Marathon 490 B.C.

Marathon, fought on the plain of Marathon on the 17th August 490 B.C., 3 miles from Athens by sea and 26 miles by land, unless you take the shorter route which was only 22 miles.

The plain offered a safe port for the Pesian fleet to anchor and disembark safely, it was suitable for cavalry and had plentiful fresh water. It was 6 miles in length and about 1 mile in width with marshes at either end. The modern coastline has some what changed over the centuries.

The Greeks formed their battle line 1,600 yards from the Persians and equal to them in length. The Greeks numbering about 10,000 hoplites with some light troops, the Persians, maybe 20,000 - 30,000.
To match the length of the Persian line the Greeks thinned the centre ranks to only 4 ranks deep. This gave them an equal frontage but also allowed them to strengthen their wings to approximately 16 deep. The aim was to quickly over come the opposing wings, then turn and engage the Persian centre before the Persians could break through the weakened Greek centre. But first they had to deal with the Persian archery.

Once they were deployed, the Greeks quickly advanced across the plain, the Persians amused by such foolishness, knowing that they would be facing an exhausted and disorganised army in hand to hand fighting. The Persians holding their fire until within effective range, about 120 yards then released on command. The Greeks responding to this, charged immediately, allowing many of the arrows to pass over their heads. This surprised the Persians as Greeks armies of the day preferred to keep a tight formation and only charge just before contact. Some units may have prepared to receive the charge while others may have fired several more volleys.

By sheer physical strength and training, the Greeks seem to have maintained a fairly ordered advance and hit the Persians with some force. The length of the battle is not certain, but it seems to have lasted some time. Although well armed and equipped, the Greek centre was now not is any state to hold back a determined assault, the superior numbers of the Persian centre forced the Greeks backwards. The Greeks were prepared for this and gave ground.

However on the flanks, the Ionians and levy troops were being forced back. Herodotus tells us it was the Scythian troops that broke the Greek line, possibly pursuing them as far as the mound where they may have tried to reform. It seems that the Persians broke through the Greek centre before their wings were routed however, unlike the Persians, the Greeks had been ordered to hold from following up the defeated enemy and turned to face the centre. I assume this to be a turn rather than attempting to wheel the front.

Even with victory in the centre, the Persians could not withstand two victorious flanks, the sheer weight of numbers disordered the Persian line.

The Persians routed back with the Greeks close behind them. The Persians tried to reform but were quickly overcome and fell back through the marsh, thousands were killed in the panic.

Fighting continued as the Greeks fought to capture the ships. Only seven ships were captured compared to the 6,400 Persian casualties, most ships seem to have pulled away to safety .

It was said that the ghosts of the battle could still be heard at night, years after the battle. The sounds of men fighting and horses whinnying. Though it is generally accepted the cavalry had either embarked the previous day or had moved on towards Athens by road, the ghost stories involving horses may indicate the presence of cavalry, maybe some had time to disembark when the fighting started.