So important was the war to Aeschylus and the Greeks that, upon his death, around 456 BC, his epitaph commemorated his participation in the Greek victory at Marathon rather than his success as a playwright.

He was acquitted, with the jury sympathetic to the wounds that Aeschylus and his brother Cynegeirus suffered at Marathon.

It is the more remarkable that no incidents are recorded in the period between Marathon and Salamis, since at the time of the Isthmian Congress the war was described as the most important one then being waged in Greece,

The Battle of Marathon was a watershed in the Greco-Persian wars, showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten ; the eventual Greek triumph in these wars can be seen to begin at Marathon.

There were ten Athenian strategoi ( generals ) at Marathon, elected by each of the ten tribes that the Athenians were divided into ; Miltiades was one of these.

There does, however, seem to have been a delay between the Athenian arrival at Marathon, and the battle ; Herodotus, who evidently believed that Miltiades was eager to attack, may have made a mistake whilst seeking to explain this delay.

There are many variations of this theory, but perhaps the most prevalent is that the cavalry was re-embarked on the ships, and was to be sent by sea to attack ( undefended ) Athens in the rear, whilst the rest of the Persians pinned down the Athenian army at Marathon.

The Athenian strategy was therefore to keep the Persian army pinned down at Marathon, blocking both exits from the plain, and thus preventing themselves from being outmaneuvered.

) Since the Athenians seem to have taken up a strong defensive position at Marathon, the Persian hesitance was probably a reluctance to attack the Athenians head-on.

The defeat at Marathon barely touched the vast resources of the Persian empire, yet for the Greeks it was an enormously significant victory.

John Stuart Mill's famous opinion was that " the Battle of Marathon, even as an event in British history, is more important than the Battle of Hastings ".

It seems that the Athenian playwright Aeschylus considered his participation at Marathon to be his greatest achievement in life ( rather than his plays ) since on his gravestone there was the following epigram:

The distance eventually became fixed at 26 miles 385 yards, or 42. 195 km, though for the first years it was variable, being around — the approximate distance from Marathon to Athens.

The bull was released and wandered to Marathon, becoming known as the Marathonian Bull.

The bull was released and wandered to Marathon, becoming known as the Marathonian Bull.

The phalanxes would approach each other in a steady, slow march to keep cohesion or rarely at a run, if the enemy was prone to panic, or if they fought against enemies equipped with bows, as was the case against the Persians at the Battle of Marathon.

* Marathon, Greece, after which the distance race was named

* Marathon ( candy ) ( unrelated to the candy above ), a candy bar that was available in the US from 1973-1982

* Checker Marathon, an automobile produced by the Checker Motors Company between 1961 and 1982 ; the best known use was as a taxicab

Miltiades the Younger ( c. 550 – 489 BC ) was tyrant of the Thracian Chersonese and the Athenian commanding general in the Battle of Marathon.

Others say he was killed at Marathon by the Cretan bull, his mother's former taurine lover, which Aegeus, king of Athens, had commanded him to slay.

The Battle of Marathon (, Machē tu Marathōnos ) took place in 490 BC, during the first Persian invasion of Greece.

The defeat at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece, and the Persian force retreated to Asia.

The first theory is that the Persian cavalry left Marathon for an unspecified reason, and that the Greeks moved to take advantage of this by attacking.

This theory therefore utilises Herodotus ' suggestion that after Marathon, the Persian army re-embarked and tried to sail around Cape Sounion to attack Athens directly ; however, according to the first theory this attempt would have occurred before the battle ( and indeed have triggered the battle ).

Indeed, based on their previous experience of the Greeks, the Persians might be excused for this ; Herodotus tells us that the Athenians at Marathon were " first to endure looking at Median dress and men wearing it, for up until then just hearing the name of the Medes caused the Hellenes to panic ".

* Fukuoka Marathon is held on first Sunday in December.

The Women's Mini Marathon has been run since 1983 on the first Monday in June, which is also a bank holiday in Ireland.

These included storms, the first tram, visit of the Lord Mayor of London, Hastings Marathon Race and the pier fire of 1917.

** Marathon ( video game ), the first in the trilogy ( 1994 )

The first endeavor to build a sanctuary for Athena Parthenos on the site of the present Parthenon was begun shortly after the Battle of Marathon ( c. 490 – 488 BC ) upon a muscular limestone foundation that extended and leveled the southern part of the Acropolis summit.

The annual Berlin Marathon, which takes place in the last weekend of September, was first held in 1974 but due to the division of the city was confined to West Berlin up till and including 1989.

The origins of the Olympics and Marathon running are shrouded by myth and legend, though the first recorded game took place in 776 BCE.

* 1977 – About 4, 200 people take part in the first running of the Chicago Marathon.

During the first Persian invasion of Greece, he fought at the Battle of Marathon, and was possibly one of the 10 Athenian strategoi ( generals ) in that battle.

The Persian fleet roamed the Aegean Sea unopposed, but the first invasion force was defeated at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.

* April 17 – The first Boston Marathon in which women are officially allowed to compete.

* April 19 – Bobbi Gibb becomes the first woman to run the Boston Marathon.

* September 13 – The first New York City Marathon begins.

* March 29 – The first London Marathon starts with 7, 500 runners.

Determined to punish Athens for supporting a revolt by conquered Greek cities in Asia Minor, King Darius I sent several armies against them, only to have his plans first thwarted by a storm and later by a defeat at the Battle of Marathon.

The 1896 Summer Olympics saw the birth of the modern marathon and the event led to the growth of road running competitions through annual events such as the Boston Marathon ( first held in 1897 ) and the Lake Biwa Marathon and Fukuoka Marathons, which were established in the 1940s.

The defeat at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece.