The Greek history has been greatly influenced by the wars between Greece and Persia. These wars are considered to be the milestone in shaping up the history of Greece. For Greece, the war against Persia has been regarded as a significant feature by the Athenians as they remained politically and culturally dominant in this region and therefore understood the importance of fifth century, when most invasions occurred, effectively.
An important feature that played significant role in making the Greeks to win Persian wars was that of their Unity against Persia. Another important reason includes the Ionian Revolt, and associated revolts. The dissatisfaction of the Greek cities were at the heart of the rebellion with the tyrants appointed by Persia to rule them, along with two Milesian tyrants, Histiaeus & Aristagoras.
Ionia had been conquered by Persia around 540 BC and was ruled by some of the native tyrants that were nominated by the Persian satrap present in Sardis. In 499 BC, the tyrant of Miletus and Aristagoras with the Persian Satrap Artaphernes launched an expedition with the Persian satrap to conquer Naxos. This was done in the attempt to bolster his position. The mission became a debacle and with the fear of removal as tyrant, Aristagoras decided to incite the whole of Ionia against the Persian king Darius, into rebellion (Anderson 1991: 20-26).
The paper on “ Greek Unity enough for Persian invasion” is an important topic that has been discussed in the historical literature thoroughly. The unity and disciplines are the important concepts in the current world that changes the world order and affect the nation’s motivation level for fighting back with their enemies. The Greeks were divided in several classes during the time when attacked by the Persian Empire. As the War of Persia was fought in fifth century, there was strong hold of Persia all over the world having number of states in their control, it was never thought that the unity of Greeks would bring downfall of the Persian Empire by merely gathering into a group. This new world order that came into existence after the downfall of Persian Empire not only affected the population of Greece but also the whole world thereby introducing new strategies of fighting and military commands along with several other changes (Nicole, 1986).
The renowned battles of Persia were however fought on the land of Greece but they started taking place from the minor region of Asia. It was a time when the colonies of Greeks in Ionia rebelled against the lords of the Persia. This rebellion was later on known as the revolt of Ionia that lasted between 494 and 499 B. C. The revolt was mainly initiated when rebel controlled by the leaders of Aristagoras of Miletus, burned and sacked the local city of Sardis due to several reasons. However it was ended when there with retook of Miletus by the Persian Empire that crushed the stronghold of rebel that is after the battle of Lade (Armstrong 1990: 24-27).
The war of Ionian Revolt for the first time was between 499 and 449 B. C. However the second war that was fought among the Persian wars was fought under the period of Darius that was the time of 490 B. C. Similarly, the third Persian invasion took place under the Xerxes that is the period between 481 and 479 B. C. From the period 479 till 450 B. C., the aftermath of the Persian war was concluded and each state had experienced particular observations about the battle. During all this time, the Unity among Greeks was the most important feature that was experienced by the warriors during the battle (Boardman, 1978).
Since the end of the Persian Wars, the Greek city never ceased to compete, except during
short truces during which they reconstitute the forces, after which hostilities resumed. It was during one of these truces that the Athenians had engaged in expeditions against the Persians. Its expansionist policy had crystallized Athens hatred of cities often already ill-disposed towards him, for his brutality she had alienated many allies. In these clashes, in his expeditions, she lost a lot of men, resources dwindled. In 446, at the end of the truce which was discussed above, the Peloponnesians invaded Attica, Pericles decided that the new leader of business, enter into an agreement with Sparta, after which the two cities pledged to refrain from using force to settle disputes (Anderson 1991: 20-26). .
Fifteen years later began the Peloponnesian War with Athens went completely ruined. It is not our intention here to identify the immediate causes of the war and the events of this conflict of paramount importance in the history of Greece. We will retain events than those which are mixed Persians. They played a role in recent years, from 412. It is true that the war took place far away from home and their area of influence (Anderson 1991: 20-26).
The Ionian revolt that took place during the period 493 and 499 B. C. was the reason that started the Persian War later on. The worth of the Greece and its warrior was proved when the city states of the Athens quarreled constantly and that the disgust of their first invasion shook the Persia however it was a period when the fear of Persian warriors was widespread. This whole situation improved the status of Greece and made its population to have advantage of it. Due to the first invasion of Greece that was the result of their unity, the confidence level of Athens was greatly boosted afterwards affecting the politics that was way different before the war (Camp, 2001).
Another important change that occurs was the way war was fought as it was in a completely different manner and scale. The Greece unity was proved to be more effective in case of the Persian invasion because they planned an attack that was land based rather than attempting to have sea invasion that is naval invasion. The plan that was made by Xerxes proved to be successful for the war that was mainly executed by having land attacks however they fought with naval invasion from the Persian side. The army used by both sides that is Greece and Persia was based on large fleets however Greece had supremacy in terms of Naval fleet that was a direct result of the second attack (Cadogan, 1980).
To highlight the unity of Greeks and explain its importance in the invasion of Persia, it is important to highlight the perspective of Persian war. In the year 499 B. C., the rule of Persia was rebelled by some of the cities of Greek. Darius, the Persian king, therefore fought back the revolution thereby invaded Greece and punished the Athens for supporting unsuccessful revolt in the Ionia region. The first Persian invasion gets failed due to the destruction of Mount Athos from storm. However the second invasion was successfully won by the Greeks where the Athenians and allies beaten the Persians in the Battle of Marathon in the 490 B. C. It is the only battle in history of Greece that proved to be crucial because if the Athenians would have lost this war, they would have come under the Persians control thereby missing the opportunity of accomplishing artistic designs in the Greece (Bridges, Hall, Rhodes: 2007 453).
The war in Persia has been renowned due to several aspects that made the global world to realize the importance of unity in their work. For about two centuries (fifth and fourth BC. BC), the Persians to the Greeks represented the hereditary enemy, like the English and the Germans were successively for the French there not so long ago (Isocrates, Panegyric – Lysias, Funeral Oration). Everyone more or less in mind the Persian wars initiated by Darius to subjugate the whole of Greece in 490 (Marathon), then by his successor Xerxes in 480 (Salamis), and the conquest and destruction of the Persian Empire (334-323) by Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia, realizing the dream that had haunted so many minds since the victorious resistance to the invading barbarian avenge the evils that the Persians had done to Greece (Armstrong 1990: 24-27).
It can be concluded at the end of the paper that the Greece unity is of particular importance in the Persian war that made the Greeks to win it. The war against Persia has presented historical lessons with respect to the importance of having unity among nations that give rise to the development and other positive changes. The Persian war is therefore considered to be a remarkable battle that presented the supremacy of the military techniques used by the Greeks during the battle.
It can also be concluded at the end of the paper that the Persian war itself presented some of the important historical lessons to learn for the countries that unity was the crucial factor behind fighting back with Persians.
