For Athens - Episode 1

Good morning, we are going to explore ancient Athens and the relationship between Athens and the Persian Empire.  This is a French-produced documentary.  This episode talks about the Battle of Marathon.  The run time for this documentary is 50:59.

The Persians dominate the Middle East.  Miltos, a city in the empire starts rebelling against the Persians.  They appeal to the Greek-City States for help and Athens sends help.  Eventually, the Greeks capture Sardis.  This touches on a long struggle between the Persians and the Greeks.  The episode kicks off in Prince Xerxes’s bedroom, he has woken up from a nightmare.  He dresses and goes to the throne room and meets his father, King Darius.

Prince Xerxes talks about the nightmare with his father.  He dreamed that the Greeks had defeated the Persian Empire.  King Darius scoffs that the prospect.  The Persian Empire was the strongest in the world.  The duty of every Persian Emperor is to strengthen the Empire and then expand its borders.  After the rebellion in Miltos and the capture of Sardis, the Persians want their revenge.  Miltos, the seat of rebellion is first punished.  Its inhabitants are reduced to slavery.  Darius has taken his revenge.  Any city that helps the Greeks is in King Darius’ sights.

Athens is unaware of what has happened.  Their citizens carry on as if nothing has happened.  They party as if the Persians were not plotting revenge against them.  Themistocles is a man in search of honor and fame.  He took a chance in politics.  He was a great orator and enjoyed solving problems.  He was a military man and trained hoplites in military discipline.  He took a page out of the Spartan handbook when it came to training soldiers.  The Athenians scoffed at the idea of teamwork and working together, however, Themistocles pushed for collectively obeying orders.

Miltiades, a general, saw what Themistocles was doing.  Miltiades had worked among the Persians and knew how they operated.  Both Miltiades and Themistocles needed to persuade the Greeks to come together to fight against the Persians.  Hippias, a Greek exile was in the court of Darius the Great.  The Athenians had treated him poorly and he wanted revenge.  He would help the Persians conquer the Greeks.  Hippias was the last tyrant of Athens.  His ousting ended forty-five years of tyranny.

Darius launches his attacks against the Greeks.  He demands earth and water.  City by city falls to Darius and accepts submission to Darius.  Hippias looks forward to helping Darius to conquer Athens.  He advises the General to attack by sea and then by land because the Athenians have no military experience.  However, there are a few people who do not trust Hippias because he had betrayed the Greeks.   There was the potential that he could betray the Persians.  Darius believes that Hippias’ hatred of the Athenians would prevent his betrayal.

The fleet and soldiers prepare to subjugate Greece.  The Aegean Sea is under Darius’ control.  Finally, Athens sees the danger.  Miltiades recognizes that danger and tries to talk to the Athenians about it.  Some Athenians want to welcome Darius because at least they will keep their identity.  However, Miltiades points out that they will be slaves to the Persians. The choice is freedom or slavery, what will the Athenians choose?

The Persian fleet reaches another Greek-City-State.  Eretria, the city immediately capitulates.  The temples are burned to the ground and the inhabitants are forced into slavery.  Darius continues to avenge Sardis.   The Persians set their sights on Marathon.  Hippias, the Greek traitor picked the site because he was familiar with the location.  The Persians work to prepare for battle.

Athens realizes the scale of what has happened and what is coming for them.  Themistocles works to reassure his fellow Athenians that they will have a chance against the Persians.  The Athenian army has less than 10,000 soldiers to defend their city against the massive Persian Army.  Athens turn to the Spartans for help.  Will the Spartans want to join with the Athenians to protect the Greek homeland?  Tune into the rest of this episode to find out.

This is an interesting series and the build-up to the Battle of Marathon.  This would be a good series to show to a history classroom.  The information is good and is presented in a storytelling style.