Voyage without a Harbor

The Persian Wars. Defeating the Greeks appeared a simple task given the power and unity of the Persian Empire and the relative disunity of the numerous poleis. Nevertheless, the Greeks had several advantages, perhaps not as readily apparent as the casual observer might think. Greece is mountainous with few open plains where armies may deploy and engage in widespread combat, the Persians were unfamiliar with the terrain, were unfamiliar with Greek military tactics (the hoplite phalanx), and were conditioned to fight the chariot-based armies of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Finally, the Greeks fought near their homes, while the Persians had to maintain a large army in the field from a distance of at least three hundred miles, perhaps up to one thousand. These relative advantages and disadvantages made the Persian Wars more of a battle between equals than of a dozen proverbial Greek “Davids” against the massive Persian “Goliath.” First Persian War (490 B.C.). The term “First Persian War” refers to the first invasion of the Greek mainland in Europe, and is also known as the First Greco-Persian War. Cyrus the Great, you may recall, conquered much of Asia Minor beginning in 547 B.C. This brought the Greek-speaking peoples of Asia Minor, located on the western coast of the peninsula, under Persian control. This portion of the Greek population, a people known as Ionians, thus came under Persian rule. Between 499 and 493 B.C. a series of rebellions against Persian rule occurred, known as the Ionian Revolt. Athens and a few other poleis (plural, "city-states") supported the Ionian Revolt. The rebellion ended with the capture of the polis of Miletus by the Persians. But this was just the beginning of a much larger conflict. Although the Persians were interested in resuming a peaceful and undisturbed rule in Ionia, they also decided to punish Athens and others for supporting the revolt. Having re-subjugated Thrace in 492⎯which broke from Persian rule during the revolts⎯a Persian amphibious assault force under orders from Emperor Darius I landed at the Bay of Marathon in 490, aimed straight at Athens itself, culminating in the famous Battle of Marathon. Battle of Marathon (490 B.C.). This battle has exercised such a strong influence upon the western imagination that it deserves a more detailed description. In anticipation of the pending Persian invasion, Athens had mobilized nearly its entire force of citizen hoplite warriors, some 9,000 to 10,000 soldiers. Together with another 1,000 hoplites from the allied polis of Plataea they prevented the Persians from exiting the plains near Marathon and proceeding into the Greek mainland. The Persians, supported by a navy of some 600 ships, significantly outnumbered the Athenian/Plataean forces. Ancient sources place the number of Persian soldiers between 100,000 and 600,000 (clearly an exaggeration, but the armies were nevertheless large by ancient standards), while modern historians cite a more modest 20,000 to 100,000 with a consensus around 25,000. Either way, the Greeks were at a serious numerical disadvantage. Following five days during which neither side commenced fighting, the Greeks, under the command of Miltiades, finally charged. The Greek forces overwhelmed the Persians, and the work of slaughter began. The Greeks, protected by bronze armor, organized into well-trained phalanxes, and armed with long iron-tipped pikes methodically stabbed their way through the Persian troops. The Greek historian Herodotus (ca. 484-425 B.C.) reported that some 6,400 Persians were killed⎯including several general officers⎯while only 192 Athenians and eleven Plataeans died in what is one of the most one-sided victories in history. Myths and legends associated with Marathon. Battles of such consequence often produce legends that, although comparatively unsupported by fact, exercise a hold upon the collective imagination. One such legend was that the god Pan appeared on the field of battle, and at a crucial juncture instilled mindless fear into the Persians, causing them to “panic.” Another, more famous legend, is that a messenger named Pheidippides, was sent to Athens to proclaim the victory, running the entire 25-plus miles without pausing. Exhausted, he delivered his message⎯“We were victorious!”⎯and died on the spot. In 1896, when the modern Olympic Games were established, the event was commemorated by the creation of the marathon race in honor of Pheidippides’s famous run.