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The first Persian invasion of Greece, during the Persian Wars, began in
492, and ended with the decisive Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon in
490. The invasion, consisting of two distinct campaigns, was ordered by the
Persian king Darius the Great primarily in order to punish the city-states of
Athens and Eretria. These cities had supported the cities of Ionia during their
revolt against Persian rule, thus incurring the wrath of Darius. Darius also
saw the opportunity to extend his empire into Europe, and to secure its western
frontier. The first campaign in 492, led by
Mardonius, re-subjugated
Thrace and forced Macedon to become a fully subordinate client kingdom part of
Persia, after being a vassal to Persia as early as the late 6th century,
probably in 512. However, further progress was prevented when Mardonius's fleet
was wrecked in a storm off the coast of Mount Athos. The following year, having
demonstrated his intentions, Darius sent ambassadors to all parts of Greece,
demanding their submission. He received it from almost all of them, except
Athens and Sparta, both of whom executed the ambassadors. With Athens still
defiant, and Sparta now effectively at war with him, Darius ordered a further
military campaign for the following year.
The second Persian campaign, in 490, was under the command of Datis and Artaphernes. The
expedition headed first to the island Naxos, which it captured and burned. It
then island-hopped between the rest of the Cycladic Islands, annexing each into
the Persian empire. Reaching Greece, the expedition landed at Eretria, which it
besieged, and after a brief time, captured. Eretria was razed and its citizens
enslaved. Finally, the task force headed to Attica, landing at Marathon, en
route for Athens. There, it was met by a smaller Athenian army, which
nevertheless proceeded to win a remarkable victory at the
Battle of
Marathon. This defeat prevented the successful conclusion of the campaign,
and the task force returned to Asia. Nevertheless, the expedition had fulfilled
most of its aims, punishing Naxos and Eretria, and bringing much of the Aegean
under Persian rule, as well as the full inclusion of Macedon. The unfinished
business from this campaign led Darius to prepare for a much larger invasion of
Greece, to firmly subjugate it, and to punish Athens and Sparta. However,
internal strife within the empire delayed this expedition, and Darius then died
of old age. It was thus left to his son Xerxes I to lead the second Persian
invasion of Greece, beginning in 480.
Opponents:
Greek city states including Athens and Eretria versus the Persian Empire
Commanders and leaders:
Greeks - Miltiades the
Younger Callimachus
† Stesilaos † Cynaegirus †
Persians - Mardonius,
Datis, Artaphernes
Strength:
Greeks - 8,000-9,000 Athenians 1,000, Plataeans, Total: 9,000-10,000
Persians - 10,000 Immortals, 10,000 light infantry, 5,000 archers, 1,000-3,000
cavalry, 600 triremes, Total: 26,000-28,000
Casualties and losses:
Greeks - 192 Athenians (Herodotus) 11 Plataeans (Herodotus) Eretria enslaved
and burnt Naxos burnt
Persians - 6,400 Persians killed (Herodotus) 7 ships captured
Sources:
Main article:
The main source for the Greco-Persian Wars is the Greek historian Herodotus.
Herodotus, who has been called the 'Father of History', was born in 484 BC in
Halicarnassus, Asia Minor (then under Persian overlordship). He wrote his
'Enquiries' (Greek—Historia; English—(The) Histories) around
440–430 BC, trying to trace the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars, which
would still have been relatively recent history (the wars finally ending in 450
BC). Herodotus's approach was entirely novel, and at least in Western society,
he does seem to have invented 'history' as we know it. As the British author
Tom Holland has it: "For the first time, a chronicler set himself to trace
the origins of a conflict not to a past so remote so as to be utterly fabulous,
nor to the whims and wishes of some god, nor to a people's claim to manifest
destiny, but rather explanations he could verify personally."
Some subsequent ancient historians, despite following in his footsteps,
criticised Herodotus, starting with Thucydides. Nevertheless, Thucydides chose
to begin his history where Herodotus left off (at the Siege of Sestos), and
therefore evidently felt that Herodotus's history was accurate enough not to
need re-writing or correcting.
Plutarch criticised Herodotus in his essay "On The Malignity of
Herodotus", describing Herodotus as "Philobarbaros"
(barbarian-lover), for not being pro-Greek enough, which suggests that
Herodotus might actually have done a reasonable job of being even-handed.
