Four Decisive Battles of the Greco-Persian Wars

The Greco-Persian Wars (499–449 BCE) featured four pivotal battles where Greek city-states repelled the Achaemenid Empire:

1. Battle of Marathon (490 BCE)
   • Athenians + Plataeans vs. Persian expeditionary force (Datis/Artaphernes)
   • Miltiades' double envelopment → 6,400 Persians dead, 192 Greeks
   • Proved hoplite phalanx could defeat Persian numbers; inspired resistance
2. Battle of Thermopylae (480 BCE) — honorable mention
   • Leonidas' 300 Spartans + 7,000 allies delay Xerxes' millions 3 days
   • Tactical loss, strategic/moral victory — bought time for Salamis
3. Battle of Salamis (480 BCE)
   • Themistocles lures Persian fleet (1,200 ships) into narrow strait
   • Greek triremes (370) ram/board in confined water → 200+ Persian ships lost
   • Turning point: Xerxes withdraws army; naval supremacy shifts
4. Battle of Plataea (479 BCE)
   • Largest hoplite battle: 40K+ Greeks (Pausanias) vs. 100K+ Persians (Mardonius)
   • Greek discipline + terrain → Persian rout; Mardonius killed
   • Ended Persian land threat to Greece
5. Battle of Mycale (479 BCE)
   • Same day as Plataea (heralded by signal fire)
   • Greek fleet (Leotychidas) lands, destroys beached Persian fleet in Ionia
   • Ionian Greeks revolt; Athenian-led Delian League forms

These victories preserved Greek autonomy, enabling Classical civilization's flowering.