This is a book about the events of a single day, ‘a day of blood and fire’, as heralded in the introduction. Yet in a slim volume it covers an extensive timescale, from the sixth century BCE to the present day. There are 12 chapters, each divided into about six sections. The first few chapters introduce the Graeco-Persian world before the Battle of Marathon; then comes the battle and its aftermath. The second half of the book deals with Nevin's chief focus, the idea of the battle, or more specifically the ideals surrounding Marathon, as she traces its reception and cultural legacy through the ages. The maps and line drawings and vase paintings are helpful additions, though not all of these are easy to read.
It is not, however, an account of the battle, nor is there a full chronology of events. Readers looking for either of these things are likely to be disappointed, and a degree of understanding of the events of 490 would be an essential pre-read. With this in mind, it is not immediately evident who would benefit most from reading this book. It somewhat by-passes the essential details required for OCR's A Level Ancient History, although it is certainly enriching reading for a teacher or a school student looking for extension. It would be an exciting inclusion on a university reading list, but also has an immediacy and accessibility which would appeal to the informed general reader.
Indeed, so immediately readable is the language that it sometimes belies the scholarship of the work. Nevin's style would not look out of place in a work of popular historical fiction. In many respects her writing is reminiscent of one of her key sources, Herodotus. With him she shares a fondness for anecdote, digression, drama and speculation: ‘Were [the Athenians’ former slaves] more comfortable socialising with each other? Was that even permitted?’. All this makes it an engaging read. Details are described with often dramatic fervour, inviting the reader's imagination and lifting the history off the page. Some readers, however, may find the style disconcertingly intimate, and may struggle, for example, to be told that ‘It is time we met the Milesians’ new best friends, the Persians’.
Rich insights into the Cimonid family and the Ionian Greeks can be found here, and a useful, concise introduction to Herodotus. Nevin exposes the difficulty of establishing with certainty the events of the battle. She explores the question, unanswered in Herodotus, of whether Persian cavalry fought at Marathon (‘so intriguing’ she writes), and offers insights from texts as diverse as Cornelius Nepos, and the tenth-century Suda, as well as drawing on later scholarship. Another unanswerable question is whether news of the Athenian victory at Marathon was communicated to the Persians in an act of betrayal by signalling with a shield. In Herodotean manner, Nevin offers a variety of explanations and commits to none.
While the idea (or ideals) of Marathon naturally invites an Athenian focus, Nevin's approach is even-handed. Persians are given due consideration, and anti-Persian sentiment is called out, even where it comes from Aristophanes, whose crude and unnuanced portrayal of Greece's enemy is unsurprising. ‘It is absurd. It is rude. It ridicules the Persians generally through an out-of-control Datis’. The single chapter devoted to the Persians, their culture and leadership, is one of the clearest and most readable introductions to Persian culture available. What appears to interest Nevin more is to expose the reception of the Persians at Marathon as the barbarian aggressor against the righteous Greek heroes. Nevin cites a childhood work of Branwell Bronte, The History of the Young Men, which invites comparison between the Greeks at Marathon and a small number of Europeans in Africa facing opposition from a 700-strong indigenous army. In Bronte's work, the heroic ideal of Marathon was transferred to the currently unpopular idea of colonialism. With this example, Nevin not only shows how the classical idea of Marathon has a place in 19th century English literature, but also broaches a theme which is very pertinent to contemporary scholarship.
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