The Persian War and the Battle of Marathon

The Persian War was an attempt by the Persian Empire to extend into Europe with Greece and Sicily as the doormat. The Empire originated in present day Iran and had spread to include northern Africa, western Asia, and the Middle East.

The Persians under King Darius captured Ionia in 546 BC. Ionia lies on the east side of the Aegean Sea in what is now western Turkey. Greece is on the west side of the Aegean Sea and Greeks had colonized Ionia. The Persians had drawn their border at the Hellespont, the southern end of the waterway between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean and the border between Asia and Europe. Darius installed tyrants to rule each city-state for him. Athens sent two envoys to Darius to secure a peace. Darius’ response was "Who the hell are they, and where the hell is this place they are they from?" They envoys felt that they could not come back empty handed and gave (or were forced) to give a token of soil and water. In the customs of the times, the soil and water was a token of tribute, and indicated that the giver was subject to the receiver.

One of the tyrants, Aristagoras from Miletus fell out of favor with Darius after giving him bad advice on a campaign. He tried to get Sparta to help in a rebellion, but the Spartans saw through this as a ploy to gain power. He appealed to Athens and they responded by sending 24 ships in 498 BC. After raising some trouble the Athenian navy headed back home. Darius crushed the rebellion in 495, but felt compelled to teach Athens a lesson.

In 490BC Darius launched an attack against Athens. The Persian army sailed to the east coast of Greece. They were met by the Athenian army along with the small army of on the plains near Marathon. The Greeks were greatly outnumbered, but were forced to take the initiative before even greater numbers of Persians arrived. There was also a possibility that the Persian fleet would flank around the position of the Greek army and attack Athens from another direction. The Greeks marched towards the Persian army. The Persian archers let a volley fly. The Greeks broke into a charge and were able to close the distance before the archers could release the next volley. The better armed Greeks were able to defeat the Persians and push them back into the sea. The remaining Persians boarded their boats and sailed around the coast to attack Athens from the south.

A runner had been dispatched to run the 217km to Sparta to ask for help. The Spartans were celebrating a religious festival and would not march immediately. They arrived just after the battle at Marathon was over. They marched with the rest of the Greek army to meet the Persian attack near Athens. The Persian fleet neared land, but seeing the army waiting decided to break off the attack and headed back to Persia.

The Persian fleet ran into a storm off the peninsula at Mount Athos, losing many men and vessels. They had underestimated the unpredictability of the storms in the Aegean Sea in the late summer. The sea would be a Greek ally again in the future.

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