The great events in history are those where, upon special occasions, a man or a people have made a stand against tyranny, and have preserved or advanced freedom for the people. Sometimes tyranny has taken the form of the oppression of the many by the few in the same nation, and sometimes it has been the oppression of a weak nation by a stronger one. The successful revolt against tyranny, the terrible conflict resulting in the emancipation of a people, has always been the favorite theme of the historian, marking as it does a step in the progress of mankind from a savage to a civilized state.

One of the earliest as well as most notable of these conflicts of which we have an authentic account took place in Greece twenty-four hundred years ago, or five hundred years before the Christian era. At that time nearly all of Europe was inhabited by rude barbarous tribes. In all that broad land the arts and sciences which denote civilization had made their appearance only in the small and apparently insignificant peninsula of Greece, lying on the extreme southeast
border adjoining Asia.

At a period before authentic history begins, it is probable that roving tribes of shepherds from the north took possession of the hills and valleys of Greece. Shut off on the north by mountain ranges, and on all other sides surrounded by the sea, these tribes were able to maintain a sturdy independence for many hundred years. The numerous harbors and bays which subdivide Greece invited to a maritime life, and at a very early time, the descendants of the original shepherds became skillful navigators and courageous adventurers.

The voyages of Aeneas and Ulysses in the siege of Troy, and those of Jason in search of the golden fleece, and of Perseus to the court of King Minos, are the mythological accounts, embellished by imagination and distorted by time, of what were real voyages. Crossing the Mediterranean, Grecian adventurers became acquainted with the Egyptians, then the most civilized people of the world; and from Egypt they took back to their native country the germs of the arts and sciences which afterward made Greece so famous.

Thence improvements went forward with rapid strides. Hints received from Egypt were reproduced in higher forms. Massive temples became light and airy, rude sculpture became beautiful by conforming to natural forms, and hieroglyphics developed into the letters which Cadmus invented or improved. Schools were established, athletic sports were encouraged, aesthetic taste was developed, until in the arts, in philosophy, in science, and in literature the Greeks took the lead of all peoples.

As population increased, colonies went out, settling upon the adjacent coasts of Asia and upon the islands farther west. In Asia the Greek colonists were subject to the Persian Empire, which then extended its rule over all Western Asia, and claimed dominion over Africa and Eastern Europe. The Greeks, fresh from the freedom of their native land, could not patiently endure the extortions of the Persian government, to which their own people submitted without question;
hence conflicts arose which finally culminated in Persia taking complete possession of the Asiatic Greek cities.

But the ties of kinship were strong, and the people of Greece keenly resented the tyranny which had been exercised over their countrymen, and an irrepressible conflict arose between the two nations. The Persian king, Darius, determined to put an end to all annoyance by invading and subjugating Greece. Before the final march of his army, Darius sent heralds throughout Greece demanding soil and water as an acknowledgment of the supremacy of Persia, but Herodotus says that at Sparta, when this impudent demand was made, the heralds were thrown into wells and told to help themselves to all the earth and water they liked.

Ancient Greek Store Corinthian Full Size Helmet - 540 B.C. Spartan Lakonian Sword Classic Hoplite Sword

After a long preparation, in 490 B.C., an army of one hundred thousand men or more,
under the command of Artaphernes, convoyed by a formidable fleet, invaded Greece.
For a long time it met with little opposition, and city after city submitted to the
overwhelming hosts of the Persian king. The approach to Athens was regarded as the
final turning point of the war.

Next Article in Series:
The Greco-Persian Wars Part II: Battle of Marathon
The Greco-Persian Wars Part III: The Battle of Thermopylae
The Greco-Persian Wars Part IV: Battle of Salamis
The Greco-Persian Wars Part V: Battle of Plataea
Source: Ten Great Events in History, James Johonnot, 1887.

Tags: 490 B.C., Aeneas, ancient egypt, Ancient Greek History, Ancient History, Ancient Persian History, Ancient Sparta, Artaphernes, Battle of Marathon, Corinthian Helmet, Darius The Great of Persia, Golden Fleece, Greco-Persian Wars, Greek City States, Greek Mythology, Herodotus, Jason and the Argonauts, King Minos, King of Persia, Persian Empire, Persian invasion of Greece, Persius, Siege of Troy, Trojan War, Ulysses