Marathon: The Battle that Gave Birth to Western Civilization

[@geographicstravel]

Thanks to Unbounce for sponsoring today's video. Go to thld.co/unbounce_geographics and use the promo code geographics at checkout to get 20% off your first 3 months.

[@kaiying74]

Unbouce meet Business Blaze. Serious Business content.

[@rustyspurs771]

Seeing as how the Persians were Zoroastrians, and famously let subjugated peoples do whatever the hell they wanted besides "rebel" and "not pay taxes", I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Greek culture, western civilization, and democracy would have remained more or less "exactly the same".

[@dudepool7530]

Hey Simon, Im thinking of starting a business. Which is better, Bounce, or Squarespace to create an internet presence for myself?

[@heraldomedrano1417]

NIKE

[@kostaskanakaris1372]

As a Greek living in Athens (actually in a place close to Marathon), I just wanted to say thank you for this very historically accurate video. If any of you ever find yourselves in Athens, note that in Marathon there is still standing the tomb of the 196 Athenians who died in the battle of Marathon. It's worth visiting, the vibes of the place are unique.

[@joeyshofner639]

I wish I could, I really miss traveling.

[@ClannCholmain]

Some day. Greetings from Ireland 🇮🇪 🇬🇷

[@rc59191]

I can't wait to see Athens love everything Athenian I always liked them over the Spartans to me they're overrated.

[@GlidingZephyr]

@@rc59191 I know what you mean. Both city states had their merits in ancient times, but these days Sparta is mainly respected for being the most formidable Greek warrior society. Places like Athens, Thebes and Thrace (to name a few) proved that it takes more than that for a culture to thrive and contribute.

[@kostaskanakaris1372]

Fun fact: alongside the 10,000 Athenian hoplites there where also 1,000 hoplites from Plataea, a place in Attica (where the battle of Plataea took place in 479 BC which Simon mentions at the end of his video)

[@Ozymandius_corn_maze]

I would absolutely watch a channel called "Simon Talks About Places"

[@newtoncountry5937]

That channel already exists. It's called Geographics

[@ephennell4ever]

Voilá, you are there!

[@blessd24]

7:14 for context, repliers.

[@turgidbanana]

You're not very sharp, huh? He already does that.

[@mitchyboitatum1808]

Geographics

[@ddseir1443]

I still remember how the school teacher was telling us kids in Athens, about the battle... most of us had already heard about the battle, but he continued the story and asked us «Does anyone know what happened to Miltiades aferwards? Noboby knew, and the normal thing to expect, was that he lived happily ever after. So the guy says «He died in jail about a year later as a traitor»...That was a big spoiler for the rest of the history of our country ever since...

[@trishapellis]

Excuse me, your name looks very Icelandic, but the way you say that sounds like 'our country' is Greece? Whatever the case, I know little about either Greece or Iceland and I'm not sure what you're talking about. Enlighten me?

[@ddseir1443]

@@trishapellis Well, I was watching the series «Vikings» when I created the avatar/name... I’m greek. BTW the name’s not even proper icelandic. I just combined stuff.

[@trishapellis]

@@ddseir1443 I don't know Icelandic, I just recognized the letters. But what do you mean by the history of your country? How does dying a traitor in jail apply to that?

[@Izixster]

Yep lol, according to Herodotus his reputation improved ever more after Marathon, and he asked the Athenians for funds and an army to siege Paros, promising to pay it all back presumably from plunder (although it was probably motivated by a personal grudge.. herodotus gives a whole back story) and based on his reputation the Athenians were only too happy to fund it without asking too much detail, the siege utterly failed and he injured his leg during the siege. When he came back people wanted him executed, but based on his service he was ordered to pay a fine instead. He died in prison before the fine was paid from his leg wound, probably from gangrene and his son paid the fine.

