Journey to Athens, Greece!

THE GENERALS OF ATHENS

At the time of the Battle of Marathon, most political offices in Athens were determined by lot. This in itself is interesting because today, in America, we are used to voting for the people we want in office. However, I also think it is interesting that the military generals of Athens, known as strategoi, were not chosen by lot, but elected. This emphasizes the importance of the military to the Athenians. They did not trust appointing random citizens to the position of generals but instead elected them to make sure that the fate of their city was in the right hands. This was certainly a good decision going into the Battle of Marathon because the Athenians needed generals who could think strategically (...strategoi...) to face the much larger force of the Persians. Thankfully, the Athenians generals led the Greeks to victory.

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THE LEGEND OF PHEIDIPPIDES

During the battle of Marathon, an Athenian messenger named Philippides was sent from Marathon to Sparta to ask the Spartans for help against the Persians. The journey was 150 miles, and Philippides covered it on foot in less than two days! After the battle, legend has is that there was another runner who ran from Marathon to Athens, covering about twenty-six miles. This is where the modern "marathon," a twenty-six-point-two-mile road race, gets its name and length. When the runner arrived in Athens, he brought news of victory over the Persians, shouting, "Rejoice, we conquer!," and died on the spot. One source says this runner was Philippides as well, whose name was later mistaken for "Pheidippides," but other sources say there may not have even been a second runner. Nevertheless, the legend of Pheidippides, who ran the first marathon, was born. I think that, whether he ran the twenty-six miles or not, Philippides should be remembered. To me, running 150 miles is more impressive than running twenty-six, but it is likely that the second story gained popularity because of the excitement of the win against the Persians and the uniqueness of the second runner dying on the spot after proclaiming victory. Regardless, Philippides stands out to me for running such a long distance to Sparta in only two days, in hopes of bringing support to his people.

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THEMISTOCLES

Themistocles was an hero in the Persian Wars, leading the Athenians to victory at the Battle of Salamis, but what interests me most about him occurred after the war. Themistocles began extorting money from Greek cities, and he became a pirate. He was ostracized for his crime, and he managed to smuggle himself into Persia. It is interesting to me that he was ostracized because normally, a citizen is not ostracized if he or she has committed a crime, but if he or she has become too influential and must be removed from the city for a time. Themistocles lived in the court of Artaxerxes of Persia for a year, and he learned their native language. Artaxerxes wanted Themistocles to lead the Persians in a third major attack against the Athenians, but Themistocles committed suicide. I would like to know more about what led Themistocles to make these choices? Why did he go to Persia? Was he trying to get back at Athens for kicking him out? What led him to take his own life? Did he regret his decision to turn against the Athenians? Or was he never really against them in the first place?

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THE FUTURE OF "EUROPE"

At the Battle of Salamis, the name "Europe" is spoken for the first time in recorded history, unifying the continent. Themistocles says the future of "Europe" will be decided by the Battle of Salamis. This is interesting to me because of how accurate Themistocles' statement was. As the Persian Wars ended, the Classical Era of ancient Athens began. Fifth-century Athens in particular brought much growth to they city, first with the "golden age," a time of peace and prosperity between the Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian War, and then with the "age of Pericles," in which Pericles oversaw the renovation of Athens and united the Greek city-states. Until their defeat in the Peloponnesian War, Athens flourished, and they would now have entered this period of growth if they had not won at the Battle of Salamis. The Persians would have taken over, and there is no telling what could have happened from there. The Hellenistic, Roman, and other succeeding periods of Athenian history would not have happened the way they did if the Persians had won. It is interesting to think about these "what if" scenarios because the present and future could be completely different if one thing went differently in the past. However, I feel like things happened the way they did for a reason. The Persians may not have liked it, but the Athenian victory at the Battle of Salamis was necessary for the future of Europe to turn out the way it did. Themistocles could tell that the battle was important, and though we will never know whether the Persian victory would have had an impact on history, I agree with Themistocles that the Athenians needed to win.