854 
GREECE. 
furroiinded the once-facred rtiores of Delos, either fpon- 
taneouily offered the ufual acknowledgment of earth 
and water, as a teftimony of their fricndfliip, ©r fubmit- 
ted, after a feeble refirtance, to the Perfian arms. The 
invaders then proceeded weftward to the dlle of Eu¬ 
boea, where, after a coininued engag,ement of fix days, 
their ftrength and numbers, alTifted by the perfidy of 
two traitors, finally overcame the valour and obltiiiacy 
of the Eretrians, 
After burning the city of Eretria, the Perfian gene¬ 
rals fet fail from Euboea, and fafely arrived on the Ma- 
rathonian Jliore, a diftrift of Attica about tliirty miles 
from the capital. Here the Pe_rfians pitched their camp, 
by the advice of Hippias, the banifhed king of Athens, 
whofe perfect knowledge of the country, and intimate 
acquaintance with the affairs of Greece, rendered his 
opinion on all occafions refpedtable. Meanwhile the 
Atlienians liad raifed an army, and appointed ten gene¬ 
rals, with equal power, chofen from the ten tribes into 
which the citizens were divided. Their obftinate and 
•almoff continual hoftilities with the Phocians, the The¬ 
bans, and their other northern neiglibours,. prevented 
them from entertaining any hopes of afliffance from that 
-quarter: but, on the firft appearance of the Perfian 
fleet, they fent a mefl'enger to Sparta, to acquaint that 
republic with the immediate danger that threatened 
them, and to explain how much it concerned the intc- 
refl, as well as the honour, of the Spartans, who had 
acquired jull pre-eminence among the Grecian ftates, 
not to permit the deftruction of the moft ancient and 
the molt fplendid of the Grecian cities. The fenate 
and alfembly, approving the juffice of the demand, col- 
iecled their troops, and feemed ready to afford tiieir ri¬ 
vals, whofe danger now converted them into allies, a 
fpeedy and eft'edtual relief. Tlie Athenians had alfo 
been reinforced by a thoufand chofen warriors from Pla- 
taea, a fmall city of Boeotia, diftant only nine miles from 
Thebes. The Athenian army, now ready to take the 
field, confifted of about ten thoufand freemen, and of 
■probably a ffill greater number of armed tlaves. The 
generals might certainly have colleCTied a larger body 
of troops ; but they feem to have been averfe to com- 
-init the.lafety of the ftate to tlie fortune of a fingle en¬ 
gagement ; neither would it have been prudent to leave 
the walls of Athens, and the other fortrelfes of Attica, 
altogether naked and defencelefs. But though the 
Atiicnfans were'few in number, they were cholen men ; 
and their conffant exercife in war had Inured them to 
hardfliip and fatigue, accuftomed them to ftricb difei- 
pline, and fiuniliariled them to thofe Ikilful evolutions 
which often decide the fortune of the field. 
Tile Perlians, comprehending the various nations 
which followed the ffandard of Datis and Artaphernes, 
were not deficient in martial appearance, nor deftitute 
ot valour, being felected vvith care from the flower of 
the Afiaiic provinces. But, compared with the regu¬ 
larity of the Greek battalions, they may be regarded 
as a promilcuous crowd, armed in each divifion with 
the peculiar weapons of their refpedtive countries, in¬ 
capable of being harmonized by general mowments, or 
united into any uniform fyitem of military arrangement. 
Dans and arrows were their ufual iriffruments of at¬ 
tack ; and even the moft completely armed trufted to 
lome fpecics of milfile weapon. They carried in their 
left hands Hglit targets of reed or ofier, and their bodies 
were covered with liiin plates of fcaly metal ; but tliey 
iiad not any defenlive armour worthy of being compared 
vvith the nnn corfelets, tlie brazen greaves, the maffy 
bucklers, of tiieir Athenian opponents. 'I'he bravelt 
of the barbarians fouglit on liorfeback ; but in all ages 
the long Grecian frear has proved the lureft defence 
againft the attack of cavalry ; infomucli that even the 
Romans, in figluing againft the Numidiaa horfemen, 
■preferred the ftrength of the phalanx to the activity of 
the legion. 