[@stingerkendris]

As we Greeks say...No Prophet is beloved on his birth place...We tend to hunt and kill or destroy Great heroes of our history...We not as a whole but mainly political oppositions, who are trying to eliminate by all means the others...numerus examples in our 2000 uears of recent well known history, Miltiades, Komnenos, Kolokotronis, Nikitaras are some of them

[@jayaline]

Fantastic !! Deserves 10 million views. Amazing level of research coupled with very engaging storytelling style. Bravo !! Hope you don't mind a little pronunciation guide: "Miltiades" is pronounced Mil-ti-U-this. U as in "up" Capitalised syllable signifies the accented syllable ... "Strategoi" pronounced Stru-ti-YI. ("stru" as in strut) (ti as in tip) ("YI" as in YING).

[@nigelyorkshiremanwadeley6263]

I love Ancient Greek history. My favourite subject at school.

[@heraldomedrano851]

I love the Roman Empire.

[@GR-bn3xj]

I have seen a video trying to make the Greeks to be the bad guys in the battle and the Persians as the good guys. It's a recent trend it seems, to change history and who was "right" and who was "wrong"

[@ClareBearBunny]

The worst part of the whole affair was that Pheidippides wouldn't shut up about his run on Facebook.

[@YeeSoest]

"At some point you don't even feel like you're running anymore" "It's 99% in your head and 1% preparation" "People forget how important hydration is" "I found myself out there..."

[@li6706]

lame ass comment

[@keithjackson4985]

Lol 😆 lol 😆 hilarious. No, you didn't just say that! 😆

[@JSoftic]

@@YeeSoest p0

[@shaundavenport621]

I heard he cheated and took a bus halfway back!

[@StephanieElizabethMann]

Brilliant. Very well presented. I studied ancient history at university and Greek history was my favorite. Thank you for bringing back a bountiful harvest of good memories.

[@MrJonLott]

I love the topic, Simon, but this video would benefit tremendously from adding several maps. You've got to situate viewers in the battle formation and geography of the area. Understanding the beachhead, the battlefield, and the spheres of influence of Greece/Persia brings Marathon into sharper focus.

[@sea_triscuit7980]

That's more "Kings and Generals" speed. (Kings and Generals is a youtube channel that covers historic warfare down to the tactics. I feel like it would make alot of his viewers lost. Not myself but I know alot of geographically challenged people haha 😂

[@MrJonLott]

I love Kings and Generals too. But this channel is called Geographics and there's not one map in the entire video.

[@ephennell4ever]

A few maps that give a feel for the larger strategic picture, down to something that gives a feel for how 'The 10,000' dealt with their situation ... would have been helpful to folks who have never really looked into this before. I personally liked it, but I'm probably a lot more familiar with this topic than many are/were, from my interests in history and alt-history. "Geographics" ... meaning, essentially, 'earth-picturing' should have adequate cartographic representations, Simon!

[@nqgamer]

@@MrJonLottit’s called Geographics, not cartographics.

[@Indy_Bendy]

​@@nqgamer why be against improving the educational value of the video?

[@fou1312]

i am from Athens and i used to go every Sunday in Marathon and there they have a hill which is a tomb of all the soldiers they died there (the hill is made by the bodies of the soldiers ) its pretty brutal but i found it cool

[@fou1312]

@@iamperplexed4695 it's not an urban legend it's literally full of bones . They Found it in an archeological expedition at 1890 they found bones and vases .

[@iamperplexed4695]

You know what. I am going to remove my other comments from here. I know nothing for a fact except to disbelieve archaeologists at every turn.

[@swirvinbirds1971]

@Seer-of-things end why do you say that? Are you a believer in 'Ancient High Tech Civilization' garbage? Why do you not believe the ancient egyptians built the Pyramids? All evidence says they were and you can find guys making perfect 90 degree angles in granite with nothing but primitive tools right here on youtube. Stone, copper and wood... Check out Scientists against myth. They are Russian but it's all captioned.

[@harrymills2770]

@Seer-of-things end When they argue about how long humans have been in North America, it becomes totally political, like reality t.v.

[@seanpiersonjr8964]

That's awesome

[@mitchkusek]

I ran in the "Authentic Marathon" race into Athens in 2019. It was my only marathon run. Worth it. Highly recommend. Heads up: the last six miles are all downhill.

