The First Marathon Run, The history of Phidippides The Battle that Changed Human History By Paul Ostapuk Setting the Stage The first two decades of the fifth century B.C. marked one of the great turning points in world history. These were the years of the Persian and Greek wars. The powerful Persian Empire in 546 B.C. extended from Asia to Eygpt to what is now Turkey. This great empire built the first Suez Canal which linked the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. Greece on the other hand, consisted of a scattering of independent city-states, called poleis. These early city-states spawned the democratic ideas that have persisted into modern times. Athens eventually became the largest and most prosperous polis. Another Greek polis, Sparta, was not so democratic. They kept their kings and maintained a conservative, regimented society built around military training and the art of war. The Persian/Greek War The Persian Empire over the years expanded to the Mediterrean Sea. In the process some Greek settlements were conquered. Ionia was one such settlement. After many years, they tried to revolt against the Persians but the uprising was immediately squashed by the powerful Persian Army.

By the year 490 B.C., the Persian Army was ready to expand their territory and move into Europe. They landed a large force just outside of Athens on the plains of Marathon and prepared for attack. The Role of Phidippides The Athens, vastly outnumbered, desperately needed the help of Sparta's military base to help fend off the attack. Time was short, so the Athenian generals send Phidippides (or Philippides) a professional runner to Sparta to ask for help. The 140 mile course was very mountainous and rugged. Phidippides ran the course in about 36 hours. Sparta agreed to help but said they would not take the field until the moon was full due to religious laws. This would leave the Athenians alone to fight the Persian Army. Phidippides ran back to Athens (another 140 miles!) with the disappointing news. Immediately, the small Athenian Army (including Phidippedes) marched to the plains of Marathon to prepare for battle. The Battle of Marathon The Athenian Army was outnumbered 4 to 1 but they launched a suprise offensive thrust which at the time appeared suicidal.

But by day's end, 6400 Persian bodies lay dead on the field while only 192 Athenians had been killed. The surviving Persians fled to sea and headed south to Athens where they hoped to attack the city before the Greek Army could re-assemble there. Phidippides was again called upon to run to Athens (26 miles away) to carry the news of the victory and the warning about the approaching Persian ships. Despite his fatigue after his recent run to Sparta and back and having fought all morning in heavy armor, Phidippides rose to the challenge. Pushing himself past normal limits of human endurance, the reached Athens in perhaps 3 hours, deliverd his message and then died shortly thereafter from exhaustion. Sparta and the other Greek polies eventually came to the aid of Athens and eventually they were able to turn back the Persian attempt to conquer Greece. Concluding Remarks and Beginning of Olympic Marathon Races The Greek victory marked one of the decisive events of world history because it kept an Eastern power (the persians) from conquering what is now Europe. The victory gave the Greeks incredible confidence in themselves, their government and their culture.

In the two centuries that followed, the Greek culture spread across much of the known world. It made Europe possible and in affect won for civilization the opportunity to develop its own ecomomic life. Modern European-based nations such as the United States and Canada can trace their growth straight back through an unbroken chain of Western historical events back to the Victory at Marathon. Centuries later, the modern Olympic Games introduced a "marathon" race of (40,000 meters or 24.85 miles). The winner was Spiridon Louis, a Greek postal worker from village of Marusi and veteran of several long military marches , His time was 2 hours, 58 minutes, 50 seconds for the 40 kilometer distance (average pace of 7:11 minutes per mile). At the 1908 Olympic Games in London, the marathon distance was changed to 26 miles to cover the ground from Windsor Castleto White City stadium, with 385 yards added on so the race could finish in front of King Edward VII's royal box.

After 16 years of extremely heated discussion, this 26.2 mile distance was established at the 1924 Olympics in Paris as the official marathon distance. The Battle of Marathon | Ancient Wars The Battle of Marathon History of War - Ancient Wars Related Articles The Battle of Salamis The Persians and the Greeks of ancient times have fought many huge and well known battles such as those at Thermopylae and Salamis, but one of the most famous is the Battle of Marathon . The Battle of Marathon is one of the many battles that Persians and Greeks fought against one another; it was also an important battle in deciding the future fate of Greece as a country of free men. The date was either August 12th or September 12th in the year 490 BC when the battle commenced. This battle took place in a small coastal town called Marathon, some 25 miles (40 kilometres) away from Athens itself. On the one side was a Greek army of around 10,000 men made up of 9,000 to 10,000 Athenians and 1,000 Plataeans.

The Spartans were supposed to join the Greek battle group but were waiting for a festival to finish so they could march down in support, the Spartans arrived when the battle had finished. On the other was a mass of Persians that modern estimates make to be between 20,000 – 100,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry bought over on 600 ships. The Persians Land in Marathon The Persians set sail from Attica and from advice given to them from a rogue Athenian they landed at Marathon. The Athenians heard of this and quickly marched on Marathon to block the two exits of the Persians landing area, the Plataeans then joined in support. The battle did not commence for a long time, in fact it was five days that the armies faced one another. The Athenians were happy to wait it out as word had arrived that the Spartans were marching in support. No one knows the reason for this delay in battle. Why the battle did commence when it did is still a mystery too as ancient texts from Historians such as Herodotus say it was the Greeks who initiated battle, even though the Spartans had not arrived.

Some texts say this happened because the Persian cavalry just up and left one day without any reason and the Greeks saw this as an opportunity to attack. The Battle of Marathon Commences At the time of the battle commencing there was only around one mile (1.5 kilometres) separating both armies. The formation of the Greek army was one with the central armed forces having soldiers in rank of 4 while the flanking forces had soldiers in rank of 8. This formation then either marched or ran (most likely marched) the distance to the Persian forces and stopped some 200 metres short of the Persian army. At this point the Greek army went into a mad run to the enemy. Upon battle commencing the Greek middle ranks of four were pushed back slightly, but the flanks routed the Persians flanks that then fled back to their ships. The next phase of battle saw the Greek flanks surround the central body of the Persian army. This phase of the battle finished when the Persian army broke through the left flank of the Greek army and ran back to their ships. During the commotion the Greeks managed to capture 7 Persian ships.

