Battle of Marathon
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The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Arta
1900 depiction of the Battle of Marathon
The plain of Marathon today, with pine forest and wetlands.
Darius I of Persia, as imagined by a Greek painter on the Darius Vase, 4th century BC
Marshlands at Marathon.
Greco-Persian Wars
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The Greco-Persian Wars, also called the Persian Wars, were a series of armed conflicts involving various Greek city-states and the Achaemenid Empire from 499 BC to 449 BC. The precipitating collision
Battle of Marathon
…Persia under King Darius I to subjugate Greece. The Greek army inflicted a crushing defeat on the more numerous Persians, marking a turning point in the Greco-Persian Wars. The first Persian invasion was a response to Athenian involvement in the Ionian Revolt, when the city-states of Athens and Eretria each sent a force…
Combat between a Persian soldier (left) and a Greek hoplite (right) depicted on a kylix displayed at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens
Herodotus, the main historical source for this conflict
Thucydides continued Herodotus's narrative
Persian and Median Immortals in ceremonial dress, bas-relief in Persepolis