1. Greece is the cradle of civilization and gave the world History.
2. Greece is the birthplace of Democracy. The legacy of Ancient Greece has influenced world development and progress throughout history since and is still the foundation of today’s society and politics.
3. Ancient Greeks were the first to establish theoretical thinking which is why the words theory and theorem derive from the Greek language.
4. Most concepts of the modern world are based on the Greek language and meaning. From Technology to Biology to Politics to Theater to Mathematics to Music to Pharmaceuticals to Chemistry to Graphics to Theology, to Bible.
5. Greek is the oldest written language in the world and has been spoken for over 3000 years while the roots of thousands of words in various languages of the world come from the Greek language like the cosmos, alphabet, academy, democracy, and much more.
6. Athens is one of the oldest capitals in the world.
7. Greece has the most archaeological museums out of every country in the world.
8. Greeks wear fustanella to pay tribute to Greek fighters. Fustanella is the multifaceted white cotton men’s skirt with 400 folds, as many as the years of Turkish slavery. The white color that dominates the entire “EVZONE” uniform symbolizes the purity of the national games.
9. The real name of the country is HELLAS or ELLADA and the Romans were the first to call it Grecia (meaning the land of Greek people).
10. Greece has the second-largest maritime fleet in the world.
11. Greece is one of the sunniest countries in the world with over 250 sunny days each year.
12. Greece has over 2000 islands and only 170 of them are populated.
13. In Greece, there are over 120.000.000 olive trees and some of them are from the 7th century and still producing olives. All meals are cooked with extra virgin olive oil in order to be considered healthy.
14. The Greek food is always served with feta, a traditional cheese that has its roots in the era of Homer.
15. Greeks are always passionate about everything and every way, they love life, whatever they do, they do it with “MERAKI“, with all their heart and soul.
16. Greeks are tremendously hospitable, friendly, welcoming and generous people due to their tradition of Xenios Zeus, the god of hospitality or the god “PHILOXENIA“.
17. Greece had the oldest currency in Europe (2560 years), called Drachma.
18. Syrtaki is one of the most known dances around the world, also known as Zorba’s dance. Greeks dance with all their soul even upon tables, clapping and cheering “OPA!”.
19. In Greece, the family is what it’s all about and they try to spend their time mostly eating all together as well as catching up on news and gossip.
20. Greeks have their own mentality, especially when approaching difficulties with a sense of humor. While inside they are terrified, unsure of the future, to the world still they put on a brave face.
21. The real Santa Clause was Greek and was called Saint Nicholas.
22. Greece is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world and it is not a surprise because the Greeks invented tourism.

Let’s face it! It’s all Greek to everyone!

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For many historians, the Battle of Marathon is the turning point of world history. The reasons are various but one of the most important was the size and the difference between the two rival armies. In particular, the Greeks had the size of 10.000 Athenians and 1.000 Platanias, while the Persians with the scary military size of 100.000 with the lowest estimate. Simonides Kess writes that the Persians had 200.000 soldiers, Cornelius Nexo writes that they had 200.000 infantry and 10.000 male cavalries. Plutarch and Pausanias report, like the Souda dictionary, that the Persians had 300.000 soldiers. Plato and Lysias report that the Persians had 500.000 soldiers. Justin states that the Persians had 600.000 men.

According to contemporary historians, the Persians possessed from20.000 to 100.000 infantrymen and 1.000 cavalrymen. Whatever we measure and accept, the great triumph of the Greeks against the Persians is incredible. Initially, the crash of the Persian army in the Battle of Marathon and then the defeat of the Persian fleet at the Salamina naval battle virtually nullified the influence and scary volume of the Persian Empire war machine.

It should be noted that the above battles in the Medieval wars were the occasion for the start of the Hellenistic Period and the Empire of Alexander the Great.

Visit today the archaeological site of the Battle of Marathon through a full-day private tour to the Marathon & Cape of Sounio.

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