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CITY, STATE AND WAR
Marathon Athens
Sparta
0 100 km
E 6 Hand to hand fighting as the Athenians force the Persians back to their ships at the end of the Battle of Marathon.
Marathon
0 5 km
FE 5 (left) The site of the Battle of Marathon. (right) How the Athenians beat the Persians.
KEY Persia Athe
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Tactics
The Persians tended to wear relatively light armour, had shorter spears and smaller shields.
At the start of a battle the two armies would run into each other in the hope of breaking the enemy line. Then it was
a pushing match, with the men at
the back trying to force their front lines through those of the enemy. Battles rarely lasted more
than an hour or so. Once one of
the lines broke, the troops would generally drop their equipment and flee from the field.
Famous Greek battles
The ancient Greeks fought two battles that are among the most important ever fought in western history. The first was a land battle called the Battle of Marathon (pictures 5 and 6). The second was fought at sea and was the Battle of Salamis. Both battles were fought against the Persians.
The Battle of Marathon
The Greeks were always weakened by the fact that the city states hated one another. King Darius of Persia thought he could take advantage of this. If he was right, he could first destroy Athens and then advance on to Sparta.
In 490 bc he began his campaign. His army landed at the Bay of Marathon, about 40 km north east of Athens. What he wanted to do was to persuade
the Athenian army, who had retreated behind their defensive walls, to flee the city.
The Athenians did not think they could defeat Darius and so they sent an urgent message for help. They sent
n