Aldridge School Ancient History

Unit 1: The Persian Empire

Content Guide
King Cyrus the Great
The conquest of Media
The Conquest of Lydia
The conquest of Babylon
Cyrus’ building projects
The Death of Cyrus
Cambyses II
Cambyses in the sources
The Conquest of Egypt
The Oasis of Amon and Ethiopia
Cambyses as ruler of Egypt
Cambyses in the non-Greek sources
The death of Cambyses
Darius I
The accession of Darius
The revolts against Darius
The ideology of Darius
Darius’ reforms
Darius’ building projects

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Imperial expansion under Darius
The conquest of the Indus Valley
The Ionian Revolt
The Battle of Marathon
The End of Darius
Xerxes I
Xerxes in the Sources
The accession of Xerxes
Revolts in Egypt and Babylon
Why invade Greece?
Preparations for the invasion
Xerxes behaviour during the invasion
The Greek and Persian Armies
The Battle of Thermopylae
The Battle of Salamis
The Battle of Eurymedon
Xerxes’ building projects
Exam Skills

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 King Cyrus the Great 559-530 BC

The Sources:
One of the most important things about our study of the Persian Empire and the kings that ruled it is that we have
VERY FEW sources that are actually Persian. Much of the information we know about the Persian Kings of the 6th
Century BC comes from Greek Writers.

The Most famous Greek writer was called Herodotus. He wrote the first ever History book and was the first ever
recorded Historian. His book is called The Histories, and he spent the 460s/50s travelling and researching his book,
and then wrote and presented his work in Athens, Greece in the 430’s and 420’s BCE.

 His book focused on the history of the wars between the Greeks and Persians (499-479BC) so he was writing
around 100 years after the events had happened.
 But he also wanted to write about this impressive Persian Empire that came to fight with the Greeks, so his
history book goes all the way back to when Cyrus became king of Persia in 559BC.
 Herodotus was writing a century after the events and had based his work on stories which had been passed
down by word of mouth. These stories were likely to have been exaggerated over time, plus Herodotus
really liked to include stories of unusual or divine events, whether or not they were real. – He wanted his
work to be entertaining!
 Also, Herodotus could not speak any Persian languages, so some stories were translations into Greek and
some details may have been changed.

BUT, we do have some non-Greek sources.

 An important non-Greek source is called The Nabonidus Chronicle. This was probably written by a
Babylonian Scribe (Writer) in the late 6th/early 5th Century BC. It gives us a year by year account of the rule of
the last Babylonian king, Nabonidus, and then significant events that happened to the city of Babylon at that
time.
 This allows us to match dates to events from other sources.

The Origins of Cyrus the Great

Cyrus’ back story is the stuff of legends, and is actually suspiciously close to mythical origin stories from later parts of
ancient history as well as medieval fairy tales! But the version we have comes from Herodotus and it is what we have
to go on!

The story is that Cyrus was the son of Mandane, the daughter of the king of the Medes, Astyages. Cyrus’ father was
the ruler of a neighbouring kingdom, Perisa, whom Mandane had been married off to as was normal with royalty of
the time. Cyrus’ youth and upbringing

Herodotus gave a mythological account of Cyrus's early life. In this account, King Astyages of the Medes had two
prophetic dreams in which a flood, and then a series of fruit bearing vines, emerged from his daughter Mandane's
pelvis, and covered the entire kingdom.

Astyages’ advisers decided that these dreams were foretelling that his grandson would one day rebel and replace
him as king.

Astyages summoned Mandane, at the time pregnant with Cyrus, back to Ecbatana to have the child killed. Harpagus
(one of the kings advisers) was given the task, but he could not do it and instead gave Cyrus to a shepherd who
raised the child in secret as his own child had recently died. Harpagus showed the Shepard’s dead son to Astyges as
‘proof’ that the killing had happened…
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Cyrus lived in secrecy, but when he reached the age of 10, Cyrus was playing a game with other children when
another child (who was a nobleman’s son and therefore should be better than Cyrus) fought with Cyrus and 10yr old
Cyrus beat him to the ground!

As it was unheard of for the son of a shepherd to commit such an act, Astyages heard of the event and had the boy
brought to his court, and interviewed him and his adopted father.

At this point, The Shepherd confessed that Cyrus was not his biological son, so Astyages sent Cyrus back to Persia to
live with his real parents. Pretending everything was fine…

However, Astyages summoned the son of Harpagus, and in retribution, chopped the boy into pieces, roasted some
portions while boiling others, and tricked Harpagus into eating his own child during a large banquet.

Following the meal, Astyages' servants brought Harpagus the head, hands and feet of his son on platters, so he could
realize his accidental cannibalism.

Cyrus’ Conquest of the Medes 550BCE

The Nabonidus Chronicle tells us that Cyrus won a conflict against the Median king Astyages. There is not much
information.

“Astyages mustered his army and marched against Cyrus…for conquest…the army mutinied against Astyages and he
was taken prisoner. They handed him over to Cyrus…Cyrus Marched to Ecbatana, the royal city. Silver, gold, goods,
property…which he carried off as booty.”

Key points:

 It does not tell us why Astyages attacked Cyrus.

 It is possible Astyages struck first because the Persians were gaining strength and were a threat.
 It states that Astyages’ army mutinied.

Herodotus gives a far more detailed account, but it contains many exaggerations. Think of it as an origin story, for
someone who is destined to be a great king. (We see something similar for Alexander the Great later in the course).

 Although Astyages had sent Cyrus back to Persia to be with his real family, the King of the Medes was
terrified that the prophetic dream could still come true.
 Plus, even though Harpagus had stayed loyal to Astyages on the surface, in reality he was very angry about
what Astyages had done to his son and he secretly began to plot with CYRUS to take over the Kingdom of the
Medes from Astyages…
 Cyrus grew into a strong, popular and successful ruler of his home kingdom, Persia. Whilst Harpagus secretly
began undermining Astyages’ support back in the Kingdom of the Medes and turned more and more of
Astyages own generals against him.
 By 553BCE Cyrus began an open rebellion and fight back against Astyages, and Astyages responded by
sending a large army into the kingdom of Persia to defeat Cyrus, but who did Astyages put in charge of his
army? Harpagus!
 This was a huge mistake, as Harpagus had been turning the army against Astayges, so by the time that Cyrus’
army met Astyages’ army in 550BCE, the Median army turned against Astyages at the battle and followed
Harpagus on to Cyrus’ side.

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  Cyrus then took the capital city of the Medes, Ecbatana, and began his empire by adding the Medes to his
origin kingdom of Persia. This was the beginning of the Persian Empire! - (This matches the Nabonidus
Chronicle!)
 Cyrus became king of the Medes, but allowed Astyages to live in retirement.

The Conquest of Lydia 547BCE

Who was King Croesus?
• Croesus was the King of Lydia, a country in western Asia Minor from 560-547 BCE. His wealth came from the
River Pactolus, where huge gold deposits could be found in the sand on the river bed.
• The Lydians, either during the reign of Croesus or just before, were the first people to mint coins of gold and
silver in Asia Minor. This is a sign of just how wealthy the kingdom was, they had spare gold and silver to be
making coins!

• Croesus has managed to conquer all cities along the coast of Asia minor (modern-day Turkey) in 555BC, cities
that were actually Greek in their culture, and forced them to begin paying him tribute.

Why did Croesus attack Cyrus?

According to Herodotus, it wasn’t Cyrus who attacked Croesus first, it was Croesus who made the move against
Cyrus!

There are a range of reasons why Croesus would choose to move against Cyrus by 547BCE;

 Croesus was worried about Cyrus’ growing power after conquering Media, being a threat to his own
kingdom. He would not want a stronger king than him as a neighbour!

 He decided to attack first, before Cyrus attacked him.

 He believed the Gods (Through the Oracle) were on his side

 He wanted to expand his own power and territory. He had already successfully taken control of the Ionians
on the coast of Asia Minor, so he knew he had the capability to expand.
 He wanted to get revenge for the defeat of Astyages, who was his brother in law. He was it as a loyal thing to
do, to defeat the man who defeated Astyages.

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How did Cyrus defeat Croesus?

Consequences of the conquest of Lydia 547BC

1. Cyrus successfully expands his empire.
2. The Ionian (Greek) cities of Asia-Minor became subjects of the Persian Empire after trying to rebel.

The fate of Croesus

Cyrus now had a difficult decision on his hands. Croesus had fought hard against Cyrus’ conquest, AND the Lydians
had tried to rebel against Cyrus AGAIN in 545BCE.

However, according to Herodotus, Croesus was spared. This story is important because it is a good example of
evidence for Cyrus’ tolerance and understanding as a ruler!

 Croesus was taken captive after the conquset of Lydia, and Cyrus decided to burn him on a funeral pyre.
 He was placed on a large pyre, and Cyrus ordered it to be set alight.
 Croesus saw his death approaching and cried out to the sky, begging the Gods to save him, “Apollo Save
Me”! At that moment, it began to rain and the fire was extinguished.
 Cyrus saw this as a sign from the Gods that Croesus should be spared, and he wanted to speak to Croesus.

 Croesus told him that he had once been in the same position; he had killed a rival (Solon) and was now in his
place. The two kings agreed that this was a message from the Gods to be more understanding and tolerant.
 Cyrus is said to have learned wisdom and tolerance from this, and understood that it could well be him on
top of the pyre in future, so he spared Croesus’ life and kept him as an advisor.
 This is one reason why Cyrus was called “Great”. He was wise as well as a successful conqueror.

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 The Conquest of Babylon 539BC
The conquest of Babylon was a major turning point for the Persian empire. After the conquest, the Persians were
able to take control of all the lands of the Levant as well.

Historians do not have information on how exactly this happened, but it does seem that some people welcomed
Cyrus as a liberator from unpopular Babylonian rule…

Cyrus was certainly very happy to go along with this idea, and he played off the unpopularity of the previous
Babylonian leader, Nabonidus!

Babylonian sources portray Nabonidus as a wicked king who disrespected the Babylonian gods, particularly the main
god Marduk when he began to favour the moon goddess Sin instead.

Cyrus played on this, by using the Cyrus cylinder to link himself to the Babylonian God Marduk, and hint that Marduk
actually chose him to become king!

There are different sources which tell about Cyrus’s conquest of Babylon, but they are often incomplete and one
sided in favour of Cyrus.

We have three main sources;

 The Nabonidus Chronicle

 Herodotus’ The Histories
 Cyrus Cylinder.

The Nabonidus Chronicle:

This source is the historical records of the city of Babylon, for the city of Babylon, and focuses specifically on what
happened to the city during and after the reign of King Nabonidus. It is named after him.

The Nabonidus Chronicle says this is how Cyrus conquered the city of Babylon;

 Cyrus fought a battle at Opis on the banks of the river Tigris, against Nabonidus’ Babylonian army.
 The Babylonians retreated.
 Cyrus then moved towards Babylon, capturing the city of Sippar without a battle, meaning the city
surrendered to him. Nabonidus ran away.
 On the 16th October 539BC, the army of Cyrus entered the City of Babylon without a battle. The implication
here is that someone on the inside of Babylon (as the city had HUGE defensive walls) opened the city gates
for Cyrus was let him in.
 Nabonidus was captured in Babylon. He had become very unpopular with the Babylonians by this point.
 Cyrus spoke to the city and there was peace. No more rebellions followed and he was pronounced King of
Babylon.
 Cyrus is is presented as a liberator in the Nabodnius Chronicle, saving Babylon from the poor ruling of
Nabodnius, who was failing to worship the God of Babylon, Marduk, properly! He did not celebrate the
Babylonian New Year, he removed divine statues from his people, and started to worship the Moon Goddess
Sin, instead of Marduk.
 He promised them that they rights, religious practises, languages, arts and cultures would all be allowed to
remain the same.

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Herodotus:
 Very similar to the Nadonidus Chronicle above. Herodotus agrees that Nabodinus was unpopular and had
been worshipping the Moon goddess Sin, instead of properly respecting the main god of Babylon, Marduk.
 However, in Herodotus’ version the Babylonians did not welcome Cyrus at first and apparently prepared
themselves for a siege. – Meaning they were preparing to fight Cyrus and defend their city.

 Cyrus got into the city in a different way according to Herodotus. In his version the Persian managed to enter
the city by diverting the river Euphrates and being able to wade in to the city via the lower level of the river.

 The Euphrates river ran into the city, therefore walking along the dry river bank gave Cyrus’ army a way into
Babylon through the defensive walls!

The Cyrus Cylinder: The Cyrus Cylinder – section where

This is a VERY important source, as it is one of the few Cyrus says that Marduk CHOSE him to
sources we have which is actually from a Persian King! free Babylon;
“Marduk… critically examined all the
The Cyrus Cylinder was a message that Cyrus wrote to
countries, and searched for a just ruler who
share with his empire, it was commissioned (ordered to be
suited his heart, he took Cyrus, King of
made) when Cyrus conquered Babylon, and in it he explains
Anshan, by the hand, proclaimed his
that Marduk ASKED him to come and save Babylon from
Nabonidus, and it also lays out the rights that people in his
nomination, called his name for the lordship
empire have under his protection.
over the world”

The Cylinder says the following;

 Shows Cyrus linking himself to earlier kings of Babylon.

 It suggests that Cyrus was chosen by Marduk in order to restore true religion in Babylon after the behaviour
of Nabonidus.
 Cyrus was welcomed by the people of Babylon who knelt and kissed his feet.
 It states that peoples’ rights and religious worship will be protected by Cyrus.

The fact that this is Cyrus’ own propaganda makes it interesting that he was keen to link himself to a foreign god to
legitimise his rule.

Very often in history, captives have been forced to convert to the religion of their conqueror.

Cyrus chose not to do this. In many places he conquered he respected their religions and protected their places of
worship. - This shows that Cyrus was a tolerant and wise ruler.

Cyrus’ treatment of the Jews in Babylon

Very often in human history a conquering ruler/ nation will force the peoples they’ve conquered to convert to a new
religion, take up new practises and sometimes even change language.

Cyrus and the Persians did not do this! With the Babylonians and others conquered, Cyrus was very happy for them
to keep practising their own religion, and living their own way of life, as long as they did what they behaved
themselves…

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A group which this was particularly important for was the Jews.

The Jews had been conquered by the Babylonians since 600BC, and when they had rebelled many educated Jews
were taken out of Jerusalem to Babylon as an exile/ punishment. Many Jews were then used as slaves for building
projects in Babylon

According to the Cyrus Cylinder AND the Bible/ Old Testament, Cyrus freed the Jews from slavery in Babylon, and
supported them returning to their homeland called the Levant – modern day regions like Syria, Lebanon, Israel etc.

