Call For Papers
Call For Papers
Athens, Greece, December 28-30, 2019
The International Conference on Earth & Environmental Sciences is an international forum for academicians, scientists and experts. The Conference has a distinguished Scientific Committee with extensive academic qualifications, ensuring that the conference maintains high scientific standards and has a broad international coverage. All the abstracts are subject to peer review by committees' members or 2 or 3 additional reviewers. Authors can upgrade their Abstracts to Regular papers at an earlier stage.
Earth & Environmental Sciences play an important role to our modern life. The conference fulfils the vital task of bringing together experts from academia, practice and industry to debate those key topics, to develop innovative theories and solutions, and predict future trends. The conference includes a range of presentation forums, including tutorials, workshops, seminars, and panel sessions.
Abstracts presented at IARAS conference series as well as others approved by the International Association of Research and Science (IARAS) will be permanently available to our site in a Book of Abstracts. Authors that wish to upgrade their Abstracts to Full papers can do it at any time. Best Papers will be further evaluated for possible publication in IARAS Journals.
The conference version of your paper will be published in IARAS journals. The extended version will be published in the following journals:
International Journal on Advanced Science, Engineering and Information Technology
http://ijaseit.insightsociety.org/
International Journal of Computers and Applications (Taylor and Francis)
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tjca20/current
International Journal of Applied Engineering Research (IJAER)
http://www.ripublication.com/ijaer.htm
Journal of Electrical Systems (JES)
http://journal.esrgroups.org/jes/
Advances in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
http://advances.utc.sk/index.php/AEEE/index
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
http://www.arpnjournals.com/jeas/
International Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (IJECE)
http://iaesjournal.com/online/index.php/IJECE
or in other journals indexed in ISI, SCOPUS, EI Compendex, ACM, IET, Google Scholar etc...
Scientific Committee
Scientific Committee
Prof. Konstantinos Arvanitis, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece
Prof. Luis Loures, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Applied Sciences of Portalegre, Portugal
Prof. J. Van Mierlo, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Prof. S. Ozdogan, Marmara University, Goztepe Campus, Kuyubasi, Kadikoy, Istanbul, Turkey
Prof. S. Sohrab, Northwestern University, IL, USA
Prof. Kamaruzaman Sopian, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia
Prof. Mohammad Nazri Mohd Jaafar, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
Prof. Mazlan Abdul Wahid, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
Prof. Jiri Klima, Technical faculty of CZU in Prague, Czech Republic
Prof. Siavash Sohrab, Northwestern University, IL, USA
Prof. A. M.A. Kazim, UAE University, United Arab Emirates
Prof. A. Kurbatskiy, Novosibirsk State University, Department of Physics, Russia
Prof. P. Lunghi, Universita degli Studi di Perugia, Italy
Prof. A. Stamou, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
Prof. A. I. Zouboulis, Dept. of Chemistry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Prof. Ehab Bayoumi, Chalmers University of Technology,Goteborg, Sweden
Prof. Luis Tavares Rua, Cmte Guyubricht, 119. Conj. Jardim Costa do Sol. Atalaia, Brazil
Prof. Igor Kuzle, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Prof. Nikolay Djagarov, Technical University of Varna, Bulgaria
Prof. C. Helmis, University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Prof. Darko Goricanec, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
Prof. Maria do Rosario Alves Calado, University of Beira Interior, Portugal
Prof. Gheorghe-Daniel Andreescu, "Politehnica" University of Timisoara, Romania
Prof. Frangiskos V. Topalis, National Technical University of Athens, Greece
Prof. Bharat Doshi, John Hopkins University, Mayrland, USA
Prof. Gang Yao, University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign, USA
Prof. Lu Peng, Luisian State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Prof. Y. Baudoin, Royal Military Academy, Brussels, Belgium
Prof. Aida Bulucea, University of Craiova, Craiova, Romania
Prof. Eduardo Mario Dias, Escola Politecnica da Universidade de Sao Paulo, BRAZIL
Prof. Germano Lambert-Torres, Itajuba, MG, Brazil
Prof. Lambros Ekonomou, City University London, UK
Prof. George J. Tsekouras, Hellenic Naval Academy, Greece
Prof. Mario Luiso, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy
Prof. Valeri Mladenov, Technical University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria
Prof. Aida Bulucea, University of Craiova, Craiova, Romania
Prof. Patricia Jota, Av. Amazonas 7675, BH, MG, Brazil
Prof. F. Akgun, Gebze Kocaeli, Turkey
Prof. R.S.R. Gorla, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Prof. I. Kazachkov, National Technical University of Ukraine (NTUU KPI ), Kyiv, Ukraine
Prof. Azami Zaharim, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia
Topics
Topics
- Earth
- Environmental Sciences
Location
Location
The conference will be held in TITANIA Hotel (www.titania.gr)
CONTACT US
Panepistimiou 52, Athens 10678 - Greece
Tel: +30.210-33.26.000 Fax: +30.210-33.00.700
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Deadlines
Deadlines
Full Paper Submission (optional): You have 20 additional days to upload your paper
