Persian Empire Vs Athens: Battle of Marathon 490 BC | Cinematic

In 490 BC, the First Greco-Persian War was initiated when the Persian king Darius I dispatched a massive fleet of 600 ships carrying 25,000 Persian soldiers from across his vast empire to set sail to the Aegean Sea and attack and conquer many Greek islands and city-states. The Persian army's main targets were the cities of Eritrea and Athens. As nine years prior, both cities had sent aid and soldiers to assist several Greek cities that had revolted against the Persian Empire in a famous conflict known as the Ionian Revolt. Before reaching the Greek mainlands, the Persian fleet, which was commanded by the Persian general Dottes, had taken the Aegean islands of Naxos and Delos. They burned down the island of Naxos and enslaved its inhabitants before moving to the island of Delos, which had surrendered to Persian rule. Once the Persian's fleet had reached mainland Greece, their first target was the Greek city of Eritrea. Eritrea had refused to surrender and was destroyed. After making quick work of Eritrea, the Persians sailed down the Greek coast of Attica and landed on Athenians' lands, more precisely the plains of Marathon, which was only 25 miles from the city of Athens. Upon receiving word of this, the Athenians quickly assembled a force of about 10,000 Athenian hoplites trained in the Greek style of warfare. Upon their march, they received an additional 1,000 soldiers from their allies, Plataea. Commanding the Athenian army was ten generals, one from each of the tribes of Athens. The leader of these generals was a man named Callimachus. Upon arriving at Marathon, the Greeks stationed themselves in front of the Persian army's position, essentially blocking them from advancing inward. The Greek army was vastly outnumbered by the Persians, and to make matters worse, the Greeks had no archers or cavalry in their ranks, whereas the Persians did. The Athenians sent a runner to Sparta, looking to acquire reinforcements from their fellow Greeks. The Spartans had agreed to assist, but not until another ten days, as they were celebrating a religious festival. Strategically, it would have been a wise move for the Athenians to retreat to Athens and defend from the safety of the city's walls. However, there were political oppositions in Athens that wanted to surrender to the Persians in exchange for mercy and political power for themselves. Given these circumstances, nothing less than a victory for the Athenian army would suffice in order to silence their political opposition in Athens and silence any cowardice amongst the populace. For eight days straight, the Athenians and Persians were at a standstill, with neither force attempting to initiate battle. This benefited the Athenians as they were biding their time, waiting for their Spartan allies to arrive. On the ninth day, all the Persian cavalry had embarked on ships and sailed away from the main force. Why the Persians did this is not known for certain. After seeing this, the Athenians lined up into battle formation and marched on the Persians. Sources are conflicted about why the Athenians chose to attack, but it is likely that seeing the Persian cavalry re-embark their ships gave the Athenians a great opportunity to successfully attack before the Persian cavalry returned. Upon marching forward, the Athenians had thinned out their centre, whilst also positioning more troops on both of their flanks. The long line and thickened flanks were meant to prevent the larger Persian army from enveloping the smaller Greek force. Marching in steady formation, the Athenians came into Persian archer range and broke out into a full-on sprint toward the Persian lines. The much larger Persian centre breaks through the Greeks' thin centre and begins pushing them back. On both Greek flanks, the larger Greek forces are pushing back the Persians' flanks, eventually overwhelming the Persian flanks, sending them routing. The Greek flanks turn inward and attack the Persian centre from the sides and rear. With the Persians surrounded from all directions, their troops' morale begins to waver and a mass retreat to their ships ensues. Although victorious on the battlefield, the Greeks had to quickly march back to the city of Athens before the remainder of the Persian fleet arrived at a defenceless city. The Greeks, marching through the night, arrived just before the Persian fleet approached the city. The Persian commander, Dottes, ordered his fleet to turn around and abandon their campaign, thus ending the First Greco-Persian War. The Greek historian Herodotus reported that the Greeks had lost only 192 men, including the Athenian general Callimachus, who was killed during the fighting at Marathon. Meanwhile, the Persians had lost 6,400 men.