It is believed that in this first part of the battle only 192 Athenians and 11 Plataeans perished while the Persians lost nearly seven thousand men. The Fame of the Battle of Marathon When the battle finished the Greeks finished victorious as the Persians gave up on this battle. This being said the Greeks were wary of the Persians sailing on to Athens by moving further up the coast and this is when the legend of Pheidippides happens. Pheidippides was a runner that legend says was sent from Marathon to Athens as fast as he could to advise on the battles outcome, upon arriving in Athens he shouted "We have won!" and collapsed. This was the start of what we now know as a Marathon, a run of 42.195 kilometres (26 miles and 385 yards) roughly the distance Pheidippides ran from the battlefield to Athens. Related Articles 1/17/2007 • Military History On the morning of September 17, 490 bc, some 10,000 Greeks stood assembled on the plain of Marathon, preparing to fight to the last man.

Behind them lay everything they held dear: their city, their homes, their families. In front of the outnumbered Greeks stood the assembled forces of the Persian empire, a seemingly invincible army with revenge, pillage and plunder on its mind. The Athenians’ feelings are best expressed by Aeschylus, who fought in the Persian wars, in his tragic play The Persians: “On, sons of the Hellenes! Fight for the freedom of your country! Fight for the freedom of your children and of your wives, for the gods of your fathers and for the sepulchers of your ancestors! All are now staked upon the strife!” The two sides faced each another directly, waiting for the fight to start. The Athenians stalled for days, anticipating reinforcements promised by Sparta. But they knew they could not wait for long. The Persians, expecting as easy a victory as they had won against enemies so many times before, were in no hurry. The Greeks, knowing the time for battle had come, began to move forward.

Ostensibly, they advanced with focus and purpose, but beneath this firm veneer, as they looked on a vastly larger enemy — at least twice their number — many must have been fearful of what was to come. The Persian archers sat with their bows drawn, ready to loose a barrage of arrows that would send fear and confusion through the Greek ranks. “The Athenians advanced at a run towards the enemy, not less than a mile away,” recounted the historian Herodotus. “The Persians, seeing the attack developed at the double, prepared to meet it, thinking it suicidal madness for the Athenians to risk an assault with so small a force — rushing in with no support from either cavalry or archers.” Had the Persian archers been allowed to loose their bows, the battle might have ended before it had truly begun. Fighting their doubts and fears, the Athenians seized the initiative and rushed the Persians. Confronted by such a bold move and realizing their infantry would be pressed into action sooner than expected must have shaken Persian confidence. The two Athenian commanders, Callimachus and Miltiades (the latter having fought in the Persian army himself), used their knowledge of Persian battle tactics to turn the tide further in their favor.

As the clatter of spears, swords and shields echoed through the valley, the Greeks had ensured that their best hoplites (heavily armed infantry) were on the flanks and that their ranks were thinned in the center. Persian battle doctrine dictated that their best troops, true Persians, fought in the center, while conscripts, pressed into service from tribute states, fought on the flanks. The Persian elite forces surged into the center of the fray, easily gaining the ascendancy. But this time it was a fatal mistake. The Persian conscripts whom the Hellenic hoplites faced on the flanks quickly broke into flight. The Greeks then made another crucial decision: Instead of pursuing their fleeing foes, they turned inward to aid their countrymen fighting in the center of the battle. By then, the Persians were in a state of utter confusion. Their tactics had failed, their cavalry was absent and their archers were useless. Their more heavily armed and armored opponents, who could sense that victory was close, were attacking them from three sides and pushing them into the sea. The Persians fled back to their ships.

Many of the Athenians, buoyed by their success, dragged several of the Persian vessels to shore, slaughtering those on board. When the day was over, the Greeks had won one of history’s most famous victories, claiming to have killed about 6,400 Persians for the loss of only 192 Athenians. The Spartans eventually arrived, but only after the battle was long over. To assuage their disbelief in the Athenians’ victory, they toured the battlefield. To their amazement, they found the claim of victory was indeed true. The Athenians had defeated the most powerful empire in the Western world. Around the 5th century bc, the Persians under Cyrus the Great had rapidly expanded their domain. By the time of Darius I, the Persian empire covered most of southwest Asia and Asia Minor, reaching as far as the easternmost boundaries of Europe. The Persians demanded tribute and respect from all they dominated. The Greek cities in Asia Minor eventually decided to throw off the Persian yoke. Through those revolts, the assistance of the Athenians and the ensuing Battle of Marathon, the wheels had been set in motion to end Persian domination. How did this sequence of events come to pass?

From the time he ascended the throne, Darius, like all the kings before him, needed to conquer and add to the empire that his forebears had passed to him, to establish his worth as a ruler and maintain control. Establishing and retaining authority over such a vast dominion required thousands upon thousands of troops. To pay for the soldiery and to maintain the grandeur of the Persian capital, Persepolis (which Darius built to demonstrate his greatness), he needed more than the tribute from subjugated states. He needed to conquer more cities and territory to expand his treasury. To the east of ancient Persia (modern-day Iran and Iraq) lay India and the Orient; expansion there held unknown dangers. To take this route, Darius would risk overextending his empire. To the west lay the inhospitable Libyan desert. To the north were the barbarian lands of the Scythians. Expansion into Europe seemed the most promising option, but the scattered city-states of Greece constituted a major roadblock to Darius’ ambitions. Before he could move on Greece, Darius had to achieve complete submission within his existing territories, and an empire of Persia’s size was impossible to control centrally.

Therefore, the Persians had established local governors or satraps, whose main role was to oversee the day-to-day functioning of their provinces and to ensure that all tribute was collected and sent to the capital. Many of these satraps ruled as tyrants. Understandably, the Greek cities east of the Aegean Sea would become restless and desire change when they cast a glance westward at the seeds of democratic society planted in Athens. Dissent first began to appear on the island of Naxos, which revolted in 502 bc. The Naxians appealed to the despot of the Ionian city of Miletos, Aristagoras, for assistance. He agreed, meaning to take control of the island once the revolt had been crushed. For his plan to succeed, he enlisted the aid of Artaphernes, Darius’ brother and the satrap of Lydia (modern-day Turkey). Aristagoras’ tangled web fell apart when the plot against the Naxians failed. Owing the Persian emperor and his brother money and promised conquests, Aristagoras had no option but to incite his own people to revolt. The revolt of Miletos led other cities to follow suit.

