(2/2011) Book Review: The First Clash By Jim Lacey

Review By James R. Holland

The Battle of Marathon and Birth of the Long-Distance Race

It’s nearly spring and almost time for the annual Boston Marathon to begin for 12,000 plus runners. But how many of the thousands of participants who run heart-breaking Marathons know the actual history of the modern 26.2-mile race that they spend years preparing to run?

The Athenian army had been following the large fleet’s progress along the coast and had sent, probably by smoke signals and runners, reports that the Persians were debarking on the beach at Marathon in order to be protected from surprise attack by the Great Marsh while the complicated, lengthy amphibious landing was taking place. When Callimachus, the commander of the 10 tribal armies of Athens, observed the enemy landing, he is said to have smiled. He knew he had the Persian enemy trapped in a bottle with his own 10,000 Athenian hoplites (citizen-soldiers who fought in dense formations called phalanxes) acting as a cork. He also knew that the huge enemy army had to be short of rations and drinking water. The Athenians merely marched out of their fortified encampment each morning to taunt the Persians while they waited for 2,000 additional troops they knew were rushing to their aid from Sparta.

After five days on the beach, Datis ran out of supplies and realized the danger of his situation. Under cover of night, he ordered his army to reembark their ships and sail to safety. However, the Greeks heard the tremendous commotion caused by the loading of horses aboard the rocking and beached Persian ships in the dark. They quietly prepared to attack the enemy in the middle of their retreat back into the sea.

When the 10,000 heavily armed and armored shock troop attacked the Persians the enemy thought it was a ruse. No sane army of 10,000 would launch a frontal ground attack on an army of 80,000 battle-hardened troops. However, using techniques of war previously unseen by the Persians, the Athenians locked shields and went from a trot to sprint as they approached the disorganized Persians along the beach. When the Persian archers organized and let go their first barrage of 10,000 arrows that would normally have decimated any attacking army, they misjudged the distance because of the constantly increasing speed of the charging Athenians.

The second surprise occurred when the arrows that did hit their targets simply bounced off the Athenians amour and interlocked shields. The wave of infantry crashed through the Persian lines before they knew what had hit them. The archers were quickly decimated. In the blood bath that followed, more than 6,000 Persians were killed with a Greek loss of only 192 Athenians. It was a terrible defeat and while most of the Persians were able to escape, they were unable to proceed to the undefended Athens and attack before the Athenians at Marathon could return. Those already exhausted Greek troops used almost super human effort and managed to reach Athens before the Persians could land and attack Athens. The fact that almost the entire Athenian army had to trot across country in full armor in order to save Athens is the real Marathon story. It was one of the most important battles of Ancient History because had the Persians triumphed, the Cradle of Western Civilization would have been totally destroyed before it had a chance to blossom.

According to legend, Pheidippides was dispatched to carry the news of the victory and a warning of a possible amphibious attack. “He ran the entire distance in full armor, shouted, ‘Hail, we are victorious’ and prompted fell over dead. This is the historical legend on which today’s marathon races are based. Interestingly, Herodotus does not mention any messenger being sent from the battlefield and does not credit Pheidippides with the run. The first mention of any runner in the historical record is given by Plutarch approximately six hundred years later.”

This legend of how word was sent back to Athens about the victory at Marathon is only a minor footnote that this excellent history makes. It may have been by smoke signal or relays of runners that the Greeks used as messengers. Most of the book is about the development of western warfare and how it differs from previous warfare. The author is a military analyst by profession and unlike all the previous classical historians describing the battle (only the “Father of History” Heodotus actually interviewed surviving participants of the history changing battle), Mr. Rice sheds interesting light upon the battle itself, the different types of warfare of the era, the ability of nations to finance and maintain armies and navies and how those differences contributed to the outcome of the Battle of Marathon as well as future battles up to and including today. It was these differences in warfare that allowed Alexander the Great to later sweep aside the huge Persian armies of the only world super power of the time.

This is a fascinating tale. It’s actually a page-turner that will be difficult to put aside. Mr. Rice makes the battle come alive for the readers. It’s like watching a good movie. It flows so smoothly that the audience is carried effortlessly along in the current.

This is a must read for fans of military history or anyone who simply likes to watch or compete in Marathon races. Today’s marathon runners can try visualize what running the race would be like carrying a heavy spear, sword, shield and wearing armor–all this hours after fighting a life and death battle.

James R. Holland is a film editor, producer, and author–most recently of Adventure Photographer (A Bit of Boston Books/ 2009).  He reviews movies exclusively for Basil & Spice.  Visit James R. Holland’s Writer’s Page.

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