Registration Due: November 30, 2019
Fees
Fees
300 EUR/Paper: Conference bag, Publication in our journals, Coffee-Breaks, Access to all sessions and tutorials.
150 EUR/Additional Paper
Organize a Mini-Symposium
Organize a Mini-Symposium
If you want to organize a Mini-Symposium (Special Session, Workshop), then, please, send us (by email) as soon as possible
* The title of your Special Session, Workshop, Minisymposium
* The name, affiliation, mailing address and e-mail address(es) of the
proposer(s)
* The aim of your Session , Workshop, Minisymposium (not exceeding 80 words)
* Topics of your Session, Workshop, Minisymposium
For every 5 fully registered abstracts/papers, the organizer is entitled to submit a sixth paper without paying any registration fees (without the 2 nights' accomodation in the hotel). We can promote your Special Session / Workshop/ Minisymposium via various scientific mailing lists. If the authors have already uploaded the same papers independently via the web, then, these papers cannot be considered for your Special Session, Workshop, Minisymposium. For this reason, the organizer(s) of the Special Session, Workshop, Minisymposium must collect all the papers and must forwarded to us by email. Proposals for Special Session, Workshop, Minisymposium will be sent to Reviewers for peer review and can be accepted or rejected.
Publication Ethics
Publication Ethics
All submitted abstracts/papers are subject to strict peer-review process by at least two international reviewers that are experts in the area of the particular abstract/paper.
The factors that are taken into account in review are relevance, soundness, significance, originality, readability and language.
The possible decisions include acceptance, acceptance with revisions, or rejection.
If authors are encouraged to revise and resubmit a submission, there is no guarantee that the revised submission will be accepted.
Rejected articles will not be re-reviewed.
Articles may be rejected without review if they are obviously not suitable for publication.
The abstract/paper acceptance is constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism.
The reviewers evaluate abstract/paper for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
The staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
Peer review assists the publisher in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the experts form the scientific board ant the author may also assist the author in improving the abstract/paper.
Abstract/paper received for review are treated as confidential documents and are reviewed by anonymous staff.
A reviewer should also call to the publisher's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published abstract/paper of which they have personal knowledge.
Authors of contributions and studies research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance.
An Abstract/Paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.
Submitting the same manuscript to more than one publication concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study.
All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
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Membership
Membership
Join IARAS!
Become part of the world-wide link between individuals pursuing research in science and technology.
