The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-08-02

kawet:iii. and pfof. Mitsopulos. Their |
opinion was that we have before ~ the |
grave of the l9l Atlenians who fell IN tbe |
battle. ard whose bodies were burned NY |
their fcllow-citizens. over them were
placed vases, and upon the grave was
heaped n mound Of earth tlifte"n meters
high.
$50 far for the work Of excavation. but
the results are by no means purely arch"o,
logical They are Of much historical
value. II is well known that the story OF
the fight at Marathon, one OF the sinlfiest W
history, yet offers great difficulties To the
Interpreter. brOte, Curtius, Finlay, casa
grandi, Delbruck, to name only the repre-
sentatiyes Of various theories, have tflcd
their hands upon ii. Even the site OF Mara
,hon, the most important town in the letrap-
oils. IL diibious. Before the days OF leake,
the village Of Marathoha vac iden'ihed
with Marathon and lOllng has recently re-
yiyed this theory. Leake placed Marathon
at the modern Nrana, and most subsequent
writers have adopted his opinion. Ne"
lighi on the Typographical as well as the
historical question was promised by the III
Duiries of "A German, Captain Won tschen-
burg. in 1880. He urged that the position
of the Deme Of Marathon was Of great nm
portance for the identification ~ the battle
field. and adopted neither LOllinSs nor
Leake's view, but maintained tDat tne
Dome extended from the valley Of Nrana
on one side as far as the sea, including the
Soros, but on the other up TO Plassi, not lar
rom The torrent. 90.
This hypothesis compelled him to place
the chief scene OF the battle NJ y distance
from the SOros, on the spot where the church
Of the Panagia MisospOritissa now stands
By this means he supposed that ne couid
tho AtlpuI1nS
and PlatTans from the present Bei 10
Armen mt the beginning of the supposed
settlement Of the inhabitants of Marathon
while the Persian lines stretched from the
site Of the present chapel OF II. george on
the spurs Of Mount Staurokorahi ~ the
ueighbOrhOOd of Plassi. But 10 an arrange
ment Of this sort the chief objection IS that
the torrent lies between the opposing forces
and would certainly nave checked the
charge Of the Athonians which the descrip-
ton of Herodotus shows TO have been
chief feature of the struggle.
Zone OF the nam reasons that induced
Cautnin Won Eschenburg 20 place the battle
field far from the SOrOs was the idea That
the tumulus did not contain the bones OF
the Athenians who fell in the battle. IDS
stppOsitiOn was due TO the excavations OF
Or. Schliemann and his remarks IN an
essay in the /eitschrift fur Ethnologie on
The So.called Grave OF the Hundred and
Ninoty-two Athenians at Marathon How
much this weighed with Captain Won
Eschenburg may be inferred from his own
words: 80 interesting j. this discovery Oh
DR.. Schliemann's, so important for the lueil-
titication Of the battlefield Of Marathon
for the SorOs was hitherto the one point
which was regarded rs certain-that am
of opinion that the statement OF DR.. schlle-
4 r.faftf i4ffl fI. lfl al
examine the question of the site OF the
battlefield with less antecedent prejudice
than was hitherto possible. A. ! nave al
ready indicated, am convinced that Inc
whole ground about the >Or0s was at the
time of the battle included in the Deme OF
Marathon, consequently the Datlle-held i
10 be looked for further 10 the northeast
sit IS clear that the result Of the most re-
cent explorations on the >oros, II IL j.
proved irrofragably that the bones oil tne
Athenians have been discovered, entirely
alters the state Of matters. W ithout ahte-
cedent prejudice one must again regard the
uoiehborh0od of the ~OrOs as the main scene
Of the struggle. But whether with that the
theory Of CAPTAIN Won Eschenburg, that the
>oros lay within the territory Of the Deme
Of Marathon. disappears, cannot yet DE
definitely said-not until excavations nave
been made round the soros.
"ln spite of the last excavations, when
have not vet been finished, we must exam
inc anew the old objections TO the idea mat
the -OrOs IL the grave Of the Aihcnlan war
ri0rs. They rest, strictly speaking, on the
well-known passage in Pausanias, O." ~
i'm which hc says of tine grave: 1T Is I'D the
ulaiu: upon il stand memorials which re-
cord the names Of the fallen according To-
their tribes: ana further on he remarks:
Tho Athenans assert that they buried the
Modes IL being "A duty to cover man
.orpsc with earth. Yet ] could not find
crave. for there j. neither tumuluS nor
any other indication to be seem To con-
clude from this passage that the grave oil
the Athcnans did not form iumuIuS
seems 10 be entirely without iOundauoh'
Pausauias speaks quite separately oi the
Aihonins and the Perslans. Nhere
he could find no indication, there
fore. no stele or other memorial.
that WAS upon the resting place
Of the Persians. There also there was no
tumulns. The remark il IN obvious contra
dictiOn 10 the description of the grave 81 the
Athfuiane. That was wanting on the grave
of the Pcrsians. which was 10 be seen over
that OF the Athenians. The memorial pillars
Of the Athenans are expressly inehtlohtui
the ctme Wc MAJ conclude ol tue eafthcn
mound. of which in his description ne dld
not think 10 make express mention. men,
however. hc says that the grave OF the
Athcnians lay in the plain. IL Is not to be
supposed that be. in using these words, cX-
cludeS the existence of a tumulus. lie
only intends 10 tell III thereby that he really
saw the grave of tine Athenlans, and ON thc
field itself i'm cOntradistinctiOn 10 the sur
rounding hills. The grave of the Perslans
he nowhere saw
..Wnl further excavation bring TO light
the memorial pillars containing the names
ofthe fallen warriors: believe it is pos
sible."