A negative view of Herodotus was passed on to Renaissance Europe, though he
remained well read. However, since the 19th century his reputation has been
dramatically rehabilitated by archaeological finds which have repeatedly
confirmed his version of events.
The prevailing modern view is that Herodotus generally did a remarkable job in
his Historia, but that some of his specific details (particularly troop numbers
and dates) should be viewed with skepticism. Nevertheless, there are still some
historians who believe Herodotus made up much of his story.
The Sicilian historian Diodorus Siculus, writing in the 1st century BC in his
Bibliotheca Historica, also provides an account of the Greco-Persian wars,
partially derived from the earlier Greek historian Ephorus. This account is
fairly consistent with Herodotus's.
The Greco-Persian wars are also described in less detail by a number of other
ancient historians including Plutarch, Ctesias of Cnidus, and are alluded by
other authors, such as the playwright Aeschylus. Archaeological evidence, such
as the Serpent Column, also supports some of Herodotus's specific claims.
Background:
The first Persian invasion of Greece had its immediate roots in the
Ionian Revolt, the
earliest phase of the Greco-Persian Wars. However, it was also the result of
the longer-term interaction between the Greeks and Persians. In 500 the Persian
Empire was still relatively young and highly expansionist, but prone to revolts
amongst its subject peoples. Moreover, the Persian king Darius was a usurper,
and had spent considerable time extinguishing revolts against his rule. Even
before the Ionian Revolt, Darius had begun to expand the Empire into Europe,
subjugating Thrace, expanding past the Danube river, conquering Paeonia, and
forcing Macedon to become a client kingdom to Persia; though the latter
retaining an amount of autonomy up to 492.
Attempts at further expansion into the politically fractious world of Ancient
Greece may have been inevitable. However, the Ionian Revolt had directly
threatened the integrity of the Persian empire, and the states of mainland
Greece remained a potential menace to its future stability. Darius thus
resolved to subjugate and pacify Greece and the Aegean, and to punish those
involved in the Ionian Revolt.
The Ionian revolt had begun with an unsuccessful expedition against Naxos, a
joint venture between the Persian satrap Artaphernes and the
Miletus tyrant Aristagoras. In the
aftermath, Artaphernes decided to remove Aristagoras from power, but before he
could do so, Aristagoras abdicated, and declared Miletus a democracy. The other
Ionian cities, ripe for rebellion, followed suit, ejecting their
Persian-appointed tyrants, and declaring themselves democracies. Aristagoras
then appealed to the states of Mainland Greece for support, but only Athens and
Eretria offered to send troops.
The involvement of Athens in the Ionian Revolt arose from a complex set of
circumstances, beginning with the establishment of the Athenian Democracy in
the late 6th century. In 510, with the aid of
Cleomenes I, King of
Sparta, the Athenian people had expelled Hippias, the
tyrant ruler of Athens. With Hippias's father Peisistratos, the family had ruled for 36 out of
the previous 50 years and fully intended to continue Hippias's rule. Hippias
fled to Sardis to the court of the Persian satrap, Artaphernes, and promised
control of Athens to the Persians if they were to help restore him. In the
meantime, Cleomenes helped install a pro-Spartan tyranny under Isagoras in
Athens, in opposition to Cleisthenes, the leader of the traditionally powerful
Alcmaeonidae family, who considered themselves the natural heirs to the rule of
Athens. In a daring response,
Cleisthenes proposed to
the Athenian people that he would establish a 'democracy' in Athens, much to
the horror of the rest of the aristocracy. Cleisthenes's reasons for suggesting
such a radical course of action, which would remove much of his own family's
power, are unclear; perhaps he perceived that days of aristocratic rule were
coming to an end anyway; certainly he wished to prevent Athens becoming a
puppet of Sparta by whatever means necessary. However, as a result of this
proposal, Cleisthenes and his family were exiled from Athens, in addition to
other dissenting elements, by Isagoras. Having been promised democracy however,
the Athenian people seized the moment and revolted, expelling Cleomenes and
Isagoras. Cleisthenes was thus restored to Athens in 507, and at breakneck
speed began to establish democratic government. The establishment of democracy
revolutionised Athens, which henceforth became one of the leading cities in
Greece. The new-found freedom and self-governance of the Athenians meant that
they were thereafter exceptionally hostile to the return of the tyranny of
Hippias, or any form of outside subjugation; by Sparta, Persia or anyone else.
