Herodotus — Histories, Books 6–9

Contents — 36 sections

1. Book 6, Part 1
2. Book 6, Part 2
3. Book 6, Part 3
4. Book 6, Part 4
5. Book 6, Part 5
6. Book 6, Part 6
7. Book 6, Part 7
8. Book 6, Part 8
9. Book 6, Part 9
10. Book 7, Part 1
11. Book 7, Part 2
12. Book 7, Part 3
13. Book 7, Part 4
14. Book 7, Part 5
15. Book 7, Part 6
16. Book 7, Part 7
17. Book 7, Part 8
18. Book 7, Part 9
19. Book 8, Part 1
20. Book 8, Part 2
21. Book 8, Part 3
22. Book 8, Part 4
23. Book 8, Part 5
24. Book 8, Part 6
25. Book 8, Part 7
26. Book 8, Part 8
27. Book 8, Part 9
28. Book 9, Part 1
29. Book 9, Part 2
30. Book 9, Part 3
31. Book 9, Part 4
32. Book 9, Part 5
33. Book 9, Part 6
34. Book 9, Part 7
35. Book 9, Part 8
36. Book 9, Part 9

Book 6, Part 1

This was the end of Aristagoras, after he had brought about the Ionian revolt. Histiaeus, the tyrant of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus, arrived in Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis after he was let go by Darius. When he came there from Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa, Artaphrenes, the governor of Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis, asked him for what reason he supposed the Ionians had rebelled; Histiaeus said that he did not know and marvelled at what had happened, pretending to have no knowledge of the present troubles.

But Artaphrenes saw that he dissembled and, knowing the exact story of the revolt, said: “I will tell you, Histiaeus, the truth of this business: it was you who stitched this shoe, and Aristagoras who put it on.”

Thus spoke Artaphrenes regarding the revolt. Histiaeus was frightened by Artaphrenes' understanding of the matter and fled the next night to the sea, for he had deceived Darius by promising to subdue Sardo, the greatest of the islands, while secretly intending to make himself leader of the Ionians in their war against Darius.

Crossing over to Chios [26,38.366] (island), Khios, Aegean Islands, Greece, EuropeChios, he was taken and bound by the Chians, because they judged him to have been sent by Darius to make trouble for them. But when they learned the whole story of his hostility to the king, they set him free.

Then Histiaeus was asked by the Ionians why he had so zealously ordered Aristagoras to revolt from the king and done the Ionians such great harm. He did not at all reveal the true reason to them, telling them instead that king Darius had planned to remove the Phoenicians and settle them in Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia, and the Ionians in Phoenicia (region (general)), Asia Phoenicia; for this reason, he said, he had sent the order. The king had made no such plan, but Histiaeus wanted to frighten the Ionians.

Then Histiaeus, using Hermippus, a man of Atarneus [26.95,39.05] (Perseus) Atarneus, as messenger, sent letters to the Persians at Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis, because they had previously talked with him about revolt. But Hermippus did not give the letters to the men to whom he was sent, and went and delivered them to Artaphrenes instead.

Artaphrenes, learning all that was afoot, bade Hermippus carry Histiaeus' letters to those for whom he was bringing them, and give him those which the Persians sent in answer to Histiaeus. Thus these men became known, and then Artaphrenes put many Persians to death.

So troubles arose in Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis. Since he failed in this hope, the Chians brought Histiaeus back to Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus at his own request. But the Milesians were glad enough to be rid of Aristagoras himself, and they had no wish to receive another tyrant into their country now that they had tasted freedom.

When Histiaeus tried to force his way into Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus by night, he was wounded in the thigh by a Milesian. Since he was thrust out from his own city, he went back to Khios [26.116,38.383] (inhabited place), Chios, Khios, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Chios; when he could not persuade the Chians to give him ships, he then crossed over to Mytilene [26.55,39.1] (Perseus) Mytilene and persuaded the Lesbians to give him ships.

They manned eight triremes, and sailed with Histiaeus to Byzantium [28.95,41.0333] (Perseus) Byzantium; there they encamped, and seized all the ships that were sailing out of the Black Sea [38,42] (sea) Euxine, except when the crews consented to serve Histiaeus.

Such were the doings of Histiaeus and the Mytilenaeans. Against Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus itself a great fleet and army were expected, for the Persian generals had joined their power together and made one army, which they led against Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus, taking less account of the other fortresses. Of the fleet, the Phoenicians were the most eager to fight, and there came with them to the war the newly subdued Cyprians, and the Cilicians and Egyptians.

