2.4 Greece at War -TEACH-

• History
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 1,2

AGE 2. The Time of Greeks and Romans

2.4 Greece at war

spear / lance

body armour

bronze helmet

sword

greaves

horse hair crest

shield (hoplon)

offensive

defensive

Look at the source in the previous slide.

Some parts of a hoplite's equipment was "offensive" (= to attack), other parts were "defensive" (= to protect / defend). 

Which parts were offensive and which were defensive? 

greaves

lance

helmet

breastplate

sword

army branches

navy

artillery

cavalry

airforce

infantry

Greek hoplites

Sparta

Athens

First make a note in your notebook.

• Lesson 2.4: Greece at War

• Every Greek polis had its own army.
• Soldiers were called "hoplites". 
• Who were the hoplites?
•         - only citizens of the polis.
•         - only men who owned land or a business (because they paid their              own armour)

• In most cases hoplites were not full time soldiers.

The worst enemy of Greece in the 5th century BC:

the Persian Empire

The Persian Wars

Lesson 2.4: the Persian Wars

Copy this overview in your notebook and fill in the boxes marked with a V

You can also use this website to find information.

Darius I

490 BC

Persia invades Greece

490 BC

Marathon

A GOLDEN THRONE

Xerxes was sure his fleet could easliy destroy the Greek fleet.

His army had just taken the city of Athens and destroyed it. The Acroplis lay in ruins.

But under the command of general Themistocles the Athenians had abandoned their city in time and they were building as many warships as they could.

Then they waited in the bay of Salamis for the Persian fleet to arrive.

King Xerxes was so sure that he would defeat the Athenians that he had his golden throne carried along so he could watch the Greeks be defeated by his army from a nearby hillside. He must have been pretty disappointed!

Xerxes watches the Battle of Salamis

The effects of the Persian Wars

As a result of the Persian wars, most of the Persian fleet was destroyed.

The Persian army retreated from Greece.

We learned that Greek poleis often fought against each other, unless they had a common enemy.

Well, that common enemy was now gone. So the Greek poleis started again to fight amongst themselves. Sparta and Athens even fought a long and bloody war which left both cities weakened.

In the meantime, a new power arose north of Greece. King Philip II of Macedon rose to power and, in 

338 BC, he rode south and conquered the cities of Thebes and Athens, uniting most of Greece under his rule.

But it was his son, Alexander, who would lead the Greeks into a whole new adventure...

The Battle of Salamis, modern illustration

Look at the pictures of 3 battles of the Persian Wars. Then drag the names and dates to the correct picture

Thermopylae

Salamis

Marathon

490 BC

480 BC

479 BC

The Alexander Mosaic, dating from circa 100 BC, is a Roman floor mosaic originally from a villa in the Roman city Pompeii. It depicts a battle between the armies of Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia and measures 2.72 by 5.13 metres. The original is preserved in the Naples National Archaeological Museum. The mosaic is believed to be a copy of an early 3rd-century BC Hellenistic painting.

Alexander the Great

The Alexander Mosaic, dating from circa 100 BC, is a Roman floor mosaic originally from a villa in the Roman city Pompeii. It depicts a battle between the armies of Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia and measures 2.72 by 5.13 metres. The original is preserved in the Naples National Archaeological Museum. The mosaic is believed to be a copy of an early 3rd-century BC Hellenistic painting.

Alexander the Great

famous Greek infantry battle formation:

the PHALANX