The battle of Marathon Flashcards

First Greek victory over the Persians

1
Q

What is a trireme?

A

A type of Greek ship

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2
Q

How many ships did Darius send to attack Greece? (according to Herodotus)

A

600

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3
Q

How many infantry did Darius send to attack Greece?

A

25,000

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4
Q

How many miles is Marathon from Athens?

A

about 26

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5
Q

When did the battle of Marathon take place?

A

September 490BC

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6
Q

Why was Marathon chosen?

A

It was a flat plain, meaning the Persian cavalry could be disembarked

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7
Q

What did Datis and Artaphernes do at Naxos on the way to Marathon?

A

Destroy the temples and town

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8
Q

What did Datis do at Delos on the way to Marathon?

A

Sacrifice to the god Apollo in an attempt to gain trust from the Greeks

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9
Q

Who did the Athenians send to ask Sparta for help before the battle?

A

Pheidippides

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10
Q

What god did Pheidippides meet?

A

Pan

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11
Q

How many generals were the Athenians commanded by?

A

ten

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12
Q

How far did pheidippides run from Athes to Sparta?

A

150 miles

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13
Q

Why did the Spartans say they couldn’t hepl the Athenians?

A

It was the ninth day of the month so they were engaged in a religious festival, they could not coe until the full moon

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14
Q

Who did help the Athenians?

A

The Plataeans

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15
Q

Why did the Plataeans decide to help?

A

The Athenians had previously supported them in a dispute with their neighbours the Thebans

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16
Q

Who is our only nearly contemporary source for this battle?

A

Herodotus

17
Q

The Athenian commanders were divided in their opinions of whether to fight or not.
How was the matter settled?

A

Miltiades convinced Callimachus, the polemarch or war archon, that they should fight

18
Q

How did the Athenian democratic system work in regards to the leadership of the generals?

A

Each was in charge for a day

19
Q

Who led the Greek forces?

A

Miltiades

20
Q

Until when did Miltiades feruse to fight?

A

His own day of leadership

21
Q

Who commanded the right wing?

A

Callimachus

22
Q

Who was on the left wing?

A

The Plataeans

23
Q

The Greek forces were very spread out

What effect did this have?

A

Strong wings and a weaker centre

24
Q

Why were the Greek forces so spread out?

A

Because the Persian forces were so wide

25
Q

How did the Greeks enter the battle?

A

At a run

unusual because of their heavy armour

26
Q

Who was better amoured, the Greek hoplites or the Persians?

A

The Greek hoplites

27
Q

Where did the Persians break through the Greek forces?

A

The centre

28
Q

How where the Persians driven down to the sea?

A

They were surrounded by the strong Greek wings

29
Q

What is a phalanx?

A

a rectangular formation of hoplites

30
Q

How deep were the Greek phalanxes?

A

8 men on the wings, 4 in the centre

31
Q

Why were Persian archers less successful than normal?

A

The Greeks were more heavily armoured than the Persians

32
Q

How many Greeks ans Persians does Herodotus SAY were killed?

A

192 Greeks, 6400 Persians

33
Q

Why is the number of Greeks killed likely to be accurate?

A

The name of each man was recorded on a grave marker on the mound where they were buried

34
Q

How is the number of dead Persians thought to have been calculated?

A

By assuming every 3 Athenians who died killed 100 Persians

35
Q

Up until the battle of Marathon, which state had the Greeks turned to for military assistance?

A

Sparta

36
Q

Which later (by almost half a millenium) author is the existence of the mound backed up by?

A

Pausanias

37
Q

How might the Athenian dead of the battle have been honoured?

A

192 men in a sculptural freize on the Parthenon, a temple to the goddess Athena, at a time Greeks were just beginning to put people on their temples

38
Q

Why did Darius not return to attack Greece again?

A

He died