Cyrus is presented as a tolerant and fair

Old testament, Book of Isaiah 45: 1-3 – recording how liberator, he even paid for a destroyed temple
Cyrus spoke out about protecting the Jews; in Jerusalem to be rebuilt and treasures to be
“Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whom he has taken given back to them.
by his right hand to subdue nations before him and strip the loins
of kings, to force gateways before him that their gates be closed Jewish scribes called him a ‘messiah’, and he’s
no more: I will go before you levelling the heights. I will shatter the the only non-Jew to ever be called that!
bronze gateways, smash the iron bars. I will give you the hidden
treasures, the secret hoards, that you may know that I am the
Lord”.

Cyrus’ Building Projects: Pasargadae

Cyrus ordered the building of a new royal palace soon after conquering the Lydians around 547BCE.
It was located in a fertile valley of the Zagros mountains and
became an administrative centre as well as a place to live for
Cyrus. It followed the pattern of earlier palaces and was used to
promote the kings power and wealth.

Pasargadae contains some of the earliest examples of Persian art

and architecture showing the influence of even earlier civilisations
like the Egyptians. It was a beautiful palace full of stunning
gardens and grand architecture.

Tomb of Cyrus - Pasargadae's most famous monument is the

tomb of Cyrus. The great king was buried here in after his death in Tomb of Cyrus
the summer of 530. According to literary sources, more than two
centuries later, Alexander the Great ordered the tomb to be restored.
The monument as a whole measures about 13¾ x 12¼ meters and is about eleven meters high. The lower
part is platform, about five meters high, is looks a lot like a ziggurat from Mesopotamia.

The tomb chamber itself is two meters wide, two meters high, and three meters deep. It once contained a
gold sarcophagus, Cyrus' arms, his jewelry, and a cloak. This garment played an important role in the Persian
inauguration rituals.

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 Palace P - the residential palace, meaning this was where Cyrus and
the royal family lived. This building was made of a central hall
surrounded by porticoes.
The main area of Palace P measured 72½ x 9¼ meters and offered a
view of the garden, where two pavilions (flat paved areas) were
visible, together with some small water canals and fountains. The
central hall was 31 meters long and 22 meters wide.
Traces of plaster have been found, in various colors like red, white,
and blue, meaning that it was colourful and decorated during Cyrus’
Palace P time.

Palace S - located near the gate to the palace

complex, was where visiting dignitaries were
received. This means that important people visiting
Cyrus would have their meetings with him here,
rather than in the palace where he lived with his
royal family.
The column that still stands shows that the reception
hall in this palace was huge, 13m high, and measured Palace S
32¼ x 22¼ meters, which means that it was an oblong
structure. Columns in this palace were decorated with images of bulls, griffins, lions, and horses.

Both sides of the entrance to Palace S are damaged but still show very detailed reliefs (carvings into the
stone). To the left and right of the gate there are four figures, they are walking like human beings, but they
are not human. One of these people has the tail of fish, another one has bull's legs, and there's also a
person with bird's claws. Only the fourth one appears to have normal human feet

Gardens – The Gate, Palace S and Palace P of Pasargadae were situated in a large garden. The garden had
several small channels and must have been very green. It was more than just a nice and lofty place to stay
on a hot afternoon: the king here presented himself as a gardener, as the man who brought culture to the
wilderness. Gardens and parks were an important element of the royal image that Cyrus presented to his
empire.

Gate - This was an entrance hall to Pasargadae with eight columns and four doors. However, it was not
attached to any walls: later archaeologists did a thorough check of this structure and proved that it was
indeed freestanding – it stood up on its own.
The gate/ entrance hall measures about 28½ x 25½ meters, so it must have made a big impact upon its
visitors, as many people living in the Persian Empire were used to living in tents.
The entrance was probably guarded by apotropaic (evil-averting) statues of bulls or lamassus, and must have
looked like the Gate of All Nations in Persepolis. Unfortunately, no traces of these statues are visible.

Zendan – A beautiful but unusual part of Pasargadae, we don’t know what it was for! Some theories are that
it was used as part of religious ceremonies as a shrine, but other theories say that it was used for storing
religious texts. It could also have been used as a place to worship dead kings once they had passed away.

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 The Death of Cyrus
After his conquest of Babylon, little is known of the details of many of Cyrus' conquests. It seems that he
campaigned and won new territory in Central Asia, and the Nabonidus Chronicle reports that he died in
530.
Herodotus gives a detailed account of his final campaign against a central Asian tribe called the
Massagetae, led by their fearsome queen Tomyris.
He advanced with his forces to the Araxes River, which was the boundary between Persian and Massagetae
territory.
Tomyris suggested to Cyrus that the two peoples should leave each other alone, but failing that that they
should agree where to fight a battle. She offered to fight him on her side of the river or on his.
All of Cyrus advisers recommended fighting on the Persian side of the river, except for Croesus.
 At this point, Croesus utters words of wisdom which illustrate one of the key themes in Herodotus
' work that human fortune never lasts:

“Doubtless, if you think that you and your men are immortal, there is little point in my telling you my opinion. But if you
recognise the fact that both you and the troops under your command are merely human, then the first thing I would tell you is
that human life is like a revolving wheel and never allows the same man to continue long in prosperity”

This reflects the Greek idea of Hubris and Nemesis. If you get too big for your boots you will be taught a
lesson!
Despite this warning, Cyrus decided not to follow Croesus advice. Instead, he sent him back to Persia with
his son, Cambyses, whom he had named as his heir.

In the first engagement between the two sides, the Persians got the better of things through trickery. They
captured Tomyris ' son, Spargapises, who then killed himself in captivity.
Tomyris was enraged, and a second fierce battle was fought. The Massageta were victorious, and Cyrus
was amongst the dead. The Massagetae found his body and brought it to the queen.
She ordered for his head to be cut off, collected a leather bag filled with blood, and dropped the head into
it. She said it would finally quench his thirst for blood! Herodotus admits that this dramatic story is just one
version of the death of Cyrus. He says that he heard many, but that this one was the most credible. – He
could well have included a story about Cyrus’ head in a bag of blood for dramatic effect!
One later Greek writer recorded that Cyrus died peacefully in his new capital city. What is not in doubt,
however, is the respect and awe in which he was held by later Persians, who called him Cyrus the Great.

Cambyses II 530-522BC

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Cambyses becomes king Cambyses in the ancient
 Cambyses took over the throne from Cyrus in August 530BC. It was a sources – a warning!
smooth transition of power.
 Greek sources, especially
Herodotus, give a very negative
 Persian and Babylonian sources record that Cambyses had a younger
view of Cambyses.
brother, Bardiya. Herodotus calls this younger brother Smerdis, but
 They portray him as a king who
he is the same person as Bardiya.
went mad and insulted the gods.
 Herodotus was using biased
 Cambyses was the named heir and the change of king did not bring
Egyptian sources.
unrest to the empire.

 Ancient writers liked to compare

Cambyses’ backstory and main achievements Cyrus, a good ruler, with
Cambyses, a cruel tyrant.
Achaemenid king of Persia (reigned 529–522 BCE), who conquered  There is very little information
Egypt in 525; he was the eldest son of King Cyrus II the Great. available about Cambyses.
During his father’s lifetime Cambyses was in charge of Babylonian
affairs.

In 538 he performed the ritual duties of a Babylonian king at the important New Year festival, and in 530,
before Cyrus set out on his last campaign, he was appointed regent in Babylon.

Before Egypt, Cambyses successfully took control of the cities of Phoencia on the Mediterranean coastline.
These people were great sailors and created the Persian Navy.

The conquest of Egypt, planned by Cyrus, was the major achievement of Cambyses’ reign. Cambyses
received assistance from Polycrates of Samos (who had a significant navy that he added to the Persian
empire!); from Phanes, a Greek general in the Egyptian army who gave him valuable military information;
and from the Arabs, who provided water for the crossing of the Sinai Desert.

After Cambyses had won the Battle of Pelusium (525) in the Nile Delta and had captured Heliopolis
and Memphis, Egyptian resistance collapsed.

While in Egypt, Cambyses planned expeditions against Ethiopia, the Oasis of Amon, and Carthage. He
himself set out against Ethiopia, but, after annexing the northern part of the country, he ran short of
supplies and had to return.

A detachment sent out from Thebes captured al-Kharijah (Kharga) Oasis but perished in a sandstorm
before reaching the Oasis of Amon. The attack on Carthage was never attempted.

The 5th-century-BCE Greek historian Herodotus accused Cambyses of many atrocities in Egypt, attributing
them to madness, but contemporary Egyptian sources suggest that his accusations must largely be
discounted. At least at the beginning of his rule, Cambyses pursued a peaceful policy.

Cambyses’ conquest of Egypt 525BCE

Why did Cambyses invade this powerful nation?

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Herodotus gives the following reason for the invasion:
Cambyses asked Amasis, the king of Egypt, to allow him to marry his daughter. It was normal for different
empires/ kingdoms to inter-marry for allegiances and to avoid war.

However, Amasis did not want his daughter to do this as he worried that Cambyses might just take his
daughter as a mistress, and not marry her. This would be hugely disrespectful for a princess of Egypt.

So, Amasis played a trick on Cambyses. He did not send his daughter, instead he sent Nitetis, who was the
daughter of a pervious Egyptian king.
Nitetis had no loyalty to Amasis, and she revealed the trick as soon as she got to Persia.
This was enough for Cambyses to invade Egypt, he had been embarrassed by Amasis.

However, there are other reasons that could well explain this invasion, that aren’t as dramatic or gossip-y
as Herodotus’ account!

 The real reasons for the invasion would have been to protect and increase the Persian Empire.
Cambyses’ father, Cyrus the Great, had taken over the lands of the Levant when he conquered
Babylon in 539. Cambyses could well be wanting to add to this by taking Egypt.

 Egypt was already an ancient and respected power in 525BCE. It is possible that Cambyses felt a
free and independent Egypt was a threat to the empire.
 Egypt was a powerful, and WEALTHY nation. It had huge areas devoted to farming and produced
items that would be useful within the Persian Empire.

 Also, Amasis had allied himself to Croesus when Lydia was at war with Persia.

Gaining a Navy
Around 525BCE was a good time to invade for other reasons. Cambyses added a navy to the Persian
Empire/ war machine for the first time in the Empire’s history. This was REALLY important for increasing
the power of the Empire and its infrastructure.

 Herodotus tells us that the Persians gained Phoenicia when they joined the empire voluntarily.
 The Phoenicians were great sailors and had a big navy.

 Cyprus also joined the empire, with their navy and trade routes around the Mediterranean.

 The island of Samos, led by the Tyrant Polycrates, also had a large navy, and were on the side of
the Egyptians, but Amasis of Egypt died, and was succeeded by his son Psammetichus.
 Polycrates switched sides, probably backing the stronger side, and brought the fleet of Samos
with him.
 The Persians now had a fleet to match the Egyptians.
Herodotus thought this was an important achievement:
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 “They had answered that he was better than his father, because he had kept all Cyrus’ possessions and
acquired Egypt and the command of the sea into the bargain.”
Herodotus Histories 3.34

The Invasion of Egypt 525BCE

 Herodotus tells us that a Greek mercenary, Phanes, a former advisor to Amasis, defected to the
Persians. - He acted as a guide for Cambyses.
 Cambyses marched to Egypt with his army in early 525BC.
 Phanes advised Cambyses to make an alliance with the Desert Arabs, who helped him set up
water supplies for his army as they approached the Nile.

 By the time the Persian expeditionary forces reached the Egyptian borders, Amasis was already
dead, and his son Psammetichus was now ruler.

 As a result, Psammentius, decided to march up to the eastern reaches of his kingdom. The
Egyptians fortified their positions by the mouth of the Nile near the city of Pelusium. Psammenitus
might have felt a bit confident, especially with their already fortified advantage.

 But all was not well with Psammentious’ alliances in the area; the large fleet of tyrant Polycrates of
Samos (a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea), had decided to join the Persians in their
invasion…

The Battle of Pelusium 525BCE

Cambyses led his army to the border of Egypt at Pelusium, and met Psammetichus’ forces there in 525BCE.
He defeated the Egyptian Pharaoh, Psammetichus, in 525BCE, at the battle of Pelusium.

 Cambyses demonstrated real cunning and a cut throat attitude to war in this battle, when he used
Egyptian religious belief against the Egyptian soldiers and covered Persian shields in paintings the
Cat Goddess, Basat, and even took cats into battle.

 This was a very effective tactic. Although cruel and sacreligious, it put off the Egyptian archers from
firing on the Persian army, allowing Persians to take charge.

 Cambyses then stormed the fortress at Pelusium and won the battle against Psammetichus.
 The method must have been effective, as Herodotus noted that 50,000 Egyptians fell in battle, while
only 7,000 Persians lost their lives.

Victory after Pelusium

 After Pelusium, the Persians besieged Memphis, and the Egyptians were forced to surrender.

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  Herodotus tells us that Psammetichus was captured and was shown mercy by Cambyses, who
spared his life.
 Afterwards, Psammetichus attempted a rebellion and is said to have ended his life by drinking bull’s
blood.
 Next, Libya, Barca and Cyrene submitted to Cambyses to avoid being invaded.

Cambyses’ new Invasions: Failure!

After successfully conquering Egypt, and having gained new allies and territories, Cambyses then planned
invasions against the Carthaginians, the Ammonians and the Ethiopians.
None of them went well…

Carthage 525BCE
 Carthage was an old and powerful city on the north coast of Africa, they had a strong navy and very
profitable trading routes.
 Cambyses wanted to conquer them and add them to the empire, he asked his allies the Phoenicians
to help him as he’d need their navy to launch an attack from the sea.

 BUT, the Phoenicians refused to fight against Carthage. They were an old colony of Carthage and
still felt strong loyalty and respect to their old centre.
 Cambyses had to cancel the invasion…

The Oasis of Amon 524BCE

 Herodotus tells us that 50,000 men were sent into the desert to attack the Oasis of Amon, but they
were killed and buried by a sand storm.

