Unit 6: The Persian Wars, Athens, and Herodotus

Question 1

Archons

Answer 1

Late 8th century chiefs of Attica replaced paramount basileus with three civic officials (archons) who divided the leadership roles.
1. One archon (basileus) administers cults of the polis and judges lawsuits (cult property and religious matters)
2. Second archon (polemarch) war archon commands the army and judges disputes involving non-citizens.
3. Third archon had overall supervision of public affairs, presides over the council and assembly, and judges nonreligious matters (thesmothetai)
9 archons selected from candidates of aristocrats (Eupatrids - people with good fathers)
Archons govern with council and meet on hill (pagos) sacred to Areas “Council of the Areopagus)

Question 2

Battle of Himera

Answer 2

480 BC. The Greek victory at Himera secured peace for the western colonies for more than seventy years.
Carthage invades Sicily with army of 300 000 and 200 ships in 480 BC.
Battle happens at Himera and ends in Carthaginian defeat with suicide of the Carthaginian commander who jumped into sacrificial fire.
Gelon is victorious and dedicates golden tripod of Nike to Apollo at Delphi.

Question 3

Battle of Salamis

Answer 3

Persian victory of Thermopylae opens road to Athens.
In 480 BCE, the Greeks defeated the Persian fleet off the island of Salamis in the largest naval battle ever fought in the ancient world. The Greek victory proved to be the turning point in the war, for the Persian king, Xerxes, returned to Asia with his surviving ships and the majority of his land troops.

Question 4

Battle of Marathon

Answer 4

The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece.
Came after the Ionian revolt
Athenians were outnumbered and Spartans did not participate due to the festival of Apollo.
Some Athenian strategoi wanted to wait for the aid of Sparta.
Most Athenians were hoplites.
Militiades persuades Athenians to attack when Persians are about to depart for the port at Phaleron
*They must defend themselves to be free or would be subject ot Hippias.
Athenians are victorious.

Question 5

Cleisthenes

Answer 5

Lawgiver of the 6th century who is the rival of Isagoras (who emerged after strife after Hippias exile placed by the Spartan King Cleomenes I)
Isagoras and Spartans try to chase Cleisthenes out of Athens to re-establish oligarchy.
Gave Athenians more power: Cleithenes pushes reforms to break the power of the rich families. Transfers civic function of the four Ionian tribes to ten new tribes.
Citizens were required to identify themselves by their deme instead of their father’s name (undermines family loyalty).
Formed basis for new council (boule) Council of Five Hundred.
One of Cleisthenes’ innovations, ostracism, used to prevent emergence of new tyrant.
*Father of democracy

Question 6

Darius I

Answer 6

Darius I (522-486BC).
Supported local religious cultures and opposed to Assyrian and Babylonian deportations.
Returned Jews to return from exile in Mesopotamia to Jerusalem.
Centralized the government and constructed great ceremonial center of Persepolis
Centralized the government and constructed the great ceremonial center of Persepolis.

Question 7

Herodotus

Answer 7

Greek historian who we receive most of our knowledge from the Persian wars recounting the rise of Persia and the resistance of the Greeks. Influenced by contemporary playwrights and epics as well as Presocratic means of inquiry leading to his use of historia.

Question 8

Historia

Answer 8

Historía: travels and sources, inquiry, use of sources, preoccupation with the marvellous, and the issue of his reliability.

Question 9

Persian Wars

Answer 9

Greco-Persian Wars, also called Persian Wars, (492–449 bce), series of wars fought by Greek states and Persia over a period of almost half a century.
First Persian War:
1. Ionian Revolt 498 the burning of Sardis. Greeks retreat
Persians destroy Miletus and reinstate Persian political system.
*Expeditions of Mardonius fleet gets lost in storm off Mount Athos.
2. Battle of Marathon (490): Expedition sent to Marathon. Miltiades is the commander, minor loss for Persians major victory for Athens.
*Xerxes I becomes king.
*Hellenic League forms, Sparta in command.

Second Persian War:
Second Invasion of Greece (Xerxes). Amphibious invasion. Request of tribute. Oracle of Delphi tells Greeks to seek shelter and wooden wall (Themistocles believes this means to build a navy).
1. Battle of Thermopylae (480):
Spartans fight to the death, Persian victory (movie 300)
Persians discover secret pass.
2. Battle of Artemisium (naval battle)
3. Battle of Salamis (480): Persian victory of Thermopylae opens road to Athens.Persians surround Athens and Platea.
*Athens has to battle them by sea. Are evacuated.
*Themistocles tells Persians that they are leaving (Persians set up a blockage), Greeks out manoeuvre them in the morning. They have more knowledge of the area. Persians are waterlogged. Greek victory.
*Persians offer to rebuilt Athens, Athens decline.
4. (479) Battle of Plataea: Spartans fight Persians and Athens fight Medizers. Spartans victorious.
5. Battle of Mycale (Final Battle) Greek victory.
*Fear of power struggle leads to later Peloponnesian War.

Question 10

Solon

Answer 10

He abolished the debt of slavery.
Ended exclusive aristocratic control of the government
Introduced a more humane law code
Reforms 600-590.
Altered the punishment in Draco’s laws for crimes other than homicide.

Question 11

Themistocles

Answer 11

His decision to bolster naval power of Athens is one of the main reasons Athens won the wars. Was later ostracized due to his extreme popularity.

Question 12

Thermopylae

Answer 12

Battle of Thermopylae (480):
Spartans fight to the death, Persian victory (movie 300)
Persians discover secret pass.

Question 13

Xerxes

Question 14

Peace of Kallias

Answer 14

The Peace of Callias is a purported peace treaty established around 449 BC between the Delian League and Persia, ending the Greco-Persian Wars.