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Homework: The significance of the battle of Marathon for the Athenians and the other Greeks The battle of Marathon was a major turning point for the Athenians. In the late Sixth Century, some twenty years before this battle, the Athenians had begun to develop a democratic system of government in which each man had the right to speak about and vote on state policy. Each citizen was given some measure of power and responsibility for what happened in his state. BUT – this system was new and no-one knew if it would last. We know that Athens went on to become a highly successful state. Just over sixty years after the battle of Marathon, her leader, Pericles, was claiming that the city was an example to the rest of Greece. Indeed, Athens was a cultural centre with philosophers, historians, playwrights, architects and artists from all over the Greek world coming to the city. Athens became a leading state, with numerous political allies, and even turned her alliances into an empire, so that much of the Greek world was subject to her power. Marathon may have given the Athenians the confidence to move forward and take a more prominent role in Greece. To what extent Marathon is responsible for the development of Athens it is impossible to say. But if the Athenians lost the battle, they might well have become subjects of the Persians and become part of the Persian Empire. Given the Spartans somewhat laid back attitude before Marathon, it seems unlikely that they would have come to the aid of the Athenians had this happened. Herodotus does not speak much about the consequences of the battle. However, something of his view may be implied by the speech which he puts into the mouth of Miltiades, as he was attempting to persuade Callimachus that it was time to fight. ‘It is down to you, Kallimachos, either to enslave Athens or to make her free and to leave a memorial of yourself for the whole span of human history greater than even Harmodios and Aristogeiton. For now the Athenians have come to the greatest crisis they have ever faced, and if they submit in slavery to the Persians, it is clear what they will suffer when handed over to Hippias; but if this city survives, it will be able to become the most powerful of all the Greek cities. … If you accept my opinion about what to do, our fatherland will be free and will be the first city in Greece. But if you choose to vote with those who do not wish to fight, you will achieve the opposite of what I have just said. Herodotus, 6.109 This speech is, of course, written after the event by Herodotus, at a time when Athens had become one of the greatest states in the Greek world. It does show, however, that Herodotus at least saw Marathon as a key moment in the development of the city. One important aspect of the Athenian victory was the absence of the Spartans: the Athenians had become a military force to be reckoned with. Until that time, everyone turned to Sparta for military help – the Ionians, for example, had done this when they wished to start their revolt. Now, however, the Athenians had been successful, and all the Spartans could do was to congratulate them. This must have strengthened Athens’ position both for the coming battles against Xerxes and, subsequently, in the development of her defensive league against Persia, the Delian League, which later became the Athenian Empire. The Delian League After the defeat of the Persians in 479BC, the Greeks were faced with the question of how to protect themselves against the continuing threat posed by the Persians. The Spartans were not willing to take on the burden of leadership, so the Athenians began a defensive league called the Delian League. It was so called because its treasury was at Delos, an island sacred to Apollo. Members of the league paid either tribute money or ships to the Athenians, who, in return, guaranteed their safety from Persian attack. During the course of the fifth century, this League changed into an Empire for the Athenians, who came to have ever increasingly power over their allies. The Athenians themselves held the victors of Marathon in great esteem. Some forty years later, their leader Pericles persuaded the Athenians to build the Parthenon, a great temple on the Acropolis in the centre of Athens. Around the centre of this temple runs a sculptural frieze which depicts a religious procession in Athens, the Panatheaic procession. There are 192 men in this procession, and some believe that these were the victors of Marathon. There is no written evidence to this effect, but the fact that there are 192 men is suggestive. If this is this case, it would reflect the highest possible honour for those who died: to be shown on a temple, the house of the goddess Athena, at a time when the Greeks were only just beginning to show humans on their