Miltiades the Younger

Miltiades the Younger (born c. 554 bc, Athens [Greece]—died probably 489 bc, Athens) was an Athenian general who led Athenian forces to victory over the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490.

Early years.

Miltiades’ family must have been extraordinarily wealthy; his father, Cimon, three times won the chariot races at the Olympic Games, while his uncle, after whom he was named, was the founder of an Athenian semi-independent principality in the Thracian Chersonese (now the Gallipoli Peninsula). Miltiades the Elder died childless and arranged for his stepbrother’s sons to inherit the dominions he had conquered. About 516 bc, Miltiades left for the Chersonese, where he strengthened his authority by arresting his potential rivals and by surrounding himself, as tyrants were wont to do, with a heavily armed bodyguard of 500 men. He also married Hegesipyle, the daughter of a Thracian prince. Soon after, nonetheless, his authority was severely limited when Darius I of Persia expanded his power into Europe and reduced Miltiades to the rank of a Persian vassal. He led a contingent in the Scythian expedition of Darius (c. 513), and, according to Herodotus, he advised the destruction of the Danube bridge, which would have cut off Darius’ retreat. Since Miltiades was not at once expelled by the Persians, the story is doubtful. It is a fact, on the other hand, that when the Ionian revolt against the Persians broke out in 499 bc, Miltiades decided to join the insurgents and to enter into friendly relations with the newly established Athenian democracy. Probably during the revolt Miltiades seized the isles of Lemnos and Imbros, which he eventually ceded to Athens. But the revolt collapsed by 494, and the year after, when Darius’ fleet appeared off the Chersonese, Miltiades loaded five boats with his treasures and made for Athens. One of the boats, captained by Miltiades’ eldest son, Metiochos, was captured. Metiochos was taken as a lifelong prisoner to Persia, but Darius treated him honourably, married him to a Persian princess, and regarded their children as members of the Persian nobility.

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Ancient Greece

Because of his fabulous wealth, his foreign wife Hegesipyle (who bore him a son, Cimon the younger, about 510), and his past as a “tyrant,” Miltiades was bound to raise animosities in Athens. He was prosecuted for his tyrannical role in the Chersonese, probably at the instigation of the rival clan of the pro-Persian Alcmaeonids, but he was triumphantly acquitted as the champion of resistance to Persian encroachments upon Greek freedom.

Battle of Marathon.

The Persians were threatening Athens, which had supported the Ionian revolt with a punitive expedition, and Miltiades, who had first-hand experience of the Persians, was chosen, from 493 onward, as one of the 10 generals of the Athenian land forces. (Unlike Themistocles, he was still thinking in terms of land warfare and of an agreement with Sparta, which was favoured by the Athenian landowners, the peasantry, and the rural middle class.) In the summer of 490 bc the Persians landed at Marathon. The Athenians were faced with the choice of marching out and confronting them there or waiting for them at Athens; the decision was to be made by the Assembly. Miltiades was well aware of the power of the Persian cavalry, which, once out on the open plain, would wreak havoc. He was also anxious for a quick decision, because there were factions within Athens which would have welcomed a Persian victory in order to advance their own political ambitions. His arguments persuaded the Assembly, and the Athenian forces set out. A runner was sent to Sparta, to seek the support of the Spartan army, but the Spartans replied that they would participate only at the conclusion of a religious festival six days later. A conflict then arose among the 10 Athenian generals over whether to wait or to attack the Persians immediately. The deciding vote was cast by the polemarchos (supreme military commander) Callimachus, whom Miltiades was able to persuade to immediate action. The operational command of the army was to be held for one day in turn by each of the 10, but the four who had supported Miltiades surrendered their right to command to him.

Occupying the foothills surrounding the bay, Miltiades waited for a favourable moment to attack. He chose a time when the Persian cavalry was nonoperational, either because it reembarked for a possible direct attack on Athens or because of some other circumstance; the reason for its absence is uncertain. Charging a mile across the Marathon plain, Miltiades’ forces engaged the Persian infantry, killing some 6,400 men (and capturing 7 ships) at a cost of 192 Athenian dead. The rest of the Persian force quickly embarked and put out to sea.

Following the defeat of the Persians at Marathon, Miltiades set out in the spring of 489 bc with a fleet of 70 ships on an expedition to conquer those islands that had supposedly sided with Persia. His mission was not a success, and on his return to Athens there was an outcry of indignation, ably exploited by his rivals, the Alcmaeonids. Miltiades, dying of gangrene from a leg wound suffered in a mishap, was fined 50 talents, although the death penalty had been demanded. He probably died soon after in prison.

The tragic outcome of his life, however, did not cloud the judgment of Miltiades’ historical role. His fellow citizens never forgot that it was to his initiative and leadership that they owed their victory over the Persians.