The new conqueror was the kingdom of the Medes and Per'sians, which had grown up to the east of the Tigris and the Euphrates valley. At first the Medes were the stronger of the two peoples, then the Persians. In the year 500, King Da-ri'us was on the Persian throne. He already held all that had belonged to Babylon; he had pushed to the east and conquered northwestern In'di-a; he had forced many towns in Thrace and Mac-e-do'ni-a to yield to him; and now he was ready to attack Greece. He had a good excuse for making the attack. Some time before this, the I-o'ni-ans, an ancient name for the people of Athens, had made settlements on the coast of Lyd'i-a. These had fallen into the hands of the Persians. In course of time they had revolted against Persia, and the Athenians had helped them. When Darius heard what the Athenians had done, he vowed that he would be revenged upon them, and he gave to a slave the command, "Whenever I seat myself to eat, do you cry aloud thrice, 'O king, remember the Athenians!'"

Darius remembered them. Just as soon as he could make ready, he sent a fleet and an army against them. The fleet had to pass a long rocky promontory, not very safe in a calm and extremely dangerous in bad weather. Just as the vessels were off Mount Ath'os, the end of the promontory, a furious storm arose and dashed them upon the rocks. So many ships were destroyed and so many men were drowned that there was nothing for the Persians to do but to call back the army that had been sent by land and return to Persia.

Darius was not the kind of man to give up, and before long he was ready to try again. First, however, he sent envoys to the different states of Greece to demand that they send him earth and water. This was a token of submission. Some of the states yielded, but the Athenians were so indignant that they hurled the envoys into a chasm. The Spartans were quite as regardless of the rights of messengers and threw the envoys sent to them into a well, crying out, "There's your earth and water. Take your fill."

A very angry man was King Darius of Persia. He did not wait for a calm day to sail around Mount Athos, but went straight across the sea to Attica. His troops knew just where to land, for on board of one of the vessels was a Greek named Hip'pi-as who knew the country well. He was the son of Pisistratus; and after his father's death, he had become ruler of Athens; but he was so tyrannical that he was driven out of the kingdom. He fled to Persia; and now he thought that if Darius could only conquer Athens, he himself might again become its ruler. Hippias told the Persians to land at the plain of Mar'a-thon. It was so wide and level, he said, that it would give plenty of room for using the cavalry.

The Athenian army was commanded by ten generals, who took turns in ruling for one day. Five of them wished to engage in battle; the other five did not think this was wise. There was one other person who had a vote, the minister of war. Mil-ti'a-des, a general who wished to fight, went to him secretly and persuaded him to favor a battle. So it was that the famous battle of Marathon was fought. Miltiades was in command. He drew up his lines in front of the hills at the edge of the plain. The Persians, ten times the number of the Greeks; were on the plain between them and the sea. Off the shore were the ships and the chains in which they planned to carry away the Greeks into captivity. The first charge was a vast surprise to the Persians, for the Greeks dashed upon them with no bowmen and no cavalry for protection. Then the two lines met in deadly conflict. Near the end of the engagement, the Greek wings routed the Persian wings; but the Persian centre broke through the Greek centre. Then the Greek wings faced about and burst upon the enemy so furiously that the Persians, who had felt so sure of their victory, ran for their lives across the plain and down the slope of the shore. They splashed through the shallow water and clambered into their vessels as if fiends instead of Greeks were after them; but before they could get away, the Greeks had captured seven of their vessels.

The Persians did not give up, but hurried away as fast as their oars could drive them. Not a moment's rest was there for the weary Greeks, for the vessels were pointed toward Athens. The soldiers marched off at full speed; and when the Persians arrived and saw them encamped on a little river close to the city, they went back to their own country.

Sometimes a small battle is far more important than many a large one. The number of men who fought at Marathon was not great; but it was a momentous engagement, because it saved the liberty-loving Greeks from becoming the slaves of the Persians.

All honor was shown to Miltiades and to the minister of war, who had been slain in the battle. Their statues were even placed among those of the gods. It was the custom to bring home for burial the bodies of men who had fallen; but as a mark of special honor the Greeks agreed to bury the heroes of Marathon on the field. Over them were raised two mighty mounds of earth. Stately marble pillars were reared, whereon was written the name of every man, be he commander or slave, who had died in that place to save the freedom of Greece. The pillars have long since disappeared, but the great mounds of earth still remain and are pointed out to every one who visits the battlefield.

The Chaldæans. — The Assyrians. — Nebuchadnezzar and the Hanging Gardens. — The Hebrews. — Phœnicia. — Egypt and the Nile. — Hieroglyphics. — Transmigration of souls. — The pyramids. — The sphinx. — The great size of Egyptian sculpture. — The victories of the Medes and Persians. — The expedition of Darius against the Athenians. — His second expedition. — The battle of Marathon.