The Ionian Greeks had also maintained strong trade and cultural ties with their kin on mainland Greece. Forced to pay tribute to a distant king, feeling the tyrannical push of the Persian governors and encouraged by the Athenians, many of these city-states decided to revolt. Athens sent 20 triremes (oar-propelled warships) to Ephesus. Their hoplites and the citizens of Miletos marched on the Lydian capital of Sardis and sacked it. On hearing of this in Persepolis, Darius was infuriated; according to legend, he instructed one of his servants to remind him three times daily of this Athenian outrage so he would never forget it. The revolts in Ionia and an excuse to wreak vengeance on Athens gave Darius the perfect pretext to implement his plans of expansion in Europe. When he looked toward mainland Greece, he must have seen a disjointed conglomeration of city-states that bickered and fought among themselves. It must have seemed unlikely that such cities would form any lasting alliances and be capable of repelling a powerful foe.

As the ruler with the largest army in the world, and with the success of his predecessors on which to build, Darius must have thought that one way or another victory would be assured. In 492 bc, Darius gave Mardonius, his satrap in Thrace (northern Greece), command of 600 ships that sailed across the Hellespont (the Dardanelles) and along the coast. As it rounded Mount Athos, however, the fleet was destroyed by a freak storm, an event that would prove to have great significance. The Greeks took it as an encouraging omen that the gods must surely be on their side. Herodotus claims — with questionable accuracy — that the storm destroyed 300 ships and killed 20,000 men. Two years later, Darius sent another 600 ships in a second attempt. Expecting little resistance, he sent emissaries to the cities of Greece asking for their submission and demanding offerings of earth and water. Most cities in the north and in Macedonia submitted to his demands. But war became inevitable when the Athenians refused, and the Spartans went even further and killed the Persian envoy.

A second Persian expedition was launched under the command of Datis and Darius’ nephew, Artaphernes. As they moved across the Aegean, they subdued many of the island cities such as Naxos and Delos. Eventually they reached Eritrea, a large island off the Attic coast, and made their way to Marathon. Herodotus explains why the Persians chose to land at Marathon: “The part of Attic territory nearest Eritria — and also the best ground for cavalry to maneuver in — was at Marathon. To Marathon, therefore, Hippias directed the invading army, and the Athenians, as soon as the news arrived, hurried to meet it.” Marathon was also chosen to draw the Athenians away from Athens. While the hoplites were engaged on the field, the Persians planned to send their ships around the coast and easily capture the undefended city. The Persian plan was twofold: They knew that if the Athenian army was defeated outside of Athens, the city’s civilian inhabitants would have no choice but to submit. Almost immediately after hearing the news of the Persian landing, the Athenians sent a runner named Pheidippides to Sparta to ask for their assistance.

The Spartans promised to send aid, but with a major qualification: No help would be forthcoming until the Carneia (a religious festival) was over. The Spartan refusal to commit troops before then left the Athenians with three choices: march out and meet the Persians at Marathon; defend the pass at Pallini; or stay in the city and defend its walls. The Athenians chose Marathon. There were several reasons for this. The food supplies they would need to survive a protracted siege came from the surrounding countryside of Attica, which could easily be cut off by the encamped Persian army. The soon-to-be-vaunted Athenian navy was at that time little more than a flotilla and had no chance of defeating the Persian fleet. If the Persians were able to blockade both the land and sea, Athens could not withstand a sustained siege. The pass at Pallini was high in the mountains, but the Persians had sufficient forces to continue to attack pass defenders until Pallini fell. Confronting the Persians at Marathon offered the Greeks several tactical possibilities. As stated by Herodotus, the geography of the plain of Marathon was significant in the Persian decision-making.

Measuring approximately 10 miles long and three miles wide, it was flanked by boggy marshlands. A large, flat plain, it was perfect for the use of the Persians’ main strike weapon: cavalry. When the Athenians reached Marathon, they found the Persians camped along the coast. Obviously, the Greeks needed to take the high ground. Both sides sat encamped for nine days, each waiting for the other to make the first move. The Persians believed that the longer they stayed, the greater the fear that would rattle their opponents. The outnumbered Athenians and their Plataean allies played for time in hopes that the Spartan hoplites would join them — not only to strengthen their numbers but because Spartan military renown stretched all the way to Persepolis, and a Spartan presence would surely dent Persian confidence. On the other hand, the longer the Persians stayed, the more cities would submit to them, lowering the confidence of the Athenian troops. A meeting was held in the Greek camp to resolve the issue.

The 10 Athenian generals (each of the original tribes that had first formed Athens had an elected general) voted, with five in favor of immediate battle and five voting to wait for the Spartans’ arrival. According to Herodotus, it was the influence of Miltiades that swayed the decision. “With you it rests, Callimachus,” he allegedly said, “either to lead Athens to slavery or, by securing her freedom, to leave behind to all future generations a memory far beyond even those who made Athens a democracy. For never since the time the Athenians became a people were they in so great a danger than now.” Whether Miltiades was as influential as Herodotus made him out to be is uncertain; however, Callimachus voted in favor of starting the battle. Herodotus also stated that while each general normally took a daily turn in overall command, many of the lesser generals handed their turn over to Miltiades. With approximately 1,000 Plataeans bolstering the Athenian ranks, the Hellenic forces mustered some 10,000 hoplites.

The Persians may have numbered as high as 48,000. Familiar with the tactics and strengths of their enemy, the Greeks knew the Persian cavalry had to be taken out of the calculations. The Persians could not use the cavalry on one side because of the marshland. Nor could they use it on the opposite flank, as the Athenians had buried large stakes in the ground. It seems likely that the Persians, even without the use of either flank, would have used their premier weapon, but for whatever reason, the Persian cavalry was away from the battlefield. Miltiades may well have learned of the Persian cavalry’s absence and then decided it was time to attack. The absence of Persian cavalry is one of the reasons for the Greek victory. The second is that the Persians were completely unprepared for and unable to adapt to the Greeks’ tactics. Persian battle tactics that previously had served them well entailed stationing their archers at the front to fire volley after volley of arrows into the enemy ranks, wreaking havoc and instilling fear. Once that objective was achieved, Persian infantry would move in to slaughter the confused opposition, with cavalry used only to complete the task when the enemy was routed.

