Is it possible to work out what happened at the Battle of Marathon from Herodotus' Narrative.

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Sally Grey 12 Ab

Ancient History Essay

Is it possible to work out what happened at the Battle of Marathon from Herodotus’ Narrative

The source we are working from is Herodotus’ The Histories. The particular information used to write this essay was taken from Book Six, in which is an account of the Battle of Marathon.

        According to Herodotus the Plateans put themselves in Athenian hands – while the Athenians were engaged in offering sacrifice to the Twelve Gods the Plateans came to the altar and made their request and the act of surrender was completed. The Thebans heard what the Plateans had done and sent an army against them. The Athenians came to the aid of the Plateans and a fight was only avoided by the intervention of the Corinthians. They resolved the situation, but when the Athenians were on their way home the Boeotians set upon them. There was a fight in which the Athenians were victorious. The crossed the borderline that the Corinthians had set up in order to separate the Thebans and the Plateans. These were the circumstances under which the people of Plataea put themselves in the hands of the Athenians, and which led to their coming to support the Athenians at Marathon.

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        Some Athenian commanders were against risking battle because their force was very small, while others, including Miltiades, were in favour of fighting. Callimachus had the deciding vote as to whether they should fight or not. Miltiades said to him “It is now in your hands, Callimachus, either to enslave Athens or to make her free and to leave behind you all future generations a memory more glorious than even Harmodius and Aristogeiton left. Never in our history have we Athenians been in such peril as now. If we submit to the Persians, Hippias will be restored to power – and ...

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