The Greco-Persian Wars - PART I: The Rise of Persia and the Ionian Revolt (550-493 BC)

The great conflict that we know today as the Greco-Persian Wars between a few independent city-states of ancient Greece and mighty Achaemenid Persian Empire is, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating and consequential in all of history. More than just battles for territory and glory - they were clashes of culture, ideology, and power between East and West. The war saw legendary figures such as Leonides, The Great King Xerxes, Themistocles, Darius the Great, Miltiades, Mardonius, Artemisia, Kleomenes, and countless others in action. Since most accounts of the conflict available to us come from Greek and Roman historians and writers of antiquity such as Herodotus, Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus, Aeschylus, the traveler Pausanias, Justin and others, our modern perspective is often shaped by their portrayal of a struggle between the freedom-loving Greeks and the tyrannical rulers of Achaemenid Persia—a narrative further popularized by films like 300. However, as we will explore, the reality was far more complex. Drawing on historical sources and the latest archaeological research, this series will explore everything from the causes of the conflict to its key figures, the various phases of the war, and its aftermath. This is the first of a series of 5 or 6 videos that will be released over the next few months. Stay tuned for future episodes. *Contents:* 00:00 Rise of Cyrus the Great and the Persian Achaemenid Empire 05:27 Ionians and Greeks in the Persian Empire 14:29 A bit about Herodotus 16:49 Trouble in Athens 23:52 Earth and Water 28:04 Sparta (almost) Attacks! 36:25 Aristagoras' Plan 44:21 The Ionian Revolt 49:10 The Battle of Lade 50:09 Aftermath 57:10 Thank You and Patrons Special thanks to *Farya Faraji* for the following musical compositions featured throughout the program: "Spantodhata's Warning" "To Phrygia" "In Pythagoras' Mind" "The Apadana's Shadows" "Immortals" "Mater" "In Sappho's Mind" "Spring in Persepolis" "Aíma" "Apranik's Charge" "March of Achaemenes" "Hyrcanian Lullaby" Check out more of his work that spans across many countries, cultures and time periods: https://www.youtube.com/@faryafaraji You can also find them on the albums: *Songs of Old Iran Vols. I & II* *Voices of the Ancients Vols. I & II* Additional Music: Epidemic Sound Also thanks to Malay Archer for helping with the machinimas using the Total War: Rome 2 Divide et Impera, Cyrus the Great campaign and Age of Bronze mod. Check out more of his work here: https://www.youtube.com/@MalayArcher *Related Videos:* The Greco-Persian Wars - PART II: The Aegean Campaigns and the Battle of Marathon (492-490 BC) https://youtu.be/KtzpUPJkNpE *Darius the Great: The Life and Times of the Great King of Persia in his Own Words* https://youtu.be/Ws5kmQvHePs *Cyrus the Great and the Birth of the Achaemenid Persian Empire* https://youtu.be/wMbD7c-YlAE *History of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Part I (550-486 BC; Cyrus the Great - Darius the Great)* https://youtu.be/tzIVddeWfR4 *History of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Part II (486-330 BC; Xerxes I - Alexander the Great)* https://youtu.be/KiIUDZsojhI *Sources and Suggested Reading:* *_The Landmark Herodotus_* - Herodotus, Edited by Robert B. Strassler, translated by Andrea L. Purvis *_The Histories (Penguin Classics)_* - Herodotus, Edited by John M. Marincola, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt *_The Greco-Persian Wars_* - Peter Green *_The Persian War in Herodotus and Other Ancient Voices_* - William Shepherd *_Battles and Battlefields of Ancient Greece: A Guide to their History, Topography and Archaeology_* - C. Jacob Butera and Matthew A. Sears *_From Cyrus the Alexander_* – Pierre Briant *_The Greco-Persian Wars: A Short History with Documents_* - Erik Jensen *_Thermopylae: The Battle that Changed the World_* - Paul Cartledge *_Ancient Persia: A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550–330 BCE_* - Matt Waters *_The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period_* - Amélie Kuhrt *_Plutarch's Lives_* - Plutarch, translated by John Dryden *_Library of History_* - Diodorus Siculus *_A History of Greece: 1300-30 BC_* - Victor Parker *_Ancient Greece: A Political, Social and Cultural History_* - Edited by Sarah B. Pomeroy *_The Complete History of Ancient Greece_* - Edited by Don Nardo *_A History of Ancient Persia - The Achaemenid Empire (Blackwell History of the Ancient World)_* - Maria Brosius *_History of the Persian Empire_* - A.T. Olmstead *_The Iranian Expanse_* – Matthew P. Canepa *_The Persians_* - Jim Hicks *Follow History with Cy:* Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/historywithcy/ Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/historywithcy/ Twitter ► https://twitter.com/historywithcy Merch ► https://my-store-11502415.creator-spring.com Podcast ► https://historywithcy.buzzsprout.com/ Patreon ► https://www.patreon.com/historywithcy #ancienthistory #persian #achaemenid