The Greeks held an advantage at Marathon in the equipment of their infantry. An Athenian hoplite carried a heavy, 9-foot spear, wore a solid breastplate and carried an almost body-length shield. The Persian infantryman, in contrast, wore little more than robes and carried a shorter sword and a wicker or cane shield. Therefore, close-quarter combat favored the Athenians. The Persian disadvantage was exacerbated by the Greek use of the phalanx formation — an eight-hoplite by eight-hoplite square. The hoplites at the front would interlock their shields, as would the men to the side, forming an almost impenetrable barrier. Because of their lesser numbers, the Greeks had to thin their formation out, but even that would eventually further serve their purpose. Although they had won a great victory, the Athenians knew the Persian threat had not passed, and they quickly marched back to prepare the defense of Athens from the attack they were certain would come. In an amazing feat of strength and endurance, they marched at double time directly from the battlefield and managed to reach the city before the Persian ships arrived. With time of the essence, the Athenians dispatched Pheidippides to inform Athens’ populace of their victory before the troops arrived.

The tale goes that after running the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens, Pheidippides exclaimed: “Rejoice! We conquer!” then died from exhaustion. Whether true or not, that is the source of the modern-day marathon race; the distance of the modern race reflects the distance Pheidippides ran. Even though the future battles of Salamis and Plataea were fought against a greater Persian threat, had Marathon ended in defeat, those later battles would never have occurred. Themistocles, who fought at Marathon, saw that Athens had been lucky the first time, and had the Persians conducted their campaign differently, the outcome might well have been different. Hence, soon after Marathon he successfully petitioned to have Athens build a stronger navy, which led to its success at Salamis. Marathon smashed the myth of Persian invincibility, an achievement that lent a critical measure of confidence to the Greeks who fought the Persians again at Salamis and Plataea.

It meant that many of the same commanders who served at Marathon were at the later battles and had knowledge of the Persian mind, and in the longer term, it would lead Alexander the Great on his conquest of Asia and the eventual decline and downfall of the Persian empire. While most credit the second installment of the Persian wars with the birth of the Athenian renaissance, one could argue that Marathon was the catalyst for, and much of the reason behind, the Athenians’ belief that they were on par with the Spartans — which allowed them to flourish. Had Marathon been a defeat and Athens annihilated, the Western democracy, culture, art and philosophy that developed from this period in history might have been lost, and the Western world today could be very different. This article was written by Jason K. Fosten and originally published in the January/February 2007 issue of Military History magazine. Jason K. Foster is a London-based teacher and historian specializing in ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt. For more great articles be sure to subscribe to Military History magazine today! Pheidippides and Pan Contact Us Pheidippides meets the god Pan - 490 B.C.

Entrusted with the mission of asking for Sparta's aid against the invading Persian forces. The realisation that Sparta would not immediately send any of their fabeled hoplites to the aid of Athens would have caused great consternation for the Athenian messenger. Heading on his way back towards Athens he faced the grim task of informing his city that they had not better expect any aid from the Lacedominians until nearly another two weeks. The city of Athens expected to be well under a Persian siege by that time. Heading out of Sparta with the news, Pheidippides would travel back to Athens via the same trek that he used when coming to Sparta. It was in the precinct of Tegea that Pheidippides claimed to have run into the god Pan, this has always been passed over by modern historians as not relevant and put down to exhaustion. The main setback against the exhaustion theory is that if the athlete was exhausted while near Tegea to the point of hallucination, how could he possibly compose himself afterwards to make it all the way back to Athens? If an athlete today suffers from exhaustion he is barely able to move in a direct line, and this being well before any hallucination takes place.

So if Pheidippides was suffering from exhaustion and hallucination near Tegea it would be a tall ask to have us believe that after the meeting with Pan he composed himself well enough to run a marathon distance back to Athens to deliver a report to which the city's very existence depended. It almost can be compared to a drug addict hallucinating a vision of god but that very day being able to run the distance from Tegea back to Athens. It just doesn't seen likely. But there may be another explanation that needs further investigation before this meeting can be passed over as to hallucination due to lack of sleep or exhaustion. What we need to look into is the angle that Pheidippides really did see the god Pan on Mt Parthenon! At first glance this may seem completely incomprehensible. How can a mere mortal have seen a god? Before we go into the explanation we want to make a few points that will be referring back to: Pan chanced to meet Pheidippides by Mt. Parthenon, which is above Tegea. [1] The mountain separates Tegea from Hysiae, which is in the precinct of Argos.

Pan was 'calling aloud the name of Pheidippides' [1] . This line implies that the god Pan was calling and probably talking to Pheidippides from a distance, so implying that it was not a face to face conversation. Pan we are assuming was probably high on Mt Parthenon and Pheidippides was at the foot of the mountain. The gods were from Mt Olympus and looking up a mountain to a god would have been a reveared sight to behold. One of the facets of Pan was that he represented a version of fear. The word panic is derived from Pan. In mythology when Pan was born the first onlookers who came to see the newborn expecting to see a human looking baby were shocked to see this ugly looking goat child and they ran away in fright. This sudden fear is not just a general fear but more specific. Consider the following story: A young sheppard who is looking after his sheep on a mountain side plays his lyre while the sheep graze about him. Suddenly, all the sheep stop what they are doing and look up the mountain to a near by group of shrubs and trees. The boy freezes and his eyes begin to strain as he concentrates his gaze upon the wooded area.

The sheep wait no longer and all seem to move at the same time with a spring in their step towards the opposite direction and head to the bottom of the mountain. The young sheppard sees movement and waits no more hurrying quickly behind his sheep, calling out to them to move quicker to more safer plains. This is the fear that Pan represents the unknow fear. The sheppard in the story above moved out of the area because he feared what might be further up the mountain, even though he could not be sure there was anything there. It is not the same fear as being hit in the face by a punch, but of a unknown mischievous variety. In western tradition, something along the lines of the boogyman comes close. The city of Argos was the main city-state in the Peloponnese that had given earth and water to the Persian king. Thus they fully gave their blessing in aiding Persia in their intention to invading Greece. Pheidippides took the same route back to Athens that he used to get to Sparta. At that area his journey forced him to run at the base of the mountain. Pan bade him report to the Athenians.

