Miltiades

Miltiades was a well-born Athenian, and was accounted a member of the Aeacidae, Plutarch claimed that Cimon, Miltiades's father, was known as "Coalemos", meaning "simpleton", because he had a reputation for being rough around the edges, but whose three successive chariot-racing victories at the Olympics made him popular, so popular in fact that, Herodotus claims, the sons of Peisistratos murdered him out of jealousy. Miltiades was named after his father's maternal half-brother, Miltiades the Elder, who was also a victor at Olympic chariot-racing. Miltiades's son Cimon was a major Athenian figure of the 470s and 460s BC. His daughter Elpinice is remembered for her confrontations with Pericles, as recorded by Plutarch. ==Tyrant of the Thracian Chersonese==

Around 555 BC, Miltiades the Elder left Athens to establish a colony on the Thracian Chersonese (now the Gallipoli Peninsula), setting himself up as a semi-autonomous tyrant under the protection of Athens. Meanwhile, despite alleged rumors that abounded that his father had been murdered by the city leaders, Miltiades the Younger rose through the ranks of Athens to become eponymous archon under the rule of the Peisistratid tyrant Hippias in 524/23 BC. Miltiades the Elder was childless, so when he died around 520 BC, his nephew Stesagoras inherited the tyranny of the Chersonese. Four years later (516 BC), Stesagoras met his death by an axe to the head, the tyrant of Athens Hippias sent Miltiades the Younger to claim his uncle's lands. Stesagoras's reign had been tumultuous, full of revolts Wishing to achieve stronger control over his lands than his uncle had, Miltiades feigned mourning for his uncle’s death. When the men of rank from the Chersonese came to console him, he imprisoned them. He then ensured his power by employing 500 troops. He also made an alliance with King Olorus of Thrace by marrying his daughter, Hegesipyle. Persian vassal In around 513 BC, Darius I, the king of Persia, led a large army into the area, forcing the Thracian Chersonese into submission and making Miltiades a vassal of Persian rule. though some historians are skeptical of this claim. When the king heard of the planned sabotage, Miltiades's rule became a perilous affair and he had to flee around 511/510 BC. Miltiades joined the Ionian Revolt of 499 BC against Persian rule, returning to the Chersonese around 496 BC. He established friendly relations with Athens by capturing the islands of Lemnos and Imbros and ceding them to Athens, which had ancient claims to these lands. ==Return to Athens==

The Ionian Revolt collapsed in 494 BC, and in 493 BC Miltiades and his family fled to Athens in five ships to escape a retaliatory Persian invasion. Upon his return to Athens, Miltiades would have encountered a city much changed. Athens was no longer a Tyranny, as the Athenians had overthrown the Peisistratids 15 years previously, Since then Athens had established democracy as the new form of governance. Thus, Miltiades initially faced a hostile reception for his tyrannical rule in the Thracian Chersonese and was put on trial. It was by Miltiades's advice that the Persian heralds who came to Athens to demand earth and water as tokens of submission were put to death. ==Battle of Marathon==

Miltiades is often credited with devising the tactics that led to the defeat of the Persians at the Battle of Marathon. Miltiades was elected to serve as one of the ten generals (strategoi) for 490 BC. In addition to the ten generals, there was one 'war-ruler' (polemarch), Callimachus, who had to decide—with the ten generals evenly split, five to five—whether to attack the Persians who had landed at Marathon under the command of Datis, or wait to fight them closer to Athens. Miltiades, as the general with the most experience in fighting the Persians to that point, was firm in insisting that the Persians be fought immediately, as a siege of Athens would lead to its destruction. He convinced Callimachus to use his decisive vote in favor of a swift attack. He is quoted as saying "I believe that, provided the Gods will give fair play and no favor, we are able to get the best of it in the engagement." He ordered the two tribes in the centre, the Leontis tribe led by Themistocles and the Antiochis tribe led by Aristides, to be arrayed to a depth of four ranks while the rest of the tribes, on their flanks, were arrayed in eight ranks. Miltiades also had his men march to the end of the Persian archer range, called the "beaten zone", then break out in a run straight at the Persian army. Miltiades got his men to quickly march to the western side of Attica overnight and block the two exits from the plain of Marathon, to prevent the Persians from moving inland. Datis fled at the sight of the soldiers who had just defeated him the previous evening. Archaeological Museum of Olympia. The following year (489 BC), Miltiades led an Athenian expedition of seventy ships against the Greek-inhabited islands that were deemed to have supported the Persians. The expedition was not a success. His true motivations were to attack Paros, feeling he had been slighted by them in the past. The fleet attacked the island, which had been conquered by the Persians, but failed to take it. Miltiades suffered a grievous leg wound during the campaign and became incapacitated. His failure prompted an outcry on his return to Athens, enabling his political rivals to exploit his fall from grace. Charged with treason, he was sentenced to death, but the sentence was converted to a fine of fifty talents. He was sent to prison where he died, probably of gangrene from his wound. The debt was paid by his son Cimon. ==Legacy==

Pheidias later erected in Miltiades's honour, in the temple of the goddess at Rhamnus, a statue of Nemesis, the deity whose job it was to bring sudden ill fortune to those who had experienced an excess of good. The statue was said to have been made from marble provided by Datis for a memorial to the Persians' expected victory. This Painting was then placed in the Stoa as one of four paintings depicting great battles, such a painting of The Sack of Troy and the trial of Ajax the Lesser, by Polygnotus ==See also==