Persian Wars · 499-490 BC

Marathon: Persia reaches Greece

When the Greek cities of Ionia rebelled against Persia, Athens sent twenty ships to help. The revolt failed, and in 490 BC King Darius sent a fleet to punish Athens. Students follow the chain of events to the plain of Marathon, where an outnumbered army of citizens charged.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, 499 BC to 490 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

When the Greek cities of Ionia rebelled against Persia, Athens sent twenty ships to help. The revolt failed, and in 490 BC King Darius sent a fleet to punish Athens. Students follow the chain of events to the plain of Marathon, where an outnumbered army of citizens charged.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain how the Ionian Revolt (499-494 BC) led to the Persian expedition of 490 BC.
  • Locate Miletus, Eretria and Marathon and describe what happened at each.
  • Describe the battle of Marathon and explain why it mattered so much to the Athenians.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

499 BC

Ionia rises

Open the map in 499 BC on the west coast of Anatolia. The Greek cities of Ionia, led by Miletus, were inside the Persian Empire and rebelled. Athens and Eretria sent ships, and in 498 BC the rebels burned the Persian provincial capital Sardis. Find Miletus and Sardis with the Cities layer on.

Open this view on the map
b

490 BC

The punishment fleet

Jump to 490 BC. Persia had crushed the revolt and destroyed Miletus in 494 BC. Now a fleet sailed straight across the Aegean, island by island, to Eretria on Euboea, which it burned, and then to the bay of Marathon. Trace that route from Samos to Marathon.

Open this view on the map
c

490 BC

The plain of Marathon

Zoom in on Marathon, 40 km northeast of Athens, and turn on Historical Events (Battles). Find "Battle of Marathon" and read its entry. About 10,000 Athenians and 1,000 Plataeans faced a larger Persian force; the Greek wings beat the Persian wings and then closed in on the center.

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Athens sent twenty ships to help the Ionian Revolt and then went home. Herodotus says Darius had a servant remind him three times a day, "Remember the Athenians." Why would a king of a vast empire care about one small city?
  2. The Persians destroyed Miletus in 494 BC and sold its people into slavery. An Athenian playwright who staged the fall of Miletus was fined for making the audience cry. Why would Athens not want to be reminded?
  3. Herodotus says the Athenians at Marathon ran at the Persian line, something no Greek army had done before. What could running achieve against archers?
  4. Herodotus gives 6,400 Persian dead and 192 Athenian. Even if the numbers are rough, why would the Greeks keep such careful count of their own losses?
  5. Sparta promised help but arrived after the battle, delayed by a religious festival. Did the Spartans let Athens down, or keep their word to their gods?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Darius the Great and find the ruling about the Greek cities that helped the rebels. Then compare: Darius sent a fleet across the sea in 490 BC and lost. What would the class have done instead?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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