The Battle of Marathon, by Peter Krentz, sifts through the many images of this famous, world-changing 490 B.C. battle to filter out the probable truth. A military historian, Krentz backs up his unusual theories and sheds light on the type of detective work a military historian must do. His research involves the traditional classical sources and modern historians, military sources, and even historical re-enactors.
The Battle of Marathon is an eye-opener suitable for those interested in military history and those familiar with the Greco-Persian Wars.
The Battle of Marathon is renowned for many reasons based more or less on fact. Krentz spends much of the book analyzing these.
- The Battle of Marathon was a world-altering event
The Persians were viewed as invincible until the Battle of Marathon broke the spell. In the end, the Persians lost 6400 and the Greeks, 192. With the Persian loss, other Greek cities were willing to stand up to the eastern power. Had the battle ended differently, Greece would probably have become a part of the Persian Empire.
- The Soros
A burial mound known as the Soros has been debated as the located of the mass grave for the Athenians. Krentz thinks it is the only possibility. Cremation, an aristocratic treatment, was out of fashion, but was resurrected for the occasion. "To heroize the Marathon fighters... the young Athenian democracy collectivized the form of burial once used for individual aristocratic warriors." The names of the 192, divided by tribe were inscribed on a tombstone atop the mound.
- It has been thought that the Spartans avoided the battle using specious excuses
Frentz argues that there is evidence that the Spartans had other concerns, like a Messenian revolt. The Spartans set out after the full moon -- a Spartan religious and legal requirement -- and arrived quickly, covering the 150 miles in only 3 days.
- Philippides' run
Philippides ran from Athens to Sparta in less than 36 hours. Modern military officers did it in under 36, so the claim is not unreasonable.
One of Krentz' most detailed sections debunks the theory of the 70-80 pounds of clothing and armor the Marathon fighters wore. Based on looking at what is known about the period and the deterioration of armor over the millennia -- with the help of military re-enactors -- Krentz determined that the Marathon fighters were not so encumbered (the weight of their armor only 28-45 pounds) that they couldn't run from their base to the Persians.
Herodotus' account is the best we have of the Battle of Marathon -- Krentz, convincingly as usual, defends Herodotus' title. The passage in Herodotus' history is short and contains odd details that Krentz elaborates. Getting a feel for the battle from Herodotus is difficult without the imagination of a military historian. After reading Krentz' The Battle of Marathon, I still have lots of questions, some caused by the nature of the material, others by Krentz' writing (including how to understand the power of a 52 joule-strong Persian arrow), but I also have vivid images of the major characters and the actual battle scene.
The Battle of Marathon contains an extensive section called "Bibliographic Notes," and appendix notes on sources for the battle and the date. There are also chapter notes, but no index.
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