[@WhydoIsuddenlyhaveahandle]

I'm super jealous! As someone who just did his first ironman, I am now hooked on endurance training and I definitely want to do that course!

[@creece6904]

This was like reading Tom Holland's Persian fire all over again, I especially loved the little details like the strategoi and the hoplite run! Have you considered covering Themistocles over on biographics? He was commanding the Athenean Centre here at Marathon

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:35 - Chapter 1 - The persians 3:05 - Chapter 2 - Athens 4:25 - Chapter 3 - Conflict with the aegean 6:15 - Mid roll ads 7:50 - Chapter 4 - Invasion 9:45 - Chapter 5 - Meeting at marathon 14:05 - Chapter 6 - Aftermath 16:50 - Chapter 7 - A giant shadow - Chapter 8 -

[@thomasdarby6084]

One of the most interesting videos you've done. Thanks, Simon.

[@keryeeastin4022]

Love getting new material every morning 💜

[@Julthor]

We owe so much to the Greeks. Thank you.

[@chriskonstandinos4996]

most welcome!!

[@panstantzos3013]

if you live in the western world ,pretty much whatever you are today is because of the Greeks and the romans , good or bud @IStevenSeagal

[@littlerisa3]

So interesting! We studied ancient Greece in school but it's always nice to have your memory freshened up on history! 😊

[@theautomaticfiend]

Simon you know damn well we'd watch "Simon Talks About Places."

[@WileyGunslinger]

Imagine being a Greek... you have 10000 troops. You’re looking at an army of Persians that are ten times your number. You are scared, rightfully so, but you are the only thing between them and your families. You join battle and start to realize, “holy crap. These ppl are super easy to kill”. Now, your fear is gone. You realize, hell, I could do this all day! My family is safe. We kill, ON AVERAGE, 25-1! Hand to hand! Those are superhero type numbers. It’s ridiculous how inept and unprepared the Persians were compared to Greeks. Think about it, you’re on the street and have twenty guys show up meaning to rob and kill you. You just shrug and think “oh I got this... no problem”.

[@michaelvaughn1496]

I subscribe to a lot of channels. Two kind dominate my subscriptions: paranormal and history. I view all of the paranormal channels at x1.5 speed, stopping and slowing down the most interesting and hard to see segments of those vids to "normal" speed or x.5 speed. However, I watch Geographics at normal speed to absorb the info clearly. And because I love this channel. A great show well worth watching at normal speed to comprehend every bit of history, truth, and imagination. Keep 'em coming!!

[@thegunslinger1363]

Could you do a video on The Kamchatka Peninsula?

[@kostasastro]

Let's hope that there will be no Japanese Torpedo boats ;)

[@notme2day]

@Mark Martinez we all need our own "personal flying monkey" 😆

[@GR-bn3xj]

I've seen a video where they are now trying to make Persia to be the good guys and the Greeks to be the bad guys in this battle, Even insinuating that Persia didn't lose. It's crazy how modern politics is influencing our view of history. The goal was to make the Persians look good and the Greeks look bad in the video, because the Greeks are considered European and therefore war-mongering bad people. I prefer videos that tell the facts and leave the judgments up to us.

[@ryanjamesr_]

I’ve been to marathon, and its a beautiful place in Greece

[@gonzalomelano8002]

Good video. However I can see some ideology here. Saying that the Athenians were fighting for democracy is like saying that Leonidas fought for the monarchy, it's just the surface of its cause. If the Persians were to invade them before the invention of democracy they would still resist. Greeks resisted for something superior to democracy, it was a defence of their highest ideals. Greeks had a culture that unified them despite their political separation, they shared a same spirit. As a fact, Hippias was expelled from Athens when he asked for help to the Persians. On the other hand, in words of Caponetto, the Asians were :'homo sumisus'. They were used to being submitteed by a king. Asians and Egyptians had a leader that had a divine character that their people must obey. In contrast, for the westerners the authority of a leader comes from family and how they help to reach the common good.

