Marathon is is a town in Greece and the site of the battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, in which the heavily outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persians. Legend has it that Pheidippides, a Greek herald at the battle, was sent running from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory, which is how the marathon running race was conceived in modern times.

Battle of Thermopylae, (480 BCE), battle in central Greece at the mountain pass of Thermopylae during the Persian Wars. The Greek forces, mostly Spartan, were led by King Leonidas. After three days of holding their own against the Persian king Xerxes I and his vast southward-advancing army, the Greeks were betrayed, and the Persians were able to outflank them. Sending the main army in retreat, Leonidas and a small contingent remained behind to resist the advance and were defeated

The most important surviving monument of Marathon is the tomb of Marathon, the tomb (soros) of 9 m. and a diameter of 50 m. covers the bones of the 192 Athenians who fell at the battle of Marathon. Beneath the soil excavation was discovered the ashes layer of the fire, with the incinerated bones. According to the customs, the winners collected their dead from the battlefield, put them at the stake and they burned them, while around the fire a feast was prepared to honor their bravery.