From Collaborator to Resistance Hero
Once the Persians discovered Miltiades’s treachery, he was forced to flee to Athens. There, the Athenians elected him as one of their ten generals. It was in that role that he saved Athens. The Persians determined to punish Athens for aiding the Ionians, and sent a punitive expedition which landed on the plain of Marathon north of Athens, in 490 BC. The Athenians marched out with a force of about 10,000 hoplites – armored heavy infantry – with no cavalry or archers.
To oppose the Athenians, the Persians fielded a force of at least 25,000 infantry, plus thousands of archers and 1000 cavalry. The Athenians, who had ten generals and a rotating command system by which each general held command for a day, wavered. For over a week, they simply watched the Persians from heights overlooking Marathon, until Miltiades’ turn to take command. He convinced a closely divided war council to give battle. As seen below, the resultant battle saved Athens from Persian conquest. His reward was a massive dose of ingratitude.