The first Persian invasion of Greece took place from 492 BC to 490 BC, as part of the Greco-Persian Wars. It ended with a decisive Athenian-led victory over the Achaemenid Empire during the Battle of
Seal of King Darius the Great hunting in a chariot, reading "I am Darius, the Great King", in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. British Museum.
Achaemenid king killing a Greek hoplite. Circa 500–475 BC. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Drawing of Darius the Great and its inscription (ΔΑΡΕΙΟΣ, top right) on the "Darius Vase"
The Athenians led a campaign against the Achaemenid capital of Sardis in Asia Minor in 498 BC, during the Ionian revolt.
The second Persian invasion of Greece occurred during the Greco-Persian Wars, as King Xerxes I of Persia sought to conquer all of Greece. The invasion was a direct, if delayed, response to the defeat
First Persian invasion of Greece
…internal strife within the Achaemenid Empire delayed this expedition, and Darius then died of old age. It was thus left to his son Xerxes I to lead the second Persian invasion of Greece, which began in 480 BC. The main source for the Greco-Persian Wars is the Greek historian Herodotus. Herodotus, who has been called the 'Father of…
Second Persian Invasion
The Spartans throw Persian envoys into a well.
Rendition of the Xerxes Canal (seen from north), built over 3 years from 483 BC across the Mount Athos peninsula. It is now filled-up.
Preparations of the army of Xerxes, with quarters in Sardis in 481–480 BC, and crossing of the Hellespont at Abydos.