The film ‘Athenians fighting on behalf of the Greeks – 2,500 years since the battle of Marathon’ is a documentary by Maria Hatzimichali-Papaliou about the historical circumstances, the causes, the progress and the results of the clash at Marathon.

Shot where the battle took place, the film also utilize a host of archaeological finds and even footage from Persepolis.

The story is told by ancient authors such as Herodotus, Pausanias, Plato, Simonides, Plutarch and others, in a single narration composed by philologist Professor Phanis Kakridis who sought out, selected and translated their relevant texts. The music is by Dimitris Papadimitriou.

The documentary had a successful international career. It was screened in the USA, Canada, China (translated into Chinese), Austria, Germany, Czech Republic, Lebanon – where the Ministry of Education showed it in the country’s schools – and elsewhere, including American and European universities, as well as in Japan, specifically in the Tokyo Government Building, Nagano City Hall and Kyoritsu University. It was also shown in 500 cultural and educational foundations in Greece, Cyprus and other countries.

I think nothing would be more appropriate for celebrating the anniversary of the battle of Marathon than for us to remember what the historian of the Persian Wars Herodotus said not about war but about peace:

No one is so stupid as to prefer war to peace. In peacetime sons bury their fathers, in wartime fathers bury their sons.

Under the High Auspices of His Excellency the President of the Hellenic Republic Mr Karolos Papoulias

Director: Maria Chatzimichali-Papaliou

Director of photography: Vaggelis Koulinos

Research-Texts: Fanis I. Kakridis

Music: Dimitris Papadimitriou

Editing: Yiannis Tsitsopoulos 

With the support: European Cultural Centre of Delphi