As for those who were sent to march against the Ammonians, they set out and journeyed across the desert with guides; after
this nobody heard or saw the army except for the Ammonians themselves and those who heard from them, no man can say
anything of them; for they neither reached the Ammonians nor returned back.
But this is what the Ammonians themselves say: when the Persians were crossing the sandy desert to attack them, and were
about midway between their country and Ammon, while they were breakfasting a great and violent south wind arose, which
buried them in the masses of sand which it bore; and so they disappeared from sight. 50,000 Persian soldiers died in this way.
Such is the Ammonian tale about this army.
Herodotus 3.26

Ethiopia 524BCE
 Cambyses personally led this invasion, but he did not plan supplies for his army.
 They ran out of food, ate the pack animals and then resorted to cannibalism.
 Herodotus blames Cambyses for this:

15
 Cambyses at once began his march against Ethiopia, without any order for the provision of supplies, and without for a
moment considering the fact that he was to take his men to the ends of the earth… They had not, however, covered a fifth of
the distance, when everything in the nature of provisions gave out, and the men were forced to eat the pack-animals until
they, too, were all gone. If Cambyses, when he saw what the situation was, had changed his mind and returned to his base, he
would have shown some sense; but as it was, he paid not the least attention to what was happening and continued his
advance. The troops kept themselves alive by eating grass… some were reduced to cannibalism.

Herodotus 3.25

After this final failure, Cambyses returned to Memphis. According to Herodotus it was at this point in his
rule of Egypt that Cambyses began to become a real madman…

Cambyses as Ruler of Egypt

! IMPORTANT POINT ABOUT THE NATURE OF CAMBYSES !

We get two very different versions of Cambyses from two different sources.

1. Herodotus gives a version of Cambyses’ nature where Cambyses is an aggressive, sacreligious maniac.

Herodotus was probably using Egyptian sources that did not like Cambyses and resented that he had conquered
them…

2. The other side of the story comes from a tombstone of an Egyptian administrator who worked for
Cambyses and the next King, Darius. His name was Udjahorresne.

Udjahorresne gives a version of Cambyses were the king is fair, respectful and makes positive changes to Egypt.

Cambyses in the Greek sources

Herodotus’ version: Cambyses the Madman

 After the conquest of Egypt, Herodotus portrays Cambyses as a madman who disrespects the
Egyptian gods (very different to Cyrus!)

1. Disrespecting the Egyptian Gods

 Herodotus says that Cambyses launched his invasion of Ethiopia “because he was a madman”.
 This portrayal begins with Cambyses disrespecting the corpse of Amasis:

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Cambyses went to the city Sais, anxious to do exactly what he did do. Entering the house of Amasis (a previous king of Egypt),
he had the body of Amasis carried outside from its place of burial; and when this had been done, he gave orders to whip it and
pull out the hair and pierce it with knives, and to desecrate it in every way. [2] When they were tired of doing this (for the
body, being embalmed, remained whole and did not fall to pieces), Cambyses gave orders to burn it, a sacrilegious command;
for the Persians hold fire to be a god and never burn their dead.
Herodotus 3.16

2. The Apis Bull

 After the failure of the invasion of Ethiopia, he returned to Memphis and became angry because
the Egyptians were celebrating a religious festival.

 He believed they were celebrating his failure, but in fact they were celebrating the appearance of
the god Ptah, in the form of a sacred animal, the Apis Bull.

 Ptah was the patron god of Memphis, he was the city’s main god and an important creater God for
the Egyptians generally. There would always be a Bull that was the presence of Ptah on earth, and
this was called the Apis Bull.

 When the bull died, a new one would be identified and installed as the Apis Bull in the temple of
Ptah in Memphis.

 When Cambyses returned to Memphis and saw the celebrations, he summoned the leaders of
Memphis to explain, but didn’t believe them and had them executed.

 Then he asked the priests, and demanded to see the bull, and he killed it!

The priests brought the animal and Cambyses, half mad as he was, drew his dagger, aimed a blow at
Apis’ belly, but missed and struck his thigh.”
Herodotus, Histories 3.29

 Cambyses then laughed at the priests, and ridiculed the god for having flesh and blood. The bull
later died in the temple.

 The Egyptians believed that after this, Cambyses went completely mad.

3. Murdering Family Members

 Herodotus tells us that Cambyses organised the murder of his younger brother Smerdis.
 Cambyses was jealous of him and believed he threatened his power, so sent him from Egypt back to
Persia.

 Cambyses then dreamt that a messenger reported to him that Smerdis was sitting on the throne
and that his head touched the sky.
 He saw this as a message that Smerdis would kill him and take the throne.

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  Cambyses sent his trusted advisor Prexaspes to Persia to kill Smerdis.

His next evil act was to destroy his full brother Smerdis, whom he had sent away from Egypt to Persia out of jealousy, because
Smerdis alone could draw the bow brought from the Ethiopians as far as two fingerbreadths, but no other Persian could draw
it. Smerdis having gone to Persia, Cambyses saw in a dream a vision, in which it seemed to him that a messenger came
from Persia and told him that Smerdis sitting on the royal throne touched heaven with his head. Fearing therefore for himself,
lest his brother might slay him and so be king, he sent Prexaspes, the most trusted of his Persians, to Persia to kill him.
Prexaspes went up to Susa and killed Smerdis.
Herodotus, 3:30

 Next he had his sister murdered.

 Herodotus does not mention her name, but he says she was also his wife.
 This was not unusual for Pharaohs of Egypt. Only their own flesh and blood were deemed worthy of
marrying a living god! Cambyses was showing he was a true Pharaoh.

 She upset her brother/husband by referring to Smerdis’ death, and in one version of the story, he
kicked her to death while she was pregnant with his child!

Next, he destroyed his sister, who had come with him to Egypt, and whom he had taken to wife. He married her as
he was infatuated with her. So Cambyses married the object of his desire; yet not long afterwards he took another
sister as well. It was the younger of these who had come with him to Egypt, and whom he now killed. The Egyptian
tale is that as the two sat at table the woman took a lettuce and plucked off the leaves, then asked her husband
whether he preferred the look of it with or without leaves. “With the leaves,” he said; whereupon she answered
“Yet you have stripped Cyrus' kingdom as bare as this lettuce.” Angered at this, they say, he sprang upon her and
beat her to death.
HERODOTUS 3.30 and 3.32

4. Tomb Raider
 There were other stories of cruelty, and Herodotus ends by saying that Cambyses mocked and
dishonoured the gods:

All this may pass for the maniacal savagery with which Cambyses treated the Persians and his allies during his stay
in Memphis: amongst other things he broke open ancient tombs and examined the bodies, and even entered the
temple of Hephaestus and jeered at the god’s statue.”
Herodotus 3.37

 Herodotus concluded that this act of sacrilege showed that Cambyses was “completely out of his
mind”.

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Cambyses in the Non-Greek Sources
Herodotus was working from very biased Egyptian sources.
These sources were probably priests and temple administrators who hated Cambyses because he had
forced them to pay taxes that previously they had avoided paying.
Herodotus was also very uncritical of the stories he heard and was inclined to believe them.

We do have two alternative sources on Cambyses in Egypt, who give us some information that is much
more positive about the king. These sources are;

 The Epitaph for the Apis Bull

 The account of the Egyptian advisor, Udjahorresne.

The Epitaph for the Apis Bull

 Archaeologists have discovered the Serapeum (A temple where the embalmed bodies of the Apis
Bulls were placed in tombs).
 They have found an Apis Bull which dates from November 524BC, exactly when Cambyses was
present in Egypt as king.
Under the Majesty of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt…the god was taken up in peace towards the perfect West, and was
laid to rest in the Necropolis, in the place which his majesty made for him, after all the ceremonies had been performed for
him in the hall of embalming…All was done that his majesty had ordered... in year 27…of Cambyses.”

Epitaph for the Apis Bull 524BC

 This suggests that the Apis Bull was embalmed and buried with all the correct ceremonies, and that
Cambyses has been presented as a traditional pharaoh.

 He appears to have respected Egyptian traditions (the title “king of Upper and Lower Egypt”
suggests he was seen as the legitimate king by the Egyptians).

Udjahorresne
 Udjahorresne was an Egyptian official who switched to the Persian side after Cambyses invaded
Egypt.
 He became an advisor to Cambyses and later to Darius too.
 He was keen to praise his own and Persian achievements, therefore is very positive about
Cambyses.

 We know about him because he arranged to have a statue of himself created after his death, which
explained his achievements.
 The information on the statue describes Cambyses as a traditional Egyptian pharaoh.
 It names him as the king of Upper and Lower Egypt.

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  Udjahorresne complained to Cambyses about the presence of Persian soldiers in the temple of the
goddess Neith.
 Cambyses ordered the troops to leave and the temple to be purified.

 Cambyses is portrayed as a restorer of order who supports the worship of Egyptian gods.

The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Cambyses, came to Sais. His Majesty proceeded to the temple of Neith. He
touched the ground with his forehead before Her Majesty very greatly as every king has done. He made a great
offering of all good things to Neith the Great, the mother of the god and the great gods who are in Sais, as every
excellent king has done.

Hieroglyphic inscription of Udjahorresne.

 This portrays Cambyses like Cyrus in Babylon; a king who supports the worship of local gods.
 Udjahorresne was a loyal advisor to the Persian kings, so would be more likely to be positive about
Cambyses.

 The difference to Herodotus’ view is significant.

 This suggests that there were Egyptians who both opposed and supported Persian rule. Egyptian
priests and temple administrators would have been angry that they had to pay tax to Cambyses.

 This could be where the stories Herodotus shares developed from.

The Death of Cambyses

It wasn't long before Cambyses died, and Herodotus is again our main source (3.61-66).
According to his account, two brothers launched a rebellion against him in Persia. They were both
members of a priestly class in Persia, the Magi.
It was their duty to perform rituals, interpret dreams and omens, and act as advisers. They also had the
responsibilities of training young Persian princes and guarding the royal tombs.

 One of the two brothers was called Patizeithes, and he had been left in charge of the royal
household by Cambyses.
 Herodotus reports that the other brother was called Smerdis, and by coincidence he happened to
look very similar to the murdered brother of Cambyses (also called Smerdis) although, as we shall
see, there was one key difference.
 Patizeithes convinced his brother to pretend to be the king's brother and to take control of the
empire.

 The brothers sent a proclamation to the troops throughout the empire announcing that they should
now take their orders from Smerdis rather than Cambyses.

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  A herald was sent to Egypt to read the proclamation, but he found Cambyses and his army
stationed in a town in Syria called Ecbatana (it happened to have the same name as the Median
royal city).
 When the king heard the news, he called for Prexaspes, who swore that he had killed the real
Smerdis.
 The two men questioned the herald and between them worked out the trick that the Magi had
played.

 Cambyses realised that the prophesy did not specify which Smerdis would take the throne from
him, and that he had therefore killed his brother for no good reason. He felt bitter regret.
 Right after this, Cambyses mounted his horse, intending to ride immediately and attack the false
Smerdis. Herodotus takes up the story:

“But as he was springing into the saddle, the cap fell off the sheath of his sword, exposing the blade, which pierced
his thigh just in the spot where he had previously struck Apis the sacred Egyptian bull”

Herodotus, Histories 3.64

 The king then asked what town they were in. Upon hearing the name Ecbatana, he recalled the
prophesy that he would die at Ecbatana.
 He had always assumed this prophecy to mean the Median royal city, but once again he had
misinterpreted a prophecy.

 Cambyses realised that he would die of his wound. He summoned the Persian nobles with him and
told them the whole story about his murder of the real Smerdis, and the trick played by the two
Magi.
 He commanded them to ensure that the Magus Smerdis was driven from power, reminding them
that the throne would otherwise be returned to the Medes.
 Shortly afterwards, gangrene set in on Cambyses' wound and he died after seven and a half years
on the throne.

 However, his nobles did not believe what he had told them. Instead, they thought that it was a
malicious invention by Cambyses to prevent his brother from taking command of the empire.
 The one man who could have confirmed the story was Prexaspes, but he vigorously denied the
murder, knowing that it could be very dangerous to admit it now that he did not have Cambyses to
protect him.

 Cambyses died with the Persian Empire in turmoil….

The Accession of Darius I

When Cambyses died in 522, there was a power vacuum which was filled within a few months by his
distant relative, Darius.
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We have the story of Darius’ accession to the kingship from two sources: the version of Herodotus and
Darius’ own account found on a public inscription in the heart of Persia, the Bitsitun inscription.
The two accounts agree in a number of ways, and it seems that Herodotus was familiar with the account
of Darius.
However, Darius’ account raises great suspicion that it was a piece of propaganda designed to hide a dark
truth of murder…

Herodotus’ Account
 After the death of Cambyses, the false Smerdis ruled for several months. But he never emerged
from the royal citadel or met with anyone.

 This aroused the suspicion of a Persian Noble called Otanes, who’s daughter Phaiymie was married
to the false Smerdis. So Otanes asked her questions and she said she had not met Smerdis’ other
wives. This was very unusual as they would normally meet each other.

 Otanes knew that years earlier Cyrus had ordered that the Magi Smerdis to have his ears cut off for
committing a crime, so Otanes asked his daughter to find out if Smerdis had ears while he slept.
 Phaidymie did this and confirmed that he had no ears!

 Otanes learned this and quickly persuaded six other Persian nobles to join him in overthrowing the
imposter; they were Intaphernes, Gobryas, Megabyzus, Aspathines, Hydarnes and Darius. -
Herodotus says Darius was the last to join.
 Darius was a distant relative of Cambyses. His father Hystaspes had been a Persian general, and
Darius had fought with Cambyses in Egypt.

 Darius took the lead with the plot, and argued they should keep their concerns secret so as not to
be discovered. - The nobles decided to attack the two Magi at once.
 Prexaspes (the man sent to assassinate the real Smerdis under Cambyses) had allied himself to the
Magi, and he had announced that Smerdis was the real brother of Cambyses.
 His conscience then got the best of him, and he came clean, telling the truth, before throwing
himself off a building to his death. - The seven nobles were on their way to the palace when this
happened.

 Some wanted to call off the attempt but Darius urged them to carry on. They went to the palace,
killed the two Magi and showed their heads to the people.
 Five days later they met to decide what to do next. - They agreed to choose a new king.

 To do this they agreed that they would ride their horses out of the city before dawn.
 The first horse to neigh after the sun came up would be declared king. Herodotus tells us that
Darius’ horse neighed first (He also suggests that he cheated to make sure he won). - Other nobles
bowed down and accepted Darius as their new king.

22
Darius’ Account
Around 520BC, Darius had a
monument built which
explained how he had
become king.
This is known as the Bisitun
Inscription.
Bisitun was a village on the
main road between Babylon
and Ecbatana. The Bisitun Inscription. Darius is the large figure on the right, and in front of him
are the 9 ‘liar kings’. You can see his story carved in paragraphs at the top.
Many travellers would have
seen this monument carved
into the side of a mountain.
It depicts Darius with two officials behind him. (Intaphernes with his bow, and Gobryas with his lance). - He
looks down on nine conquered leaders in chains.
A tenth leader is being trodden on by Darius. He is Gaumata. This is the Magi Smerdis in Herodotus’ version
of the story.
Above them all is a representation of the Persian god Ahuramazda.
There are also 3 written inscriptions, in Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. These are virtually identical.

