Crucible of Civilization pt. 2

3/11/20
The Crucible Of Civilization pt.2

  • the Greeks' heroic victory against the mighty Persian empire through the life of Themistocles, one of Athens' greatest generals
  • in 490 B.C. when tiny Athens prepares to guard its growing economy and infant democracy against an invasion by Persian armies of Darius the Great.
  • when the Persians arrive for battle, the Greek runner Phidippides runs 140 miles to Sparta in two days to solicit help from its army, according the historian Herodotus/ through Marathon 
  • But Sparta, Athens' rival, refuses to participate
  • The outnumbered Athenians, fighting to uphold their life of freedom, defeat the Persians and send them in humiliation back to Asia
  • one Athenian, Themistocles, realizes Athens has not seen the last of the proud Persians. He persuades city leaders to build a fleet of war ships
  • These ships, called triremes, are "floating missiles" with projecting bows designed specifically to ram enemy vessels
  • the Persian ruler Darius dies and his son Xerxes succeeds to the throne
  • he assembles an army of two million men
  • the terrified Greeks ask the Delphic Oracle for advice, she simply tells them to flee
  • Themistocles refuses to panic. Instead, he again petitions the Delphic Oracle, and this time she predicts that a "wooden wall" will protect the Greeks
  • First, he orders Athens abandoned, installs his fleet at the Aegean island of Salamis, and sends a "traitor" to the Persians to tell them that the Athenians are fleeing and are easy prey for the Persian fleet/ spy on them
  • When Persian ships move into the strait between Salamis and the Greek mainland, the triremes ram and sink 200 Persian vessels, and Athens wins the war
  • Greece, now master of the Mediterranean, undergoes one of the most startling intellectual and physical transformations in history
  • Pericles, the elected leader of Athens, oversees the building of the Parthenon and an extraordinary flourishing of the arts and sciences, laying the foundation

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