Achaemenid destruction of Athens | |||||||
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Part of the Greco-Persian Wars | |||||||
Part of the archaeological remains called Perserschutt, or "Persian rubble": remnants of the destruction of Athens by the armies of Xerxes. Photographed in 1866, just after excavation. | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Athenian city state | Achaemenid Empire | ||||||
The Achaemenid destruction of Athens was carried out by the Achaemenid Army of Xerxes I during the Second Persian invasion of Greece, and occurred in two phases over a period of two years, in 480–479 BCE.