Persian Wars
The Greco-Persian conflict (499-449 BCE): the Ionian Revolt and the invasions of Darius and Xerxes.
Category: Society
- 499 BCEIonian Revolt
Led by Aristagoras of Miletus, the Greek cities of Ionia revolt against Persian rule in 499 BCE, backed by ships from Athens and Eretria. Persia crushes the revolt by 493, and its aftermath leads to the invasions of Greece.
- 498 BCESardis is burned
In 498 BCE Ionian and allied forces burn Sardis, the satrapal capital. Persian cavalry catches them at Ephesus, and Athens and Eretria withdraw.
- 494 BCEBattle of Lade
In 494 BCE Persia defeats the Ionian fleet off Lade, near Miletus, after Samian ships defect during the battle. Miletus is besieged and captured and the revolt is effectively over.
- 492 BCEMardonius's campaign in Thrace and Macedon
In 492 BCE Mardonius retakes Thrace and makes Macedon a fully subordinate part of the Persian empire. A storm off Mount Athos wrecks his fleet and he returns to Asia.
- 490 BCEBattle of Marathon
An Athenian army of about 9,000 under Miltiades, with 1,000 Plataeans, defeats the Persian landing at Marathon in 490 BCE, conventionally dated 12 September. Herodotus counts 192 Athenian dead and 6,400 Persian; modern estimates of Persian dead are lower.
- 490 BCEPersians burn Naxos and raze Eretria
In 490 BCE a Persian fleet under Datis and Artaphernes burns Naxos and takes the Cyclades. Eretria falls after a six-day siege when two citizens open its gates; the city is razed and its people enslaved.
- 481 BCEThe Hellenic League is formed
In late autumn 481 BCE a congress at Corinth unites the Greek states resisting Persia, Athens and Sparta among them. The Spartan Eurybiades is given command of the fleet.
- 480 BCEBattle of Artemisium
While Thermopylae is fought, the Greek fleet under Eurybiades and Themistocles fights an inconclusive three-day battle with Persia off Artemisium. Storms wreck much of the Persian fleet. News of Thermopylae forces the Greeks to withdraw to Salamis.
- 480 BCEBattle of Thermopylae
A Greek force of about 7,000 under the Spartan king Leonidas holds the pass at Thermopylae for three days of fighting until a mountain path reveals their rear. Leonidas stays with his 300 Spartans and Thespians and dies. Sources differ on the date, from July to September 480.
- 480 BCEPersians sack Athens
In 480 BCE the Persians take Boeotia and Attica and burn Athens. Mardonius retakes and destroys it again in 479.
- April 480 BCEXerxes invades Greece
In April 480 BCE Xerxes's army crosses the Hellespont on bridges and marches through Thrace and Macedon into Thessaly, after Persia has dug a canal across the Athos peninsula. Herodotus's figures of millions of men are rejected; modern estimates are 100,000-300,000 and more.
- September 480 BCEBattle of Salamis
On 26 or 27 September 480 BCE, Themistocles lures the Persian fleet into the narrow strait off Salamis, where its numbers count for less. The Greeks win decisively and Xerxes withdraws to Asia, leaving Mardonius in Greece.
- 479 BCEGreeks take Sestos and Byzantium
The Greek counterattack takes Sestos in 479 BCE and Byzantium in 478, pushing Persia out of Europe.
- August 479 BCEBattle of Mycale
Herodotus places the Greek victory at Mycale, in Ionia, on the same day as Plataea. The Greeks land and rout the Persians, then burn their camp. Ionia rises again and Samos, Chios and Lesbos join the Hellenic alliance.
- August 479 BCEBattle of Plataea
On 27 or 28 August 479 BCE a Greek army under the Spartan regent Pausanias defeats Mardonius at Plataea, and Mardonius is killed. The Persians lose control of Attica and Boeotia and withdraw from Greece. Herodotus's casualty figures are not credited.
- 478 BCEThe Delian League is founded
In 478 BCE Athens leads a new alliance of Greek states against Persia after Sparta withdraws, with its treasury on Delos. Members provide ships or pay a tax, and most pay. It gradually becomes an Athenian empire.
- c. 466 BCEBattle of the Eurymedon
Cimon's Athenian-led fleet destroys a Persian fleet at the mouth of the Eurymedon in Pamphylia, then routs the Persian army on land. The date is 466 or 469 BCE. It keeps Persia out of the Aegean for years.
- c. 460 BCEAthens backs Inaros's revolt in Egypt
Around 460 BCE Athens sends ships to support the Egyptian rebel Inaros II against Persia. The expedition ends in a disastrous defeat and Inaros is executed.
- c. 449 BCEThe Peace of Callias (disputed)
Around 449 BCE Athens and Persia reportedly make peace through Callias: Ionian cities autonomous, no Persian warships in the Aegean. Whether the treaty existed is disputed, since Thucydides never mentions it. The Greco-Persian Wars fade out around this time.