Miltiades allowed not, however, his contempt of the- 
enemy, or his confidence in his own troops, to feduce 
him into a fataTfecurity. But the Athenians, as al¬ 
ready obferved, having elected ten generals, wlio were 
invefted, each in his turn, with the lupreme command, 
was extremely unfavourable to that unity of defign 
Vv’hich ought to pervade all the fucceffive operations of 
an army ; an inconvenience which ftruxk the difeerning 
mind of Ariftides, who on this occafion difplayed the 
firft openings of his illuftrious charadler. The day ap- 
proacliing when it belonged to him to affnme the com¬ 
mand, he generoufly yielded liis authority to the ap¬ 
proved valour and experience of Miltiades. The other 
generals followed this magnanimous example ; and the 
commander in chief thus enjoyed an opportunity of ex¬ 
erting the utmoft vigour of liis genius. Left lie (liould 
be furroiinded by a fiiperior force, he cliofe for his 
camp tlie declivity of a hill, diftant about a mile from 
the encampment of the enemy. The intermediate fpace 
lie caiifed to be ftrew'ed in the night with the branches 
and trunks of trees, in order to interrupt the motion, 
and break the order, of the Perfian cavalry, which in 
confequence of this precaution, feem to have been ren¬ 
dered incapable of adbing in the engagement. In the 
morning his troops were drawn up in battle array, in a 
long and full line ; the braved of the Athenians on the 
right, on the left the warriors of Platasa, and in’ the 
middle the flaves, who had been admitted on tills occa¬ 
fion to the honour of bearing arms. By weakening his 
centre, the leaf! valuable part, he, extended bis tront 
equal to that of the enemy: his rear was defended by 
tlie hill above-mentioned, which, verging round to meet 
the fea, likewife covered liis right ; his left was flanked 
by a lake or marffi. Datis, although he perceived the 
fkilful order of the Greeks, was yet too confident in 
tlie fuperiority of his numbers to defer the engagement, 
efpecially' as he now enjoyed an opportunity ot decid¬ 
ing tlie conteil before the expedled auxiliaries could ar¬ 
rive from Peloponnefus, The inftant the Athenians 
faw the enemy in motion, they ran down tlie hill with 
unufual ardour to encounter tlieni; a circtimftance which 
proceeded perhaps from their eageniefs to engage, but 
wliich muft liave been attended with the good confe¬ 
quence of ffiortening the time of their expofure to the 
flings and darts of the enemy. 
The two armies eVofedthe battle was rather fierce 
than long. The Perfian fword and Scythian hatchet 
penetrated, or cut down, the centre of the Athenians ; 
but the two wings, which compofed tlie main ftrength 
of the Grecian army, broke, routed, and put to flight, 
tlie correfponding divifions of the enemy. Inftead of 
purfuing tlie vanquiflied, they clofed their extremities, 
and attacked the barbarians who liad penetrated their 
-centre. 'I'lie Grecian fpear overcame all oppofition : 
the braveft of the Perfians periflied in the field ; the re¬ 
mainder were purfued with great flaughter; and fqch 
was their terror and furprife, that they fought for re¬ 
fuge, not in their camp, but in their fliips. The tyrant 
Hippias fell in tlie eiigagement: two Athenian generals, 
and about two hundred citizens, were found among the 
flain : the Perfians left fix thoufand of their beft troops 
in the field of battle ; and probably a ftill greater num¬ 
ber were killed in the purf uit. The Greeks'followed 
them to the there ; but the liglitnefs of the barbarian 
armour favoured tiieir efcape. Seven fliips were taken j 
tl'.e reft failed with a favourable gale, doubled the cape 
of Suniumj and, after a fruitlefs attempt to furprife 
the harbour of Athens, returned to the coaft of Afia, 
A. C. 490. 
The lofs and difgrace of the Perfians on this memo¬ 
rable occafion, was compenfated by only one confola- 
tion. They had been defeated in the engagement, com¬ 
pelled to abandon their camp, and driven ignoniinioufly 
to th-eir fiiips; but they carried with them to Afia the 
Eretrian prifoners, who, in obedience to the orders of 
. • Darius, 
