Sparta
and Herodotus’ Persian Wars
Greek Words to Hoard
● Klēros: lot, estate, inheritance; your portion of the community’s wealth. Κλῆρος
● Hopla: weapons and armor, especially heavy arms; plural of hoplon, the round
shield used by the hoplite soldiers who fought in phalanx formation. Ὅπλα
● Helot: serf/slave class of the Peloponnese, conquered by Sparta. Εἱλώτης
● Perioikos: “dwelling nearby”; subject freeholders of Sparta, traded military service
for freedom. Περίοικος
● Aitia: cause, responsibility, motive, culpability. Αἰτία
● Historia: inquiry, scientific investigation; the written account thereof. Ἱστορία
Sparta
Some hoplites
Bronze figurine ca. 520
(Woman exercising) Laconian black figure cup ca. 560 BC
(Arkesilas overseeing wool production)
Roman copy of a bust of Herodotus
Herodotus
● Born in Halicarnassus, Anatolia
● Lived during the 5th c. BC
● Too young to witness the Persian Wars, but
spoke with people who did
● The “father of history,” but really just the first
Greek historian whose work we still have
Major Greek poleis at the end of the
6th c. BC.
(Halicarnassus is south of Miletus and
north of Rhodes)
Areas known
by
Herodotus
Temple to Athena Nikē (Acropolis, Athens)
Frieze from the Temple depicting a
battle between Greeks and Persians
Histories 1.1
Ἡροδότου Ἁλικαρνησσέος ἱστορίης ἀπόδεξις ἥδε,
This is the display of the enquiry of Herodotos of Halikarnassos
ὡς μήτε τὰ γενόμενα ἐξ ἀνθρώπων τῷ χρόνῳ ἐξίτηλα γένηται,
so that the things that have come from men do not become faded through time
μήτε ἔργα μεγάλα τε καὶ θωμαστά, τὰ μὲν Ἕλλησι, τὰ δὲ βαρβάροισι ἀποδεχθέντα, ἀκλέα
γένηται,
so that the great and marvellous deeds, both those displayed by Greeks and those by
barbarians, do not become unknown (without kleos)
τά τε ἄλλα καὶ δι' ἣν αἰτίην ἐπολέμησαν ἀλλήλοισι.
this, and owing to what cause they went to war with each other.
Some Important People (and Transfers of Power)
Lydia:
Candaules→Gyges→→→→→Croesus
Persia:
Cyrus→Cambyses→Fake-Smerdis→Darius
Athens:
Solon→Peisistratus→Hippias and Hipparchus (Peisistratids)→Kleisthenes
(Alkmaeonid)→→→Pericles
Harmodius and Aristogeiton (tyrannicides - killed Hipparchus)
Gold and silver coins
issued by Croesus ca 550 BC
What happened to
Croesus???
Croesus on the Pyre
Herodotus so far:
Book 1:
Croesus (Lydia, $$) makes war on Ionian Greeks
Croesus loses to Cyrus the Great (Persia) who is conquering everything
Cyrus dies fighting the Massagetai
Book 2:
Cambyses (Cyrus’ son) conquers Egypt
Book 3:
Cambyses fails to conquer Ethiopia, goes nuts, kills his brother Smerdis, dies
Seven Persians overthrow fake Smerdis and the Magi, argue about government
Darius becomes king of Persia using a weird horse trick
Book 4:
Darius expands Persian empire, conquers Scythians and Libyans
Book 5:
Darius is pushing into Thrace toward the Greek mainland
Aristagoras (Ionian Greek working for Persia in Miletus) stirs up revolt
Aristagoras seeks mainland allies. Kleomenes (Sparta) refuses, but Athenians join
Rebellion fails in Ionia, Aristagoras dies
Herodotus so far (ctd):
Book 6:
Ionian revolt has failed, Persians move into mainland Greece
Athens gets nervous when Aegina medizes
Spartans help Athenians defeat Aegina, but Kleomenes goes nuts, kills self
So no Spartan help when Persians sail for Marathon (they have to wait for the full moon)
Marathon (490 BCE):
Spartans don’t help, but Plataeans do.
Greek victory through clever tactics of Miltiades
Race back to Athens (Persians by sea, Greeks by land)
Greeks make it in time, set up camp, Persians sail away
6400 Persians dead, 192 Athenians
End of the first phase of the war
Darius
trampling fake
Smerdis
The Tyrannicides, Harmodius and Aristogeiton
(Roman copy of Athenian original, Naples)
Greeks vs Persians
(Barbarians wear pants)
Scythian archer; Herakles fights Egyptians
Location of Scythians and Sauromatae (ca 1st c BC)
Sauromatian diadem, 1st c. AD
Gold Scythian
vessel depicting
warriors
4th c BC
Depictions of Scythians on the tomb of
Xerxes I
5th c BC
Amazons in battle Amazon wearing pants
Attic red figure Attic white ground
5th c BC 5th c BC