IARAS Institute offers these four types of Membership
* Lecturer
* Assistant Professor
* Associate Professor
* Professor
How to apply? Send us a Short CV to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Benefits of Membership:
1. Join to European Research Projects of IARAS
2. Propose a new European Research Projects with IARAS
3. Become Editor-in-Chief or Member of the Editorial Board of one of IARAS international scientific journals. Prior international experience with editing and review is required
4. Become a Member of of the scientific and organizing committee of the conference witihn your research are
5. Organize an IARAS conference in your department or in your university
6. Participate without a paper presentation to any IARAS Conference without paying any fee subject to official approval. If a paper is presented, the fee must be paid
7. Teach a course in one of our collaborating Universities for one or two semesters
3. Short Visits (1-30 days) in our Offices in France, Cyprus and Bulgaria for further collaboration as Visiting Professor in IARAS
9. Become Plenary Speaker in a future IARAS conference
How to apply? Send us a Short CV to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Social Part - Excursions
Social Part - Excursions
A) BANQUET: In the first day of the conference we will have Greek Night with Buzuki, local dances (syrtaki) and greek food in a traditional taverna (Price 50 EUR / person)
B) EXCURSION: Our excursion (December 31) will be a one-day Excursion in the famous archaeological site Marathon
Marathon is a town in Greece, the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians.
The tumulus or burial mound (tomb) of the 192 Athenian dead, also called the "Soros", which was erected near the battlefield, remains a feature of the coastal plain. The Tymbos is now marked by a marble memorial stele and surrounded by a small park.
http://www.ancientgreekbattles.net/Pages/49040_BattleOfMarathon.htm
Excursion: Cost 50 EUR / person
Includes:
a) Visit in the Tomb of Marathon with professional Guide
b) Archaeological Museum with professional Guide
c) Marathon's lake
d) Lunch in a greek tavern with local seafood (or meat) in the famous Marathon Beach
More Information:
The name "Marathon" (Μαραθών) comes from the herb fennel, called marathon (μάραθον) or marathos (μάραθος) in Ancient Greek, so Marathon literally means "a place full of fennels".It is believed that the town was originally named so because of an abundance of fennel plants in the area.
After Miltiades (the general of the Greek forces) defeated Darius' Persian forces, the Persians decided to sail from Marathon to Athens in order to sack the unprotected city. Miltiades ordered all his hoplite forces to march "double time" back to Athens, so that by the time Darius' troops arrived they saw the same Greek force waiting for them.
The name of the athletic long-distance endurance race, the "marathon",comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier and runner who was sent from Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon.
Although the name Marathon had a positive resonance in Europe in the nineteenth century, for some time that was sullied by the Dilessi murders, which happened nearby in 1870.
View of Lake Marathon
The sophist and magnate Herodes Atticus was born in Marathon. In 1926, the American company ULEN began construction on the Marathon Dam in a valley above Marathon, in order to ensure water supply for Athens. It was completed in 1929. About 10 km² of forested land were flooded to form Lake Marathon.
The beach of Schinias is located southeast of the town and it is a popular windsurfing spot and the Olympic Rowing Center for the 2004 Summer Olympics is also located there. At the 1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics, Marathon was the starting point of the marathon races (for both women and men in 2004). The area is susceptible to flash flooding, because of forest fires having denuded parts of the eastern slopes of Mount Penteli especially in 2006.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon,_Greece
The Battle of Marathon- 490 B.C. (Source: http://www.ancientgreekbattles.net/Pages/49040_BattleOfMarathon.htm)
10,000 Athenians marched out of their city to met the Persians, 80,000 strong who had landed at Marathon, the Persians had with them the ex-tyrant of Athens, Hippias, to try to be able to gain sympathisers in the Athenian camp. The Athenians promptly stood on the defense, to combat the superior cavalry that the Persian had, they felled a number of trees and set them in position on the plain. Their army had ten generals, one of them was Miltiades who was in command. While in preparation of the oncoming battle every available man from Plataea arrived, 600 in all to aid Athens. In honour of a previous battle where Athens came to the defense of Plataea against the Thebans.
The generals were not all inclined on what to do, some said not to risk a battle against so many an enemy but others said the time to fight is now, with Miltiades leading the chorus for a fight now. Fearing that things were not going his way, Miltiades said, that the war-archon had also a right to vote, and they all agreed that he should have the final say. Miltiades spoke with the war-archon, Kallimachus, and gained his vote; for battle.
Each day, a different general was to lead the army, and while on each general's turn they gave up their right of command over to Miltiades, he did not usher them into battle, though he did accept their offers. Aristeides was also a general. Between the 7th and 11th of August, nothing happened.