Darius’ Version
 Cambyses arranged for his brother, Bardiya, to be killed in secret, and then he went to Egypt.
 The Persian people became unhappy, and the Magi Gaumata, who pretended to be Bardiya, led a
rebellion.
 He established himself as king.

 Cambyses died of natural causes soon after.

 Anyone who knew the true identity of Bardiya was afraid to challenge him.

 With the help of the god Ahuramazda, Darius did challenge him and killed Gaumata and his close
followers in a fortress, with the help of six allies.

Areas of agreement Areas of disagreement

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  Cambyses arranged for Bardiya to be murdered.  Did Cambyses arrange for the murder
 A rebellion was led by a Magus who was of Smerdis/Bardiya before or after he
pretending to be Bardiya. went to Egypt?
 Six of the seven names of Darius’ allies Herodotus  Ahuramazda chose him as King of
gives us match those on the Bisitun Inscription. Persia.

The Lies and Propaganda of Darius

 Historians are suspicious of Darius’ account on the Bisitun Inscription. - It sounds too convenient.
 It is more likely that the real brother of Cambyses, Bardiya, came to the throne in 522BC and was
deposed by Darius and his allies.
 The Babylonian tablets refer to the reign of Bardiya in early 522BC.

 The Greek poet Aeschylus, in his play The Persians, written in 472BC, names the king after
Cambyses as Mardus (which could be Bardiya/Smerdis) not Darius.

 We cannot be certain, but all of this suggests that the Bisitun Inscription was probably propaganda,
designed to cover up the fact that Darius killed the king and took the throne for himself…

The Reign of Darius the Great 522-486BC

The Revolts against Darius

 Following his coronation at Pasargadae, Darius moved to Ecbatana. He soon learned that support
for False Smerdis was strong, and revolts in Elam and Babylonia had broken out.
 The rebellion in Babylon was quite serious, it was a rich and powerful city and this rebellion had a
clear leader, a man called Nidintu-Bel.
 Darius ended the Elamite revolt when he captured and executed its leaders. Then, after three
months the revolt in Babylonia had ended too, in 522BCE. In Babylon, Nidintu-Bel and 49 of his
supporters were impaled.

 While in Babylonia, Darius learned a revolution had broken out in Bactria, an area which had always
been in favour of Darius, and had initially volunteered an army of soldiers to crush the revolts.
 Following this, revolts broke out in Persis, the homeland of the Persians and then in Elam and
Babylon (again! When another rebel leader, Arakha, appeared), followed by revolts
in Media, Parthia, Assyria, and Egypt…

How did Darius supress the revolts?

 By 522 BCE, there were revolts against Darius in most parts of the Persian Empire leaving the
empire in turmoil.
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  Even though Darius did not seem to have the support of the people, Darius had a loyal army, led by
close friends and nobles (including the six nobles who had helped him remove false Smerdis).

 With their support, Darius was able to suppress and quell all revolts within a year. In Darius's
words, he had killed a total of eight "lying kings" through the crushing of rebellions.
 Darius left a detailed account of these revolutions in the Bisitun Inscription.
 The Bisitun Inscription shares how Darius ruthlessly dealt with rebel leaders.
 The following happened to the Median rebel leader Phraortes:

Phraortes was seized and led to me. I cut off his nose, ears and tongue, and I put out one of his eyes. At
my gate he was kept bound and all the people looked at him. After that I impaled him at Ecbatana.
DB 32 (Lactor 16, 44)

Herodotus also shares details of Darius treating rebels harshly, but he also suggests he looked to win
survivors back to him with generosity:
This section of Herodotus tells us what Darius did to Babylon after the city rebelled…

So it was that Babylon was captured a second time; and Darius, once he had power over the
Babylonians, demolished the entire circuit of their walls and tore out all their gates (both of which were
things that Cyrus, when Babylon had originally fallen to him, had failed to do).
Darius had some three thousand of their most prominent men impaled.

He did, however, restore the city to those Babylonians who remained and let them live there. Looking to
the future, he also made sure to provide them with women, and thereby ensure that a new generation
would be born – for the Babylonians, as I explained initially, had been looking to conserve food, and so
had strangled their own wives.
Herodotus, 3.159

The Bisitun Inscription

By 521 Darius was in control.
It is clear that these rebellions were not easy to put down, and when Darius HAD successful put them
down, he celebrated his new reign by creating a huge message for all people to read. This was called the
Bisitun Inscription, carved into the side of the Bisitun mountain in the middle of the empire.

 The famous Behistun inscription was carved on a cliff about 100 meters off the ground. Darius tells
us how the supreme god Ahuramazda choose him to dethrone an usurper named Gaumâta (false
Smerdis), how he set out to supress several revolts, and how he defeated his foreign enemies.

25
 • A large relief (5½ x 3 metres) showing king Darius, his bow carrier Intaphrenes and his lance (looks
like a spear!) carrier Gobryas.
• Darius overlooks nine representatives of conquered peoples, their necks tied. A tenth figure, badly
damaged, is laying under the king's feet. Above these thirteen people is a representation of the
supreme god Ahuramazda.

• Underneath is a panel with a cuneiform text in Old Persian, telling the story of the king's
conquests.

• There is a second and third panel, which both tell the same story, but the second is in Babylonian
and the third panel is in Elamite.

The Ideology of Darius

Darius knew that his claim to the throne was not strong, and that there would be those that either
doubted his story or wanted to have a go at doing the same thing he did, and take the throne.
Darius needed to ensure that his claim to the throne was watertight, and that no one would consider
challenging him anymore.
He created and used a range of ideas, or ideologies to do this;

 He linked himself back to great Persian Kings.

 He linked himself to a great, new God called Ahuramazda. - He said that he was the force that could
help good (the truth) fight bad (the lie), sent by Ahuramazda.
 Many historians argue that when Darius did this, it was the Persian Empire being properly created
for the first time, as so many people were united under/ controlled by these ideas.

The opening of the Bisitun Inscription illustrates his new ideology:

(1) I am Darius, the Great King, king of kings, the king of Persia, the king of lands, the son of Hystaspes, the grandson of
Arsames, the Achaemenid.

(2) Darius the king says: ' My father [is Hystaspes; the father of Hystaspes [is] Arsames; the father of Arsames [is]
Ariaramnes; the father of Ariaramnes [is] Teispes; the father of Teispes [is] Achaemenes.

(3) Darius the king says: "For that reason we are called Achaemenids; from ancient times we are noble men. From ancient
times our family has been royal.

(4) Darius the king says: "[There are] eight in my family who formerly have been kings. I [am] the ninth [king]. Thus we are
nine kings in succession.

(5) King Darius says: "By the grace of Ahuramazda am I king; Ahuramazda has granted me the kingdom. '

(9) Darius the King says: ‘Ahuramazda bestowed this kingdom upon me. Ahuramazda brought me aid until I held together this
kingdom; by the favour of Ahuramazda I hold this Kingdom’.

DB 1-5 (LACTOR 16, 44)

26
 1. Links to Great Persian Kings
 In the inscription Darius seeks to present himself as the heir to Cyrus the Great by linking them
through royal genealogy, not by saying he is DIRECTLY related to Cyrus, but by saying that they
share the common ancestor, Teispes. This ancestor is mentioned on the Cyrus Cylinder, so it
would’ve been an easy connection for people to believe.
 Darius then links both of them to the supposed founder of the royal line, Achaemenes.

 HOWEVER, there is no mention to this fantastical Achaemenes in anything Cyrus ever said or wrote,
and many scholars believe that Darius made him up to justify his position as the new King, by
making it look like he (and Cyrus) were part of this great royal line, and establish an ‘Achaemenid’
dynasty.
 Darius ALSO tied himself to Cyrus by marrying two of his daughters, Atossa and Artystone. Making
him seem even more part of the family!

2. Links to Ahuramazda
 Darius introduces Ahuramazda as being an all-important/ powerful god, which grants the Kingdom
of Persia and the power to rule to Darius.
 Ahuramazda’s name appears 63 times in the Bisitun inscription, while only once are ‘the other gods
who exist’ mentioned.

 No gods appear in the inscriptions of Cyrus, and it seems that Darius elevated Ahuramazda greatly
in importance. In the image that goes with the inscription, you can see Ahuramazda sitting above
the liar-Kings (challengers to Darius), while Darius raises his hands towards the God.
 Darius presents himself as being granted the Kingship by Ahuramazda, so that he is effectively his
proxy (presence) on earth. The Bisitun inscription says:
Darius the King says: ‘Ahuramazda bestowed this kingdom upon me. Ahuramazda brought me aid until I held together this
kingdom; by the favour of Ahuramazda I hold this Kingdom’.

3. The Truth and the Lie

 The ideas of ‘truth’ (Arta in Persian) and ‘the lie’ (Drauga in Persian) become very important to
Darius and how he maintains his power.
 Darius spreads the message/ idea that ‘the lie’ – evil – had become prevalent and powerful in
Persian since Cambyses fell and the false Smerdis tried to take control.

 The next step of the idea was that ‘the truth’ – good - was something that Darius was working to
bring back to Persia, and could be achieved if he was king, as Ahuramazda had chosen him and
Ahuramazda brought ‘the truth’ as God.
 Smerdis, and the other Liar-Kings, were perfect examples of ‘the lie’ spreading in Persia, therefore
Darius was ‘the truth’ that removed them for the greater good!

27
  Darius fused religious ideas with political ideas, and made his authority look like it was morally
right and under the protection of Ahuramazda. It also played him off as a great hero – very good
vs. evil!

Darius’ Reforms:
Satrapies
 Darius reorganised the empire into 20 provinces, known as Satrapies, with each having its own
governor, known as a Satrap.
 The satrap ruled over the area, having his own court that was modelled on Darius’ royal court, and
he would often be a relative of the king so that he could be trusted or removed as necessary.

 The two main duties of the Satrap were to collect taxes from the people living in that Satrapy,
and to provide troops in times of war.
 Most of the taxes were sent to the King, however a portion of the taxes were kept within the
Satrapy to keep the local government working and society looked after – e.g. maintaining roads and
public areas.

 The King monitored his Satraps using people he called ‘King’s scribes’, or ‘King’s ears/ eyes’. They
made sure the Satraps did as they were told and obeyed the king.
 Darius kept detailed records of the admin of the empire; including taxes, foodstuffs, rations,
building works, etc. These became known as the Fortification Tablets.

Roads
 The empire had an impressive network of roads built by Darius, with stations and Inns along the
way for those travelling on the road to use.
 Messages could be passed very quickly because the imperial messenger service used a relay
system, with riders and horses waiting to pick up the message and take it to the next station. This
was how the King’s Eyes moved information so quickly across the massive empire!

Darius’ Building Projects

Darius is famed for the engineering works carried out during his reign.
He carried out building in 2 important areas;

1. City building – Susa and Persepolis

2. Improving the empire’s infrastructure. – Roads, canals.

City Building: Susa

 Susa was completely rebuilt.
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  It was based on three levelled mounds, the Apadana in the north, the Royal City in the east and the
Acropolis in the south.
 The entry to the Apadana mound was the Gate of Darius, which would have been around 12-13
metres high. – ‘Apadana’ is the name given to a large, open plan hall. Susa and Persepolis both
have Apadanas
 The most important building was the Apadana, a great columned audience hall 20 metres high
and covering 18 square metres. - All that remains now are the foundations and some glazed brick
murals depicting Persian soldiers.
 Also found at Susa was the Foundation Charter. Here, Darius sets out his claim to the throne under
the power of Ahuramazda. He also gives a description of the variety of workmen from around the
empire who are involved in the construction. The extract below is from the Charter, and shows the
cost of the building work at Susa and how beautiful it would have been;
This palace which I built at Susa, from afar its ornamentation was brought. Downward the earth was dug, until I reached
rock in the earth. When the excavation had been made, then rubble was packed down, some 40 cubits in depth, another
part 20 cubits in depth. On that rubble the palace was constructed….

And that the earth was dug downward, and that the rubble was packed down, and that the sun-dried brick was molded,
the Babylonian people performed these tasks…The silver and the ebony were brought from Egypt….Stone columns
which were here wrought, a village named Abirâdu, in Elam - from there were brought…. The goldsmiths who wrought
the gold, those were Medes and Egyptians. The men who wrought the wood, those were Lydians and Egyptians. The men
who wrought the baked brick, those were Babylonians. The men who adorned the wall, those were Medes and Egyptians.

Darius the King says: At Susa a very excellent work was ordered, a very excellent work was brought to completion. May
Ahuramazda protect me, my father Hystaspes, and my country.

Map of the Persian Empire under Darius I.

Susa and Persepolis are marked with a star!

City Building: Persepolis

 Perhaps the most impressive of Darius’ building projects was his creation of the glorious city of
Persepolis (known in Persian as Parsa).
 This was to become the cultural and administrative centre of Darius’ empire, and Darius made
sure that the main palace was beautiful, welcoming and a symbol of his power and tolerance.
 Construction began between 518-515 BC. Darius wanted a fresh start for Persian government
administration and moved the capital from Pasargadae (the capital established by Cyrus the Great,
c. 550-530 BC).
 Perhaps to distance his reign from the way he became king, as well as break ties with the past,
Darius commissioned the new city to be built far from the old capital of Pasargadae and equally
far away from established administrative centres such as Ecbatana, Babylon, and Susa

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  The city was located in a remote region in the mountains making travel there difficult in the rainy
season of the Persian winter, so the administration of the Achaemenid Empire was also overseen
from Ecbatana, Babylon, and Susa.
 Persepolis was a spring/summer royal residence and seems to have been intended as a
ceremonial centre where representatives of subject states came to pay respects to the king.
Some of the things Darius built at
Persepolis were:

 The Apadana
 Trachara (Palace of Darius I)
 Council Hall
 On a cleared plain of land near
the Zagros mountain, Darius
raised an enormous platform-
terrace (125,000 square meters)
big and (20 meters) tall on which
he built his council hall, Trachara
(Darius’ palace), and reception
hall, the Apadana, featuring a (60
meters) hall with 72 columns (19 Map of the layout of Persepolis. Some of these features are added
meters) high supporting a roof of by Xerxes, read the key carefully to get the right features for
cedar and cedar beams from Darius!
Lebanon.

 The columns were topped by sculptures of various animals symbolizing the king's authority and
power, such as the bull and lion.
 At the four corners of the palace were four towers and the inner walls of the hall were brightly
decorated.
 Outside, on the walls of the platform on the Apadana Staircase, reliefs depicted the various
people of the twenty-three subject nations of the Achaemenid Empire arriving with gifts to pay
respects to the king. These reliefs are so precise in their detail that the nationalities represented
are easily identified.

