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Untangled History
Xerxes’ army crossing the Hellespont on two bridges of ships

The Persian Wars

499 – 449 BC · four phases · 50 years

Not one war but a series of them: a revolt in Ionia, two Persian invasions of Greece, and thirty years of Greek counterattacks. Thermopylae, Marathon and Salamis all belong to this story, but to different chapters of it.

Antiquity · c. 3000 BC – AD 476 Classical Greece Greece & the Aegean Persia & the Orient War Empires
When499–449 BC
WhoGreek city-states, led by Athens and Sparta, against the Achaemenid Persian Empire
Persian kingsDarius I (522–486 BC), Xerxes I (486–465 BC)
OutcomePersia’s invasions of Greece fail; Athens rises as a naval power

Four wars in one

Pick a phase on the timeline or below to see its chapters.

Part III: The second invasion

480–479 BC

Ten years later Xerxes comes himself, with a far larger army and fleet. Only part of Greece unites against him. The war is decided at sea at Salamis and on land at Plataea.

Greek envoys at the Isthmus of CorinthCHAPTER 5 · 481 BCRead nowSeventy out of seven hundredWho joined the alliance at Corinth, who stayed home, and why. The victory monument at Delphi names just 31 cities.Spartans in the passCHAPTER 6 · 480 BCRead nowThermopylae and ArtemisiumThree days at the Hot Gates, and the fleet beside it.
Battle of SalamisCHAPTER 7 · 480 BCComing soonSalamisAthens abandoned, the Acropolis burned, the fleet’s gamble.
Battle of PlataeaCHAPTER 8 · 479 BCComing soonPlataea and MycaleLeonidas avenged: the end of the invasion.

What survives

REAL OBJECTS AND PLACES

Objects, inscriptions and places from the time of the wars, in museums and on the ground today. Click a picture to see it larger.

The Behistun relief: Darius I and the defeated rebels, c. 520 BC (Iran)
The Behistun relief: Darius I and the defeated rebels, c. 520 BC (Iran)Photo: Unknown artist, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Ionian tribute bearers on the Apadana stairway at Persepolis, 5th century BC
Ionian tribute bearers on the Apadana stairway at Persepolis, 5th century BCPhoto: A.Davey from Portland, Oregon, EE UU, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
A Greek hoplite fights a Persian on an Attic cup, 5th century BC (National Museum of Scotland)
A Greek hoplite fights a Persian on an Attic cup, 5th century BC (National Museum of Scotland)Photo: Unknown, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
Bust of Herodotus, Roman copy of a Greek original
Bust of Herodotus, Roman copy of a Greek originalPhoto: Bradley Weber, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Glazed-brick archer of the royal guard from the palace of Susa, c. 510 BC (Louvre)
Glazed-brick archer of the royal guard from the palace of Susa, c. 510 BC (Louvre)Photo: dynamosquito from France, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
The temple of Artemis at Sardis
The temple of Artemis at SardisPhoto: Mark Landon, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Gold coin of Lydia, struck at Sardis, 6th century BC
Gold coin of Lydia, struck at Sardis, 6th century BCPhoto: Epiphanesnikophoros, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Stoa in the agora of Miletus
Stoa in the agora of MiletusPhoto: Michele, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
Mount Athos, where Mardonius’ fleet was wrecked in 492 BC
Mount Athos, where Mardonius’ fleet was wrecked in 492 BCPhoto: Dave Proffer, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Soros, the burial mound of the Athenians who fell at Marathon
The Soros, the burial mound of the Athenians who fell at MarathonPhoto: KAMINSKA JOANNA, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Helmet dedicated by Miltiades at Olympia, inscribed with his name, c. 490 BC (Olympia Museum)
Helmet dedicated by Miltiades at Olympia, inscribed with his name, c. 490 BC (Olympia Museum)Photo: George E. Koronaios, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The temple of Apollo at Delphi, where the Serpent Column first stood
The temple of Apollo at Delphi, where the Serpent Column first stoodPhoto: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Acrocorinth, the rock above Corinth and the Isthmus
Acrocorinth, the rock above Corinth and the IsthmusPhoto: FocalPoint, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Bronze helmet of Corinthian type (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Bronze helmet of Corinthian type (Metropolitan Museum of Art)Photo: Unknown, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
Head of a royal guardsman, glazed bricks from Susa (Pergamon Museum)
Head of a royal guardsman, glazed bricks from Susa (Pergamon Museum)Photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg), CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Olympias, a modern full-size reconstruction of an Athenian trireme
Olympias, a modern full-size reconstruction of an Athenian triremePhoto: George E. Koronaios, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Herm of Themistocles, Roman copy of a Greek original of c. 470 BC (Ostia)
Herm of Themistocles, Roman copy of a Greek original of c. 470 BC (Ostia)Photo: Pimpinellus, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Ostracon with the name of Themistocles, used to vote him into exile (Ancient Agora Museum, Athens)
Ostracon with the name of Themistocles, used to vote him into exile (Ancient Agora Museum, Athens)Photo: Marsyas, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Relief of an Athenian trireme, the Paralos, late 5th century BC (Acropolis Museum)
Relief of an Athenian trireme, the Paralos, late 5th century BC (Acropolis Museum)Photo: Ad Meskens, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The promontory of Mycale
The promontory of MycalePhoto: O.Mustafin, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
Stone with the Athenian tribute lists of the Delian League, 439–432 BC (Epigraphic Museum, Athens)
Stone with the Athenian tribute lists of the Delian League, 439–432 BC (Epigraphic Museum, Athens)Photo: NA, CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
Athenian silver tetradrachm with the owl of Athena, 5th century BC
Athenian silver tetradrachm with the owl of Athena, 5th century BCPhoto: cgb.fr, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Bust of Pericles, Roman copy of a Greek original (British Museum)
Bust of Pericles, Roman copy of a Greek original (British Museum)Photo: Joyofmuseums, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Herm of Aeschylus, Roman copy of a Greek bronze
Herm of Aeschylus, Roman copy of a Greek bronzePhoto: Zde, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Interactive map