temples. In the second century AD, a Greek doctor named Pausanias travelled around Greece, and wrote an extensive guidebook. He visited Marathon over half a millennium after the battle, and described the place as follows: There is an area called Marathon… At this point in Attica, the barbarians landed and were overpowered in battled and they lost some of their ships which they were putting off from the land. There is a tomb of these Athenians in the plain, and on it grave-markers giving the names of each of those who died by their tribe, and another for the Plataeans from Boeotia and another for slaves. For slaves also fought then for the first time. And there is a separate monument for Miltiades, son of Cimon, alone, although he died later… There through the whole night it is possible to hear the horses neighing and men fighting… The Marathonians worship those who died in this battle, calling them heroes… The Athenians say that they buried the Persians, as the divine law always requires a corpse to be hidden in earth, but I was not able to find a tomb. I could not seen a mound nor anything other indication, as they took them to a trench and throw them in haphazardly. Pausanias, 1.32 Herodotus also tells us that before the Battle at Marathon, no Greek could hear the name ‘Persian’ without terror. Perhaps the events of this day gave the Athenians and other Greeks to face the Persian threat when it reappeared in 480BC. Darius returned to Persia, and never again fought against the Greeks. It was left to his son, Xerxes, to launch the next expedition. TASK 2E 1. Describe two ways in which the victors at Marathon were honoured by the Athenians. 2. Explain two reasons why the victory at Marathon was significant for the Athenians. 3. Describe how you think the battle of Marathon might have affected how the Athenians were seen by the rest of the Greeks. TASK 2F: Source-Based Exercise 1. Read the section from the speech of Miltiades given above, Herodotus, 6.109. (a) Summarise Miltiades’ seech. (b) Explain whether you think this is what Miltiades actually said. (c) Explain why you think Herodotus included this account at this point in his narrative. 2. Read the excerpt from Pausanias, and note that he was writing in the second century AD. (a) What does this passage tell us about how the Athenians honoured those who fought at Marathon? (b) What does this passage tell us about how the Persian corpses were treated? (c) What information is given in this passage which is not in Herodotus? Why do you think Herodotus did not include it? (d) How reliable do you think Pausanias is as a historical source? Explain your answer. Lesson 10: Xerxes decision to invade Greece Introduction After Darius’ failed attempts to take Greece, he returned to Persia. He was angered by what had happened at Marathon. He planned for another attack on Greece. He summoned soldiers from throughout Asia. However, in the third year after Marathon he faced a rebellion in Egypt. He decided to go to war against both Greece and Egypt. Darius died before he could start both expeditions. His two sons fought over the succession – but Xerxes was successful – but at first was only interested in defeating Egypt. 3.1 Reasons for Xerxes’ expedition against the Greeks Xerxes was in a difficult position. He wanted to get revenge for his father against the Greeks. Particularly the burning of Sardis and defeat at Marathon. When Darius died in 485BC, Xerxes may have felt duty-bound to complete the job left unfinished by his father. Another factor which may have motivated Xerxes was the desire to expand the empire. The kings before him, including Darius, increased the size of the Persian Empire. Conquering Greece would help to establish his status as King. In addition, fighting away from home was always a good way to avoid rebellion in the empire. Herodotus reports that his army was drawn from many places throughout the empire: soldiers who were fighting for their king were far less likely to fight against him. Herodotus gives us an account of Xerxes’ motivations which requires careful consideration. He tells us that at first Xerxes was not at all interested in invading Greece. He was more interested in dealing with the Egyptians, who had rebelled in the final year of Darius’ reign. Mardonius, Xerxes’ cousin, kept on talking to him, reminding him of the injuries which the Athenians had done to the Persians. He suggested to him, that if he led an army against Athens, his name would be honoured throughout the world, and it would deter others from attacking Persia (Herodotus, 7.5). Herodotus also states that Mardonius added to these points that Europe (i.e. Greece in Europe) was a beautiful place, and only the Persian king should really be ruling there. Herodotus notes that Mardonius was really motivated by the desire to become governor of Greece himself. In addition