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The second phase of the Persian campaign began in 490 BC. The Persians sent a naval expedition to Greece and the Greek islands. The expedition carried a large army, many of them were ‘Immortals’ the elite troops of the Persian army. The Persian armada first reached the island of Naxos and it devastated this island<ref> Holland, p. 156</ref>. It later seized several more islands in the Cyclades. The Persians added all of these to their Empire. Then they headed to Eretria and they laid siege to the main city on the island. The Persians sought to make an example of the island because of its support of the Ionian Greeks in their rebellion. After a short siege, the Persians burned the main city on the island and enslaved all the inhabitants and transported them to the Persian Empire.<ref>Green, Peter. <i>The Greco-Persian Wars.</i> (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1996), p. 156</ref>
Next the Persian armada headed for the Greek mainland. They landed near Athens and they intended to destroy Athens. They were accompanied by the former tyrants of the city whom they intended to install in Athens as Persian puppets. The Athenians sent to Sparta for help but as it was a religious festival and the Spartans could not leave their city for a week.<ref>Holland, p. 167</ref> Only the small state of Palatea helped the Athenians. The Athenians hoplites rushed out of their city in order to meet the Persian invaders. They were outnumbered by as much as three to one. After a stalemate of five days they attacked the Persians and it was a stunning victory. The Persians lost many men and the Greeks sustained less than 200 casualties. The Persians retreated to their ships and then attempted to reach Athens while the Athenians hoplites were still on the battlefield<ref>Green, p. 167</ref>. The Athenians raced to their city and thwarted the Persians from landing and the forces of Darius retreated to Asia Minor. The Athenian victory amazed Greece and even the Spartans praised them for their victory at Marathon. [[File: Plato's Academy mosaic from Pompeii.jpg|thumbnail|300px|left|Plato and other philosophers in Athens from a 1st century BCE mosaic]]
==Impact on Athenian Democracy==
Athens had for many years being governed by tyrants. They had seized control after the failure of the Athenians first effort at democracy. The tyrants, known as the Peisistratids had been in power for almost fifty years and had brought stability and a measure of prosperity to Athens. The tyrants they had only been expelled some two decades previously. The young Athenian democracy was still trying to establish itself, but It was dogged by internal divisions. The Athenian system was different from the indirect or representative form of democracy that is prevalent in the modern world. Athenian democracy was a direct democracy, in which all citizens voted directly on legislation and policies. They even voted on issues such as peace and war. Only male citizens could participate in the democratic process. Slaves, women, and foreigners were not entitled to take part. The citizens voted directly in an assembly. This system was inherently unstable and especially in the years prior to the Persian invasion, it seemed likely to fail, as had the other experiments in democracy. Not all Athenians supported the democracy and the city’s traditional elite the aristocracy would often openly hinder and obstruct the workings of the assembly. The democracy was only able to maintain itself in power by regularly voting to expel those it regarded as trying to subvert it.<ref>Fine, JVA. The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History. (Harvard, Harvard University Press, 1983), p. 178</ref>
