Example Exam Question

From the primary sources from the Persian Wars how would the history be different if Persia was won the Persian Wars?

Outline

            Introduction

A.    Thesis: If the Persians had won the Persian Wars, everything that the Greek philosophers in the Classical Age, like Aristotle, would have been lost.

Body 1

B.     “It were indeed a monstrous thing if, after conquering and enslaving the Sacae, the Indians, the Ethiopians, the Assyrians, and many other mighty nations, not for any wrong that they had done us, but only to increase our empire, we should then allow the Greeks, who have done us such wanton injury, to escape our vengeance.” "Ancient History Sourcebook: Herodotus: Xerxes Invades Greece, from The Histories." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 27 May 2010.http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/herodotus-xerxes.html.

1.      This quote shows that the Persians did not treat the countries they conquered with respect and the Persians had an animosity with the Greeks so Greece would not have been able to flourish under their control.

           Body 2

C.     “I undertake the war, and pledge myself not to rest till I have taken and burnt Athens, which has dared, unprovoked, to injure me and my father.” "Ancient History Sourcebook: Herodotus: Xerxes Invades Greece, from The Histories." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 27 May 2010.http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/herodotus-xerxes.html.

1.      This quote shows that the Persian’s would stop at nothing to destroy Greece, specifically Athens. With Greece and Athens destroyed the Classical Age would never have happened and great minds would never had their ideas exposed to the world.

Body 3

D.    "Once let us subdue this people, and those neighbors of theirs who hold the land of Pelops the Phrygian, and we shall extend the Persian territory as far as God's heaven reaches."

a) This quote shows that the Persians wanted to rule all of Europe and would have stopped at nothing to have complete power throughout Europe.

Conclusion

E.     The ruler of Persia would stop at nothing to try to control Europe and destroy his rivals, especially the Greeks. If the Greeks had not defeated the Persian army at Salamis, the world, Greece, and knowledge would be deeply affected because if there was no Greece, there were no famous philosophers.