Both sides sat on the defense neither wanting to advance on the other, each having excellent reason not to attack first. The Athenians, who possessed neither archers nor cavalry, were unwilling to operate in the open plain, where Datis's cavalry squadrons would have them at a severe disadvantage. They still hoped too that if they could delay long enough, help was promised from Sparta. After four days the moon would be full, and a Spartan army - with any luck - would be on its way to join them. The longer the Athenians sat tight, the better their chances. The Persian's too had their own motives for not wishing to force an immediate engagement. If the Athenians were shy of encountering Persian cavalry, Datis and Artaphernes, conversely, had no wish to launch their own weaker infantry against Greek hoplites holding a prepared position. More importantly, they were in touch through Hippias with a group at Athens who had promised to betray the city to the Persian invaders. Those slippery opportunists the Alcmaeonidae were, almost certainly, among the ringleaders. When everything was ready, the conspirators would flash a shield on Mt Pentele. There is no hard evidence to indicate what the signals were to mean. There have been reconstructions and the following are from those.
If the signal from the shield meant that the gates of Athens were ready to be opened, then the response would have been an advance on the city itself, and bypass a land fight. The Persians would have sent the bulk of their fleet to Phaleron Bay and a large part of the cavalry would accompany the assault group and act as a spearhead. Best of all Athens entire citizen army would be immobilised at Marathon by Artaphernes' holding force. If Athens army tried to withdraw, they would have of course been attacked at once, at a severe disadvantage. As soon as Athens fell, Datis' troops would march out along the same coast road as the Athenian army had taken. Kallimachus would have to be compelled to fight a simultaneous frontal and rearguard action, between the mountains and the sea, against vastly superior numbers. Until this trap was to be sprung, the Persian force at Marathon need do nothing - unless the Athenians either attacked or attempted to withdraw.
The Persians lead by Datis and Artaphernes must have known all about those Spartan reinforcements, and the alleged reason for their delay. After such a long time waiting, further waiting might prove highly dangerous. Yet there was still no signal from the pro-Perisan party in Athens. A crucial decision now faced the Persian commanders; and it looks like they made up their minds to take a chance, and go ahead with their planned operation regardless.
Under cover of darkness they decided to put the bulk of their cavalry on their ships, a detachment would be needed for Artaphernes' holding force at Marathon. The bulk of the army too would have been set aboard. It seems likely that there was still a substantial body being left behind at Marathon. Even though with the coming of daylight and the landing at Athens becoming common knowledge, they did not expect their opponents to risk an attack without archers or cavalry.
The Persians were hoping for the benefit of treachery to favour them, but it was the Athenians who actually got the benefit. Some Ionian scouts serving with Artaphernes noticed the absence of Datis' cavalry and slipped across the battle lines before dawn, carving a message on a olive tree, bearing the message that would later on, be famous - 'the cavalry are away'.
When Miltiades' turn came to be commander of the army and being the eleventh day after the Persian landing, the Athenian battle was set in array. (Obviously, Miltiades was leader on day one and eleven).
Lining up in battle formation at a distance of 8 furlongs (about a mile) from the invaders, Miltiades had already discussed how the battle should take place.
Three very distinct tactics were going to be used in the upcoming battle.
Firstly, it had always been usual for an army to march in unison and in cohesion as they advanced forward, usually to the sound of pipes. This was because being in phalanx formation a tightly packed force would leave little gaps for the enemy to be able to exploit. This would be very disadvantageous here, the Persian archers would be deadly, there were thousands of them hailing down a shower of arrows, the slower the Athenians marched the more times an archer could shoot. The Athenians would attack at a run, giving less chance of the archers to get off their shots.
Secondly, the Athenians were hopelessly outnumbered, they were about 11,000 hoplites only, against a force of Persians who must have been more than twice as strong (historians say anything up to 80,000) because they thought the Athenians 'were so few' . A phalanx army at that time usually was 8 man deep but this would not work here as the Persian line would easily outwing them. The Athenian line was realigned to allow the front line to line up the same size as the Persians, this did not allow the standard 8 man depth for the phalanx. To compound the problem the wings of the Athenian line was reinforced, leaving a token force to handle the middle ( 2 maybe 3 deep).
