When intelligence of [the advance of the Persian army on Marathon] reached the Athenians, they likewise marched their troops to Marathon, and there stood on the defensive . . . . . . .
And first, before they left the city, the generals sent off to Sparta a herald, one Philippides, who was by birth an Athenian, and by profession and practice a trained runner. . . .
[Philippides] reached Sparta on the very next day after quitting the city of Athens. Upon his arrival he went before the rulers, and said:
"Men of Lacedaemon, the Athenians beseech you to hasten to their aid, and not allow that state, which is the most ancient in all Greece, to be enslaved by the barbarians. . . ."
Thus did Philippides deliver the message committed to him.Herodotus, The Persian Wars, Book VI 103-06
Context
Contemporary couriers seldom ran more than 60 miles in a day. Philippides covered 150 miles between Athens and Sparta in two!
Map of Ancient Greece
Browning's Pheidippides
(Browning's poem is based on the legend that the runner ran from Marathon to Athens (about 26 miles) to announce the victory of the Greeks over the Persians.)
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