Marathon Battle - September 12, 490 BC e. In the southern part of the Marathon Plain, eight hundred meters from the sea, there rises a hill - the common grave of the Athenians who fell in the legendary battle. All names are clearly inscribed on 10 tombstones. This was not difficult to do - in the decisive battle with the Persians, the Greeks lost less than two hundred people.
If their opponents had thought to create such a memorial, they would have had to emboss 6,500 names on the stone! The number of losses was so unequal that this Marathon battle alone could be considered one of the most extraordinary in world history.
But the Persians were so sure of the defeat of the Greeks! On 600 triremes, they loaded 10,000 infantry and the same number of horsemen with horses. The fleet crossed the Aegean Sea without incident. One of the ships was carrying a huge block of marble - from it the Persians wanted to build a monument in honor of their victory …
By that time, the Persian state was able to subjugate a huge territory. Including - the cities of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), inhabited by Greeks. And it must be the same - their rebellious inhabitants had the audacity to raise a mutiny! Moreover, the Athenians sent reinforcements to help the rebels. Of course, the Persians suppressed the rebellion. But the cunning of the Athenians was not forgotten.
And now war has been declared on Greece. The first campaign was unsuccessful. The Persian ships were caught in a storm, and the foot troops suffered losses. But King Darius began to prepare his second coming. True, just in case, he sent ambassadors to the Greek city-states - demanding obedience. Some agreed to recognize the power of the Persians, but the Spartans and Athenians flatly refused …
Well, the challenge was accepted. And now the Persian troops landed near the town of Marathon on a small plain surrounded by mountains and the sea. There is only one day's march to Athens - the first blow of the conquerors was to fall on this city …
The place for the battle was chosen on the advice of Hippias, the former Athenian tyrant, who had been expelled 20 years earlier from his native land. Intelligence reported that no one was guarding the plain. If the patrol service informs the city about the landing of the enemy, it will take at least eight hours until the army gets to Marathon. The Persians will meet them in full combat readiness! In Athens hesitated - to give the enemy a battle or to allow a siege?
The majority opinion is a battle. The Athenian general Miltiades, who knew their tactics well, hastened to meet the Persians. In the open, the Persian horsemen would have easily attacked the Athenians from both flanks, while the archers showered her with arrows. So the task is to prevent a battle on the plain.
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The closed formation blocked a kilometer-long gorge between the mountain slopes. The Athenians numbered about 10,000 - half the size of the Persian army. But - nowhere to retreat, behind Athens!.. And they began to prepare for the defense.
It all started near the Athens road at the exit from the valley. The Greek hoplites - warriors with heavy spears, swords and shields - formed a phalanx. However, the valley was still too wide. And Miltiades deliberately weakened the center, strengthening both flanks so that they could provide proper resistance to the Persian cavalry. The most dexterous and brave were sent to the mountains so that they impede the approach of the enemy, showered him from above with arrows, stones and darts.
Miltiades gave the order to cut down the trees that generously cover the mountains. Ahead of the right and left flanks, there were notches in which light infantry took refuge - warriors with bows, darts and slings. Taking such a position, Miltiades deprived the Persians of their main trump card - cavalry strikes on the flanks. For this, the horses would have to make their way along the slopes and rubble under the fire of arrows. The cavalry could not strike from the front either: in a narrow place the infantry barely fit!
As in a fairy tale - for three days and three nights they stood opposite each other. The Greeks did not want to change their advantageous position at all, and besides, they sent a messenger to the Spartans - for reinforcements. The Persians tried in vain to lure the enemy into the plain. And, in the end, they decided, without waiting for the Spartans, to launch an offensive.
Miltiades allowed the enemy to come closer - a hundred paces. Everything was based on the precise choice of the moment of the attack. A wave of the sword - and the hoplite phalanx rushed forward - not with a step, but practically at a run. Running had a triple purpose: to increase the pressure, to demoralize the enemy and get away from the arrows. And the arrows fell on the Greek army like a downpour! The Persians, at the sight of the Greeks approaching with alarming speed, actually stopped. And the flanking Greek detachments struck them unhindered, squeezing the Persians in deadly pincers.
Of course, when deciding on such a high-speed attack, the Athenian commander took great risks. Running could upset the ranks of his own warriors. Yes, both slingers and dart throwers did not keep up with the formation, and therefore, could not provide him with fire support. However, the calculation was justified! For a while, frozen like idols, the Ionians could not withstand the ramming blow and rushed to their heels. They raced towards the ships, followed closely by the Greeks. Anyone who hesitated immediately fell to the ground, pierced by a spear …
In his Notes, Caesar referred to a similar incident in the battle of Pharsalus. Then the soldiers of Pompey, standing still, took the blow of the Caesarians. The onslaught of the soldiers simply overturned and crushed the most powerful army! This is the inevitable fate of the troops stationed during the clash, - so Caesar said, and he knew what he was talking about.