Thirdly, it was a habit of that time (and it would continue well past 1000 A.D.) that when braking through enemy lines, soldiers would pursued on, killing the retreating as they went until reaching the baggage camp and either continued after the retreating soldiersor plundered the baggage for spoils. This would not be allowed here, if either of the heavily soldiered wings broke through they were not to charge down fleeing Persians, but must stay in the foray and continue to help where they could. (A revelation to be sure see how this effected the outcome of the Battle of Mantinea 418 B.C. )
Marathon battle to the shorelineIn early morning, the call came and the Greeks marched at the barbarians, when they reached between 150 to 200 yards they were commanded to attack at a run. There was no shouting, no battle-song: they needed all the breath they had. The Persians, therefore, when they saw the Greeks coming on at speed, made ready to receive them, although it seemed to them that the Athenians had lost their senses and were bent upon their own destruction; for they saw a mere handful of men coming on at a run, without either horsemen or archers.
The Greeks with shields high to take the rain of archers arrows ran right into the main body of the Persian army.
This was pivotal to the outcome of the battle. For one; the archers were no longer useful as it had now turned to hand to hand combat and two; any Persian cavalry present was ineffective, the horses couldn't past their own men to get to the Greeks (also horses are not best after a sea voyage), and had lost all formation during the battle.
For a length of time the battle took place. In the middle where the Persians outnumbered the Greeks, the Persians were getting the upper hand. Battle cries and screams filled the air as Greek spears penetrated Persian wicker shields.
The Persian order of battle was just as Miltiades had anticipated Artaphernes' best troops - Iranian guardsmen reinforced by picked tribal warriors from the eastern frontier - were placed in the center. His less reliable units, the satellite battalions of the empire, had been relegated to the wings. Amongst these were the Ionians: Greek arrayed against Greek, and as the events of the previous night suggest probably not too happy about it.
Athenians swept into the enemy, sending many disoriented Persian soldiers fleeing to die in the marsh. Retreating through the pines, still more Persians fell to the athletically trained Greeks. On the wings, the Persians were now getting massacred, and had broken into a run to get back towards the ships. The middle of the line was clearly won by the Persians, who forced the center of the Athenian line to retreat. At this stage the hoplites converged on the two wings turned their attention onto the remaining Persian forces in the middle.
The remaining barbarians now seeing most of their army flee towards the ships, also broke out into a run. The center was now conquered by the Greeks.The fighting continues to the beach
The Greeks chased and butchered Persians at ease for their mad rush to get onto the boats. Some dropped their equipment and ran, others turned and fought, but no front against the advancing Greeks withheld them for long. Superior armour and weapons with a well disciplined army, was too much for the barbarians to handle. The chase was on all the way to the shoreline.
The Athenians attack the shipsAt the boats the struggle continued, and here is where many of the Greeks lost their lives. The Greek polemarch Kallimachus and one of the generals were slain, a hoplite named Kynegeiros too grabbing a boat by the stern had his hand cut off by an axe, later dieing because of his injuries.
The Greeks secured only seven of the vessels; while with the remainder the barbarians pushed off, and headed towards the island where they had left all of their prisoners. Darius had asked for prisoners on their return, and the Persians were not coming back empty handed. Even though the Persians had been removed from Marathon, there was no need for them to panic. They still had every opportunity to finish what they had started.
It was at this point that the signal was flashed from the mountains above Marathon. The Persian commanders gave orders to set a course for Sunium and Phaleron, no doubt hoping to find Athens already occupied by Datis, or at least arrive before the Athenian army did. It would have been about nine in the morning, perhaps even earlier: the battle and pursuit had taken something under three hours.
What Persians were left on shore was killed off; the remaining Greek army gathered. Weary, injured and gasping for breath they were given time to rest, but no time to bask in their victory, the fight was only half won.
Anti-Plagiarism Policy
Anti-Plagiarism Policy
All Submissions screened by iThenticate (Professional Plagiarism Prevention).
