defeat of the persians at Salamis

When the Persians had entered greece the Athenians and their greek allies decided it was time to flee. They fled to the island Salamis. The allies needed one great last stand against the persians, so they snuck a servent to the persian camp and told Xerxes that the Greeks were going to retreat from Salamis. Xerxes beleived the story and had his ships surround the island blocking any escape route for the Greeks. The Greeks were verry good seamen and since the Persians were not in any order the Greeks easily won, and Xerxes fled back to Asia Minor.

battle at Thermopylae

The Persians were invading the Greek City-States because Xerxes whose father was Darius wanted revenge on the Greeks for beating the Persians at the battle of marathon. The leader was of course Xerxes. This battle is one of the key events of the Persian wars. Although no one knows for sure Greek historians believe that there was close to 5,000,000 Persians that helped the invasion. An army of around 300 men led by the Spartans went to Thermopylae to fight the Persians. Some believe that they only sent 300 men so that the Athenian people could defeat the Persians at sea. Warriors from other city-states like Thespiae, Thebes and Phocis joined the Spartans in their battle. Plus the Spartans 900 Helots also came. The Greeks were able to hold the pass for at least two days. They fought in a phalanx and killed around 20,000 Persians. Since the pass wasn't very wide only a few Persians could fight at a time. Just when it seemed the Greeks were about to take the win the Persians learned of another way around the pass. The Greeks knew that they were not going to win so they just fought until they all died. After the loss at Thermopylae it gave the Athenians time to retreat to the island of Salamis.

The Victory over Persians at Marathon in 490 B.C.

The battle of Marathon is the earlies batlle recorded. The battle is considered a defing moment in the history of all of Europe. The win over the persians gave the Greeks new confidence in their defencive skills. In September of 490 the persians set out with 600 ships to go attack the 20,000 calvary and infantry soldiers of Greece. The persians wanted to CRUSH the greeks but it didn't happen. The Greek general Miltiades sent orders for the greeks to attack the persians at a dead run. In that battle less than 200 greeks were killed and over 6,400 persians were killed.