State · 490–479 BCE
The Persian Wars
Marathon (Attica, Greece)
After Athens helped the Ionian Greeks revolt against Persia, King Darius sent an expedition that the Athenians and Plataeans defeated at Marathon in 490 BCE. In 480 BCE Xerxes invaded with a far larger force, won at Thermopylae and sacked an evacuated Athens, but lost the sea battle of Salamis; Greek victories at Plataea and Mycale in 479 BCE ended the invasion.
Why it mattered
Greek independence survived, Athens rose as a naval power at the head of the Delian League, and its classical age followed; Herodotus' account of the wars earned him the title Father of History.
Related
- The world in 500 BCE: The Persian Peace chapter
- The Axial Age thinkers previous moment · c. 6th–5th centuries BCE
- Alexander's conquests next moment · 334–323 BCE