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Why did the Persians land at Marathon instead of going to Athens?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
The direct answer is that they did go to Athens.
The invasion was a punitive expedition against Eretria and Athens for their intervention in the Persian empire by supporting a revolt by Miletus, in the course of which they overdid things by burning the Persian provincial capital of Sardis.
The punitive force first laid siege to Eretria on the island of Euboia, captured it by traitors opening the gates. It then turned its attention across the strait to Marathon, landing there and attracting the Athenian army there to oppose their overland advance to Athens. They had the exiled Athenian tyrant Hippias with them, whom they intended to install as puppet Persian ruler. Hippias' supporters were going to open the gates of Athens to let the Persians in.
The stalemate persisted at Marathon. The Athenians kept to the hills where the Persian cavalry couldn't get at them. Then on the tenth day, they saw the Persian cavalry being embarked on ships, and seized the opportunity to rush down and defeat the inferior Persian infantry, hoping also to capture the fleet with the cavalry on board. The fleet got away.
The Athenians then woke up to what was happening. The cavalry was being rowed around Cape Sunion to make a landing opposite Athens and gallop up to the city where Hippias' party was going to open the gates for them. The Athenian army ran over the hills back to form up in front of the city just as the Persian cavalry was riding up. It was a near run thing. The cavalry, frustrated, reembarked and the Persians returned home.
So yes, the Persians did go to Athens, it was their plan all along, to pin the Athenian army down at Marathon while their cavalry captured the city. The Athenians would then be squeezed between the city and the Persian army. Not a bad plan, frustrated by those hardy Athenian peasant farmers who were able to run the first Marathon 26 miles over the hills carrying their equipment, having already fought a battle that morning.
Marathon runners get it easy nowadays, but don't have the incentive those blokes had.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
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Where did the Persian's head after the battle of the marathon?
Their cavalry was not at the battle, which was whay they lost it. The cavalry was embarked, heading for Athens to capture it in the absence of the Athenian army. After defeating the inferior Persian infantry at Marathon, the Athenian infantry woke up to what was happening and ran the 26 miles back to Athens, getting there just as the Persians were disembarking, and formed up in front of the city. Traitors were going to open the gates to let the cavalry inn but were frustrated by this. The Persians, their plan gone, went home.
What happned in the battle of the marathon?
The Persians loaded their cavalry onto their ships to sneak around and capture Athens while the Athenian army was confronting the Persian army at Marathon, and awaiting the arrival of Spartan reinforcements. Seeing the superior Persian cavalry gone, the Athenians and their Plataian allies rand down out of the hills where they had been lurking and defeated the inferior Persian infantry who were exposed by their lack of cavalry. Having defeated them, the Athenians realised where the Persian cavalry was going and ran back the 26 miles to Athens and formed up in front of the city just as the Persian cavalry was preparing to dash up and take the city. The Persians, defeated at Marathon and frustrated at Athens, went home. The run by the Athenian army is commemorated today withe the 26 mile marathon race, however today's runners don't have to run in sandals and carry armour, shields and weapons.
How long did it take pheidippides to run to Sparta?
150 miles from Marathon to Sparta and going back to Athens.
What caused the Persians to retreat in the opening conflicts with the Greeks at the Battle of Marathon?
The Persians were loading their cavalry on ships to go around and capture Athens in the absence of the Athenian army at Marathon. The Athenians say that the cavalry was not available, so they rand down from the hills and defeated the weak Persian infantry which was unprotected by its cavalry. The Athenians then woke up to where the cavalry was going and ran back to Athens to defend the city - the origin of today's Marathon run.
Who ran to inform the Athenians that the Persians were coming?
The answer may be unknown. Runners were a standard means of communication at that time. Of course, Phiddipides is the most famous runner because he died after delivering the message that Athens had defeated Persia at Marathon. Perhaps the runner who informed Athens of the Persian approach was him, or perhaps another.Addition:Pheidippides was sent to Sparta to summon them to help repel the Persians. He came back hallucinating and died after the round trip of 120 miles, so was not available to carry any further messages.The Athenians knew all about the Persians coming, particularly after the Persians invested the city of Eretria over on Euboia island a couple of weeks earlier before turning their attention to Athens.The message of the defeat of the Persians at Marathon was carried by the whole Athenian army. When they saw the Persian cavalry embark and head off around the Sunion peninsula, they correctly guessed it was headed for Athens, and that traitors were going to open the city gates for them. So, carrying their weapons and armour, they all ran back over the hills the 26 miles, and formed up in front of the city just as the Persian cavalry disembarked and got ready to gallop up to the city gates.So the messenger was 9,000 Athenian hoplites, led by their general Miltiades. This was the first Marathon run - today's athletes get it pretty easy, don't they?
