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The battle of Eretria (490 BC) was the second and final Persian success
during the campaign that ended in defeat at Marathon. During the
Ionian Revolt Athens
and Eretria on Euboea had offered some support to the rebels.
Darius I was determined to
take revenge on the Greek cities, and in 492 he sent an army along the land
route through Thrace. This expedition, commanded by his son-in-law
Mardonius, restored
Persian control over Thrace and forced the Macedonians to submit, but the fleet
was then destroyed in a storm while sailing around Mt Athos and Mardonius was
forced to retreat (Greco-Persian Wars). After this setback Darius ordered the
construction of a fleet of horse transports. In 490 he raised a new army, and
placed Datis the Mede and Artaphrenes son of
Artaphernes, a nephew of Darius, in command of the expedition. This time the
Persians planned to use the sea route across the Aegean. They left Samos and
crossed the sea via Icaria, Naxos and Delos. They then landed at the eastern
end of Euboea, where they were held up for a period by the refusal of Carystus
to submit. After a short siege Carystus surrendered, and the Persians sailed
around the Euboean coast, landing at Tamynae, Choereae and Aegilia, east of the
city. While the Persians had been crossing the Aegean, the Eretrians had asked
for help from Athens, and debated how to defend their city. The Athenians
offered them 4,000 men from Chalcis. The debate was less clear-cut. One faction
wanted to retreat into the Euboean hills. Another wanted to defend the city. A
third wanted to surrender to the Persians. As a result of this confusion the
Athenian contingent decided to return to the mainland, possibly following
advice from Aeschines, son of Nothon, one of the Eretrian leaders. At Eretria
the faction that had decided to defend the city won the debate. According to
Herodotus a six day long battle raged, either outside the city or as a siege
with the Eretrians defending the walls. He describes their plan as to meet the
Persians in battle outside the city and to defend their walls, so either is
possible. The city finally fell because of treachery on the part of two
Eretrian leaders, Euphorbus son of Alcimachus and Philagrus son of Cyneas. The
Persians sacked Eretria, destroying the religious sanctuaries. They justified
this as revenge for the destruction of the sanctuaries at Sardis in 498 during
the Ionian Revolt, although this may well have been accidental. The population
of Eretria was enslaved, although when they finally arrived in Persia Darius is
said to have relented and settled them at Cissia, quite close to Susa. The
Persians rested for a few days after the fall of Eretria, and then turned south
and sailed across to the mainland, landing at Marathon, in the north-east of
Attica. The Athenians reacted by rushing their army to Marathon, where
they went on to inflict a heavy defeat on the Persians. The Persians made a
brief attempt to attack Athens directly, but then retreated back across the
Aegean.
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