Sun Tzu strongly advocates deception on the battlefield, stating: "All war is based on deception. Therefore, when we are capable of attacking, we must appear incapable. »7 The Athenians use their small army to their advantage and plan a tactical military formation outside of Marathon. They placed the majority of men on the left and right wings of the army, which meant that "the center ranks were diminished and became the weakest part of the line" in the hope that the army Persian would succeed in breaking through.8 When the battle began, the Athenian front line charged the enemy, and to the Persians “it seemed to them that the Athenians were senseless, bent on their own destruction; because they only saw a handful of men running.