The Greek tactic of feigning a disorganised retreat and then turning on the enemy in the phalanx formation also worked well, lessening the threat from Persian arrows and perhaps the hoplites surprised the Persians with their disciplined mobility, a benefit of being a professionally trained army. The Persian defeat at Marathon halted the Persian Empire's western expansion, and ensured continued Greek The relatively small size of the defending force has been explained as a reluctance by some Greek city-states to commit troops so far north, and/or due to religious motives, for it was the period of the sacred games at Olympia and the most important Spartan religious festival, the Karneia, and no fighting was permitted during these events. Every hoplite carried a wooden shield, called a hoplon, with an outer layer made from bronze. Why did This assistance came to nothing, and the revolt was put down in 493 BCE. the Battle of Marathon WebWhat happened at the battle of Marathon? He then joined the rest of Athenian army to march from Athens to Marathon to attempt to hold off the large Persian forces massing just off shore. Rather than continue the fight against Athens elsewhere, the Persians retreated to their own territory. Greek tactics proved superior to those of the Persians. Web. But Athens lay within a days hard march or two days leisurely one, should the Greeks not approach for battle. At that time, the Ionian Greeks were subject to the Persian King Darius I. Around fifty years before this time, the Persians, centered in the south of modern-day Iran, had rapidly expanded their territories to include Ionia, a small area on the western coast of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) that was originally settled by Greek colonists. Then after much discussion and compromise between Greek city-states, suspicious of each others' motives, a joint army of between 6,000 and 7,000 men was sent to defend the pass at Thermopylae through which the Persians must enter mainland Greece. With the Persians closing in on the Greek capitol, Athenian general Miltiades assumed command of the hastily assembled army. Robert Bliss has taught history and other social studies to students age 7 to 18 since 2009. The Battle of Marathon was where Athenians thwarted the Persian attempt to subdue it. He has a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Michigan. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". In a phalanx formation, the hoplites would stand close together, usually in columns of eight. Having caught the enemy in a double envelopment, the Greeks began to inflict heavy casualties on the lightly armored Persians. The Battle on the plain of Marathon in September 490 BCE between Greeks and the invading forces of Persian king Darius I (r. 522-486 BCE) was a victory that would go down in folklore as the moment the Greek city-states showed the world their courage and excellence and won their liberty. Wealth and resources seem an unlikely motive; other more plausible suggestions include the need to increase the prestige of the king at home or to quell once and for all a collection of potentially troublesome rebel states on the western border of the empire. In 490 BCE, they were stopped in their tracks largely by the efforts of a single Greek city, Athens. Just why Greece was coveted by Persia is unclear. The Greek's further capitalized on this advantage by running into the battle, thus minimizing the amount of time they were exposed to the arrow fire. WebMarathon soon became an almost mythical event. By the end of the battle, between 5,000 and 6,500 Persians lay dead on the field. did Battle of Marathon Flashcards | Quizlet Persian Wars: Battle of Marathon. This legendary run is the basis for the modern track and field event. As Greek and Persian warriors faced each other on the battlefield, the states of China were not yet a unified empire and would soon begin a centuries long period of warfare. What happened at Battle of Marathon? The remaining hoplites, now trapped and without their inspirational king, were subjected to a barrage of Persian arrows until no man was left standing. He had just run the full 40 kilometers from Marathon to Athens. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Greek Phalanx Warfare Formation & Tactics | What is a Phalanx? Depots of equipment and supplies were laid, a canal dug at Chalkidike, and boat bridges built across the Hellespont to facilitate the movement of troops. The second day followed the pattern of the first, and the Greek forces still held the pass. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. For decades the mere mention of the Persian army was enough to terrify the Greek city-states they were an unknown entity, supported by incredibly strong cavalry and vast numbers of soldiers, and seemingly impossible for the small, contentious peninsula to confront. