 Driven back from the Aegean shores by the Delian League during the 5th century, the Persians had been recovering their position since the later part of the Peloponnesian War, and were now strong enough to dictate terms to Greece.They would maintain this position of strength until the time of Alexander the Great.As Mikhail Gasparov states in his book "Greece for Entertainment" ("Занимательная Греция"), "Artaxerxes had succeeded where Xerxes had failed; the Persian King was giving orders in Greece like it was his, and without bringing in a single soldier at that."