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At the start of the fifth century B.C., the Persian empire was the world's paramount power, stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to North Africa to the Indian subcontinent. But the Persian emperor, King Darius, did not control Athens — and defeating its much smaller army seemed a relatively small matter.

In September of 490 B.C., Persian troops advanced on 10,000 vastly outnumbered Greek soldiers on the Plain of Marathon. But the Greeks managed to crush the Persian army that day and, as the story goes, ran all the way home to preserve their victory.

Scholars have recounted the battle of Marathon for centuries, hailing it as one of the most pivotal battles in world history. And had the Athenians lost that day, as retired Marine and military historian Jim Lacey argues in The First Clash: The Miraculous Greek Victory at Marathon and Its Impact on Western Civilization, the world would look dramatically different today.