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. The battle began with an initial stalemate that lasted for five days, after which the Greeks attacked. On the sixth day, however, the Athenians inexplicably abandoned their plan of maintaining a defensive stance and attacked the Persians, a decision that seems foolhardy considering the enemy they faced. The Roman Republic was only six years old. Miltiades employed a successful strategy in which he weakened the center of his force to strengthen its wings, causing confusion among the Persians. The wall was in a state of ruin, but the Spartans made the best repairs they could in the circumstances. I feel like its a lifeline. Most modern historians believe the Greeks marched at normal speed until they arrived within range of the Persian archers (approximately 200 meters) and then ran the remaining distance in order to close the gap more quickly. The marathon race is named after the false story that Pheidippides ran from Marathon to Athens (a distance of 26.2 miles) to deliver news of the victory. This event was later conflated with the soon-to-be victorious Athenians marching back to Athens at a quickened pace. 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. Who was the Athenian runner who ran from Athens to Sparta? Here are 10 facts about it. The Battle of Marathon was fought because the Persian Army wanted to defeat the Greek city-states that supported the uprisings in Ionia, part of modern-day Turkey, against the Persian Empire. Persian soldiers, on the other hand, were more lightly armored. 1 What happened to Athens after the Battle of Marathon? Battle of Thermopylae. In winning the battle, as well as defeating the next Persian invasion ten years later, the Greeks secured their independence. The Battle of Marathon Battle of Marathon. 30 chapters | In 486 BCE, Xerxes I (r. 486-465 BCE) became king upon the death of Darius and massive preparations for invasion were made. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. "Battle of Thermopylae." The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. They gave us philosophy, democracy, language, art, and much more; which Great Renaissance thinkers used to dig Europe out of the Dark Ages and deliver it to modernity a reflection of just how advanced the Greeks were for their time. - Mythology, Overview, Emperor Henry IV of the Holy Roman Empire, King Henry IV of France: Biography & History, Calling of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio: Analysis, Allegory of the Outbreak of War by Peter Paul Rubens, Altdorfer's The Battle of Alexander at Issus: Subject & Style, Lucas Cranach the Elder: Biography & Paintings, Working Scholars Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community. Mound (soros) in which the Athenian dead were buried after the Battle of Marathon. was part of the first Persian invasion of Greece. From behind the shields, the hoplites could still strike at their enemies with their long spears. The two opposing armies were essentially representative of the two approaches to Classical warfare - Persian warfare favoured long-range assault using archers followed up with a cavalry charge, whilst the Greeks 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. The outnumbered Athenians famously defeated the Persian armies on the beach of Marathon, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Athens. The hoplite's main weapon was a spear, approximately two and a half meters long. The victory of the Marathon men captured. They fully understood the advantages that the Greeks were deriving from their position, and while they might be able to overwhelm them eventually by virtue of numbers, losing a large portion of their Persian forces on a foreign shore was a logistical problem that Datis was not willing to risk. There would be no compromises. The Battle of Marathon also gave rise to the legend of Pheidippides who reputedly ran from the battlefield to Athens to bring news of the victory. Get unlimited access to over 88,000 lessons. In 490 BCE, the Battle of Marathon took place between Athenian Greeks, with help from Plataea, and the Persian Empire. The battle of Marathon is characterized by the unequal distribution of hoplites within the phalanx. 429 lessons. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. The mens last two She has taught college History and Government courses. Indeed, for this very reason, the Spartans had arrived too late at the earlier Battle of Marathon. Who was the winner of the Battle of Marathon? Thermopylae was an excellent choice for defence with mountains running down into the sea leaving only a narrow pass along the coast. Responding to the impending crisis, Athens raised around 9,000 hoplites and dispatched them to Marathon where they blocked the exits from the nearby plain and prevented the enemy from moving inland. Read about what happened at the Battle of Marathon in ancient Greece. An error occurred trying to load this video. