Marathon 490 BC: The first Persian invasion of Greece (Campaign, 108)

Osprey's study of the first Persian invasion of Greece in 490 BC. The story of the Marathon campaign is an epic of the Ancient World. When the Ionian Greeks revolted against their Persian overlords in 499 BC, the cities of Athens and Eretria came to their aid. The Persian King Darius swore vengeance and in 490BC a fleet of 600 ships packed with troops was sent to take revenge on the Athenians. At Marathon the Greeks met the Persians in battle and drove them in rout back to their ships. The moral effect of this victory was enormous – for the first time a Greek army had defeated the Persians and demonstrated the superiority of hoplite tactics. "The story of the Marathon campaign is an epic of the Ancient World. When the Ionian Greeks revolted against their Persian overlords in 499 BC, the cities of Athens and Eretria came to their aid. The Persian King Darius swore vengeance, and in 490 BC a fleet of 600 ships packed with troops was sent to take revenge on the Athenians. At Marathon, the Greeks routed the Persians in battle and drove them back to their ships. The moral effect of this victory was enormous - for the first time a Greek army had defeated the Persians and demonstrated the superiority of hoplite tactics."--Jacket Details how the Greeks battled the Persians at Marathon, overcoming the force presented by a fleet of six hundred ships and the significance of the moral effect of a Greek army's defeat of their Persian overlords. The Persians attempted to invade mainland Greece twice - once in 490 and again in 480-479.