Plagiarized papers are automatically rejected and their authors are banned from further submissions.
Peer-Review
Peer-Review
IARAS Conferences are subjected to peer review and have high selectivity. Peer review is defined as obtaining advice on individual manuscripts from reviewers expert in the field who are not part of the journal’s editorial staff. As Open Access Journals they have also Fees.
Tutorial
Tutorial
If you want to upgrade your presentation to a Tutorial, contact us (There is possibility for a limited number)
Social Part - Excursions
Social Part - Excursions
A) BANQUET: In the first day of the conference we will have Greek Night with Buzuki, local dances (syrtaki) and greek food in a traditional taverna (Price 50 EUR / person)
B) EXCURSION: Our excursion (December 31) will be a one-day Excursion in the famous archaeological site Marathon
Marathon is a town in Greece, the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BC, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians.
The tumulus or burial mound (tomb) of the 192 Athenian dead, also called the "Soros", which was erected near the battlefield, remains a feature of the coastal plain. The Tymbos is now marked by a marble memorial stele and surrounded by a small park.
http://www.ancientgreekbattles.net/Pages/49040_BattleOfMarathon.htm
Excursion: Cost 50 EUR / person
Includes:
a) Visit in the Tomb of Marathon with professional Guide
b) Archaeological Museum with professional Guide
c) Marathon's lake
d) Lunch in a greek tavern with local seafood (or meat) in the famous Marathon Beach
More Information:
The name "Marathon" (Μαραθών) comes from the herb fennel, called marathon (μάραθον) or marathos (μάραθος) in Ancient Greek, so Marathon literally means "a place full of fennels".It is believed that the town was originally named so because of an abundance of fennel plants in the area.
After Miltiades (the general of the Greek forces) defeated Darius' Persian forces, the Persians decided to sail from Marathon to Athens in order to sack the unprotected city. Miltiades ordered all his hoplite forces to march "double time" back to Athens, so that by the time Darius' troops arrived they saw the same Greek force waiting for them.
The name of the athletic long-distance endurance race, the "marathon",comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek soldier and runner who was sent from Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon.
Although the name Marathon had a positive resonance in Europe in the nineteenth century, for some time that was sullied by the Dilessi murders, which happened nearby in 1870.
View of Lake Marathon
The sophist and magnate Herodes Atticus was born in Marathon. In 1926, the American company ULEN began construction on the Marathon Dam in a valley above Marathon, in order to ensure water supply for Athens. It was completed in 1929. About 10 km² of forested land were flooded to form Lake Marathon.
The beach of Schinias is located southeast of the town and it is a popular windsurfing spot and the Olympic Rowing Center for the 2004 Summer Olympics is also located there. At the 1896 and 2004 Summer Olympics, Marathon was the starting point of the marathon races (for both women and men in 2004). The area is susceptible to flash flooding, because of forest fires having denuded parts of the eastern slopes of Mount Penteli especially in 2006.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon,_Greece
The Battle of Marathon- 490 B.C. (Source: http://www.ancientgreekbattles.net/Pages/49040_BattleOfMarathon.htm)
10,000 Athenians marched out of their city to met the Persians, 80,000 strong who had landed at Marathon, the Persians had with them the ex-tyrant of Athens, Hippias, to try to be able to gain sympathisers in the Athenian camp. The Athenians promptly stood on the defense, to combat the superior cavalry that the Persian had, they felled a number of trees and set them in position on the plain. Their army had ten generals, one of them was Miltiades who was in command. While in preparation of the oncoming battle every available man from Plataea arrived, 600 in all to aid Athens. In honour of a previous battle where Athens came to the defense of Plataea against the Thebans.
The generals were not all inclined on what to do, some said not to risk a battle against so many an enemy but others said the time to fight is now, with Miltiades leading the chorus for a fight now. Fearing that things were not going his way, Miltiades said, that the war-archon had also a right to vote, and they all agreed that he should have the final say. Miltiades spoke with the war-archon, Kallimachus, and gained his vote; for battle.