 Around 515 BCE, construction of the Apadana Staircase began, leading from the base of the
terrace up to the palace doors. This grand, dual entrance to the palace, known as the Apadana
staircase, was a masterpiece of symmetry and the steps were so wide that Persian royalty and
those of noble birth could ascend or descend the stairs on horseback, thereby not having to touch
the ground with their feet.

The Apadana Staircase

The Apadana is the name given to the great Square and entrance hall of the palace at Persepolis - Around
515 BCE, construction of the broad stairway began, leading from the base of the terrace up to the palace
doors.

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The relief, miraculously survived
the sack of Persepolis by the
soldiers of Alexander the Great in
330 BC.

The northern wall shows

representations of all kinds of
Persian dignitaries, horsemen,
and chariots.
The centre shows eight soldiers.

The southern wall shows

depictions of 23 nations of the
Persian Empire, all bringing tribute (gifts) to the king.
Each nation can be distinguished by its ceremonial dress. All are depicted as equal. - They are not bowing
or kneeling, they are all upright and some have weapons.

This suggests they are willing participants bringing gifts to the king. - It depicts a scene of peace and
harmony. This is what Darius wanted his subjects to see.

Infrastructure: Roads
 The empire had an impressive network of roads built by Darius, with stations and Inns along the
way for those travelling on the road to use.
 The Persian Royal Road, also called Royal Road of Persia or Royal Road, ran from from Susa, the
ancient capital of Persia, across Lydia to Sardis and Smyrna on the Aegean Sea, a distance of more
than 2,400 km (1,500 miles).
 King Darius I built the road to support communication throughout the western portions of his
empire. Archaeologists believe that some of the westernmost sections of the road may have been
previously built by Assyrian kings and restored by Darius.
 Royal messengers, who, according to the Herodotus, were stopped by “neither snow, nor rain, nor
heat, nor gloom of night,” could travel the length of the road in nine days, thanks to a system of
relays.
 Messages could be passed very quickly because the imperial messenger service used a relay
system, with riders and horses waiting to pick up the message and take it to the next station. This
was how the King’s Eyes moved information so quickly across the massive empire!

Infrastructure: The Darius Canal

 One of Darius’ lesser-known building projects was the Darius Canal in Egpyt.
 He had linked the Red Sea to the river Nile by building a canal which ran from modern Zaqāzīq to
modern Suez. – this was also known as the Canal of the Pharohs.

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  A canal of some kind had existed in this area for a long time, Ancient sources like Aristotle claimed
that the Egyptian Pharohs had a built a canal between Zagaziq and Suez as far back as the 12th
Dynasty (1878–1839 BC!!)
 However, the canal was probably first cut made or at least begun by Necho II (610–595 BC), in the
late 6th century BC, and it was either re-dug or possibly completed by Darius the Great (550–486
BC).

 To open this canal, Darius travelled to Egypt in 497 BC, where the opening of the canal was
carried out with great fanfare and celebration.
 Darius also built a canal to connect the Red Sea and Mediterranean, although this canal is less
famous.
 The purpose of the canal was the creation of a shipping connection between the Nile and the Red
Sea, between Egypt and Persia.

 To celebrate this achievement, Darius erected five monuments in Wadi Tumilat, named Darius the
Great's Suez Inscriptions.
 The monuments contain texts written in Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian and Egyptian, much like
his Bisitun Inscription was written in many languages.
One of these inscriptions still survives today and it reads;
King Darius says: I am a Persian; setting out from Persia. I conquered Egypt. I ordered to dig this canal from the river that is
called Nile and flows in Egypt, to the sea that begins in Persia. Therefore, when this canal had been dug as I had ordered,
ships went from Egypt through this canal to Persia, as I had intended.

Imperial Expansion under Darius

Herodotus tells us Darius was persuaded by his wife, Atossa, to expand west into the Mediterranean.

 She gives two motives for this.

My lord, with the immense resources at your command, the fact that you are making no further conquests to increase the
power of Persia must mean you lack ambition. Surely a young man like you, who is master of great wealth, should have been
engaged in some active enterprise, to show the Persians they have a man to rule them. Indeed, there are two reasons for
ending this inactivity: for not only will the Persians know their leader is a man, but, if you make war, you will wear down their
strength and leave them with no time to plot against you.”

Herodotus 3.134

Herodotus would not know that this happened, but there are some valid points:

 Darius needed new conquests to live up to the reputations of Cyrus and Cambyses.
 The king had a large army. If they were at war they would not be able to plot against him.

 The islands of Samos, Lesbos and Chios were brought into the empire early on, which DOES suggest
that Darius did indeed work on expanding the empire.

The Conquest of the Indus Valley

 Around 518 BCE, Persian armies under Darius crossed the Himalayas into India to initiate a
second period of conquest by annexing regions up to the Jhelum River in Punjab.
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  Herodotus reports that a Greek named Scylax, from Caria, was then sent east by Darius to explore
the Indus Valley.
 Darius I sent Scylax of Caryanda to sail down the Indus river, heading a team of spies, in order to
explore the course of the Indus river. After a journey of 30 months, Scylax is said to have returned
to Egypt near the Red Sea, and the seas between the Near East and India were made use of by
Darius.

 According to Herodotus, the territories of Gandhara, Sattagydia, Dadicae and Aparytae formed the
7th province of the Achaemenid Empire for tax-payment purposes, while Indus formed the 20th tax
region. – Darius can only tax areas he controls, therefore he must have controlled these areas of
modern day India and Pakistan!
 There are images of Indians carved onto the Apadana Staircase, bringing a gift of gold as tribute,
and Indian scribes are recorded as being in Persepolis around 500 BC, showing that the area must
have been conquered by Darius prior to this.

The Conquest of Thrace and Macedonia

 In 513, Darius launched a full scale invasion into Europe, targeting Thrace and Macedonia first. –
Thrace is the area immediately across from the Hellespont, modern day Istanbul. Macedonia is
north of Greece, next door to Thrace.
 According to Herodotus, Darius made a bridge across the Hellespont (the 3km stretch of water
between Asia/Istanbul and the Europe) using boats from his navy, and then took 700,000 soldiers
and 600 ships north through Thrace, stopping at the river Istar (the Danube).
 Darius also conquered many cities of the northern Aegean as part of the conquest of Thrace,
including; Paeonia.
 Macedonia submitted to Darius voluntarily. The Persians had demanded Earth and Water (a
gesture which meant the country submitted to the Persians), and the Macedonians accepted,
fearing Darius’ army.
 Macedonia then became a vassal kingdom.
 Darius then left Megabyzus to conquer Thrace, returning to Sardis to spend the winter.

The Aegean Islands of Samos, Lesbos and Chios

 Darius was concerned about his control in the West of his empire, where his territory met the
Aegean sea, so he put his relative, Artaphrenes in charge of the main city on the coastline, Sardis,
hoping that this would help secure the area.
 The island of Samos was the last large, independent state, with a strong navy. The tyrant of
Samos, Polycrates, was killedin 522. – This is the same Polycrates who submitted to Cambyses!
 Polycrates’ second in command, Meander, began to rule the island but he had no allegiance to
Persia and said that Samos was no longer part of the empire.
 Around 517, the Persian army, led by Otanes, one of the 7 conspirators involved in the
assassination of Gaumata, captured Samos after a surprise attack. The island was devastated and
forcibly brought back under Persian control, and Polycrates’ brother, Siloson, was put in charge as a
loyal leader to Persia.

33
  Chios was brought under Persian control in the same year, 517, as was Lesbos. They were both
much smaller island so did not need a large scale attack to control.

The Scythian Expedition

In 513 BC, Darius invaded Europe, Herodotus wrote an entire chapter of his Histories about this.
Darius focused on Scythia (Modern Ukraine) and Thrace (Modern Bulgaria), he led a large army to the
Bosporus (which flows through modern Istanbul).

 The Persians bridged the Bosporus, and with boats and rafts tied together, and marched across.
 Herodotus claims there were 700,000 troops and 600 ships, though this is seen as an exaggeration.
They marched through Thrace to the river Ister (now known as the Danube).
 They bridged and crossed this river too. Greek Ionians were left to guard the bridge. Many Greek
troops fought with Darius.
 The Scythians were nomadic tribesmen, meaning they moved around a lot and had no settled
towns/ cities for Darius to target.
 They frustrated the Persians by splitting up and moving around as much as possible. - The
Persians tried to destroy the Scythian supplies and farms, but the Scythians ambushed the
Persians quite successfully.
 They also used cattle as bait to lure the Persians into ambushes.

 Things were going badly so Darius decided to retreat to the Ister, but the Persians got lost.
 The Scythians got to the bridge first and tried to persuade the Ionians to rebel. - Herodotus tells
us that the Ionian Greek Tyrants (leaders) debated what to do, but the fact they relied on Darius
for their power meant they stayed loyal.
 Darius was able to return home and left his commander Magabazus to complete the conquest of
Thrace. - Herodotus tells us the Persians were successful in capturing Thrace.

Results of the Invasions

 Thrace contained a number of Greek cities on the Northern Aegean.
 Thrace was rich in gold and silver, and timber to build ships.
 The Persians gained control of important trade routes between the Aegean and the Black Sea.
 The Ister was now a border between Persian territory and the Scythians.

The Ionian Revolt: Causes

 The Ionian Revolt (499-493 BC) was a major uprising of the Greek cities of Asia Minor against
Persian rule, and is said to have either delayed a Persian invasion of mainland Greece, or made
that invasion more likely (which then became the Greco-Persian Wars).

 The Greek cities of Ionian and Aeolia on the coast of Asia Minor had fallen into Persian hands in the
aftermath of the Persian Conquest of Lydia (547-6 BC), so brought into the empire by Cyrus.

34
 The Persians first crossed into Europe in around 513 BC when Darius launched his fairly
unsuccessful campaign against the Scythian nomads north of the Danube. Then conquest of
Thrace/ Macedonia in 512-511.

 The people of Ionia, although they had been under Persian control since the reign of Cyrus the
Great, were unhappy with their Persian rulers and satraps. - The Persian rulers knew how the
Ionians felt, but did almost nothing to make them feel happier about being in the empire.
 The Ionian people were unhappy with their taxes – they felt they were too high – and their form
of local government – they wanted a democratic government like their relatives, the Athenians,
had in Athens.

 Around 500 BC, Artaphernes, the Satrap of the western capital of Persia (Sardis) met with other
leaders of Ionia.
 Seeing that many of the local leaders (called tyrants) were keen to gain more power and land, he
made them agree not to attack each other so that there would not be any fighting in the area. -
Artaphernes knew that if the local leaders (tyrants) fought each other, it could damage the rest of
the empire.
 However, there was one tyrant who refused to listen. In BC 499, Aristagoras, the local ruler of the
Ionian city Miletus, became very keen to control a nearby island and its city, Naxos. – He wanted
to increase his own power in the area, and he believed that if he took Naxos for himself/ Persia, it
would gain him favour with Darius.
 He tried to gain help from other local leaders (tyrants), both Persian and Greek, but the invasion
failed when Aristagoras argued with the Persian commander Megabates, who then told Naxos of
Aristogoras’ plans.
 Aristogoras sensed the Persians may turn against him, and fearing punishment from Darius or
Artaphernes, he decided to switch sides and begin a FULL SCALE REBELLION against the empire. –
He knew that the Ionians were unhappy with the Persians, and used these factors to rile them up
into revolt.
 Knowing that it would not be long until Darius retaliated, Aristagoras began to look for support in
Greece. - The Spartans were not willing to send their army so far away, but the Athenians voted to
send 20 ships to help the rebels.
 As well as the Athenian ships, the city of Eretria on the island of Euboea supplied 5 ships.

Athens’ backstory with Persia…

 The Athenians had already argued with the Persians.
 In 510 BC they expelled their Tyrant Hippais and set up a new democratic system of government. -
This new government was threatened by the Spartans.
 The Athenians approached Artaphernes the Satrap, for help. But when these messengers
returned, the Spartan threat has gone, and they were criticised.

 Hippias has gone to the Persians and was asking for them to put him back in power in Athens. - The
Athenians went to tell Artaphernes to ignore Hippias, but they told them to reinstall Hippias.
 The Athenians ignored this instruction and kept their democracy, so there was hostility between
Persia and Athens.

35
 Ionian Revolt: Events
Stage 1 – Ionian rebels attack Sardis

 Sardis was the main city of the Ionian Coastline, it was where the Satrap Artaphernes was based
and the seat of Persian power in the area!
 In the first attack of the revolt, the Ionians and their allies were very successful. – They attacked
Sardis, burning it to the ground.
 As part of this successful attack, they destroyed a significant temple for the main Lydian Goddess,
Cybebe. – The Persian considered this deeply sacreligious, and it was a point of Persian anger for
years afterwards…
 However, the rebels were then caught by forces of the Persian Cavalry, near the coast at Ephesus,
and destroyed themselves. – At this point the Athenians left the revolt and returned to Greece.
Stage 2 – The war enters a stalemate.

 Even though the Athenians had abandoned the revolt, the news of the uprising spread and other
other Greek islands joined, most importantly, Cyprus joined the revolt!
 Cyrus had always been a key naval base for the Athenians, but now an Ionian fleet was placed
there, and it became a focus for the Persians to win it back.
 The Ionians and the Cyrpiots were able to defeat the Persians in a small sea battle, the Persians
started to gain back land on Cyprus once they landed.
 On the mainland, the Persians sent three armies, each led by a son in law of Darius; Daurises,
Hymaees and Otanes.
 They were quite successful, but Hymaees died of disease on campaign.
 Daurises led his army to the Hellespont, where he recaptured five cities without facing much
resistance. In Caria, the Persians were ambushed and Daurises was killed. – although the area
WAS retaken which was a strong move for the Persians.
 Aristagoras went to Thrace in 496 BC, where he was killed.
Stage 3 – The Battle of Lade 494BCE

 The war became a stalemate until a naval battle at Lade, off the Island of Miletus, in 494 BC.
 Herodotus tells us that the Persian fleet of 600 ships defeated 353 Greek ships.

