34 
PLAIN OF MARATHON. 
CHAP. 
I. 
' , 
Mount 
Stauro 
Koraki. 
Shuli. 
Maratho- 
nian De- 
file. 
Import-" 
ance of the 
Pass. 
passage. It occupies the whole of this extre- 
mity of the Plain, between Mount Stauro Koraki 
and the sea, reaching quite up to the base of 
the former; along which a narrow defile, 
exactly like that of Thermopylce, and in the 
same manner skirting the bottom of a mountain, 
conducts, by an antient paved-way, to a 
village now called Shuli; perhaps the antient 
Trycorinthus, which occurred in the road from 
Marathon to Rhamnus. The resemblance be- 
tween the two straits is indeed remarkably 
striking; for a spring, at the foot of the 
mountain, crosses the antient paved-way, as do 
the hot springs of TliermopylcE. As soon as we 
had reached this defile, we perceived at once 
what had been the main cause of the prodi- 
gious destruction which here befel the Persian 
army ; and why so fatal a disaster particularly 
distinguished this swampy Lake. The appear- 
ance of the place is the best comment upon the 
catastrophe : it is, in fact, a pass which a smaller 
band than that of the Spartan heroes, under 
Lconidas, might have easily guarded against the 
myriads of Darius : and the story of the battle 
shews plainly that the vast overthrow which 
here took place, must have been owing as much 
to the Persians themselves as to the valour of 
the Greeks. In the beginning of the fight, an 
