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The wars between the Achaemenid Persian kings and the Greek city-states (c. 499-449 BCE)--especially Xerxes' invasion of Greece (480-479 BCE)--are often remembered as foundational events in Greek history, and therefore, we often hear about them through Greek accounts. While the Persians left no campaign narratives to compare with Herodotus and Aeschylus, their documents, artwork, and artifacts offer the foundations for an illuminating reassessment of these pivotal conflicts.
Using seals and documents from Achaemenid Persepolis, as well as comparative evidence from Persia's Mesopotamian imperial predecessors, this book shows that these conflicts did not emerge from policies of infinite expansion or iterations of "East vs. West" struggle. Instead, the Persians drew on a long tradition of Near Eastern royal campaigns, in which kings traveled to distant frontiers to advertise their heroism, divine favor, and universal power. Xerxes' journey from Iran to Athens marked the pinnacle of this tradition, combining ideological spectacles with masterful logistical preparation. It achieved its principal goals through the seizure and burning of Athens but then stumbled into embarrassing defeats at Salamis and Plataia, which posed new ideological challenges by undermining the Persian image of royal invincibility. The resulting transition to an era of diplomatic consolidation marked a vital step in the evolution of history's first "world empire."
List of contents
- Acknowledgments
- Names, Spelling, and Dates
- List of Tables, Maps, and Illustrations
- Abbreviations
- Introduction: Persian Wars and Persian Perspectives
- 1. Ancient Near Eastern Warfare and the Royal Campaign Tradition
- 2. Darius' Pax Persica and the Aegean Frontier
- 3. Darius' Generals and the Ionian Revolt
- 4. Restoring the Aegean Frontier
- 5. Xerxes' Greek Campaign as Political Spectacle
- 6. Xerxes' Greek Campaign as Manpower Spectacle
- 7. Xerxes' Greek Campaign as Logistical Performance
- 8. Xerxes' Greek Campaign as Heroic Journey
- 9. Xerxes' Royal Image and the Causes of Failure at Salamis
- 10. Xerxes' Greece and Mardonios' Campaign
- 11. Plataia and the Anatomy of Defeat
- 12. The Aftermath of Xerxes' Campaign
- Epilogue: Persia's Greek Campaigns and World History
About the author
John O. Hyland is Professor of History at Christopher Newport University, the author of
Persian Interventions: The Achaemenid Empire, Athens, and Sparta 450-386 BCE, and co-editor of
Brill's Companion to War in the Ancient Iranian Empires.