In the heat of battle, the Persian general Datis suddenly found himself cut off from ships. What was left for him? Stop your warriors, turn around and attack again. But now the hated Greeks are sure of their advantage. They are very close, and the vaunted Persian throwing weapons remained somewhere on the battlefield … The field fortification was also captured by the enemy. And behind the battered, but not exterminated central phyla gather again …
We must at all costs attack the enemy, break through to the ships! The Greeks rushed forward, but either a swampy river prevented them, or the Persians were stronger in hand-to-hand combat … One way or another, the Persian cavalry cut through the Athenian hoplites and cleared the way for the infantry.
By that time, some Persians had already set sail from the coast. The slaves of the Athenians, pursuing them, rushed to plunder the enemy camp. Following them, the Persian cavalry rushed into the camp - and also began to load onto ships. The distraught horses rested, and the horsemen were delayed so much that both the infantry and the phalanxes of Miltiada could catch up with them.
A fierce battle in shallow water, in which two Athenian strategists and a polemarch were killed … And now the remains of the vaunted Persian army on the high seas. The Athenians captured 7 triremes (rowers and crews made up a large part of the losses of the Persians). With warlike shouts they accompanied the fleeing enemy. A messenger was immediately sent to Athens with good news. He flew like an arrow along the paths and steeps. Victory, victory!.. - the heart rate quickened. He rushes without even taking off his armor. Reaching Athens, he cried out; "Rejoice, we won!" - and then, lifeless, fell to the ground.
From Marathon to Athens, 42 km and 195 m. In memory of the warrior who passed on the good news at the cost of his life, the athletes called this distance a marathon. But this is already a story from our time. And then, barely recovering from the fervor of the battle, Datis did not at all consider him lost. The Persians marched on ships to Athens, convinced that there were no troops in the city. But Miltiades also received a message from Athens - the Persian fleet is heading for the city!
And the Athenians, exhausted by the battle, the seven-kilometer march through the swamp and the battle for the ships, performed a real miracle. They walked forty kilometers at a fast, almost marching step. And so, when the Persian fleet approached the harbor, Datis, to his horror, saw on the shore the same army with which he had fought since morning! Of course, the battered Persians did not land in front of the enemy. After a short stay at Athens, they sailed back.
How could a small Greek army defeat the seemingly invincible Persian formations? Undoubtedly the merit of Miltiades, who managed to take an advantageous position in all respects. To this day, the Marathon reminds the military about the art of placing troops on the ground so that it itself increases their strength.
The difference in weapons during the Marathon battle also affected: the Athenians were heavy and well-protected infantry, while the main weapon of the Persians was a bow. The wicker shield, which the shooter put out in front of him, did not save the Greeks from almost 2-meter spears. "They go into battle in hats and trousers," - this is how Aristagoras described the motley Persian warriors recruited from the inhabitants of many conquered countries. However, the power of the phalanx is not only in courage and weapons. She is united and united. The agility and courage of each of the warriors is compressed into "one crushing fist."
The difference between the troops of both sides is best shown in the Greek legend about the conversation between the Persian king Xerxes and the exiled Spartan ruler Demarat. The great king boasts that among his bodyguards there is more than one person who is ready to compete with three Hellenes at once. Demarat claims it is useless. Of course, Spartans are no more brave than other humans, but their true strength lies in unity. The law commands them, without failing, to win together or die together …
It should be noted that on the day of the Marathon battle, the Spartans never came to the aid of their fellows. They told the messenger that they could not go to war during the religious festival of Carneia, which would end by the next full moon. The skorokhod went back and on the way, according to legend, met none other than the god Pan. He, unlike the allies, offered his help to the Athenians. He promised to sow confusion in the ranks of the enemy - and brilliantly fulfilled his promise. And at the same time he gave us the word "panic".
By the way, the generally accepted date of the Marathon battle is September 12, 490 BC. e. It was calculated in the 19th century by August Beckh based on the notes of Herodotus. It was the Carneia holiday that became the basis for the calculations of the scientist. But Beckh took the Athenian calendar as a basis. But Donald Olson from the University of Texas at one time considered it a mistake. Carneia is a Spartan holiday, therefore it should be tied to the Spartan calendar. The Athenian year began with a new moon after the summer solstice, and the Spartan year began with the first full moon after the autumn equinox.
Olson and his colleagues calculated that there were 10 new moons between the autumnal equinox and the summer solstice in the years 491-490 - one more than usual. Therefore, in that year, the Spartan calendar went a month ahead of the Athenian one. This could mean that the Battle of Marathon actually took place on August 12th. This means that it was the summer heat that could bring the legendary messenger to overheating, which probably caused his sudden death.
PS And what about the piece of marble brought by the self-confident Persians? He remained lying on the field of the Marathon battle. After many wanderings, the beautiful stone ended up in the workshop of the Greek sculptor Phidias, and the Athenians ordered to make an image of the goddess of love Aphrodite out of it to decorate the city garden with it. The most worthy of Phidias' disciples, Agorakrit of Pharos, created this beautiful work of art from trophy marble.
V. Pimenova