Musings on Daily Life in the Ancient and Early Medieval Mediterranean By Sarah E. Bond (@SarahEBond)
September 12, 490 BCE: Remembering The Battle of Marathon On The 2,506th Anniversary
Over on the Forbes blog, I have posted a day-by-day reconstruction of the events leading up to and including the famed Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE. I did this with the help of UT-Knoxville Classicist Thomas Rose (also a ASCSA alumnus & fellow marathoner). The battle was the basis for the modern day Marathon race (26 miles from the plain of Marathon to Athens), but the victory of the Athenians and Plataeans over their Persian foes was also a story of David over Goliath. Using the ancient sources and their references to the moon phases, we can now approach a timeline for the battle and reconstruct this instantly mythical struggle for students and interested readers alike.
Bronze Corinthian helmet of alleged Marathon soldier with his skull. This artifact resides at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, though I have trouble believing this 19th century find at the site is what it is says it is on the card. Those are my hands taking the picture because, well, I was there in April.
I am an Associate Professor in the History Department at the University of Iowa. I am interested in Roman, late antique, and early medieval history, archaeology, topography and GIS, Digital Humanities, and the role of Classics in pop culture. I obtained a BA in Classics and History with a minor in Classical Archaeology from the University of Virginia (2005). My PhD is in Ancient History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2011). My book, Trade and Taboo: Disreputable Professionals in the Roman Mediterranean, is out now from University of Michigan Press (Fall, 2016) and looks at the lives of marginalized tradesmen like gravediggers and tanners. Follow me on Twitter @SarahEBond, read my Blog, or email me at sarah-bond@uiowa.edu.
View all posts by sarahemilybond
Reblogged this on IBHE Collaborative University.