[1] Thus Pan had a specific message for Athens, he did not have the meeting with Pheidippides for his own personal sake. This was not the first time an Athenian had seen one of the Olympian gods, in 561 B.C. some 70+ years before, the city of Athens welcomed back their son Pisistratus who brought with him the goddess Athena, to read that story go to ' A brief history of Athens '. During the time of Pheidippides running towards Sparta for their help the city of Athens were having arguments as to whether or not to surrender to the Persians. The proposition put forward is that Persia had asked Argos to put as much pressure on in the Peloponnese as possible for their interests. The Macedonians kings, claimed their history to the city of Argos, and as Macedonia was under Persian occupancy at the time, the Persians had dealings with the city of Argos directly. The city of Argos knew that a message of some kind would be coming from Athens to Sparta for aid, the Persians also knew of it when they landed at Marathon.

Argos had spies on the mountain range that could see which route Pheidippides took to get to Sparta. Then they lay in wait for his inevitable return. On his return an actor playing the part of Pan came out from behind a rock and bellowed down to the Athenian, by name. In the presence of Pan, Pheidippides dared not advance any further. The message was given, we can assume it was the greatest part that actor ever played. After the message the thankful runner was allowed to be on his way. If trying all this effort to alter the outcome of the war, why not just have the messenger killed and be done with it? Besides the fact that killing a messenger was seen as a sacrilege in the eyes of the gods and a curse put on the perpetrators, it would not lead to Athens surrendering to the Persians. So how would that message supposedly lead to the surrender of Athens to Persia? To start with we have to look at what he reportedly said.

Regarding the city of Athens he said 'ask for what reason they had no care of him (Pan), though he was well disposed to the Athenians and had been serviceable to them on many occasions before that time, and would be so also yet again.' [1] The meaning of the message is strictly between the city of Athens and Pan; Pan who represents fear. Fear is what the Persians currently represented, Athens was a city in the grips of massive amount of fear. No real help from Sparta, the city verged on the abyss of being annihilated. Why risk being engulfed by the rampaging Persians and loosing out to their greatest fears? Why not be friends with the Persians, and give in to the fear? This is the real psychological message of Pan; the god of fear is asking Athens not to resist the oncoming inevitable swam that now had landed on their very doorstop, but to surrender to Persia and just give in to the fear and not to resist. Once the message was delivered to Athens, we would have to assume the forceful personality of Miltiades or the polemarch Kallimachus lead the charge of overcoming the message and dulling its impact.

This is only one theory a hypothetical of what really happened. Some have proposed that the sighting of Pan was actually seen on the way towards Sparta than the trip back to Athens, with a few adjustments the same hypothetical can be made. BBC - Primary History - Ancient Greeks - Greeks at war Greeks at war What armour did Greeks wear? Whom did the Greeks fight? The Greek states often fought each other. Sparta and Athens fought a long war, called the Peloponnesian War, from 431 to 404 BC. Sparta won. Only the threat of invasion by a foreign enemy made the Greeks forget their quarrels and fight on the same side. Their main enemy was Persia . The wars against Persia lasted on and off from 490 to 449 BC. The Persian kings tried to conquer Greece and make it part of the Persian Empire. In the end, it was Greece which defeated Persia, when Alexander the Great defeated the Persian Empire in the 330s BC. Back to top The Battle of Marathon The Battle of Marathon was a famous Greek victory against the Persians .

About 10,000 Greeks, mostly from Athens , fought an army of 20,000 Persians led by King Darius. The Greeks surprised their enemies by charging downhill straight at the Persians. Marathon is remembered for the heroism of a Greek named Pheidippides. Before the battle, he'd run for 2 days and nights - over 150 miles (240 km) - from Athens to Sparta to fetch help. Then he fought at Marathon. After the battle, he ran 26 miles (42 km) non-stop to Athens, but died as he gasped out the news of victory. The modern Marathon race is over the same distance as his epic run from Marathon to Athens. Back to top Fighting in formation The backbone of the Greek army was the hoplite . He was a foot-soldier, and his weapons were a long spear and a sword. He also had a round shield . Hoplites fought in lines or ranks. Eight to ten ranks made a formation called the phalanx . Each soldier held his long spear underarm.

Enemy soldiers saw only a mass of spears and shields, that was hard to break through - and hard to stop once it started moving forward. Lots of phalanxes massed together became like a giant human tank. The Greeks had archers and cavalry , but it was the phalanx that won many famous battles. Back to top What armour did Greek soldiers wear? A hoplite had to pay for his armour, unless his father was killed in battle. Then he was given his father's weapons and armour. Rich men had metal armour, shaped to the chest, but others wore cheap armour made of linen cloth. Layers of cloth were glued together, to make a tough, bendy jacket, which could be covered with metal plates. A Greek soldier carried a big round shield , made of wood and metal. On his legs he wore metal guards, called greaves. On his head he wore a metal helmet, often with a crest on top. The crest was usually made of horsehair, and stuck up to make the soldier look taller and fiercer. Fun Facts Greek ships usually carried 20 or more hoplites (soldiers) for deck-fighting. If a Spartan soldier was afraid and ran away, he was in disgrace.

He had to prove his bravery in the next battle. Spartan boys had to train without underwear, and wore just one tunic - winter and summer. 'At ease', a soldier rested his spear end on the ground and his shield on his thigh. He sometimes did this to show he wasn't scared of an enemy too. Army wagons carried shovels, axes and sickles (for harvesting grain, for food). On the march and in battle, orders were given by blowing horns and trumpets. Body armour was made from linen cloth, in layers glued together to make a stiff shirt. This was lighter and cheaper than metal armour. Spartans did not join the other Greeks to fight at Marathon. They stayed at home to take part in a religious festival. After a victory, a general gave a shield to a temple to thank the gods. The remains of these victory-shields have been found. Greek soldiers sang as they marched into battle, to the music of flutes and trumpets. A phalanx soldier carried his shield on his left arm. His shield helped protect the man next to him. Only the soldier on the far right of the line was exposed to the enemy.

