In the spring of 492 BC, Persia wanted to conquer the beautiful and rich Greek city-state again. Persia sent a large number of warships to invade Greece across the sea with them, which started the famous Greek-Persian war in history. The Persian navy was hit by a hurricane at sea, and 300 warships and more than 20 thousand naval officers and men were all buried at the bottom of the sea. The Persian army lost the echo of the navy, like a single arm, and was attacked by the Thracians. The Persian commander was seriously injured. The military invasion of Greece had to be abandoned halfway. The Persian king flew into a rage. The next year, he fantasized about surrendering to Greece without fighting. He sent messengers to the Greek city-states to ask for "water and soil", which meant to make them surrender to Persia. The small city-states in central and northern Greece were afraid of the Persian Empire's force and all bowed their knees and surrendered. But can Athens and Sparta, the two largest city-states in Greece, keep their heads down? The Athenians threw the Persian emissary from the cliff into the sea, and the Spartans threw the emissary into the well to get "water and soil" by themselves.

Darius had never been so humiliated in his life. He became angry from embarrassment and decided to send the most experienced general to Greece for the second time. In 490 BC, Persian troops crossed the Aegean Sea and landed in the Marathon Plain on the outskirts of Athens. Athens, in a dangerous situation, while mobilizing and strengthening its alert, sent Filipi Des, a long-distance runner at that time, to seek help from the Spartan city-state more than 200 kilometers away day and night. The long-distance runner reached Sparta at an amazing speed in a little more than a day. But the Spartans refused to send troops on the grounds that their ancestors stipulated that they could not send troops before the full moon. Philip Bede begged, the Spartans were indifferent, and Philip Bede had no choice but to rush back to the marathon to save his life.

The Athenians were not discouraged when they heard that the Spartans would not send troops. They immediately organized all citizens, even slaves, to join the army, rushed to the marathon and occupied a powerful terrain.

According to the laws of Athens, the 10 generals in Athens should take turns to control the military power during the expedition, each for one day. Major military actions must be discussed by General 10 in advance, and finally a resolution is made on the principle that the minority is subordinate to the majority. A military conference was held under the auspices of Kalius, the military consul of Athens. At the meeting, General 10 had a heated debate on passive defense or active attack. A general named Miltiades advocated taking the initiative. When voting, 5 votes to 5 votes. Consul Kalis supported General Miltiades. In order to give full play to Miltiades's command ability, other generals voluntarily gave up the right to take turns as commander-in-chief, leaving Miltiades to command the war alone.

At that time, there were 10000 troops in Athens, plus reinforcements 1000, but the total number was only 1 1000. The Persian army has 65,438+10,000 people and is well equipped. In the case that the enemy was strong and we were weak, Miltiades decided not to fight recklessly with the enemy, but to lengthen the front slightly and arrange elite infantry on both sides, so that the troops on the front line were weak.

On the morning of September 2, 490 BC, on the eve of the Great War, Miltiades mobilized Greek soldiers. He said, "It is up to you whether Athens will remain free forever or put on the yoke of slavery." His inspiring words inspired the soldiers' determination to defend their motherland. The fierce battle began and the Greek soldiers attacked below. The Persian army didn't know what it was, so they fought back immediately. The Greek army retreated while fighting, and the Persian army advanced step by step. At the critical moment, the soldiers lying in ambush on both sides rushed out with lightning speed and attacked the Persian army from both sides. The Persian army chased the Greeks for too long. At this time, surrounded by Greek troops, they could not care for each other. It hurriedly fled to the seaside, trying to get on the boat and escape. The Greek army chased to the seaside, engaged with the Persian army and seized the warships. Kinal, a Greek warrior, desperately grasped a warship with his hand, and his hand was cut off by the enemy. He held back the pain, grabbed the warship with his other hand, and finally caught a warship with his comrades. In this battle, the Persians left 6400 bodies and 7 warships. The Athenians sacrificed 192 people, including consul Kalius and several generals. That night, when 2000 forward soldiers sent by Sparta arrived, all they saw in the moonlight was the battlefield full of dead bodies.

Miltiades was anxious to tell the people of Athens who were anxiously waiting for the news of victory, and he chose long-distance runner Ferdinand Peters to deliver the news. The long-distance runner was injured at that time, but in order to let his compatriots know the news of victory earlier, he ran desperately. When he ran to the central square of Athens, he was out of breath. He shouted excitedly, "Cheer, Athenians, we have won!" " As soon as the cry fell, he fell to the scene and never woke up.

The Persian war lasted nearly half a century. Marathon was the first battle between the Greeks and Persians, which greatly inspired the Greeks to strive for freedom and independence.

In order to commemorate the victory of this battle and commend the contribution of dutiful hero Ferdinand Peters, 1896, the Athenians stipulated a new race-marathon. The distance is the distance from the marathon to Athens, which is determined to be 40 kilometers and 200 meters according to the route that Fidi Pides walked in that year. 1920, after careful determination, the distance was changed to 40km195m. The name of fidipides and the marathon will remain in the world with the Olympic flame for generations to come.