The road to Marathon, the 42 kilometers between the center of Athens and the site of the battle of 490 BCE against an expedition of the Persian Empire, was the course taken by the first modern marathon race in 1896, and continues as the route of the Athens Classic Marathon each fall. In antiquity, too, the route was revered. Evidence from cult sites to conspicuous funerary monuments suggest that ancient Athenians travelled the road to Marathon as a sort of pilgrimage to remember the battle, pay respects to the fallen, and coopt some of Marathon’s legacy for themselves.
Join us Thursday September 29 for an upcoming lecture here at York by Matthew Sears of the University of New Brunswick, who is doing the Classical Association of Canada Lecture Tour this Fall. Professor Sears is the author of Understanding Greek Warfare (2019), Battles and Battlefields of Ancient Greece: A Guide to their History, Topography and Archaeology (co-author with C. Jacob Butera) (2019), and Athens, Thrace and the Shaping of Athenian Leadership (2013).
The talk will be in-person on THURSDAY, SEPT. 29th at 4:30 pm in the History Common Room, VH 2183 and virtually through Zoom.