Cleomenes, unsurprisingly, was not pleased with events, and marched on Athens
with the Spartan army. Cleomenes's attempts to restore Isagoras to Athens ended
in a debacle, but fearing the worst, the Athenians had by this point already
sent an embassy to Artaphernes in Sardis, to request aid from the Persian
Empire. Artaphernes requested that the Athenians give him an 'earth and water',
a traditional token of submission, which the Athenian ambassadors acquiesced
to. However, they were severely censured for this when they returned to Athens.
At some point later Cleomenes instigated a plot to restore Hippias to the rule
of Athens. This failed and Hippias again fled to Sardis and tried to persuade
the Persians to subjugate Athens. The Athenians dispatched ambassadors to
Artaphernes to dissuade him from taking action, but Artaphernes merely
instructed the Athenians to take Hippias back as tyrant. Needless to say, the
Athenians balked at this, and resolved instead to be openly at war with Persia.
Having thus become the enemy of Persia, Athens was already in a position to
support the Ionian cities when they began their revolt. The fact that the
Ionian democracies were inspired by the example of Athens no doubt further
persuaded the Athenians to support the Ionian Revolt; especially since the
cities of Ionia were (supposedly) originally Athenian colonies.
The city of Eretria also sent assistance to the Ionians for reasons that are
not completely clear. Possibly commercial reasons were a factor; Eretria was a
mercantile city, whose trade was threatened by Persian dominance of the Aegean.
Herodotus suggests that the Eretrians supported the revolt in order to repay
the support the Milesians had given Eretria in a past war against Chalcis. The
Athenians and Eretrians sent a task force of 25 triremes to Asia Minor. While
there, the Greek army surprised and outmaneuvered Artaphernes, marching to
Sardis and there burning the lower city. However, this was as much as the
Greeks achieved, and they were then pursued back to the coast by Persian
horsemen, losing many men in the process. Despite the fact their actions were
ultimately fruitless, the Eretrians and in particular the Athenians had earned
Darius's lasting enmity, and he vowed to punish both cities.
The Persian naval victory at the Battle of Lade in 494 all but
ended the Ionian Revolt, and by 493, the last hold-outs were vanquished by the
Persian fleet. The revolt was used as an opportunity by Darius to extend the
empire's border to the islands of the East Aegean and the Propontis, which had
not been part of the Persian dominions before. The completion of the
pacification of Ionia allowed the Persians to begin planning their next moves;
to extinguish the threat to the empire from Greece, and to punish Athens and
Eretria.
In the spring of 492 an expeditionary force, to be commanded by Darius's
son-in-law Mardonius, was assembled, consisting of a fleet and a land army.
While the ultimate aim was to punish Athens and Eretria, the expedition also
aimed to subdue as many of the Greek cities as possible. Departing from
Cilicia, Mardonius sent the army to march to the Hellespont, while he travelled
with the fleet. He sailed round the coast of Asia Minor to Ionia, where he
spent a short time abolishing the tyrannies that ruled the cities of Ionia.
Ironically, since the establishment of democracies had been a key factor in the
Ionian Revolt, he replaced the tyrannies with democracies. Thence the fleet
continued on to the Hellespont, and when all was ready, shipped the land forces
across to Europe. The army then marched through Thrace, re-subjugating it,
since these lands had already been added to the Persian Empire in 512, during
Darius's campaign against the Scythians. Upon reaching Macedon, the Persians
forced it to become a fully subordinate part of the Persian Empire; they had
been vassals of the Persians since the late 6th century, but retained their
general autonomy.
Meanwhile, the fleet crossed to Thasos, resulting in the Thasians submitting to
the Persians. The fleet then rounded the coastline as far as Acanthus in
Chalcidice, before attempting to round the headland of Mount Athos. However,
they were caught in a violent storm, which drove them against the coastline of
Athos, wrecking (according to Herodotus) 300 ships, with the loss of 20,000
men. Then, whilst the army was camped in Macedon, the Brygians, a local
Thracian tribe, launched a night raid against the Persian camp, killing many of
the Persians, and wounding Mardonius. Despite his injury, Mardonius made sure
that the Brygians were defeated and subjugated, before leading his army back to
the Hellespont; the remnants of the navy also retreated to Asia. Although this
campaign ended ingloriously, the land approaches to Greece had been secured,
and the Greeks had no doubt been made aware of Darius's intentions for them.
