Marco Rubio invokes Western civilization in Athens speech

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a speech at the Pnyx in Athens, framing current global tensions as an inflection point for Western civilization. Rubio argued that the United States and Europe must rediscover ancient virtues—drawing a lineage from Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem to the American founding—to confront modern dangers, including the threat posed by Iran’s leadership.

Historian Touraj Daryaee has challenged Rubio’s historical framing of the Greco-Persian Wars. In an interview, Daryaee argued that Rubio’s characterization of the conflict as a struggle between East and West is inaccurate, describing it instead as a conflict between a massive world empire and various Greek city-states. Daryaee noted that the Persian invasion of Greece was a retaliation for the Athenian destruction of Sardis in 489 BCE.