- This article is about the Athenian general. For the Pope of the same name, see Pope Miltiades.
Miltiades (c.540 BC–c.488 BC) was an aristocrat from a major family of Athens. He made himself ruler of Gallipoli in Turkey, and probably fought against Darius I and his Persian forces. He was overthrown in 492 BC, after which he fled to Athens and soon served the city-state as a general.
While leading a military expedition to the Crimean peninsula (a major source of grain for the Athenians) he married Hegesipyle, the daughter of Olorus the King of Thrace.
Their son Cimon was a major figure of the 470s and 460s BC.
Miltiades was elected one of the 10 generals (strategoi) for 490/489, and is often credited with the tactics that defeated the Persians in the Battle of Marathon that year. He was later branded as a traitor and sent to prison in 489 BC.
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