The Real Story of the Marathon馬拉松的真實由來

We all think we know how the marathon started， but the full story tells of an even more spectacular running feat; and not just by Pheidippides.

我們都覺得自己知道馬拉松的由來，但故事的全貌是一場更為了不起的長跑壯舉，而且不僅僅是費迪皮迪茲一個人在奔跑。

Everyone knows the original story of the marathon， right？ The runner ran 26 miles1 back from the Plain of Marathon to Athens， bringing news of the Athenian victory over the Persians， and he died of exhaustion after he gasped out his story.

馬拉松起源的故事人盡皆知，不是嗎？故事的主人公從馬拉松平原出發，狂奔26英里，將雅典人戰勝波斯人的捷報帶回雅典城。他氣喘吁吁地報告這一喜訊后，精疲力竭而死。

In fact， the real story is better than the legend， and much more of an inspir-ation to today’s runners. For the Greeks won the Battle of Marathon as much by their running as by their fighting.

事實上，真實的歷史比傳說精彩，而且更能激勵今天的馬拉松跑者——因為希臘人之所以能夠取得馬拉松戰役的勝利，既靠英勇作戰，也靠長途奔襲。

In 490 BC a Persian army of over 25，000 men （some accounts put the figure as high as 60，000）， plus cavalry and some 600 ships， invaded Greece and began to ravage the coast of Attica. Their plan was simple： to land at Marathon， 26 miles north of Athens; beat the small Athenian army; then sail round the coast to invade the city from the south， where they hoped the gates would be opened to them by traitors within.

公元前490年，波斯軍隊集結2.5萬余名步兵（有些說法稱人數高達6萬），外加騎兵和大約600艘戰船進犯希臘，開始在阿提卡海岸一帶大肆劫掠。波斯軍隊的作戰計劃簡單直接：在雅典以北26英里的馬拉松平原登陸；擊潰小股雅典軍隊；乘船繞過海岸，指望城中內應替他們打開城門，由南岸直取雅典城。

The Athenians could only put up an army of 10，000 men， with no cavalry and no ships. Their allies from the tiny city state of Plataia sent 1000 soldiers. The Greeks were hopelessly outnumbered， but when the Persians landed， the Athenians and Plataians marched out to Marathon， a narrow plain by the sea where they could block the road to Athens.

雅典軍隊能集結的兵力僅有1萬名步兵，沒有騎兵，也沒有戰船。同盟之中也僅有小城邦普拉提亞派出1000名步兵。兩城聯軍陷入敵眾我寡的絕望境地，但波斯軍隊登陸時，聯軍開始向海邊狹長的馬拉松平原進發，以期封鎖通往雅典的道路。

This is where the running epic began. The Athenians needed help from Sparta—the Peloponnese city near the present-day town of Argos. Before they marched to Marathon the Athenians had sent the runner Pheidippides to beg the Spartans for assistance. He was a professional military messenger and must have been quite an athlete， able to cover dangerous ground alone， look after himself， commit accurate messages to memory and answer questions when he arrived.

史詩級的奔跑就此拉開序幕。雅典急需斯巴達馳援，后者這個伯羅奔尼撒半島上的城邦位于今日希臘城市阿爾戈斯附近。向馬拉松平原進軍前，雅典軍隊就已派出戰報使費迪皮迪茲趕往斯巴達求援。費迪皮迪茲是專業的戰報使，肯定體魄強健，能夠憑一己之力跑完危機重重的地帶，不但保全自身，還能準確牢記軍情，并在到達后回答相關提問。

If the situation was so desperate， why didn’t he use a horse？ Because the quickest route to Sparta was too rough. It had to be done on foot. The distance from Athens to Sparta is 140 miles and Pheidippides apparently did it inside two days.

