I peered across the battlefield of lush green grass,
Which was about to be decimated by thousands of boots
from both ourselves and the Persian fiends.
The place was far from Athens and from what I gathered from the towns around it,
It was a sanctuary, a way to escape the stresses and turmoil of town and city-life.
It was called Marathon and now was to be destroyed by the severe effects of war.
We all stood quaking in our boots.
I, Aeschylus, by far was the most anxious
And that was far from what I could say for my brother, Cynaegirus.
He stood there grinning at me, what a fool! But I guess he has the right to grin,
Of all of us, he is one of the most experienced in battle.

As I looked into the enemy’s faces, the same grin of my brother’s was in view.
I could easily understand why they were maniacally grinning and smirking at us.
We were citizen army, not many of us had battle experience, and we were extremely outnumbered.
I looked on to our leader, Miltiades, for some emotional support as he turned to us on his stead.
His cadaverous expression did not help to ease my apprehension and the rising tension
Between the two stationary armies.
‘KILL!’ he shouted repetitively in an ardent manner and soon got the whole Athenian army jeering,
And stomping the blunt end of their spears in a rhythm. Even I was inclined to join in.

The Persian brutes’ grin disappeared, as our jeers grew louder.
Now a look of amazement and surprise took their countenance,
It was at that moment our conquest began, as Miltiades repetitive shouts of ‘KILL!’
Were concluded with a monstrous scream, similar to that of a dragon, that signalled us
To attack and we did so fervently.
All my anxieties and apprehensions were devoured by the courage and bravery that was
Now erupting from the veins and arteries, that were pumping blood as fast as they could
Throughout my body, in my heart.
The powers of words are truly magnificent and transcend over all, even on the battlefield.

Without choice, they forced themselves out of the deep abyss of shock and surprise.
They followed our example with haste and soon the clash of armies began.
I moved as swiftly as I could, avoiding any swinging swords as well as killing any Persian soldier
I saw struggling. My sword was a ???????, spreading blood across the sheet of grass.
I looked over to Cynaegirus, who seemed to be overwhelmed, but I trusted him to save himself
As I was overwhelmed with an unfathomable number of Persians.
The battle followed in this way, until the Persians casualties were too great and they retreated.
I scanned the once green, now crimson, field of dead corpses and lifeless soldiers
In search of my brother, only to find him lying deceased at the spot I saw him being overwhelmed.
I dropped on my knees heavily, as the weight of pain increasingly grew heavier with every second
That I stared at my brother.

My time to lament was cut short by the scream of fellow soldiers, claiming that
The Persians were heading to Athens and Miltiades gave the orders to leave at once to Athens.
I had no choice but to leave my brother’s corpse, but before leaving I found an untainted white
Lily in the meadow of blood and I laid it on his chest. I promised on that pure white lily I would come
back and bury him.

We ran an amazingly extended journey of twenty-six miles,
And were able to fend off the enemy to protect our city.
The city state of Athens. In the end, no ruler or empire is able to control
The free will of men. Our democracy or demos Kratos will survive throughout.
Our run will be remembered across the ages as the marathon, reflecting
Our courage and strength on that day. We buried the dead in marathon,
Simply creating a monument to their lives with a basic mound of earth.
Better than any pompous, arrogant monument left behind by previous emperors
and kings of empires and kingdoms.