Persian Wars-To What Extend Was Persian Imperialism Responsible for the Outbreak of the Persian Wars?

Sample Essay: Persian Wars-To what extend was Persian Imperialism responsible for the outbreak of the Persian wars?

Imperialism is defined as a policy of extending a country's power and influence through colonization, use of military force, or other means. The Persians ruled through this idea of imperialism and it was this which many have questioned to if this was the reason for the beginning of the Persian wars to simply expand their own empire through conquest of the lands surrounding Greece. Or was the attack on the Greeks due to revenge from the Ionian revolt? Or was it a mixture of both, where the expanding Persian Empire towards Greece and the inevitable attempt of invasion from the Persians was factor in speeding up this invasion.

The most likely cause of the Persian wars was not directly the results of the revolting of Ionia with the help of some of the Greek states. But the uncontrollable expansion of the already massive Persian army, the clear movement of Persian colonization across to the west was eventually going to pass into Greece and as stated in source A, “the aim was conquest” the Persian armies would not stop without attempting to conquer the Greeks. The outcome of the Revolt in 499BC enraged the Persian King and grew his hate for the Athenians who were involved in the assistance in Ionian revolt. This provoked the Persians into speeding up their invasion into Greece.