[@bluerocker3338]

Hey man keep up the great work 💙💙💙 love being able to learn something new everyday!!!

[@keithjackson4985]

Well done. I've heard and read it many times, but I always appreciate well done retellings.

[@sdusb1243]

I see Simon's professionalism here, but I see reality on Business Blaze.

[@DC8091]

A 26 mile long script Dahnny? Its 26 (bleep)in miles Dahnny!

[@Prime2112]

@@DC8091 and to think.... That's just the intro....

[@DC8091]

@@Prime2112 🤣🤣🍻

[@stevejester5658]

...alledgedly

[@jacksone5856]

CultusBlazusOptima!

[@northener_van6971]

That closing statement gave me chills 🙌 Great video

[@vulpes7079]

I shall always recognise you By the dreadful sword you hold As the land with searching vision You survey with spirit bold From Hellenes of old, whose dying Brought to life and spirit free Now with ancient valour rising Let us hail you, o Liberty! -Dionysios Solomos, _Hymn to Liberty_

[@ΜιχΛαζ]

Best comment my friend may you always be well cheers from Athens!!!

[@vulpes7079]

@@ΜιχΛαζ thank you! Much love from Brazil, God bless you!

[@seansloth]

Great video! I'm definitely a fan of most of your content but this one stood out as being fantastic for some reason, thanks.

[@SRW_]

Simon talks about places: first episode: middle earth

[@dethrocker]

High fantasy simon........unlimitless shit to talk about .

[@sollosi]

Channel about fictional people and places, call it Mythographics.

[@SRW_]

@@sollosi First episode: high lord Siroth

[@williambarraclough8712]

@@sollosi brilliant idea. I would watch that.

[@1Outis1]

@@sollosi great idea, but needs a different name. I like the myth part, but maybe Mythologics would be better.

[@coreya151]

This is the first video on this channel I’ve watched! And I’m like “Hey, it’s Mega Projects guy!”

[@g0bst0p3r]

Hey Simon and co, great vid, It would be nice to hear a geographic on the Battle of Tours.

[@jameslindauer6968]

A many great battles took place on the Nurburgring, the largest racetrack in the world. Would be a cool video!

[@nalulenert9001]

one of your best Geographics, Simon!

[@astrladam4392]

Great Episode!!! Best one on this channel so far 😎

[@masamune2984]

The Spartans threw the Persian ambassadors down a well, signifying their intentions to fight as well.” Even the Spartans loved a good “declaration of war” pun.

[@EM-tx7qm]

Hey Simon awesome video! Perhaps one day you could do the Battle of Tours or the Battle of Cannae! A series of pivotal battles throughout history would be great.

[@raywhitehead730]

The Marathon battlefield is easy to get to and walk around.

[@claysecora8734]

Great video, do more on battles that were pivotal to history

[@natecuster2164]

Please make more historic battle videos, these are great!

[@brostelio]

This is the best analysis of the battle and aftermath I've ever come across. Fantastic work, well done!

[@MrTexasDan]

This one is well done. Writing and delivery are spot on. Good job guys.

[@shaundavenport621]

"So what have the Romans ever done for us? Roads! Persians--"I think not" 😆

[@MaegnasMw]

So, Winston Churchill's famous quip, "never was so much owed by so many to so few" has another moment in history that can be attributed to!

[@MOK433]

Great summary on the battle and it's subsequent impact on Greece and the world

[@averagealice8877]

FINALLY - The whole of modern civilization explained in one KZbin video! We loved it. Instead of losing brain cells watching the nightly news, we feel like we gained a few watching this (although had to play it at .75 speed). It was fascinating - thanks!

[@deejayimm]

I love the sample web page in the advertisement for unbounce. " turbocharged car rentals" Shows a vehicle with a normally-aspirated engine. Whoops lol

[@952651869]

Excellent content Simon!

[@Kevin-zv1cx]

Why so long between Geogrqphics videos when this is clearly your best channel!

[@mainstreet3023]

Great video Simon. Who needs maps.