These were coming to attack Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus and the rest of Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia. When the Ionians learned of it, they sent deputies to take counsel for them in the Panionium. When they came to that place and consulted, they resolved not to collect a land army to meet the Persians, but to leave the Milesians to defend their walls themselves, and to man their fleet to the last ship and gather as quickly as possible at Lade to fight for Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus at sea. This Lade is a small island lying off the city of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus.

The Ionians then came there with their ships manned, and with them the Aeolians who dwell in Lesbos [26.333,39.166] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lesbos. This was their order of battle: The Milesians themselves had the eastern wing, bringing eighty ships; next to them were the Prieneans with twelve ships, and the Myesians with three; next to the Myesians were the Teians with seventeen ships; next to these the Chians with a hundred; near these in the line were the Erythraeans, bringing eight ships, and the Phocaeans with three, and next to these the Lesbians with seventy; last of all in the line were the Samians, holding the western wing with sixty ships.

The total number of all these together was three hundred and fifty-three triremes.

These were the Ionian ships; the ships of the foreigners were six hundred. When these, too, reached the Milesian shore, and all their land power was present, the Persian generals, learning the number of the Ionian ships, feared they would be too weak to overcome the Greeks. If they did not have mastery of the sea, they would not be able to take Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus, and would be in danger of some evil treatment by Darius.

With this in mind, they gathered the tyrants of the Ionians who had been deposed from their governments by Aristagoras of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus and had fled to the Medes, and who now were with the army that was led against Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus. They gathered as many of these men as were with them and said to them:

“Men of Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia, let each one of you now show that he has done good service to the king's house; let each one of you try to separate your own countrymen from the rest of the allied power. Set this promise before them: they will suffer no harm for their rebellion, neither their temples nor their houses will be burnt, nor will they in any way be treated more violently than before.

But if they will not do so and are set on fighting, then utter a threat that will restrain them: if they are defeated in battle, they will be enslaved; we will make eunuchs of their boys, and carry their maidens captive to Balkh [66.9,36.75] (inhabited place), Balkh, Afghanistan, AsiaBactra, and hand over their land to others.”

So they spoke; the Ionian tyrants sent their messages by night, each to his own countrymen. But the Ionians to whom these messages came were stubborn and would have no part of the treachery, each thinking that the Persians made this offer to them alone. This happened immediately after the Persians arrived at Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus.

Then the Ionians who had gathered at Lade held assemblies; among those whom I suppose to have addressed them was Dionysius, the Phocaean general, who spoke thus:

“Our affairs, men of Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia, stand on the edge of a razor, whether to be free men or slaves, and runaway slaves at that. If you now consent to endure hardships, you will have toil for the present time, but it will be in your power to overcome your enemies and gain freedom; but if you will be weak and disorderly, I see nothing that can save you from paying the penalty to the king for your rebellion.

Believe me and entrust yourselves to me; I promise you that (if the gods deal fairly with us) either our enemies shall not meet us in battle, or if they do they shall be utterly vanquished.”

When the Ionians heard this, they put themselves in Dionysius' hands. He then each day put out to sea with ships in column, using the rowers to pierce each other's line of ships, and arming the fighting men on board; for the rest of the day he kept the fleet at anchor; all day he made the Ionians work.

For seven days they obeyed him and did his bidding; but on the next day, untried as they were in such labor and worn out by hard work and by the sun, the Ionians began to say each to other:

“Against what god have we sinned that we have to fulfill this task? We have lost our minds and launched out into folly, committing ourselves into the hands of this Phocaean braggart, who brings but three ships; and having got us he afflicts us with afflictions incurable. Many of us have fallen sick already, and many are likely to suffer the same thing; instead of these ills, it would be better for us to suffer anything, and endure this coming slavery, whatever it will be, rather than be oppressed by that which is now upon us. Come, let us obey him no longer!”

So they spoke, and from then on no man would obey. As if they were an army, they raised tents on the island where they stayed in the shade, and they were unwilling to embark upon their ships or to continue their exercises.

When the generals of the Samians learned what the Ionians were doing, they recalled that message which Aeaces son of Syloson had already sent them at the Persians' bidding, entreating them to desert the Ionian alliance; seeing great disorder on the Ionian side, they consented to the message; moreover, it seemed impossible to them to overcome the king's power, and they were well assured that if they overcame Darius' present fleet, another one five times as large would come.

