much back and forth, and what some believe is history’s first referendum, Themistocles came out on top. Throughout 482 BC, the Athenians built as many ships as they could to prepare for the coming invasion. Aristides was ostracized, and Themistocles became Athens’ leading man.

In 481, it became clear war was coming when Xerxes repeated history by sending envoys to the Greek city-states demanding goods, land, and water as tokens of submission. Hoping to keep them in the dark for a while longer, he neglected to send envoys to Athens and Sparta. 

Soon, those states willing to fight began to approach Athens and Sparta for support. A congress of states met at Corinth in late 481 BC, and an official alliance was formed. This Hellenic alliance only included 70 of the roughly 700 Greek city-states, which might not sound that impressive, but this level of cooperation between Greek states was pretty much unheard of.

Thermopylae

The Persian army entered Europe in April 480 BC and spent three months traveling from the Hellespont to Therme. It was an uneventful march, and Xerxes reached his destination without any need for bloodshed. 

The Greek alliance had been warned by Alexander I of Macedon that Xerxes was fielding a massive army and their original plan of defending the Vale of Tempe, which was on the border of Thessaly was quickly ditched. Instead, they decided to block his march into Greece by sending men to the narrow pass of Thermopylae while also using the Athenian navy to protect the straits of Artemisium (in case Xerxes tried to bypass Thermopylae by sea).

Xerxes's arrival at Thermopylae coincided with both the Olympic Games and the festival of Carneia. Normally, Spartan warfare during these periods was forbidden for religious reasons, but recognizing the threat, Sparta’s king, Leonidas I, and his 300 bodyguards, the Hippeis. headed for battle.

Leonidas at Thermopylae by Jacques-Louis David (Public Domain)

The battle got off to a slow start with Xerxes waiting several days, thinking the Greeks would eventually retreat rather than face his overwhelming force. The exact details of the battle are hard to nail down, thanks to myth and legend becoming intertwined. 

It seems likely that Leonidas led a small Greek force that managed to hold the pass for three days. The narrow space was perfectly suited for hoplite warfare, and Xerxes would have been unable to simply overwhelm the Greeks with his vastly superior numbers.

However, the idea that 300 Spartans alone defended the pass is a myth. In reality the Spartans were backed up by several thousand Greek troops from other city-states. Herodotus told how, at the end of the second day, the Greeks were betrayed by a local, Ephialtes, who told Xerxes of a mountain pass that would let him flank the Greeks. Whether this is true, or an invention is unknown.

Either way, after three days, Xerxes finally managed to defeat the Allied Greek forces at Thermopylae. All the Greek troops there were either wiped out or captured by the Persians. At the same time, the Athenian fleet was busy at Artemisium, holding off the Persian forces that had been sent to sneak past Thermopylae. After hearing of Leonidas’ defeat, the severely damaged Greek fleet retreated, there no longer being any point in defending Artemisium.

This isn’t to say that Thermopylae was a disaster for the Greeks. They may have lost the battle, but realistically they’d never expected to win. What they had done was buy themselves time to prepare for the bigger fights that were coming.

Salamis

Following Thermopylae, the Persians made quick progress into Greece. Many Greek city-states simply surrendered before the Persians could release a single arrow. Knowing that Athens was next, the city was evacuated, and the Athenian population was sent to Salamis. The city was sacked shortly afterward. 

The Greeks hadn’t given up, however. Led by Leonidas’s brother, Kleomnrotos, the Greek alliance began building a defensive wall close to Corinth. Before the wall could be completed, winter came along and halted the fighting on land.

The next big battle came in September 480 BC at Salamis, located in the Saronic Gulf. Once again, it didn’t look good for the Greek alliance. While exact numbers aren’t clear, it’s estimated that 300 ships faced around 500 Persian ships. Both navies used the powerful trireme- a fast, agile warship with three banks of oars and armed with a powerful ram.

However, the Greeks had something the Persians did not- Themistocles. An experienced general with over 20 years of experience in naval warfare and major victories under his belt. Themistocles knew how to even the match.

He planned on luring the Persian fleet into the narrow straits of Salamis, where he could hit them hard and fast. By the time they realized it was a trap, it would be too late, and there would be no way to retreat, their larger number hindering their movement. His plan worked; most of the Persian ships were smashed, and the rest retreated to Asia Minor. 

Battle of Salamis (1868) by Wilhem von Kaulbach.  (Public Domain)

The Battle of Plataea

There were two major battles left. Following the embarrassment at Salamis, Xerxes decided to head home but wasn’t ready to call it quits yet. He left the skilled general Mardonius to lead what was left of the invasion. The Persians still held much of Greece, and its massive army still outnumbered what was left of the Greek alliance. Xerxes had hoped political negotiations might put an end to the fighting, but it quickly became clear the Greek alliance wasn’t done yet.

In August 479 BC, the Greek and Persian armies clashed once again. This time at Plataea in Boeotia. In the run-up to the battle, there had been some infighting between the Greek allies, led by the Athenians who felt they were being mistreated by their allies. This led the Persians to believe the Athenians might change sides, but that was wishful thinking.

When the two armies met, the Persians learned the hard way that the alliance was as strong as ever. Mardonis had planned to tempt the allies into the open land at Plataea, where his powerful cavalry would have the advantage. It didn’t work out that way.

Answer of the Athenian Aristides to the ambassadors of Mardonius: "As long as the sun holds to its present course, we shall never come to terms with Xerxes”.  (Public Domain)

The Greeks brought with them the largest hoplite army the world has ever seen. Numbering around 110,000 men (about the seating capacity of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum) from 30 city-states, it dominated the Persian army, which is believed to have been of a similar size. Much like in Marathon all those years ago, the Persians still hadn’t learned how to combat the hoplite arms and phalanx. 

Around the same time, there was another battle at Mycale in Ionia. Led by Leotychides the Greek fleet landed a force that wiped out the Persians based there and killed their commander. This victory led to the Ionian states rejoining the Hellenic Alliance. Xerxes' ambitions for Greece were officially over.

Conclusion

Following Mycale and Plataea, the Greeks established the Delian League to discourage any more Persian invasions. They then went on the offensive and took back much of the land conquered by the Persians. Throughout the 470s BC, the Delian League took the fight to Persia, not just retaking lands but looking for revenge. 

It took almost 30 years for things to calm down for good. In 449 BC, peace with Persia was signed. Greek independence had been secured, fostering a period of cultural and political growth known as the Golden Age of Athens. Almost 100 years later, Alexander the Great would rise and defeat the Persian Empire once again.

Top image: A painting representing the Battle of Marathon in the time of the Graeco-Persian Wars.       Source: Public Domain

By Robbie Mitchell

FAQs

Why couldn't Persia conquer Greece?

Persia couldn’t conquer Greece due to the Greeks' strategic unity, effective use of their challenging trrain, and strong leadership that motivated them to defend their homeland. Additionally, Persia faced logistical challenges and couldn’t fully leverage their numerical advantage in key battles.

How did the Greco-Persian Wars end?

The Greco-Persian Wars ended with decisive Greek victories at the Battles of Plataea and Mycale in 479 BC, forcing the Persian Empire to retreat and abandon its ambitions in Greece. The conflict formally concluded with the Peace of Callias in 449 BC, securing Greek independence and ending Persian aggression.