[@petersclafani4370]

I saw the battle field in person. I was station at a navy base several miles away.

[@gouravduttaroy5238]

I think I watched this video but forgot to like. Thanks for the post.

[@borismuller86]

Direct democracy is still alive and strong in Switzerland. You can basically call for a referendum on anything, provided you can collect enough signatures. It does tend to slow everything down a lot, however.

[@konstanstinostzavaras1983]

Thank you for sharing it was very informative

[@danielleweber9730]

I went to the Montpelier, Vermont school system growing up and I never knew until years later why the MHS mascot is the Solon and the wise owl is holding down the Capital city high school. As it is a Solon is a Greek statesman and the owl being the all wise being of the forest is rather fitting after all!!

[@smithfinland214]

owl is a sacred animal of goddess athena

[@Gravelgratious]

I would say the battle of Marathon protected western civilization rather than birthed it.

[@RedaGio]

Ideas for new videos: Venice Genova Naples Palmanova Italian lakes: Lake Como, Lake Garda, Lake Maggiore Catania Trieste The Alps Great Ocean Road in Australia

[@aliencat8556]

I love simon's stories. However, he should do the occasional long in depth story

[@gaztroan131]

So 19 minutes isn't in depth enough lol

[@aliencat8556]

@@gaztroan131 I like the short ones but I like a good 1 1/2 hours to fall asleep to.

[@benjammin9471]

@@aliencat8556 there's plenty of in depth videos around. These are more like overviews

[@pakde8002]

Great nap. Thanks so much.

[@xSPAZNSPARTANx]

I know you did a video on the battle of the somme for the TopTenz channel but it would be really cool if you talk about the somme in this video format style and you can title it "The Somme: The Bloodiest Battle in Human History".

[@gordonlawrence1448]

The only issue is that it may not have been. If you look at it in percentage terms there were some battles in the English civil war that killed 25%+ of all troops present in a single day. There were battles in the wars with the Khan empire where in a single day the Khan Empire lost about 15% but the city they were attacking was raised to the ground with every last man woman and child killed. That's a 57.5% loss. If you want the most dead in one day Salamis saw at least 40,000 killed. Cannae saw 90,000 killed. Borodino? At least 95,000 dead and more died later as a direct result. Waterloo 47,000 plus in a single day. So though the death toll for The Somme was the highest it was not the highest for percentage of troops killed or total in one day. The some lasted nearly 5 months and that's about 135 days.

[@kennithunderwood1086]

How in the hell don't you have way more subs ur videos r amazing been following for a long time

[@JipJac]

Hella good video.

[@puzzlepupwoody6574]

Define irony. Athens and Sparta taking money from Persia to fund their own war a few decades after the battle of marathon.

[@nicholascorbett1256]

Least it's 5 minutes. I literally just got a notification the video was up. An I get to it, an it had been posted over 45 minutes? Oh well least I got my fix of Professor Whistler 🙃!

[@TheEvilCommenter]

Good video 👍

[@Mulambdaline1]

Loved it!!!

[@HexenProzess]

Last time I was this early, I ran a marathon....

[@finlaysharpe844]

This video could benefit so much from a few more maps

[@johnthick2298]

Simon, can you make a video of Frank Slide in Alberta Canada.

[@danlast4726]

I second this!

[@blueberrypirate3601]

Booted down the bottomless pit by King Leonidas 😃

[@owenshebbeare2999]

Stop getting your history from movies.

[@MuffinTastic]

@@owenshebbeare2999 why are you going at him full force man, i'm pretty sure it's just a reference

[@merafirewing6591]

@@owenshebbeare2999 It's just a reference, man.

[@resileaf9501]

Always love hearing the truth behind the myth. Always wondered if that thing about the messenger was real or not, so it's very neat to hear what actually was up with that story. Loved the video, you should get into the 'battles of history' business too, Simon! Bet you'd do well at those.

[@DETHofMAN]

How is this not used as a plot for a national treasure movie, where they could finally introduce time travel?!

