There was no Greek king. The Greek world consisted of several hundred independent city-states spread around the Mediterranean and Black Seas from Spain to Asia Minor.
Athens and Plataia who fought together at Marathon had an oligarchical government headed by magistrates called Archons. Their armies were commanded by several tribal generals who took it in turn for overall command. The general whose turn it was on the day of the battle was Miltiades.
King Darius the Great who put down a revolt by the Ionian Greek cities within his empire. His attempt to subdue Athens was turned back at the battle of Marathon.
The name of the King that was fighting in the battle of the Marathon was Leonidas. I am not sure which King you are talking about, but this is Athens King.Reality:Leonidas was not present at Marathon since he is the king of Sparta and they(the spartan army) arrived late for the battle due to a festival. Athens was a democracy so it had no king. The only king that might have been present was the king of Plataea(the only greek city who helped athens) but history seem to have forgotten his name.Addendum:True, there were no kings at Marathon. Perhaps the first answerer is confusing it with the fight at Thermopylae ten years later, when the Spartan king Leonidas led the defence of the pass, or the battle of Plataea eleven years later when there were two kings present - Pausanias king of Sparta and Xerxes king of Persia.
he Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC, during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate Greece. The Greek army decisively defeated the more numerous Persians, marking a turning point in the Greco-Persian Wars.
King Leonidas
Athens and its ally Plataia defeated the Persian expeditionary force sent out by King Darius at Marathon in 490 BCE.
In 490 BC Greeks victoriously fought Persians in the Battle of Marathon in an attempt from King Darius I to subjugate Greece.
Persia had a king, not an emperor. The Persian king Darius I was at home in Persia when the battle of Marathon took place, so he was not killed at Marathon. Darius the Great died of natural causes 14 years after Marathon.
Darius the 1st .
King Darius I.
The runner you are referring to is the man who ran 26.1 miles. It was after the battle of Marathon. Sadly we do not know the name of the man, however the legend is that after the victory in Marathon, a Greek solider ran from Marathon to Rome to proclaim the news. The second he arrived, he told the king, and promptly died.
King Darius the Great who put down a revolt by the Ionian Greek cities within his empire. His attempt to subdue Athens was turned back at the battle of Marathon.
King Darius I .
An Persian expeditionary force sent by King Darius to punish the Eretrians and Athenians for interfering in his empire was defeated at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE.
after the battle of marathon. A runner was sent to the capital to tell the news of the battle. He dropped dead after telling the news to the king. It's a Greek myth.
He resolved to bring all the Greek city-states under his control as he realised the his defeat by Athens would encourage other Greek city-states to also interfere within his empire, which contained hundreds of Greek city-states.
At the Pass of Thermopylai a Greek force led by a Spartan king delayed the Persian army for three days.
The name of the King that was fighting in the battle of the Marathon was Leonidas. I am not sure which King you are talking about, but this is Athens King.Reality:Leonidas was not present at Marathon since he is the king of Sparta and they(the spartan army) arrived late for the battle due to a festival. Athens was a democracy so it had no king. The only king that might have been present was the king of Plataea(the only greek city who helped athens) but history seem to have forgotten his name.Addendum:True, there were no kings at Marathon. Perhaps the first answerer is confusing it with the fight at Thermopylae ten years later, when the Spartan king Leonidas led the defence of the pass, or the battle of Plataea eleven years later when there were two kings present - Pausanias king of Sparta and Xerxes king of Persia.