Therefore, as soon as they saw the Ionians refusing to be useful, they took up that for a pretext, considering it advantageous to save their own temples and houses. This Aeaces, from whom they received the message, was the son of Syloson son of Aeaces, and had been tyrant of +Nisos Samos [26.8,37.75] (island), Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Samos until he was deposed from his rule by Aristagoras of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus, just like the other Ionian tyrants.

Now when the Phoenician fleet came sailing against them, the Ionians put out to sea against them with their ships in column. When they drew near and met each other in battle, which of the Ionians were brave men or cowards then in that sea-fight I cannot exactly say; for they all blame each other.

The Samians are said, according to their agreement with Aeaces, to have raised their sails and gone off to +Nisos Samos [26.8,37.75] (island), Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Samos, leaving their post, all except eleven ships.

The captains of these stood their ground and fought, disobeying their admirals. For this deed the Samian people granted that their names and patronymics should be engraved on a pillar as brave men; this pillar now stands in their market-place. But the Lesbians, seeing their neighbors fleeing, did the same as the Samians; and most of the Ionians did likewise.

The most roughly handled of those that stood their ground in the sea-fight were the Chians, since they refused to be cowards and achieved deeds of renown. They brought a hundred ships to the fleet, as was mentioned above, and on each ship were forty picked men of their citizens.

Seeing themselves betrayed by the greater part of their allies, they did not think it right to act like the worst among them; with only a few allies to aid them they fought on and broke the enemy's line, until they had taken many ships but lost most of their own.

The Chians escaped to their own country with their remaining ships, but the crews of the Chian ships that were damaged and disabled were pursued and took refuge in Mykale [26.8667,38.1] (Perseus)Mykale. There the men beached and left their ships, and made their way across the mainland.

But when the Chians entered the lands of Ephesus [27.316,37.916] (deserted settlement), Izmir Ili, Ege kiyilari, Turkey, Asia Ephesus on their march, they came by night while the women were celebrating the Thesmophoria; then the Ephesians, never having heard the story of the Chians and seeing an army invading their country, were fully persuaded that these were robbers come after their women; so they mustered all their force and killed the Chians.

So these men met with such a fate. As for Dionysius the Phocaean, when he saw that the Ionian cause was lost, he sailed away with the three enemy ships that he had captured; but not to Foca [26.75,38.666] (inhabited place), Izmir Ili, Ege kiyilari, Turkey, Asia Phocaea, now that he knew well that it would be enslaved with the rest of Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia; he right away sailed straight to Phoenicia (region (general)), Asia Phoenicia instead, sunk some merchant ships, took a lot of money, and sailed to Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily; from this base he set himself up as a pirate, robbing Carthaginians and Tyrrhenians, but no Greeks.

When the Persians had conquered the Ionians by sea, they laid siege to Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus by sea and land, mining the walls and using every device against it, until they utterly captured it in the sixth year after the revolt of Aristagoras. They enslaved the city, and thus the calamity agreed with the oracle concerning Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus.

When the Argives inquired at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi about the safety of their city, a common response was given, one part regarding the Argives themselves, but there was an additional response for the Milesians.

I will mention the part concerning the Argives when I come to that part of my history; this was the prophecy given to the Milesians in their absence: Then, Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus, contriver of evil deeds, For many will you become a banquet and glorious gifts; Your wives will wash the feet of many long-haired men; Other ministers will tend my Didyman shrine!

All this now came upon the Milesians, since most of their men were slain by the Persians, who wore long hair, and their women and children were accounted as slaves, and the temple at Didyma [27.25,37.3667] (Perseus) Didyma with its shrine and place of divination was plundered and burnt. Of the wealth that was in this temple I have often spoken elsewhere in my history.

After that, the captive Milesians were brought to Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa. King Darius did them no further harm, settling them by the sea called Red, in the city of Ampe, by which the river Tigris [47.416,31] (river), AsiaTigris flows as it issues into the sea. Of the Milesian land the Persians themselves held what was nearest to the city, and the plain, giving the hill country into the possession of Carians from Pedasa [27.3833,37.0333] (Perseus) Pedasa.

Now when the Milesians suffered all this at the hands of the Persians, the Sybarites (who had lost their city and dwelt in Laus and Scidrus) did not give them equal return for what they had done. When Sybaris [16.4833,39.75] (Perseus) Sybaris was taken by the Crotoniates, all the people of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus, young and old, shaved their heads and made great public lamentation; no cities which we know were ever so closely joined in friendship as these.

