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Battle of Marathon

 
             
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In 490 B.C., 25,000 Persians under Darius landed on the Plain of Marathon. The Spartans were unwilling to provide help for the Athenians in time, so with the help of 1,000 Plataeans, and led by Callimachus and Miltiades, Athens' army of about one third the size of the Persian's, fought the Persians and won by encircling the Persian forces. This was the first Greek victory in the Persian Wars. Then the Greeks prevented a surprise Persian attack on Athens by a quick march back to the city to warn the inhabitants.

The modern Athens Marathon commemorates the run of the soldier Pheidippides from a battlefield at the site of the town of Marathon, Greece, to Athens in 490 B.C., bringing news of a Greek victory over the Persians. Legend has it that Pheidippides delivered the momentous message "Niki!" ("victory"), then collapsed and died, thereby setting a precedent for dramatic conclusions to the marathon.


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