great Athenian general and statesman, was the second son of Cimon, and flourished in the fifth century B.C. He makes his first appearance in history at the death of his brother Stesagoras, who had succeeded to the tyranny founded over the Thracian tribe of the Dolonians by his uncle the elder Miltiades. Repairing to the Chersonese with a small handful of Athenian troops, Miltiades by a clever stratagem decoyed the Dolonian magnates into his power, and thus mounted the vacant throne without opposition. With the same promptitude he fortified his newly-attained position by enlisting a body-guard of mercenaries, and espousing Hegesipyla, the daughter of a Thracian prince, Oloros. He was reigning with great popularity when he was summoned in 513 B.C. to attend Darius Hystaspis in his expedition against the Scythians. The duty allotted to him and the other Greek commanders was to guard the bridge of boats across the Danube, while the rest of the army penetrated into the interior of the enemy's country. But as Miltiades considered the Persian monarch to be the natural foe of Greece, he advised his fellow-soldiers to destroy the bridge, and leave Darius and his host to perish in the wastes of Scythia. After a debate, however, his advice was set aside. Some time afterwards Miltiades was forced to retreat from his kingdom before an irresistible horde of Scythians, and not until the enemy had retired was he able to return. About this period also the islands of Lemnos and Imbros were wrested by him from the hands of Persia and subjected to the power of the Athenians. It is probable that this deed, and his well-known devotion to the Greek cause, drew upon himself the resentment of Darius. At any rate, Miltiades was compelled, by the approach of a Phoenician fleet, to abandon his dominions and betake himself to Athens. No sooner had he set foot on his native soil, than he was arraigned by the Athenian democracy for supporting the cause of tyranny by his occupation of the Dolonian throne. His eloquent appeal, however, to his services in behalf of the Athenians confounded his accusers and secured his acquittal. Miltiades now rose to the highest honours and offices of the state. But not until the approach of the Persian armament under Datis and Artaphernes, in 490 B.C., did his genius and heroism rise to their full development. Then it was that he incited his fellow-citizens to proclaim their defiance of the invaders by casting into a pit the insolent Persian legates who had come to Athens to demand earth and water. Appointed one of the ten generals who led the little Athenian army forth into the plain of Marathon, he urged his fellow-commanders to meet the immense host of the enemy on a fair field of battle. His eloquence prevailed; and when it was his own turn to assume the supreme command he prepared for the fight. After selecting a position where his forces could not be surrounded by the overwhelming numbers of the enemy, he drew up his line, placing heavy phalanxes on the wings, and the light troops in the centre. His army was then ordered to move forward. As it advanced the two wings fell into double-quick march, and bore down with irresistible force upon the right and left of the enemy. The Athenian centre then gave way, and suffered part of the Persian army to pass into the space between the two wings. At that instant the solid Greek phalanxes, which were by that time unopposed, wheeled round with vehement celerity and crushed the remnant of the foe between their two lines. No sooner had this victory been gained, than Miltiades posted towards Athens with a part of his army, and arrived in time to save the city from being attacked and pillaged by the Persian fugitives. He was now treated with the highest esteem by his fellow-citizens. In the public picture that was painted to commemorate the battle of Marathon, he was represented standing foremost of the ten commanders and animating his soldiers for the charge. It was not the habit, however, of the Athenians to honour a great man when his services in their behalf did not succeed. Accordingly, the unsuccessful expedition of Miltiades against the island of Paros changed his enthusiastic admirers into his deadly enemies. He was publicly impeached for having misled his country into a disastrous war, and the mob began to clamour loudly for his life. A wound which he had received in his late campaign, and which had turned into a gangrene, prevented him from confronting his accusers with his ready eloquence, and obliged him to entrust his cause to his brother Tisagoras. He was found guilty, and sentenced to pay a fine of fifty talents. As he was unable to meet the sentence, his maimed and shattered body was cast into prison. There grief and disease terminated the career of Miltiades in 489 B.C., the year after he had won the battle of Marathon. But the vengeance of his enemies was not yet exhausted. His lifeless body was denied a resting-place, until his son Cimon gave himself into custody as surety for the fine which had been imposed. The best authority for the biography of Miltiades is Herodotus. (See Attica.)