The Medic Wars - World History

The Medic Wars - World History
Posted on 29-12-2022

The Medic Wars ( 480 ) Xerxes I of Persia invades Greece.

In 480Pythagoras and Heraclitus died. A few years earlier, Pythagoras had been expelled from Crotona. Indeed, his school had not only scientific interests, but also political ones. The Crotonians realized with horror that the most influential men in the city were Pythagoreans, serious and authoritarian, boring and efficient. An anti-oligarchic movement forced many members of the academy to flee, including the teacher, but political Pythagoreanism continued to influence the city for some time. Evil tongues say that Pythagoras, fleeing from him, ended up in a field of beans and, because he hated them, he refused to hide in it and was killed by his pursuers.Metaponte, where he remained until his death.

Heraclitus's death was more picturesque. His hermitage diet must not have been very healthy, as he ended up falling ill with dropsy. If the wise man had been faithful to his doctrine, he should have accepted his illness as part of the future, as a necessary evil so that health could be conceived, but this was not the case, instead he abandoned his retirement and went from city to city and from doctor to city in despair. as a doctor until death came.

About this time a young man of about twenty years of age named Anaxagoras arrived in Athens. He had been born in the Ionian city of Clazómenas and had studied with Anaximenes. He must have had a certain fame, since an Athenian admiral named Jántipo had called him to educate his son Pericles.There he opened a school of philosophy from which came many of the great figures that the city was to produce in the following years. Anaxagoras believed that heavenly bodies were no different from those on Earth. He claimed that they were composed of the same substances and obeyed the same laws. The stars were rocks on fire. The Sun was a white-hot rock, at least the size of Peloponnese. He was the first to explain solar and lunar eclipses. He practiced the dissection of animals, discovered that fish breathe through their gills. He was also convinced that the other planets were inhabited by beings similar to men, just like the Earth.

But the most notable event of the year was undoubtedly the confrontation between the Greeks and the Persians, which the former counted as the Second Medical War.(The Greeks identified the Persians with the Medes. The First Medical War was the one that was resolved with the victory of Marathon.) Xerxes I led his fleet to Thrace, where he landed and entered Macedonia and King Alexander I had to confirm the submission of the country to Persian rule that his father had accepted before Darius I, although it seems that the sympathies of the Macedonian king were with the Greeks. From there Xerxes I advanced south. The Thessalians requested help from the other cities that had participated in the Corinthian congress the previous year. They sent an expedition, but King Alexander I advised them to withdraw, for the Persian army was too powerful. The Greeks followed the advice and Thessaly was occupied by Xerxes.

In order for the small Greek army to be able to successfully confront the Persians, it was necessary to do so in a narrow place, where actual contact would necessarily involve few men. A suitable location was the Thermopylae Gorge , some 100 miles northwest of Athens. There came 7,000 men under the command of the Spartan king Leonidas. With the Persians was Demaratus, the Spartan king exiled by Cleomenes I, who warned Xerxes I that the Spartans would fight hard.

So it was, the Spartans tenaciously resisted the Persian army, but it finally found a narrow path through the mountains that led to the Greek rear. Xerxes I sent a detachment and the Greeks realized that they were going to be surrounded. Leonidas ordered a retreat, but he himself and his 300 best men decided to stay (retreat would have been dishonorable). With them were about 1,000 Boeotians, some of whom surrendered in the next fight, while the rest held out with Leonidas fighting as long as they could, and in the end they were all killed. Pleistarchus, the son of Leonidas, was a minor, soPausanias, cousin of the deceased king, acted as regent.

The Battle of Thermopylae was remembered for centuries as an example of Greek heroism and instilled great courage in its soldiers, but the truth is that Xerxes I kept advancing. He came to Athens itself, occupied it and burned it, but what the Persian king found was an empty city. All the Athenians had taken refuge on the neighboring islands and the Greek ships were waiting between Salamis and Attica. Although the fleet was mostly Athenian, it was under the command of a Spartan general, Eurybiades, for at that time the Greeks only felt safe under Spartan command, but the Spartans did not feel comfortable at sea, and Eurybiades was only interested in defending Sparta. His intention was to head south to protect the Peloponnese. Themistocles objected so insistently that at one point Eurybiades lost his temper and raised his cane as if to hit him. Themistocles yelled Hit, but listen!The general listened to the arguments of the Athenian and his threats to embark all his people and go to Italy. The Spartans could not hold out for long on their own without a fleet. Eurybiades agreed to stay and face the Persians, but Themistocles feared that at any moment he would change his mind, so he prepared a stratagem.

