Editing Battle of Marathon (section)

== Opposing forces ==

=== Athenians ===
[[File:Athenians at Marathon (reenactment).jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.5|Athenians on the beach of Marathon. Modern reenactment of the battle (2011)]]
Herodotus does not give a figure for the size of the Athenian army.  However, [[Cornelius Nepos]],  [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] and [[Plutarch]] all give the figure of 9,000 Athenians and 1,000 Plataeans;<ref>Cornelius Nepos, ''Miltiades'', V</ref><ref>Pausanias X, 20</ref><ref name="Plutarch, Moralia, 305 B">Plutarch, ''Moralia'', 305 B</ref> while Justin suggests that there were 10,000 Athenians and 1,000 Plataeans.<ref>Justin II, 9</ref> These numbers are highly comparable to the number of troops Herodotus says that the Athenians and Plataeans sent to the [[Battle of Plataea]] 11 years later.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126&layout=&loc=9.28 IX, 28] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230163022/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126&redirect=true |date=2022-12-30 }}</ref> Pausanias noticed on the monument to the battle the names of former [[slavery|slaves]] who were freed in exchange for military services.<ref name="Pausanias I, 32">Pausanias I, 32</ref> Modern historians generally accept these numbers as reasonable.<ref name = h187/><ref>Lazenby, p. 54</ref> The areas ruled by Athens (Attica) had a population of 315,000 at this time including slaves, which implies the full Athenian army at the times of both Marathon and Plataea numbered about 3% of the population.<ref>A.W. Gomme. ''The Population of Athens in the Fifth and Fourth. Centuries B.C..'' 1933 {{page?|date=September 2024}}</ref>

===Persians===
{{for|a full discussion of the size of the Persian invasion force|First Persian invasion of Greece#Size of the Persian force}}
[[File:Armies of Darius I.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|The ethnicities of the soldiers of the army of Darius I are illustrated on the [[tomb of Darius I]] at [[Naqsh-e Rostam]], with a mention of each ethnicity in individual labels.<ref name=RE>The Achaemenid Empire in South Asia and Recent Excavations in Akra in Northwest Pakistan Peter Magee, Cameron Petrie, Robert Knox, Farid Khan, Ken Thomas [https://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1082&context=arch_pubs pp. 713–714] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200523141715/https://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1082&context=arch_pubs |date=2020-05-23 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=NAQŠ-E ROSTAM – Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/naqs-e-rostam |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/uploads/files/Clothing/v5f7a014_f1_300.jpg |title=List of ethnicities with corresponding drawing |access-date=2018-12-24 |archive-date=2020-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200917035945/https://iranicaonline.org/uploads/files/Clothing/v5f7a014_f1_300.jpg |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=PL>{{cite book |last1=Lecoq |first1=Pierre |title=Les inscriptions de la perse achemenide (1997) |pages=221–222 |url=https://archive.org/details/LesInscriptionsDeLaPerseAchemenide1997/page/n117 |language=fr}}</ref><ref name="Livius">{{Cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/dne/ |title=DNe inscription |access-date=2020-03-26 |archive-date=2020-12-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225201727/https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/dne/ |url-status=live }}</ref><br>Identical depictions were made on the tombs of other Achaemenid emperors, the best preserved frieze being that of [[Xerxes I]].]]
According to Herodotus, the fleet sent by Darius consisted of 600 [[trireme]]s.<ref>Herodotus  [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231001;layout=;loc=6.96.1 VI, 95] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230163031/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126&redirect=true |date=2022-12-30 }}</ref> Herodotus does not estimate the size of the Persian army, only saying that they were a "large infantry that was well packed".<ref>Herodotus  [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126&layout=&loc=6.94 VI, 94] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230163031/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126&redirect=true |date=2022-12-30 }}</ref> Among ancient sources, the poet [[Simonides of Ceos|Simonides]], another near-contemporary, says the campaign force numbered 200,000; while a later writer, the Roman Cornelius Nepos estimates 200,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry, of which only 100,000 fought in the battle, while the rest were loaded into the fleet that was rounding Cape Sounion;<ref name = Nepos>Cornelius Nepos, ''Miltiades'', IV</ref> Plutarch and Pausanias both independently give 300,000, as does the Suda dictionary.<ref name="Plutarch, Moralia, 305 B"/><ref>Pausanias IV, 22</ref><ref>Suda, entry ''Hippias''</ref> [[Plato]] and [[Lysias]] give 500,000;<ref>Plato, ''Menexenus'', 240 A</ref><ref>Lysias, ''Funeral Oration'', 21</ref> and [[Justin (historian)|Justinus]] 600,000.<ref name = Justin>Justinus II, 9</ref>

Modern historians have proposed wide-ranging numbers for the infantry, from 20,000 to 100,000 with a consensus of perhaps 25,000;<ref>Davis, pp. 9–13</ref><ref>Holland, p. 390</ref><ref>Lloyd, p. 164</ref><ref name=Green>Green, p. 90</ref> estimates for the cavalry are in the range of 1,000.<ref>Lazenby, p. 46</ref>

The fleet included various contingents from different parts of the Achaemenid Empire, particularly [[Ionians]] and [[Aeolians]], although they are not mentioned as participating directly to the battle and may have remained on the ships:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sekunda |first1=Nick |title=Marathon, 490 BC: The First Persian Invasion of Greece |date=2002 |publisher=Praeger |isbn=9780275988364 |pages=31, 54|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4zNoAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref>
{{quotation|Datis sailed with his army against Eretria first, taking with him Ionians and Aeolians.|Herodotus 6.98.<ref>{{cite book |title=Herodotus, The Histories, Book 6, chapter 98 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D98}}</ref>}}

Regarding the ethnicities involved in the battle, Herodotus specifically mentions the presence of the Persians and the [[Saka]]e at the center of the Achaemenid line:

{{quotation|They fought a long time at Marathon. In the center of the line the foreigners prevailed, where the Persians and Sacae were arrayed. The foreigners prevailed there and broke through in pursuit inland, but on each wing the Athenians and Plataeans prevailed. In victory they let the routed foreigners flee, and brought the wings together to fight those who had broken through the center. The Athenians prevailed, then followed the fleeing Persians and struck them down. When they reached the sea they demanded fire and laid hold of the Persian ships.|Herodotus 6.113.<ref>{{cite book |title=Herodotus, The Histories, Book 6, chapter 113 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D113}}</ref>}}