The account of the Athenians engaging the Persians at the battle of Marathon is one of the most moving passages in the Histories of Herodotus: “After the troops were in position and the sacrifices had proven favorable, when the Athenians were let loose and allowed to advance, they charged at a run toward the barbarians. The space between the two armies was about a mile, and the Persians, who saw the Athenians advancing toward them on the double, prepared to meet their attack; they assumed that the Athenians were seized by some utterly self-destructive madness, as they observed how few the Athenians were in number and how they were charging toward them with neither cavalry nor archers in support. So the barbarians suspected that the Athenians had gone mad, but when the Athenians closed with them in combat, they fought remarkably well. For they were the first of all the Hellenes we know of to use the running charge against their enemies, as well as the first to endure the sight of the Medes’ clothing and the men wearing it. In fact, until then, even to hear the name ‘Medes’ spoken would strike terror into Hellenes.”
The Meaning of the Battle of Marathon
The Meaning of the Battle of Marathon
The Meaning of the Battle of Marathon
The account of the Athenians engaging the Persians at the battle of Marathon is one of the most moving passages in the Histories of Herodotus: “After the troops were in position and the sacrifices had proven favorable, when the Athenians were let loose and allowed to advance, they charged at a run toward the barbarians. The space between the two armies was about a mile, and the Persians, who saw the Athenians advancing toward them on the double, prepared to meet their attack; they assumed that the Athenians were seized by some utterly self-destructive madness, as they observed how few the Athenians were in number and how they were charging toward them with neither cavalry nor archers in support. So the barbarians suspected that the Athenians had gone mad, but when the Athenians closed with them in combat, they fought remarkably well. For they were the first of all the Hellenes we know of to use the running charge against their enemies, as well as the first to endure the sight of the Medes’ clothing and the men wearing it. In fact, until then, even to hear the name ‘Medes’ spoken would strike terror into Hellenes.”