THE FIRST PERSIAN WAR (THE BATTLE OF MARATHON) The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC, when the Persians invaded Greece for the first time. The battle took place in Marathon. King Darius ordered his army to attack Athens and Eretria because of the role they played in the Ionian revolt. This battle mainly featured the Athenians and the Persians and SPOILER (the Athenians were the ones who eventually won the battle). Four important roles that featured in this battle. Firstly there’s Miltiades, he was one of the Athenian military generals who successfully led the Athenians to victory in the Battle of Marathon. The second person is King Darius who was the powerful Persian King who never forgot the role the Athenians and Eretrians played …show more content…
Compared to its vast territories the Persian Empire (Grey) the territory of Greece (Orange and Purple) looks pretty small. King Darius of Persia wanted to continue expanding the Persian borders after the Ionian revolt. This was what essentially set up the conflict between Persia and Greek city states that took place in the early 5th century BC. When King Darius began to call on the Greek city states, demanding that they submit to his rule, not all of them complied. After the news of this reached Persia, King Darius ordered his men to capture Athens and Eretria, and to bring the prisoners to him for their involvement in the Ionian revolt. The Persian army of 25,000 first captured Eretria and then began the short trip to Attica. Hippias (son of former Athenian tyrant Peisistratos who was living in exile at the time) advised the Persians to land at Marathon, because it was the most convenient place for them to disembark their weapons and horses. Also because it was located close to …show more content…
But they soon realized that they would need much more manpower, and so Pheidippides was sent to Sparta to ask for their assistance. However the Spartans were unable to provide the Athenians with the immediate assistance they needed. Because there was a law that prevented them from leaving Sparta until the full moon. Back on the plane of Marathon the Athenian generals could not come to an agreement on whether or not they should risk a battle. Miltiades who was one of the Athenian generals, decided to resolve this impasse by going to the polemarch (Callimachus). Who advised him to fight the Persians. On the day that Miltiades took command of the Athenian army, he positioned his strongest men on the ends of his lines that stretched across the plains. He positioned the weaker ones in the centre because he knew that the Persians always place their strongest men in the centre line of attack. The Persians were expected to win the battle. But the Athenians won the intense battle after Miltiades surprised the Persians after ordering his army to charge at them. Eventually the Athenian encircled the remaining Persians who attempted to flee. The Persians were chased all the way back to their ships. And at the end of the day the Greeks actually ended up with a low number of causalities, whereas the Persians suffered a heavy loss. But this loss didn’t