Marathon, Greece
Encyclopedia
Marathon is a town in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, the site of the battle of Marathon
Battle of Marathon
The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC, during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. It was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate...

 in 490 BC
490 BC
Year 490 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Camerinus and Flavus...

, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian
Classical Athens
The city of Athens during the classical period of Ancient Greece was a notable polis of Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Hippias...

 army defeated the Persians. The tumulus
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...

 or burial mound (Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

Τύμβος, tymbos, i.e. tomb) for the 192 Athenian dead that was erected near the battlefield remains a feature of the coastal plain. The Tymbos is now marked by a marble memorial stele
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...

 and surrounded by a small park.

History

The name of the athletic long-distance endurance race, the "marathon
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...

", comes from the legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...

 of Pheidippides
Pheidippides
Pheidippides , hero of Ancient Greece, is the central figure in a story which was the inspiration for a modern sporting event, the marathon.-The story:...

, a Greek runner, who was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been miraculously defeated in the Battle of Marathon
Battle of Marathon
The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC, during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. It was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate...

. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping, but moments after proclaiming his message "Nenīkēkamen" ("We have won!") to the city, he collapsed from exhaustion. The account of the run from Marathon to Athens first appears in Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...

's On the Glory of Athens in the 1st century AD, which quotes from Heraclides Ponticus
Heraclides Ponticus
Heraclides Ponticus , also known as Herakleides and Heraklides of Pontus, was a Greek philosopher and astronomer who lived and died at Heraclea Pontica, now Karadeniz Ereğli, Turkey. He is best remembered for proposing that the earth rotates on its axis, from west to east, once every 24 hours...

' lost work, giving the runner's name as either Thersipus of Erchius or Eucles. Lucian
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....

 of Samosata (2nd century AD) also gives the story but names the runner Philippides (not Pheidippides). The Greek historian Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...

, the main source for the Greco-Persian Wars
Greco-Persian Wars
The Greco-Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire of Persia and city-states of the Hellenic world that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of the Greeks and the enormous empire of the Persians began when Cyrus...

, mentions Pheidippides as the messenger who ran from Athens to Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

 asking for help. In some manuscripts of Herodotus the name of the runner between Athens and Sparta is given as Philippides.

In Ancient Greece, the messengers (day-runners) who carried the news of war from one city to another, enjoyed great esteem and respect; the roads were problematic, they had to pass through hostile territory, and traveling posed great dangers at that time. The states would assign specially trained "messengers" or "runners" or "road-heralds”, with great stamina and strength of character to carry messages in times of war as well as peace.

The sport of Marathon was established during the first modern Olympics held in Athens in 1896. The idea to include the event in the program of the Olympic Games was of French philosopher and professor at the Sorbonne, Michel Breal, a friend of Pierre de Coubertin, the man who contributed decisively to the founding of the modern Olympic Games. He proposed the introduction of an endurance road race under the name "Marathon" which would start from the region where in 490 BC the battle of the Greeks against the Persians occurred and would end at the Pnyx of Ancient Athens, where, presumably, the messenger arrived bringing the good news of victory to the Athenians. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) accepted his proposal.
Michel Breal did not know exactly what the distance was and how difficult the sport would be - the first marathon was 40,000 meters long. In 1924, the 42,195 meters long Marathon became the standard that is today.

There are two roads out of the battlefield of Marathon towards Athens, one more mountainous towards the north whose distance is about 34.5 km (21.4 mi), and another flatter but longer towards the south with a distance of 40.8 km (25.4 mi). It has been successfully argued that the ancient runner took the more difficult northern road because at the time of the battle there were still Persian soldiers in the south of the plain.

Marathon (μάραθον) is the Greek word for fennel
Fennel
Fennel is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum . It is a member of the family Apiaceae . It is a hardy, perennial, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves...

. It is believed that the town was originally named so because of an abundance of fennel plants in the area. After Miltiades
Miltiades the Younger
Miltiades the Younger or Miltiades IV was the son of one Cimon, a renowned Olympic chariot-racer. Miltiades considered himself a member of the Aeacidae, and is known mostly for his role in the Battle of Marathon; as well as his rather tragic downfall afterwards. His son Cimon was a major Athenian...

 (the general of the Greek forces) defeated Darius
Darius I of Persia
Darius I , also known as Darius the Great, was the third king of kings of the Achaemenid Empire...

' Persian forces, the Persians decided to sail from Marathon to Athens in order to sack the unprotected city. Miltiades ordered all his hoplite
Hoplite
A hoplite was a citizen-soldier of the Ancient Greek city-states. Hoplites were primarily armed as spearmen and fought in a phalanx formation. The word "hoplite" derives from "hoplon" , the type of the shield used by the soldiers, although, as a word, "hopla" could also denote weapons held or even...

 forces to 'Double-time' march back to Athens. So by the time Darius' troops arrived, they saw the same Greek force waiting for them.

