The name "Marathon" comes from the legend of Philippides (or Pheidippides), the Greek messenger. The legend states that, while he was taking part in the battle of Marathon, he witnessed a Persian vessel changing its course towards Athens as the battle was near a victorious end for the Greek army. He interpreted this as an attempt by the defeated Persians to rush into the Greek capital and claim a false victory in the Battle of Marathon, which took place in August or September, 490 BC, hence claiming their authority over Greek land. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping, discarding his weapons and even clothes to lose as much weight as possible, and burst into the assembly, exclaiming ("nenikēkamen", "we have won!"), before collapsing and dying. The account of the run from Marathon to Athens first appears in Plutarch's "On the Glory of Athens" in the 1st century AD, which quotes from Heraclides Ponticus's lost work, giving the runner's name as either Thersipus of Erchius or Eucles. Satirist Lucian of Samosata (2nd century AD) first gives an account closest to the modern version of the story, but is writing tongue-in-cheek and also names the runner Philippides (not Pheidippides).