Thomas R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae to Alexander

Clash Between Greeks and Persians: The Beginning of the Persian Wars

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8.3.4. VIII.[3] The Battle of Marathon

Everyone expected the Persians to win at Marathon. The Athenian and Plataean soldiers, who had never seen Persians before, grew afraid just gazing at their unfamiliar and (to Greek eyes) frighteningly outlandish outfits. Nevertheless, the Athenian generals--the board of ten men elected each year as the civil and military leaders of Athens--never let their men lose heart. Led by the aristocrat Miltiades (c. 550-489 B.C.) and carefully planning their tactics to minimize the time their soldiers would be exposed to the fire of Persian archers, the generals sent their hoplites across the plain of Marathon at a dead run against the Persian line. The Greeks in their metal armor clanked across the open space between the two armies under a hail of Persian arrows fired like an artillery barrage. Once engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Persians, the Greek hoplites benefited from their superior, more protective armor and longer weapons, which allowed them to strike their enemies while they themselves were still out of reach. After a furious struggle, the Greek infantry men drove the Persians back into a swamp, where the invaders who failed to escape to their ships could be picked off safely at the attackers' leisure.

• Marathon: References to Marathon [English Index]; Marathon [Atlas]
• The Athenian and Plataean soldiers, who had never seen Persians before: Hdt. 6.112 [Text]; Paus. 1.32.3 ff [Text]; Persian and Greek soldiers on vases [Browser]; Persian from vase Berlin F 2331 [View]
• Miltiades: Hdt. 6.103-104 [Text]
• the generals sent their hoplites across the plain of Marathon at a dead run: Hdt. 6.112 [Text]
• metal armor: Metal armor [View]
• Persian arrows: Persian king as archer [View]
• Greek infantry men drove the Persians back into a swamp: Hdt. 6.113 [Text]

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OCLC: 33900145
ISBN: 0300069561

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