Battle+of+Marathon

=Battle of Marathon =


 * Who:** Athenian heavy infantry (phalanx), under the command of Miltiades, with a detachment of Plataeans, vs. a Persian offensive force, comprised mostly of archers and light infantry, under the joint command of Artaphernes and Datis


 * When:** late summer, 490 BC


 * Where:** the plain of Marathon, Greece


 * What:** The Battle of Marathon was the Greek victory that concluded the first Persian invasion. Athens had staked everything on this one battle; in order to face the Persians at full strength, they brought every last hoplite from Athens to Marathon, stripping Athens of its defense. Even so, the Athenians were, for neither the first or last time, greatly outnumbered. They were initially expecting Spartan reinforcements, an indeed had not planned to engage the enemy without them, but upon sending a runner from the front to ask for help, they found that Sparta was celebrating //Carneia//, a religious festival, and hence would not be able to send troops for another ten days. By then, the Athenian generals recognized the urgency of the situation and the need for decisive leadership, and thus gave up their traditional rotating leadership in favor of Miltiades.

Due to the phalanx's vulnerability to Persian cavalry, the Greeks advanced slowly across the over the course of five days, covering their flanks with felled trees. The fifth evening, having been informed that the Persian cavalry had left Marathon, ostensibly to attack the unprotected Athens, Miltiades decided to engage the Persian force the next morning.

He drew up the Greek army into a three-part formation -- left, right, and center -- with the center ranks about half as deep as the wings. They proceeded to march towards the Persian line, and upon reaching the outer bound of the archers' range, they charged the remaining distance. The wings pulled ahead of the center, which fell back; the Persians took the bait and were entrapped by the Greek pincer manoeuver. Despite their superior numbers, their light infantry were no match for the hoplite shield walls closing in on three sides. The Persian force fled in disarray back to its ships.


 * Why:** Not only did the Greeks for the first time successfully repulse the much larger Persian invasion force, thereby destroying the Persians' illusions of an easy victory and preventing the conquest of Greece, they proved that it was possible to do so. This paved the way for future Greek resistance during the second Persian invasion. Marathon also proved the devastating effectiveness of the hoplite phalanx against more lightly armored infantry, especially in the correct circumstances, which the Greeks used with great success in subsequent battles. It was also one of the first recorded instances of the standard pincer manoever, a cornerstone of military history.