When these wars took place, the Persian Empire was the greatest empire the world had ever known. They had spread across Asia, Asia Minor and parts of North Africa. The ruler of the Persian Empire was King Darius and he saw Greece as an ideal place to expand his empire. He invades a Greek colony called Ionia. Darius demanded tribute, and the Ionians were furious, so they asked the city-state of Athens to help them, Athens then sailed to Ionia and defeated the Persians, and they returned, shortly afterward, the Persians returned and crushed the Ionians and destroyed them. the city of Miletus. This started the Persian-Greek Wars as the Persians advanced towards Greece. The Battle of Marathon The Battle of Marathon pitted the Athenians aided by the Plataeans against a Persian army commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The Persians sailed to a port near the city-state of Marathon, from there they sent the Persians marching to the plains of Marathon, where the Athenians and Plataeans were blocking the exits from the plains. Knowing that the small Greek army had no chance against ...