THE PERSIAN WARS

The persian wars have been selected by Roberto Amati in relation to the real history of european integration, then enlisted in the People, Dates, Places and Events category, accompanied by own fact SHEET useful to the comprehension, completed of historical MAPS AND IMAGES or with a direct linking to the related Blog contents dedicated to the entire history of european integration and the future of Europe.

The Persian Wars are one of the most important events related to the history of european integration and will probably have influence on the future of United europe. They occurred in 499-479 B.C. period, when the the principal greek polys (πόλις) were allied to repel the several tentatives of invasion/annexation by the Persian Empire ruled by the Achaemenid dinasty (who was of greek ascendance from the ancient hero Perseus). That inmense Regnum included peoples and languages so different that the Greeks called them "barbarians" (βάρβαρος) cause of their incomprehensible langue. The twenty-year conflict ended with the greek winnings in the battles became legendary of Marathon (490 B.C.), Thermopylae and Salamis (480), Plataea and Mycale (479) in which every greek tribe had his part of ethernal glory.

The Persian Empire had been the first universal empire (read this article) dominated by the "king of the kings", as a multiethnical, multicultural and syncretic state including Arabs, Jews, Semiths, Anatholics, Egyptians and other asiatic peoples of the indoiranic family. Characterized by luxury and greatness, typical of the easter ancient cultures, it was the perfect rival for Greeks especially for the use of the persian absolute king to pretend the proskynesis from every submitted man, in accpetance of his divine dominus status-quo, wearing golden clothes and the diadem on the head crown. Something that sounded inacceptable for the independist Greeks.

So the classic pohems narrow that in the battle of Marathon the athenians troops got an incredible winning and a soldier went to announce it to the citizens, running those 42,9 kilometers that still nowadays are the distance to cover in the queen race at the Olimpics Games! At the Thermopylae battle, instead, just 300 Spartans leaded the king Leonida could block for many days the march of the impressive persian force of more than a million of soldier (even the terrific "immortals persian" guards), giving the rest of the Greeks army precious time to prepare the resistance. Indeed, some days after it happened the fantastic winning of the Salamis naval battle, where the talent of Themistocles joined to the cunning and ability of the Delian League sailors could meet the superiority of persian navy and completely defeat it. In the end, it was in the Plataea battle were the courage of Tegeans led the corynthians, spartans and athenians troops in the decisive battle of the The Persian Wars, defeating and killing hundreds thousand of persians included their commander in comparison to few greeks lost.

Because of the traditional ancient rivalty among the greek cities, during the Persian Wars often some of them made deals or fought aside the Persians army, to get advantages or guarantees for freedom, as was for the case of Thebes. Time after Byzantium became master of these diplomatic games, especially when renamed in Constantinople, cause of its strategic position that required to deal with every people or conquerer who was near to pass the Hellespont. The same happened all along the history of Cyprus that was involved in the Persian wars, too. One of the principal greek "double agent" had been the athenian general Themistocles, the winner of the decisive Salamis naval battle. These aspects of the Persian Wars are narrowed in some sources of the time, as the famous greek historian Herodotus, defining the step between the ephic and mythologic age of European people and the history of european integration, object still today of the literature and basis for the scolar education of all Europeans.

Starting with the Persian Wars, the greek identity born as the consciousness of a unique people of the principal allies polys of Athens, Sparta and Corinth, involved in the millenary total conflict between Western and Eastern that signed the whole history of european integration until nowadays! Thanks to those success on the dispotic enemy, the Greeks remained free and opposited to the Eastern world, as defined by the peace treaty (the "Peace of Callias") that signed the hedge with Persia in the Aegean Sea and through the Hellespont: always separated and rivals but almost convincted to defend the democratic and liberal cultural style of Greeks (transmitted to Europeans therefore), against the absolute dominion of a "lonely man" typical of the eastern empires (such as the following Arab, Mongol and Turkish one). Then I consider the Persian Wars as the beginning point of the history of european integration and of the pluralist, autodetermined and virtuos reason (virtus civitas) of the European people civilty.

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