Event: Persians Defeated at Plataea
Date: 479 B.C.
Place: Plataea
Brief Synopsis: Spartan Greeks, led by the generals Pausanias and Aristides, defeat Persian forces under General Mardonius. This defeat at Plataea signals the end of Persian occupation of Greek territory, which has been in place since the middle of the fifth century B.C. This military victory over the Persians gives the Greeks freedom to establish their own political and artistic culture.

Web Links
 

Brittanica.com’s “Greco-Persian Wars”
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/9/0,5716,38669+1+37907,00.html

Boise State University’s History of Western Civilization
http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/persian/22.htm

Warfare in Hellas
http://cal044202.student.utwente.nl/~marsares/warfare/battle/plataea.html

Dr. J’s Illustrated Persian Wars (scroll to find “Battle at Plataea”)
http://nimbus.temple.edu/~jsiegel/lectures/history/Persian%20Wars/persianwars.htm

Research Questions

Answer each question below using the suggested links to guide your research.

1. Where is Plataea? How does its location figure in what happened there? What happened at Plataea? Describe the events of the battle at Plataea.

2. Who were the major historical characters at the Battle of Plataea? Describe the historical context of the event (what came before and what came after in the historical chronology of the battle)?

3. How did the Persian Wars, especially the Battle at Plataea, unify the Hellenic city-states?

4. Describe the position of Persia in Asia Minor as a result of the battle at Plataea? What was the Delian League? Why was it formed and what was its purpose?

Team Discussion Question:

After your team has answered the questions above, discuss this question as a team:

· Who had the greater advantage in the war, the Persians or the Greeks?