The Greek battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. was named after the foliage that grew in the field in which it was fought. Fennel, known as marathron to the ancient Greeks, was named from the word maraino, which meant "to grow thin." The 17th-century herbalist, Nicholas Culpeper, maintained that every part of the fennel plant was suitable to help make "people lean that are too fat." In medieval times, fennel was believed to be an appetite suppressant, and the seeds were kept on hand to help people endure long periods of time between meals, or on days of religious feasting. Fennel is still regarded as an effective carminative (an aid in digestion), and a weight loss herb reputed to help in the digestion of fat. The Latin word for fennel, foeniculum, meaning "little hay" is thought to describe its sweet aroma, although it may be a reference to the fact that it was fed to goats to stimulate their milk production.
Pheidippides, the runner who carried the news of the Persian invasion to Sparta, was rewarded with a sprig of fennel. Statues created to honor Pheidippides have always shown him holding fennel, a symbol of his courage. Roman warriors ate fennel, and wore wreaths made of the feathery leaves to give them courage before going into battle. Longfellow paid tribute to this tradition in this poem:
Above the lowly plants it towers
The fennel, with its yellow flowers,
And in an earlier age than ours,
Was gifted with the wondrous powers,
Lost vision to restore.
It gave new strength, and fearless mood;
