19390 - Events that Changed the World: the Greco-Persian War

Course Overview

In the ancient Near East, the Persian Empire was one of the largest, most powerful states the world had known up to that time.  In comparison, the city-states that made up the ancient Greek world encompassed a much smaller geographical region and were disunited and frequently at war with each other.  Consequently, when the Persian Empire turned its attention to the Greek world and began to contemplate a conquest of the city-states, the end of Greek independence seemed inevitable.  Miraculously, when the Persians invaded Greek territory, the Greeks were able to defeat them and, over the course of ten years and in a series of battles, preserved their independence.  The survival of free Greek city-states ultimately led to the development of democracy as well as advances in science, philosophy, and theater.  In this class, we’ll examine the origin, course, and outcome of the Greco-Persian war and how different the world might have been if the Persians had, in fact, won the war.