Any help on the importance of the greek victory at Marathon (1 Viewer)

[rHy$]

Need HELP on the importance of Marathon to the Greeks

I need some help in finding info on assessment question. Need info on the significance of the win at Marathon by the Greeks. Sites greatly apraciated or book refrences. Cheers!!

 

[And?]

Umm not sure about references but i think the significance for the Greeks was they were severely outnumbered by the superior Persian forces but the timing and strategy of attack suceeded in defeating Persians. The calvary of the Persians was absent from the battle, the Greeks attacked using a formation which was strong on the wings but weak in the center allowing the Persians to break through and thus encirling them and driving them back to their boats. It was a new tactic and caught the Persians unaware.
If you have access to Herodotus there is quite a large section on the Battle of MArathon in it, also varius text books...Studies in Ancient Greece by Dianne Hennessy.
Hope it helps

 

[MissSavage29]

Our halfyearly prep had a question similar to that. um resources that you can look at would be pamala bradley - u can't quote her because she is a text bbook but she does explain everything very well and easily so that would prob give u some points.

um look in the excel adn maquaire ancient guides - i dont have mine on me atm or i woudl but they would most likely say why it was important.

and you can find some of ur own conlusions from the followign
- Bury and Meiggs
- Rapheal Sealy
- Thucydidies
- Herodotus
- someone begining with P whose name has totally left my head for a min...

um thats all i can think of atm.
Hope that helps start you off
Mel

 

[Lundy]

The P would be Plutarch

 

[Lundy]

It was important because if the Greeks had lost, they would have come under Persian rule. The Persians suffered a blow to their morale because they realised they were not invincible, the Athenians now had a greater military reputation throughout Greece (they had won against all odds and without the aid of the spartans, the Greek military heavyweights), this foreshadows their eventual domination over much of Greece after the Persian wars.

Sorry, I haven't done ancient in a while, I pulled a lot of that from my ass. Don't just describe the military strategy when talking about the battle's historical significance.

 

[MissSavage29]

Yeah plutarch was one bbut i am sure there was another one that i cannot think of.

anyway i was thinking abotu this and you could also assess how marathon was important in the fact that it lead to the devleopmetn of athenian naval power for subsequent battles (Salamis, Artemisium) and helped the Greeks gain vicotry.

there is a quote, by Herotodus i think which says something abotu marathon being an importnat learning curve for teh greeks... i'll find it now
“our fate depends on the power of the navy" - Her

Herodotus noted, “Marathon had shown him (Themistocles) the importance the navy would have to the Athenian victory”.

 

[Jimmy87]

the bradly book has a couple of pages on significance of the battle.... how boring is the greek history, this whole topic is meh

 

[Lundy]

I quite liked the Greek-Persian war topic. How is it not fascinating? a psychotic persian king, 300 spartans who bravely stay behind knowing they're going to die, brilliant military strategies in marathon and salamis, the greeks defeating the persians even though they're vastly outnumbered. Its got it all!

 

[Magister]

Try Victor Ehrenberg and N.G.L. Hammond if you can access them. Both have excellent chapters on the Persian Wars and Marathon.
One reason that has not yet been mentioned is that the Athenians felt that their developing democracy (not yet fully formed) was greatly vindicated and this gave them greater confidence in their polis and its institutions. They felt they were now more on a par with the Spartans whose military reputation was awesome to other Greeks. It also gave Greece some 10 years of breathing space to regroup and plan for what many thought (i.e. Themistocles) would be an inevitable second and more dangerous invasion. The Athenians also felt that as citizens they now held a stake in state policy and this gave greater impetus to the final steps to be taken to reach total democracy, a job finished by the reforms of Ephialtes and Pericles.

Hope this helps!

Magister

 

[classics_chic]

I need some help in finding info on assessment question. Need info on the significance of the win at Marathon by the Greeks. Sites greatly apraciated or book refrences. Cheers!!

well the books I used were Bradley (you can't quote her, but she's good for starters), Bury and Meiggs, Herodotos and Plutarch. Also the Macquarie Study Guide and the BOS study guide (I prefer the older one, if you can still get it- the one that's in one book- the questions are harder but you get more out of it, I find- the new one's too basic)

Basically the significance for the Greeks was a morale boost, but at the same time it made them less prepared for the next attack because they were so optimistic. Also it strengthened the Athenian belief in democracy since that was her first real battle since the formation (excluding the Athenian revolution, which is outside your time period). For the Persians, just as a note of interest, it wasn't a big deal because it was a pretty small force they sent. It did make them send more troops next time, though, and added to the royal rage about Athens (which according to the Persians was a subject of theirs, because just outside your time period people from Athens gave earth and water to the Persians).

_________________________________________________________________

"Pamela Bradley is a waste of time."
Dr Ben Brown
ANHS1003 Lecture 1 2004
University of Sydney