Each day, a different general was to lead the army, and while on each general's turn they gave up their right of command over to Miltiades, he did not usher them into battle, though he did accept their offers. Aristeides was also a general. Between the 7th and 11th of August, nothing happened.
Both sides sat on the defense neither wanting to advance on the other, each having excellent reason not to attack first. The Athenians, who possessed neither archers nor cavalry, were unwilling to operate in the open plain, where Datis's cavalry squadrons would have them at a severe disadvantage. They still hoped too that if they could delay long enough, help was promised from Sparta. After four days the moon would be full, and a Spartan army - with any luck - would be on its way to join them. The longer the Athenians sat tight, the better their chances. The Persian's too had their own motives for not wishing to force an immediate engagement. If the Athenians were shy of encountering Persian cavalry, Datis and Artaphernes, conversely, had no wish to launch their own weaker infantry against Greek hoplites holding a prepared position. More importantly, they were in touch through Hippias with a group at Athens who had promised to betray the city to the Persian invaders. Those slippery opportunists the Alcmaeonidae were, almost certainly, among the ringleaders. When everything was ready, the conspirators would flash a shield on Mt Pentele. There is no hard evidence to indicate what the signals were to mean. There have been reconstructions and the following are from those.
If the signal from the shield meant that the gates of Athens were ready to be opened, then the response would have been an advance on the city itself, and bypass a land fight. The Persians would have sent the bulk of their fleet to Phaleron Bay and a large part of the cavalry would accompany the assault group and act as a spearhead. Best of all Athens entire citizen army would be immobilised at Marathon by Artaphernes' holding force. If Athens army tried to withdraw, they would have of course been attacked at once, at a severe disadvantage. As soon as Athens fell, Datis' troops would march out along the same coast road as the Athenian army had taken. Kallimachus would have to be compelled to fight a simultaneous frontal and rearguard action, between the mountains and the sea, against vastly superior numbers. Until this trap was to be sprung, the Persian force at Marathon need do nothing - unless the Athenians either attacked or attempted to withdraw.
The Persians lead by Datis and Artaphernes must have known all about those Spartan reinforcements, and the alleged reason for their delay. After such a long time waiting, further waiting might prove highly dangerous. Yet there was still no signal from the pro-Perisan party in Athens. A crucial decision now faced the Persian commanders; and it looks like they made up their minds to take a chance, and go ahead with their planned operation regardless.
Under cover of darkness they decided to put the bulk of their cavalry on their ships, a detachment would be needed for Artaphernes' holding force at Marathon. The bulk of the army too would have been set aboard. It seems likely that there was still a substantial body being left behind at Marathon. Even though with the coming of daylight and the landing at Athens becoming common knowledge, they did not expect their opponents to risk an attack without archers or cavalry.
The Persians were hoping for the benefit of treachery to favour them, but it was the Athenians who actually got the benefit. Some Ionian scouts serving with Artaphernes noticed the absence of Datis' cavalry and slipped across the battle lines before dawn, carving a message on a olive tree, bearing the message that would later on, be famous - 'the cavalry are away'.
When Miltiades' turn came to be commander of the army and being the eleventh day after the Persian landing, the Athenian battle was set in array. (Obviously, Miltiades was leader on day one and eleven).
Lining up in battle formation at a distance of 8 furlongs (about a mile) from the invaders, Miltiades had already discussed how the battle should take place.
Three very distinct tactics were going to be used in the upcoming battle.
Firstly, it had always been usual for an army to march in unison and in cohesion as they advanced forward, usually to the sound of pipes. This was because being in phalanx formation a tightly packed force would leave little gaps for the enemy to be able to exploit. This would be very disadvantageous here, the Persian archers would be deadly, there were thousands of them hailing down a shower of arrows, the slower the Athenians marched the more times an archer could shoot. The Athenians would attack at a run, giving less chance of the archers to get off their shots.
Secondly, the Athenians were hopelessly outnumbered, they were about 11,000 hoplites only, against a force of Persians who must have been more than twice as strong (historians say anything up to 80,000) because they thought the Athenians 'were so few' . A phalanx army at that time usually was 8 man deep but this would not work here as the Persian line would easily outwing them. The Athenian line was realigned to allow the front line to line up the same size as the Persians, this did not allow the standard 8 man depth for the phalanx. To compound the problem the wings of the Athenian line was reinforced, leaving a token force to handle the middle ( 2 maybe 3 deep).