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. Fink, Dennis L., The Battle of Marathon in Scholarship, McFarland & Company, Inc., 2014. The Battle of Marathon took place in Greece, not far from Athens. Displeased with Mardonius' failure, Darius began planning a second expedition for 490 BC after learning of political instability in Athens. These ideas were spread much further by the conquests of Alexander the Great, who eventually destroyed the Persian Empire in 336 BCE. Darius' response to this diplomatic outrage was to launch a naval force of 600 ships and 25,000 men to attack the Cyclades and Euboea, leaving the Persians just one step away from the rest of Greece. Political Aspects of the Classical Age of Greece, Wars of the Alexander the Great: Battle of Chaeronea, Persian Wars - Battle of Marathon - 490 BCE, Biography of Artemisia I, Warrior Queen of Halicarnassus, Rulers of the Persian Empire: Expansionism of Cyrus and Darius, The Battle of Gaugamela During the Wars of Alexander the Great, The Peloponnesian War: Causes of the Conflict, M.S., Information and Library Science, Drexel University, B.A., History and Political Science, Pennsylvania State University. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The Battle of Marathon: The Greco-Persian Wars Escalate What were the consequences of the battle of Marathon? Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter! Cartwright, M. (2013, April 16). The Athenian force numbered around 10,000, including 1,000 Plataeans, and was led by the Athenian General Miltiades. On the first day, Xerxes sent his Median and Kissian troops, and after their failure to clear the pass, the elite Immortals entered the battle but in the brutal close-quarter fighting, the Greeks held firm. Because they were in a religious ceremony and had to wait until the next full moon which was when it Wild in their fear, some of the Persians tried to escape via the nearby swamps, ignorant and unaware of the treacherous terrain, where they drowned. Whatever the case, the Persian horses played no significant role in the coming battle. Although the Persians had enjoyed the upper hand in previous contests during the recent Ionian revolt, the terrain at Thermopylae would better suit Greek warfare. Free men, in respect of their own laws, had sacrificed themselves in order to defend their way of life against foreign aggression. - Mythology & Facts, Who was Telemachus? Leonidas' bullish response to Xerxes request was 'moln labe' or 'come and get them' and so battle commenced. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Mark is a full-time author, researcher, historian, and editor. The Greeks then formed a phalanx by standing close together, typically in columns of eight, and using long spears to strike at their enemies from behind a wall of shields. The Battle of Marathon was fought in August or September 490 BC during the Persian Wars (498 BC448 BC) between Greece and the Persian Empire. When the Greeks held their position, Xerxes once again sent envoys to offer the defenders a last chance to surrender without bloodshed if the Greeks would only lay down their arms. 10 Facts About the Battle of Marathon | History Hit The Spartan king, on the third day of the battle, rallied his small force - the survivors from the original Spartan 300, 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans - and made a rearguard stand to defend the pass to the last man in the hope of delaying the Persians progress, in order to allow the rest of the Greek force to retreat or also possibly to await relief from a larger Greek force. Despite being greatly inferior in numbers, the Greeks held the narrow pass for three days with Spartan king Leonidas fighting a last-ditch defence with a small force of Spartans and other Greek hoplites. With your support millions of people learn about history entirely for free, every month. World History Encyclopedia. Desperate, the Ionians asked many of the mainland Greek city-states to send help. But the Greeks remained outnumbered and outmatched, the enemy they faced, according to ancient historians, standing at over 100,000 men strong. In addition to the land forces, the Greek poleis sent a fleet of trireme warships which held position off the coast of Artemision (or Artemisium) on the northern coast of Euboea, 40 nautical miles from Thermopylae. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. And the peoples of Peru were approximately 300 years away from cultivating the potato. Finding no battle to be fought, the Spartans toured the bloody battlefield, still littered with numerous rotting corpses the cremation and burial of which took days and offered their praise and congratulations. Special interests include art, architecture, and discovering the ideas that all civilizations share. He betrayed Darius when tensions rose with Greece, returning home to take a command in the Athenian army. "Battle of Thermopylae." Leonidas had stationed the contingent of Phokian troops to guard this vital point but they, thinking themselves the primary target of this new development, withdrew to a higher defensive position when the Immortals attacked. The Persian