The Persian War was fought between the two powerhouses of the Mediterranean which were city states of Greece and Persia. After the fight against the Scythians all the Greeks in Iona started to think that the great Persian army that was considered one of the most undefeatable army's was actually beatable. This would make the commander and king of Persia, king Darius angry and shocked that some of his allies who fought with him thinking of revolting against him (Smith11). This would give king Darius his reason into wanting to invade Greece. The two main and more powerful city states that fought the war would be Sparta and Athens. Persia wanted full control of the Mediterranean so they had decided to attack Greece, this would lead to a full on advancement in the military of ancient Greece. The Greeks were able to withstand the attacks of the Persians due to their advancements in technology, transportation and strategy. The three greatest and most well-fought battles in the Persian war would be the battles at Marathon, Thermopylae and Platea.
At the Battle of Marathon the Persian army heavily outnumbered the Greek forces by thousands. At the time Athens would request assistance from Sparta but they wouldn't arrive because of a religious festival which would last two weeks. The only help that Athens would get would be from Platea. The Persian commander Darius lead the Persian army and decided that the best way to attack Athens would be an amphibious assault, this proved to be a fatal flaw for his attack. During the invasion of Athens the Persians fought the Athenian army on the bay of Marathon as their other fleets would sail south the Aegean Sea to attack Athens. Even though the Athenian army was outnumbered, they were more prepared and more trained than the Persian army thus their victory at Marathon. The Persian boats that were sailing towards Athens met an uneven mash that caused their boats to sink and resulted in the remaining fleets to return to Persia.