Alexander : a history of the origin and growth of the art of war from ...

MILTIADES RESOLVES TO FIGHT. 85casting vote in its favor. This was done, and, with the ardornot uncommon to great souls,Miltiades resolved to stakethe fate of Athens — which was then the fate of the civilizedworld — on the issue of this one battle. He was to fight onhistoric ground, sacred to Hercules, the scene of the exploitsofTheseus, and the rout of the invader Eurystheus, near thefountain of Macaria. There can be no doubt, though hiswords have not been preserved to us, that this large-heartedman made use of all these, by the Greeks, religiously creditedtraditions in a manner to inflame every man with the valorwhich conquers or dies. For at this time the Greek soldiery/JJjllNELRVAOPlain ofMarathon.harbored a hearty dread of the Persian, and by no meansunderstood his own strength. Miltiades had but eleven thousandmen, of whom one thousand were Plataeans. Datis andArtaphernes—the former was the real chief — had morethan ten times the number. But the Greeks were moreheavily armed and well disciplined, and they had the highestof all motives to bear themselves as men ; the Persians