The Crusades led to increased trade and cultural exchange between Europe and the Middle East. European Crusader states were established in the Middle East, which facilitated trade and cultural interactions. This interaction introduced new goods, technologies, and ideas from the East to Europe. Spices, silks, and other luxury items from the Orient became more accessible in Europe, while gunpowder, papermaking, and scientific advancements from the Islamic world were also adopted by Europeans.
Xerxes, after his magnificent victory at Thermopylae, gathered his army and moved south. His goal was the conquest of Athens, in the first phase and the Peloponnese afterwards. Athens was the second most powerful Greek city, and the Persian king rightly believed that its subjugation would greatly we