Note 82 — Chapter IV · PERSIAN OPERATIONS IN EUROPE: B.C. 493–490. MARATHON.

The Persian position is indicated by three circumstances:⁠—

(1) The position of the “Soros,” which would presumably be situated where the majority of the Athenians must have fallen, i.e. in the centre of the line; and where, too, the decisive blow of the battle was struck.

(2) The fact, expressly mentioned by Herodotus, that the Greek centre was (Chap. 113) driven inland (ἐς τὴν μεσόγαιαν).

(3) The fact that (Chap. 115) the barbarians who escaped seem to have reached their ships without difficulty.

Hauvette, in assuming the Persians to have been in a position close to the Charadra, parallel to it, and south of it, ignores these three points, and places the Persians in about the most disadvantageous position they could have chosen in the whole plain.