The Secret Behind Marathon
Channel: Science Facts History
Date: 2019-07-21

The Battle Of Marathon - 490 BCE

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Who hasn’t run a marathon yet? It’s has become an urban fashion these days to run a marathon once in a while and post it all over social media as if you do it everyday. Well, jokes apart, Marathon has been a key sporting event across all major athletic competitions. Starting from the Ancient Olympics in 776 BC to its modern editions, marathon has been an inseparable part of all major athletic sporting events.But did you know the secret behind its name of the sport? Well, let me explain.

Marathon, is in-fact a place in Greece. 

The place is significant, not due to the athletic event named after it, but due one of the greatest and bloodiest battle in the human history.

Sometimes a battle is just an insignificant blip in the war, and at other times, it can shift the course of history. 

The battle of Marathon that took place in 490 BCE between the citizens of Athens and the Persian empire was one such crucial battle in the annals of human history.

The Battle of Marathon is significant not just because the underdogs won, but also because of the legend of courage, sacrifice and determination.

Darius I, the leader of Persia, Babylon, Egypt and India, decided to become the leader of Greece as well.

But the Greeks, armed with only javelins and swords, defeated the much larger and better equipped Persian army in the plains and waters off Marathon.

What we remember today is the story of the messenger named Pheidippides, who brought the good news of the Greek victory to Athens, the capital of Greece. 

Upon completing his 26-mile run, the legend says that Pheidippides delivered the news of the Greek victory with the word “nenikēkamen!" - which means “We Won!!!” .

He then collapsed and died out of exhaustion. 

Today, the word marathon means a footrace of exactly 26 miles and 385 yards.

An alternate version according Herodotus says that an Athenian runner named Pheidippides was sent to run from Athens to Sparta to seek assistance before the battle. 

He ran a distance of over 225 kilometres which is roughly 40 miles, arriving in Sparta the day after he left.

Then, following the battle, the Athenian army marched the 25 miles or so back to Athens at a very high pace (considering the quantity of armour, and the fatigue after the battle).

This was done in order to head off the Persian force sailing around Cape Sounion. They arrived back in the late afternoon, in time to see the Persian ships turn away from Athens, thus completing the Athenian victory.

Whatever be the reality, the Battle of Marathon was a watershed 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. Only 192 Athenians are said to have died in the battle whereas there were 6400 casualties from the Persian side. The Greeks destroyed 7 Persian ships as well.

The battle showed the Greeks that they were able to win battles without the Spartans, as they had heavily relied on Sparta previously. 

This victory was largely due to the Athenians, and Battle of Marathon raised Greek esteem of them. 

The following two hundred years saw the rise of the Classical Greek civilisation, which has been enduringly influential in western society and so the Battle of Marathon is often seen as a pivotal moment in Mediterranean and European history.

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