It's called Second Medical War The second Persian invasion of Ancient Greece. The invasion was led by Xerxes I, as revenge and retaliation for the defeats of the First Persian War. They lasted two years, from 480 B.C. until 479 BC
Background of the Second Persian War
The Persian Empire
in Persia. once internal order has been restored. Xerxes I (486-465), son and successor of Darius I, was in charge of organizing a great expedition against Greece, as a revenge and continuation of the previous war and in the year 480 BC, a colossal army left from Sardes towards the Greek mainland .
Current estimates put the Persian army at 200,000 to 250,000 men.
As for the navy, opinions differ.According to Herodotus, 1,207 units. Other authors reduce the Persian fleet to 600 ships.
First stage
Thermopylae. 480 BC Persian Victory
The Greek allies this time arranged a new strategy:
By land
The allied contingent was made up of the Spartan army and its Peloponnesian allies, with troops of Boeotians, Phocidians, Locrians and Thespians commanded by King Leonidas of Sparta. It ended with the great Greek defeat at Thermopylae, which left Persia open to the invasion of Boeotia, Attica, and the destruction of Athens.
By sea
An attempt was made to hinder the passage of the Persian navy in Euboea, so the Greek fleet was stationed at Cape Artemision, in the territory of Histieia. More than half of the troops were Athenian ships, since it is estimated that the Greek allies had about 270 ships, of which 200 came from Athens.
Athens
Xerxes then entered Attica, which was razed to the ground. The Acropolis was defended in vain by a few Athenians, who had taken refuge in it. The magnificent buildings built by the Pisistratidae and Cleisthenes were looted and burned, like the rest of the city of Athens. The fire of Sardes in the year 498 BC he was finally avenged. This fateful event was always remembered throughout the Greek world.
Salamis. September 29, 480 BC Greek victory
The Greek allies knew that their greatest chance of victory lay at sea. in which the greatest role was played by the Athenians, thanks to Thermistocles' far-sighted shipbuilding policy.
The Persian fleet was far superior in number to the Greek.
The Athenians managed to get their enemies into the strait between the island of Salamina and Pistalea Island.
The narrowness of space impeded the Persian fleet's ability to maneuver, which was easily destroyed by the Greek, whose ships were smaller and could maneuver better, while the Athenian hoplites, under the command of Aristides, defeated the Persian infantry that had landed on Pistaba Island.
As a result of the victory, the Persian army withdrew towards Asia , possibly with the intention of resuming a new attack.
The Greeks regained confidence in themselves and in their civic institutions.
The Persian defeat produced new insurrections in Greece (Olinto and Potidaea) and in Asia (although Babylon was once again dominated and lost the autonomous privileges it enjoyed).
Second stage
Platea. 479 BC New Greek victory
Half of the Persian army had marched with Xerxes, but the other half was in northern Greece under the command of Mardonius , who tried in vain to defeat the Athenians.
In the year 479, the Greek troops under the command of the Spartan king Pausanias were deployed along the northern slope of Cithaeron.
After a very hard fight that lasted about three weeks, the Greeks achieved a great victory in the region of Platea , causing heavy casualties to the enemy, including the death of their leader Mardonius .
An allied expedition went out from Plataea against Thebes in punishment for its alliance with the Persians.
After a harsh siege, the city handed over its leaders who were executed.
Cape Mícale y Sesto:The Greek offensive (479 .C.)
Thanks to the victories of Salamina and Plataea, in the autumn of that same year 479, the Greeks were able to attack the Persians in Asia Minor. The Greek fleet under the command of the Spartan Leotiquidas marched through the Aegean Sea reaching Cape Mícale, in front of the island of Samos, where while the fleet destroyed the Persian ships, the army, helped by the Ionians, destroyed the rest of the Persian troops that ran away
With the victory of Cape Micale, the Persian offensive against Greece and Europe was over. Not so the war, which would continue, although favorable, for the Greek world, which will now face its internal problems. The most moving monument to the victory of the Greeks is the one that stood at Delphi until Constantine the Great took it to his new capital. In Constantinople it still stands on the old hippodrome. Originally crowned with a gold tripod, a bronze column made of three intertwined serpents. with a simple inscription:These fought in the war and next come the names of thirty-one cities.