Discussion # 3, 4.1 Online: Athens and Persia

Topic:

Persian society developed on the arid Iranian plateau in southwestern Asia. The plateau is inhospitable, but also easy to defend. Central Asian nomads arrived in the region about 5,000 years ago. Among them were the Medes and Persians, speaking two dialects of Farsi. The Medes and the Persians took advantage of war between Babylonia and Assyria to free themselves from the Assyrians. The Persian king Cyrus the Great defeated the Medes and established the Persian Empire. Cyrus ruled indirectly, through persuasion and compromise.

Cyrus was killed in battle with the Massagetae, and was succeeded by his son Cambyses. When Cambyses died, a power struggle ensued, with Darius emerging as the eventual winner. Darius renewed Persian efforts at conquest and expansion, and imposed strong central rule on the empire. Mesopotamian influences shaped Persian law, administration, and commerce. Like Mesopotamia, Persia had a class-based society. The Medes and Persians exerted a strong influence on the empire’s culture, especially through their language, Farsi.

The Persians conquered the Greek cities located along the coast of Anatolia and Thrace on the European side of the Bosporus. These events created anxiety among the major Greek city-states because the realization that they could be next. The revolt of Greek city-states in Ionia in 499 B.C.E. sparked a series of conflicts between Persia and Greece. The Persians launched an attack on mainland Greece to punish the Greek city-states for their support of the Ionian rebels. Before the actual invasion, Persian emissaries arrived demanding surrender.

Directions:

Read your textbook and notes, do some careful research, and watch the videos. This involves some role-playing: Pretend you are an Athenian official and you are responding to the Persian demands. You refuse to surrender. What do you say to the Persian emissary? Do you ask for friendship and trade agreements instead of surrender and ask to not be invaded or do you immediately declare war? Is there anything you can say to intimidate the Persians?

This post is your opinion and there is no right or wrong answer. Your points will be based on completion of the assignment (based on the rubric) and whether you use support from the text, lecture, or internet. 5 points total, 3 for your initial post and 2 for replying to someone's post. Your post should be about a paragraph long and your reply to someone's post should be a paragraph as well.

I recommend that you create your initial post by Sept 16, at 11:59 pm so that others may have an opportunity to reply.

You must also contribute a Response to 1 classmate's post: Read another student's post and pretend you are another Athenian official and you disagree with the idea of resisting Persian demands, what do you say to the officials who want war? What do you say to the Persian emissary? How would surrender help Athens?

Posts can have more than one reply. Follow the netiquette guidelines below and use evidence to support or disagree with the original post. This is not a place for insults or arguments so use proper language such as "Your are a very wise, but I think that ..."

Your Response is due by Sept 18, at 11:59 pm

• There is no option to turn this assignment in late.
• Click on the reply button, below to get started.

Purpose:

To evaluate student's critical analysis of historical events.

Rubric:

To view the rubric attached to this discussion, click on the gear box in the upper right and select Show Rubric. 

Netiquette:

• Be kind and respectful to others
• Use full sentences
• Avoid jargon and acronyms
• Use language that supports others