to Persian court politics, Greek politics determined that the Persians were almost invited to attack. The ruling family in Thessaly offered assistance to Xerxes. The Pisistratidae, the former tyrants of Athens, were keen that he should attack, just as Hippias had supported Darius. They kept trying to persuade Xerxes to act. Part of their strategy was to use Onomacritus, a collector of oracles, who gave Xerxes prophecies which suggested that he would be successful in any attempt against Greece – those which suggested otherwise were carefully omitted. Herodotus describes how ‘Xerxes gave in and allowed himself to be persuaded to undertake the invasion of Greece’ (Herodotus, 7.6). Once he had decided to act, Xerxes was not going to allow anything to stand in his way. He had clearly decided to leave nothing to chance, and aimed to conquer Greece. They were far larger in scale than those before: great numbers of troops from all over the empire, required to march over the newly constructed bridge over the Hellespont. These had to be given provisions, as well as co-operate with the naval forces. Xerxes had all this in mind, and must surely only have had the conquest of the whole of Greece in mind: he would not be content with merely subduing Athens, Greece as a whole must have been his idea. Herodotus agrees with this assessment stating that the purpose of Xerxes’ expedition was the conquest of the whole of Greek (Herodotus, 7.138). TASK 3A 1. When did King Darius die? 2. Which two countries was Xerxes considering attacking when he became king? 3. Give details of three factors which suggested to Xerxes that he should attack Greece. 4. Explain two reasons why Xerxes wanted to attack Greece in 480BC. Herodotus 7: 5-7 After the death of Darius, his son Xerxes became king. Xerxes did not want to march against Greece instead he wanted to crush the Egyptian rebellion. Mardonius, Xerxes cousin, tried to persuade Xerxes to change his mind: 'Master, it is not reasonable that the Athenians who have done the Persians a great deal of harm should not pay the penalty for what they have done. After crushing the Egyptians you should lead your army against Athens. If you do not do this you will damage your reputation.' Mardonius then went on to say that Europe was a rich country which deserved to belong to a great King. 6 Mardonius said this because he wanted to control Greece. Others also tempted Xerxes. The Aleuadai (who were the leading family in Thessaly) invited Xerxes into Greece. The old royal family of Athens (the Peisistratus) brought omens and prophecies which said that the Persians would win. (The prophecies which said the Persians would lose were thrown away because they wanted to convince Darius to help them reclaim their kingdom in Athens.) The one which struck Xerxes the most was that only a Persian man could bridge the Hellespont and tame the waters. . 7 Xerxes found himself convinced. At first he overcame the Egyptian rebels and put it under much tighter control than it had been under Darius. He also gave it to his brother to control for him. Unfortunately his brother was shortly murdered by a Libyan man. wishing to show his power and to leave something memorable. Although it was possible to drag their ships across the isthmus without any great effort, he ordered the canal to be dug through to the sea wide enough for two triremes to be rowed through at the same time. The same men who were ordered to dig the canal were also ordered to put a bridge across the banks of the River Strymon. 1. Describe Xerxes’ actions in this passage. 2. Explain why you think Xerxes took this course of action. TASK 3B Source-based Task: Xerxes decides to invade Read Herodotus 7: 5-7. 1. What does Xerxes wish to do after his father death? 2. Who does Herodotus say convinces Xerxes to fight? 3. How do they convince him? 4. What does this say about Xerxes character? 3. What does this episode show about Xerxes’ determination in attacking Greece? Herodotus 7.23 – 24. 23 The barbarians divided up the ground to build the canal at Athos. Each team would dig a deep channel and pass it to another team above them who would remove it from the channel. They would then pass it up the sides until it reached the final team who would throw it away. But most of the barbarians failed. Only the Phoenicians knew how to build a ditch which would not collapse. They made the top and bottom of the channel the same size. They taught this method to the other barbarian. To feed these huge teams Xerxes had to turn a nearby meadow into a market. This was a meeting place to share ideas and to sell the ready made corn which was transported from Asia for them. 24 So far as I can understand by thinking about this, Xerxes ordered them to dig this canal out of pride, 4. How reliable do you think this account by Herodotus is? Explain your reasons for your answer.