ORDER OF BATTLE // -489 BCE
Battle of Marathon
Estimated force strength by side, with confidence labels per surviving record.
Forces engaged
2 sides catalogued · combined 35,000–36,000 estimated
Athens
10,000–11,000
Medium-confidence figure
Achaemenid Empire
25,000
Medium-confidence figure
Battle context
The Battle of Marathon was the culmination of the first Persian attempt, under King Darius I, to subjugate Greece. A combined Athenian and Plataean force faced a numerically superior Persian army commanded by Datis and Artaphernes, with the Persians fielding roughly double the Greek strength. The Greek army inflicted a crushing defeat on the Persian force, recorded Persian casualties standing at around 6,400. The outcome marked a turning point in the Greco-Persian Wars, demonstrating that Greek citizen forces could defeat a major Achaemenid army in open battle and halting the first Persian invasion of Greece.
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