III know this is a movie
review blog, but I am going to violate my own rule in this post. I have just
published my second book. (My first is the nonfiction military history The Scipios in Spain) It was a labor of love that took years to complete. Once
I got that project out of the way and could call myself a historian, it was time
for something different that would not take years. I have decided to write a
series of young adult novels about boys in famous battles. The series is called Boys in Battles. The main purpose of the series is to teach about the boy’s
culture and then put him in the battle to describe what happened in the battle and
what the combatants experienced. This first book in the series is about the
Battle of Marathon. The main character is a teenage boy who lives in Athens.
His best friend is a Persian boy the same age as him. This allowed me to insert
Persian culture into the story. I have packed the book with interesting facts about
the lives of boys in Athens and in Persia. I firmly believe that although the books
are aimed at boys from 8 to 18, they will be entertaining for adults as well.
Especially if you like stories of battles.
The Battle of Marathon was the logical place to start. It
is one of the most famous battles in history and many historians believe it is
one of the most important. It is possible that if the Persians had won, the
future brilliance of Greek civilization would have been stunted. I did a lot of
research on the battle and I feel I have accurately portrayed it. One of the
great things about historical fiction is it can replace the nonexistent primary
sources dealing with average people. We have Herodotus to tell us what happened
in the battle, but we have no diaries, memoirs, or any other first-hand
accounts of what it was like to fight in the battle. I have used my extensive
knowledge of soldiers in battles to imagine what my characters would have gone
through.
I can guarantee you that you will learn more about the
Battle of Marathon than you will from watching a movie. Take for example “300: Rise of an Empire”, the sequel to “300”. I am a big fan of “300” and although it
was based on a graphic novel, it is surprising good in giving the audience an
idea of what happened in the Battle of Thermopylae. For those who were upset
with the fantasy elements (e.g. the rhinos), I pointed out that the movie was
actually a story being told by a survivor around a campfire. His adding to the
story was understandable. The sequel is narrated by Leonidas’ wife Gorgo. Her
not being at the Battle of Marathon might explain why the movie is laughably
wrong on virtually every aspect of the battle. Where “300” may be only 50%
accurate on the Battle of Thermopylae, the sequel is about 5% on Marathon. It
is truly a farce. Here is a list of things the movie got wrong.
1. The Persians were not
attacking to end Greek freedom and democracy. It was a raid to punish Athens
for intervening in a rebellion by Greek colonists in Asia Minor.
2. It was not raining.
3. The Persians were not
caught disembarking. They had been on the beach for at least a week.
4. The Greeks did run to take
the Persians by surprise (this is the 5%), but they maintained their phalanx
formation as best they could. The Greeks should have been in a ragged shield
wall which slammed into the Persians.
5. Many of the Greeks in the movie
had no shields and all had no armor (which is excusable because “300” is famous
for that). All of the Greeks had shields and breastplates in the battle.
6. The Greeks used swords,
spears, and axes. In reality, the Greeks’ primary weapon was the spear and they
used the sword only if the spear broke. None had axes.
7. Themistocles was not the
leader of the Greeks. Miltiades was. The movie is mainly about the Battle of
Salamis, where Themistocles was in command, so Themistocles is promoted for
Marathon.
8. The Persians would have had
shields. They had archers and spearmen. The movie is pretty good at portraying
the weapons, but the battle included an arrow barrage as the Greeks charged.
9. There would have been a
melee, but first the Greek phalanx shoved the Persians. The movie goes straight
to the melee.
10. No Greek was able to board
a Persian ship.
11. Darius was not even at the
battle. The Persian leader was a general named Datis. Themistocles did not hit
either with an arrow. It is highly unlikely that Themistocles would have been
proficient with a bow. Greek hoplites despised the weapon.
If you want to know what actually
happened in the Battle of Marathon, read my book .