After conquering the Eretrians, the army of King Darius of Persia planned to march on Athens and enslave them as well. The Athenians got wind of the plan and marched to meet them on the plains of Marathon where the Persian army had landed. They sent the runner Philippides to Sparta to ask for military assistance. He ran the 150 miles in one day to deliver the message, but the Spartans would not send aid until the next full moon, 20 days later.
Instead, the Plataeans came to the aid of Athens, having pledged their loyalty in exchange for Athenian protection. The Athenians confronted them across the plain, with the Athenians on the right flank and the Plataeans on the left, and a weakness of depth in the center. But they took the Persians by surprise by running to their positions instead of marching. They drove the Persians back to their boats, losing only 192 men. The Persians then tried to circle the peninsula and land closer to Athens on the other side, while the Athenians marched quickly home to be ready for a second battle. But, perhaps having been tipped off by the leaders of the city, the Persians instead turned their ships for their own home.
Later, 2000 Spartans arrived to help. When told what had happened, they were duly impressed. Then they went home.
In a break from tradition, the Athenians buried their casualties, not in the city, but on the field where they fell. The burial mound stands to this day.
-----------------------
OK, so Philippides didn't run from Marathon to Athens. Instead, he ran from Athens to Sparta. And he only did it once. And he didn't die afterwards. And it didn't help, because Sparta didn't come.
That's all disappointing, but the whole story is still flippin' awesome. The whole tone of Herodotus seemed to be different for this episode. Much less speculation, many fewer outrageous claims. The battle was within his lifetime, within his geographic region, involving people he must have known-- it's all reliable. Very cool chapter.
No comments:
Post a Comment