one of the most significant battles in human history; but the battle is perhaps now more famous as the inspiration for the modern marathon race.

Cavalry, usually operating on the flanks of the main battle, were used to mop up opposing infantry put in disarray after they had been subjected to repeated salvos from the archers.

In 1926, the American company ULEN began construction on the Marathon Dam in a valley above Marathon, in order to ensure water supply for Athens. The victory was a great morale booster for the Greeks and all kinds of legends grew out of the events in September. It was completed in 1929. The marathon course is based on the legend from which the race gained its name: … The Marathon has always had a prominent place in the hearts and minds of athletes. The Persians could field superior numbers and their reputation was formidable. The total force is estimated between 10,000 and 20,000 but was probably nearer the lower figure. The victory was also commemorated in Greek sculpture by the renowned sculptor Phidias - a bronze group at Delphi which included Apollo, Artemis, and Miltiades, and a colossal bronze Athena on the Athenian acropolis.

The Athens Marathon is the ultimate Marathon experience, recreating … It represents the ultimate athletic effort —where the human body, mind and soul are tested to their limits. In addition, the site also had a nearby lake offering a plentiful supply of water for both men and horses.

Mark is a history writer based in Italy.

[n 1] Today it is part of East Attica regional unit in Athens metropolitan area. Athens when the idea of democracy was in its infancy.

One final legend of Marathon and one which has carried its name up to the present day is Herodotus’ account of a long-distance messenger (hēmerodromos) named Phidippides. . After Miltiades (the general of the Greek forces) defeated Darius' Persian forces, the Persians decided to sail from Marathon to Athens in order to sack the unprotected city. Eventually, though, the infantry on both sides engaged in battle. The Persian infantry carried a lightweight (often rectangular) wicker shield (spara) and were armed with a long dagger or curved sword (kopis), a short spear, and composite bow. Many historians and philosophers consider the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. The other settlements in the municipal unit are Agios Panteleimonas (pop. Here then, in the shelter of the Kynosoura peninsula, the Persians set up camp. Legend has it that Pheidippides, a Greek herald at the battle, was sent running from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory, which is how the marathon running race was conceived in modern times. Next in King Darius’ sights were Athens and the rest of Greece. Today, athletes who run the Athens Marathon will be running in the same footsteps as the messenger. was born at Marathon. Overall command of the Persian army was in the hands of Datis as Darius did not lead the invasion in person. [16][17] The area is susceptible to flash flooding, because of forest fires having denuded parts of the eastern slopes of Mount Penteli especially in 2006. The Spartans, celebrated as the finest fighters in Greece, were unfortunately delayed in their mobilisation because they were involved in the sacred Karneia festival and may well have been preoccupied with a local revolt by the Messenians. [5][6] The Marathonii claimed to be the first people in Greece who paid divine honours to Heracles, who possessed a sanctuary in the plain.

At this point, 2,000 Spartans finally arrived but they were unnecessary for victory was complete.

Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. In their pursuit of order and proportion, the Greeks created an ideal of beauty and perfection. The marathon has a proud history and is steeped in tradition. The lines were, therefore, broken and a confused melee was the result. However, the invaders would meet their match in 490 BCE when the Greek forces led by Athens gathered at the plain of Marathon to defend their country from foreign subjugation. Cite This Work This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. Hence Lucian speaks of "the parts of Marathon about Oenoë".[13]. But when they run the original historical course, they run not only in the footsteps of ancient Greek heroes and legends, they also run in the birthplace of democracy.

"Battle of Marathon." Although in reality the battle only delayed the Persians in their imperialistic ambitions and greater battles would follow, Marathon was the first time that mighty Persian Achaemenid Empire had been shown beatable and the battle would be represented in Greek art - literature, sculpture, architecture, and pottery - as a crucial and defining moment in the history of Greece. The battle was fought by free men with a new concept; freedom against suppression and slavery. The Marathon has always had a prominent place in the hearts and minds of athletes. He was sent to enlist the help of the Spartans before the battle and he ran to Sparta, first stopping at Athens, a total distance of 240 km (a feat repeated by an athlete in 1983 CE).

(1854–1857). The Ionian rebellion, the symbolic offering of earth and water in submission to the Persian satrap in 508 BCE, and the attack by Athens and Eretria on the city of Sardis in 499 BCE had not been forgotten either.

The advantages of the site are probably why Pisistratus also chose the spot to land c. 546 BCE on his way to establishing himself as tyrant of Athens. Written by Mark Cartwright, published on 19 May 2013 under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Most of these were archers with perhaps another 2,000 strong cavalry force. The Greeks captured seven ships of the enemy, but the rest of the fleet escaped with any Persians who had managed to climb aboard. The run became the inspiration for the Marathon event, introduced at the 1896 Modern Olympics. The Persians, now routed on the left and right, fled back to their ships, but to reach them they had to cross a wide marshy area. The first figure is reasonably accurate but the latter is likely a great underestimate for propaganda purposes. You can learn more about the Battle of Marathon and the history of this epic race on Apostolos’s website at athensmarathon.com. 1,591), Kato Souli (2,142), Vranas (1,082), Avra (191), Vothon (177), Ano Souli (232), and Schinias (264).


[+] 605b + frr. The Greeks sent a no-nonsense reply by executing the envoys, and Athens and Sparta promised to form an alliance for the defence of Greece. The name "Marathon" (Μαραθών) comes from the herb fennel, called marathon (μάραθον) or marathos (μάραθος) in Ancient Greek,[2][n 2] so Marathon literally means "a place full of fennels". Aerial photograph in John Boardman, Jasper Griffin and Oswyn Murray, "Απογραφή Πληθυσμού - Κατοικιών 2011.

19 Oct 2020. Together, these battles bought Greece time and allowed for the victories to come, first at Salamis in September 480 BCE where the Greek fleet manoeuvred the Persians into shallow waters, and at Plataea in August 479 BCE where the Greeks, fielding the largest hoplite army ever seen, won the battle which finally ended the Persian Wars in Greece. Although the Persian tactic of rapidly firing vast numbers of arrows into the enemy must have been an awesome sight, the lightness of the arrows meant that they were largely ineffective against the bronze-armoured hoplites.

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The two opposing armies were essentially representative of the two approaches to classical warfare - the Persians favoured long-range assault using archers followed up with a cavalry charge, whilst Greek warfare favoured heavily-armoured hoplites, arranged in a densely packed formation called the phalanx, with each man carrying a heavy round bronze shield and fighting at close quarters using spears and swords. At this point, democracy had not been tested or fully established. In August 480 BCE a small band of Greeks led by Spartan King Leonidas held the pass for three days, and at the same time, the Greek fleet managed to hold off the Persians at the naval Battle of Artemision.


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