See U in History
Ancient History
The Battle of Marathon
The Persians had managed to asphyxiate the rebellion of Greek cities in Asia Minor,
which attempted to get rid of the Persian rule, with the support from the city of Athens.
Darius was determined to punish the city of Athens.
So much so that Emperor Darius
ordered his servant to keep that in his mind.
While serving the Emperor’s dinner, his servant would tell him:
- Master, don't forget the Athenians.
The Persians mobilized a large army, and departed to Greece on their vessels.
Among the Persians, the former Greek tyrant Hippias could be found, who had been expelled from Athens,
a city that had become a democracy.
If the Persians managed to dominate Greece, Hippias would become the ruler of the region,
but would have to swear allegiance and pay tribute to the Persian Empire.
And so the former tyrant led the Persians to the beaches of the plain of Marathon,
located next to the city of Athens.
Realizing that the Persians were getting nearer,
the Athenians sent the courier Pheidippides to Sparta, in order to ask for the latter’s help.
The Spartans replied saying that they were celebrating Carnea and, therefore,
could only send reinforcements after the 10-day feast.
Led by the General Miltiades, approximately 10 thousand Greeks headed towards the fields of Marathon.
The Greek general strategically positioned his troops on the top of a hill.
From up there, they spotted the enormous Persian army with approximately 50 thousand units.
Nonetheless, the clash took a long time to happen, because, despite having fewer men,
the defensive position at the top of the hill favored the Greeks, who were still expecting the reinforcements from Sparta.
Adding to that, the Persians still believed that, with Hippias’ reappearances,
troops loyal to the tyrant would split the Athenian army in two.
Neither the Spartans emerged, nor did those who were loyal to Hippias.
After a few days, the Persians decided to act.
They decided to split their army, with more than 20 thousand units embarking again in their vessels.
Among the embarked troops one could find the mighty Persian cavalry, always decisive in the battlefield.
The Persians were planning to leave 30 000 soldiers with the mission to hold the Greek troops,
while the ships with the remaining 20 thousand men would go directly to Athens, which was unprotected.
The city only had children, women and old people.
Women prayed to the goddess Athena, the goddess of strategic war, and Nike, the goddess of victory.
They had been given orders to commit suicide if the Greeks lost against the Persians.
The Athenians were in a rather difficult situation. Even after embarking almost half of their army,
the Persian numbers, inland, were three times greater than the Greeks.
However, General Miltiades, realizing that the Persians no longer had their cavalry,
which was sailing to Athens, noticed that the Greeks could have an opportunity against the Persian army.
The general decided to relinquish his strong defensive position and launch an attack
To match the length of the lengthy enemy line,
Miltiades decided to stretch the
phalanxes, which stood at the center of the formation,
thus matching the length of the enemy line, hence preventing the Persians to flank the Greek units.
The Greek General weakened the center of his formation and aligned the best troops at the flanks.
His plan was to beat the enemy’s flank with his lateral troops, and then help those who were fighting at the center.
It was an inventive plan, yet extremely risky.
But ahead of them they had to face yet another obstacle.
The amazing Persian archers,
deadly from a distance of 200 meters.
The Greek phalanxes moved quite slowly in order to keep their formation aligned,
and so they would be exposed to the devastating pouring of Persian arrows for a long timespan.
Miltiades did the unthinkable.
He ordered the Greeks to run the final one hundred meters, to cross the death zone as fast as possible.
The Persians were flabbergasted to see the Greeks running towards them.
It was not normal at all to see a phalanx running, particularly if they had to carry more than 30kg of equipment.
The rainfall of arrows barely had any consequence,
and now the two troops were face to
face and the bloodbath was about to unfurl.
The one-on-one clash was intense.
In the beginning, the Greek phalanxes, despite being weaker, were able to handle the waves of Persian attacks.
However, due to a large number of Persian soldiers, the center of the Greek army started to give in.
Realizing that they were about to win, Datis, the Persian General, strengthened the attack.
The alignment of the Greek center was almost collapsing.
However, the elite Greek troops, fighting at the flanks, managed to defeat the Persian opposition.
And move towards the center to help their line.
The Persian troops were now being attacked from three different directions.
The panic began to spread among the Persians, as they witnessed hundreds of their soldiers
tumbling down.
It was not just one more battle, it had become a massacre.
The Persian soldiers began to
fall by the thousands.
Retreating was the only way out.
The invading Persians ran desperately towards the vessels.
The Greek victory was total.
However, the Persian squad which was heading toward Athens still had to be taken into account.
So, despite having been wearied down by the battle, the Greeks quickly went back home to stand for it.
But Miltiades remembered the orders given to Greek women before the battle,
to kill themselves in case of a Greek defeat.
And he feared that if the Persian vessels were spotted before the Athenian army, they would put that plan in motion.
So the courier Pheidippides headed to Athens as quickly as possible.
After completing 42 km, he reached the central square of Athens and, using all the air he had left, yelled:
- Victory
Collapsing dead right after that.
His achievement is still remembered today with marathon events.
When the Persians arrived at the port of Athens, they met Miltiades and his almost untouched army.
During the battle of Marathon, approximately 6000 Persians died, but only 192 Greeks.
Realizing that victory would be impossible, the Persian General ordered his vessels to turn back and head home.
After the victory, and as a tribute to the Gods, the edification of the Parthenon started.
The most famous of all Greek monuments, and dedicated to the goddess Athena.
A few days after the conflict, the tardy Spartan army finally arrived, stunned by the Athenian victory.
They visit the fields of Marathon and, faced with the pile of Persian corpses, perceived that the region had a new power.
The victory of the Greeks in Marathon represents much more than just a great military victory.
We owe to those brave Greeks warriors the existence of the essence of our Western culture.
