Corinthian Helmet of Soldier from the Battle of Marathon

Corinthian helmet found with the soldier’s skull still inside from the Battle of Marathon, which took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece.

More than 2,500 years ago, on the morning of September 12th, 10,000 Greek soldiers gathered on the plains of Marathon to fight the invading Persian army. The Greek soldiers were composed mostly of citizens from Athens as well as some reinforcements from Plataea. The Persian army had 25,000 infantrymen and 1,000 cavalry.

The outnumbered Greeks had stalled for days, hoping reinforcements would arrive from Sparta. But alas, they could not wait any longer. The Persians, expecting an easy victory, waited patiently as the Greeks began to push forward. At this point, the two armies were at “a distance not less than 8 stadia” (approximately 1,500 meters).

As they got closer, the signal was given to the Persian archers to fire their arrows. The Greeks picked up speed in the final 400 meters, undeterred by the hail of arrows that filled up the sky. Within minutes, the two armies were on top of each other. The Greek wings overpowered the Persian soldiers on the flanks, which allowed them to quickly surround the center of the Persian army. Panic ensued, and the Persians began fleeing back to their ships. Some of them, unfamiliar with the terrain, retreated towards the swamps where an untold number of them drowned. According to the Greek historian, Herodotus, 6,400 Persian bodies littered the battlefield. The Athenians lost 192 men, and the Plataeans lost 11.

According to legend, a long-distance messenger by the name of Phidippides was sent to Athens shortly after the battle to relay the news of victory. It has been said that he ran the entire distance from Marathon to Athens, a distance of approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles), without stopping, and burst into the assembly to declare, “We have won!” before collapsing and dying. This story differs quite a bit from Herodotus’ account, which mentions Phidippides as the messenger who ran from Athens to Sparta, and then back, covering a total distance of 240 km (150 mi) each way.