The Persian War is believed by some to have been the inspiration for the story of the Atlantean invasion described by Plato. This idea fails on two principal grounds, date and geography. Since the Persian War took place around 500-449 BC, this would make it subsequent to Solon’s visit to Egypt (570-526 BC).

Apart from this date discrepancy, Jürgen Spanuth lists^[015] other divergences of the Persian Invasion theory from Plato’s text. Spanuth, together with many other authors, favours the Sea Peoples or as he puts it ‘the North Sea Peoples’, being the Atlanteans of Plato’s tale.

Pierre Vidal-Naquet, a prominent sceptic, is adamant that the Persian Wars, with some modifications, parallel the Athenian war with Atlantis. In late 2008 a new theory about Atlantis, was launched^(a) by August Hunt that purports to link Atlantis with the Persian Empire with either Persepolis or Susa as the Atlantean capital described by Plato. He also offers the curious explanation for Plato’s 9,000 years for the age of Atlantis as being in reality a reference to the number of Athenians present at the Battle of Marathon!

If the Persians were in fact the Atlanteans of Plato’s story, it seems rather odd that their invasion fleet, as recorded by Herodotus (Bk.7.89), included 200 Egyptian ships, at the same time that Athens and Egypt were supposedly allies in opposition to Atlantis!

^(a) http://www.atlantisarchives.org/20081026/library/articles/atalante-and-the-persian-empire