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Battle of Marathon Smehra
Diary from the Battle of Marathon
Day 1, 490 BC
The Persians are persistent, but Greece shall overcome! We have heard the rumors that Darius' first attack was thwarted by the powers of Poseidon, but we have heard nothing further from our spies. Many of us have stopped walking around with our arms, it was after all upsetting to the women and children that we were ready for battle and death, by Zeus! Rather, we are watchful and more alert than ever.
We can not trust Darius and the Persians, for they have already taken over the Ionian Greeks, and he has sworn to take over our Athens too. We helped our Greek brothers against the Persian invaders, and how that warped his wrath! Now he is determined we shall fall into his grip - and then where will he shed blood?
A look around at the marketplace and the beauty of Athens, and I pray to the Gods that she will not fall into Darius' hands. There is a group preparing for a hunting trip. I think I may join them, to get my mind off of these affairs. My wife, she is busy running the affairs of the house and tending to our children. As the man of the house, I am responsible - I carry the power to change things.... Yes, I think I will journey on the hunt. They have readied the hounds, and surely there is plenty of boar in the forests these days. A hunt would be good, by Demeter.
Day 2, 490 BC
There have been rumors again about Darius and his plans for invasion. Many have taken up their weapons again and wearing them more often, while the gather provisions and secure their homes....
It stands to reason that Darius will try attacking us from two sides - from sea, and from land. I know I would, and I am Greek.
We must protect our children, our Athens! The priestess is preparing her rituals, and I will head to the temple soon to pray to the Gods, and ask Lady Athena to make us brave and protect her city. I shall also make an offering to Poseidon, perhaps he will thwart Darius' ships again and take them for his own pleasure.
Day 3, 490 BC
The city continues its vigilance, and prayer. Today a herald showed his face to us again. The mongrel demanded 'water and earth' once more for that King of his! How I burn with rage! How dare Darius think he can tread upon us into submission. We shall not relent! Athens will never be his!
How my heart weeps to hear that many cities have given up all hope and have fallen to his heralds. Sparta does not, nor Athens, and together we must remain strong. Spartans are good soldiers - the best - and surely they know it too. They are the foes to which Darius shall fall, and Athenians will rattle his might too! There are heralds approaching our cities, and they will learn quick enough what it means to anger us and our Gods!
Day 4, 490 BC
The Persian herald indeed came to our city, our Athens, demanding on behalf of his worthless King Darius I for 'earth and water'. We showed him earth and water by tossing him off the Acropolis. We will not be threatened! Word has spread from Sparta, that they too were visited by a herald, and it is being told that they too did not take such threats and requests so…
Persian Wars (490 BCE to 479 BCE) between the Greek city-states and the Persian Empire were predicated by various circumstances, ranging from cultural ideologies to political connivances. For the Greeks, particularly the Ionians and the Athenians, Persian rule was unwanted and unacceptable. The Persian leaders Darius and his son Xerxes, however, following in the example of Cyrus the Great, saw the Greek city-states as puny colonies that were to be
Thus, the Spartans were now free, along with the disgruntled Persians, who had a significant ax to grind with Athens, to seize the opportunity and attack Athens (thereby ending the 50 years truce). After a few years of resistance, Athens fell completely, and was immediately subjected to the oligarchical government under Sparta, known as "the Thirty." Although it certainly seems ironic that the very democratic system that the Athenians were so
There was still plenty of bickering (Herodotus 506), but in general, the Greeks had now finally learned the first of the two "lessons" that some read in the Ionian Revolt and its defeat: In any effort against superior numbers, unity is essential to success. The second lesson, about the importance of naval power, was shortly to be demonstrated. Having not been wasted at Artemisium, the Greek fleet overcame the Persians
Persian Wars were wars fought between the Persian Empire and Greek city states in the 5th century BCE. The Persian Empire under Darius was expanding westward into Europe, and had targeted the powerful Greek states, particularly Athens, in order to capture what was the major power in the region at the time. The Greeks were able to hold their territory, and as a result they were able to preserve their
The Greco-Persian Wars were still in their early stages at this point, but it would be Xerxes, not Darius, that continued and stepped up efforts to invade and conquer the Attic Greeks. If the Battle of Marathon had turned the other way, as many at the time expected it to and as many historians and tacticians believe it easily could and by all rights should have, the entire course of
The Greeks initiated the process of retaking their cities previously conquered by Persians and set tributes. Under the lead of Alexander the Great, Greece enlarged its spatial boundaries "from southern Egypt to the gates of China." (Robert Morkot, Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece) Ending the war Twenty years after the commence of Persian attacks, Greek military general Themistocles managed to obviate the Persian threat over Greece. "The Greek victory was