The Rise of Athens

preventing the sale of Ukrainian grain Green, Greco, p. 25.

“After bridging the fish-rich Bosphorus” Her 4 88.

Cleomenes went to Aegina Ibid., 6 75–84 for the last days of Cleomenes.

“started to mutilate himself” Ibid., 6 75 2–3.

Marathon was a good place See Green, Greco, pp. 30–31, Burn, pp. 242–43, and Wikipedia “Marathon.”

In early August 490 The traditional date is September 12. But the battle may have been fought a month earlier, if, as is possible, the Athenian calendar was one month behind that of the Spartan; also, the timing depends on the exact dates of the Spartan festival.

the people were enslaved

Her 6 119 1–4.

an army of some 25,000 men Army and navy numbers in Hellenic wars were usually absurdly exaggerated in the ancient sources. Modern approximations are seldom more than good guesses, but they are all we have to go on. It is sometimes possible to judge maxima, based on logistical needs in relation to the terrain crossed by armies.

During daylight hours The Persians would hardly have made the short crossing from Euboea by night. I assume they landed at Marathon around midday and spent the afternoon disembarking. The fire signal had to await darkness for it to be seen and surely identified.

where there was an abundant spring Today’s Kato Souli.

The most battle-hardened of these commanders was Miltiades For the career of Miltiades, see passim Her 6 between 39 and 136; and Nep Milt.

appointed by lot Her 6 109 2.

his fellow-commanders agreed Ibid., 6 110.

“provide themselves with rations” Arist Rhet 1411a10, Schol to Dem 19 303, and Paus 7 15 7.

The hoplite army entered the plain of Marathon

The course of the battle of Marathon is uncertain and different opinions are held. Broadly I follow Burn and Green, Greco.

“bronze men” Her 2 152 3.

As Herodotus points out, the clan Ibid., 6 123–24.

“The cavalry has gone” I follow the reconstruction in Green, Greco, p. 35. Hammond in Cambridge Ancient History 4, p. 511, suggests that the Persian cavalry were for some reason late coming back from pasturage and so not available for the battle. But they could have turned up at any moment. I prefer the proposition that most of the cavalry had been loaded onto the ships and were definitively gone.

“having got the upper hand” Her 6 113 2.

the services of Pheidippides A late source identifies him, and has him collapse and die after running the twenty-five or so miles from Marathon to Athens (Lucian in his True History

). We do not need to believe this legend. But it was from this story that today’s marathon race is derived.

the defeat was of little or no strategic consequence A poem by Robert Graves, “The Persian Version,” sums it up neatly. Its opening lines read: “Truth-loving Persians do not dwell upon/The trivial skirmish fought near Marathon.”

“those who died in the cause” IG 112 1006 line 26.

given them a proper burial Paus 1 32 4.

a German visitor Camp, p. 47.

“to Apollo first fruits” Meiggs and Lewis, 19L.

Miltiades is given pride of place Nep Milt 6.

“are coming to grips with the barbarians” Paus 1 15 4.

“The entrance to this cave” Ibid., 1 32 7.

The cave has been rediscovered in modern times

Eran Lupu, “The Sacred Law from the Cave of Pan at Marathon,” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, Bd. 137 (2001), pp. 119–24, Bonn.

“I am goat-footed Pan” Simonides Ep 5 (Planudean Anthology).

9. FOX AS HEDGEHOG

Herodotus tells the famous story of the Persian invasion, with help from Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch’s lives of Themistocles and Aristides.

a walk along the beach Plut Them 2 6. Ancient stories about the early years of famous people seek to please. Plutarch’s accounts of the childhood and youth of Themistocles are not especially flattering and, even if fictional or “written up,” give a sharp and convincing picture of his complicated character.

“man of no particular mark” Ibid., 1 1.

“impetuous, naturally quick-witted” Ibid., 2 1.

“pleasing accomplishments” Ibid., 2 2.