Looking East: The Greeks of Asia and the Rise of Persia and Persian Wars

Question 1

• Governed Persia from 559-530 BC
• Made Media the first satrapy of the Persian Empire
• Extended Persia’s territory to include all western Asia
• His conquest in 546 of Lydian kingdom of Croesus brought Greeks of Asia Minor into the empire
• Led to the confrontation between the Persians and the European Greeks that would redefine the course of Greek history

Answer 1

Cyrus II

Question 1

Who was the king of Lydia?

Present day Turkey

Answer 1

Croesus

Question 2

• Praised as benevolent and talented ruler that avoided deporting rebellious populations and supported local religions and cultures
• He allowed the Jews to return from exile in Mesopotamia to Jerusalem and to rebuild their temple there and worship freely

Answer 2

Cyrus II

Question 3

• Reorganized the empire which ensured its survival for almost 200 years
• Centralized government and began construction of the great ceremonial center of Persepolis
• Facilitated travel for commercial purposes
  → building a canal linking the Nile and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf
  First king to mint his coins
  → purpose = to publicize his power and prestige to his subjects
• Divided empire into 20 satrapies governed by royal appointees and required to pay an annual tribute to the king

Answer 3

Darius’ reforms to the Persian Empire

Question 4

Provinces

Answer 4

Satrapies

Question 5

• The third Persian king of the Achaemenid Empire
• Led military campaigns in Europe, Greece, and more, conquering lands and expanding his empire
• Improved legal and economic system and conducted impresive construction projects across the Persian Empire
• His rule was marked by vast military expeditions

Answer 5

Darius I

Question 6

All office-holders went through an interrogation called…

Answer 6

dokimasia

Question 7

• A procedure thought to have been intended to prevent the emergence of a new tyrant
• Every spring, Athenians had the option of voting to send one of their fellow citizens into exile for 10 years
• 6,000 votes required for an ____to be valid

Answer 7

**Ostracism
**Got its names from the ostraka (broken pieces of pottery) on which voters scratched the name of the man they wanted to banish

Question 8

Generalship
The need for capable military commanders resulted in a new method of selecting archons

Answer 8

strategia

Question 9

Light, fast, maneuverable warships with 3 banks of oars

Answer 9

triremes

Question 10

• Included city-states like Sparta, Athens, and Corinth demonstrating a rare moment of unity among rival cities
• alliance played a crucial role in Battle of Plataea
• Laid groundworl for future alliances and federations among Greek states
• It’s formation illustrated the growing awareness among city-states of the need for collective action to preserve their independence

Answer 10

Hellenic League

Question 11

The Gods
Resolved by the Council and People
Themistocles, son of Neocles, of Phrearrhioi, made the notion to entrust the city to Athena the Mistress of Athens and to all the other Gods to guard and to defend against the Barbarian on behalf of the land. The Athenians themselves and the foreigners who live in Athens are to send their children and women to safety in Troezen, their protector being Pitteus, the founding hero of the land. They are to send the old men and their movable possessions to safety on Salamis. The treasurers and priestesses are to remain on the Acropolis guarding the property of the gods. All the other Athenians and foreigners and of military age are to embark on the 200 ships that are ready and defend against the Barbarian for the sake of their own freedom and that of the rest of the Greeks along with the Lacedaemonians, the Corinthians, the Aeginetans, and all others who wish to share the danger.

Answer 11

• The decree of Themistocles or Troezen Inscription
• An inscription found at Troezen, discussing Greek strategy in the Greco-Persian Wars, claiming to have been discussed by the Athenian assembly under the guidance of Themistocles

Question 12

A narrow mountain pass near the sea in northern Greece, which was the sire of several battles in antiquity, the most famous being that between Persians and Greeks in 480 BCE
Greeks held the narrow pass for 3 days with Spartan king Leonidas

Answer 12

Thermopylae

Question 13

• King Leonidas went to Thermopylae with around 7,000 men (small force)
• A Greek traitor betrayed the secret and guided Xerxes’ personal guard, the Immortals, over it
  Leonidas and his soldiers still fought the Persians, but ended up killed themselves

Answer 13

Battle of Thermopylae

Question 14

A Spartan king who famously led a small band of Greek allies at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE where the Greeks defended the pass through which king Xerxes sought to invade Greece with his massive army. they were to defend the pass of Thermopylae and hold the invading Persian force until more troops could be mustered.

Answer 14

King Leonidas

Question 15

A naval battle between Greek and Persian forces in the Saronic Gulf, Greece in 480 BCE
Greeks won and it was one of the greatest and most significant military victories in antiquity
Greeks won a freedom which would allow a period of artistic and cultural endeavour which would form the foundations of Western culture for millennia

Answer 15

The battle of Salamis

Question 16

What happened to the Persians at the Battle of Salamis?

Answer 16

• Artemisia, Queen of Halicarnassus advised Xerxes to not fight a needless battle
• As a result of not listening to her, Xerxes watched the Persian fleet, unable to maneuver the straits of Salamis, suffer a huge defeat, losing more than 200 ships
• Xerxes ended up executing his Phoenician captains for alleged cowardice in the battle and retreated to Asia

Question 17

“They throughout the Asian
land no longer Persian laws obey,
no longer lordly tribute yield,
Exacted by necessity;
Nor suffer rule as suppliants,
To earth obeisance never make:
Lost is the kingly power. -
Nay, no longer is the tongue imprisoned kept, but loose are men,
When loose the yoke of power’s bound,
To bawl their liberty”

Answer 17

In his tragedy about Salamis, Aeschylus stresses the differences between eastern despotism (the exercise of absolute power especially in a cruel and oppressive way; tyranny/dictatorship) and Greek freedom. Here the chorus of Persian elders laments Persia’s defeat by Greece

Question 18

How did Herodotus depict Xerxes?

Answer 18

Herodotus depicted Xerxes as an impious madman who was responsible for initiating the decline of Persia. To Herodotus, Xerxes’ main character flaw was hybris (arrogance)

Question 19

• The tyrant of the cities of Gela and Syracuse in Sicily
• In the 6th century when ____, seized Syracuse and the brutally conquered most of the cities of Sicily
• He sometimes transferred or sold into slavery whole populations to ensure his control

Answer 19

Gelon

Question 20

A norther African city
A Phoenician colony grown into an empire

Answer 20

Carthage

Question 21

• King of Persia and the Achaemenid Empire
• His mother was Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great who founded the Persian Empire
• His father was Darius the Great
• Celebrated for many building projects and massive expedition he mounted against Greece in 480 BCE

Answer 21

Xerxes

Question 22

Messina and Selinus scared that they’d suffer the same fate as Syracuse, asked Carthage for help
→ Carthage responded in force, allegedly invading Sicily with an army of 300,000 men and a fleet of 200 ships in 480 BC
→ Took place at ____ and ended in total Carthaginian defeat and the suicide of the Carthaginian commander when he learned of the Greek victory

Answer 22

Battle of Himera