How Did The Greek Empires Contribute To The Rise Of Persian Society

By 512, the Persians, lead by Darius, conquered Persia, Afghanistan, northern India, Turkestan, Mesopotamia, northern Arabia, Egypt, Cyprus, Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, the eastern Aegean, Thrace, and Macedonia, the only thing in between the Persians having the greatest empire in the world, was Greece. ¨In the reigns of Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes,” says Herodotus, Greece suffered more sorrows than in twenty generations before. The Greek nation had to pay the penalty of its development; spreading everywhere, it was bound sooner or later to come into conflict with a major power¨ (Durant, Will. The Life of Greece. New York, NY: MFJ , 1939. Print. The Story of Civilization) After King Darius of Persia died, his son Xerxes came into power.

It took Xerxes a total of 3 years to build his huge army to try and finally defeat the Greeks, for his father. After Xerxes built his army, the Persian army was tremendous, it included, Persians, Babylonians, Afghans, Indians, Assyrians, Ionians, Phoenicians, Syrians, Arabians, Egyptians, Ethiopians, Libyans, and many many more. “Herodotus reckoned it, without moderation, at 2,641,000 fighting men, and an equal number of engineers, slaves, merchants, provisioners, and prostitutes; he tells us, with perhaps a twinkle in his eye, that when Xerxes’ army drank water whole rivers ran dry” (Durant, Will. The Life of Greece. New York, NY: MFJ , 1939. Print. The Story of Civilization) Xerxes had many huge animals and beasts that took up a small portion of his army. They trained and controlled the huge 1,000 pound beasts, ¨A native of the region, seeing the spectacle, concluded that Xerxes was Zeus, and asked why the master of Gods and men had taken so much trouble to conquer little Greece when he might have destroyed the presumptuous nation with one thunderbolt.” (Durant, Will. The Life of Greece. New York, NY: MFJ , 1939. Print. The Story of Civilization) In the first 3 years of Xerxes’ reign as King of Persia, he created the largest army ever recorded in history, which worried the Greeks

“The Persians needed to go through the coastal pass of Thermopylae (or the “Hot Gate”, so known because of the nearby sulfur springs)” (History.com Staff. "Leonidas." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.) King Leonidas of Sparta sent a small force to Thermopylae to hold off the Persians while Athens gets ready for an attack. The 300’s bravely held off the Persians for a total of 10 days. But then a problem arose. “The Greek traitor, Ephialtes, showed the Persians another path which enabled the invaders to enter the pass from the rear” (Greece Funk & Wagnalls, Encyclopedia Article. Discovery Education. Wed. 23 February 2017. http://www.discoveryeducation.com). Leonidas knew that their time was over. He sent all the others to Athens to warn for an attack, except 300 Spartan elders. He only wanted the fathers of sons so no family name would be extinct. The 300’s bravery and strength held off the Persians for a total of 10 days. This gave the Greek army enough time to get ready and attack the Persians, which ended the