Thomas R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander

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End of the Persian Wars

The Greek victory at Salamis in 480 B.C. sent Xerxes back to Persia¹, but he left behind an enormous infantry force under his best general² and an offer for the Athenians³ (if only they would capitulate): they would remain unharmed and become the king's overlords over the other Greeks. The assembly refused⁴, the Athenian population evacuated⁵ its homes and city once again, and Xerxes' general wrecked Athens⁶ for the second time in as many years. In 479 B.C., the Greek infantry headed by the Spartans under the command of a royal son⁷ named Pausanias (c. 520-470 B.C.) outfought the Persian infantry at the battle of Plataea⁸ in Boeotia, just north of Attica, while a Greek fleet caught the Persian navy napping at Mykale⁹ on the coast of Ionia. The coalition of Greek city-states had thus done the incredible: they had protected their homeland and their independence from the strongest power in the world.