He sent a message to Xerxes I proclaiming himself a friend of the Persians and recommending that he seize the Greek fleet before he could escape. The Persian king trusted the advice. After all, Greece was full of traitors, it had been a Greek who revealed to him the alternative path in Thermopylae, likewise Themistocles could be willing to save himself in exchange for betraying his own. During the night, the Persian ships blocked the Greek fleet's exit to the sea. That same night he came to the Aristides fleet, coming from Aegina, where he had lived since his exile. Apparently Themistocles had requested his presence. Aristides informed the generals of the Persian blockade and, indeed, at dawn they saw that they could not escape without a fight. The situation was similar to that of Thermopylae, but in the sea. Only a small part of the Persian ships could fit in the narrow body of water, and the Greek triremes were much more agile. They pretended to ram the Persians, but at the last moment they turned and, brushing the enemy ship, tore off her oars, leaving her defenseless. In the but at the last moment they turned and, brushing the enemy ship, tore off her oars, thereby leaving her defenseless. In the but at the last moment they turned and, brushing the enemy ship, tore off her oars, thereby leaving her defenseless. In theBattle of Salamis the Persian fleet was completely destroyed.

Themistocles delivered another message to the Persian king, according to which he was convincing the Greeks not to pursue the few remnants of the Persian fleet, but that if he did not flee quickly he might not be able to hold them off. Xerxes I listened to him and marched to Sardis with a third of the army. The rest remained under the orders of his brother-in-law Mardonio. Greeks and Persians agreed to a truce for the winter, as both needed to regain their strength. The Athenians reoccupied their city.

The Greeks of Sicily had to face the Carthaginians. The cities of Himera and Agrigento were at war. Agrigento was victorious and expelled the oligarchs from Himera, who did not hesitate to ask the Carthaginians for help. Carthage willingly accepted. The Greeks from the east were facing the Persians, so they could not help the Sicilians. Hamilcar transported an army to the Carthaginian bases in the west of the island, and from there set out for Himera. Agrigento asked Syracuse for help, which sent an army. On the eve of the battle, Hamilcar decided to make a sacrifice to the Greek gods, to persuade them to withdraw support for the people from him. He sent for his Greek allies to show him the proper ritual, but they were intercepted by the Syracusans, who sent a group of their own soldiers posing as those Hamilcar was waiting for. They were allowed to enter the temple and there they killed the Carthaginian general. Despite his death, the battle was held nonetheless, but without their general the Carthaginians suffered a spectacular defeat, removing their threat for almost a century. They were allowed to enter the temple and there they killed the Carthaginian general. Despite his death, the battle was held nonetheless, but without their general the Carthaginians suffered a spectacular defeat, removing their threat for almost a century. They were allowed to enter the temple and there they killed the Carthaginian general. Despite his death, the battle was held nonetheless, but without their general the Carthaginians suffered a spectacular defeat, removing their threat for almost a century.

Nevertheless Carthage continued to prosper. A Carthaginian expedition under the command of an admiral named Hanno crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and reached the Canaries. It seems that he continued along the coast of Africa to the south and then to the east, hoping to reach the Red Sea, but when he reached Cameroon and saw that the coast continued south again, he decided to return to Carthage. Another Carthaginian fleet led by Himilcón explored the Atlantic coast of Spain.

In 479 Confucius died. A few years before he had returned to Lu, his country, where he had been teaching until his death. He is credited with the Chunqiu (Annals of Spring and Autumn), the first dated Chinese chronicle available, covering the period between 722 and 481, with extreme laconicism.

Mardonius sent King Alexander I of Macedonia to Athens, guaranteeing their independence if they remained neutral in the war. The Athenians refused and tried to convince Sparta to fight. Sparta was always slow of reflexes. By the time she was ready, Mardonius had already raided Attica and set Athens on fire. King Pausanias headed north with an army of 20,000 men from the Peloponnesus, 5,000 of whom were Spartans. They were joined by contingents from other cities, including 8,000 Athenians led by Aristides. In total the Greeks had almost 100,000 men. The Persians numbered over 150,000. The troops met at Plataea. It was a difficult battle, but after much adversity their heavy weaponry gave them supremacy. At one point, Mardonio charged at the head of 1,000 men, but was killed by a spear. The Persians were demoralized and tried to flee. Those who succeeded went to Asia.

The Greeks advanced on Thebes, which had never hesitated to side with the Persians. The city was burned down, its oligarchs were expelled, and a democracy was instituted. The island of Samos sent a request for help. She was being threatened by the few ships with which Xerxes I had returned from Greece after Salamis. The Greek fleet, under the Spartan king Leotychidas, he sailed east, but the Persians were unwilling to fight another naval battle. They landed at Mycala and waited for the Greeks. These also landed and attacked the Persian camp. As soon as it was seen that the battle was favorable to the Greeks, the Ionian troops forced by the Persians to fight at their side revolted, which decided the contest. The Persians fled and thus, after the battle of Mycala, the Ionian cities regained their independence.

