Conflict between Greeks and Persians began in Ionia, home of Herodotus, Homer, and many Pre-Socratic philosophers. The empire-building Persians tried to annex the Ionians and succeeded with some of the cities of the Ionian Greeks, but others appealed to the Greek mainland for help. The Greeks eventually won the 5th Century B.C. Persian Wars, but not without great cost. Athens had to be rebuilt and the Greco-Persian Wars led almost directly to the wars between the city-states of Greece, the Peloponnesian War, which in turn led to the takeover of Greece by the Macedonians, Philip, and his son Alexander the Great.
How the Greeks Came To Be in Asia Minor
When Greek colonists set out from mainland Greece, evicted by the Dorians and the Heracleidae (the descendants of Hercules), perhaps, many wound up in Ionia, in Asia Minor. Eventually the Ionian Greeks came under the rule of the Lydians, and particularly
King Croesus (560-546 B.C.). In 546, the Persians took over Ionia. Some Ionian Greeks found the Persian rule oppressive and attempted to revolt with the aid of the mainland Greeks. Mainland Greece, particularly Athens and Eritria, then came to the attention of the Persians, and war between them ensued.
Cyrus and Darius Kings of Persia
King Cyrus of Persia conquered the Lydians, making him king of the Ionian Greeks. The Greeks objected to the strains the Persians put on them, including the draft, heavy tribute, and interference in local government.
Darius ruled the Persian Empire from 521-486. Going east, he conquered the Indus Valley and attacked the Scythians, but never conquered them. Nor was Darius able to conquer the Greeks. Instead, he suffered a defeat against them in the Battle of Marathon, which was very important for the Greeks, although fairly minor for Darius.
Battle of Marathon
In 490, after the Greek cities of Eretria and Athens had sent help to the Ionian cities, the Persians, retaliating, made their first attempt to conquer mainland Greeks. After surrendering to Persia, the inhabitants of Eretria were enslaved.
Next came Marathon. Sent by Darius, the Persians under Artaphernes and Datis, who had landed in Marathon Bay, were defeated by a much smaller number of Athenian and Plataean hoplites under the general Miltiades and the polemarch Callimachus. The Greeks used the large number of the Persians to their advantage by surrounding them on 3 sides and then squeezing them together.
King Xerxes of Persia
Between 490 and 480, the main Persian event was the death of Darius. Xerxes succeeded him. His cousin Mardonius persuaded Xerxes to redeem the Persian reputation. The Persians led a large force including 46 ethnic groups or nations, 1207 warships, and 3000 smaller vessels, according to Herodotus (via J.B. Bury). The Greeks were aware of Xerxes' elaborate preparations, including his infamous scourging of the Hellespont.
Battle of Thermopylae
Thermopylae was a pass that the Greeks tried unsuccessfully to defend in battle against the Persians led by Xerxes in 480 B.C. Although the Spartans who led the defense were all killed (and may have known in advance that they would be), their courage provided inspiration to the Greeks, many of whom otherwise might have willingly become part of the Persian Empire. Xerxes passed from Thermopylae through Locris and Phocis into Boeotia without resistance. Themistocles ordered the evacuation of Athens. Women and children went to Troezen, Aegina, and Salamis where the allied Greek fleet was stationed.
Battle of Salamis
The Battle of Salamis (September 25, 480 B.C.) looked like a sure bet for the Persians, but it was precisely the strengths of the Persian Empire and its fleet that worked against it.
The Persian King Xerxes was not overwhelmed, although clearly he was not the victor. That the Great King decided to leave the straits of Salamis and return to other areas of his empire that were more important meant that the Greeks had decisively won the Battle of Salamis. Many Greeks died in the naval battle, but they were only a fraction of the number of Persian (and allied) casualties.
Battle of Plataea
Spartans, Tegeans, and Athenians fought the Persian army that remained in Greece, at the final battle on Greek soil of the Persian Wars, the Battle at Plataea, in 479 B.C.
Xerxes and his fleet had returned to Persia, but the Persian troops remained in Greece under Mardonius. They stationed themselves for battle in a place suitable for their horsemen -- the plain. Under Spartan leader Pausanias, the Greeks stationed themselves advantageously in the foothills of Mt. Cithaeron.
Shortly after Plataea, Athenians won the Battle of Mycale rescuing Ionian Greeks from Persians.
For more on the Persian Wars, see Herodotus.
