Marathon
Outnumbered Greeks save the beginning of Western Democracy from the spread of Asian tyranny.
The Battle of Marathon is seen as a pivotal moment in European history – the victory of early Greek democracy over the tyranny of Persia. Marathon was a turning point in the Greco-Persian wars, showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten; the eventual Greek triumph in these wars can be seen to have begun at Marathon. The following two hundred years saw the rise of the Classical Greek civilization which has had enduring influence in Western society.
Though they were outnumbered, the Greeks, mostly Athenians, defeated the Persians because the Athenians and their allies chose a location for the battle, with marshes and mountainous terrain that prevented the Persian cavalry from joining the Persian infantry. Miltiades, the Athenian general, reinforced his flanks, luring the Persians’ best fighters into his center. The inward wheeling flanks enveloped the Persians, routing them. The Persian army broke in panic towards their ships, and large numbers were slaughtered.
The Persian forces, numbering 20,000 soldiers, were sent by King Darius I as a retaliation for the Greeks’ support for the Ionians, who had revolted against the Persians. The defeat at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece, and the Persian force retreated to Asia. Darius then began raising a huge new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece; however, in 486 BC, his Egyptian subjects revolted, indefinitely postponing any Greek expedition. After Darius died, his son Xerxes I restarted the preparations for a second invasion of Greece, which finally began in 480 BC. This invasion would also fail after the heroic defense at Thermopylae by Leonidas’ Spartans and the combined Greek naval victory at Salamis.
Related Articles
The Marine Corps Gazette and Leatherneck Magazine archives have more than 100 years of articles. Click the images below to read articles about the Battle of Marathon and its implications on the Corps, yesterday and today.
Decisive Amphibious Battles-1: Marathon
Major Niels M. Dahl, Inf, USA
Gazette
February 1950
Maps
Battlefield of Marathon Initial Situation, 490 B.C.
Battle of Marathon Double Envelopment, 490 B.C.
Battle of Marathon 29th September 490 B.C.
Battle of Marathon 29th September 490 B.C.
The Greek World During the Persian Wars (500-479 BC)
Study Guide
Podcasts
Books
Videos
Other Resources
Analytical Study of Battle Strategies Used at Marathon (490 BCE)
LtCol Edward J. Siegfried
US Army National Guard
Strategy Research Project
A Most Disastrous Success The Battle of Marathon and the Failure of Persian Intelligence
Robert D. Luginbill
L’antique Classique
The Battle of Marathon, 490 B.C.
Mark Herman
Historical Scenarios
Winter 1992
The Battle of Marathon: Darius the Great vs. Miltiades
Major William F. Schless, Jr.
Air Command and Staff College
Student Report