Greco-Persian Wars

499–449 BC Aegean / Middle East Status: ended Casualties: ~300,000 total

Two Persian invasions of Greece. Marathon (490 BC), Thermopylae, Salamis (480 BC), and Plataea (479 BC) repelled the Achaemenid advance. Ended with the Peace of Callias (~449 BC).

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Belligerents

Achaemenid Persia (Darius I, Xerxes I)
Greek city-states

Casualties

~300,000 total

Key events

490 BC — Marathon
480 BC — Thermopylae & Salamis
479 BC — Plataea

Aftermath

Defined the West's foundational narrative of free citizens defeating despotism. Funded the Athenian golden age (Parthenon, Sophocles, Plato). The Delian League's transformation into the Athenian Empire then triggered the Peloponnesian War.

Weapons & matériel

Hoplite spear (dory) & shield (aspis)
Persian short bow
Bronze cuirass & greaves
Trireme warships (170 oarsmen)

Technology

Phalanx warfare proved against light Persian infantry; the trireme dominated naval warfare for centuries

Cost

Athenian treasury (Delian League) collected ~460 talents/year — the silver foundation of the Athenian Empire

Sources

Herodotus, Histories
Aeschylus, The Persians

From World at War, an interactive atlas by Jairus Pereira. Figures are approximate, drawn from Wikipedia, UCDP, ACLED and academic sources — a design artefact, not an authoritative register. Contact.