The Battle of Marathon in the First Persian Wars When the Persians finally arrived in full force, the
rebellion ended quickly. The key event was the
Persian Wars begin with the Ionian Revolt Battle of Lade in 494, a naval battle that ended in
Aristagoras was the tyrant of Miletus. Tyrannos was a complete Persian victory. Aristagoras was killed
the Greek word for anyone who had come to power and his city (Miletus) was destroyed
illegally, whether they ruled well or badly. A Athens had been a principal ally in the Ionian
tyrant's position was therefore always legally shaky Revolt and the Athenians quite naturally feared that
and keeping the power he had seized was a tyrant's Darius would be coming after them next. With the
constant worry. example of Miletus before them, this was a
In 500, Aristagoras had a great idea. The way to distressing prospect.
secure his power, he thought, was to ingratiate The First Persian Invasion of Greece
himself with the Persians. The way to do this was to
gain for Persia a great victory. So he persuaded the The Athenians were right to worry. Darius began
Persians to attempt to take the island city-state of methodically assembling an enormous army, with
Naxos. which he intended to crush the Greeks forever. He
let it be known this was his intent. He also let it be
The expedition failed, however, and the Persians known that anyone who cooperated with Persia
blamed Aristagoras. To protect himself, he would be spared and, indeed, would prosper. Those
persuaded the people of Miletus to rebel in the who opposed would be destroyed. No one doubted
name of Greek liberty; the would-be Persian toady that the great King meant what he said quite
now became the champion of Greek freedom. It was literally.
a desperate act on Aristagoras' part, but he was in a
desperate situation, for he could not face the entire Darius finally invaded in person in 490, sailing
Persian Empire alone. The citizens, already chafing from the Phoenician coast with a huge armada and
at Persian rule, supported Aristagoras. They killed landing on the island of Euboea. One of the Greek
the local Persian garrison and freed the city. Of strong points, Eretria, fell after a six day siege.
course, Miletus could hardly stand against Persia
The city was sacked and the entire population taken
either. The city needed help.
captive. This was a clear indication to the Athenians
It did not need to stand alone. The Greeks (in Asia that theirs would be the same fate.
Minor) were ready for any excuse to rebel, and this
was a good one. With Aristagoras' encouragement, Battle of Marathon
city after city followed Miletus in killing or driving
Persian army then landed at Marathon. Sparta was
out their Persian garrisons and declaring liberty.
still unwilling to fight beyond the borders of the
The local satrap (Persian governor) could not Pelopennese, and Athens stood alone. Present at the
control the rebellion, and the revolt spread. By 499,
battle were the Medes, and their conquerors the
most of the cities on the Ionian coast were once
again independent. Persians.
Athenian army took its position in the Valley of
Darius (Persian ruler), of course, could not tolerate Vrana, near the small town of Marathon. It was
this. outnumbered three to one. The army was joined at
The revolt had succeeded, but only temporarily. The the last minute by about a thousand Plataeans, but
Persian war machine was slow to mobilize, but that was the only ally that stood with Athens.
highly effective once it was in motion. Aristagoras
knew this and had planned for it. The Athenian army was led not by a single general
He appealed to the mainland Greeks for help, but by a board of ten generals, and command
asking the mother cities to come to the defense of rotated among them daily. This was so no one
their colonies (many of the city-states along the general could become a war hero and thereby
Ionian coast had been founded by Greeks from the become a demagogue. The most respected of these
mainland). Sparta refused, arguing that events in was a man named Miltiades, and all the generals
Asia were none of its concern. Athens, on the other agreed he should lead them into battle the next day.
hand, sent an entire army plus a navy to defend her It wasn't his turn, however. So one by one each
fellow Greeks from the barbarians. general stepped up and formally laid down his
command so the next in line could take it, until distance. When he arrived, he gasped out a single
finally it was Miltiades' turn. word, "victory!" and died.
At dawn, Miltiades ordered an attack. The Persians The Persians did indeed sail around Attica, hoping
were still mostly asleep down on the beach, and to find the city helpless. Instead, they found the
were quite astonished to see the enemy attacking. walls defended and the citizenry ready. Met with
More astonishing still, they were attacking at a run. this resistance, they hesitated. Not long after, the
This was of some comfort, for a man isn't going to Greek army arrived. The Persians decided they had
fight all that well after having run a mile with armor had enough of these Greeks, and they sailed home.
and weapons. The Persians formed up and met the
attack, but they were a bit ragged and disorganized. From: http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/westciv/persian
Still, they routed the Greek center, pushing it back Questions:
up the valley. The Greeks retreated, pulling the **Answer on a separate piece of paper (in
Persians forward and extending their lines. This is
exactly what Miltiades had intended. He had given completemsentences) and staple to the front this
orders to his men to attack and then retreat in the sheet. (remember: Name, Date, Period)
center. He deliberately weakened his center and
strengthened the flanks. This took great courage, for 1. Explain Aristagoras’ strategies , and
the Athenian center had to retreat yet not be
how the failure of one led to another,
overrun.
and its result.
When the Persians were sufficiently extended, 2. Describe the reactions (and
Miltiades gave the command. The center suddenly
turned and stood its ground, while the men on the reasoning) of both Sparta and Athens
flanks attacked. to Aristagoras plea for help.
The Persians broke ranks and began to retreat. As
3. After the Ionian Revolt was ended,
the Greeks pressed, the retreat became a rout. Many why was it right for the Athenians to
Persians fled northward, only to run into swampy be worried?
ground where they were cut down. Others ran back
to the beach, jumping into the little boats that had 4. List the major actions of the Persians
ferried them ashore from the fleet. Some Athenians leading up to the Battle of Marathon.
followed them into the water, swimming out after
the boats, attacking as they could, and capturing 5. Describe Miltiades’ strategy, and how
seven Persian ships. it allowed to Athenians to defeat the
The Athenians had won at Marathon, but they
Persians.
certainly had not destroyed the Persian army, and 6. After the battle, what still threatened
they knew it. Well before the battle, they had made the Athenians? How did they deal
provision for whatever might happen at Marathon.
with it?
Should the Athenians lose, then word must get back
quickly to the city and the citizens would abandon
Athens, retreating to the Peloponnesus. Should the
Greeks win, then word must likewise get back
quickly, for the Persian navy was sure to sail around
Attica and attempt to take the city while it was
undefended. In the case of victory, the citizens were
to man the walls and make it appear that Athens
was strongly defended.
So Miltiades sent his best runner, Phaedippas, to
take word back to Athens. He ran the entire