Empire in 500 BC. In around 500 BCE, the Persian Empire looked poised to continue their western expansion and absorb tiny, disunited Greece into their fold. began his conquest by first sending envoys to attempt a diplomatic conquest of the northernmost of the Grecian kingdoms: Macedonia, the homeland of future Greek leader, Alexander the Great. We want people all over the world to learn about history. If your web page requires an HTML link, please insert this code: The Battle of Marathon: The Greco-Persian Wars Advance on Athens. A victory that proved to them that, together, and with the use of careful timing and tactics, they could stand up to the might of the great Persian Empire. Help our mission to provide free history education to the world! Early in the morning, the hoplites once more met the enemy, but this time Xerxes could attack from both front and rear and planned to do so but, in the event, the Immortals behind the Greeks were late on arrival. The Persian infantry carried a lightweight (often crescent-shaped) wicker shield and were armed with a long dagger or battleaxe, a short spear, and composite bow. The first modern Olympics, held in 1896, used the path from Marathon to Athens and set the course distance at approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles). He ran a distance of over 225 kilometers (140 miles), arriving in Sparta the day after he left. Create your account. Their king, who had watched Persias forces easily consume all that stood in their path in the years leading up to this, was far too terrified to resist the takeover. Though todays official marathon distance of 42.195 kilometers is not based on the run in Greece, but rather on the distance regularized by the 1908 Olympics in London. Following Greek support for an uprising in Ionia (a coastal area in modern-day western Turkey), Darius I, emperor of the Persian Empire dispatched forces west to inflict retribution on those Greek city-states that had aided the rebels. Peloponnesian War Causes & Results | What Caused the Peloponnesian War? Hornblower, Simon & Spawforth, Antony & Eidinow, Esther. This is why a full marathon race is 26.2 miles. Seeing that the opportunity to strike the previously lightly-defended city had passed, the Persians withdrew back to Asia. Our publication has been reviewed for educational use by Common Sense Education, Internet Scout (University of Wisconsin), Merlot (California State University), OER Commons and the School Library Journal. By the first years of the 5th century BCE, the Persian Achaemenid Empire, under the rule of Darius I (r. 522-486 BCE), was already expanding into mainland Europe and had subjugated Thrace and Macedonia. The Battle of Marathon - Facts, Summary, and Significance - S Mound (soros) in which the Athenian dead were buried after the We contribute a share of our revenue to remove carbon from the atmosphere and we offset our team's carbon footprint. The Battle of Marathon also gave rise to the legend that the Athenian herald Pheidippides ran from the battlefield to Athens to announce the Greek victory before dropping dead. 6 Who was the Athenian runner who ran from Athens to Sparta? As Herodotus claims in his account of the battle in book VII of The Histories, the Oracle at Delphi had been proved right when she proclaimed that either Sparta or one of her kings must fall. Next in King Darius' sights were Athens and the rest of Greece. When did Terry Fox start his marathon of Hope? February 1979 Terry begins training for his Marathon of Hope, a cross-Canada run to raise money for cancer research and awareness. During his training he runs over 5,000 kilometres (3,107 miles). Bantu speaking migrants had recently arrived in modern-day South Africa. Casualties for the Battle of Marathon are generally listed as 203 Greek dead and 6,400 for the Persians. Darius the Great Overview & Quotes | Who was King Darius? Datis chose to land his army at the Bay of Marathon, a largely sound military decision, as the natural promontory provided excellent shelter for his ships, and the plains onshore offered good movement for his cavalry. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. WebThe battles of Marathon and Thermopylae are two of the most famous engagements of antiquity fought in Greece. Last mile update 11:39 a.m. Taking heaving losses, the Persian ranks broke and they fled back to their ships. Unification of Northern China by Shi Huangdi | Who was Qin Shi Huang? Due to the tactical superiority of the Greek hoplite soldiers, who fought in the phalanx formation, the Athenians triumphed over the Persians. He suggests that the summer heat of August may have pushed the runner He also knew that Marathon was far enough away that the Athenians wouldnt be able to surprise him while his own forces unloaded the ships, a scene of utter pandemonium that would have placed his men in a vulnerable position. Moving south, the Persians landed near Marathon, approximately 25 miles north of Athens. Therefore, the Spartans, widely