The 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon

[Starlightman]

Official logo honouring the 2500th anniversary of the legend of the Marathon run, available for use as a supplementary item by race organisations during the year 2010 worldwide.


The 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon will be celebrated September 9-11 2011 at Marathon, in Greece. We have the support of the Municipality of Marathon and we will put on a variety of period activities over the three days aimed at public education and entertainment, authentic recreation, and solemn recognition of the strivings and sacrifices by the men and women of two great cultures that helped to shape the modern world—both Persian and Greek.
The organizers would like to encourage every group to come with its own presentations and ideas for activities by the whole group of assembled reenactors, who will probably be the largest accumulation of “Hoplite Period” reenactors together in one place.


We may or may not actually have a BATTLE reenactment. It is more likely that we will offer historical interpretation via vignettes and non-opposed demonstrations (the phalanx, the power of Persian archery) but if the organizers are able, consistent with safety and insurance, we will have some form of opposed line tactical demonstration

http://marathon2011.hoplologia.org/index.html


Sweating beneath heavy armour, a group of die-hard archaeology fans brought the Battle of Marathon to life this weekend on the coastal plain where the fate of Europe dramatically changed 2,500 years ago.
Gathering from Europe, North America and Australia, the re-enactors staged a three-day event of combat, archaic culture revival and commemoration at Marathon Bay never before seen in Greece despite its rich archaeological heritage.
For many of the participants, it was also a personal pilgrimage after long years of arduous preparation and unfulfilled hope.
"It's a dream come true after 10 years," said Hywel Jones, a printer from Wales who came to Marathon with his wife Stephanie to fight as a Greek hoplite, the heavily armed infantry soldier of ancient Greece.
Most of the re-enactors had spent thousands of euros (dollars) on travel expenses just to get to this small town 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Athens that is better known for the long-distance race held here every year.

http://news.yahoo.com/history-brough...111528408.html



I was there at third day, Sunday 10th September...

here are some photos

more to come next days...

It was spectacular I must say....

more photos also HERE

and here at Roman Army Talk

[Starlightman]

more photos from the trophy of the battle of Marathon and...with Mr Cameron (#72)from

As you may have noted, a lot of us are going to Marathon to recreate the battle, and a little of the two cultures. It's 2500th anniversary, and if you visit the Agora, you'll find lots of threads related to the reenactment--about 100 people from the UK, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, the US and Canada and Australia and--well, everywhere that people love Ancient Greece.

http://hippeis.com/

but who is Mr Cameron?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Christian Cameron, "Marathon - Freedom or Death" ("Long War 2")

Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Orion (18 Aug 2011)
Language English
ISBN-13: 978-1409114086

Book Description:
The second volume in the Marathon series, featuring the battle of Marathon itself.

Product Description:
The Battle of Marathon in 490 BC was one of history's great turning points - the first time the Greeks managed to defeat the Persians in a pitched battle, it enabled the rise of classical Greek civilization. As John Stuart Mill famously put it, 'The Battle of Marathon, even as an event in British history, is more important than the Battle of Hastings.' Without it, the modern world as we know it would not exist. Christian Cameron's epic retelling of the battle will bring it alive, with all of its human drama and tragedy, as never before. The Greeks do not always behave well - in fact, many readers may come to see them as ignorant and bigoted as compared to the multi-cultural Persians, who for some, actually bring greater freedom - at least for a while. The heroic Militiades, who led the Greeks at Marathon and then died in exile, a ruined man, was a fatally flawed character. His opponent, The Persian King Darius, was guilty of vaulting ambition and hubris, but he combined it with personal integrity and vast generosity. And in the middle, torn between two cultures, one of which has already made him a slave, we find Arimnestos - ancestor of the Kineas of the Tyrant books - nicknamed 'Killer of Men', he will lead a decisive contingent of infantry in the thickest of the battle...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Marathon-Lon.../dp/1409114082

2011 will mark the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon, possibly the most pivotal military event of the ancient world.


Hoplologia intends to create a reenactment unit, the Taxeis Plataia (the "Group of Plataians") to go to Marathon, Greece in September, 2011 and help recreate the battle, and indeed the entire world of late Archaic Greece. We hope to march from Plataia to Marathon, camp, and recreate the life of the citizen-hoplite—and his family! Ideally, we hope to have between thirty and sixty members in kit in Greece to mark the day.

http://www.hoplologia.org/marathon.html


more photos and comments here...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...0381f66cc5.171

and here, from STERN.de

http://www.stern.de/panorama/krieg-d...t-1726665.html

[Marcus Aemilius Longinus]

Well that must have been some fun for the particicpants. I guess greek reenactors are kind of unlucky that there are so few representing that period but it is good to know that they get at least one big one period event.