New
New
Year 4

The wars between Greece and Persia

I can describe some of the famous battles between the Greeks and the Persians.

New
New
Year 4

The wars between Greece and Persia

I can describe some of the famous battles between the Greeks and the Persians.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The first major battle between the Greek city-states and Persia was at Marathon.
  2. The Persian army fought its way onto the beach before being repulsed; a runner was sent to declare victory in Athens.
  3. The new Persian king Xerxes attacked Greece by land, taking days to defeat a small band of Greeks at Thermopylae.
  4. The Persians then captured Athens, destroying the temple atop the acropolis before the sea-battle of Salamis.
  5. At Salamis, the Persians were defeated, preventing Persia from conquering Greece.

Common misconception

That battles are always fought on land, by soldiers or warriors who are physically fighting each other.

Battles can be fought many ways - some Ancient Greek battles were land based and warriors used chariots and weapons like javelins. Other battles were at sea using boats that would be rammed into the enemy and archers that would fire arrows at them.

Keywords

  • Conquer - in warfare, to conquer something such as a place or people is to defeat them in battle, and then take over them

  • Runner - in this lesson, a runner is a messenger who carries messages by running between places

  • Acropolis - the fortified hill of an ancient Greek city was called an acropolis

  • Sea-battle - when boats are used to attack an enemy during a war, this is a sea-battle

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which statements are accurate descriptions about Ancient Mesopotamia?
Correct answer: It included the lands that had once been ruled by the Sumer civilisation.
The city of Babylon was located high up in the mountains.
Correct answer: The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowed through Mesopotamia.
Correct answer: The city of Babylon was located by the Euphrates river.
Q2.
Who was the king of the Persian Achaemenids who conquered the kingdom of Medes and the city of Babylon?
Darius
Cambyses
Correct answer: Cyrus
Q3.
What territory did Cyrus' son, Cambyses, take control of?
Greece
Correct answer: Egypt
France
Italy
Q4.
Order the events, starting with the earliest.
1 - King Cyrus conquered Babylon and the Kingdom of Medes.
2 - King Cambyses wanted to conquer new territory in the west.
3 - Ancient Egypt was conquered by Cambyses’ army.
Q5.
Where did King Darius take control of in around 490 BCE?
the Nile Valley
Correct answer: the Indus Valley
the Tigris Valley
the Euphrates Valley
Q6.
Complete the sentence. Darius wanted to expand his territory further and conquer the city-states of Ancient and rule over them.
Correct Answer: Greece, greece

6 Questions

Q1.
Where did the first major battle of the war between Greece and Persia happen?
Athens
Correct answer: Marathon
Corinth
Persia
Q2.
Which statements about the battle at Marathon are correct?
The Greeks and the Persians had a battle in boats.
Correct answer: The Greeks defeated the Persians.
Correct answer: The Persian soldiers outnumbered the Greek soldiers.
The Greeks and the Persians reached a truce.
Q3.
Choose the correct historical term to complete this sentence: In warfare, to __________ something such as a place or people is to defeat them in battle, and then take over them.
rule
win
Correct answer: conquer
beat
Q4.
Which statements about the Battle of Thermopylae and king Xerxes are historically accurate?
Like Darius, the Xerxes also attacked by boat.
Correct answer: The battle lasted for three days.
Correct answer: Unlike Darius, Xerxes attacked by land.
Like at Marathon, the Persians lost the battle.
Q5.
What did the Persians burn to the ground when they ransacked Athens?
Correct Answer: the Acropolis, The Acropolis, the acropolis, acropolis, Acropolis
Q6.
Which statements about the Battle of Salamis are correct?
Correct answer: It was a large sea-battle.
The Persians were victorious.
Correct answer: It took place in 480 BCE.
The Greeks defeated the Persians.

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