Ancient Greek Civilizations Lesson 5: Battle of Marathon

1. Athenian soldier sounding the alarm “The Persians are coming!” announced an Athenian soldier. King Darius - king of the Persian Empire - had sent an army of Persian soldiers to punish the Athenians for helping other Greek city- states fight against Persia.

2. Persians A fleet—or group—of six hundred ships had brought as many as twenty thousand Persian soldiers near a wide, flat plain called Marathon, about twenty-six miles away from Athens.

3. Miltiades addressing the generals and Callimachus “There are not enough of us to face them,” moaned an Athenian army general. “Besides, no one can defeat—or beat— the Persian soldiers. Perhaps we should avoid—or keep away from—the Persians.” But another Athenian general, a man named Miltiades, had a different idea.

4. Miltiades addressing the generals and Callimachus “I do not think that avoiding the Persians is the solution. We must fight for our freedom and for the freedom of our children!” Another general responded, “The plain—or wide and flat land—of Marathon is a perfect place for the Persians to attack us. There will be nowhere for us to go to avoid—or keep away from—their soldiers. If we are to fight the Persians, let us call on—or ask— other Greek cities for help.”

5. Pheidippides beginning his run He suggested, “Let us send our fastest runner to Sparta. If the Spartans will help us, we might have a chance.” It was one hundred fifty miles from Athens to Sparta, and some of the journey included rugged mountains. The generals knew they would need a runner who was fast and strong. “Pheidippides is the one we will send to Sparta,” the generals agreed. So they sent Pheidippides to call on - or ask - the Spartans for help.

6. Pheidippides approaching Spartan kings The strong legs and powerful heart of Pheidippides carried him toward Sparta. He only stopped a few times to drink from streams or rivers. After three days, he reached Sparta and told the two Spartan kings. “You must come with your armies at once, or it will be too late!” Pheidippides explained.

7. Pheidippides approaching Spartan kings But Spartan kings answered, “We cannot leave before tomorrow. Sparta is in the middle of a religious holiday honoring the god, Apollo, the protector of our cattle. Our law says we must finish before we can leave to fight.” “By then the battle will be over, and we will be defeated!” Pheidippides exclaimed. He ran back to Athens as fast as he could to tell the Athenians the bad news that they would be on their own—they would need to fight by themselves.

8. Greek armies gathering; Pheidippides talking with generals Pheidippides arrived and said, “The Spartans cannot help us.” The generals were horrified—they were very scared and worried. “The Persian army is much bigger than ours, with many more soldiers. We will be defeated for sure—the Persians will definitely win,” a general said fearfully. “We should surrender and beg for mercy! If we surrender now, perhaps the Persians will be kind and not hurt us!” cried another general. “There will be no mercy—or kindness—from the Persians,” said Miltiades. “The Persians are here because we helped other Greeks fight against them. The Persians will not stop until they have defeated us. Let us fight against the Persians!”

9. Greeks attacking Persians To their luck, a thousand Greeks from another city-state came to help Athens during this time of emergency. The Greeks had a plan. They spread their army out in a wide line. The Greek generals purposely put more men at either end of their wide line, and purposely left only a few men in the middle. The Greek general wanted it to look like the middle was the weakest part.

10. Greeks attacking Persians Then, shouting a loud battle cry, the Greeks charged. “Look how weak those fools have left their middle,” laughed the Persian leader. Just as the Greeks had planned, the Persians moved to the middle first and then the Greek forces on the edges circled around the Persians and attacked from the sides.

11. Greeks victorious; Persians sailing away The Persians were defeated. They turned and ran for their ships. “We have defeated the mighty Persians! We have won the victory! We won!” the Greeks told one another. Then they remembered their families waiting for news at home in Athens.

12. Pheidippides falling and announcing victory Pheidippides proudly said, “I shall carry the news.” He started to run towards Athens. As he reached the gates of Athens, the people gathered around him. He was just able to gasp out one word: “Victory!” Then Pheidippides’ heart stopped beating.

13. Photo of a marathon race today In tribute to Pheidippides—to honor and remember Pheidippides— the Greeks measured the distance he had run from Marathon to Athens. Those twenty-six miles became the distance of their long distance races called a marathon. And this is why today we call a long-distance race a marathon—in memory of Pheidippides and all those who fought for freedom at Marathon.