hwatank.blogg.se - The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest by Charles River Editors

The Athenians had won a colossal victory against an overwhelming and seemingly invincible enemy.

Outmatched by the might of the heavy, bronze-armored Greek phalanx, the inferior Persian infantry was enveloped and destroyed, causing them to flee for their ships in panic.

With their army led by the great generals Miltiades and Themistocles, the Athenians charged the outnumbering Persians. Thus, it fell upon the Athenians to shoulder the burden. Accordingly, their army arrived too late. The Athenians appealed to the Spartans for help, but the Spartans dithered according to the Laws of Lycurgus, they were forbidden to march until the waxing moon was full. The Persian army, numbering anywhere between 30,000 and 300,000 men, landed on the plain at Marathon, a few dozen miles from Athens, where an Athenian army of 10,000 hoplite heavy infantry supported by 1,000 Plataeans prepared to contest their passage. In 490 B.C., after the revolt in Ionia had been crushed, Darius sent his general Mardonius, at the head of a massive fleet and invading force, to destroy the meddlesome Greeks, starting with Athens.

*Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts of the battles *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading The Ancient Greeks have long been considered the forefathers of modern Western civilization, but the Golden Age of Athens and the spread of Greek influence across much of the kwn world only occurred due to one of the most crucial battles of antiquity: the Battle of Marathon.