Astronomers: The first marathon was in August - and the runner probably died of fever

By Deborah Zabrenko, Reuters, Haaretz, Walla!

Direct link to this page: https://www.hayadan.org.il/originalmarathon.html

Was the messenger's arduous run from the battlefield at Marathon to Athens on a summer day in August and not in the cooler September? A group of astronomers thinks so. The discovery provides a possible explanation for the mystery of the quick death of the Greek runner, who, according to legend, ran a distance of 42.195 kilometers from Marathon to Athens, managed to mutter the news of Athens' victory over Persia, fell to the ground - and died.

Many calculations, most of which were based on the calculations of the 19th century German scholar August Beck, indicated that the Battle of Marathon - the battle fought by the Athenians against the Persian invaders on the coast of Marathon in Greece - was on September 12, 490 BC. Similar to today's astronomers, Beck also relied in his calculations on the writings of Herodotus, which accurately describe the position of the moon at the time of the battle.

However, astronomers from the University of Texas calculated and found that Beck did not take into account the differences between the Athenian calendar and the Spartan calendar. According to them, at the time the battle took place there was a gap of one month between the tablets, and therefore the battle and the first "marathon run" in history should be placed on August 12 of that year.

Both calendars, the Athenian and the Spartan, were lunisolar: calendars based on the lunar cycle, but also adjusted to the solar year. However, according to Russell Doscher, one of the three authors of the article "The Moon and the Marathon" published in the August editions of the magazine "Sky and Telescope", the year in each of the calendars began at a different time.

The year in the Athenian calendar began on the longest day of the year (June 21 or 22), while in Sparta the year began in autumn - on the day when there is an equinox (September 21 or 22). There are 12 full moon months in a year, but they add up to only 354 days, so there is a remainder of 11 days. Every few years the Athenians added a "bridge month" to coordinate the lunar cycle with the solar cycle. "In that specific year, between 491-490 BC, ten new moons appeared between the day when day and night were equal in length to the longest day of the year - instead of nine 'normal' moons. It so happened that the Spartan calendar was one month ahead of the Athenian one," said Dusher.

When the Athenians first discovered that the Persians had invaded the coast of Marathon, the runner Pheidippides was sent to Sparta to ask for aid. The Spartans replied that they would not be able to go on a journey before the next full moon - because of a religious holiday. Beck believed that that holiday was the "Carnea" holiday, named after the Spartan month "Carnaeus", relying on the writings of the ancient Greek biographer Plutarch. Plutarch drew a parallel between Karnaeus and "Metgaitnion" - a month in the Athenian calendar, and from this parallel Beck deduced that the battle took place in September.

However, Duscher and his colleagues say that in 490 BC the full moon of Karnaeus was one month earlier - in August, which probably made it very difficult for that historical runner. The average maximum temperature in Athens in September is about 28 degrees Celsius. In August, however, the average maximum temperature is 39 degrees. The astronomers speculate that the high temperature that Hertz had to face is the reason why, immediately after he had time to announce the victory of Athens, he died.

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