Download Battle of Marathon Source Booklet

Battle of Marathon
Source Booklet
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Source A
The Persians attempted to invade mainland Greece twice - once in 490 BC and again in 480 –
479 BC. These are called the First and Second Persian Wars. The key battle of the first campaign
was Marathon. It was the first time a Greek army had successfully faced the Persian enemy and
demonstrated the superiority of hoplite tactics and equipment.
Nicholas Sekunda, Marathon 490 BC, Published in 2002 in Great Britain
NB: Nicholas Sekunda is an English expert in Ancient History, particularly warfare. His book
Marathon 490 BC was published in England by Osprey Publishing, a company who specialise in
publishing books on military history. His main focus is ancient Persian warfare and has worked for
the British Institute of Persian Studies.
Source B
Fighting as Greece’s champions the Athenians at Marathon
Laid low the might of the gold-apparelled Persians
Translation of an Athenian epitaph at Marathon, Greece
Source C
The awful thud of forceful impact at the combined rate of ten miles an hour … the unusual size
and bowl-like shape of the Greek hoplite shield helping to create a feeling of absolute protection
in the last seconds of the run…Any man who stumbled of fell wounded was in danger of being
ground up as the men in the rear lumbered forward, blinded by dust and the press of bodies.
Victor Hanson, The Western Way of War, Published in 1989 in USA
Source D
Soon the Persian force landed in the plain of Marathon with 20,000 infantry and unknown number
of cavalry (Herodotus does not mentions any of the actions taken by the Persian cavalry). With
the news of the Persian force at Marathon, the Athenians asked for the assistance of the only
city-state able to help, the Spartans (Thebes was already at the side of the Persian foe).
Miltiades, the Athenian general, requested help from the Spartans by sending the messenger
Pheidepides [to the Spartans]. The Spartans agreed to assist, [but couldn’t provide ]… immediate
action [for] two reasons; according to the more realistic account of Plato and not as Herodotus
claimed: a) the fear towards the Helotes and b) the need of the deployment of a special unite
which would efficiently pass through enemy ground such of the Argians (Plat.Laws, iii.698d and
698e). Miltiades did not wait for long; he gathered his force of 10,000 men, including 1,000
Plataieis, at the Northeast rocky hill of the Agrielekiou – part of the Mt. Pentelikon.
Nikolaos Markoulakis, ‘The Battle of Marathon’, Journal of Ancient Sparta and Greek
History
http://www.sparta.markoulakispublications.org.uk/index.php?id=87
Source E
The Persian ships had been hauled onto the sand, and they now extended along the curve of the
beach for miles. The Asiatics themselves, monstrous numbers of them, dressed in their
outlandish, brightly coloured costumes and swarming over the plain… Their horseman galloping
up to the Athenian lines, wheeled and turned, wheeled and turned, mocking their adversaries’
lack of archers with fast-dispersing plumes of dust.
Tom Holland, Persian Fire, Published in 2005 in Great Britain
Source F
The first thing the commanders did was send Philippides to Sparta with a message. He went to
the leaders and said: ‘Men of Lacedaemon, Athens requests your assistance. We beg you not to
stand by and watch the most ancient city in Greece be enslaved by a foreign power.
The Persians waited for a few days after the fall of Eretria and then set sail for Attica, pressing on
hard, and confident that they would deal with Athens just as they had with Eretria. When the
Athenians heard the news, they too marched out to Marathon. There were ten military
commanders in charge of the Athenian forces, one of whom was Miltiades….
When the battle lines were drawn up and the omens from the sacrifices were favourable, the
Athenians were released, and they charged the invaders at a run. When the Persians saw the
Athenians running towards them, they got ready to receive them, but they thought the Athenians
must be mad … because they could see how few of them there were, and that their charge was
unsupported by either cavalry or archers.
The fighting at Marathon was long and drawn out. In the centre … they were beaten. However,
the Athenians and the Plataeans on their respective wings were victorious… The two wings
combined into a single fighting unit and the Athenians won.
Herodotus, The Histories, 420 BC
Source G
Battle BC: Judgement Day at Marathon
History Channel Documentary, 2009
Source H
PBS Empires: The Greeks Crucible of Civilization – The Golden Age
PBS Documentary, 1999
Source I
Hoplite infantrymen were the military ideal of ancient Greece and were recruited from the wealthy
middling ranks of society, particularly the farmers.
They wore bronze armour breastplates, helmets, shin guards, shoulder pads, and sometimes foot
protectors, thigh guards and forearm guards. With an eight-foot long spear, a short sword, and a
bronze-covered shield, the total weight of their equipment was therefore in the region of 60 to 70
lbs: almost half their own bodyweight!
They fought primarily in a phalanx, a tightly packed shield and spear formation that might be
several ranks deep and many soldiers wide. A highly successful 'war machine', the phalanx was
used primarily against other Greeks who obeyed the same honour-bound rules of warfare. Initially
it was also extremely successful against foreign opponents, such as the Persians, though in time
they adopted tactics to overcome the close combat favoured by Greek armies.
During the 5th century BC, swords became increasing shorter as tactics changed in favour of less
armor, increased agility, and closer combat. This was partly in response to the threat of Persian
archers, who had forced the Greeks to run at them in full armour during the battles of Marathon in
490 and Plataea 479. These hoplite runs were celebrated in the Olympics as the hoplitodromos,
or 'armed race'.
PBS Website, The Greeks Crucible of Civilization, Hoplites
http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/background/16.html
Source J
The Athenians set up camp on the southern edge of the plain of Marathon and from the
Sanctuary of Heracles, a position on nearby Mount Agriliki, they could keep a watchful eye on the
road to Athens. The approach to this position was narrow, preventing a flanking maneuver by the
Persian cavalry and keeping their forces stuck on the edge of the plain.
As the Athenians waited, a thousand additional men arrived from the town of Plataea, a closely
allied town. Ionian Greek conscripts, drafted into the Persian army, are believed to have further
aided the Athenian cause by passing on information about the Persian cavalry which, after a four
day standoff, set off on a separate expedition to reach Athens by sea.
Soon after dawn the next day the Athenians advanced 'at the double', running in their heavy
hoplite armor against Persian bowmen, whose arrows became increasingly effective within the
last two hundred meters. Once the gap was narrowed, however, the superior skills and armor of
the Greeks quickly became apparent The most important of the Athenian war leaders was
Miltiades, a powerful and fabulously wealthy aristocrat who had once been tyrant of several
Greek colonies on the coast of Turkey. It was probably he, more than anyone else, who
persuaded the other Athenian generals of the need to confront the Persians in open battle.
The Athenian force was strongest on its two flanks and weakest in its middle. So when the flanks
routed the Persians they were facing, instead of pursuing them, they returned to assist the
weakened center. In this way they achieved victory along the whole front, thanks to superior
discipline. The figure of 192 Athenian casualties is probably accurate, though this does not take
into account the casualties among the Plateans, nor the (probably) small number of slaves who
fought in the battle in exchange for their freedom. It is thought that the reported figure of 6400
Persian slain was probably an exaggeration, but not excessively so.
PBS Website, The Greeks Crucible of Civilization, The Tactics Used at Marathon
http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/background/17a_p1.html
Source K
Source L
Hoplite Charge Scene, Amphora, Munich Museum,
500 BC
Hoplite Helmet from Battle of
Marathon, 490 BC
Source M
Richard Hook, Battle of Marathon,
2002
Source N
Hoplite Charge Scene, Kyathos, British Museum,
490 BC