 Although this was an impressive fleet, the Ionians were outnumbered by the Persian fleet, which
was around 600 strong.
 After the Persians arrived at Miletus a standoff developed. During this period the morale of the
Ionian fleet began to suffer. Herodotus records two reasons for this;

1. The first was the fault of Dionysius, commander of the small Phocaean contingent. He
was given command of the fleet, probably because he wasn't from any of the larger
states. For a week he put the fleet into intense training, but the argumentative Ionians
then mutinied and refused to continue with the training.
2. The second factor was a deliberate Persian campaign to undermine morale and attempt
to break up the Ionian fleet. They got the tyrants to send messages to the contingents
from their home cities threatening them with enslavement and destruction if they
fought, but offering to respect their property and lives if they abandoned the fight. At
first all of the contingents refused to listen to this message, but eventually the Samians
were won over.
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  After an unknown period of standoff, the Persian fleet prepared to attack the Ionians. At this point
Herodotus admits that he can't say who fought well and who fought badly in the battle, as each
Ionian city blamed the others for the defeat.
 The battle was lost by the treachery of the Samians, who hoisted their sails and left the fleet.
Samos was left alone during the persecutions that followed the Persian victory.
 After the Samians sailed away they were followed by Lesbos. This meant that a third of the fleet
had deserted the cause. Most of the remaining crews realised that the battle was lost, and also fled
from the scene.

Ionian Revolt: Consequences

 The Persian victory at Lade effectively smashed the Ionian Revolt. Miletus was besieged and sacked,
and never really recovered from the disaster. The individual Ionian cities were now exposed to
attack.
 During the rest of 494 and the start of 493 the Persians carried out a devastating campaign across
Ionian and the Hellespont region. But in 492 they deposed the tyrants they had restored after the
battle of Lade, and replacing them with democratic regimes.
 The campaign against the rebels resumed in the spring of 493. First the Persians captured the
islands of Chios, Lesbos and Tenedos, and hunted down the entire population of the islands.
 A number of Ionian communities on the mainland were also taken. Their temples were destroyed
and the better looking children were taken either as eunuchs or slaves.

 Next the Persian fleet sailed around the coast into the Hellespont. The south coast had already
been retaken during the failed three pronged campaign of 497-496.
 In 493 they conquered the areas north of the Hellespont, including the Chersonese.
 Miltiades, who would later command the Athenian army at Marathon, who was then the ruler of
that area, was forced to flee into exile.
<<<This ended the repressive period of the Persian campaign.
They now began a more conciliatory period. >>>

 In 493 Artaphernes summoned representatives from each of the Ionian states to Sardis and
ordered them to set up a system of arbitration.
 He also measured each state's land area and set new levels of tribute that more accurately
reflected their size.

 In 492 the Persians made another major change in policy.

 Darius appointed his son-in-law Mardonius as the commander in Asia Minor.
 According to Herodotus he had been sent to punish Athens and Eretria for supporting the rebels,
but as he sailed passed Asia Minor he replaced the tyrants who had been restored after the
failure of the revolt with new democratic regimes.

Challenges to Mainland Greece

37
According to Herodotus, Darius never forgot how the Athenians had come to the help of the Ionians
during the Ionian revolt. – Even if they had abandoned them after the destruction of Sardis!

As a result, Darius ordered an attack on Greece and expansion across the Aegan sea. He targeted,
particularly, Athens and Eretria.

 In 492 Bc Darius sent a fleet to northern Greece, led by Mardonius. - Herodotus tells us punishing
Eritrea and Athens was the objective, but Darius was probably looking to expand his empire further.

 Herodotus tells us that the expedition was a failure, and the fleet was wrecked near Mount Athos in
the Northern Aegean.
 Most of Mardonius’ fleet was lost in a storm off the coast of Mt Athos in the north of the Aegean,
and then the majority of his land army was destroyed by barbarian tribes in Thrace.
 The 492 expedition was then abandoned.

Darius Sends Heralds to Greece

 In 493 BC Darius sent Heralds to the Greek city states to demand earth and water, showing
submission to Persian rule. – This was symbolic, it meant you were giving your land up to the
Persians and it showed you considered them your ruler.
 Most states did submit to Persian control, HOWEVER, Athens and Sparta reacted to the demands
with great violence!
 Herodotus tell us that in Athens the Heralds were thrown into a pit usually used for criminals,
and in Sparta they were murdered by being thrown into a well. - It was a sacred rule that heralds
should be respected and not harmed. Darius was furious.

 This marks an important difference in how the Greek states dealt with the Persians. - Those who
refused the offer of earth and water looked down on those who accepted it.
 A new word was invented to describe submitting to the Persians: to medise.

A new Invasion – 490BCE

The Greek sources tell us that Darius appointed new commanders, Datis and Artaphernes (The son of the
Satrap Artaphernes from Sardis).
Importantly, the Persians had a new advisor on their attack on the Greeks, the ex-tyrant, Hippias. – He
believed that if he helped the Persians defeat Athens, the Persians would give him Athens to rule again.
Herodotus tells us the fleet had 600 ships.

 They captured Naxos, and the city and temples were burnt to the ground.
 They then went to Delos, sacred to the Greeks as the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. - The
islanders ran away, and the Persians left offerings of frankincense at the temple.
 This was a major propaganda statement by Darius: Those who opposed him would be destroyed,
but those who submitted to him would be treated with respect.

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  The fleet moved to Eritrea, captured it, and then burnt the temples down. Herodotus tells us this
was revenge for the burning of the temples in Sardis.
 The invasion force moved on to Attica, where they landed at the bay of Marathon.
Herodotus on Naxos, Delos and Eretria;

 On Naxos = “When they approached Naxos from the Icarian sea and came to land (for it was Naxos
which the Persians intended to attack first), the Naxians, remembering what had happened before,
fled away to the mountains instead of waiting for them. The Persians enslaved all of them that they
caught, and burnt their temples and their city. After doing this, they set sail for the other islands”.

 On Delos = “Datis said to the people of Delos, “Holy men, why have you fled away, and so
misjudged my intent? It is my own desire, and the king's command to me, to do no harm to the land
where the two gods were born, neither to the land itself nor to its inhabitants. So return now to your
homes and dwell on your island.” He made this proclamation to the Delians, and then piled up three
hundred talents of frankincense on the altar and burnt it”. (Burning Frankincense would be
RESPECTFUL thing to do at a temple!)

 On Eretria = “After sieging the city of Eretria for 6 days, the Persians finally broke through with the
help of a traitorous Eretrian. They entered the city and plundered and burnt the temples, in revenge
for the temples that were burnt at Sardis; moreover, they enslaved the townspeople, according to
Darius' command”.

The Battle of Marathon 490 BC

According to Herodotus, Darius never forgot how the Athenians had come to the help of the Ionians
during the Ionian revolt. – Even if they had abandoned them after the destruction of Sardis!

As a result, Darius ordered an attack on Greece and expansion across the Aegan sea. He targeted,
particularly, Athens and Eretria.

A decisive battle fought on the plain of Marathon in northeastern Attica in which the Athenians, in a
single afternoon, defeated the first Persian invasion of Greece. Command of the hastily assembled
Athenian army was lead by the great General, Miltiades.

Lead up to the Battle

 The Persian force first landed at Eretria in northern

Euboea, sacking the city before moving across the
strait of water to the bay of Marathon on the 1st
and 2nd of September.
 Marathon was chosen as a suitable landing point
for the Persians because it provided ideal ground
for the cavalry units (it was the flat terrain that
horses needed to charge on). In addition, the site
Map showing the location of Eretria, Athens,
also had a nearby lake offering a plentiful supply of
and the site of the Battle of Marathon
water for both men and horses.

39
  When the Greeks discovered the invasion point, the Athenian strategoi or generals decided that
they WOULD meet the invaders at Marathon, and the Athenians arrived at the bay on 3rd or 4th of
September. They set up camp near the sanctuary of Hercules at the western end of the bay , and
were joined by Plataean soldiers who had come to help too.
 The Spartans, celebrated as the finest fighters in Greece, were unfortunately delayed in arriving to
fight because they were involved in the sacred Karneia festival and may well have been
preoccupied with a local revolt by the Messenians. In fact, the Spartans would miss the battle by a
day.

Events of the Battle

 The details of the battle, as with most early 5th-century BCE battles, are sketchy, however, on the
11th of September, it seems that the Greeks drew up their battle lines in the centre of the bay
whilst the Persians had embarked (sent off the boats) only half of their infantry.
 Forming a front eight men deep, the Greeks lengthened their lines to match the Persians and
thinned out their centre group to four men deep. The Plataeans were positioned on the right flank
(right side) whilst the Athenians were in the centre and on the left flank (left side).
 The best Persian troops
commanded from the centre, perhaps
as many as ten men deep. This was a
common Persian tactic, so the thinning
of the Greek hoplites in the centre may
have been a deliberate tactic by
Greek attack Miltiades to allow the flanks to envelop
(cover completely) the Persians as they
made progress in the centre. On the
other hand, the Greeks could not afford
Diagram of the events of the Battle of Marathon 490. The Persian a narrower line than the Persians as this
ships and moves are in lighter orange, and the enveloping attack of would allow the Persians to get behind
the Greeks is in darker blue. the Greek lines at the wings and leave
the Greek soldiers open to attack.
 The Persian cavalry is mysteriously absent from the battle scene, and once again ancient sources
and modern historians do not agree why. It may have been that the Persians, led by Datis, could
not use them to good effect because of the trees which dotted the plain, or that he had in fact sent
them (or was planning to send them) with other troops towards Athens, either in an attempt to
take the city while the Greeks were at Marathon.

 Eventually, though, the infantry on both sides engaged in battle. Moving towards each other and
perhaps with the Greeks running the final 400 metres whilst undoubtedly under fire from the
Persian archers, the two armies clashed. A lengthy and bloody struggle followed with eventually
the centre of the Persians, perhaps predictably, pushing the weakened Greek centre back.
However, both the right and left flank of the Greeks got the upper-hand of the Persians, driving
them back. The lines were, therefore, broken and a confused battle was the result. The Persians,
now routed (broken and defeated) on the left and right, fled back to their ships, but to reach them
they had to cross a wide marshy area.
40
  In the confused retreat the Greek wings closed into the centre and attacked both the Persian centre
and pursued the fleeing Persian flanks, inflicting heavy casualties. Fierce fighting continued around
the Persian ships, the Greeks captured seven ships of the enemy, but the rest of the fleet escaped
with any Persians who had managed to climb aboard.

Consequences of the Battle

 The Greeks had won a great victory. According to Herodotus 6,400 Persians were dead, for only 192
Greeks. The Persian numbers are reasonably accurate but the Greek numbers are more likely a
great underestimate for propaganda purposes. The Persians were not finished though, as Datis
now sailed for Cape Sounion in an attempt to attack Athens whilst the Greek army was away.
 No doubt exhausted, the Greek army was, nevertheless, forced to march back at the double to
Athens to defend the city. According to legend, an Athenian messenger was sent from Marathon
to Athens, a distance of about 25 miles (40 km), and there he announced the Persian defeat
before dying of exhaustion.

 The arrival of the Greek army at Athens at night of the same day seems to have been enough to
discourage the Persians anchored off Phaleron and the fleet withdrew back to Asia. At this point,
2,000 Spartans finally arrived but they were unnecessary for victory was complete.

The End of Darius

The defeat at Marathon was a shock for the Persians, but was not as significant an event for them as it was
for the Greeks. – The Greeks had seen that their Phalanx tactic was more than a match for the Persians.

The Persians were set to continue their westward expansion regardless of this defeat.

Herodotus tells us that Darius was furious at the outcome of the battle, and he planned to send a much
larger force to Greece, but the invasion was delayed by a revolt in Egypt.

Darius died in 486 BC, so was unable to avenge his defeat at Marathon. - This job would fall to his son,
Xerxes!

Xerxes I
The Succession of Xerxes
When Darius died, he left behind him many sons, which meant that Xerxes’ succession was not as simple
as it might have seemed. Herodotus tells us that Xerxes was NOT the first born son, and therefore not
necessarily the first in line to the throne.

However, Xerxes was ambitious and knew he wanted to be king, so he went to the ex-Spartan King,
Demaratus, for advice on the matter! Demaratus had been removed as one of the two kings of Sparta in
491, and have moved to the Persian court looking for a secure role.
41
Demaratus advised Xerxes to argue to follow an old Spartan practice, where the throne was passed to
first child born AFTER THE FATHER BECAME KING! For Darius, the first child he had after becoming king
was Xerxes…

Xerxes’ Version of his Succession

Xerxes seems to have had three full brothers, and the fact that he wanted to share that Darius had chosen
him suggests there had been some sort of power struggle. Herodotus also suggest that Xerxes’ mother,
Atossa, was very influential as one of Darius’ wives, and may well have argued the case for Xerxes too.

Xerxes does NOT mention any Demaratus…

Persian Inscription commissioned by Xerxes

Darius had other sons, but - thus was Ahuramazda's desire - my father Darius made me the greatest after himself. When
my father Darius went away from the throne, by the grace of Ahuramazda I became king on my father's throne.

When I became king, I did much that was excellent. What had been built by my father, I protected, and other I added
other buildings. What I built, and what my father built, all that by the grace of Ahuramazda we built.

Herodotus’ Version of Xerxes’ Succession

Herodotus has a VERY different version of how Xerxes came to the throne.

In Herodotus’ version, Xerxes isn’t actually the natural successor to Darius, and Xerxes has to have help
from the Ex-Spartan King, Demaratus, to come up with a plan to become King!

Herodotus’ account of Xerxes’ succession

While Darius was making preparations against Egypt and Athens, a great argument began amongst his sons concerning
the chief power in the land. They held that before his army marched he must declare an heir to the kingship according to
Persian law. Three sons had been born to Darius before he became king by his first wife, the daughter of Gobryas, and
four more after he became king by Atossa daughter of Cyrus. Artobazanes was the oldest of the earlier sons, Xerxes of the
later; and as sons of different mothers they were rivals. Artobazanes pleaded that he was the oldest of all Darius'
offspring and that it was everywhere customary that the eldest should rule; Xerxes argued that he was the son of Cyrus'
daughter Atossa and that it was Cyrus who had won the Persians their freedom… Demaratus then came and advised
Xerxes that as he had been born when Darius was already king and ruler of Persia, Xerxes could do as they did in Sparta,
where it was customary that the succession to the kingship belongs to the son before after the father becomes king.
Xerxes followed Demaratus advice, and Darius judged his plea to be just and declared him king.

Revolts in Egypt and Babylon

 The Egyptians had revolted from the Persian Empire in the final years of Darius’ reign, it is not
clear what lead to them revolting, but it was probably a combination of factors.
42
  Darius was ageing and nearing the end of his life, they may have drawn inspiration after the
Persian loss of the battle of Marathon and they may have resented having to pay and contribute to
the large fleet that Darius was preparing for a second invasion.
 Xerxes approached Egypt, where a usurper had been governing for two years. But he was forced
to use much stronger methods than had Darius: in 484 BC he ravaged the area and reduced the
country to a condition of near slavery.
 Xerxes then learned of the revolt of Babylon, where two pretenders had appeared, as a result a
violent repression ensued.
 Babylon's fortresses were torn down, its temples pillaged, and the statue of Marduk destroyed;
this latter act had great political significance: Xerxes was no longer able to "take the hand of"
(receive the patronage of) the Babylonian god.
 Xerxes hints at his issues with Babylon when he commissions an inscription attacking the god
Daevas, who is thought to be the patron god of Babylon at the time of the rebellion.

