The Greco-Persian WarsThis is a reissue, with a new introduction and an update to the bibliography, of the original edition, published in 1970 as The Year of Salamis in England and as Xerxes at Salamis in the U.S. The long and bitter struggle between the great Persian Empire and the fledgling Greek states reached its high point with the extraordinary Greek victory at Salamis in 480 B.C. The astonishing sea battle banished forever the specter of Persian invasion and occupation. Peter Green brilliantly retells this historic moment, evoking the whole dramatic sweep of events that the Persian offensive set in motion. The massive Greek victory, despite the Greeks' inferior numbers, opened the way for the historic evolution of the Greek states in a climate of creativity, independence, and democracy, one that provided a model and an inspiration for centuries to come. Green's accounts of both Persian and Greek strategies are clear and persuasive; equally convincing are his everyday details regarding the lives of soldiers, statesmen, and ordinary citizens. He has first-hand knowledge of the land and sea he describes, as well as full command of original sources and modern scholarship. With a new foreword, The Greco-Persian Wars is a book that lovers of fine historical writing will greet with pleasure. |
Contents
| 1 | |
The Legacy of Marathon | 41 |
Waiting for the Barbarian | 73 |
The Cornerstone of Freedom | 107 |
The Wooden Wall | 151 |
The Doors of the Peloponnese | 199 |
The Last Enemy | 237 |
Notes | 289 |
Bibliography | 303 |
| 315 | |
| 331 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Achaemenid admirals advance Aegean Aegina Aeginetans Aeschylus allies argued Arist Aristeides army Artabazus Artaphernes Artemisium Asopus Athenian Athens attack Attica Barbarian battle Boeotia Burn campaign cavalry central Greece centre channel Cithaeron commanders contingents Corinth Dardanelles Darius Darius's Decree defeat defence Delphi Diod Eleusis enemy Ephorus Euboea Eurybiades fact fight force Gelon Greek Greek fleet Herodotus Herodotus's Hignett hoplites invasion Ionian Revolt island Isthmus Kallidromos King King's land League least Leonidas Leonidas's Leotychidas Marathon Mardonius Mardonius's medising military Miltiades modern Mycale naval once oracle pass Pausanias Pausanias's Peloponnese Peloponnesian perhaps Persian fleet Persian Wars Phaleron Phocians Phoenician plain Plataea Plut Plutarch political position propaganda retreat route sailed Salamis Sardis says Herodotus seems sent ships Spartans squadrons strategy suggests temple Theban Thebes Themistocles Thermopylae Thessaly took triremes Troezen troops vessels victory whole Xerxes