[@AnaleenAelwyn]

You should do a video on the US AF base in Comiso, Italy. It was implemented to show the Soviet regime that the US/NATO had the ability to place ICBMs and nuclear weapons within range of the USSR and back up Reagan's "tear down this wall" speech. My father-in-law was stationed there at the time, if you need a first-hand source. :-)

[@gordonlawrence1448]

The Greeks did another good job in WWII though in a completely different way. EG it started with some Southern Italian troops who hated being in Greece (as many had relatives there) and really did know they were on the wrong side. The Germans "reinforced" the Italians and the Greeks started giving them more types of headache than most would believe possible. Blowing up railways (preventing oil and food getting to Germany), blowing up coastal defences ("The Guns of Navarone" is based on a true story), and generally making the Germans send far more troops to the area than they could spare. It is estimated that at one point a 5 man resistance group had an entire brigade looking for them after they blew yet another train up. There were a couple of divisions in Greece that had been earmarked for France (and the Norwegians had ties up nearly as many) which made D-day considerably less difficult. One estimate puts allied losses at 25% more if this had not been done and that would have caused possibly 2 of the beaches to get "locked up".

[@ClannCholmain]

Someone has to say it : THIS IS SPARTA!

[@conk6379]

This is an athenian victory 😐

[@ClannCholmain]

@@conk6379 the Athenians sent a message to the Spartans asking for support. They were busy.

[@conk6379]

@@ClannCholmain still all Athens

[@ClannCholmain]

@@conk6379 it’s still arbitrary to say it.

[@OMGAnotherday]

✊🏼🌅

[@pman185]

i wish you'd do a part about the ski race in kitzbuehel

[@SisterWomen]

Simon has become such a rock holster

[@stephensinclair3771]

Open questions. Did the Greeks thin the centre and reinforce both wings to avoid being enveloped on the flanks by being "overlaped" by both wings of the Persian force? Was it a deliberate tactical decision to overwhelming stave in roll up the flanks??

[@ktjayner320]

I'd love to see your take on the disaster that befell Aberfan. Seen it on The Crown and thought it might be a good fit for a video?

[@multiyapples]

Rest In Peace to those that passed away.

[@multiyapples]

I do think Christianity would’ve rose regardless of what happened.

[@Vanished_Mostly]

0:05 Thought my external drive disconnected.

[@mandalor45]

Please do a video on L'Anse aux meadows

[@tigar007]

Great content as always..

[@robertharper3754]

Do the Battle of Tours, that's another one that saved Western Civilization!

[@petergray2712]

Btw Marathon means "Field of Fennel".

[@2thetoaster]

I would love to see a Geographics video about K2

[@boofon6399]

For anybody who is interested in this and wants a deeper dive listen to Dan Carlins King of Kings 3 part series, its fascinating.

[@sarcasmo57]

Quite a run.

[@seanc6128]

Before you said "these are the words of" I was thinking "what the hell even is this intro".

[@victorvonvoid1938]

Your glasses are great, where do you buy them?

[@andrewvachon1943]

I would watch Simon Talks About Places.

[@kostaskanakaris1372]

I hope you don't mind a linguistic correction. The word for generals in Greek is Stratigoi which is read stratigi ("oi" in Greek is read "i")

[@razisn]

Not at the time discussed..

[@Dan19870]

Maybe Ben should write a Casual Criminalist or Business Blaze episode.

[@Rane7685]

Lol that segue - "If you're looking to invade and slaughter a bunch of rebels that wanted to preserve their democracy, consider unbounce for your marketing campaign" hahaha

[@beachboy0505]

Excellent 👍 video When I was young, a snack chocolate 🍫 😋 bar was called 'Marathon' and inexplicably it changed it's name to snickers

[@stevenphillips3506]

The only marathons i want is the ones that you can eat.

[@sanderson9338]

That be a snickers now u old git

[@stevenphillips3506]

@@sanderson9338 lol

[@roobscoob47]

A 'whistle-out' to Whistler

[@anthonyhope5234]

Fascinating.

[@tropicbliss1198]

Nice!