The Greco-Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Persian Empire and Greek city-states. They began in 499 BCE, when Greek cities in Ionia on the coast of Asia Minor rebelled against Persian rule and were supported by Athens and Eretria. Darius I sent an expedition against Greece that was defeated at Marathon in 490 BCE. His son Xerxes led a much larger invasion ten years later, which won at Thermopylae and burned Athens but lost the naval battle of Salamis in 480 BCE and the land battle of Plataea in 479 BCE. The Greeks then took the offensive, and Athens led the Delian League. Much of what is known comes from the Greek historian Herodotus, and a peace around 449 BCE is reported but is debated by historians.
Before and after
- 6th century BCEConstruction of Royal Road
- 6th century BCEConstruction of Bam Citadel
- 6th century BCEOrigins of Judaism
- from 499 BCE to 493 BCEIonian Revolt
- from 499 BCE to 449 BCEGreco-Persian Wars
- 496 BCEOrigins of Temple of Castor and Pollux
- 496 BCEBirth of Sophocles
- 494 BCEBirth of Pericles
- 12 August 490 BCEBattle of Marathon
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 74 BCE to 72 BCEThe slave revolt of Spartacus
- from 73 BCE to 71 BCEThird Servile War
- from 58 BCE to 51 BCEGallic War
- 49 BCECaesar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus
- 451 CEAetius and Theodoric stop Attila at the Catalaunian Plains
- 476 CEFall of the western Roman Empire
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 5th century BCE.