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Translated by G. Macaulay.
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56 pages - You are on Page 45
111. And when it came round to him, then the Athenians were drawn up for battle in the order which here follows:--On the right wing the polemarch Callimachos was leader (for the custom of the Athenians then was this, that the polemarch should have the right wing); and he leading, next after him came the tribes in order as they were numbered one after another, and last were drawn up the Plataians occupying the left wing: for[101] ever since this battle, when the Athenians offer sacrifices in the solemn assemblies[102] which are made at the four-yearly festivals,[103] the herald of the Athenians prays thus, "that blessings[104] may come to the Athenians and to the Plataians both." On this occasion however, when the Athenians were being drawn up at Marathon something of this kind was done:--their army being made equal in length of front to that of the Medes, came to drawn up in the middle with a depth of but few ranks, and here their army was weakest, while each wing was strengthened with numbers. 112. And when they had been arranged in their places and the sacrifices proved favourable, then the Athenians were let go, and they set forth at a run to attack the Barbarians. Now the space between the armies was not less than eight furlongs:[105] and the Persians seeing them advancing to the attack at a run, made preparations to receive them; and in their minds they charged the Athenians with madness which must be fatal, seeing that they were few and yet were pressing forwards at a run, having neither cavalry nor archers.[106] Such was the thought of the Barbarians; but the Athenians when all in a body they had joined in combat with the Barbarians, fought in a memorable fashion: for they were the first of all the Hellenes about whom we know who went to attack the enemy at a run, and they were the first also who endured to face the Median garments and the men who wore them, whereas up to this time the very name of the Medes was to the Hellenes a terror to hear.
101. Some Editors propose to omit {gar} or alter it. If it be allowed to stand, the meaning must be that the importance of the place is testified by the commemoration mentioned.
102. {es tas panegurias}, some MSS. have {kai panegurias}, "hold sacrifices and solemn assemblies."
103. {penteterisi}.
104. Lit. "the good things."
105. {stadioi}: the distance would be rather over 1600 yards.
106. Whether this is thrown in here by the historian as an explanation of the rapid advance, or as an additional source of wonder on the part of the Persians at the boldness of the Athenians, is not clear.
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