Some of Alexander's Greek soldiers carried very long spears - over 6m/19 ft long!. A metal helmet was heavy. A soldier usually pushed it up on top his head, pulling it down over his face before a battle. Soldiers carried their food in a bag: usually barley, cheese, salted meat and onions. BBC © 2014 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so. [AB-buh-KUS} Beads on a wire or wood frame used for counting and doing sums. Acropolis [a-CROP-olis] The Acropolis is a large hill in the centre of Athens. On top of it were many temples and other buildings, the remains of which can still be seen today archaeologist Expert in studying the past from remains left by people. archer Person who used a bow and arrow. architect A person who designs buildings.

Aristophanes [aris-TOF-a-neez] Lived from about 450 to 385 BC. He wrote comedy plays comedies for the theatre in Athens. Aristotle [aris-TOT-ull] Lived from 384 to 322 BC. A scientist and philosopher. artefact Anything made by people. Artefacts found by archaeologists include broken pottery, bits of wood and metal, brick and stone. Athena The patron goddess of Athens, and goddess of wisdom. A huge statue of Athena stood inside the Parthenon in Athens. Athens The capital city of modern Greece. In ancient times Athens was a powerful city-state with its own government, laws, army and navy. Attica [A-tik-a] The region around Athens. cavalry Soldiers riding on horses. centaur Mythical creature with a horse's lower body and legs, but the chest, arms and head of a man. Centaurs were wild and unruly, but one named Chiron was wise and skilled in healing.

citizen In Athens a citizen was a person with the right to take part in the assembly, serve on juries and take a turn as a member of the ruling council. Only male Athenians were allowed citizen rights. city-state Ancient Greek cities had their own governments, laws and armies. The city and the land it controlled around it made up the city-state. colony (colonies) An overseas settlement. The Greeks set up colonies around the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. column A tall cylinder-shaped support for the roof or doorway to a building. There were three styles of columns in Greek architecture: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. comedy (comedies) A play written to make the audience laugh. In the Greek theatre comedies poked fun at the foolishness of people and especially politicians. Corinth [COH-rinth] A city-state in southern Greece, famous for its pottery and overland ship-track. Someone or something from Corinth is known as Corinthian. crest Raised decoration on a soldier's helmet, like a ridge. On Greek helmets, the crest was made of stiff horsehair. death penalty Punishment for a serious crime, such as murder. The person found guilty was executed (killed).

Delphi [DEL-fee] A city to the west of Athens, withthe famous Oracle of Delphi. People went to consult the Oracle for advice from the gods. democracy A system of government in which citizens can vote to decide things. Athens had democracy from 510 BC. discus Flat dish-shaped object thrown by an athlete, a bit like a Frisbee only smaller and heavier. E to G ferryman A boatman who takes people across a river or lake in a boat called a ferry. diphtheria Decoration around the top of a wall or building. gorgon Monsters with wings and hair made of snakes. The gorgon Medusa could turn people to stone. factory Building with machines for producing goods in large numbers. factory commission A group of men who travelled around Britain to investigate the working conditions of children in both factories and mines. fire grate The metal part of a fire and fireplace. globe A map of the world drawn on a sphere, useful in geography lessons. governess A woman who taught rich girls and young boys in their homes, as a paid, live-in servant. grammar school Boys' schools, started in the Middle Ages as an alternative to Church schools and giving free education to some boys.

H to L A slave who worked for a Spartan master. historian Someone who writes about, and studies, the past, especially from writings left by earlier people. hoplite [HOP-light] A Greek foot soldier. Hoplites carried round shields and long spears and had bronze helmets and leg guards. Homer Said to be the author of the two long poems, The Iliad and The Odyssey, but nothing is really known about him. isthmus Narrow strip of land with sea either side. javelin A long spear for throwing. jury In a law court, the people who listen to evidence and decide whether an accused person is guilty or not. kiln Oven heated by wood, charcoal or some other burning fuel for 'firing' (heating and hardening) clay pots. M to O State in the north of Greece, birthplace of Alexander the Great. Marathon Battle between the Greeks and Persians. mosaic Picture-decoration made from small coloured tiles. Olympic Games A religious festival held in honour of Zeus, attended by people from all over Greece. oracle A religious custom where people asked the Oracle questions or sought advice. The Oracle was supposed to give the answers of the gods.

P to S [pan-KRAT-ion] A type of wrestling with almost no rules; one of the Olympic events. Parthenon [PARTH-en-on] A huge temple on top of the Acropolis hill in Athens. Pericles [PER-i-kleez] A popular leader of Athens from 458 - 429 BC. Pericles was famous for his stirring public speeches. Persia An empire to the east of Greece, ruled by kings. Persia tried to invade Greece. Ancient Persia is modern Iran. phalanx Greek fighting formation, made up of ranks of foot soldiers. philosopher A person who thinks and writes about the meaning of life and how people live. pirate Sea robber. There were many pirate ships in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas at the time of the Ancient Greeks. Plato Lived from about 428 to 348, he was a philosopher and teacher in Athens. politician Person active in politics - the business of governing a city or country. pottery Useful containers such as bowls, dishes, plates and mugs made from soft clay that is baked hard in an oven called a kiln.

ram In warfare, a pointed weapon for battering holes in walls or ships. Greek warships had rams fixed to their front ends or prows. Roman Roman means "of Rome" or a person from Rome. The Ancient Romans conquered Greece around 146 BC, but admired and copied Greek civilization. sacrifice A gift made to the gods. For example, pieces of meat could be burned on an altar as a sacrifice. scholar Someone who studies - and often writes books too. sculptor Artist who makes statues and other works of art from stone, wood or metal. Scythia Ancient kingdom, north of the Black Sea in a region now inside Ukraine and Russia. slave A person with no freedom, owned by someone else. shield Large piece of wood, leather and metal held in front of a soldier's body to protect him in battle. Most Greek shields were round. Socrates [SOK-rat-TEES] Lived from about 470 to 399. A philosopher and friend of Plato, he was famous for asking questions, but was forced to kill himself because Athens' rulers feared his teachings.

Sophocles [SOF-o-kleez] A writer of plays who died in 406 BC. He was also a general, in the army of Pericles. Sophocles wrote tragedies. Sparta [SPAR-ta] A city-state in southern Greece. The Spartans were famous for their strict military training and powerful army. T to Z temple A building used for religious worship and ceremonies. The Greeks put statues of gods and goddesses inside their temples. tomb The burial place for a dead person. Ancient people often put food, pottery, weapons and other possessions in a person's tomb. tragedy In theatre, a play with a sad or serious ending, and a moral lesson or teaching. trireme [TRY-reem] A Greek warship with three banks or rows of oars. Troy City in what is now Turkey, in which people called Trojans lived. They fought a 10-year war with the Greeks. tunic Typical clothing of Greek men and boys, a loose-fitting garment like a long shirt with short sleeves. Xerxes [Zerksees] King of Persia. Son of Darius. Led the Persian army at the Battle of Salamis.

