Second Persian invasion of Greece

The Achaemenid Persian campaign led by Xerxes I against Greece in 480–479 BCE, fought at battles including Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea.

Battle of Thermopylae: A 480 BCE battle in which a Greek force held a narrow pass against Xerxes’ army before being outflanked. The invasion’s opening land battle delayed the Persian advance into central Greece.
Darius I: Achaemenid king from 522 to 486 BCE who expanded and reorganized the Persian Empire. His failed campaign against Greece preceded Xerxes’ invasion.
Xerxes I: Achaemenid king from 486 to 465 BCE who led the Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BCE. He directed the campaign and personally entered Greece with the invading force.
Delian League: An alliance led by Athens and founded in 478 BCE to continue the war against Persia. Its formation extended Greek naval cooperation after the invasion’s defeat.
Battle of Salamis: A 480 BCE naval battle in which the Greek fleet defeated Xerxes’ fleet in the straits near Salamis. Salamis contrasts the Persian land advance with the naval defeat that changed its course.
Battle of Artemisium: A series of naval engagements in 480 BCE between Greek and Persian fleets off northern Euboea. Its simultaneous fighting and withdrawal accompanied the land battle at Thermopylae.
First Persian invasion of Greece: The Persian expedition of 492–490 BCE that culminated in defeat at the Battle of Marathon. Its defeat left Xerxes’ invasion as a renewed effort to bring mainland Greece under Persian control.
Themistocles: An Athenian politician and general who promoted naval power before the Persian invasion. His strategy helped bring the Greek fleet to Salamis, where it defeated Xerxes’ navy.
Greco-Persian Wars: A series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek states in the fifth century BCE. The invasion was the largest Persian campaign within this wider conflict.
Battle of Plataea: A 479 BCE land battle in which a Greek alliance defeated the Persian army in Boeotia. Plataea contrasts the Persian capture of Athens with the eventual defeat of its army.

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