The name of the general Miltiades will forever remain in the minds of Greeks. He was the great victor of the crucial Battle of Marathon against the Persians.
Born around the year 554 BC, Miltiades (or Miltiades the Younger) was the son of Cimon Coalemos of Athens, an aristocratic charioteer known as a three-time winner in the Olympics. His father was a member of the wealthy and highly regarded Philaid clan, and Miltiades received the best education. He was groomed to become a politician.
Early in life, his uncle Miltiades the Elder, who was the ruler of a small kingdom called the Thracian Chersonese (now the Gallipoli Peninsula), located north of Troy and west of the Hellespont, passed away. Since he did not have a son, young Miltiades inherited the territory that his uncle had settled along with several Athenians. The Chersonesians had given their land to Miltiades the Elder because they feared the loss of their freedom.
The Thracian Chersonese proved to be a prosperous holding for Miltiades’ family. The people, however, had grown tired of the rule of the Philaid clan. They hoped that since their king had died without an heir, they would be left to govern themselves. However, Miltiades had other plans.
He arrested his potential rivals and surrounded himself with a small army of 500 bodyguards. To secure his position, he married Hegesipyle, the daughter of a Thracian prince. Nonetheless, soon after, his authority was severely limited when Darius I of Persia expanded his power into Europe and reduced Miltiades to the rank of a Persian vassal.
In 499 BC, the Ionian Greeks revolted against King Darius, and Miltiades supported them. He issued coins depicting the lion of Miletus, the capital of the rebels. When the Persians suppressed the revolt, Miltiades was in danger. He gave up the Chersonese and fled to Athens when the fleet of his enemies approached in 493 BC. His son Metiochus was captured and sent to Persia, where he seems to have married and resided for the rest of his life. Miltiades himself returned to Athens.
Upon his return, Miltiades found that the tyrant Peisistratus had been ousted, and Athenian democracy was established mainly due to the contribution of Cleisthenes. His reception was not in the least hospitable, as he was branded as the tyrant of the Thracian Chersonese. He was then put on trial.
Nonetheless, Miltiades convinced them that he fought against the Persians to protect what Greece stood for in the Ionian revolt. He also argued that since he had fought the Persians, he knew first-hand of their battle tactics. Since Darius was already campaigning towards Central Greece and Athens, his military skills could be utilized against the advancing Persians. Thereafter, he was free to become an Athenian citizen once more.
After Ionia, Darius decided to move further west to subject the Greek city-states. He first sent his general Mardonius to conquer Macedonia, which was easily achieved. Consequently, the region was included in the Persian Empire. Darius proudly requested that the inscription on his tomb at Naqš-e Rustam say he had conquered the Yaunâ takabarâ, the “Greeks with sun hats,” a reference to the Macedonian headwear.
Two years later (490 BC), Darius sent his army under Datis and Artaphernes to subject the Greek islands so as to create a buffer zone between Ionia and mainland Greece. The Persians easily conquered Naxos and then Delos, the Greek cult of Apollo center. The conquerors thought Apollo was their own god Ahura Mazda and offered a sacrifice to him. Then they captured Eretria, the island close to Central Greece.
The Persian army crossed to mainland Greece and found itself near the Marathon plain, an ideal location for the cavalry. The army sent messengers to Athens demanding earth and water. Following Miltiades’ advice, the Athenians killed the heralds and prepared for battle.
In 490 BC, Miltiades was elected to serve as one of the ten generals (strategoi) of Athens. When the Persians approached, the Greek army, counting 10,000 hoplites, was ready to fight. There was a debate between the generals as to whether they should wait for the Persians to fight near Athens or meet them at Marathon. Miltiades insisted it would be best to fight immediately in Marathon because allowing the Persians to besiege Athens would be catastrophic.
Some historians argue the Athenians delayed the battle because they were expecting reinforcements from Sparta. Others believe the decision of Miltiades to act swiftly was because he had received favorable omens from the gods.
Miltiades advised Athenians not to deploy the phalanx formation in the traditional manner because the agile Persian cavalry could attack from the sides. Hence, he ordered the hoplites to reinforce the flanks rather than positioning the main force in the center.
Nevertheless, Herodotus does not mention the presence of cavalry in his account of the battle. Moreover, there is no other mention of cavalry from other historical sources. Existing accounts say Miltiades’ heavily armored men suddenly attacked at dawn. This was something the Persians considered a “suicidal madness,” according to Herodotus’ account of the Battle of Marathon.
With their long spears, the Greeks routed the unsuspecting Persians. Then the wings attacked the Persians in the center. The invaders suffered great losses and were forced to retreat. The Persians then tried to sail around Cape Sounion to attack Attica from the west. Miltiades rushed his men overnight to block the two exits from the plain of Marathon to prevent the Persians from moving inland. When Datis saw the men who had just defeated him the previous day, he fled.
A year after victory at Marathon, with seventy ships, Miltiades led an attack on the islands that Datis had conquered. His fleet attacked Paros first but failed to capture it. He was seriously wounded in the battle and was forced to retreat and return to Athens. There, his opponent, Xanthippus, accused him of treason, and the court sentenced him to death. However, his sentence was converted to imprisonment and a fine of fifty talents. Miltiades died from gangrene in prison in 489 BC.
Miltiades was a hero, but his fate was sealed by petty politics. Nevertheless, history has rewarded him with immortality.
