~Persian Wars~ The name 'Persia' has been long described as the nation of Iran, its people, or its ancient empire. It is derived from the ancient Greek name for Iran, Persis. This in turn comes froma province in the South of Iran, called Fars in the modern Persian language and Pars in middle Persian. This province was the core of the original Persian Empire. The Persian Empire dominated Mesopotamia from 612-330 BCE. The Achemoid Persians of central Iran ruled an empire which consisted of Iran, Mesopotamia, Syria, Egypt, and parts of Asia Minor and India. Their ceremonial capital was Persepolis in Southern Iran founded by King Darius the Great. This great city was burned by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE. Only the colums, stairways, and door jambs of its great palaces survived the fire. The stairwars adourned with reliefs representing the king, his court, and delegates of his empire bringing gifts, demonstrate the might of the Persian Empire. The first record of the Persians comes from an Assyrian inscription from 844 BCE that calls them the Parsu, and mentions them in the region of Lake Urmia alongside another group, the Madai. For the next two centuries, the Persians and the Medes (Madai) were at times tributary to the Assyrians. Eventually, the Medes came to rule and independent Median Empire, and the Persians were subject to them. The Achaemenids were the first line of Persian rulers, founded by Achamenes, chieftain of the Persians around 700 BCE. Around 653 BCE, the Medes came under the domination of the Scythians, and the son of Achamenes, seems to have led the nomadic Persians to settle in Southern Iran around this time - eventually establishing the first organized Persian state in the important region of Anshan as the Elamite kingdom was permanently destroyed by the Assyrain ruler Ashurbanipal. The kingdom of Anshan and its rulers continued to Elamite as an official language for quite some time after this, although the new dynasts spoke Persian, an Indo-Iranian tongue. Achamenes' descendents branched off into 2 lines, one line ruling Anshan, while the other ruled the rest of Persia. Cyrus II the Great united the kingdoms around 559 BCE. At this time, the Persians were still under control of Astygages. Cyrus rallied the Persians together, and in 550 BCE defeated the forces Astygages, who was then captured by his own nobles, and turned over to Cyrus, now Shaw of the Persian Empire. As Persian consumed control over the rest of Media and their large Middle Eastern Empire, Cyrus led the united Medes and Persians to still more conquest. He took Lydia in Asia Minor, and carried his army eastword into central Asia. Finally in 539 BCE, Cyrus marched into the ancient city of Babylon. After this victory, he set the standard of the benevolent conquerer by issuing the Cyrus Cylinder. In this declaration, the King promised not to terrorize Babylon or destroy its institutions and culture. The Cyrus Cylinder is an artifact of the Persian Empire, consisting of a declaration inscribed on a clay barrel. Upon his taking of Babylon, Cyrus issued the declaration, containing an account of his victories and merciful acts, as well as a documentation of his royal lineage. It was discovered in 1879 in Babylon, and is now kept in the Britist Museum. In the 5th Century BCE, the vast Persian Empire attempted to conquer Greece. If the Persian's had succeeded, they would have set up local tyrants, to rule Greece and they would have crushed the first stirrings of democracy in Europe. The survival of Greek culture and political ideals depended on the abilitiy of the small, disunited Greek city-states to band together and defend themselves against Persia's overwhelming strength. The struggle, known in Western Civilization are known as the Persian Wars, or Greco-Persian Wars which lasted 20 years from 499-479 BCE. In 492 BCE, Darius the Great sent ships across the Hellenspont. A sudden storm wrecked half his fleet, when it was rounding Mount Athos on the Macedonian Sea. Two years later, Darius gathered again 600 fleets. This time his powerful galleys crossed the Aegean Sea and arrived safely in Attica, which is the part of Greece that contains the city of Athens. The Persians landed around Marathon, about 25 miles away from Athens. When the Athenians learned of their arrival, they sent a swim runner to ask for Sparta aid, but the Spartans, who were conducting a religious festival, could not march until the moon was full. Meanwhile. the small Athenian army encamped in the foothills near Marathon. The Athenian general Militades ordered his small force to advance. He had arranged his men so as to have the greatest strength in their wings. As he expected, his center was driven back. The two wings then united behind the army. This made the Persians bows and arrows of no use. The Greek spears then spread terror, and forced the Persians back to their ships. The Greek historian Herodotus stated that the Persians had lost 6,400 men against only 192 Greek soldiers. This ended the battle of Marathon. Darius planned another expedition, but he died before he could carry out these plans. This gave the Greeks and 10 year period to prepare for when the next battles would occur. Athens built up its naval surpremacy in the Aegean under the guidance of Themistocles. In 480 BCE, the Persians returned, led by Xerxes, the son of Darius. To avoid another shipwreck, he had a canal dug behind the promontary. Across the Hellespont, he had the Phoenicians and Egyptians place two bridges of ships, held together by cables of flax and papyrus. A storm destroyed the bridges, but Xerxes ordered the workers to replace them. For seven days and nights, his soldiers marched across the bridges. On the way to Athens, Xerxes found a small force of Greek soldiers holding the narrow pass of Thermoplyae, which guarded the way to central Greece. The force was led by Leonidas, King of Sparta. Xerxes sent a message ordering the Greeks to "deliver their arms". Leonidas replied, "Come and take them." For two days, the Greeks long spears held the pass. Then a Greek traitor told Xerxes of a roundabout path over the mountains. When Leonidas saw the enemy approaching from the rear, he dismissed his men, except the 300 Spartans, who were bound, like himself, to conquer or die. Leonidas was one of the first to fall. Around their leaders body, the Spartans fought first with their swords, then with their hands, until they were all killed. The Persians then moved on to Attica and found it deserted. They then set fire to Athens with flaming arrows. Xerxes' fleet held the Athenian ships bottled up between the coast of Attica and the island of Salamis. His ships outnumbered the Greek ships three to one. The Persians had expected an easy victory, but one after another their ships were sunk. Crowded into the narrow strait, the heavy Persian vessels moved with difficulty. The lighter Greek ships rowed out from a circular formation and rammed their prows into the clumsy enemy vessels. Two hundred Persian ships were sunk, others were captured, and the rest fled. Xerxes and his forces then went back to Persia. Soon after, the rest of the Persian army was scattered at Plataea 479 BCE. In the same year, Xerxes fleet was defeated at Mycale. Although a treaty was not signed until 30 years later, the threat of Persian domination was ended. Xerxes was killed in a coup led by family members. At the time, he was preparing a new expedition against the Greeks. His son and successor, Xerxes I attempted the fulfill his plan.