Miltiades

Miltiades (ca. 549-488 B.C.) was a brilliant Athenian military strategist and statesman who successfully brought about Athenian victory over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon.

Son of Cimon, an Athenian aristocrat, Miltiades was chief magistrate under the tyranny at Athens in 524 B.C., and in 516, with the tyrants' support, he went to seize power in the Chersonese area of Thrace. Shortly afterward he captured Lemnos. But the advancing power of Persia arrested this portion of his adventuresome career. When Darius invaded Europe and campaigned in Scythia, Miltiades entered Persian service; according to Herodotus, Miltiades wished to destroy the bridge over the Danube and cut off Darius's retreat.

By 510 Miltiades was back in Athens, driven out of the Chersonese by raiding Scythians. When the lonians rose in revolt against Persia, Miltiades returned to the Chersonese at the invitation of the native people and ruled from 496 to 493. He withdrew when the lonians were finally defeated.

As leader of the Philaid clan, Miltiades had many opponents at Athens. They brought him to trial on a charge of tyrannical rule in the Chersonese. But he was acquitted. Because of his unrivaled experience in Persian warfare, the people elected him one of the 10 generals who took office in July 490, when the Persian fleet was already on the way.

Battle of Marathon

When the Persian army landed at the Bay of Marathon, Miltiades proposed in the Assembly that the Athenians provide themselves with supplies and set out and meet the enemy at once instead of holding Athens and waiting for help from Sparta. His proposal was adopted. On the evening after the Persian landing, heavily armed Athenian infantry moved into the Plan of Marathon and blocked the Persian advance. The following day the Persian army moved into position and offered battle.

By this time 1,000 Plataeans had joined the 10,000 or so Athenians, and it was not known whether aid was coming from Sparta; yet Miltiades advised engagement. The voting of the 10 generals was equal, but the polemarch, Callimachus, broke the tie in favor of Miltiades. While Miltiades waited for an opportunity to meet the enemy under favorable terms, news came that the Spartans would march out when the moon was full. But before the Spartans arrived, Miltiades saw a good opportunity and at dawn ordered an attack. He used the tactics of a weak center and strengthened wings against a superior infantry force and was successful.

The hero of the day, Miltiades took command of a naval offensive in the Cyclades in 489. In an unsuccessful attack on Paros, he was wounded. On his return he was impeached, condemned, and fined. He died soon afterward as a result of his wound.

Further Reading

The ancient sources for the study of Miltiades are Herodotus and Cornelius Nepos. Among modern works which deal with Miltiades are Andrew Robert Burn, Persia and the Greeks: The Defence of the West, ca. 546-478 B.C. (1962), and N.G.L. Hammond, A History of Greece to 322 B.C. (2d ed. 1967).

Miltīadēs, name held by several members of the noble (Eupatrid) family of the Philaïdae at Athens. A certain Miltiades was archon in 664/3 BC and again in 659/8, and it was his great-grandson (the elder Miltiades) who took settlers to the Thracian Chersonese, a local tribe having invited him to be their king. His death, c.525 BC, was honoured by funeral games. The younger Miltiades (c.550–489), nephew of the former, was sent out to the Thracian Chersonese c.524 to regain possession of his uncle's dominion when it had fallen again into Thracian hands. He was a vassal of the Persian king Darius and after the suppression in 494 of the Ionian Revolt, which he had supported, he returned to Athens in 493, perhaps fearing the Persians. He survived a prosecution for ‘tyranny over Greek subjects’ in Thrace and became an influential politician in spite of the opposition of the Alcmaeonidae. As strategos (‘military commander’) under the polemarch Callimachus he persuaded the Athenians to adopt his strategy at Marathon and was therefore the architect of that victory. An unsuccessful attempt to capture Paros in 489, for which the Athenians had entrusted him with seventy ships, led to his being impeached (on the accusation of Xanthippus) and fined fifty talents. Soon after he died in prison of wounds received in the attack.

Miltiades married Hegesipylē, a Thracian princess, who became the mother of Cimon and (probably) other children including Elpinicē.

Miltiades or Miltiadis (short: Miltos) is a Greek name. Several historic persons have been called Miltiades (Μιλτιάδης).

• Miltiades the Elder (died c. 524 BC) wealthy Athenian, and step-uncle of Miltiades the Younger
• Miltiades the Younger (c. 550 - 489 BC), tyrant of the Thracian Chersonese; took part in the Battle of Marathon
• Pope Miltiades (died 314), African saint and pope

Other people named Miltiadis

• Miltiadis Evert, Greek politician
• Miltos Gkougkoulakis, Greek footballer
• Miltiadis Goulimis, Greek politician
• Miltiadis Iatridis, Greek naval officer in World War II
• Miltiadis Manakis, Greek pioneering photographer and filmmaker
• Miltos Sachtouris, Greek poet
• Miltiadis Sapanis, Greek footballer

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