Classical Greece: The Persian Wars, Athenian Empire, and the Peloponnesian War

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, battles, and concepts from the Persian Wars, Classical Athenian democracy, and the Peloponnesian War.

Classical Greece

The period of Greek history from around 500 BCE to the conquest of Greece by the Macedonian king Philip II in 338 BCE, marked by major cultural contributions and confrontations with the Persian Empire.

Kouros

A life-size stone statue of a young male nude, originating around 600 BCE under Egyptian influence, typically placed in temples as a dedicated offering to the gods.

Korai

Clothed statues of young women placed in temples alongside kouros statues as dedicated representations to the gods.

Phoenician Alphabet

A 22-consonant writing system adapted by the Greeks between 800 and 750 BCE with additional vowel symbols, producing a phonetic alphabet that made Greek easier to read and write.

Darius

The Persian ruler who launched an invasion of mainland Greece in 490 BCE seeking revenge for Athenian assistance in the 499 BCE Ionian revolt.

Marathon

A coastal plain located 26 miles from Athens where heavily outnumbered Athenian and Plataean hoplites crushed invading Persian forces in 490 BCE.

Miltiades

An Athenian leader who insisted on attacking the Persian army on the plain of Marathon in 490 BCE, leading the Greek hoplites to victory.

Xerxes

The Persian monarch who succeeded Darius in 486 BCE and led a massive invasion of Greece in 480 BCE with approximately 150,000 troops and nearly 700 naval ships.

Themistocles

The Athenian leader who persuaded Athens to pursue a new military policy by building a naval fleet of about 200 vessels prior to the 480 BCE Persian invasion.

Triremes

Warships constructed with three banks of oars that formed the core of the newly developed Athenian navy.

Thermopylae

A narrow mountain pass along the main road into central Greece where approximately 9,000 Greeks, including 300 Spartans under King Leonidas, delayed Xerxes's army for two days in 480 BCE.

Leonidas

The Spartan king who commanded the Greek holding action at the pass of Thermopylae and fought to the last man alongside his contingent of 300 Spartans.

Salamis

An offshore island where the Greek navy outmaneuvered and decisively defeated Xerxes's larger Persian fleet in 480 BCE.

Plataea

The site northwest of Attica where the largest Greek army assembled up to that time decisively defeated the Persian land army in early 479 BCE.

Mycale

A site in Ionia where the Greek fleet destroyed much of the Persian fleet in a naval battle in 479 BCE, taking place at the same time as the Battle of Plataea.

Delian League

A defensive alliance formed by Greek states in the winter of 478–477 BCE under Athenian leadership to combat Persia, which eventually transformed into an Athenian maritime empire.

Pericles

An Athenian aristocrat and general who dominated Athenian politics from 461 to 429 BCE, expanding democracy, promoting imperial power, and rebuilding Athens with Delian League funds.

Age of Pericles

The era between 461 and 429 BCE marking the pinnacle of Athenian imperial dominance and democratic and cultural achievement.

Strategoi

A board of ten generals elected annually by public vote in Athens to direct state affairs, who were eligible for continuous reelection.

Athens

The Greek city-state that developed a direct democratic system, led the Delian League, and became the cultural 'school of Greece' through its philosophy, drama, and art.

Great Peloponnesian War

The war from 431 to 404 BCE between Sparta and its allies against the Athenian maritime empire, concluding with the defeat of Athens and the dismantling of its empire.

Amphitheater at Epidaurus

An open-air theater in the eastern Peloponnesus that accommodated 18,000 spectators for dramatic performances and athletic contests dedicated to Asclepius.

Aegospotami

A decisive naval battle in 405 BCE during the Great Peloponnesian War, where the Spartan fleet defeated the Athenians, leading to the end of Athenian naval dominance.

Herodotus

Often known as the "Father of History," Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who authored "Histories," a detailed account of the Greco-Persian Wars and various cultures of the ancient world.

Thucydides

An ancient Greek historian who is often regarded as the father of scientific history, Thucydides authored "History of the Peloponnesian War," which provides a detailed account of the conflict between Athens and Sparta.