In 499 B.C., the Greek City States of Ionia revolted against the Persians, aided by the Greeks, especially the Athenians who felt like it was their responsibiltiy to support greek culture. Persian forces were few, so the revolt was successful, and the Greek forces then marched inland and captured Sardis, the provincial captial for that area for the Persians, the former capital of Lydia.

The Persians took it as an insult that lowly Greeks, who were at the bottom of the list of peoples within the civilized world, would attack and sack a provinice captial of ‘mighty’ Persia, so they massed their armies and went to teach the Greeks a lesson.

The Persians re-conquered Ionia, city by city, finally capturing Miletus in 494 BC. That ended the Ionian revolt, but the Persians were determind to teach the Greeks, the Athenians in particular, a lesson about meddling. The Persians sent their best general, Mardonius, who was also the son-in-law of Darius the Great, to lead the army. Mardonius went with a strong force to capture Athens, known as the Battle of Marathon. The Persians landed on the plain of Marathon and were unloading their vast army from their fleet. The Athenians, who were hopelessly outnumbered, saw the confusion that was occuring as the Persians milled on the coast and charged down the hill, totally routing and massacaring the Persians. Only 190 Athenians were killed.

The Persians, who managed to reboard their ships, decided to round the tip of Attica and land directly in front of Athens, but the Athenian soldiers marched and beat them to Athens. So the Persians found the Athenians again waiting ontop of a hill, ready to charge down if the Persians attempted to unload. The Persians gave up for the moment and sailed home. The death of Darius in 486 BC and revolts in Egypt and Babylon prevented Xerxes from immediately renewing the attack on Greece.

Six years later, things were once again under Persian control, and Xerxes decided he would teach the Greeks another lesson, and called in the entire Imperial Army. Numbers varied from 500,000 to 900,000 soldiers. Much of northern Greece and Macedonia actually submitted to the Persians and let them pass, but thirty-two Greek city states allied, Sparta leading the land and Athens the sea forces. The first major, famous battle is Thermopylae, a narrow pass the Persians had to pass to proceed down through Greece. The Greeks led by one of the Spartan kings decide to fortify the pass and hold them there. The Greeks stop the Persians for a number of days before the Persians find a side path to get behind the fortifcations. The Spartan king, Leonidas, tells the Greek army to retreat so it can fight again while he and his elite bodyguard fight till the death. Only three Spartans survive, two of which hang themselves from shame. According to legend, Leonidas is told 'there are so many arrows they block out the sun' to which he replies 'then we shall fight in the shade'. A victory for the Greeks.

The Persians do capture Athens after that, marching down through Greece, while the Greeks are debating what action to take now. Some wanted to retreat to Cornith, while others wanted to attack. Finally, the Athenians under Themistocles decide to attack the Persians by sea, so Athens is taken by the Persians, and the Persian ships are on one side of the strait, and the Greeks the other facing each other off. Finally, the Athenian commander tells Xerxes that his men are going to desert the Greek cause and to attack. Then, Xerxes sees a large portion fo the Gfreek ships looking like they are fleeing and orders his ships to attack. What actually happens though, is that half of the Greek ships circle around the island and bottle up the other end of the strait, trapping the Persian fleet in the strait, then destroying it.

Without the fleet to supply his army, Xerxes couldn't hope to keep his massive army in supply and he was worried his bridge over the Dardanelles would be destroyed, trapping him in Europe, so he quickly retreated with the bulk of his army, promising to return the next year. He leaves behind Mardonius, again, with a portion of his army to hold their conquests so he can renew the war next year. He fled back to Persia before his men starved to death. Meanwhile, the Athenian navy starts raiding along Ionia, while the Spartans march on the Persian Garrison at Plataea. The Spartans and allies route the Persian soldiers who were left behind and their allies and the sea forces was another naval victory at cape Mycale. They then captured Hellispoint and cut off Europe from the Persians. Though the Athenians were actually officially at war with the Persians for another generation, raiding and such, that's the end of the Persian War in all that matters.