credited as being the best fighters in Greece and the only polis with a professional army, contributed only a small advance force of 300 hoplites (from an estimated 8,000 available) to the Greek defensive force, these few being chosen from men with male heirs. There was also the matter of the Persian cavalry, numbering around 1,000. Ten years later the Figure 1: A map of Ancient Greece with regional dialects. "Persian Wars: Battle of Marathon." Tomb of the Plataeans at Marathon. I would definitely recommend Study.com to my colleagues. If the Persian army made it to the city, they would be able to block whatever might remain of the Greek army from returning to defend it, and Athens had no remaining soldiers left within. After a failed naval expedition in 492 BC, Darius sent a second army two years later. An ambitious conjecture seeks to equate the 192 Marathon However long the distance, by running into battle, the Greeks limited the time they were exposed to Persian arrows. This tale of romantic sacrifice then caught the attention of author Robert Browning in 1879, who wrote a poem entitled Pheidippides, which deeply engaged his contemporaries. WebFor all of its significance, the Battle of Marathon admittedly did little more than delay the encroaching invaders. Marathon Persian Wars Q & A The Battle of Marathon is one of the many battles that Persians and Greeks fought against one another; it was also an important battle in deciding the future fate of Greece as a country of free men. The truth, however, is that A full marathon race is 42.195 km, or 26.2 miles - the exact distance between Marathon and Athens. The stress of dealing with a revolt in Egypt further exacerbated his poor health, and by October, he was dead. https://www.thoughtco.com/persian-wars-battle-of-marathon-p2-2360876 (accessed May 1, 2023). This was not forthcoming as the Athenian messenger had arrived during the festival of Carneia, a sacred time of peace. The modern marathon race is named for this incorrect telling of events. As Simonedes' epitaph at the site of the fallen stated: 'Go tell the Spartans, you who read: We took their orders and here lie dead'. Mary has a Master's Degree in History with 18 advanced hours in Government. Athens, along with the smaller port city of Eretria, were amenable to the cause and readily pledged their assistance. The Battle of Marathon occurred in 490 BCE, when the Persian Empire was at its height. ThoughtCo. WebThe battle of Marathon was fought in September of 490 B.C., when the Persian king Darius I sent a force to subdue Athens after the Athenians had supported the Ionian Greeks during their unsuccessful rebellion against Persian rule in western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). The victory at Marathon may not have been a crushing defeat of Persia as a whole, but it still stands as a major turning point. The pass of Thermopylae, located 150 km north of Athens was an excellent choice for defence with steep mountains running down into the sea leaving only a narrow marshy area along the coast. Thermopylae is a mountain pass near the sea in northern Greece which was the site of several battles in antiquity, the most famous being that between Persians and Greeks in August 480 BCE. Even the Romans, famous for their legions, used a Greek-style hoplite army until 315 BCE. Refusing to relent, the Athenians splashed into the sea after them, burning a few ships and managing to capture seven, bringing them to shore. THE GREEK GENERAL, MILTIADES, AFTER MUCH HESITATION, STARTED WITH MEN IN THE CENTER MOVING FORWARD AND HAD SOLDIERS COME AROUND THE SIDES ALSO TO ATTACK. This victorys importance would become even more critical some years later, when Darius son, Xerxes I, launched a colossal invasion of Greece. Battle of Thermopylae - World History Encyclopedia The Spartans toured the battlefield at Marathon, and agreed that the Athenians had won a great victory. It states that as dawn broke on the sixth day, the Greeks gazed across the plain of Marathon to see that the Persian cavalry forces had suddenly disappeared, right from under their noses. The Athenians realized they had only two options to defend their families to the end, or to be killed, very likely tortured, enslaved, or mutilated (as the Persian army had a fun habit of cutting off the ears, noses, and hands of their defeated enemies). But their utter victory at Eretria, an ally of Athens and a city that they had laid siege to and enslaved after being offered surrender, was a tactical mistake that showed Persias hand. Athens had been spared the revenge of Darius, though the Persian king was far from finished. World History Encyclopedia. The victory helped boost Greek morale and inspired confidence that their military could beat the Persians. The Battle of Marathon was where Athenians thwarted the Persian attempt to subdue it. This allowed Greek ideas to further develop and spread, greatly influencing the Western world even today. Even so, it wouldnt be until 500 B.C.