Historical Significance of the Battle of Marathon

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The battle of Marathon is one that nearly every historian can recall. Whether do to its Hellenistic nature or the infamous tale that dictates the name of a popular footrace we currently celebrate, the battle itself is of great strategic importance to historians of the militaristic department. The battle is one of the first well documented amphibious landings in written history. The case lends vital information as to the method and the purpose of not only amphibious landings but also the general theme of naval warfare. More specifically the case lends critical information about the strategic importance of foresight, boldness as well as the role that a significant beachhead play’s in amphibious operations. It’s clear to see that when an observer views the information laid out in the case made by Rodgers in his discussion of the battle of Marathon that the role of a beachhead and the lack of boldness on the side of the Persians were the deciding factors in their failure to take Athens and conquer the Greeks.
The establishment of a beachhead is a fairly obvious objective for any amphibious operation. A beachhead serves as a fallback position tactically as well as a head for communications and logistics. Therefore it eludes me why a fairly formidable force such as the Persian army would avoid expanding past their initial landing beach in order to establish a beachhead. Rodgers proposes that the Persians did not expand outward after landing in an effort to reduce the friction of delayed communication. While I do believe this may have been a somewhat relevant reason for not establishing a beachhead, it is obvious that establishing a defensive position from with one could launch a favorable counter attack would be a much more pertinent objective when it came to the overall success of the mission. Since the Persians did not send out an expeditionary force to seize any defensive ground, when the Athenians moved to intercept the Persians they were able to obtain a favorable defensive posture that overlooked the Persian position. This favorable ground combined with the foresight of the Greek commander to realize that he had time to make his decision, allowed for the Athenians to simply wait for the Persians to show their capabilities and force them to split their forces. Once their larger Persian force had boarded the ships and begun their voyage to Athens, the Greeks bore down upon the smaller force that remained on the beach.

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