The
Greco-Persian Wars (also often called the
Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between the
Achaemenid Empire of
Persia (modern day Iran) and
Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of the Greeks and the enormous empire of the Persians began when
Cyrus the Great conquered the Greek-inhabited region of
Ionia in 547 BC. Struggling to rule the independent-minded cities of Ionia, the Persians appointed tyrants to rule each of them. This would prove to be the source of much trouble for the Greeks and Persians alike.