Zeus [zz YOOS] The king of the gods. Zeus was the most powerful of the ancient Greek gods. The History of the Olympic Marathon Back to History & Records | Next Chapter The Modern Olympic Games are perhaps the most modern spectacle on the planet. Their pageantry, ritual, and tradition are beamed to billions via satellite, and every facet of their competition is not merely tinged with but ruled by modern technology. Yet the Olympics have their roots in a festival more ancient than the rites of Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism. Indeed if, as has often been suggested, the coliseums and stadiums our society has constructed in the twentieth century will ultimately be viewed as the cathedrals of our time, then the Olympic Games are our most sacred rite and Olympic champions our high priests. But the Olympics began in a time before satellites and television, a time before electronic timers, photo finishes, and computer rankings, a time when the greatest of gods was not sport, but Zeus. The origin of the ancient Olympic Games is shrouded in legend, but it may have begun as a commemoration of Zeus' defeating Kronos in a wrestling match-the prize being possession of the earth. The exact date of the first Olympic Games is also lost.

Some sources say 1253 B.C., others 884 B.C.. One thing is certain, however, every four years from 776 B.C. until 394 A.D., the strongest and swiftest men in Greece assembled to compete in the Olympic Games. The Games were held in Olympia, a great complex that included a 60,000-seat stadium, a vast hippodrome for equestrian events, and a gymnasium for wrestlers, boxers, gymnasts, and others. Religious buildings were also and important part of Olympia, just as religious ceremonies were and important part of the Games. One building, the Olympium, housed a forty-foot ivory statue of Zeus with robes of gold, one of the seven wonders of the world. With Zeus watching over the Olympics the Games grew in both size and importance. Wars were suspended during the time of Olympic competition, so great was the respect given the Games. The Olympics began with a single footrace, but grew to encompass a variety of events, many similar to those in modern track and field. However, no race in the ancient Olympics was greater than twenty-four laps around the Olympic stadium, a distance of about three miles.

The ancient Greeks were no strangers to long-distance running, but to them it served as a means to communicate not to compete. The Greeks used foot couriers to take important messages from city to city. Out of this tradition grew a legend so persistent that it would spark the imagination of men nearly 2,500 years later. In 490 B.C. and army from Persia landed on the plain of Marathon, about twenty-five miles from Athens, with the intention of capturing and enslaving that city. The Athenians prepared for a battle that would determine the course of history for centuries to come. A victory for the powerful Persian Empire could destroy the independence of the Greek city-states and effectively end Greek civilization and culture. While the massive Persian army landed, the Athenians sent a messenger named Philippides (his name was corrupted in later texts to Pheidippides) to Sparta to enlist the aid of the Spartans in the upcoming battle. He covered the distance of about 150 miles in less than two days, a remarkable accomplishment by any standard. Back at Marathon, however, the decision was made not to wait for the Spartans. The Athenian army fell upon the vastly larger Persian forces while they were still preparing for battle.

Against great odds, the Greeks prevailed. Though historians writing close to the time of the battle make no mention of the event, writers some 600 years later claim that a runner was dispatched to Athens to carry the news of the great victory. According to legend he reached the city, said, "Rejoice, we conquer," and fell to the ground dead. Though one source gives the runner's name as Philippides, it is highly unlikely that he would have made such a run after having just run to Sparta. If he had, contemporary historians would surely have noted it. Whether any messenger at all was sent to Athens with the news of victory is a matter of some doubt, but certainly Philippides was not the messenger. Still, in the centuries that followed, the legend of Pheidippides (as he began to be called) and the legend of a runner who died to bring news of victory to the Athenians merged, and many later writers gave the name Pheidippides to the ill-fated runner. In the nineteenth century Robert Browning wrote in his Dramatic Idylls of Pheidippides' dash to Athens, his announcement of victory, and his death.

Though Pheidippides was certainly not the runner who carried the news of Greek victory to Athens, and though it seems unlikely that any professional foot courier of ancient Greece would have perished after such a run, the legend took hold, and out of that legend grew the modern marathon race. In 394 A.D., the Roman Emperor Theodosius banned all non-Christian celebrations in the Empire, effectively putting an end to the Olympic Games, Religion, for the time being, had separated from and usurped sport. In the mid-1900s, interest in ancient Greece was on the rise. Archaeologists began to uncover the ruins of the ancient stadium at Olympia, and the idea of reviving the Olympic Games was pursued by a Greek businessman named Evangelios Zappas. With the support of the Greek government, Zappas staged an Olympic competition on November 15, 1859. That competition and three others (in 1870, 1875, and 1889) staged by the Greek government with money left by Zappas in his will, were not successful.

Because of poor planning and improper facilities, spectators could not see the competition and some got into fights, which spilled over onto the track. It appeared that the Olympic Games, dormant for 1,500 years, would not continue into the new century. A French baron named Pierre de Coubertin changed all that. Coubertin was an aristocrat who had worked for some years to improve the quality of physical education in France. In addition to a keen interest in athletics, Coubertin was a proponent of internationalism-cooperation between nations which he felt would promote peace. Inspired by the uncovering of the ruins at Olympia, the failed efforts to revive the ancient Games, and his interest in sports, Coubertin conceived the idea of reestablishing the Olympic Games. In 1892, he hosted a banquet for the Union of French Athletic Sports Clubs, a group he had founded five years earlier. In a speech at the banquet, he proposed reviving the Olympic Games, but the suggestion was met with a mixture of apathy and derision. Was Coubertin suggesting holding footraces in the nude as the ancient Greeks had? Was he seriously suggesting that civilized Europeans should compete with Africans and Asians?