Did the Persians fail at Thermopylae?
No, they defeated the Greek fleet in the nearby strait of Artemesion and broke through the Greek blocking force at Thermopylae, capturing northern Greece and going on to take Athens.
Why did the Athenian army go out to fight the Persians when they arrived at Marathon?
It was not the Greeks, it was the Greek city-state of Athens with its allty Plataia. As their infantry army could not face the Persian cavalry, they waited in the hills until they saw the cavalry being embarked on ships and departing. They ran down to the plain and defeated the infrior Persian infantry. Realising then where the Persian cavalry was going - to land near Athens and gallop up to the city where traitors would open the gates for them with the Athenian army at Marathon - they ran back over the hills in time to form up in front of the city just as the cavalry disembarked. Frustrated, the Persians reembarked and went home. The 26 miles the Athenian warriors ran became the basis for today's Marathon run. The Athenian soldiers did it much tougher, having to carry their weapons and armour as well.
What news did Pheidippides bring?
Having run to Sparta to solicit their military help against the Persian invasion, he then ran back to tell the Athenians that the Spartans were in the middle of a religious festival, but would come as soon as it was over. The 120 mile run was too much for him and he died of exhaustion. If you are talking about the fake story of him then going to Marathon and running back the 26 miles to tell the Athenians of the victory there over the Persians, it is just that - he was dead. The news of the Marathon victory came when the Athenian army, after the battle, realised that the Persian cavalry had taken off by sea for Athens to capture it in their absence. The 9,000 Athenian heavy infantry with their 9,000 light infantry, ran desperately the 26 miles back to Athens, forming up in front of the city just as the Persians were disembarking. Frustrated, the Persians went home. So the news of the battle was brought by 18,000 Athenian soldiers running with their weapons and armour - a far greater feat then today's pampered Marathon runners. And Pheidippides was by this time cremated, and unable to bring any message after his initial one from Sparta. And the Spartans arrived too late for the battle.
How did the Greek victory over the Persians help bring about the Athenian empire?
With the Persian threat still there, Sparta wanted to bring the Asian Greeks back to the mainland. Athens instead took the fight to the persians and organised a 200-city league for self protection. Cities gave either ships or money. Most took the easy way and gave money. Athens maintained a large fleet with this money, and when peacewas agreek with Persia thirty years later, kept the money collections going, by force where necessary, and so established an empire. years
For how many years has the London marathon been going on for?
The London Marathon is a road marathon that has been held each year in London since 1981.
How do you use athens as a sentence?
If someone asked me where I was going, I could answer with "Athens!"
Why did Darius choose Marathon as his battle sight to attack the Greeks?
Marathon was a feint. In order to capture Athens, he had arranged for traitors to open the gates of the city. The plan was to land at Marathon, drawing the Athenian army there. Then his cavalry re-mbarked and rowed around Cape Sounion to land opposite Athens, then gallop up and seize the city while the infantry kept the Athenian infantry interested at Marathon 26 miles away. With the city lost, the Athenian army would be trapped between it and the Persian infantry. Unfortunately for this plan, the Athenians saw the cavalry departing. They had been lurking in the foothills waiting for Spartan reinforcement, as they did not want to face the Persian cavalry on the Plain of Marathon which was good cavalry country. Now, with the cavalry embarking embarking, the Athenian heavy infantry ran down and defeated the weaker Persian infantry. They then realised where the ships were going and ran back over the hills to Athens, just in time to form up in front of the city as the Persian cavalry arrived. The Persians, their infantry defeated and their cavalry stymied, gave up and went home. This was the origin of today's marathon run - however today's pampered runners get it easier than the 9,000 Athenian infantry, fed on bread, wearing sandals and carrying armour, shields and weapons.
