The Battle of Marathon

An Athenian army beat a larger Persian force on the plain of Marathon. The win boosted Greek confidence and, by legend, inspired the later marathon race.

The famous run to Athens is a later legend.

Context

Most of what is known comes from the Greek historian Herodotus, writing a few decades later. He describes a Persian expedition under the commanders Datis and Artaphernes that landed at Marathon, roughly 40 km from Athens, after Athens had backed a revolt against Persian rule in Ionia. The Athenians, joined by a small contingent from Plataea, were led by a board of generals, among whom Miltiades is usually credited with urging an attack.

Herodotus reports about 6,400 Persian dead against 192 Athenians. These numbers are traditional and cannot be checked independently, and modern estimates of the size of both armies vary widely. Sparta had promised help but arrived too late, since it was observing a religious festival.

The story of a soldier running from Marathon to Athens appears only in much later writers such as Plutarch and Lucian. Herodotus instead mentions the runner Pheidippides carrying a plea for help to Sparta. The modern marathon race was created for the 1896 Athens Olympics, partly to honor the legend.

The victory showed that a Persian force could be beaten on land, and Persia returned with a far larger invasion ten years later.