diminishing the extent of the front, and hampering the operations of
the larger army. The command of the Greek army had been intrusted to
ten generals, who ruled successively one day each. Themistocles, one
of these generals, resigned his day in favor of Miltiades, and all the
others followed his example. And so the battle was set, ten thousand
Greeks, under Miltiades, against the overwhelming hosts of the enemy.

10. The Persians, confident in their numbers, erected no
intrenchments. They did not dream of an attack from the little band of
Greeks. There is evidence to believe that they were dissatisfied with
the nature of the battle-field they had chosen, and were upon the
point of embarking to land at some point nearer the city. If this was
the case, they were very rudely awakened from their dream of security
by the movement of the Greeks.

11. On the morning of the tenth day after leaving Athens, Miltiades
drew up his army in order of battle. He was obliged to perilously
weaken his center in order to confront the whole of the Persian army,
so as to avoid the danger of being outflanked and surrounded. The
Greeks began the battle by a furious attack along the whole line,
endeavoring to close in a hand-to-hand conflict as soon as possible,
so as to avoid the deadly arrows of the Persians, and to take the
advantage of their heavier arms. The Persians were greatly astonished
when they saw this little band rushing against them with such a
headlong dash, and thought that the Greeks must have been seized with
madness. The Persian general had concentrated his forces at the
center, and at this part of the battle-field the fiery onset of Greeks
was checked by mere weight of numbers. But at length the mighty
Persian force moved irresistibly forward, forcing the Greeks slowly
backward, fighting, dying, but never yielding. Soon the Greek army