The Battle of Marathon One of the most significant battles in antiquity was fought on the narrow, tree strewn plain of Marathon, in September, 490 BC. There, the Athenian army defeated a Persian force more than twice its size, because of superior leadership, training and equipment. The battle of Marathon has provided inspiration to the underdogs throughout history. In 490 BC, the Athenians proved that superior strategy, and technology can claim victory over massive numbers. In 646 BC the Persian armies, led by Cyrus, conquered the Greek city-state of Ionia, in Asia Minor. Despite the mildness of Persian rule, the Ionians did not like their conquerors. The Persians seemed barbaric to the cultured Ionians. The main objection to Persian rule, however, was that Ionians had been accustomed to self-government. The Persian king Darius I, who ruled over the conquered land of Ionia, was an all-powerful ruler. The Ionians never accepted the monarchy, and in 499 BC, they revolted against the Persians. Athens and another mainland polis, Eritrea, sent warships to help the Ionians, but Darius 1 of Persia soon defeated the Ionians. Darius then decided to punish the mainland Greeks for aiding the rebels revolt. Darius was so obsessed with punishing the Greeks that he employed a slave, whose sole responsibility was to say to him three times a day, at every meal, “Remember the Athenians”. Darius’ first attempt at capturing Athens was a complete failure from the beginning. He sent an army around the northern coast of the Aegean Sea. However, a storm destroyed his supply ships, forcing him to turn back. Two years later Darius tried again. He sent a large army and fleet of about 200 ships directly across the Aegean Sea to seize ... ... middle of paper ... ...rated the superiority of the Greek long spear and armor over the weapons of the Persians, as well as the superior tactics of Miltiades and the military training of the Greek hoplites. The choice of weapons, training of warriors, selection of battle site, and timing had all worked together to help the Athenians prove that size doesn’t always matter. “Two thousand years after the victory of the Athenians over the Persians, writers continued to call upon the name of Marathon to symbolize humanity’s struggle for freedom. The nineteenth-century English poet Lord Byron, who fought for Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire, penned the following verse:” The mountains look on Marathon And Marathon looks on the sea; And musing there an hour alone, I dream’d that Greece might still be free; For standing on the Persians’ grave, I could not deem myself a slave.
“reach them to endure pain and conquer in battle.” (Document 11). Sparta was especially known for their strong army force. From age seven, all boys were trained not to express their pain and become great soldiers on the battlefield. Unlike Sparta, Athens’ main focus was not on the military. “For we are lovers of beauty, yet with no extravagance and lovers of wisdom, yet without weakness.” (Document 9). Athens was essentially based upon the arts and intelligence. Instead of boys going through years and years of military training, Athenians learned subjects like literature, art, and arithmetic.
Civic implications were also apparent in ancient Greek athletics. The ancient world was one of constant conflict and political turmoil, and it was necessary for each city-state to possess a strong military in order to preserve their autonomy.
In 480 BC the Persian Empire was once again trying to invade ancient Greece. Under the reign of King Xerxes, an invincible army of a recorded 2 million was marching downwards to enslave all Greeks. An elite force of three hundred Spartans tackled the suicide mission of stalling the Persian wave of doom.
Nor were the democratic Athenians comfortable with the artificial collision of oligarchical armored farmer. In the wake of the Persian Retreat (479B.C.E) Athens fleet increased. Nurtured on the tribute of vassal states in Aegean, Athens did not mothball its triremosi instead, they became a “beginning”. Police force of sources for its Greek subject allies overseas. Like some Spartans, imperial Athens too saw little needs to limit warfare to a single afternoon.
