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Battle of Marathon to be fought again
While the U.S. is having lots of Civil War reenactments lately, it's not the only country where avid hobbyists like to refight old battles. This year Greece is marking the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon, an epic clash between the Greeks and Persians that saved Europe from invasion and allowed Greek culture to thrive. To commemorate the battle, there will be a reenactment on the actual battlefield.The battle was a desperate attempt to stop the Persian Empire, the major superpower of the day, from invading Greece in 490 BC. The Greek city-states of Athens and Palataea blocked the passes leading out from the Persian beachhead on the Plain of Marathon. Even though the Greeks were outnumbered two-to-one, they attacked and routed the Persians, ending the invasion.
There's a legend that an Athenian named Pheidippides ran from the battlefield to Athens to announce the victory and died from exhaustion right after he gave the good news. The distance from Marathon to Athens is, of course, about 26 miles. This actually never happened, but it makes a good story.
From September 9 to 11, hundreds of reenactors from around the world will converge on the battlefield for a day of sham fighting and historical demonstrations. The Greek side will include many Greeks, while the Persian ranks will have many Iranians. Dozens of other countries will contribute people as well. Events will be centered on a reconstruction of the Greek military camp and there will be archery demonstrations, ancient music and dancing, and much more.
At least 200 warriors will duke it out on the original battlefield, but there won't be any blood spilled. The Greeks will have dull spears and the Persians will be firing rubber-tipped arrows. I bet this poor fellow pictured here, a Greek casualty of the real battle, wished there were rubber arrows back in his day.
[Photo courtesy Keith Schengili-Roberts]
Filed under: Arts and Culture, History, Learning, Festivals and Events, Europe, Greece
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
A. J. Gleason Sep 5th 2011 5:31PM
"This actually never happened, but it makes a good story", according to Sean McLachlan. And Sean's basis for making this statement is?
Sean McLachlan Sep 5th 2011 5:34PM
Which statement: the one where I said it never happened, or that it makes a good story? Assuming you mean the first, I suggest you look it up.
Doug Humes Sep 6th 2011 3:07AM
The account of the run from Marathon to Athens first appears in Plutarch's On the Glory of Athens in the 1st century AD which quotes from Heraclides Ponticus's lost work, giving the runner's name as either Thersipus of Erchius or Eucles.[6] Lucian of Samosata (2nd century AD) also gives the story but names the runner Philippides (not Pheidippides).[7]
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon
D.Betsis Sep 6th 2011 10:12AM
Herodotus describes the Marathon race differently!
The Persian invasion did not end with the Marathon battle.
The Persians sailed immediately after they were beaten at Marathon,
not back to Persia, but towards Athens to occupy it.
Miltiades ordered immediately the Athenian army to run back to Athens and reach it before the Persians. And so they did! When the Persians reached Athens they saw the Athenian army displaying their determination on the hill of Kynosarges. They turned back and left Greece.
And it is this, THE WHOLE ARMY RUNNING 26 MILES which is the real Marathon race. Not a single individual, although there was certainly one soldier that reached first.
Sean McLachlan Sep 6th 2011 10:33AM
Actually Herodotus doesn't say they ran, and doesn't say how long they took. Histories Book VI, 10:116, "the Athenians marched back to defend the city as fast as their feet could carry them and got there ahead of the foreigners."
So not a marathon run, but still an impressive forced march after what must have been an exhausting battle.
Sean McLachlan Sep 6th 2011 10:37AM
Whoops! I made a typo on the citation. It's Book VI:116. That's what I get for trying to respond while helping my kid construct a LEGO car!
Robert Sep 6th 2011 3:08AM
@A.J Obviously, getting an accurate picture of this battle as written during the time period may be a difficult one. One of the only things we have to go by is a historical record written by Herodotus, who makes no mention of a runner. The origin of this story comes from a famous poem written about the battle. More than likely it was created or perhaps exaggerated to add a historical romance to the event. To your defense though, no one can say with 100% certainty that there wasn't a runner or messenger after the battle. True or not, it did lead to the the term "marathon runner". I guess this explanation would have been a lot better than the author simply dismissing your question. Most articles don't make such a definitive statement without a side note for their readers.
John Sep 5th 2011 7:41PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheidippides
D.Betsis Sep 6th 2011 11:17AM
@Sean MCLachlan. "Actually Herodotus doesn't say they ran," !?
Is Herodotus' "as fast as their feet could carry them" different from mine "run"?
Have you seen a modern Marathon race? Runners pausing,...,restarting,...
The Herodotus says they reached Athens before the Persians, THE SAME DAY!
Well say it took nine hours! The Persians, lousy sailors, could not make it before the Athenians! But we should not forget that hoplitodromos (running in full armor) had long been established in the Olympics and that Athenians were training very hard.
Well! The battle started early in the morning! Say 6 o'klock! It lasted 3 hours! and it took the Athenians 9 hours back to Athens. The Persians arrive half an hour later and see their shields reflecting from the sun that sets. Awsome!
This is the REAL Marathon! The race part is far more glorious that the battle itself. The agony of the Athenians to reach home and protect their beloved from falling victims of the oriental cruelty (ten years later they burnt Athens twice) should have inspired many artists (painters, writers, film-makers...).