The Athenians acted very differently. The Athenians made clear their deep grief for the taking of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus in many ways, but especially in this: when Phrynichus wrote a play entitled “The Fall of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus” and produced it, the whole theater fell to weeping; they fined Phrynichus a thousand drachmas for bringing to mind a calamity that affected them so personally, and forbade the performance of that play forever.

Book 6, Part 2

Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus then was left empty of Milesians. The men of property among the Samians were displeased by the dealings of their generals with the Medes, so after the sea-fight they took counsel immediately and resolved that before Aeaces the tyrant came to their country they would sail to a colony, rather than remain and be slaves of the Medes and Aeaces.

The people of Zancle [15.5667,38.1833] (Perseus)Zancle in Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily about this time sent messengers to Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia inviting the Ionians to the Fair Coast, desiring there to found an Ionian city. This Fair Coast, as it is called, is in Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily, in that part which looks towards Etruria (region (general)), Italy, EuropeTyrrhenia. At this invitation, the Samians alone of the Ionians, with those Milesians who had escaped, set forth.

In their journey a thing happened to them such as I will show. As they voyaged to Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily, the Samians came to the country of the Epizephyrian Locrians at a time when the people of Zancle [15.5667,38.1833] (Perseus) Zancle and their king (whose name was Scythes) were besieging a Sicilian town desiring to take it.

Learning this, Anaxilaus the tyrant of Reggio di Calabria [15.65,38.1] (inhabited place), Reggio di Calabria, Calabria, Italy, Europe Rhegium, being then in a feud with the Zanclaeans, joined forces with the Samians and persuaded them to leave off their voyage to the Fair Coast and seize Zancle [15.5667,38.1833] (Perseus) Zancle while it was deserted by its men.

The Samians consented and seized Zancle [15.5667,38.1833] (Perseus) Zancle; when they learned that their city was taken, the Zanclaeans came to deliver it, calling to their aid Hippocrates the tyrant of Gela [14.25,37.0667] (Perseus)Gela, who was their ally.

But Hippocrates, when he came bringing his army to aid them, put Scythes the monarch of Zancle [15.5667,38.1833] (Perseus) Zancle and his brother Pythogenes in chains for losing the city, and sent them away to the city of Inyx. He betrayed the rest of the Zanclaeans to the Samians, with whom he had made an agreement and exchanged oaths.

The price which the Samians agreed to give him was that Hippocrates should take for his share half of the movable goods and slaves in the city, and all that was in the country.

Most of the Zanclaeans were kept in chains as slaves by Hippocrates himself; he gave three hundred chief men to the Samians to be put to death, but the Samians did not do so.

Scythes the monarch of Zancle [15.5667,38.1833] (Perseus) Zancle escaped from Inyx to Himera, and from there he came to Asia (continent)Asia and went up country to king Darius. Darius considered him the most honest man of all who had come up to him from Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas;

for he returned by the king's permission to Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily and from Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily back again to Darius, until in old age he ended his life in Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia in great wealth. Without trouble the Samians planted themselves in that most excellent city of Zancle [15.5667,38.1833] (Perseus) Zancle, after they had escaped from the Medes.

After the fight at sea for Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus, the Phoenicians at the Persians' bidding brought Aeaces son of Syloson back to Nisos Samos [26.8,37.75] (island), Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Samos, for the high worth of his service to them and for his great achievements. Because of the desertion of their ships in the sea-fight, the Samians were the only rebel people whose city and temples were not burnt.

After Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus was captured, the Persians at once gained possession of Caria [28,37.5] (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Caria. Some of the towns submitted voluntarily; others were brought over by force.

All this happened so. Histiaeus the Milesian was at Byzantium [28.95,41.0333] (Perseus) Byzantium, seizing the Ionian merchant ships as they sailed out of the Black Sea [38,42] (sea) Euxine, when he had news of the business of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus. Leaving all matters concerning the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont in charge of Bisaltes of Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaAbydos, son of Apollophanes, he himself sailed with the Lesbians to Chios [26,38.366] (island), Khios, Aegean Islands, Greece, EuropeChios and, when the Chian guardships would not receive him, fought in the Hollows of Chios [26,38.366] (island), Khios, Aegean Islands, Greece, EuropeChios (as they are called).

Many of their crews he killed; the rest of the people of the country, since they were crippled by the sea-fight, were mastered by Histiaeus with his Lesbians, setting out from Polichne in Chios [26,38.366] (island), Khios, Aegean Islands, Greece, EuropeChios.

It is common for some sign to be given when great ills threaten cities or nations; for before all this plain signs had been sent to the Chians.

