Greek and Persian Wars | Launching a Golden Age (Lecture 13)

Lecture 13: The democratic assembly of Athens launched an unprecedented series of wars and campaigns on many fronts; the most spectacular of these was an invasion of the Persian satrapy of Egypt. The Egyptian king shared rule with Athens for six years, until the relentless Persians took back the territory. In 449 B.C., King Artaxerxes I (the son of Xerxes) negotiated a peace with Cimon’s brother-in-law, Callias, and established a new status quo: the traditional land empire of the Persians on one side and the new Athenian maritime empire on the other. Though still a democracy at home, Athens had, of necessity, become an oppressive imperialistic power abroad and demanded an annual tribute from its allies. These tributes enabled Athens to inaugurate its famous Golden Age under the leadership of Pericles, thereby resurrecting the spirit of Ionia in Athens.

Recommended Reading:
Camp and Fisher, The World of the Ancient Greeks.
Tuplin, Persian Responses: Political and Cultural Interaction with(in) the Achaemenid Empire.