was an association of Greek city-states, members numbering between 150 173, to 330 under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Plataea at the end of the Second Persian invasion of Greece
The wars between Persia and Greece took place in the early part of the 5th century BC. Persia had a huge empire and had every intention of adding Greece to it. The Persian king Darius first attacked Greece in 490 BC, but was defeated at the Battle of Marathon by a mainly Athenian force. This humiliation led to the attempt to conquer Greece in 480-479 BC.