battle of marathon 490 bc Flashcards
What was the first real war of Greeks vs Persians?
The Ionian revolt
The Ionian Revolt
Led by Greek tyrant of Miletus
Cities prominent in the revolt:
Ephesus, Samos, Chios, Lesbos, and the Greek cities of Cyprus
Lasts for more than five years; nearly succeeds
Fighting mainly as sea
- Persians collected Egyptian Phoenician navy to battle the Asia Minor Greek naby
Early land victory for the Greeks;
Captured and burned Persian provincial state of Sardis
HOWEVER the revolt does fail eventually
Why did the Ionian revolt fail?
Insufficient support from mainland Greece
Internal rifts and weak leadership on the Ionian side
What was the aftermath of the revolt for the Persians?
Convinces Persians that they’ll need to conquer mainland Greece
To secure their western frontier
Makes no sense militarily to allow a free Greek mainland from the conquered Asia Minor Greeks
What was Athens and Eretria’s role in the revolt?
They send aid to Ionian Greeks at the start of the war
20 warships from Athens
5 warships from Eretria
King Darius later targets them for revenge
Battle of Lade
494 BC
During Ionian revolt
Miletus and Chios faced the Persian fleet alone at one point after Samos Lesbos and others flee
Miletus is captured late 494 BC by Persians
Women and children sold into slavery
Men transported en masse into Persian territory
Miletus harbor is stoned up by the Persians as punishment
End of Miletus as a major source of power
[overtaken by Ephesus in Ionia]
When do Persians start arriving at mainland Greece? Why? What takes place?
Persian ambassadors arrive in 491 BC
Demanding earth and water for their Persian King, to acknowledge submission to Persia
Athens and Sparta defy, murdering the Persian ambassadors
Aegina, Thebes, Argos, submit
Persian campaign of 490 BC
200 ships of warships and transports
Carrying army of 20000 (Persian infantry, archers, some Greek Ionian hoplites, Persian cavalry)
Hippais, 80 years old, accompanies
Persians attack Naxos en route
Capturing and burning when they refuse to surrender
Main target: Eretria and Athens
Persians capture and burn Eretria in Euboea
End of Eretria as a prominent city state
Taken prisoners
Continues to sail to Attica
Face off at Marathon
Persians arrive at Marathon, 26 miles from Athens
late September 490 BC
Guided by Hippais
Seaside plain, good site for Persian cavalry operations
Persian army forms up on plain near their ships
9000 hoplites come from Athens
600 hoplites from Platea
Reinforcements from Sparta don’t arrive in time
Miltiades was a subordinate general for Athens
(9 subordinate generals, one in command)
Greeks outnumbers 2:1
Persian commander plans to destroy Athenian army on the plain and march to attack Athens directly
Hippais has allies inside Athens who will try to open the gates to the Persians once they arrive
How long did the face off at Marathon last? Why?
Several days, unmoving
Athens - worried to advance and expose their flanks to Persian cavalry, also hoping Spartans might arrive
Persians - fear a disadvantage from being the first to advance across the two mile distance
Battle of Marathon
late September 490 BC
[Speculation]
Persian commander decides to withdraw, sail his army around to Athens and attack directly
- Advances his infantry troops to one miles distance from the Greeks
- Embarks his cavalry overnight onto transport ships inshore
Greeks find out Persians withdrawing onto ships; they’re no longer on the plain
Miltiades convinces the top general to attack at dawn
With segmented phalanx of three separate pieces
Persians caught surprised
Hurriedly form battle ranks
Not enough time before Greeks crash into them
Attacked by hoplites from both sides
Persian army reduced to chaotic rabble
Fighting continues alongside Persians’s beached ships
What was the impact of Battle of Marathon?
Seven Persians ships captured
6400 Persians dead
Greeks lose 192 only
Lessons of Marathon
1- Greeks can defeat Persian infantry as long as Persian cavalry isnt in the picture
- After 490 BC, Greek hoplites are used on Persian’s side
2- Some Greek cities will submit to Persians while others will not
- Those who do so (medizers) do so for: calculated gain like Hippais of Athens and priesthood of Delphi OR to avoid destruction
3- Might have been a religious miracle
- Thesus was believed to have been seen at the Battle of Marathon to protect his city of Athens
4- (Herodotus) Citizens of a hoplite franchise like Sparta make better fighters than the demoralized subjects of an empire/tyrant
- Free citizens have something to fight for
- Athens was under democracy with no tyrant at this time
