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<youtube>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cubGxusJhw</youtube> [[File: Miltiades_Munich.jpg|300px200px|thumbnail|left|Bust of the Athenian General, Miltiades]]__NOTOC__Few battles in the ancient world had as much impact on history as the Battle of Marathon. The battle has provided a fodder for numerous books, documentaries, and movies, which often portray the event as one of the an important battles battle in the existential struggle between European freedom and Oriental despotism. The reality of the Battle of Marathon marathons reality is much less hyperbolic and much more complex than the popular media often depicts, although it was just as important.
The Battle of Marathon was a turning point in the Greco-Persian Wars (499-449 BC) as it put a check on the mighty Achaemenid Persian military juggernaut that was threatening to inundate all of Greece and put the Greek people under their tyranny. The “Great King” Darius I (ruled 522-486 BC) of the Achaemenid Empire ruthlessly crushed the Ionian Revolt (499-493 BC) of the Greek-Anatolian city-states, which proved to be the first round of the Greco-Persian Wars and the event that placed the what was at the time the not so important city-state of Athens directly in the path of Persian aggression. The Athenians supported their Greek-Ionian cousins in the revolt, thereby making them the eternal enemies of Persians and causing Darius I to send a large amphibious invasion force to Athens in 490 BC. Despite being outnumbered, the Athenians pushed back the Persian tide on an inconsequential plain near a small town known as Marathon.
The Athenians were clearly underdogs at the Battle of Marathon, but achieved a convincing tactical and moral victory for a number of reasons that were both tangible and intangible. Among the tangible reasons for the Athenian victory were the high-quality of their commanders, especially Miltiades, who knew the capabilities and limitations of their force and what they could expect from the Persians. The Athenian commanders were familiar with the terrain and used it accordingly, as opposed to the myopic Persian commanders who relied almost solely on their numbers.
====The Ionian Revolt====
[[File: Darius.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right|Relief of Darius I from Persepolis]]
The event that placed Athens, and later Sparta and most of Greece, in the cross-hairs of the Persians was their involvement in the Ionian Revolt. The Greek city-states in the coastal region of the Turkey's modern nation-state of Turkey, which was known in ancient times as “Ionia,” were firmly under the control of the Achaemenid Persians at the beginning of the fifth century BC as a “satrapy” or province. Ionia was listed as an Achaemenid satrapy in Persian inscriptions from Persia to Egypt and was written about by the fifth century BC Greek historian Herodotus, who noted that the province was quite lucrative as it supplied a yearly tribute of 400 talents of silver. <ref> Herodotus. <i> The Histories.</i> Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. (London: Penguin Books, 2003), Book III, 90</ref> The mainland Greeks continued to trade with their Ionian cousins and maintained reasonable diplomatic relations with the Persians until events unfolded in Ionia in 499 BC that set them against each other permanently.
Things moved quickly in Ionia after Histiaeus – who was a Greek appointed by the Persians to rule the Ionian city of Miletus as a puppet tyrant – left the city on business and was temporarily replaced by a man named Aristagoras. The new tyrant looked across the Aegean Sea to Athens as inspiration as that city had recently overthrown its tyranny and replaced it with democracy—Aristagoras endeavored to do the same in Miletus. Soon, news spread throughout Ionia and all the Greek cities in Anatolia what Aristagoras had done and so many followed suit and expelled their tyrants. The actions were considered rebellion by Darius I who soon sent a large force to quell the growing disturbance. <ref> Forrest, George. “Greece: The History of the Archaic Period.” In <i>The Oxford History of Greece and the Hellenistic World.</i> Edited by John Boardman, Jasper Griffin, and Oswyn Murray. (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001), p. 37</ref>
Once the Athenians learned of the fate of Eretria, the fear in the city must have been palpable. The Athenians knew that the Persian army was headed in their direction next and that there was little to no deal that could be made. Although Herodotus gives no numbers on the size of the Persian army, all modern scholars agree that it was larger than anything the Athenians could field. A high estimate is around 90,000, although that number includes sailors, <ref> Hammond, N. G. L. “The Campaign and Battle of Marathon.” <i>Journal of Hellenic Studies.</i> 88 (1968) p. 33</ref> while a low estimate puts that number at 12,000 to 15,000 fighting men. <ref> Dpemges, Norman A. “The Campaign and Battle of Marathon.” <i>Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte.</i> 47 (1998) p. 6</ref> Whichever number is true, the Athenians were outnumbered and facing an existential threat. But the fear that the Athenians felt after the destruction Eretria may have actually worked to their advantage during the battle because they knew that if they did not win then they would die and their families would be sold into slavery.
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====The Battle====
===Other Factors for Athenian Victory===
[[File: hoplite.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Greek Vase Depicting Hoplite Warriors]]
Although Miltiades' planning and battlefield strategies are the primary reasons why the Athenians were victorious at Marathon, there were a couple of other factors that should be considered. The fact that the Greeks had rights as citizens and were the first people to articulate the abstract idea of “freedom” that is often taken for granted today cannot be understated. The Athenians had just overthrown their tyranny in 510 BC, so most of the men fighting at Marathon knew that if they lost the battle then it would be a return to the old system. Freedom was something worth fighting for and according to Herodotus, it made the Athenians fight better.
“For while they were oppressed under tyrants, they had no better success in war than any of their neighbours, yet, once the yoke was flung off, they proved the finest fighters in the world.” <ref> Herodotus, Book V, 78</ref>
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[[Category:wikis]][[Category:Ancient Greek History]]
Updated November 21, 2020
