Even though the Persians were able to defeat the Greeks at Thermopylae, “the Greeks dramatic victory at Salamis forced the Persians to withdraw.” The Persians were eventually defeated by the Greeks due to their disadvantage when it came to armor. While the Greeks were protected from head to toe and used to the hills and mountains where they battled, Persians were more accustomed to a light amount of armor that allowed them more mobility during battles in the dry plains of Asia. Also the Greeks fought harder and were more motivated compared to the Persians because if they lost, they would lose their independence as well.
Although they were still one of the biggest nations of the time, the Persian Empire slowly lost their power and influence after the Greco-Persian war. After their defeat, the Persians were unable to expand their nation any further. They were not able to conquer Greece and weren’t even allowed to continue ruling Ionia and the Aegean …show more content…
Instead of only allowing a selected few to govern their city, free Athenian men were able to accept of decline laws that were proposed by a council of 500 members that also supervised major governmental committees. While citizens were able to vote, ten archons regulated the polis and handled all military and legal controversies. To secure themselves from Persian Empire, Athens formed the Delian League (477 B.C.E.). Since there was no danger of Persia after the Greco-Persian war, the collaboration between the two dominant Greek city-states came to an end.
Conflicts between Athens and Sparta continued to arise during Athens’ Age of Pericles. Pericles was an Athenian aristocrat that was constantly elected to the highest position of the Athens government between 467-429 B.C.E. His leadership transformed Athens into an “economic and commercial power unlike anything previously imagined in Greece.” Sparta envied but feared Athens new power and saw their strong government and influence as a threat to existing oligarchies and aristocracies and called on its Peloponnesian