491:
Diplomacy:
Perhaps reasoning that the expedition of the previous year may have made his
plans for Greece obvious, and weakened the resolve of the Greek cities, Darius
turned to diplomacy in 491. He sent ambassadors to all the Greek city states,
asking for "earth and water", a traditional token of submission. The
vast majority of cities did as asked, fearing the wrath of Darius. In Athens,
however, the ambassadors were put on trial and then executed; in Sparta, they
were simply thrown down a well. This firmly and finally drew the battle-lines
for the coming conflict; Sparta and Athens, despite their recent enmity, would
together fight the Persians. However, Sparta was then thrown into disarray by
internal machinations. The citizens of Aegina had submitted to the Persian
ambassadors, and the Athenians, troubled by the possibility of Persia using
Aegina as a naval base, asked Sparta to intervene. Cleomenes travelled to
Aegina to confront the Aeginetans personally, but they appealed to Cleomenes's
fellow king Demaratus, who supported their stance. Cleomenes responded by
having Demaratus declared illegitimate, with the help of the priests at Delphi
(whom he bribed); Demaratus was replaced by his cousin Leotychides. Now faced
with two Spartan kings, the Aeginetans capitulated, and handed over hostages to
the Athenians as a guarantee of their good behaviour. However, in Sparta news
emerged of the bribes Cleomenes had given at Delphi, and he was expelled from
the city. He then sought to rally the northern Peloponnesus to his cause, at
which the Spartans relented, and invited him back to the city. By 491 though,
Cleomenes was widely considered insane and was sentenced to prison where he was
found dead the following day. Cleomenes was succeeded by his half-brother
Leonidas I.
490:
Datis and Artaphernes' campaign:
Taking advantage of the chaos in Sparta, which effectively left Athens
isolated, Darius decided to launch an amphibious expedition to finally punish
Athens and Eretria. An army was assembled in Susa, and marched into Cilicia,
where a fleet had been gathered. Command of the expedition was given to Datis
the Mede and Artaphernes, son of the satrap Artaphernes.
Size of the Persian force:
The various soldiers of the army of Darius I are illustrated on the tomb of
Darius I at Naqsh-e Rostam, with a mention of each ethnicity in individual
labels. The ethnicities are, in order: Makan, Persian, Median, Elamite,
Parthian, Arian, Bactrian, Sogdian, Choresmian, Zarangian, Arachosian,
Sattagydian, Gandharan, Hindush (Indian), Saka (haumavarga), Saka (tigraxauda),
Babylonian, Assyrian, Arab, Egyptian, Armenian, Cappadocian, Lydian, Ionian,
Saka beyond the sea, Skudrian (Thracian), Macedonian, Libyan, Nubian, Carian.
Identical depictions were made on the tombs of other Achaemenid emperors, the
best preserved frieze being that of Xerxes I. According to Herodotus, the fleet
sent by Darius consisted of 600 triremes. There is no indication in the
historical sources of how many transport ships accompanied them, if any.
Herodotus claimed that 3,000 transport ships accompanied 1,207 triremes during
Xerxes's invasion in 480 BC. Among modern historians, some have accepted this
number of ships as reasonable; it has been suggested either that the number 600
represents the combined number of triremes and transport ships, or that there
were horse transports in addition to 600 triremes. Herodotus does not estimate
the size of the Persian army, only saying that they formed a "great and
well-furnished army". Among other ancient sources, the poet Simonides, a
near-contemporary, says the campaign force numbered 200,000, while a later
writer, the Roman Cornelius Nepos estimates 200,000 infantry and 10,000
cavalry. Plutarch and Pausanias both independently give 300,000, as does the
Suda dictionary; Plato and Lysias assert 500,000; and Justin 600,000. Modern
historians generally dismiss these numbers as exaggerations. One approach to
estimate the number of troops is to calculate the number of marines carried by
600 triremes. Herodotus tells us that each trireme in the second invasion of
Greece carried 30 extra marines, in addition to a probable 14 standard marines.
Thus, 600 triremes could easily have carried 18,000–26,000 infantry.
Numbers proposed for the Persian infantry are in the range 18,000–100,000.
