Latest / Ancient Greece: Philosophy, Democracy, and Endless War — Fexingo History / The Battle of Marathon: Athens Stands Alone
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, we've talked a lot about Athenian democracy and its institutions — the Pnyx, the Ekklesia, the kleroterion. But there's one event that made all of that possible, and it happened on a plain about twenty-six miles northeast of Athens, in 490 BCE. Luna: You're talking about Marathon. Lucas: Exactly. The Battle of Marathon. It's one of those battles that gets talked about as a turning point in Western history, and for good reason. If Athens loses that day, there's no Parthenon, no plays of Sophocles, probably no Socratic tradition — at least not in the form we know. So I want to dig into what actually happened, and separate the history from the legend. Luna: Where do we even start? With the Persians? Lucas: Let's set the stage. The Persian Empire under Darius I was the superpower of the ancient world — it stretched from the Indus River to the Aegean Sea. In 499 BCE, the Ionian Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor rebelled against Persian rule, and Athens sent twenty ships to help them. That intervention infuriated Darius. He swore revenge. Lucas: So in 490, Darius assembled a fleet and an army — estimates vary, but Herodotus says about 600 ships and maybe 25,000 to 30,000 troops. He sent them across the Aegean, under the command of Datis and Artaphernes, with a specific mission: punish Athens and restore the former tyrant Hippias, who was exiled by the Athenians and now living at the Persian court. Lucas: And here's something important: the Persians didn't just come to fight — they brought Hippias with them. He was old by then, but he knew the terrain and the politics. The invasion was partly a regime-change operation. Luna: So the Persians land at Marathon. Why there? Lucas: Good question. Marathon was a bay with a long, flat plain — perfect for cavalry, which the Persians relied on. And it was close enough to Athens to be a threat, but not so close that the Athenians could easily defend it. The Persian commanders expected the Athenians to stay behind their walls, but instead they marched out to meet them — about 10,000 hoplites, plus 1,000 from the small city of Plataea, their only Greek ally. Lucas: Now, if you've been coming along with us through these conversations about ancient Greece, you know that this show — and history like this — depends on people who care enough to support it. We keep Fexingo History ad-free and independent because of listeners who buy us a coffee — you can do that at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small way to keep these deep dives alive. And today, thinking about how a tiny democracy faced down an empire, it's a reminder that even small contributions matter. Luna: I love that connection. It's like — each listener's support is a hoplite in the phalanx. Lucas: Exactly. So back to the plain. The Athenians were commanded by ten generals — one for each tribe — plus the polemarch, Callimachus, who had a ceremonial role but also a vote. And among those ten generals was Miltiades, who had personal experience with Persian military tactics. He'd served as a tyrant in the Chersonese under Persian suzerainty, so he knew how the Persians fought. He argued for an immediate attack. Luna: Didn't the Athenians also send a runner to Sparta for help? Lucas: They did. That runner was Pheidippides — a professional long-distance courier. According to Herodotus, he covered about 140 miles in two days to ask the Spartans for reinforcements. But the Spartans were celebrating a religious festival, the Carneia, and they said they couldn't march until the full moon. So the Athenians were on their own. Lucas: The two armies faced each other for several days — maybe five or six — neither side willing to attack first. The Persians had the cavalry advantage, and the Athenians had the heavy infantry advantage. Then, on the morning of the battle, the Persians began loading their cavalry onto ships, possibly to launch a seaborne attack on undefended Athens. Miltiades saw his chance. Luna: So he attacked while the cavalry was away. Lucas: Exactly. The Athenians charged at a run — which was unusual, because hoplites normally marched in formation to keep the phalanx tight. But Miltiades wanted to close the distance quickly and reduce the impact of Persian archers. The hoplites ran the entire mile across the plain, probably in full bronze armor — helmet, cuirass, greaves, shield — which is an incredible feat of endurance. Lucas: The Athenian line was slightly longer than the Persian line, but Miltiades deliberately weakened his center and strengthened the wings. The plan was to let the Persians push through the middle, then envelop them from the flanks. And it worked. The center collapsed, but the wings held, turned inward, and surrounded the Persian main force. Luna: Like a double envelopment — Hannibal later used something similar at Cannae. Lucas: Exactly the comparison. The Persian army broke and fled to their ships. The Athenians captured seven ships, but the rest escaped. Herodotus says 6,400 Persians died, compared to only 192 Athenians. Those numbers are probably exaggerated, but the asymmetry is real — hoplites were devastating against lightly-armed Persian infantry. Lucas: Then there's the famous run. The story goes that a runner — often called Pheidippides, but this time it's a different run — raced from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory, shouted 'Nenikēkamen!' — 'We have won!' — and dropped dead. But that story comes from Plutarch, writing 500 years later, not from Herodotus. Herodotus only mentions Pheidippides' run to Sparta. So the marathon run is probably a legend, but it's a powerful one. Luna: And that's where we get the modern marathon race. Lucas: Right. The modern distance of 26.2 miles was set for the 1908 London Olympics, to go from Windsor Castle to the stadium. But the idea — a messenger bringing news of a great victory — is deeply embedded in the Athenian identity. The Battle of Marathon became a foundation myth for Athenian democracy. It proved that a citizen army fighting for freedom could defeat a professional army serving a king. Lucas: After the battle, the Athenians buried their dead in a large mound — the Soros — which you can still see at Marathon today. Excavations in the 19th century confirmed the mound and found remains. And the Plataeans were honored for their help — they got a share of the spoils and a special status in Athens. Luna: What happened to Miltiades? Lucas: Miltiades became a hero. But within a year, he led a disastrous expedition against the island of Paros, apparently for personal revenge. He was wounded, and when he returned, his political enemies prosecuted him for deceiving the people. He was fined a huge sum, died soon after from his wounds, and his son Cimon paid the fine. So the arc of his story is very Greek — a great triumph followed by a fall. Lucas: The victory at Marathon gave Athens a huge confidence boost. It also gave them a reputation as the defenders of Greece. Ten years later, when Xerxes invaded, many Greek cities looked to Athens for leadership. And that eventually led to the Delian League — and the Athenian empire we've talked about in other episodes. So in a way, Marathon is the seed of both Athenian democracy and Athenian imperialism. Luna: It's amazing how one battle can have such a long shadow. Lucas: It really does. And it's worth remembering that the Athenians themselves never forgot it. Every year, they held a ceremony for the fallen at Marathon. The poet Aeschylus fought there, and his epitaph didn't mention his plays — just that he had fought at Marathon. For the Athenians, it was the defining moment of their generation. Luna: I think that's what strikes me most — how much it meant to them. Lucas: Absolutely. And I think it's a good note to end on. Next time, we might look at what happened after Marathon — how Athens built on that victory and how the memory of it shaped their decisions for decades. But for now, thanks for walking through the plain with me.