THE PERSIAN WARS The Story of Mankind | ||
19. THE PERSIAN WARS
HOW THE GREEKS DEFENDED EUROPE AGAINST ASIATIC INVASION AND DROVE THE PERSIANS BACK ACROSS THE ÆGEAN SEA
THE Greeks had learned the art of trading from the Ægeans who had been the pupils of the Phoenicians. They had founded colonies after the Phoenician pattern. They had even improved upon the Phoenician methods by a more general use of money in dealing with foreign customers. In the sixth century before our era they had established themselves firmly along the coast of Asia Minor and they were taking away trade from the Phoenicians at a fast rate. This the Phoenicians of course did not like but they were not strong enough to risk a war with their Greek competitors. They sat and waited nor did they wait in vain.
In a former chapter, I have told you how a humble tribe of Persian shepherds had suddenly gone upon the warpath and had conquered the greater part of western Asia. The Persians were too civilised to plunder their new subjects. They contented themselves with a yearly tribute. When they reached the coast of Asia Minor they insisted that the Greek colonies of Lydia recognize the Persian Kings as their over-Lords and pay them a stipulated tax. The Greek colonies objected. The Persians insisted. Then the Greek colonies
For if the truth be told, the Persian Kings regarded the Greek city-states as very dangerous political institutions and bad examples for all other people who were supposed to be the patient slaves of the mighty Persian Kings.
Of course, the Greeks enjoyed a certain degree of
safety because
their country lay hidden beyond the deep waters of the
THE PERSIAN FLEET IS DESTROYED NEAR MOUNT ATHOS
[Description: Destruction of the Persian fleet near Mount Athos.]
As a final warning the King of Persia sent messengers to the Greeks asking for "earth and water'' as a token of their submission. The Greeks promptly threw the messengers into the nearest well where they would find both "earth and water'' in large abundance and thereafter of course peace was impossible.
But the Gods of High Olympus watched over their children and when the Phoenician fleet carrying the Persian troops was near Mount Athos, the Storm-God blew his cheeks until he almost burst the veins of his brow, and the fleet was destroyed by a terrible hurricane and the Persians were all drowned.
Two years later they returned. This time they sailed
straight across the Ægean Sea and landed near the
village of
THE BATTLE OF MARATHON
[Description: Schematic depiction of the battle of Marathon.]
That night the people of Athens watched the sky grow red with the flames of burning ships. Anxiously they waited for news. At last a little cloud of dust appeared upon the road that led to the North. It was Pheidippides, the runner. He stumbled and gasped for his end was near. Only a few days before had he returned from his errand to Sparta. He had hastened to join Miltiades. That morning he had taken part in the attack and later he had volunteered to carry the news of victory to his beloved city. The people saw him fall and they rushed forward to support him. "We have won,'' he whispered and then he died, a glorious death which made him envied of all men.
As for the Persians, they tried, after this defeat, to land near Athens but they found the coast guarded and disappeared, and once more the land of Hellas was at peace.
Eight years they waited and during this time the Greeks were not idle. They knew that a final attack was to be expected but they did not agree upon the best way to avert the danger. Some people wanted to increase the army. Others said that a strong fleet was necessary for success. The two parties led by Aristides (for the army) and Themistocles (the leader of the bigger-navy men) fought each other bitterly and nothing was done until Aristides was exiled. Then Themistocles had his chance and he built all the ships he could and turned the Piræus into a strong naval base.
In the year 481 B.C. a tremendous Persian army appeared in Thessaly, a province of northern Greece. In this hour of danger, Sparta, the great military city of Greece, was elected commander-in-chief. But the Spartans cared little what happened to northern Greece provided their own country was not invaded, They neglected to fortify the passes that led into Greece.
THERMOPYLAE
[Description: A man besieged on all sides by four spears.]
But the pass had been lost and the greater part of
Greece
fell into the hands of the Persians. They marched upon
Athens, threw the garrison from the rocks of the Acropolis
and
THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE
[Description: Schematic depiction of the battle of Thermopylae.]
In this way the victory of Thermopylae came to
naught.
THE PERSIANS BURN ATHENS
[Description: Persian ships sailing across the sea to burn Athens.]
But this time the Spartans understood the seriousness of the hour. They left the safe shelter of the wall which they had built across the isthmus of Corinth and under the leadership of Pausanias they marched against Mardonius the Persian general. The united Greeks (some one hundred thousand men from a dozen different cities) attacked the three hundred thousand
Thus did the first encounter between Asia and Europe end. Athens had covered herself with glory and Sparta had fought bravely and well. If these two cities had been able to come to an agreement, if they had been willing to forget their little jealousies, they might have become the leaders of a strong and united Hellas.
But alas, they allowed the hour of victory and enthusiasm to slip by, and the same opportunity never returned.
THE PERSIAN WARS The Story of Mankind | ||