A messenger named (fye-DIP-ih-deez) ran from Marathon to Athens with astonishing news: despite being outnumbered, the Athenian army had defeated Persia, the world’s most powerful empire. After delivering the news, he collapsed and died from exhaustion.
The story of Pheidippides is almost certainly not true, but it would be told and retold for centuries. Instead of bracing for an attack that might have destroyed the polis, Athens was safe. Modern marathons are 26.2-mile races inspired by the messenger’s legendary run.
The Persian Threat
The ancient Greeks shared a common language and pantheon of gods, but until the fifth century before the Common Era, the poli were often at war with one another. They came together to compete in the Olympics, but what truly united the city-states was fear of a common enemy, the great Persian Empire that lay east of the Greek peninsula.
Persia conquered the Greek poli of Ionia on the west coast of Asia Minor, a region now part of Turkey. When the Ionians rebelled in 499 BCE, Athens sent twenty warships to help them fight the Persians. Persia crushed the Ionians, but King Darius then turned his attention to Athens.
The Battle of Marathon
In 490 BCE, Persian ships carried about 20,000 warriors to Marathon, a coastal plain twenty-six miles from Athens. The Persians planned to use Marathon as a base to attack, but the Athenian army sealed off the routes from Marathon to Athens. After several days, Athens launched a daring attack, charging across the plain under a barrage of Persian arrows. The defeated Persians fled to their ships, but instead of sailing home, they sailed toward Athens.
Pheidippides then ran to Athens without stopping to announce Athens’ surprise victory at Marathon, but the runner died from exhaustion shortly after gasping out his news.
When the Persian fleet reached Athens, they found the same army waiting for them. The soldiers had marched twenty-six miles after fighting at Marathon, carrying their heavy shields and armor. The frustrated Persians turned their ships around and sailed home.
The Persians Return
Ten years after the Persian retreat at Marathon, Darius’s son Xerxes returned with an enormous army and fleet. The Persians marched into Athens, but most Athenians had already escaped by sea. Xerxes captured the nearly deserted city and burned it. In 480 BCE, the smaller Greek fleet lured the Persians into the narrow waters near Salamis, where their ships became crowded and difficult to maneuver. From a mountaintop, Xerxes watched as the Greeks rammed and sank many of his vessels. Defeated, Xerxes returned to Asia, but Persia remained powerful and continued to control Ionia.
The Delian League
In 478 BCE, several poli met on the island of Delos to form a league. Each member contributed ships or money to prepare for Persia’s return. The Delian League drove Persian forces out of Ionia. As the league grew stronger, the Greek poli no longer lived in fear of another Persian invasion.
The Classical Age
The victorious Greeks developed a sense of confidence that led to an era we now call the Classical Age of Greece. During this period, artists, poets, sculptors, and architects developed a unique Greek culture. Sparta and Athens were the two most powerful poli of the Classical Age. Sparta was a disciplined military poli that discouraged traveling and visitors, while Athens was a port city whose merchant ships traveled throughout the Mediterranean Sea. In time, the rivalry between Sparta and Athens would lead to the disastrous Peloponnesian War.
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Mr. Donn has an excellent website that includes a section on Ancient Greece.