Historical Battles: Part One

Battle of Marathon

    In the early 400s BC, Darius I, king of Persia, sought to attack the land of Greece. He did this as an act of revenge, as the city of Athens fought against him in the Ionian Revolt. This led to Darius swearing that he would burn down the Grecian cities of Athens and Eretria. Darius started by having his army, which was commanded by Datis and Arataphernes, sail along the northern coast of Africa, before turning northward and sailing to Greece. They landed at the Bay of Marathon, about 25 miles away from Athens. The Athenian and Plataean army, led by Miltiades, rushed to keep the Persians in the nearby plains. Miltiades sent a messenger to Sparta in order to request their aid. But the Spartans could not march to war until at least ten days, the Athenian army would have to hold out until then. Both the Persians and the Greeks did not attack initially, which worked to the advantage of the Greeks. When the Spartans did arrive, the Greeks begun their attack. The Greek formation was so: their army was spread thin so that they could not be flanked. In the center there were four rows of soldiers, and on the outside there were eight rows of men. Seeing that the Greeks were weaker there, the Persians attacked the center of their army. The Greek flanks were able to defeat the Persian flanks, and began to close in on the enemy army in a pincer maneuver. When the Persians noticed this, they broke formation and retreated. Some ran into the nearby swamps and drowned, while the rest ran back to their ships. The Greeks chased after them and managed to capture seven Persian ships.

    Through their superior tactics and equipment the Greek army won the day, beating back one of the largest empires of the age. The Persians would not try to conquer Greece again until the reign of King Xerxes. The historian Herodotus records that 6,400 Persian bodies were counted that day, minus the groups that died in the swamps, though only 203 Greek soldiers died.