Battle of Marathon
The Battle of Marathon took place in September 490 B.C. on the plain of Marathon. It was fought between the Athenians and the Persians. Athens was supported by a small force from the city of Plataea. The battle was the end of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius the Great, to conquer Greece. It was part of the first Greco-Persian war. The Persians were defeated in the battle and the Greek victory decisively slowed down the Persian advance into the Greek mainland however the Persians would sail across the Aegean Sea ten years later and successfully burn down and destroy Athens.