Search Results: Marathon

Persepolis was the capital of the Persian Achaemenid Empire from the reign of Darius I (the Great, r. 522-486 BCE) until its destruction in 330 BCE. Its name comes from the Greek Perses-polis (Persian City), but the Persians knew it as Parsa...

A bronze Greek athlete recovered from the sea off Marathon. 340-330 BCE. (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)

An Attic red-figure kylix depicting the various labours of the hero Theseus. Starting at the top he wrestles Kerkyon, then to the right he kills Prokroustes, Skiron, the bull of Marathon, Sines, the sow of Krommyon, and, in the centre, slays...

Built in 490 BCE following the Athenian victory over Persia at Marathon the treasury takes the form of a Doric temple.

A detail from a bronze statue of an athlete wearing a laurel crown of victory, 340-330 BCE. Found in the sea off Marathon. (National Archaeological Museum, Athens)

Athens, Greece, with its famous Acropolis, has come to symbolize the whole of the country in the popular imagination, and not without cause. It not only has its iconic ruins and the famous port of Piraeus but, thanks to ancient writers, its...

The Battle of Leuctra in 371 BCE gave Thebes a decisive victory over Sparta and established Thebes as the most powerful city-state in Greece. The victory was achieved through the daring and brilliant pre-meditated tactics of the Theban general...

The pezhetairoi (foot companions) were part of the imposing army that accompanied the Macedonian commander Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 BCE) when he crossed the Hellespont to face the Persian king Darius III in 334 BCE. Armed with long...

Seven Against Thebes is the third part of a trilogy written by one of the greatest of the Greek tragedians, Aeschylus in 467 BCE, winning first prize in competition at Dionysia. Unfortunately, only fragments of the first two plays, Laius...

A marble head depicting a dying Persian. 2nd century CE Roman copy of a Greek 3rd century BCE original. From the Domus Tiberiana, Rome. (Forum Museum, Rome)