the world—which he renamed the Haghia Sophia. The
15th-century historian Tursun Beg wrote that Mehmet’s
mosque “not only encompassed all the arts of Haghia
Sophia, but modern features constituting a fresh new
idiom unequalled in beauty.” Utilizing his Janissaries, a
corps made up of children captured in battle and then
trained as Islamic warriors, Mehmet conquered most
of Serbia (1459) as well as Morea (1460) and Anatolia
(1461), which took the borders of his empire up to the
Danube River, the main trade artery of southeast Europe.
Conflict was bound to erupt at this incursion, and this
came in 1463, when Albanian peasants rebelled against
his authority but were quickly subdued. An attack by the
state of Venice occurred in 1479 and was also contained.
However, resistance from other quarters, including from
the southern areas of what is now the Middle East, such
as Syria and Iran, forced him to concentrate on consoli-
dating these territories. For Mehmet, this conflict was
part of his grand scheme to bring the world under his
rule: He saw himself as another Roman emperor and
styled himself Kayser-i Rum (the Roman Caesar).
In 1480, Mehmet began planning a series of actions
against the island of Rhodes and southern Italy. However,
on 3 May 1481, he suddenly died of unknown causes,
and his son took power as Bayezid II. Bayezid, however,
did not have his father’s grand territorial ambitions, and
the plans to conquer southern Europe were postponed.
References: Tursun Beg, The History of Mehmed the Con-
queror, translated by Halil Inaloik and Rhoads Murphey
(Minneapolis, Minn.: Bibliotheca Islamica, 1978); Kri-
tovoulos, History of Mehmed the Conqueror, translated by
Charles T. Riggs (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press,
1970); Finlay, George, History of the Byzantine and Greek
Empires, from 716 to 1453 (Edinburgh, Scotland: W.
Blackwood, 1854); Cambini, Andrea, Two Very Notable
Commentaries the one of the Originall of the Turcks and
Empire of the house of Ottomanno... (London: [Printed]
by Rouland Hall for Humfrey Toye, 1562); The Turkes
Secretorie conteining his Sundrie Letters sent to divers Em-
perours, Kings, Princes and states... (London: Printed by
M[elchisedec] B[radwood] 1607).
Miltiades (ca. 540–ca. 489 b.c.) Athenian general
A great-grandson of the Athenian politician Philaïdes,
Miltiades was the son of the Athenian statesman Cimon
(who, with Aristides, helped to establish the Delian
League) and his wife Irodice. Around 524 b.c., Miltiades
was trained as an archon, or one of nine chief magistrates
of Athens. Upon the death of his uncle about 524 b.c.,
he inherited the leadership of Chersonese, an Athenian
colony in what is now the peninsula of Gallipoli.
In 515 b.c., Miltiades joined King darius i of
Persia (now modern Iran) in an expedition against the
Scythians. Plutarch, the noted Greek historian whose
Lives encapsulated small biographies of famous Grecians,
wrote of Miltiades’ role in this campaign: “At the same
time Darius king of Persian having passed all his armie
out of Asia into Europe, determined to make war with
the Scythians, and made a bridge over [the] Danuby
[river] to passé over his troupes: the guard of which in
his absence, was committed unto the Lords which he
had brought with him out of Ionia and Æolia, and unto
every one of the which he had given perpetuall power and
goverment ouer their townes. Supposing by this policie,
easily to bring into subjection all the Greekes that dwelt
in Asia, if he gave the guard of the townes unto their
friends and confederates, that could not escape by any
meanes if he were oppressed. Miltiades was of the num-
ber of the guards of this bridge.” Possibly realizing that
Darius would one day turn on Greece, Miltiades urged
that the bridge over the Danube be destroyed to cut
off any retreat by Darius. His request was refused, and
when the Scythians forced Darius back over the bridge,
he learned of Miltiades’ potential betrayal. Miltiades fled
to Athens, but he was captured and impeached by his own
government on charges of tyranny at Chersonese.
When the Persian invasion of Greece that Miltia-
des has prophesied went forward, he was released from
custody and named one of 10 commanders to defend
his homeland. He gathered his forces and decided to
make a stand at Marathon, 20 miles northeast of Ath-
ens, in September 490 b.c. There he stood with some
10,000 Athenians and approximately 1,000 Plataeans
against Darius, commanding some 60,000 men. To all
appearances, Darius had complete battlefield supremacy.
Historian John Laffin writes: “Early in the afternoon of
a September day in the year 490 b.c. an Athenian gen-
eral, Miltiades, gave to his small but compact army the
command to prepare for battle. This was a momentous
order, for it led to the shaping of history, and the battle
that followed provided a model which many a general
would follow in the centuries to come.... No battle
could better serve as a starting point for a study of the
links of leadership, because the victory was the weaker miltiADeS