Marathon, a town, a herb, a battleground, part of a legend, a road running race.
Marathon: A town
Marathon to Athens map
Marathon is a small coastal town, approximately 46km North-East from Athens, Greece.
Marathon is a Greek town, with a population of 33,423 (2011 stats). This small town is elevated at 28m above sea level
Marathon: A herb
Plain of Marathon today
Marathon, is a name which comes from the herb we all know as fennel. Fennel is known as either “marathon” or “marathos” in ancient Greek. Thus, it is commonly believed that the town of Marathon was named as such because of the very large quantity of fennel plants that grew in the area. Whether the town of Marathon still host vast quantities of fennel plants today I can’t say though.
Great, so a town with the name of Marathon actually exists and was
Marathon: A battle ground
Reconstruction of battleships
If you are a movie lover, you have most probably seen the great “300” or “Troy” movies. If so, you will appreciate the fact that warfare in ancient Greek times were pretty rough and required great commitment, dedication, and a lot of heart.
One such battle actually took place in 490 BC. The battle was orcestrated by the Persians, whom were from a region today known as Iran. The Persians had great intentions of overtaking and ruling Greece. This battle took place on the shores of the town Marathon and the event is known today as the “Battle of Marathon”.
In the years 499 BC to 449 BC, a series of conflicts between Persia and Greece took place. These conflicts were named Greco-Persian Wars.
In September, 490 BC, the Battle of Marathon marks the first Greek invasion attempt by Persian forces, under King Darius I (King Darius the Great), under command of Datis and Artaphernes. However, this specific invasion, was in retaliation to the Athens and Eretria forces who helped Aristagoras (tyrant of Milesian) to capture and burn the regional capital of Persia, named Sardis, so Athens and Eretria had to be punished.
So, Mr King Darius with his two commanders decide to invade Greece via the Aegean Sea.
Watch this interesting 3 part video, which gives a great deal of information about the “Battle of Marathon.
Word of the invasion reached Athens. Athens, together with a small contingent from Plataea. This combined force was an estimated 11,000 men, commanded by General Miltiades. A messenger (runner) was sent to the feared Spartan forces to join in the defence, however, the very religious Spartans were in the midst of a religious festival and didn’t join the Athenian forces.
The naval fleet of Persia sailed to the Bay of Marathon. 600 ships laid the entire shoreline, with an estimated force of 30,000 men.
After a 4 day stand-off, Datis decided that more than half of the Persian force, be loaded and sailed to the unprotected city of Athens, which should force the Athenian army to either stand off or engage with commander Artaphernes and the estimated 12,000 Persian fighters, who were left behind by Datis.
Burial Mound of the 192 soldiers
Using a risky tactic, the Athenian force claimed victory within 3hours. The Athenian force lost 192 soldiers whilst the Persian force lost around 6,500 soldiers. However, this meant that Datis and his force, was 3hours closer to Athens.
Miltiades sent a messenger (runner) to Athens. The messenger arrived at Athens, conveyed the message that the Persian forces were defeated at the bay of Marathon, after which he died.
Miltiades with his very tired Athenian force, marched at double-speed to Athens.
When Datis’ ships arrived at Athens, they met the sight of Athenian forces, a sight which was one of defeat for Datis. Datis and his force returned to Persia.
So now you know about a town called Marathon, named after a herb plant, fennel, and the place of a great Athenian battleground. So what is the legend?
Marathon: A legend
The historian Herodotus, who was the main source of information about Greco-Persian Wars, names a man, Pheidippides, as the runner who ran from Athens to Sparta to ask for support. Herodotus doesn’t however make mention of the run from Marathon to Athens.
Although fact is that the Athenian force marched at double time from Marathon to Athens, the legend goes that Pheidippides ran this route to convey the message of victory after which he fell down and died of exhaustion. The distance from the battlefield of Marathon, to Athens is approximately 40km (25 miles).
Marathon: A road running race
In the late 1800s, the idea of a modern Olympics was born. This idea became a reality and organisers were in search of an event that would gain great popularity whilst at the same time bringing back memories of the ancient glory of Greece, into the minds of all.
This legend of the courageous run, by Pheidippides, from Marathon to Athens, gave inspiration to Michel Bréal, and he wanted the marathon event to feature in the 1896 Olympics in Athens.
This new event idea was fully supported by Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics, as well as the Greek population. The Marathon event was subsequently introduced at the 1896 Athens Olympics. This event was originally run between the town of Marathon and Athens, as an echo and celebration of the great legendary Pheidippides run.
The first official marathon event was held at the 1896 Athens Olympics, at a venue named Panathinaiko Stadium and was won by Spyridon Spyros Louis in a time of 2 hours 58 minutes and 50 seconds. This event was a male-only event.
The Summer Olympics of 2004 hosted the marathon event on the traditional route, from Marathon to Athens, with the finish being held in the same 1896 venue of Panathinaiko. Stefano Baldini, an Italian, was the winner of the men’s marathon event, in a time of 2 hours 10 minutes and 55 seconds.
The specific course record (Marathon to Athens) was set in a non-Olympic event, during the 2014 Athens Classic Marathon, by Felix Kandie, in a time of 2 hours 10 minutes and 37 seconds.
The woman’s marathon event was introduced at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics and was won by Joan Benoit of USA, in a time of 2 hours 24 minutes and 52 seconds.
The Olympic marathon distance was originally run at the approximate distance between Marathon and Athens, which was 40 km or 25 miles.
The Marathon distance later became fixed at 42.195 km or 26 miles.