Persian Inscription hinting at the revolt in Babylon

…And among these countries (in rebellion) there was one where, previously, Daevas had been worshipped. Afterward,
through Ahuramazda's favour, I destroyed this sanctuary of Daevas and proclaimed, "Let Daevas not be worshipped!"
There, where Daevas had been worshipped before, I worshipped Ahuramazda.

Herodotus writing about the conquest of Egypt

Xerxes first marched against the rebels in the year after Darius death. He subdued them and laid Egypt under a much
harder slavery than in the time of Darius, and he handed it over to Achaemenes, his own brother and Darius' son.

Xerxes’ Invasion of Greece: Why?

 At some point in the late 480s BC, Xerxes called a council of his senior military commanders to
discuss an invasion of Greece.
 According to Herodotus, Xerxes had not been particularly bothered about invading Greece and
didn’t have much interest in taking up a war that his father had lost. – Xerxes was happier to just
keep the empire under control and subdue the revolts that had bubbled up when he took the
throne.
 However, amongst Xerxes’ advisors, there was one man who wouldn’t let it rest: Mardonius. This
was the SAME Mardonius who’s expedition to Greece in 492 had failed after his fleet got wrecked
in a storm!
 According to Herodotus, Mardonius really wanted to become the Satrap of Greece, so he kept
applying pressure and flattery to make Xerxes commit to a new invasion.
 On the other side of the argument was a man called Artabanus, this man was Xerxes’ uncle, and
he argued strongly AGAINST the invasion of Greece!
 He said that Xerxes and Mardonius were underestimating the fighting ability of the Greeks and that
they didn’t have enough supplies to invade Europe.
43
Herodotus’s take; why did Xerxes invade Greece?

 Mardonius, Xerxes’ cousin, was with the king and had more influence with him than any Persian.
Mardonius argued the following; “King, it is not right that the Athenians should go unpunished for
their actions, after all the evil they have done to the Persians… when you have tamed Egypt, lead
your armies against Athens, so that you may be famous for your victory and others may beware
of invading your realm in the future.”
 This argument was for vengeance, but Mardonius kept adding that Europe was an extremely
beautiful land, one that bore all kinds of orchard trees, a land of highest excellence, worthy of no
mortal master but the king…. Mardonius said this because he desired adventures and wanted to be
Satrap of Greece.
 Finally Mardonius worked on Xerxes and persuaded him to do this, and other things happened that
helped him to persuade Xerxes.
 Then, messengers came from Thessaly (north of Greece) and invited Xerxes to invade Greece with
them. The Pisistratides (family of the ex-tyrant of Athens, Hippias) came up from Susa and asked
Xerxes to invade too, promising support for the invasion. – They said they had been sent by an
oracle who had promised success of the invasion.
 Xerxes then made a speech to his advisors at this meeting; “You know well enough the famous
deeds of Cyrus, Cambyses and my father Darius… Ever since I came to this throne, I have
considered how I might not fall short of the previous kings, and continue to add power to the
empire. Having considered the arguments, I am persuaded that we would win fame from the
invasion and a beautiful land, more fertile than the one we currently possess. We will also gain
vengeance…. It is my intent to bridge the Hellespont and lead my army through Europe to Greece,
so I may punish the Athenians for what they have done to the Persians and to my father… On his
behalf and that of all the Persians, I will never rest until I have taken Athens and burnt it, for the
unprovoked wrong that its people did to my father and me”.

So according to Herodotus, the motivations to invade were: To live up to previous kings, add power to
the empire and get revenge on the Greeks.

Artabanus challenges Mardonius and tries to dissuade Xerxes of the invasion

After discussing the invasion of Greece with Mardonius, Xerxes’ uncle Artabanus spoke.

In contrast to Mardonius, Artabanus warned Xerxes not to invade Greece for the following reasons;

 Artabanus claimed the Greeks had an excellent reputation as warriors. After all, they had already
defeated the Persians at Marathon in 491.
 If the Persian fleet was defeated by the Greeks then Xerxes would be trapped in Greece and could
be killed.
 Artabanus warned Xerxes of being too confident;
 “…God strikes down the great with his thunderbolt…. The tallest buildings and trees are always
the ones he blasts. It is God’s way of bringing down the mighty.”

44
 There is no way that Herodotus could have known about this conversation at Xerxes’ court. It appears
that Artabanus plays the role of a wise man, whose advice is ignored by the arrogant, hot headed king.

Preparations for the Invasion

When Xerxes came back from dealing with the revolts in Egypt, he began to draw soldiers from across
the vast Persian empire. – Sources from the time make hugely exaggerated claims about the sizes of the
army, which are dismissed by historians today.

Herodotus claimed that the army consisted of 2.6 million men, drawn from over 47 different countries.
This was in addition of a fleet of ships that both Herodotus and Aeschylus say numbered at 1,207 ships.

Historians believe that the numbers are actually closer to 60-80,000 men, and 300-600 ships. Which is
still an incredible number for that time

Herodotus says that Xerxes spent 4 years preparing the way for his advance on Greece, this included
creating a canal for his ships so that they didn’t have to go round the peninsula of Mt Athos and bridges
that allowed the army to cross the stretch of water known as the Hellespont.

Herodotus’ account of building the Canal at Mt Athos.

Since those who had earlier attempted to sail around Athos had suffered shipwreck, for about three years
preparations had been underway there. Triremes were anchored off the coast in the Chersonese; with these
for their headquarters, all sorts of men in the army were compelled by whippings to dig a canal, coming by
turns to the work; the inhabitants about Athos also dug.
Athos is a great and famous mountain, running out into the sea and inhabited by men. At the mountain's
landward end it is in the form of a peninsula, and here is a place of level ground or little hills, from the sea to
the sea opposite.
As far as I can judge, Xerxes gave the command for this digging out of pride, wishing to display his power and
leave a memorial; with no trouble they could have drawn their ships across the gap, yet he ordered them to
dig a canal from sea to sea, wide enough to float two triremes rowed abreast.

Herodotus’ account of the first bridges being built at the Hellespont

Meanwhile his men were bridging the Hellespont from Asia to Europe. The men who had been given this
assignment made bridges starting from Abydos across to that headland; the Phoenicians one of flaxen cables,
and the Egyptians Papyrus cables. From Abydos to the opposite shore it is a distance of seven stadia (3miles).
But no sooner had the strait been bridged than a great storm swept down, breaking and scattering everything.

How the second, better bridges were built

New engineers set about making the bridges. They made the bridges as follows: in order to lighten the strain
of the cables, they placed 360 ships to support the bridge to the north, and 314 ships to support the other
side; all lay against the current of the Hellespont. After putting the ships together they let down very great
anchors, both from the end of the ships on the Pontus 45 side to hold fast against the winds blowing from the
Black Sea, and from the other end, towards the west and the Aegean, to hold against the south/west winds.
After doing this, they stretched the cables from the land, twisting them taut and assigning for each bridge two
Omens against the Invasion

Herodotus suggests that there were warnings about Xerxes’ plan to invade, that Xerxes essentially ignored.
This is strictly historically accurate, but it does show us that Herodotus was trying to foreshadow the failure
that he knew Xerxes was going to have.

Omen #1  Not everyone in the Persian army is convinced of the invasion, and the high-
ranking Artabanus spoke out to Xerxes, arguing that there would not be harbours
Artabanus for the ships in the Persian fleet, nor adequate supplies for the troops as they
issues a moved down into Greece.
warning  Xerxes was not interested in doubts, and although he thanked Artabanus for his
advice, his response was to send him back to Susa to run the empire in the King’s
absence.

Omen #2  Herodotus heavily implies that the reason the first bridge broke is that Xerxes
was being offensive to the gods in bridging the Hellespont, as stretches of water
Herodotus were considered divine and by creating a bridge across water/ punishing it with
warns of whips Xerxes has basically tried to enslave a god.
Hubris  This is Xerxes demonstrating ‘Hubris’ or being ‘Hubristic, which means being
excessively proud/ full of pride, and Greeks believed this would ultimately lead to
failure and divine revenge (called Nemesis).

Xerxes’ behaviour during the invasion

Herodotus gives us an insight into the mentality of Xerxes and his style of Kingship, which often portrays
Xerxes quite poorly. – He recalls how on the journey through Lydia, he spotted a tree of such beauty that
the demanded it be covered in gold and set one his top ‘Immortals’ guards to stay with the tree forever to
guard it.

Herodotus tells us of other examples of Xerxes’ hubris during the campaign;

Xerxes’ response when he hears the first attempt to bridge the Hellespont has failed

When Xerxes heard of this, he was very angry and commanded that the Hellespont be whipped with three
hundred lashes, and a pair of fetters be thrown into the sea. I have even heard that he sent branders with them to
brand the Hellespont.

He commanded them while they whipped to utter words outlandish and presumptuous, “Bitter water, our master
punishes you, because you did him wrong though he had done you none. Xerxes the king will pass over you,
whether you want it or not; in accordance with justice no one offers you sacrifice, for you are a turbid and briny
river.” He commanded that the sea receive these punishments
46 and that the overseers of the bridge over the
Hellespont be beheaded.

Turbid = muddy/ dirty. Briny = salty

 st
Xerxes’ response when the Lydian Pythius doubted the invasion and asked for his 1 and favourite son
to be spared

Xerxes became very angry and thus replied: “you miserable fellow, you see me marching against Greece
myself, and taking with me my sons and brothers and relations and friends; do you, my slave, who’s duty
it was to follow me with all your household and your very wife, now try to speak to me of your son? …
You and four of your sons are saved by your hospitality that you have shown me; but you shall be
punished by the life of that one you most desire to keep”.
With that reply, he immediately ordered to find the favourite of Pythius’ sons and cut him in half, then
to set one half of his body on the right side of the road and the other on the left, so that the army would
pass between them

 Both Aeschylus and Herodotus make the crossing of the Hellespont a symbol of Xerxes’ hubris.
 In Persians, the Athenian playwright, Aeschylus wtote: “My son in youthful recklessness…hoped to
stem that holy stream…and bind the Hellespont with fetters like a slave. He would wrest nature,
turn sea into land, manacle a strait with iron to make a highway for his troops. He in his mortal
folly thought to overpower Immortal gods, even Poseidon.”
 The Greeks believed that bodies of water (like the sea) were divine, so he has actually tried to
enslave a god by throwing chains across the Hellespont. – This shows Xerxes disrespecting Greek
religion and beliefs.
 After the first bridge was destroyed by a storm, all of the men who built it were beheaded. – Xerxes
also ordered that the Hellespont be whipped 300 times, branded and have chains thrown into it.

Xerxes arrives in mainland Greece

After crossing the Hellespont, the Persians marched through Thrace, Macedonia and Thessaly. - These
regions had offered earth and water to the Persians previously (or medised) and many showed hospitality
to them.

The Persian fleet stayed close to the army as it made its way along the Greek coast

The Greek and Persian Armies

47
 Persian battle tactics
The Persians relied heavily on their archers to do damage to their enemy. Arrows could reach a
distance of 170m.
The Persians used cavalry to try to outflank the enemy and attack them from the side or rear.
The Persian infantry did not like to fight close up as they were lightly armoured. Instead they formed a
wall of shields.
The Immortals were the only heavily armoured Persian infantry.
The Persian army was huge.

GLOSSARY

Cavalry = part of the army that used horses

in battle

Infantry = soldiers that march and fight on

foot

Armoured = to be protected by shields or

tough clothing

Hoplites = infantry unique to Greece, their

armour was made of bronze and weighed
40kg

Greek battle tactics

Most Greek armies did not use archers. The Greeks relied on infantry equipped with bronze shields,
spears and swords called hoplites.

Greek armies rarely used cavalry. Most of their armies consisted of hoplite soldiers.

Greeks used Phalanx tactics; a tightly packed formation of soldiers who would fight together. They
liked to fight close up!

Spartan hoplites were the best Greek troops, well equipped and superbly trained.

The Greek army was small.

48
 Greek Hoplite warriors, in
Phalanx formation

The Battle of Thermopylae 481

Herodotus tells us the Greek version of the battle of
Thermopylae.

Even though it was a Greek defeat, it was said to

have inspired the Greeks to fight and enabled them
to believe they could beat the Persians.

According to Herodotus, the Greek states who

wanted to fight formed an alliance known as the
Hellenic League. – It was made up of around 30
cities and Sparta took the lead.
Modern photo of the ‘Hot Gates’, the mountain pass at
Thermopylae where Xerxes’ massive Persian Army was
In 480 BC they decided to send some troops to funnelled towards the Greek’s far smaller force, led by
block the pass at Thermopylae, a narrow mountain Leonidas.
pass which was the entrance to mainland Greece
from the sea. – It meant a small number of Greek troops could hold up the whole Persian army.

Herodotus tells us that the Greek army consisted of 7000 men.

300 of these were Spartans, led by their king, Leonidas.

49
 Each Spartan had a living son, so if they died they had already provided a future warrior to the
state.

The Greeks arrive first

The Greeks beat the Persians to Thermopylae, and quickly rebuilt an old wall at the narrowest part the
pass. Then they waited. – When Xerxes arrived, he was unsure what to do, so he asked his advisor
Demaratus what he thought.

Herodotus tells us that Demaratus (the same

ex-Spartan king who advised Xerxes on how
to succeed the throne!) warned Xerxes about
the extraordinary courage of the Spartans:

First then, they will not under any circumstances

accept terms from you which would mean slavery for
Greece; secondly, they will fight you even if the rest
of Greece submits. Moreover, it is no use in asking if
their numbers are adequate to allow them to do this;
suppose a thousand of them take the field – then
that thousand will fight you, and so will any number,
greater or less than this.

Herodotus 7.102

The Battle, Day 1:

 Herodotus tells us that there was a four day stand of where nothing happened leading up to the
battle, where Xerxes waited for the Greeks to retreat. - After this his patience ran out and he sent
in his troops.
 On the fifth day, 18 August 480 BC, he sent in the Medes, who had only recently been conquered by
the Persians, and Cissians, along with relatives of those who had died ten years earlier at the battle
of Marathon in the First Persian War, to take the Greeks prisoner and bring them before him. -
They numbered around 10,000 men.

 They soon found themselves engaged in a frontal assault, with the Greeks defending the ground in
front of the Hot Gates. It seems likely that the Greeks used the standard phalanx, where their long
spears outmatched the less sophisticated armaments of the Persian soldiers.