Despite the close-mindedness of his compatriots, Coubertin did not give up. In 1894 he hosted an International Congress of Amateurs. On the program, after several topics concerning amateurism and sports, he listed "Reestablishment of the Olympic Games." The congress was not to discuss whether to revive the Olympics, but rather how it should be done. By the end of the conference, Coubertin had formed the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and plans were in place to stage the first modern Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. He was able to convince delegates from many countries to enthusiastically support the idea. Though much work remained to be done before the Games could begin, Coubertin's dream seemed destined for reality. Another French delegate to the conference, Michel Bréal, a linguist and historian, was enthralled by the legend of Pheidippides and the famous run from Marathon to Athens. Though the run was unrelated to Olympic competition, Bréal proposed the establishment of a long-distance footrace to commemorate the effort. He offered a silver trophy to whomever would win such a race.

Coubertin loved the idea and promoted the race in many speeches he gave to stir up interest in the Games. The new race was called "the marathon" and was included as the final event on the Olympic agenda. Thus, out of an accomplishment by an ancient Greek, a legend corrupted by historians and poets from Greece to England, and the dreams of two Frenchmen, was born the most audacious of races, the marathon. Little did Bréal know that he had struck a chord that would resonate ever louder as the next century progressed. For there is something in man that seeks out challenge, especially the challenge of a single man taking on a task in which all the forces of nature, and often the opinions of men, are arrayed against him; a task in which his own solitude may become his greatest enemy; a task that his own drive, his own desire, and his own ego cannot fail to make him accomplish. There is something in man that seeks out the challenge of the unknown. As the world around us became more and more known in this century, man increasingly turned to the unknown within himself and sought to challenge the limits of his very being. There is something in man that makes him run marathons.

There is, too, something in the Olympic Games that makes its marathon the greatest of all, not merely because it was first or because the legend of Pheidippides links the race to ancient Greece. After the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, a group from Boston that had competed for the United States returned home full of excitement about the marathon race they had witnessed. The result of that excitement was the establishment of the Boston Marathon the following year. Run every April since 1897, the Boston race is considered by some the most prestigious of all marathons. After all, the Olympic race is run only every four years, while Boston is an annual race. How many great marathoners will be denied an Olympic medal because they are not at the peak of their career in the right year? Boston is run in the cool weather if New England spring, while the Olympic race is run in the often unfavorably hot conditions of midsummer. How can such poor running conditions produce a true champion? Yet winning the Olympic Marathon remains the ultimate accomplishment for a long-distance runner, in part because of the very limitations of the race.

Like any other long-distance race, the Olympic Marathon requires strength, courage, and endurance but it also requires something else, something the skeptics might call the blessing of the gods. So, if many of the world's greatest marathoners were never Olympic champions, it is all the more reason to praise the few who have triumphed in this race, for in the religion that twentieth-century sport has become, they have truly been touched by the gods. From Olympic Marathon, Charlie Lovett. Copyright © 1997 by Charlie Lovett. Reproduced with permission of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. , Westport, CT. Chapter 4 ancient greece - World History with Brugger at Xavier College Preparatory - StudyBlue Good to have you back! If you've signed in to StudyBlue with Facebook in the past, please do that again. Chapter 4 ancient greece NY, Glencoe World History, Student Edition pericles a dominant figure in athenian politics between 461 bc and 429 bc athens expanded its empire and democracy flourished at home the height of athenian power and brilliance.

he died in 429 bc due to plague results of the peloponnesian war sparta became the dominating force in greece instead of athens, athens walls were torn down, the navy was disbanded and the empire was destroyed Advertisement ) results of the persian war greece defeated persia and athens ecame the most powerful city state hoplites in the early greek military system, a heavily armed foot soldier Sir Arthur Evans British scholar who bought the hill on Crete, Knossos, and found as well as studied the throne room. Dark Age -The Dorians, Greek-speaking peoplesfrom northeast Greece, invaded and attributed the destruction of the Mycenaeanworld. -Ionia: the central islands of theAegean and the central sector of the western coast of Asia Minor. Refugees fromthe Peloponnesus, sapping through Athens and now called Ionians. greek family civilization on the island of crete was a sea faring empire based on trade mycenaean civilization on the mainland were part of the indo europeans who spread to greece high point between 1400 bc and 1200 bc 7.

City-State Organization --polis- town, city or village and surrounding country side --main gathering place-hill --acropolis- top of hill, fortified hill --agora- below acropolis ----open area that served as a place where people could assemble & used as a market place tyranny rule by a ruler who seized power by force from the aristocrats gained support from the newly rich and the poor and maintained power by using hired soldiers and fighting tactics chief greek god zues differences in sparta and athens women had more freedom in sparta because the men were soldiers until they were 50 women in athens had much less freedom. only men could vote in athens and could only deal with political things results of the Battle of Marathon -Athens and persia first stand -Athens won -biggest lost in Persian Empire results of the battle of thermopylae spartians tried to fight of persians at thermopylae but the persians defeated them and burned athens down Advertisement The first historian of the Western world.

from greece plato considered the greatest philosopher in western civilization he was fascinated by the question of reality explained his ideas in a work calle the republic homer a greek poet who wrote epic poems including the iliad and the odyssey Cleisthenes Opposed oligarchy and gained power Set up council of 500 (paid position) his reforms set up foundation for Athenian democracy aristotle thought that by examining individual objects, we could perceive their form socrates taught people how to live their lives with a code of ethics he believed people would be happy living moral lives was sentenced to death for "poisoning the minds of the children" and was forced to drink poison as his death penalty alexander the great after his father died, he conquered and made and empire from greece to modern day pakistan, is considered the best war general of time to this day hellenistic age under the rule of alexander the great oracles a sacred shrine where a god or goddess was said to reveal the future through a priest of priestess alexandria the capitol of egypt founded by alexander the great it had the largest library in the ancient world (200,000) scrolls acropolis a fortified gathering place at the top of a hill that was

 sometimes the site of temples and public buildings Peisistratus tyrant that was popular but violent, increased trade and got aristocrats out of office; athens thucydides historian of the peleponnisian war agora an open area that served as a gathering place and as a market Olympus Highest mountain in Greece; home to the 12 chief gods and goddesses Solon sought to negotiate order by demographic principles provided representation for the common classes knossos the minoan civilization on the island of crete oligarchy "the rule of the few" a form of government in which a select group of peoples exercises controls Pergamum

Question: Pheidippides reportedly ran the first marathon during the war between Greece and which other country?
Answer: PERSIA