Top Highlights

• Marathon was chosen as a suitable landing point for the Persians because it provided ideal terrain for the cavalry units; indeed, the very name Marathon may derive from the wild fennel (marathos) which still grows on this exceptionally fertile plain. In addition, the site also had a nearby lake offering a plentiful supply of water for both men and ...
• in the shelter of the Kynosoura peninsula, the Persians set up camp.
• the Greeks drew up their battle lines in the centre of the bay whilst the Persians had embarked only half of their infantry. Forming a front eight men deep, the Greeks lengthened their lines to match the Persians
• The best Persian and Sakai troops commanded from the centre, perhaps as many as ten men deep. This was a common Persian tactic, so the thinning of the Greek hoplites in the centre may have been a deliberate tactic by Miltiades or Kallimachos
• Datis could not use them to good effect because of the sporadic trees which dotted the plain

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