 There was probably a second wave of Persian attackers, this time around 20,000 strong. Despite their
leaders being flogged to encourage them to press forward, this Persian force was also defeated
with heavy casualties, while only a handful of Spartans had fallen.

 Then it seems that Xerxes' Immortals went in, a force of 10,000 elite soldiers. They also clearly
failed to take the pass, as the Spartans spent the night there, fully in control. As they are not directly
mentioned again during the battle, it can be taken that they were badly mauled and retreated to lick
their wounds.

The Battle, Day 2:

50
  On the second day Xerxes sent another 50,000 men to assault the pass, but again they failed. Xerxes
at last stopped the assault and withdrew to his camp in a state of complete confusion.

 A Greek traitor named Ephialtes, inspired by the promise of reward, now met Xerxes and informed
him of a path around Thermopylae/ the Hot Gates. Ephialtes offered to guide the Persian army
through a secret path around the pass, and Xerxes sent his commander, Hydarnes, with a force
of about 40,000 men to follow Ephialtes. Hydarnes had been the commander of the Immortals the
day before, so perhaps now he was given a scratch force made up of the surviving Immortals, plus
troops from other units.

 The Persians took the secret path to Alpenus and therefore circled behind the main Greek force at
the Hot Gates. On 20 August 480 BC, Leonidas learned that they had been encircled and he called
a council of war at dawn.

 After the council, many of the Greek forces chose to withdraw before they could be entirely cut
off. If they stood and fought, the heavily armed Greek infantry would not be able to outrun Persia's
cavalry. They would be overwhelmed by superior numbers and a cavalry charge, so retreat now was
the best option.

 A contingent of about 700 Thebans, led by General Demophilus, refused to leave with the other
Greeks, but cast in their lot with the 300 Spartans.

The Battle, Day 3:

 At first light on the third day of the battle Xerxes made libations (making offerings to the Gods for
luck), waiting to allow the Immortals and other troops enough time to descend the mountain path,
and then began his advance.

 The Spartans, led by Leonidas for one final time, went to the Hot Gates and made the last stand
against the Persians.

 They fought with spears until every spear was shattered and then switched to short swords.
Leonidas died in the assault.

 Receiving intelligence that Ephialtes and the mixed force of Immortals and regular Persian troops
were advancing towards the rear, the remaining Greeks withdrew and took a stand on a small hill
behind the Hot Gates. Tearing down part of the wall, Xerxes ordered the hill surrounded and the
Persians rained down arrows until the last Greek was dead.

 When the body of Leonidas was recovered by the Persians, Xerxes ordered that the head be cut
off and the body crucified.

 After the Persians' departure, the defeated Greeks collected their dead and buried them on the hill.
A stone lion was erected to commemorate Leonidas. Forty years after the battle, Leonidas' bones
were returned to Sparta where he was reburied with full honours, and funeral games were held
every year in his memory.

 However, for the moment, the Persians were in control of the Aegean Sea and all of peninsular
Greece as far south as Attica.

The burning of Athens

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At the same time that the battle of Thermopylae was being fought, Persian and Greek navies had been
engaging in skirmishes off the coast of Cape Artemisium. – After the Persians had won at Thermopylae,
the Greeks ships fled back south, and the Persian slowly followed them.

Marching on land, was the Persian army, who brutally sacked every city they encountered who had not
supported them when they asked for earth and water. - However, they happily spared those who had
already submitted to them.

 Thanks to the work of Athenian politician Themistocles, the city of Athens was already mostly
empty of people.
 Themistocles had managed to convince the people that a prophecy from the oracle at Delphi meant
there only hope of survival was to leave Athens and head for the island of Salamis.
 Most of the women, children and elderly left the city.
 The last few people remaining had holed up in the Acropolis, and the Persians burnt and sacked
the empty city as they had threatened they would.

Herodotus describes the sack of the Acropolis like this:

When the Persians arrived at Athens it was deserted, but in the sacred Acropolis they found a few Athenians,
stewards of the Acroplis, who defended themselves against the assault by fencing the acropolis with doors and logs.

They had not withdrawn to Salamis not only because of poverty but also because they thought they had discovered
the meaning of the oracle, namely that the wooden wall would be impregnable. They believed that according to the
oracle this, not the ships, was the refuge.

The Persians took up a position on the hill opposite the acropolis, and besieged them in this way: they wrapped
arrows in tar and set them on fire, and then shot them at the barricade. Still the besieged Athenians defended
themselves, although they had come to the utmost danger and their barricade had failed them.

However, the Persians struggled to successfully take the Acropolis. They had to discover that in front of the Acropolis,
and behind the gates and the cliff edge, was a place where no one was on guard, since no one thought any man
could go up that way as it was too steep. Here some men climbed up, near the sacred precinct, although the place
was a sheer cliff. When the Athenians saw that they had ascended to the acropolis, some threw themselves off the
wall and were killed, and others fled into the chamber.

The Persians who had come up first turned to the gates, opened them, and murdered the servants. When they had
levelled everything, they plundered the sacred precinct and set fire to the entire acropolis.

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The Battle of Salamis 480
Greek Preparations

 The Greek naval commanders brought their navy

to the east of the Island of Salamis.
 Herodotus lists 380 ships from 21 different
Greek cities in the navy. 200 of these were from
Athens.
 Many Greeks wanted to fight elsewhere, but Themistocles managed to win the decision to fight at
Salamis, where the narrow straits meant that the contest was more even as not all of the Persian
ships could enter at the same time. (A bit like Thermopylae!)

Persian Preparations

 The Persian navy was at anchor at Phaleron, the harbour of Athens, near the straits of Salamis.
 Xerxes consulted his naval captains. All were in favour of fighting at Salamis, except one, Artemisia,
the Queen of Helicarnassus, a Greek city in Asia Minor. Artemisia responds to Xerxes’ request for
advice on whether he should engage in a sea battle with the Greeks or not. Xerxes respects her
opinion, but ultimately goes against her advice.

Herodotus shares Artemisia’s warning to Xerxes;

Xerxes came and sat on his throne, and present at his summons were the tyrants of all the peoples and the company leaders
from the fleet. They sat according to the honour which the king had granted each of them.

Mardonius went about questioning them, and all the others were unanimous, advising to fight at sea, but Artemisia said,
“Tell the king, Mardonius, that I say this: ‘Master, it is just for me to declare my real opinion, what I consider to be best for
your cause. And I say to you this: spare your ships, and do not fight at sea. Their men are as much stronger than your men by
sea as men are stronger than women. Why is it so necessary for you to risk everything by fighting at sea? Do you not possess
Athens, for which you set out on this march, and do you not have the rest of Hellas? No one stands in your way. Those who
opposed you have received what they deserved

The Battle of Salamis

The Persian fleet put out to sea that evening.

Some Greeks panicked and wanted to retreat, but

Athenian leader, Themistocles, made a decisive
decision to trick the Persians and make the Greeks
fight.

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 He sent his slave Sicinnus, to swim to the Persians and pass on a message; He told them that the Greeks
were planning to sail away and that Themistocles was
Diagram of the Battle of Salamis, showing the Persian really on Xerxes’ side.
forces in red and the smaller number of Greek forces in
blue. The Persians believed him, and moved their ships into
the bay of Salamis, blocking the Greek escape route.
This stopped the scared Greeks from abandoning the battle, and the Greeks had to stand and fight now!

The battle began at dawn the next day…

 Xerxes ordered his fleet of 800 ships, to close in on Salamis, block off the Greek retreat and destroy
them. The Persian plan seems to have been to threaten the Greeks from two sides.
 200 Egyptian ships were ordered to sail around the west side of Salamis to prevent the Greeks from
escaping that way, the main Persian fleet would attack through the narrow strait between Salamis and
the mainland.
 This was just what Themistocles wanted. He realised that in such a small space, the Persians wouldn’t
be able to make use of their advantage in numbers. It seems that the Persians had not understood
the tidal currents and many of their ships were turned to the side, making it easy for the Greek
Triremes to ram them.
 Fighting in a narrow channel gave the Greeks the advantage, as the greater number of Persian ships
became a disadvantage as they crowded into one another.

 Xerxes watched the battle from a nearby shore and was furious. – He even ordered the beheading
of a group of Phoenician sailors who had complained that some of the Greek ships fighting on
their side were not fighting hard enough.
 As the Persian ships moved further into the confined channel, they began to collide with each other
and all formation and order was lost. The Persian oarsmen became tired, and matters were made
worse by a heavy swell that caused their ships to heave in the choppy water, exposing their
vulnerable sides and hulls.
 It was the moment that Themistocles had been waiting for. He gave the order and the Greeks
attacked. Pulling hard on their oars, they steered their vessels into the confused mass of Persian
ships. Timbers splintered and oars shattered, as the bronze rams attached to the prows of the Greek
ships hit home, and the first line of Persian ships was pushed back onto those following them.

Consequences of the Battle of Salamis

 The Greeks won a comprehensive victory. The Persian invasion had failed
 Concerned that other parts of his sprawling empire might rise up in rebellion when they heard the
news of his defeat at Salamis, Xerxes took the remains of his fleet back to Asia Minor, leaving his
army to winter in northern Greece.

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  The following August, it was defeated by a Greek army led by the Spartan general Pausanias, and on
the same day the rest of the Persian fleet was destroyed as it lay beached on the shore at Mycale in
Asia Minor.
 Although nobody knew it at the time, mainland Greece would never again be threatened by the
forces of Persia.

The Battle of Eurymedon 466BCE

In 480BC the Persian fleet was decisively defeated at Salamis by the Greek fleet led by Themistocles and
the Athenian navy.

In 479BC the next battle of the Greco-Persian war took place between Mardonius’ Persian force and the
Greeks at Plataea. The Persians were crushed and Mardonius was killed.

After their victory the Greeks formed the Delian League. This was an alliance to protect against another
Persian invasion led by the Athenians. - In fact the Delian League took the fight to the Persian Empire and
won some victories against them at places like the Hellespont, Thrace and Cyprus.

The very last battle of the conflict between the Greeks and Xerxes took place in 466, and was called the
Battle of Eurymedon.

 The battle took place at the mouth of the Eurymedon River in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey)
and was both a naval and land engagement. The Greek forces were led by Cimon of Athens to a
complete victory over the Persians.
 Cimon began directly targeting the city-
states of Asia Minor.
 Cimon took 200 ships across the sea and
landed at Caria sometime in 467-466 BCE
from where he looked for cities that
would join Athens’ new league, the
Delian League, especially if they were still
loyal to Persia and would be rebelling.
 Xerxes I, alerted to Cimon's action,
ordered preparations for a large force to
deal with the Greek aggression. He
Image of a Greek trireme ship, the type used in naval
placed the general Ariomandes in charge
warfare.
of the overall operation with
Pherendates in charge of the land troops
and Xerxes I's son Tithraustes in charge of the fleet of over 200 vessels.
 This army gathered near the Eurymedon with the plan for the land forces to march up the coast,
subduing rebel states, supported by the fleet which would attack Cimon.
 The Persian forces had gathered and were waiting for 80 ships from the Phoenicians to join them
when Cimon received word of their location. He instantly broke off his activities to meet them. –
The Persian fleet, not wanting to begin battle before the Phoenician ships arrived, moved into the
mouth of the Eurymedon River thinking Cimon would not follow them.


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  Cimon, however, moved to attack the Persians at the river mouth of the Eurymedon and broke the
Persian line. Ariomandes ordered a retreat back into the river where he grounded the ships on the
bank and the crews joined with the land forces in forming a defensive position.
 The Greek fleet followed, and Cimon ordered his ships to also be grounded, disembarking his crews.
He then sent his heavily armored hoplites to break the Persian lines. The Persians held at first but
then broke and Cimon sent in his reserves, which scattered the Persian forces.
 The Greeks pursued them inland where they captured their camp with all their supplies, and the
Persian commanders were left with no choice but surrender.

 The Athenian admiral Cimon defeated the Persians in c.466 in a double battle. During the day, he
defeated the Persian navy at the estuary of the Eurymedon and during the night, he unexpectedly
attacked the camp of his enemies, and won a comprehensive victory.

The ‘famous peace’ after Eurymedon

Plutarch thought the battle was very important, as he points out that Xerxes had been so humbled by the
defeat that he chose to make peace with the Greeks.

These victories of Cimon humbled the king’s pride so much that he undertook, in the terms of the famous peace, always to
keep at least a day’s ride away from the Greek sea, and not to bring any long ship or bronze-rammed ship beyond the
Cyanean islands and Chelidonian islands.

Plutarch, Life of Cimon 13.4

After the battle of Eurymedon, the Persians did not fight near the Aegean for many decades. At the Persian
court, the news of the defeat created great unrest, the Greek historian Diodorus said that Xerxes was
murdered as a consequence of his army's defeat.

His successor Artaxerxes seems to have accepted the western limits of his empire.

Xerxes’ Building Projects

 Xerxes had been resoundingly beaten in the Persian Wars against Greece, and he had left to go
back to Persia before they had even ended, after the Battle of Salamis!
 Once he returned to Persia, Xerxes began a large scale, and very expensive building project. –
emptying the treasury to do so!
 Most of this focused on the Palace of Persepolis, where he either added to work of his father,
finished projects that Darius had started, or in some cases Xerxes did complete new projects of
his own.
 The most famous of Xerxes own projects was his Gate of All Lands, which was a new entrance he
made to the palace at Persepolis. It still stands today and has inscriptions from Xerxes written on it.

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Exam Skills
Question 2 – 6 marks
 3 points of discussion – 2 marks per point you make
 Can be small paragraphs or one large paragraph
 Identify a point, explain it with good historical detail.

Question 3 – 10 marks
 2-3 paragraphs/ points of discussion
 USE THE PASSAGE to give you ideas for each point you want to make. – include a
quote for each point you make.
 Add own knowledge to support each point
 Point > Quote > Own knowledge

Question 4 – 15 marks
 2-3 paragraphs/ points of discussion
 USE THE PASSAGE to give you ideas for each point you want to make. – include a
quote for each point you make.
 Add own knowledge to support each point, this will need to discuss history not
mentioned in the passage.
 Remember that the question will ask you to discuss something that goes beyond the
passage.
 Point > Quote > Own knowledge (go beyond what the passage talks about)
 Conclusion

Question 5 – 20 marks + 5 SPaG

 3-4 paragraphs/ points of discussion
 Each paragraph needs to give a different point that focuses on answering the
question.
 2 points for your side of the argument, 1 point for the other side of the argument.
 Good historical detail; dates, names, statistics, technical terminology.
 Conclusion
 Watch your SpaG!
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