(Roughly) Daily

Thinking makes us pig out.

As we resort to meditation, we might wonder why H.L. Mencken (to whom, happy birthday) wasn’t obese…  and we might recall that it was on this date in 490 BCE (as held by a consensus of scholars) that the Greeks (roughly 10,000 Athenians and Plateans) defeated the Persian force of King Darius I (estimated at 20-60,000) at the Battle of Marathon.

The long run of Pheidippides, the messenger who carried news of the victory to Athens, became the inspiration for the marathon race, which was first staged at the 1896 Olympic Games.

Greek helmet, and the skull found inside it; from
Marathon– presumably one of the roughly 200
Greek casualties