The Persian force that landed at Marathon in September 490 BC was overwhelming on paper. Estimates range from 20,000 to 60,000 men—cavalry, archers, and seasoned infantry who had already humbled Egypt, Babylon, and the Ionian Greeks. Opposing them were roughly 10,000 Athenian hoplites and 1,000 Plataean allies. The Athenians were outnumbered at least two to one, possibly far worse. They had no cavalry. They had no archers worth mentioning. What they had was a decision to attack.

The Phalanx Runs

Athenian general Miltiades made two choices that would be studied for millennia. First, he stretched his line thin in the center to match the Persian width—knowing his center would buckle—while massing strength on the flanks. Second, he ordered his men to run the final 150 meters into the Persian arrow storm. Greek hoplites simply did not run into battle. But running minimized time under the arrow volley and maximized shock at impact.

The Persian center punched through the weakened Athenian middle. Then both Greek flanks crushed inward. The Persian army broke toward the ships. Athenian losses: 192 men, each buried where they fell. Persian losses: approximately 6,400.

Why It Mattered

Marathon proved that Persian infantry could be beaten in open field by determined Greeks. It planted the seed of confidence that would sustain Athens through Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea a decade later. It also established Athens as the preeminent Greek city-state—the city that stood alone when Sparta refused to march in time.

We fought at Marathon. — Aeschylus, his own epitaph, omitting his fame as playwright