Reenactment would be to have a mock fight for 3 hours and then run to Athens in full armor. Which elite unit (Navy Seals, green berets, marines) do you think would make it the same day?
Sean McLachlan Sep 6th 2011 11:22AM
Where does Herodotus say they made it in the same day? I don't see that in my copy.
I don't interpret "fast as their feet could carry them" as running. It means simply what it says, that they were going as fast as they could. Considering how tough the hoplites were, I'm sure they did it in a pretty impressive time, but 26 mile forced marches aren't unknown to military history.
D.Betsis Sep 6th 2011 12:57PM
@Sean McLachlan "Where does Herodotus say they made it in the same day?"
It is easily seen OR It goes without saying, to borrow phrases from Mathematics.
To sail from Marathon to Athens would take no more that 5-6 hours for a Greek sailor/ship. Herodotus writes for those who know where Athens and Marathon lie and how long it takes to sail from Marathon to Athens. Things easily understood are often omitted. In fact, if it were so that the Persian fleet arrived the next day and not the same day, that would really be so remarkable and Herodotus would have explicitly stated it. He would not miss such a chance to ridicule Persians.
Do not forget that many Greek writers made fun of the barbarians because of their lousy skills in swimming and navigation.
D.Betsis Sep 6th 2011 12:57PM
@Sean MCLachlan "but 26 mile forced marches aren't unknown to military history."
After a battle of this kind? Having attacked numerically superior forces, defeated them and even chased them to their ships?
Can anyone dismiss that with an understatement ("aren't unknown")?
Which battle? Please inform!
Sean McLachlan Sep 6th 2011 1:03PM
To take one off the top of my head, the Battle of Pilot Knob, Missouri, during the American Civil War in 1864. Also known as the Battle of Fort Davidson. The Union defenders of the fort fought off a Confederate army eight times their number, then blew up the fort and retreated 66 miles in 39 hours, fighting all the way with no provisions.
D.Betsis Sep 6th 2011 1:34PM
@Sean MCClachan "Fort Davidson";
You compare a siege with a battle in an open field?
Thanks for the information!
Sean McLachlan Sep 6th 2011 1:39PM
You didn't read very carefully. It was a siege, and then a running battle for 66 miles.
Another example is the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, in which King Harold defeated the Vikings in the north of England, then marched his army, who had armor and medieval weapons (therefore a better comparison to Marathon) the length of England in less than three weeks to fight the Normans at Hastings. They then fought all day, and fought quite well. Even the Norman accounts say that.
I'd be happy to discuss history with you, but you really need to stop shouting, start giving facts, and not making assumptions on the source material.
Roger Butts Sep 7th 2011 2:51AM
I thought the whole point about the Pheidippides story was that he had been sent from Athens to Sparta to ask for their help, which wasn't to be forthcoming for several days. He then ran to Marathon to tell Miltiades, after which he took part in the battle. He was then sent to Athens with the news of the Persian defeat - and died. This is rather more than 26 miles and, having run a couple of ordinary Marathons, I'm not surprised he died, in that heat!
D.Betsis Sep 7th 2011 10:32AM
@Sean "the length of England in less than three weeks to fight the Normans at Hastings."
Is that a joke? Three weeks? Compared to 9 hours immediately after routing the Persians!
Sleeping, eating, using horses, etc. Your examples get worse and worse!
Discuss History with me?! you insist that
"as fast as their feet could carry them " is not equivalent to "run".
That implies you lack elementary bits in your thinking or that you are one of these FANATICS.....egomaniacs who hate losing an argument or being put in place!
You claim that Herodotus did not write "the same day" and you fail to understand that you make a fool of yourself. Of course he didn't!
Herodotus wrote for Greeks, (Philosophers, Mathematicians and Scientists, Political thinkers) not for FANATICS that 2500 years later pretend not to understand the elementary things and turn their failures to seemingly plausible arguments.
You write "You didn't read very carefully. It was a siege, and then a running battle for 66 miles. "
I read carefully your answer! They were most likely hunted by the enemy for 66 miles. Perhaps on horses? That is not a battle! It is an escape! Soldiers running to save their lives and firing from time to time.
Thee weeks the length of England!!! Ouaou!! Better than Alexander the Great!
Apropos Hastings.
A brilliant mind, equally powerful to yours, John Stuart Mill has characterized "the Battle of Marathon, even as an event in British history, is more important than the Battle of Hastings".
The talk was about the Marathon race! The REAL one!
Sean McLachlan Sep 7th 2011 7:54AM
Still lots of shouting, still no history or fact checking. I have better things to do. Feel free to continue shouting at someone else, if you can find anyone who will listen.
D.Betsis Sep 7th 2011 12:52PM
@Sean "still no history or fact checking".
Fact1) You deny that "ws podwn eixon taxista ebohtheon eis to asty" implies and contains running! You simply put your head in the sand.
Fact2) You deny that Herodotus implies that the Athenians reached Athens "the same day" because he does not explicitly states it! Ridiculous claim.
History? You give examples that cannot be used to stand a comparison with the Athenians feat. Your History understanding probably matches that of your son. If you are so biased then you shouldn't be blogging.
You break basic rules!
Go play LEGO with your son instead of writing answers to me!
ANDREW R POGUE Sep 8th 2011 2:26AM
I didn't know Magneto was involved in the civil war.