In his poem "The Isles of Greece," Byron writes about the glories of ancient Greece and his desire to see it as an independent state once again. Byron touches on the highlights of ancient Greek history when he references "Salamis" and "Marathon" in his poem. He also mentions "a Persian's grave" as a reference to a time when Greece defeated the Persian Empire, at that time one of the strongest empires in the world. Byron finds it unfortunate that the Greeks had lived under Ottoman rule for so long, and he even refers to the rule as "slavery" several times in the poem. Byron believes that it is up to men like him to fight for Greek independence. Byron believes that only fighting for Greek independence will make him worthy of the ancient writers whom he admires. Byron wrote this in 1819, before Greece fought for its independence in 1821. Byron would die of an illness while assisting the Greeks in 1824.