Battle of Marathon Essay

In 490 B.C.E. the Battle of Marathon was a apprise save important event in the war between the Grecian city-states and The Persian Empire. The results of the battle had unfore hangn effects on capital of Greece and the future of Western Civilization. The Hellenic Golden Age, focalized in Athens, brought astir(predicate) new forms of art, the foundations of future philosophy and redirected literature and drama. The achievements of the Athenians during this period were directly connected to the inspiration and prestigiousness (which after translated into power) fuelled by the events at Marathon. How the events of a single day changed the entire course of Western Civilization is tough to fathom merely obvious when adept looks at the aftermath of that fateful event.The revolts of a few Greek cities of Ionia were what initi every(prenominal)y sparked the Persians interest in Athens, Attica and the Peloponnese. When Athens sent a sm whole fleet in lose of the Ionian rebels th ey immediately gave Persia a new tar irritate for further expansion. The failure of the revolts and the ruin of Sardis and Miletus shocked the Greek world. The Persians now thought, if Miletus had been the glory of subject Greece, Athens was the golden gate to free Hellas. A bauble, perhaps, beside the treasures of the empire, but a tempting one. Now non only did the Persian king Darius want revenge against the Athenians he cute the entire Greek world to be integrated into the Persian Empire.In 490 BCE Darius fin all toldy advanced towards Greece. after(prenominal) the capture of Eretria, confident of their success, the Persians sailed on to Attica and under the advice of Hippas* landed at the bay of Marathon, 26 km sexual union east of Athens. When the Athenians received news of the Persians landing, they sent a runner (Philippides) to Sparta asking for support. They knew support would not get to them before the Persians decided to move so the Athenians then made one of the mos t fateful decisions constantly taken by a democratic government in ancient Greece. It was to advance and engage the Persians at their bode of invasion, or else that to sit tight and try to hold the city. .This decision was a radical one for a few reasons the Athenians were highly out fleshed and historically, according to the historian Herodotus, the Greeks had never stood their ground against a Persian attack. either major(ip)(ip) battle during the six years of the Ionian revolt demonstrated that theGreeks preferred to fend for their cities rather that fight out in the open. For these reasons the Persians were justifiably optimistic about their ability to defeat the Greeks.Upon the Athenian stretch at their base camp, away from the bay, they were joined by troops from the Athenian ally Plataia (about one thousand). in that location were 10,000 men in the Athenian host a general represented each 1000. The ten generals of the army debated over a course of action, either to s tay and meet the Persians as they advance or to attack them and try to take them by surprise. Miltiades* overcame the deadlock by appealing to the Polemarch Kallimachos who had an equal vote on the card of generals and convinced him to attack. Miltiades waited until the day of his prytaneia*, the day which he had supreme control over the entire army, to attack the Persians at their base camp. The Persians were taken by surprise and being unprepared, retreated top to their ships.While the Persians fled to their ships a vertex when only a narrow passage of beach separated the sea from a marsh was passed, it was hither that around six thousand men from both sides were killed, the overwhelming number were Persians. Herodotus reported the casualties of the Greeks amounted to 192 Athenians, and an unrecorded number of Plataeans and slaves, the Persians lost 6400 men in total. The Greeks pursued in an attempt to capture the Persians ships but all but seven escaped. The Persians changed their course of action and sailed around to attack the now undefended city of Athens from the sea. The Athenian army was force to march the 26 km back to Athens in haste to defend the city. They reached the city and the Persian fleet seeing the defenders had returned, did not land but turned and headed back to Asia.The supremacy at Marathon and the successful defence of the city, gave the Athenians a sense of moral transcendency and pride. In by and by battles of the Persian War, at Thermopylai and Salamis, the highly regarded Spartans and those of the Peloponnese were largely in control of strategic moves. Although still a major force in every battle, Athens and her allies were outnumbered and thus followed Spartan command. After the second origin of Athens after the battle of Salamis, the Athenians gave Sparta an ultimatum due to a lack of Spartan support. If the Peloponnesians wantedAthens navy, they must(prenominal) save Athens land. Because the Athenians had more damage to recover from it brought stronger confidence and overall pride for them once the city got back on its feet.The Spartans, Corinthians and former(a) Peloponnesian allies now had reason to fear Athens developing naval power and its capabilities now that the city was repaired and invigorated with a renewed sense of pride. This is the point that we see the beginnings of a shift in the balance of power and influence between the city-states. When the Ionian states adopted the Athenians as leaders, as opposed to the Spartans who had been pre-eminent for a long time, the rise of the Athenian influence began to show.For the intend of protecting all Greeks from a further Persian attack, a league was formed, of which Athens was now the leader. The league included all Aegean states in the interest of their common welfare, and was called The Delian League. At first it was as a leader that Athens lead the allies, who sent members to a general congress, in discussions of further campaigns agains t the Persians. But that would all change when other city-states adopted the Athenian form of government, democracy, either by force or voluntarily.Inevitably Athens became the leader of what was now an Athenian Empire. When Athens imposed their superior form of government onto other city-states it was no continuing a league of self-governing city-states but a league ruled by one. The league, which was formed for the purpose of protection, now became the means for Athens to spread democracy. The Athenian Empire gave Athens a feeling of superiority it felt that she had the superior form of government, superior ideals, culture and economic practices that sense of superiority all traced back to the victory at Marathon.Suppose, then, that we had never done anything but fight at Marathon in point of fact we agree done much besides more than any other people of Greece but just suppose then Marathon alone would be enough to qualify us not only for the privilege we are claiming but for others too for in that fight we stood alone against Persia we dared a right enterprise and came out alive we defended forty-six nations. Do we not, for this act alone, deserve the place of honourFrom the Athenian Empire and its attitude came many great things that had an unquestionable effect on the future of western civilization. Pericles, a famous name in Athenian politics, is a direct result of the Athenian Empire and all its ideals and attitudes. Pericles took advantage of Athens bureau of power and used money from the Delian League to fund the construction of major pieces of architecture in the city. Without Pericles there would be no Parthenon or Propylea, and Athens might now have gained the prestige it had during its Golden Age.Athens golden age was a direct result of the wealth and prestige of empire without it Athens may not have reached the point where it became the educational and cultural centre of the Greek world. From this centre came great thinkers and playwright s western civilization gained philosophy, Greek drama and literature, science and democracy.The Battle of Marathon, although only a single event, had an unquestionable impact on western civilization. Marathon allowed Athens to raise itself to a position of prestige and importance in the Greek world. The Athenians were given the opportunity to become culturally, politically and economically the centre of the Greek world because of the result of the battle of Marathon. Without the Athenians daring strategic move western civilization as we know it today would not be the same.