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Rh  by the Greeks under Miltiades. The Persians, having crossed the Ægean and taken Eretria in Eubœa, passed over to Attica, landing on the plain of Marathon; their numbers were about 110,000. To oppose them was an Athenian force of 10,000 heavy-armed infantry and a small body of light-armed troops and attendants. According to Athenian law, there were ten generals, each of whom in turn was entitled to command for a day; but the other generals waived their authority in favor of Miltiades, who thus became sole commander. Having received a reënforcement of 1,000 heavy-armed Platæans, Miltiades resolved to sally from his strong position on the heights and attack the Persians, who were crowded in the plain. So little was an attack anticipated that it was really a surprise. The Greeks advanced in three bodies, a centre and two wings, with a considerable interval between. Both attacks by the wings were successful, and the enemy was driven to the right and left; but in the centre the heavy masses of the Persians repelled the Athenians, who were forced back for a considerable space. Miltiades then recalled his victorious wings, which fell upon the flanks of the Persian centre; this was speedily broken, and the whole army fled in rout to their ships, which were drawn up on the beach. The Persian loss was 6,400, that of the Greeks only 192. A tumulus, still standing near the modern village of Vrana, which probably occupies the site of the ancient Marathon, marks the burial place of the Greeks who fell in this action. The battle of Marathon is justly considered one of the most important in history, not so much on account of the numbers engaged or the losses incurred, as for its historical results. Had the Athenians been defeated, there was no power capable of resisting the Persian invasion, and Greece must have become a Persian satrapy.  MARATHON, a N. county of Wisconsin, bordering on Michigan, and drained by the Wisconsin river and its branches; area, 6,048 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 5,885. It has a diversified surface, extensive pine forests, and numerous small lakes. The chief productions in 1870 were 35,327 bushels of wheat, 76,482 of oats, 22,164 of potatoes, 8,385 of peas and beans, and 2,843 tons of hay. There were 273 horses, 1,331 milch cows, 2,754 other cattle, 1,482 sheep, and 1,215 swine. Capital, Wausau.  MARATTI, Carlo, an Italian painter, born near Ancona in 1625, died in Rome, Dec. 15, 1713. At about the age of 12 he was sent to Rome and put under the instruction of Andrea Sacchi, with whom he remained eight years. He became a student of the works of Raphael, and his contemporaries, supposing that he could only paint madonnas, called him Carluccio delle Madonne; but he silenced their sneers by executing for the baptistery of St. John Lateran a picture of Constantine destroying the idols, which caused him to rank among the first painters of the day. He restored the frescoes

of Raphael in the Vatican, and those of Annibale Carracci in the Farnese palace. His masterpiece is the “Martyrdom of St. Biagio” at Genoa. He also executed several etchings from his own designs and from Italian masters.  MARBEAU, Jean Baptiste François, a French philanthropist, born at Brives in 1798. He became an advocate in Paris, and published in 1824 a treatise on proceedings at civil law, and in 1834 one in the interest of the working classes. In 1844 appeared his Études sur l'économie sociale. In the same year he was appointed adjunct mayor, and founded the first infant asylum (crèche) at Chaillot. He set forth the utility of such institutions in Des crèches (1845), which has had many editions and translations, and obtained a Montyon prize of 3,000 francs, which he appropriated to one of the principal asylums. His beneficent enterprise led to the establishment of hundreds of infant asylums all over France.  MARBECK, John, an English composer, born early in the 16th century, died about 1585. He was one of the earliest composers of the reformed church of England. About 1544 there were formed at Windsor associations in support of the Lutheran doctrines. Marbeck, then organist at St. George's chapel, Windsor, lent his support to one of these, and with three other members was seized on a charge of heresy. An examination of his papers discovered a concordance to the English Bible, complete as far as the letter L. The special charge against him was for copying an epistle of Calvin's against the mass. All four were condemned to be burned, but Marbeck was saved through the influence of the bishop of Winchester, and resumed his post as organist. He finished his “Concordance,” the first complete one ever made, and published it (fol., London, 1550). He also published “The Boke of Common Praier, noted” (4to, 1550), the oldest published for the use of the Anglican church. Robert Jones of Ely cathedral issued a new edition of this work, entitled “Marbeck's Book of Common Prayer for voices in unison, arranged for modern use, with an ad libitum organ bass accompaniment.” The work unaltered was reprinted in London in 1844. Smith's Musica Antiqua, in the collection of the British museum, contains a Te Deum and a mass for five voices by Marbeck. His other works are: “The Lyves of Holy Sainctes, Prophets, Patriarches, and others” (4to, 1574); “The Holie Historie of King David, drawn into English Meetre” (4to, 1579); and “A Ripping up of the Pope's Fardel” (8vo, 1581).  MARBLE, a rock used as an ornamental building stone, for interior decorations, and for sculpture. Generally, any limestone that can be obtained in large sound blocks, and is susceptible of a good polish, is marble; and the only marble that is not limestone is the serpentine and the oriental verd antique (the latter a mixture of serpentine and limestone). It is found in beds in various geological 