History Chapter 5 - The Expulsion of the Persians PDF

# Chapter 5 - The Expulsion of the Persians In the 5th century BCE, the Persian Empire was the most powerful in Europe and the Near East. Its borders stretched from Macedon to Egypt to India, and its powerful King Darius the Great wanted to stretch his domain even farther, south from Macedon and Th...

# Chapter 5 - The Expulsion of the Persians In the 5th century BCE, the Persian Empire was the most powerful in Europe and the Near East. Its borders stretched from Macedon to Egypt to India, and its powerful King Darius the Great wanted to stretch his domain even farther, south from Macedon and Thrace all the way to the Mediterranean Sea. Athens, Corinth, and Sparta were in direct danger of losing everything to the powerful Persian army. When the Persian army landed at Marathon, 26 miles from the city of Athens, in 490 BCE, the Greeks were quite outnumbered - but they were not without experience in warfare. The poorest of the Athenians had nothing to fight with except for sticks and spears, but that was not the case for Athens' wealthy men. During the Bronze Age, their armor was hammered from bronze into breastplates, helmets, and sometimes shield coverings, and it was used by soldiers called hoplites. Athens had thousands of hoplites at the disposal of the archons, and by the time Persia invaded, the uniform of the hoplites had evolved into a full suit of armor. The suit was comprised of bronze defense plates that covered a warrior's upper body, head, and legs. Soldiers were armed with an iron sword and a lance and always carried a large shield. Hoplite warfare was new to the landscape in that it was the first time in Greek history that soldiers were employed solely to don their armor, spear, and shield and remain at the ready for battle. Hoplites normally were employed to keep Athens safe from its own neighbors - especially Sparta - but this time they had to fight an unfamiliar foe. Together, the men of Athens readied themselves for battle against an indomitable enemy. They were outnumbered two to one. In desperate need of help, Athens sent its best runner, Pheidippides, to Sparta to beg for their assistance. He ran 250 kilometers (155 miles) in two days to reach Sparta, but the warriors of that city were obliged to forego warfare during a religious festival that was taking place. Phidippides despaired, but there was nothing more to be done. Several days later, the Spartan army marched north to aid its neighbor and found that Athens' soldiers had achieved victory all on their own. 6,000 Persians had been killed in the course of a day, and the city still stood, independent under the power of the archons. A general in the army, Themistocles, was deeply affected by the attack. He felt that one victory against the Persians was not sufficient to consider Athens safe. A powerful man in Athens who was raised up to the heights of political greatness in the democratic system, Themistocles had the ear of city leaders when he insisted on revamping Athens' military arsenal. Since Athens' gateway was the Mediterranean Sea, Themistocles suggested heavy investments in new galleys. He wanted to protect his city with a fleet of triremes, boats built using new technology that came from the Corinthians. The trireme galley, fitted with three sections of rowers, came into fashion for military purposes by that time. These large ships required 85 rowers on each side to function, but additional rowers were often added in the middle rows to add more power to the oars. Under the power of so much muscle, the trireme was faster at its top rowing speed than any other ship under sail. It was perfect for quick attacks and shortened international journeys, be they for military gain or trade purposes. Often, the feudal kings of these ancient port cities and burgeoning empires forewent trade altogether in favor of attacking their neighbor for territorial gains, thus raiding the enemy cities for supplies and hauling anything of use back home. Though they'd only just come out of a war, the Athenians were wary of the cost of such an endeavor. The project was put off for seven years, which is when the city discovered an incredibly valuable stock of silver buried in Attica. Democratically, of course, the Athenian archons gathered together to discuss what to do with all that silver. Most of them wanted to split it among themselves, but Themistocles stepped up onto the podium with his radical idea of spending the silver on a trireme fleet. It was the best thing to do, the general explained, so that Athens would be protected from its enemies in the nearby city-state of Aegina. The Aeginians were island people with the strongest seafaring vessels and mariners in the realm, and they had a long-standing rivalry with mainland Athens. By appealing to this deeply embedded rivalry, Themistocles succeeded in gaining the popular vote for his navy building project. It was none too soon, since King Xerxes I, the new power in Persia after the death of his father, had just vowed to burn Athens to the ground. He began gathering his forces, and news of the impending attack reached Athens soon afterward. In a panic, the people sent an urgent query to the gods at the Oracle of Delphi, asking what might be done to protect the city. The Oracle responded with an alarming message: "Why sit you, doomed one? Fly to the ends of the earth. All is ruin for fire and headlong god of war shall bring you low." The Athenians were horrified, but Themistocles, who had been preparing for another attack ever since the Persians were defeated a decade before, sent his own query to the Oracle and received the following response: "Though all else shall be taken, Zeus, the all-seeing, grants that the wooden wall only shall not fail." The message was confusing to all but Themistocles. The "wooden wall" could be none other than the fleet of triremes constructed of wooden timbers. Unsure what else to do, the Athenians followed the guidance of their general and evacuated the city. Soldiers and rowers climbed into the boats while their wives, mothers, and children fled to a nearby village. The city was completely abandoned when Xerxes' army marched in and set it aflame, just as the Persian king had promised. The temples, markets, homes, and public buildings were all destroyed, but the Athenian army lay in wait safely on Salamis. They would have been able to see the smoke rising from their wasted city. The other Greek city-states had sent their own smaller fleets to Salamis to rendezvous with the Athenians, and under the orders of the Spartan general Eurybiades, they waited for the Persian ships to enter the narrow Strait of Salamis. There, in a tiny strait of the sea, Themistocles and Eurybiades hoped to engage the enemy in battle. The bulky and unsophisticated boats of the enemy were no match for the Greek fleet of triremes in such small quarters. To lure the Persians into the trap, Themistocles sent a messenger to Xerxes, claiming that he was defecting to Persia. The messenger told Xerxes where he could find the Greek ships and attack while they were unprepared. Xerxes believed the messenger and ordered his fleet to row through the night, aiming for the southern end of the strait. There, he found an orderly line of Athenian triremes at the ready. The triremes attacked, using their narrow shape and lightness to pummel the sides of the enemy ships. The playwright, Aeschylus, fought alongside his fellow Athenians and lived to write the epic tale in his play, The Persians. We heard from every part, his voice of exultation. “Advance, ye sons of Greece! From slavery, save your country! Save your wives; your children, save! This day, the common cause of all demands your valor!" King Xerxes watched the battle unfold from his golden throne on the shore of the mainland and saw the Greeks destroy 200 of his boats. The Persians retreated after heavy losses and fled home to protect their king and recover. For the first time in history, Athenians knew what it felt like to be truly powerful. The survivors went back to their ruined city and began to rebuild.