the Megarians. He was so successful against them that the Megarians called for help from the other Greeks. The result was that the Megarians were supported by 300 hoplites from Athens led by Olympiodorus along with a contingent of Athenian archers. One of these archers managed to shoot Masistius's horse in the flank, causing Masistius to fall from his mount. Once down, the Athenians set upon him, finally killing him by stabbing him through the eye. When the Persian cavalry fell back, they noticed Masistius was missing and attempted to recover his body. They temporarily achieved this until still more Greek forces arrived to support the beleaguered Athenians and Megarians, at which point the cavalry were forced to retreat and the Greeks were left in control of the body. Masistius's loss was felt keenly by the Persians, who shaved their heads and cut the manes of their horses as signs of mourning. The death was reported to Mardonious who expressed grief at the loss. For the Greeks this was a considerable triumph and did much to boost the morale of the Greek allied forces. The Greeks put Masistius's body on a cart and paraded it in front of the Greek forces so they could see him. The Persian forces only advanced towards Plataea in response to the Greek maneuvers after they had finished mourning Masistius's death. Ancient Sources Herodotus's The Histories is our main source for Masistius. Herodotus mentions him in book VII (but only as a passing reference) and book IX where the majority of our information on Masistius resides. Diodorus of Sicily also recounts the Persian cavalry attack and the death of Masistius in his work The Library but he never refers to him by name, instead referring to the "commander of the cavalry". References Bibliography Angeliki Petropoulou, "The Death of Masistios and the Mourning for his Loss," in Seyed Mohammad Reza Darbandi, Antigoni Zournatzi (ed.), Ancient Greece and Ancient Iran: Cross-Cultural Encounters. 1st International Conference (Athens, 11–13 November 2006) (Athens: National Hellenic Research Foundation; Hellenic National Commission for UNESCO; Cultural Center of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 2008), 9-30. Military personnel of the Achaemenid Empire killed in action Persian people of the Greco-Persian Wars Military leaders of the Achaemenid Empire 5th-century BC Iranian people