情勢真危急到如此地步，為何不騎馬送信呢？這是因為前往斯巴達的最短路徑太過崎嶇，非步行無法到達。從雅典到斯巴達的路程長達140英里，費迪皮迪茲顯然僅用不到兩天就跑到了。

The Spartans would not send forces immediately. It was a religious festival in Sparta and they refused to set out until the full moon. It was vital that the Athenians knew the bad news as soon as possible， and Pheidippides must then have run another 140 miles back to Athens with the dire news.

可斯巴達人不愿即刻出兵。此時適逢當地的宗教祭典，斯巴達人稱，須等到月圓之日方可出兵。盡早將這一壞消息知會雅典對戰局走向至關重要，費迪皮迪茲必須再次飛奔140英里，將惡訊傳回雅典。

Faced with Pheidippides’ news， the Athenians decided that their best chance was a rapid attack of their own. At dawn， they formed a phalanx and， to the astonishment of the Persian host2， ran at them in a fierce assault. The Persians were routed and the Greeks pursued them over the three miles back to their ships at the north end of the plain.

收到費迪皮迪茲的警報，雅典人當機立斷，認為只有自己發動突襲才能有一線生機。黎明之際，雅典整軍列成密集方陣，向波斯軍隊發動猛攻，打了他們一個措手不及。波斯軍隊潰敗，希臘聯軍乘勝追擊三英里，將敵軍逼回停泊在平原北端的戰船上。

The Persians rallied at the ships and a second battle developed which lasted several hours. It was here that the greatest of the Greek losses occurred. By noon it was all over. It was a stunning victory， but the Greeks knew this was not the end.

波斯人在戰船上重整旗鼓。第二場戰斗打響，持續了數小時。正是在這場戰斗中，希臘人遭遇了有史以來最為慘重的傷亡。晌午時分，戰斗結束。希臘聯軍取得了驚人的勝利，但他們明白這場戰役遠未結束。

Now came another astonishing feat of running. The Persian fleet was already at sea， in the second phase of the plan， sailing round Cape Sounion to arrive on the beach at Phaleron and march against an undefended Athens. An advance fleet， probably with cavalry on board （for the dash into the city） had already set off before the battle had begun. Almost certainly， this is what accounts for the legendary 26-mile run of Pheidippides. He was running back to announce the victory， but also to warn the Athenians that the Persian fleet was even now on its way. Quite possibly he did die at this point， perhaps from long-term exhaustion， perhaps from wounds. One of the walls of the Acropolis is named after him， to mark the place where he was said to have collapsed.

現在，另一場奔跑壯舉即將上演。波斯船隊已經在海上執行第二階段的作戰計劃：繞過蘇尼翁角，由法勒隆海灘登陸，直取沒有設防的雅典城。波斯的先遣船隊在第二場戰斗打響前已經啟程，船上很可能有騎兵（用以沖殺入城）。想必正因如此，費迪皮迪茲才跑出那傳奇的26英里。他奔回雅典宣布了捷報，同時向雅典人發出波斯船隊即將進犯的警報。他很有可能犧牲在了這一刻，也許是長途奔跑力竭而死，也許是負傷后傷重不治。為紀念他，雅典衛城的一面墻以他的名字命名，據說那里就是他倒下的地方。

More to the point， the Athenian army had to race back to Phaleron before the Persians could land their cavalry.

更要緊的是，雅典軍隊必須急速回防，趕在波斯騎兵登陸前到達法勒隆。

The Athenians who were freshest set off as fast as they could to cover the distance back to the city. The rest gathered themselves up， some in formal units， others as groups of friends and neighbours， with their shields and equipment slung on their backs， and ran and trotted back as best they could in the heat. We could say it was the first mass marathon—not exactly a fun run3—but all runners will understand the sort of help and support they must have been giving each other， and the reception of the Athenian populace who came out onto the Phaleron road to bring food and supplies to them.

