Ancient Greece and Persia

Persia

An empire in southern Asia created by Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BC and destroyed by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. Controlled Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia and portions of India.

Cyrus the Great

Founder of the Persian empire;

allowed Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem

Darius the Great

King of Persia who expanded the empire and invaded Greece but was defeated at the Battle of Marathon (550-486 BC)

Xerxes

Son of Darius; vowed revenge on the Athenians. He invaded Greece with 180,000 troops in the final stages of the Persian Wars.

Persian Wars

A series of wars between the Greeks and the Persians. Massive Persian army defeated at Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.E.).

Zoroastrianism

Monotheistic religion founded in Persia in the 6th century BC by Zoroaster/Zarathustra. State religion of Persia.

Homer

A Greek poet, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey

Athens

A democratic Greek polis which was a cultural and philosophical center; a competitor with Sparta.

Sparta

Greek polis that was ruled by an oligarchy, focused on military, used slaves (helots) for agriculture, discouraged the arts

Lycurgus

Legendary ruler of Sparta; tradition credits him with the constitution that changed Sparta into a military state.

Marathon

A battle in 490 BC in which the Athenians and their allies defeated the invading Persians.

Battle of Salamis

480 B.C.E. The battle that effectively ended the Persian war. The Greek fleet, although vastly outnumbered, defeated the Persian fleet.

Battle of Plataea

In 479 B.C. The Spartans and the Athenians unite and the Persian army was defeated. This was the last land battle of the Persian Wars.

Classical Ideal

Life can be controlled & ordered;

"Nothing too much;"

Symmetry, balance, proportion, simplicity;

Rule of Reason

Pericles

Athenian leader noted for advancing democracy in Athens and for ordering the construction of the Parthenon.

Peloponnesian War

(431-404 BCE) The war between Athens and Sparta that in which Sparta won, but left Greece as a whole weak and ready to fall to its neighbors to the north.

Delian League

An alliance headed by Athens; all Greek city-states would come together and help fight the Persians.

Satrapy

A province of the Persian Empire. Governed by an official known as a satrap.

Mycenaeans

Indo-Europeans who built fortresses and palaces on the Greek mainland around 2000 B.C.

Homer's Iliad and Odyssey based upon their conflict with Troy.

Polis

A city-state in ancient Greece.

Offered safety and security for its citizens and traders.

Battle of Thermopylae

Battle during which 300 Spartans and 9,000 allies fought tens of thousands of Persian soldiers (Xerxes) in a narrow mountain pass for three days; it was in support of the the naval blockade at Artemisium.

Solon

Early Greek leader who brought democratic reforms such as his formation of the Council of Four Hundred

Parthenon

A temple dedicated to the goddess Athena

Still learning (23)

You've started learning these terms. Keep it up!