Persia

     Cyrus the Great ruled a small kingdom known as Persia in modern Iran. He and his son, Darius, created a huge empire that eventually stretched from Asia Minor (modern Turkey) in the west to Babylon (modern Iraq) in the east. In 490BC, Darius tried to expand his empire into Greece by defeating the Athenians. The Persians landed at Marathon, twenty-six miles from Athens. The Athenian army forced the Persians back to their ships. A messenger named Pheidippides ran to Athens without stopping to prepare the Athenians for the invasion. Pheidippides died from exhaustion shortly after gasping out his news. Today runners call long races Marathons in honor of Pheidippides' run.

     The Persian invasion united the Greek poli. Many poli sent soldiers to fight the Persians, including fierce warriors from Sparta. The Greek soldiers were outnumbered, but they managed to defeat the larger Persian army. Ten years later, Darius' son Xerxes, sent about 200,000 soldiers and 800 ships to fight the Greeks at the Battle of Salamis. The king watched from a mountaintop in horror as the Greeks again managed to destroy more than 200 ships and kill 20,000 sailors. Xerxes was so enraged that he beheaded the few captains who were able to escape the wrath of the Greek armies.

     After the wars with the Persians, the Greeks felt a tremendous pride in their culture. This pride was especially strong in Athens because Athens was able to unify many poli to defeat the foreign invaders. The poli cooperated in leagues of cities. The artists, poets, sculptures, and architects developed a culture that was unique to Greece. They were no longer awed by the great Persian kingdom. The thirty-year period after the wars (460 BC to 430 BC) was known as the "Golden Age of Greece."