By 493 BC, the Persians had crushed this revolt. Yet the Athenians’ support of the Ionian Greeks had put their city at odds with the most powerful man in the world, the Great King of Persia, Darius I – and he wasn’t about to forget it. Every night Darius had a servant remind him after dinner, “Remember the Athenians”.

It is probable there were also substantial numbers of transport ships to carry horses and supplies. It is commonly believed that the Persian army being transported numbered between 25,000 and 30,000 men. Never before had the world seen such a large amphibious invasion.

Despite not being full-time soldiers, these men were more than a match for the enemy’s lightly-clad infantry in close combat. The hoplite style of fighting would go on to epitomize ancient Greek warfare.

Although the Spartans promised to send military aid to the Athenians, their laws stated they could only do so after the full moon had passed. Their aid thus arrived too late to help the Athenian army.

This nearly proved disastrous as the weakened Athenian centre almost collapsed in the ensuing fight. Luckily for Miltiades, however, his army’s stronger wings overcame the Persians’ outer flanks before enveloping the remaining Persians in the centre. Athens’ victory soon followed.

The Athenians lost 192 men at Marathon, mostly, we can presume, in the weakened Athenian center. Their burial mound – known as “Soros” – is still visible to this day on the plain of Marathon.

As for the Persians, their 6,000 dead were left unburied, a visual spectacle for any wishing to know what the easterners looked like

Others still suggest they had already been boarded onto ships destined to attack Athens.

Whatever the reason, it seems more than likely that the cavalry was indeed split off from the Persian army on that morning.