Where the Persian Wars were fought

Map of Greece, the Aegean Sea and western Asia Minor Map of Greece, the Aegean Sea and western Asia Minor
The Persian perspective

How did Persia see these wars?

Almost everything we know comes from Greek writers, above all Herodotus. No Persian account of the wars survives. For Darius and Xerxes, Greece was a small frontier on the western edge of an empire that reached from Egypt to India: a matter of punishing Athens and Eretria for helping the Ionian revolt and burning Sardis.

Read the Persian perspective on Thermopylae
PERSIAN SOURCESRoyal inscriptions and administrative tablets from Persepolis, but no narrative of the wars.
GREEK SOURCESFrom the time: Aeschylus’ play The Persians (472 BC), Simonides’ poems, the Serpent Column at Delphi (479 BC). Later: Herodotus (c. 430 BC), Thucydides, Ctesias.
WHAT TO WATCH FORGreek authors give huge Persian army sizes; modern historians estimate far fewer.
Songs

The Persian Wars in song

Each song tells one part of the story in about three minutes, with its facts checked against the sources. It plays at the top of its chapter.

Gelon of SyracuseComing soon♪ SongCHAPTER 5Seventy out of seven hundred
Stone lion at Thermopylae at sunsetComing soon♪ SongQUESTIONHot Gates (Thermo-Pylae)
Battle of SalamisComing soon♪ SongCHAPTERS 7–8Leonidas avenged

Questions about the Persian Wars

LINKED TO THEIR CHAPTER
CH 5 · 481 BCWhy did so few Greek cities fight Xerxes?Coming soon
CH 6 · 480 BCWhy is Thermopylae called the Hot Gates?Untangle it →
CH 6 · 480 BCWhy did Athens send no soldiers to Thermopylae?Coming soon
CH 8 · 479 BCWhat did the Greeks decide after Leonidas fell?Coming soon