Greco-Persian Wars From The Battle Of Marathon To The End

In the ancient years, Persians believed that they could not be defeated. They triumphed in almost everything they do, in every war they wage. Thus, they bullied different cities and regions by conquering them. This continued until they got involved with the Greeks in a 50-year series of wars known as the Greco-Persian War.

The Greco-Persian wars were series of chaos that started in 499 BC and lasted in 449 BC. The series of wars involves the Greek’s political domain and the Persian Empire. This began in 547 BC, when Cyrus the Great struggled to conquer Iona, because of the assistance sent by Athens and Eretria. Athens and Eretria succeeded in capturing and burning the regional capital of Persia, Sardis. However, they were compelled to withdraw because of their heavy losses. Because of this, King Darius I, the Persian king, swore to burn these two Greek regions. As soon as the Ionian revolt ended, King Darius began his plans in conquering Greece. He began his plot in 490 BC and successfully conquered Eretria. He then sent his troops to Athens who landed in a bay near the Marathon, a town in Athens. It was also in the same year when Athens made a decision to confront the Persian bullies and attack rather than merely being on the defensive side. An Athenian runner Herodotus was tasked to seek the assistance of Sparta. His 240-kilometer journey was completed in two days. Furthermore, it was a successful one because the Spartans agreed to help them. Nevertheless, Spartans were unable to sail off because of a religious ceremony. At the town of Marathon, 10,000 fully armed Greeks had a face-off with 25,000 Persians mounted on their horses. The Persians waited for the Athenians to attack but were frustrated. On the other hand, Athenians were secretly moving at night and successfully blocked the exits from the plain of Marathon. Despite the Persian’s statistical advantage, they were defeated by the heavily armed foot soldiers of Greece. This then marked the end of the first attempt of Greek invasion. There were still other attempts led by King Darius’ successors, but still they were unsuccessful.

The battle of Marathon proved that the Greeks can defeat Persians. This battle gave rise to the Classical Greek Empire, which became one of the most influential races in the European history. An example is the Battle of the Marathon being more important than the Battle of the Hastings. Furthermore, this Battle of the Marathon serves as an inspiration and is the origin of the Marathon Race. This is because of the Greek messenger who ran back to Athens with the news of victory. Thus, the marathon race was introduced in 1896 Athens Olympics and was participated by Marathon and Athens.