Marathon:
The 2500th Anniversary of an Ancient
Battle and its Modern Legacy
Professor Katherine Panagakos
Richard Stockton College
October 14, 2010
Marathon: The 2500th Anniversary of an
Ancient Battle and its Modern Legacy
Sponsored by: The Federation of Hellenic
American Organizations of NJ
(http://hellenicfederationnj.com/)
Co-sponsored by:
 The Hellenic Club of Philadelphia
 The Friends of Hellenic Studies at Stockton
(www.stockton.edu/ichs)
 The Stockton History Club
 OGRE (The Order of Greco-Roman Enthusiasts)
Other Events of Interest
Three “Runs” associated
with The Battle of Marathon
 Run from Athens
to Sparta
~150 miles
 “Run” during the
battle
~.9 miles
 Run after the
battle from
Marathon to
Athens
~26 miles
Ancient Panhellenic Games
 Pythian/Delphic
Games
 Nemean Games
 Isthmian Games
 Olympic Games
 Every 2-4 years
 776 BC-324 AD
Reconstruction of Painting
in Agora in Athens
The Battle of Marathon
 September, 490 BC
 9,000 Athens + 1,000 Plateans
face ~25,000 Persians on the
plain of Marathon
Darius, King of Persians
Ionian Revolt
 Main source: Herodotus’
Histories
 Born in 484 BC in
Halicarnassus, Asia Minor
 Called “The Father of
History” by Cicero
Darius’ Revenge
The Plain of Marathon
Philippides (Phidippides)
runs to Sparta
 150 miles in 2 days
 Sparta was celebrating
the Carnea; must wait
until the first full moon
 Spartathlon
 ἄθλος = prize (athletics)
Battle of Marathon
 Athenians = 9,000 hoplites
 Plataeans = 1,000 hoplites
 Persians = ~25,000 (20,000-100,000)
Miltiades
 One of 10 Athenian Generals
 Tactics used
 Strengthening of right and left
wings, leaving center weaker
 Persian cavalry and the Run of
Eight Stadia
The Great Debates
 Persian Cavalry
 Run of 8 stades (.9 miles)
 Weight of arms/armor & Persian arrow range (.09-.1 mile)
Soros: Burial Mound at
Marathon (σορός)
“The Marathon to Athens Run”
 Most famous yet least
historically accurate and,
therefore, probably not likely. 
Lord Byron
 1788-1824
 Philhellene
 Fought for Greeks in the
Greek War of
Independence
 Childe Harold’s
Pilgrimage: The Plain of
Marathon (1821-1818)
 The Isles of Greece
(1821)
Modern Olympics
 Pierre Frédy, Baron de Coubertin
 1894-IOC formed
 April 1896, Games of I Olympiad
 Held in Athens; 14 countries
 Michel Breal suggested a longdistance race
 17 runners
 Began at bridge in Marathon and
ended at the Panathanaiko
Stadium -24.8 miles
 Winner was Spyridon “Spiros”
Louis (2:58:50)
Modern Marathon
 1896: 24.85
 1900: 25.02
 1904: 24.85
 1908: 26.22
 Boston Marathon-oldest annual
(1897)
 1967 Boston Marathon*
 1984 Los Angeles XXIII Olympiad
Atlantic City Marathon
Aeschylus
 Father of Greek tragedy
 c. 525-456/5 BC
 7/70 or 90 plays
 Oresteia (only trilogy)
 The Persians
 Αἰσχύλον Εὐφορίωνος Ἀθηναῖον τόδε κεύθει
μνῆμα καταφθίμενον πυροφόροιο Γέλας·
ἀλκὴν δ' εὐδόκιμον Μαραθώνιον ἄλσος ἂν εἴποι
καὶ βαθυχαιτήεις Μῆδος ἐπιστάμενος
 Beneath this stone lies Aeschylus, son of
Euphorion, the Athenian, who perished in
the wheat-bearing land of Gela; of his noble
prowess the grove of Marathon can speak,
or the long-haired Persian who knows it
well.