In 478 the fleet advanced under Athenian leadership to clear the Hellespont and the Bosphorus, ending the Second Medical War. That same year the tyrant Gelon of Syracuse died. He was succeeded by his brother Hiero I, who had fought valiantly at Himera. Under his rule the city continued to prosper and gain power. He received at his court the most famous artists, such as Pindar and Aeschylus. It was in the following two decades that Pindar composed the bulk of his work. His poetry was brilliant in style and very spiritual and emotional in content. The themes were mainly religious.

The Ionian cities considered that they needed the Athenian fleet to protect themselves from the Persian threat, so they decided to form an alliance with Athens aimed at presenting a united front against Persia. It was established that each city should contribute ships for a common fleet or money for a central treasury. The number of ships or the sum of money was set by Aristides according to the size and prosperity of the cities, and he did it so well that no city complained that too little was demanded of it, or too little of its neighbors. . The alliance's treasure was deposited on the small island of Delos, so the group of cities that made up the alliance was known as the Delos Confederation.

The weak point of the Delian Confederation was Athens itself. The fleet could protect the Ionian islands and cities, but it was easy to attack Athens by land. Themistocles decided to build a wall around the city. Naturally, Sparta objected. Sparta itself had no walls, and even called for all cities to tear down theirs. But the Spartans were as slow of reflexes as the Athenians were quick. While Themistocles kept them amused by arguing, the walls began to be built, and when the Spartans finally decided to act, the wall was high enough to dissuade them from trying.Piraeus, the port of Athens.

After the war against the Persians, Sparta and Athens were the most prestigious and powerful cities in all of Greece. Sparta was suspicious of Athens' expansion, but was unable to do much at first due to various internal crises. in 477 the regent Pausanias marched to the conquest of Byzantium. There he had the opportunity to compare the austere Spartan life with the luxurious oriental life, and it seems that he found the latter more interesting. The Spartans greeted with displeasure the news that Pausanias had indulged in luxury and riches. They ordered him to return to Sparta and once back they accused him of negotiating who knows what with Xerxes I. He was tried for treason and acquitted for lack of evidence. However he was not allowed to lead any more Spartan armies. Pausanias did not resign himself and organized private expeditions to the Hellespont, but the Athenian fleet, under the command of Cimon, the son of Miltiades, took Byzantium from him.

In 476 King Leotychidas was found guilty of taking bribes and was banished. He was succeeded by his young grandson from him Archidamus II. These events were undermining the Spartan prestige. If the heroes of Plataea and Mycala were corrupt traitors, one could hardly think of any trustworthy Spartans. Athens, on the other hand, seemed more admirable every day.

in 474Hiero I sent a fleet to the aid of the city of Cumas, threatened by the Etruscans. A battle ensued which ended in a complete victory for the Greeks. The Etruscans never recovered from this defeat. They had to abandon Campania and content themselves with preventing the Gauls from descending beyond the Po valley. Etruria also lost its influence over Latium. For example, until this date it was common to find Etruscan names in the lists of Roman consuls, but after the defeat of Cumae none appear anymore. In the long run this must have worked in Rome's favor, but in the short run the Etruscan decline also meant a period of recession for Rome.

The decline of Sparta was immediately taken advantage of by Argos, already recovered from its past defeats. She seized Mycenae and Tiryns (which were then no more than small villages). However, it was soon joined by other cities in the Peloponnesus, including Tegea, which had hitherto been staunchly pro-Spartan. In 473 Archidamus II defeated Argus and his allies at Tegea. Argos withdrew from the war, but his allies continued, with Tegea in the lead.

Cimon was winning Themistocles in popularity. He had devoted much of his wealth to building parks and public buildings, he was a brilliant general and lacked Themistocles' arrogant pride, justified no doubt, but disliked in the eyes of the Athenians. Plus Themistocles wasn't exactly a model of honesty. It seems that he took advantage of his power to enrich himself and accepted bribes. in 472he was banished by a vote of ostracism. He went to Aegina and from there continued to plot against Sparta. For his part, Cimon carried out a pro-Spartan policy. His opinion was that the alliance between Sparta and Athens that had occurred during the war should be extended to deal with the Persians. Cimon forced the northern Aegean islands to join the Delian Confederation.

The ephors called Pausanias back to Sparta. Displeased with this order, Pausanias hatched the worst plot that could be hatched in Sparta: he organized a revolt of helots. The conspiracy was discovered at the last moment. Pausanias took refuge in a temple, where he could not be executed. The Spartans waited out hunger to overcome him, brought him out when he was sufficiently weakened, and once outside the temple executed him. This happened in 471.

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