However, the consensus is around 25,000. The Persian infantry used in the
invasion was probably a heterogeneous group drawn from across the empire.
However, according to Herodotus, there was at least a general conformity in the
type of armour and style of fighting. The troops were, generally speaking,
armed with a bow, 'short spear' and sword, carried a wicker shield, and wore at
most a leather jerkin. The one exception to this may have been the ethnic
Persian troops, who may have worn a corslet of scale armour. Some contingents
would have been armed somewhat differently; for instance, the Saka were
renowned axemen. The 'elite' contingents of the Persian infantry seem to have
been the ethnic Persians, Medians, Cissians and the Saka; Herodotus
specifically mentions the presence of Persians and Saka at Marathon. The style
of fighting used by the Persians was probably to stand off from an enemy, using
their bows (or equivalent) to wear down the enemy before closing in to deliver
the coup de grace with spear and sword. They fought a long time at Marathon. In
the center of the line the foreigners prevailed, where the Persians and Sacae
were arrayed. The foreigners prevailed there and broke through in pursuit
inland, but on each wing the Athenians and Plataeans prevailed. In victory they
let the routed foreigners flee, and brought the wings together to fight those
who had broken through the center. The Athenians prevailed, then followed the
fleeing Persians and struck them down. When they reached the sea they demanded
fire and laid hold of the Persian ships. —?Herodotus VI.113.[79]
Estimates for the cavalry are usually in the 1,000–3,000 range. The
Persian cavalry was usually provided by the ethnic Persians, Bactrians, Medes,
Cissians, and Saka; most of these probably fought as lightly armed missile
cavalry. The fleet must have had at least some proportion of transport ships,
since the cavalry was carried by ship; whilst Herodotus claims the cavalry was
carried in the triremes, this is improbable. Lazenby estimates 30–40
transport ships would be required to carry 1,000 cavalry.
Lindos:
Once assembled, the Persian force sailed from Cilicia firstly to the island of
Rhodes. A Lindian Temple Chronicle records that Datis besieged the city of
Lindos, but was unsuccessful.
Naxos:
The fleet then moved north along the Ionian coast towards Samos, before turning
west into the Aegean Sea. The fleet sailed next to Naxos, in order to punish
the Naxians for their resistance to the failed expedition that the Persians had
mounted there a decade earlier. Many of the inhabitants fled to the mountains;
according to Herodotus, those that the Persians caught were enslaved. The
Persians then burnt the city and temples of the Naxians.
The Cyclades:
Moving on, the Persian fleet approached Delos, whereupon the Delians also fled
from their homes. Having demonstrated Persian power at Naxos, Datis now
intended to show clemency to the other islands, if they submitted to him. He
sent a herald to the Delians, proclaiming: "Holy men, why have you fled
away, and so misjudged my intent? It is my own desire, and the king's command
to me, to do no harm to the land where the two gods were born, neither to the
land itself nor to its inhabitants. So return now to your homes and dwell on
your island." Datis then burned 300 talents of frankincense on the altar
of Apollo on Delos, to show his respect for one of the gods of the island. The
fleet then proceeded to island-hop across the rest of Aegean on its way to
Eretria, taking hostages and troops from each island.
Karystos:
The Persians finally arrived off the southern tip of Euboea, at Karystos. The
citizens of Karystos refused to give hostages to the Persians, so they were
besieged, and their land ravaged, until they submitted to the Persians.
Siege of Eretria:
The task force then sailed around Euboea to the first major target, Eretria.
According to Herodotus, the Eretrians were divided amongst themselves as to the
best course of action; whether to flee to the highlands, or undergo a siege, or
to submit to the Persians. In the event, the majority decision was to remain in
the city. The Eretrians made no attempt to stop the Persians landing, or
advancing, and thus allowed themselves to be besieged. For six days the
Persians attacked the walls, with losses on both sides; however, on the seventh
day two reputable Eretrians opened the gates and betrayed the city to the
Persians. The city was razed, and temples and shrines were looted and burned.
Furthermore, according to Darius's commands, the Persians enslaved all the
remaining townspeople.
