Marathon, Greece Marathon, Greece Marathon (Demotic Greek: Μαραθώνας, "Marathónas"; Attic/Katharevousa: , "Marathṓn") is a town in Greece and the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. Legend has it that Pheidippides, a Greek herald at the battle, was sent running from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory, which is how the marathon running race was conceived in modern times. The name "Marathon" () comes from the herb fennel, called "marathon" () or "marathos" () in Ancient Greek, so "Marathon" literally means "a place full of fennels". It is believed
Battle of Athens (1946) New York Times opinion piece. In a newspaper column Eleanor Roosevelt had expressed a somewhat popular opinion that GIs might be checked for violent tendencies before they were demobilized. Bill White, leader of Athens' "fighting band" came to see her point. One of the reasons the GI League collapsed was the continuing GI related violence in McMinn county. The Battle of Athens initially received criticism in the press. Coverage quickly faded, and after Alan J. Gould, an executive with the Associated Press, told the Conference of State Directors of the Veterans Administration that the AP would try to suppress the