Thirdly, it was a habit of that time (and it would continue well past 1000 A.D.) that when braking through enemy lines, soldiers would pursued on, killing the retreating as they went until reaching the baggage camp and either continued after the retreating soldiersor plundered the baggage for spoils. This would not be allowed here, if either of the heavily soldiered wings broke through they were not to charge down fleeing Persians, but must stay in the foray and continue to help where they could. (A revelation to be sure see how this effected the outcome of the Battle of Mantinea 418 B.C. )
Marathon battle to the shorelineIn early morning, the call came and the Greeks marched at the barbarians, when they reached between 150 to 200 yards they were commanded to attack at a run. There was no shouting, no battle-song: they needed all the breath they had. The Persians, therefore, when they saw the Greeks coming on at speed, made ready to receive them, although it seemed to them that the Athenians had lost their senses and were bent upon their own destruction; for they saw a mere handful of men coming on at a run, without either horsemen or archers.
The Greeks with shields high to take the rain of archers arrows ran right into the main body of the Persian army.
This was pivotal to the outcome of the battle. For one; the archers were no longer useful as it had now turned to hand to hand combat and two; any Persian cavalry present was ineffective, the horses couldn't past their own men to get to the Greeks (also horses are not best after a sea voyage), and had lost all formation during the battle.
For a length of time the battle took place. In the middle where the Persians outnumbered the Greeks, the Persians were getting the upper hand. Battle cries and screams filled the air as Greek spears penetrated Persian wicker shields.
The Persian order of battle was just as Miltiades had anticipated Artaphernes' best troops - Iranian guardsmen reinforced by picked tribal warriors from the eastern frontier - were placed in the center. His less reliable units, the satellite battalions of the empire, had been relegated to the wings. Amongst these were the Ionians: Greek arrayed against Greek, and as the events of the previous night suggest probably not too happy about it.
Athenians swept into the enemy, sending many disoriented Persian soldiers fleeing to die in the marsh. Retreating through the pines, still more Persians fell to the athletically trained Greeks. On the wings, the Persians were now getting massacred, and had broken into a run to get back towards the ships. The middle of the line was clearly won by the Persians, who forced the center of the Athenian line to retreat. At this stage the hoplites converged on the two wings turned their attention onto the remaining Persian forces in the middle.
The remaining barbarians now seeing most of their army flee towards the ships, also broke out into a run. The center was now conquered by the Greeks.The fighting continues to the beach
The Greeks chased and butchered Persians at ease for their mad rush to get onto the boats. Some dropped their equipment and ran, others turned and fought, but no front against the advancing Greeks withheld them for long. Superior armour and weapons with a well disciplined army, was too much for the barbarians to handle. The chase was on all the way to the shoreline.
The Athenians attack the shipsAt the boats the struggle continued, and here is where many of the Greeks lost their lives. The Greek polemarch Kallimachus and one of the generals were slain, a hoplite named Kynegeiros too grabbing a boat by the stern had his hand cut off by an axe, later dieing because of his injuries.
The Greeks secured only seven of the vessels; while with the remainder the barbarians pushed off, and headed towards the island where they had left all of their prisoners. Darius had asked for prisoners on their return, and the Persians were not coming back empty handed. Even though the Persians had been removed from Marathon, there was no need for them to panic. They still had every opportunity to finish what they had started.
It was at this point that the signal was flashed from the mountains above Marathon. The Persian commanders gave orders to set a course for Sunium and Phaleron, no doubt hoping to find Athens already occupied by Datis, or at least arrive before the Athenian army did. It would have been about nine in the morning, perhaps even earlier: the battle and pursuit had taken something under three hours.
What Persians were left on shore was killed off; the remaining Greek army gathered. Weary, injured and gasping for breath they were given time to rest, but no time to bask in their victory, the fight was only half won.