Sun Tzu strongly advocates for trickery on the battlefield, saying “All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable.”7 The Athenians use their smaller army to their advantage and planned a tactical military formation outside of Marathon. They placed the majority of the men in the left and right wings of the army, which meant the “ranks of the centre were diminished, and it became the weakest part of the line” in the hopes that the Persian army would break through.8 When the battle commenced, the front line of Athenians charged at the enemy, and to the Persians “it seemed to them that the Athenians were bereft of their senses, an bent upon their own destruction; for they saw a mere handful of men coming on at a run.”9 The Persians were lulled into a false sense of security, thinking that their enemies had much less men than they actually
Alexander’s first major victory was at the Granicus River. In May of 334 BC, Alexander’s army met the Persians in battle and defeated them. Following this victory, Alexander continued his march into Persia, and many towns simply surrendered, including Sardis. After a siege at Halicarnassus which Alexander eventually won, he moved on to meet the Persians again at Issus in November of 333 BC, under the command of Darius III of Persia. The Persian army had an advantage in numbers over Alexander’s, more than 2 to 1; but Alexander, using his ability to anticipate his enemies’ plans and counter them, again soundly defeated the Persians. In the midst of the battle, Darius fled. The
While the army reached Thermopylae intact, the fleet suffered at the hand of two storms, with Herodotus attributing them to God attempting to equalize the opposing forces . The disparity between the size of the Persian and the size of the Greek forces was huge – thus, the Greeks’ strategy relied on geography . Holding the narrows at Thermopylae and the concurrent straits of Artemisium meant that Xerxes’ numerical superiority was reduced. It was here, on land and sea, that Greece showcased the superiority of it...
In the years following the Persian Wars in 479 B.C., Athens had come out on top being the most dominantly powerful of any Greek city with a navy that had superior strength that increased day by day. The Athenians “ruled with heavy-handed, even brutal force as well as with reason” (Kagan 2). This was due largely to the fact that Athens had a stable and effective government, which only increased their advantage in proving themselv...
In his first battle he led his army against Persian Empire and was victorious, that day was a begging of a downfall of Persia. During his Balkan campaign he was able to defeat and repulse the Thracians and Tribalians rebellious vassals. By 334-335 B.C. Alexander secured Asia Minor, where he encountered the most resistance of all of the battles. In Battle of Issus, Alexander and his army battled with the Persians led by Darius III. Hemingway & Seán (2004) explain that despite being outnumbered, Alexander succeeds the victory and claimed the Persian Empire. Through he had conquered Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Bactria and Sogdiana, he still wanted to continue his campaigns and later proclaimed himself the King of
In the end, tens of thousands of Persians, Greeks, and other Asiatic soldiers were killed. However, King Darius, that coward fled the battlefield in panic abandoning his mother, wife and even his children. Even though, they are of his descendants, Alexander treated them with respect because they pledged their loyalty to him. Alexander’s objective was to get revenge on the Persians for the violent campaign against Greece and for conquest. Today he was able to do both while ensuring the Macedonians
world in its time. Of all the battles and wars that the Ancient Greeks army had
The poleis Sparta and Athens had many different ideas on how to run their societies. They overcame their differences and fought off the Persian invasion to defend their homeland. Without this victory our history would look very different. Sparta and Athens have influenced the world that we live in today tremendously.
The Greeks were able to repel the overwhelming and seemly unstoppable Persian Empire. They were able to do so because of the victories won thanks to the Athenian navy in the Aegean Sea, the hard fought and strategically important battles that the Spartans just would not give up during and they were able to put aside their differences in order to face the greater threat for the good or their culture. Each major city/state contributed what it was good at. It was a nice display of teamwork.
There was lots of debate between all of the Greek military leaders about whether they should go with Themistocles plan or not. Luckily, they went with it because who knows what would have happened if they did not. This was the last chance for Greek survival, and everyone knew that. Attica was already under attack by the Persian land force, which was commanded by Xerxes, Darius’s son. The bay of Salamis was also a convenient battle location because, if needed, the Greeks could draw the Persian fleet to the Peloponnese where the Greek reinforcements would meet them....
Running may be one of the oldest and most developed sports out there. According to legend, the first marathon was run unintentionally in 490 B.C. by a Greek Soldier(James). The soldier ran twenty-five miles to Athens to announce battleground victory over the persians then dropped dead(James). In 1896 the marathon was included in the Olympic games, in Greece, for the first time(James). It was there that the first gold was won by a Greek runner with a time of two hours fifty-eight minutes and fifty seconds(James). The current world record for the fastest finish is two hours three minutes and fifty-nine seconds(James). Marathoning has turned into a world wide activity and every person who participates must endure intense training.