A substantial portion of the Persian fleet was wrecked in a storm in 492 BCE, but after Darius ordered it to be rebuilt, they set sail for Greece in the summer of 490. Today's episode examines the state of the Persian navy at this point, after which we discuss the fleet's route to Eritrea and Marathon, the site of one of Greece's most famous military victories. It was a land battle though, so after a brief look at some naval elements connected to it, we paint a picture of Athens after Marathon, where political leaders like Themistocles had to fear the newly popular use of ostracism. We conclude by setting the stage for the third and final Persian invasion of Greece.

Sources

• Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, 22.2.
• Casson, Lionel, The Ancient Mariners: Seafarers and Sea Fighters of the Mediterranean in Ancient Times (1959).
• Fox, Robin Lane, The Classical World: An Epic History of Greece and Rome (2005).
• Hale, John R., Lords of the Sea: The Epic Story of the Athenian Navy and the Birth of Democracy (2009).
• Hammond, N.G.L., A History of Greece to 322 BC (1967).
• Herodotus, The Histories (Robert Strassler, Ed., Andrea Purvis, Transl., 2007).
• Holland, Tom, Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West (2005).
• Marathon (490 BCE), Livius.org.
• Marsh, Doug, The Battle of Marathon: The Stunning Victory and Its Contribution to the Rise of Athens, Studia Antiqua, Vol. 5 No. 2, (Fall 2007) pp. 29–37.
• Martin, Thomas R., Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times (1996).
• Morrison, J.S., et al, The Athenian Trireme: The History and Reconstruction of an Ancient Greek Warship (2nd edition, 2000).
• Nepos, Lives of Eminent Commanders, Themistocles, para. 6.
• Paine, Lincoln, The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World (2013).
• Plutarch, Life of Themistocles in The Parallel Lives.
• Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War.
• Strauss, Barry, Salamis: The Battle that Saved Greece--and Western Civilization (2004).