494 BC · Aegean Sea (off Miletus) Theater

The naval Battle of Lade crushed the Ionian Revolt that had ignited the Persian Wars. The Greek Ionian fleet of some 353 triremes faced a Persian armada of 600 ships off the island of Lade near Miletus. After weeks of training under the Phocaean captain Dionysios, discipline in the Ionian ranks collapsed — the Samians and others, bribed or despairing, deserted. The remaining ships fought bravely but were overwhelmed. Miletus fell, its population enslaved or deported to Mesopotamia, and the revolt ended.

September 490 BC · Marathon plain, Attica Theater

A Persian expeditionary force of roughly 25,000 men landed at the Bay of Marathon to punish Athens and Eretria for their support of the Ionian Revolt. The Athenians, outnumbered and unsupported (Sparta arrived too late), chose to attack rather than remain behind their walls. Miltiades weakened the Athenian centre and strengthened the wings. When the Greeks charged at a run, the strong Greek flanks enveloped the Persian centre and drove the invaders back to their ships with catastrophic losses — some 6,400 Persians fell; Athens lost only 192 hoplites, whose names were inscribed at the burial mound still visible today.

August 480 BC · The Hot Gates, central Greece Theater

Xerxes' massive invasion force — ancient sources claim millions, modern estimates range from 100,000 to 300,000 — was funnelled through the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae, where a Greek force of roughly 7,000, led by 300 Spartans under King Leonidas, held them for three days. The Greeks repulsed every Persian assault. Only when a local Greek, Ephialtes, revealed a mountain path allowing the Persians to envelop the position did the defence crack. Leonidas dismissed most of the Greek allies and remained with his 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, and 400 Thebans to fight to the last. All were killed.

August 480 BC · Straits of Artemisium, northern Euboea Theater

Fought simultaneously with Thermopylae, the three-day naval engagement at Artemisium was designed to prevent the Persian fleet from outflanking the Thermopylae position by sea. Greek triremes used the 'periplous' and 'diekplous' tactics — encircling and breaking through enemy lines — to offset their numerical disadvantage. Storms wrecked hundreds of Persian ships before the battle even began, narrowing the odds. The fighting was fierce and losses heavy on both sides. When news arrived that Thermopylae had fallen, the Greek fleet withdrew southward.

September 480 BC · Straits of Salamis, near Athens Theater

Themistocles lured the Persian fleet — estimated at 600–800 triremes — into the narrow Straits of Salamis where numbers were irrelevant. He sent a secret message to Xerxes falsely claiming the Greeks were about to flee, prompting the Persians to seal both exits overnight. Exhausted by their nightlong manoeuvre, the Persians met the rested, motivated Greek fleet in confined waters at dawn. The heavier Greek triremes rammed their way through the Persian formation; the fleet disintegrated. Xerxes watched the disaster from his throne on the shore. Some 200 Persian ships were sunk; the Greeks lost perhaps 40.

August 479 BC · Plataea, Boeotia Theater

Mardonius, commanding the Persian land army left behind after Salamis, encamped on the plain before Plataea. A combined Greek army of some 38,000 hoplites and 70,000 light troops faced them. For eleven days the armies manoeuvred without decisive engagement as Mardonius' cavalry harassed Greek supply lines. When the Greeks attempted a night withdrawal, their formations became disordered — Mardonius seized the moment and attacked. The Spartans held their ground against determined Persian assault; Mardonius was killed in the fighting. His death broke Persian morale and the army disintegrated, pursued by Greek cavalry. Tens of thousands of Persians were killed or captured.

August 479 BC · Cape Mycale, Ionia (western Turkey) Theater

The Persian fleet, demoralized after Salamis, beached its ships at the foot of Mount Mycale on the Ionian coast and constructed a stockade. The Greek fleet pursued them from Samos. Greek infantry landed and stormed the Persian position on foot; the Ionians in Persian service mutinied and turned on their Persian commanders. The stockade was stormed, the Persian fleet destroyed, and the camp burned. The battle reignited the Ionian Revolt and opened the Aegean to Greek naval supremacy.

479–478 BC · Hellespont (Dardanelles straits) Theater

After Mycale, the Greek fleet crossed to the Hellespont to destroy the pontoon bridges Xerxes had built over the straits. They found the bridges already destroyed by storms but laid siege to the Persian-held city of Sestos, the key to controlling the straits. The siege lasted through the winter; the garrison eventually broke out and was captured. The Persian governor Artayctes was crucified — the first time Athens directly exercised military power in the Hellespont, a harbinger of empire.

466 BC · Eurymedon River mouth, southern Anatolia Theater

Cimon led a combined Delian League fleet of some 200 triremes eastward to confront a Persian naval buildup along the Anatolian coast. In a stunning double victory on the same day, he defeated the Persian fleet at the mouth of the Eurymedon River in a sea battle, then immediately landed his sailors as marines and routed the Persian army encamped ashore. The Persian fleet of perhaps 200 ships was captured or destroyed; the land force annihilated. It was the most complete Greek victory since Plataea.

450–449 BC · Cyprus and eastern Mediterranean Theater

Cimon led the Delian League's last great eastern campaign to Cyprus, aiming to liberate the island's Greek cities from Persian rule. He won naval and land battles near Salamis-in-Cyprus, but died during the siege of Citium — either of disease or a wound — at around 70 years old. The fleet, following his dying orders, continued fighting and won further victories before withdrawing. Shortly afterward, Athens and Persia concluded the Peace of Callias, formally ending the wars. Persia pledged to keep its fleet out of the Aegean; Athens agreed to stop raiding Persian territory.