Battle of Marathon as Philippides, and this name is also preferred in a few modern editions. When the idea of a modern Olympics became a reality at the end of the 19th century, the initiators and organizers were looking for a great popularizing event, recalling the ancient glory of Greece. The idea of organizing a "marathon race" came from Michel Bréal, who wanted the event to feature in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. This idea was heavily supported by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, as well as the Greeks. This would echo the legendary version
Marathon, Greece on account of the victory which the Athenians here gained over the Persians in 490 BCE (Battle of Marathon). After Miltiades (the general of the Greek forces) defeated Darius' Persian forces, the Persians decided to sail from Marathon to Athens in order to sack the unprotected city. Miltiades ordered all his hoplite forces to march "double time" back to Athens, so that by the time Darius' troops arrived they saw the same Greek force waiting for them. Although the name Marathon had a positive resonance in Europe in the nineteenth century, for some time that was sullied by the Dilessi