The Greek-Persian Wars and Causes

HIS 101

The Greek-Persian Wars and Causes

Before explaining the Persian Wars, a little background information on how the Persian Empire was formed is necessary. In 550 BCE, King Cyrus created the Persian Empire. Upon his death in 531 BCE, his son Cambyses took the throne and was named King of Egypt after he invaded Egypt. Darius, the first leader to invade Greece, became Cambyses’ successor. Darius was looked upon as a king chosen by the gods. He ruled with absolute power, and everyone below him was to follow him without a choice in the matter. His subjects were considered slaves, which gave Darius thousands of people at his disposal at any given time (Battle). In the Persians vast empire, all was well as long as its citizens acknowledged its great power and paid their taxes (Dutton, Marchland and Harkness p. 52). There are many reasons that possibly led to the Greek-Persian wars, including preserving Greek’s rich culture, differences in landscapes, independence, and the necessity for each nation to have wealth and prosperity for its people by having trade routes and shipping ports.

By the end of the Archaic Age in 500 BCE, the Greeks were growing more culturally, but still remained politically divided. Economic conditions varied from city to city creating competition with each other. Hundreds of city-states were in a constant contest with each other (Dutton, Marchland and Harkness p. 52). One of the main differences between cities was how the terrain separated them.  Much of the land was uninhabitable because it was so mountainous. Due to the mountainous terrain over much of Greece, fertile land was limited, which in turn isolated the population into smaller communities across Greece. The isolation between cities created a communication barrier and encouraged political fragmentation (McKay and Hill p. 63).

Due to a lack of natural barriers, Persia had no protection against invasion. Being a landlocked nation, Persia lacked major trade routes that would allow them prosperous growth. To solve these problems the Persian Empire sought to conquer the ports along with their valuable trade routes on both land and sea. Doing so would provide the wealth needed to ensure independence necessary for their economic survival. Conquering the neighboring lands would provide an adequate land barrier around the nation and in turn protect it from future invasions (McKay and Hill p. 54-55).

Because of their strategic location on the Mediterranean, Lydia and Greece were allies. The Persians’ needed clear access to the Mediterranean for the trade routes and ports; therefore they conquered Lydia and Ionia. The Greeks tried to balance the interests cites versus the Persian demands (Dutton, Marchland and Harkness p. 52). Greek cities began interfering with Persian affairs throughout the Ionian cities. The Persian Empire also took control of Thrace and Macedonia and continued moving westward. The Ionian Greeks tried to overthrow the Persian-backed tyrants. Lydia was thinking that Persia would invade them again, so they solicited help from the mainland cities. Again, Lydia lost to the Persian Empire in 494 BCE (Dutton, Marchland and Harkness p. 52).