Ancient historypersian wars

“It was a common effort that the foreign invasion was repelled”

The Greek’s victory over the Persians between 490 and 479 BC was not solely the result of the unity its poleis, as the Persian would still outnumber Greeks despite their unity. Thucydides’ statement on the reason of Greeks’ victory can be interpreted as unity is formed under a common goal, which was to defend their land, cultures and liberty. Yet such “common effort” could not have succeeded without the correct leaderships provided by the Athenians and Spartans, Greek’s psychological advantage over the Persians, the quality of its force and the Persians’ own foolishness. The unity of the poleis offered cooperation, effective communication and man power to among the Greek poleis, yet without the other factors mentioned above the form of unity would still not prevent the Persians from conquering Greece.

The leaderships of the Athenians and Spartans were crucial to the Greeks’ victo...