THE ATHENIANS AT MARATHON. 133

The Persians, on seeing this seeming handful of
men, without archers or horsemen, advancing at a
run upon their great array, deemed at first that
the Greeks had gone mad and were rushing wildly
to destruction. The ringing war-cry astounded
them,—a Greek pean was new music to their
ears. And when the hoplites of Athens and Platea
broke upon their ranks, thrusting and hewing with
spear and sword, and with the strength gained
from exercises in the gymnasium, dread of these
courageous and furious warriors filled their souls.
On both wings the Persian lines broke and fled for
their ships. But in the centre, where Datis had
placed his best men, and where the Athenian line
was thinnest, the Greeks, breathless from their
long run, were broken and driven back. Seeing
this, Miltiades brought up his victorious wings, at-
tacked the centre with his entire force, and soon
had the whole Persian army in full flight for its
ships.

The marshes swallowed up many of the fleeing
host. Hundreds fell before the arms of the victors.
Into the ships poured in terror those who had
escaped, followed hotly by the victorious Greeks,
who made strenuous efforts to set the ships on fire
and destroy the entire host. In this they failed.
The Persians, made desperate by their peril, drove
them back. The fleet hastily set sail, leaving few
prisoners, but abandoning a rich harvest of tents
and equipments to the victorious Greeks. Of the
Persian host, some sixty-four hundred lay dead on
the field, the ships having saved them from further

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