Siege of Athens (Persian Marathon)

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The Siege of Athens was a siege that was in late September. There is no clear evidence that it took place in late September. However, we do know that the Battle of Marathon took place in mid-September and it didn't take the Persians long to reach Athens. It was made by the Persian invaders after they won the infamous Battle of Marathon. They absolutely destroyed the capital city which once was Ancient Greece.

Today, what's left of Athens after the siege is rubble and evidence of the ancient civilisation. It is a place which thousands of tourists go each year. It was an estimate that over 500,000 people visited it last year alone.

Build Up to the Siege

Persia began an invasion of Greece after Greece aided the Ionic Rebels. Persia had the upper hand able to invade Greece. After many years of horrible war Persia and Greece fought the Battle of Marathon what historians consider Greece's last stand before falling to Persia.

A messenger who watched the battle hurried back to Athens to tell the terrible news: Greece has lost the Battle of Marathon and soon Persian troops will be at Athens. A few Greek politicians decided to escape from Athens and stay in the French Greek colony until the trouble died down. These politicians would eventually form New Greece.

Every able-bodied man now had the duty of defending Athens from the invaders.

The Early days of the Siege

On the 16th September 490 BC the Persians arrived at Athens expecting the city to be in chaos. They found about 1000 men defending Athens from the walls.

Athens Today

Athens in 2015, what's left of Athens

Ever since the siege, the site of Athens hasn't been used. Due to the Persians not bothering to rebuild the city after the heavy siege, it has just remained rubble until the modern day.

In the middle of the 20th Century historians applied to dedicate what's left of Athens to historical research. The Greek government rejected several attempts, saying that it was a plan for Russia to get more information over the country, that would help them in a possible invasion. Finally in 1957, after years of trying, it became a historical research centre.

In 2015 the Ruins of Athens is a popular tourist resort. Over 500,000 tourists visited the site in 2014 and there's subject to be more in 2015. Most tourists who are interested in Greek or ancient history.