The sophist and magnate Herodes Atticus
Herodes Atticus
Lucius Vibullius Hipparchus Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes, otherwise known as Herodes Atticus was a very distinguished, rich Greek aristocrat who served as a Roman Senator and a Sophist. He is notable as a proponent in the Second Sophistic by Philostratus.-Ancestry and Family:Herodes Atticus...

 was born in Marathon. In 1926, the American company ULEN began construction on the Marathon Dam
Marathon Dam
The Marathon Dam is a gravity dam on the Charadros River, near its junction with the Varnavas Stream, west of Marathon and northeast of Athens in Greece. The dam created Lake Marathon for the primary purpose of municipal water supply. Constructed between 1926 and 1929, it was the sole supplier of...

 in a valley above Marathon, in order to ensure water supply for Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

. It was completed in 1929. About 10 km² of forested land were flooded to form Lake Marathon
Lake Marathon
Lake Marathon or the Marathon Reservoir is a water supply reservoir formed from the construction of Marathon Dam at the junction of Charadros and Varnavas Torrents near the town of Marathon, Greece...

. The Dionysos-Nea Makri road, part of GR-83, passes through a traffic-light-controlled one-lane driveway on the crest of the dam wall. The plain area lies to the southeast.

The beach of Schinias is located southeast of the town and it is a popular windsurfing
Windsurfing
Windsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...

 spot and the Olympic Rowing Center
Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre
The Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre was built to host the rowing and canoe sprint events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece....

 for the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

 is also located there. At the 1896
1896 Summer Olympics
The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era...

 and 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

, Marathon was the starting point of the marathon races (for both women and men in 2004). The area is susceptible to flash flooding, because of forest fires having denuded parts of the eastern slopes of Mount Penteli
Penteli
Pentéli or Pendeli, , and Vrilissos or Vrilittos , Mendeli in medieval times) is a tall mountain and mountain range situated northeast of Athens and southwest of Marathon. Its elevation is 1,109 m...

 especially in 2006.

Municipality

The municipality Marathon was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 4 former municipalities, that became municipal units:
  • Grammatiko
    Grammatiko
    Grammatiko is a Greek village in east Attica. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Marathon, of which it is a municipal unit.It lies approximately northeast of Athens, and north of Marathon and Nea Makri...

  • Marathon
  • Nea Makri
    Nea Makri
    Nea Makri is a town located in the northeastern part of Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Marathon, of which it is a municipal unit.- Town layout :...

  • Varnavas

Population

Year Town population Municipality population
1981 4,841 -
1991 5,453 12,979
2001 4,399 8,882


The other settlements in the municipal unit are Agios Panteleimonas (pop. 1,489), Kato Souli (1,477), Vrana (731), Avra (235), Votho (207), Ano Souli (188), and Schinia (156).

Points of interest

  • Kato Souli Naval Transmission Facility
    Kato Souli Naval Transmission Facility
    Kato Souli Naval Transmission Facility is a facility used by the Greek Navy for transmitting messages to submarinesin the LF-range at Kato Souli near Marathon, Greece. It was commissioned in 1989 and uses as tallest antenna tower a 250-metre-tall guyed mast with umbrella antenna,the tallest...

     with its 250 metres tall radio mast, the tallest structure in Greece.

See also

  • List of municipalities of Attica, Communities of Attica
  • Dimitrion Yordanidis
    Dimitrion Yordanidis
    Dimitrion Yordanidis was a Greek runner, who, according to Guinness World Records, completed the 26-mile marathon course from Marathon, Greece to Athens on October 10, 1976 in 7 hours 33 minutes, aged 98...

    , oldest man to have run the marathon, at age 98

External links


Northwest: Kapandriti
Kapandriti
Kapandriti is a town near Marathon in the north of Attica in Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Oropos, of which it is a municipal unit.Kapandriti is linked by road to Nea Makri, Afidnes, and Kalamos...

 and Varnavas
North: Grammatiko
Grammatiko
Grammatiko is a Greek village in east Attica. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Marathon, of which it is a municipal unit.It lies approximately northeast of Athens, and north of Marathon and Nea Makri...

Northeast: Grammatiko, Aegean Sea
West: Stamata
Stamata
Stamata is a community of the Greek prefecture of East Attica. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Dionysos, of which it is a municipal unit....

Marathon East: Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...

Southwest: Rodopoli
Rodopoli
Rodopoli , older name Bala , is an old community in Attica, Greece - about 22 km north of Athens...

South: Nea Makri
Nea Makri
Nea Makri is a town located in the northeastern part of Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Marathon, of which it is a municipal unit.- Town layout :...

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