Battle of Marathon

The Athenian forces were led by a board of ten generals, known as strategoi, who rotated command on a daily basis. The most famous of these generals was Miltiades, who convinced the other commanders to concentrate their forces for a decisive action. He famously commanded the left wing of the army during the actual infantry assault.

The Athenians utilized a highly risky tactical formation where they deliberately weakened the center of their phalanx to strengthen the wings. When the Persians broke the Greek center, the stronger Athenian wings folded inward and trapped the Persians in a double envelopment. This brilliant maneuver completely routed the heavily outnumbered Persian invaders.

According to classical legend, a Greek messenger named Pheidippides ran approximately 25 miles from the battlefield at Marathon to Athens to announce the victory. Upon arriving, he reportedly gasped 'We have won,' before collapsing and dying from exhaustion. This myth inspired the modern marathon footrace introduced at the 1896 Athens Olympics.

The Battle of Marathon took place in the late summer of 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was part of the broader Greco-Persian Wars initiated by King Darius the Great of the Achaemenid Empire. This specific engagement marked the first major land defeat of the Persian army by the Greeks.