體力最為充沛的雅典人以最快速度回援雅典城。其余的人振作起精神，有些是正式組編的，有些則是朋友鄰里成群結隊，背著盾牌和武器，在酷暑中或急奔或小跑，盡自己所能地快速向回趕。可以說這是有史以來首場大規模馬拉松比賽，雖然不是后來的趣味公益跑，但所有跑者都能理解那種一路上必須相互給予的幫助與扶持，也都能體會雅典民眾的夾道歡迎——他們出城來到法勒隆，一路為勇士送上食物和補給。

By late afternoon it had become a straight race; the Persian fleet was rounding Cape Sounion as the fastest Greek soldiers ran south. The first Athenians at Phaleron made it in five or six hours， only an hour ahead of the advance ships of the Persian fleet. Their victory in this race was critical.

到傍晚時分，這場奔跑已成拼盡全力的競速賽。跑得最快的希臘士兵一路向南時，波斯船隊正繞過蘇尼翁角。第一批雅典士兵在五六個小時之內趕到法勒隆，比波斯先遣船隊早了僅僅一個小時。雅典人在這場速度之爭中的勝利是決定性的。

The Persians couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw the troops， filthy， bloodstained， hollow with exhaustion， lining up on Phaleron beach ready to repel the landing. The Persians hesitated， fatally， waiting for the main fleet to arrive during the night. And as night fell， the rest of the Athenian army came limping into the Greek camp. By dawn， the Athenians were there， over 9000 of them， ready to fight again. The Persians were still overwhelmingly stronger， but now the Greeks seemed superhuman， and Persian nerves failed. The Persian fleet hung around for a few days in the vain hope of an opening， and then sailed away.

波斯軍隊不敢相信眼前所見：雅典士兵個個蓬頭垢面，滿身血污，盡顯疲態，卻在法勒隆海灘嚴陣以待，欲阻敵登陸。波斯軍隊踟躕不前，等待主力船隊在夜間到達，冥冥之中注定了敗局。隨著夜幕降臨，其余的雅典士兵也一瘸一拐地趕來，加入大部隊。黎明時分，9000多名雅典人已做好再戰準備。波斯軍隊此時在兵力上仍具有壓倒性優勢，但希臘軍隊展現出超凡戰力，波斯軍心已散。波斯船隊在海上盤桓數日，見攻城無望，只得撤兵離去。

The campaign was over and the ‘Men of Marathon’ were celebrated across generations for their running as much as for their fighting. They were the saviours of the city， and to have performed such prodigious feats it was assumed that they must have been the instruments of the gods. The legend of Pheidippides came to symbolise both the greatness of the soldiers and the role of the deities.

戰役結束，“馬拉松勇士”的長跑壯舉同他們的作戰事跡一樣代代傳頌。他們拯救了雅典這座城市。能完成如此壯舉，人們相信他們定有神助。于是，費迪皮迪茲的傳說漸漸成了雅典士兵偉大精神和神祇顯靈的象征。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）

1 26英里約合41.84公里。如今標準的馬拉松比賽全程26英里385碼，約合42.195公里。

2 host〈古〉軍隊。

3 fun run不以競爭為目的，旨在慈善募捐的長跑。

Marathon Facts （1）

● The first modern Olympic marathon was held in 1896.

The inaugural modern Olympic marathon was part of the first-ever modern Olympic Games in Athens， Greece. The race was designed to trace the legendary route of Pheidippides from the town of Marathon to the Olympic Stadium in Athens. Spiridon Louis， a Greek water-carrier， emerged as the victor， securing a place in history as the winner of the first modern Olympic marathon.

● The Olympic marathon distance was standardized in 1908.

The marathon distance of 26 miles and 385 yards （42.195 kilometers） became the official length for the Olympic marathon during the 1908 London Games. This decision was made to ensure the race would start at Windsor Castle and finish in front of the royal box at the Olympic Stadium， allowing the royal family to view the start and finish from their private box.

● The first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon did so in 1967.

In 1967， Kathrine Switzer registered for the Boston Marathon using her initials， K.V. Switzer. Despite attempts to remove her from the race， she completed the marathon， leaving an indelible mark on the history of women’s participation in marathon events.