Battle of Marathon:
The Persian fleet next headed south down the coast of Attica, landing at the
bay of Marathon, roughly 25 miles (40 km) from Athens, on the advice of
Hippias, son of the former tyrant of Athens, Peisistratus. The Athenians,
joined by a small force from Plataea, marched to Marathon, and succeeded in
blocking the two exits from the plain of Marathon. At the same time, Athens'
greatest runner, Pheidippides (or Philippides) was sent to Sparta to request
that the Spartan army march to Athens' aid. Pheidippides arrived during the
festival of Carneia, a sacrosanct period of peace, and was informed that the
Spartan army could not march to war until the full moon rose; Athens could not
expect reinforcement for at least ten days. They decided to hold out at
Marathon for the time being, and they were reinforced by a contingent of
hoplites from Plataea. Stalemate ensued for five days, before the Athenians
(for reasons that are not completely clear) decided to attack the Persians.
Despite the numerical advantage of the Persians, the hoplites proved
devastatingly effective, routing the Persians wings before turning in on the
centre of the Persian line; the remnants of the Persian army left the battle
and fled to their ships. Herodotus records that 6,400 Persian bodies were
counted on the battlefield; the Athenians lost just 192 men and the Plataeans
11. In the immediate aftermath of the battle, Herodotus says that the Persian
fleet sailed around Cape Sunium to attack Athens directly, although some modern
historians place this attempt just before the battle. Either way, the Athenians
evidently realised that their city was still under threat, and marched as
quickly as possible back to Athens. The Athenians arrived in time to prevent
the Persians from securing a landing, and seeing that the opportunity was lost,
the Persians turned about and returned to Asia. On the next day, the Spartan
army arrived, having covered the 220 kilometers (140 mi) in only three days.
The Spartans toured the battlefield at Marathon, and agreed that the Athenians
had won a great victory.
Aftermath:
The defeat at Marathon ended for the time being the Persian invasion of Greece.
However, Thrace and the Cycladic islands had been resubjugated into the Persian
empire, and Macedon reduced to a subordinate kingdom part of the empire; since
the late 6th century they had been vassals of the Persians, but remained having
a broad scope of autonomy. Darius was still fully intent on conquering Greece,
to secure the western part of his empire. Moreover, Athens remained unpunished
for its role in the Ionian Revolt, and both Athens and Sparta were unpunished
for their treatment of the Persian ambassadors. Darius therefore began raising
a huge new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece; however, in
486, his Egyptian subjects revolted, indefinitely postponing any Greek
expedition. Darius then died while preparing to march on Egypt, and the throne
of Persia passed to his son Xerxes I. Xerxes crushed the Egyptian revolt, and
very quickly restarted the preparations for the invasion of Greece. This
expedition was finally ready by 480, and the second Persian invasion of Greece
thereby began, under the command of Xerxes himself.
Significance:
For the Persians, the two expeditions to Greece had been largely successful;
new territories had been added to their empire and Eretria had been punished.
It was only a minor setback that the invasion had met defeat at Marathon; that
defeat barely dented the enormous resources of the Persian empire. Yet, for the
Greeks, it was an enormously significant victory. It was the first time that
Greeks had beaten the Persians, and showed them that the Persians were not
invincible, and that resistance, rather than subjugation, was possible. The
victory at Marathon was a defining moment for the young Athenian democracy,
showing what might be achieved through unity and self-belief; indeed, the
battle effectively marks the start of a 'golden age' for Athens. This was also
applicable to Greece as a whole; "their victory endowed the Greeks with a
faith in their destiny that was to endure for three centuries, during which
western culture was born". John Stuart Mill's famous opinion was that
"the Battle of Marathon, even as an event in British history, is more
important than the Battle of Hastings".
Militarily, a major lesson for the Greeks was the potential of the hoplite
phalanx. This style had developed during internecine warfare amongst the
Greeks; since each city-state fought in the same way, the advantages and
disadvantages of the hoplite phalanx had not been obvious. Marathon was the
first time a phalanx faced more lightly armed troops, and revealed how
devastating the hoplites could be in battle. The phalanx formation was still
vulnerable to cavalry (the cause of much caution by the Greek forces at the
Battle of Plataea), but used in the right circumstances, it was now shown to be
a potentially devastating weapon. The Persians seem to have more-or-less
disregarded the military lessons of Marathon. The composition of infantry for
the second invasion seems to have been the same as during the first, despite
the availability of hoplites and other heavy infantry in Persian-ruled
lands.Having won battles against hoplites previously, the Persians may simply
have regarded Marathon as an aberration.
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