Of a band of a hundred youths whom they had sent to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi only two returned, ninety-eight being caught and carried off by pestilence; moreover, at about this same time, a little before the sea-fight, the roof fell in on boys learning their letters: of one hundred and twenty of them one alone escaped.

These signs a god showed to them; then the sea-fight broke upon them and beat the city to its knees; on top of the sea-fight came Histiaeus and the Lesbians. Since the Chians were in such a bad state, he easily subdued them.

Then Histiaeus brought a great force of Ionians and Aeolians against Thasos [24.716,40.783] (deserted settlement), Thasos, Kavalla, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Thasos. While he was besieging Thasos [24.716,40.783] (deserted settlement), Thasos, Kavalla, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Thasos a message came that the Phoenicians were putting out to sea from Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus to attack the rest of Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia. When he learned this, he left Thasos [24.716,40.783] (deserted settlement), Thasos, Kavalla, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Thasos unsacked, and hastened instead with all his army to Lesbos [26.333,39.166] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lesbos.

From there, since his army suffered from hunger, he crossed over to reap from Atarneus [26.95,39.05] (Perseus) Atarneus the corn there and the Mysian corn of the Bakir Cayi [27,38.916] (river), Turkey, AsiaCaicus plain. Now it chanced that in that region was Harpagus, a Persian, with no small force under him; when Histiaeus landed, Harpagus met him in battle and took Histiaeus himself alive and killed most of his army.

Histiaeus was taken prisoner in this way: the Greeks fought with the Persians at Malene in the country of Atarneus [26.95,39.05] (Perseus) Atarneus; the armies fought for a long time, until the Persian cavalry charged and fell upon the Greeks. So this was the accomplishment of the cavalry; when the Greeks were routed, Histiaeus, supposing that the king would not put him to death for his present transgression, did what showed that he loved his life too well.

He was overtaken in his flight by a Persian, and when he was caught and about to be stabbed, he cried out in the Persian language and revealed himself to be Histiaeus the Milesian.

Now if he had been taken prisoner and brought to king Darius, he would have suffered no harm (to my thinking) and the king would have forgiven his guilt; but as it was, when Histiaeus was brought to Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis, both because of what he had done, and for fear that he might escape and again win power at the court, Artaphrenes, governor of Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis, and Harpagus, who had captured him, impaled his body on the spot, and sent his head embalmed to king Darius at Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa.

When Darius learned of this, he blamed those who had done it because they had not brought Histiaeus before him alive, and he commanded that the head should be washed and buried with due ceremony, as of a man who had done great good to Darius himself and to Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia.

Thus it fared with Histiaeus. The Persian fleet wintered at Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus, and putting out to sea in the next year easily subdued the islands that lie off the mainland, Chios [26,38.366] (island), Khios, Aegean Islands, Greece, EuropeChios and Lesbos [26.333,39.166] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lesbos and Tenedos [26.05,39.8167] (Perseus)Tenedos. Whenever they took an island, the foreigners would (net) the people.

This is the manner of their doing it: the men link hands and make a line reaching from the northern sea to the southern, and then advance over the whole island hunting the people down. They also captured the Ionian cities of the mainland in the same way, but not by netting the people; for that was not possible.

Then the Persian generals were not false to the threats they had made against the Ionians when they were encamped opposite them. When they had gained mastery over the cities, they chose out the most handsome boys and castrated them, making them eunuchs instead of men, and they carried the fairest maidens away to the king; they did all this, and they burnt the cities with their temples. Thus three times had the Ionians been enslaved, first by the Lydians and now twice in a row by the Persians.

Then the fleet departed from Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia and captured everything which lies to the left of one sailing up the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont; the right side had been subdued by the Persians themselves from the mainland. These are the regions of Europe (continent)Europe that belong to the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont: the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese, in which there are many cities; Perinthus, and the forts that lie towards Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace, and Selymbria [28.25,41.0833] (Perseus)Selymbria and Byzantium [28.95,41.0333] (Perseus) Byzantium.

The Byzantines and the Calchedonians beyond them did not even wait for the attack of the Phoenicians, but left their own land and fled away into the Black Sea [38,42] (sea) Euxine, and there settled in the city of Mesambria. The Phoenicians burnt the aforementioned places and turned against Marmara Adasi [27.616,40.633] (island), Balikesir, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Proconnesus and Artace; after giving these also to the flames they sailed back to the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese to finish off the remaining cities, as many as they had not destroyed at their former landing.

But they did not sail against Cyzicus [27.9,40.4167] (Perseus) Cyzicus at all; the Cyzicenes had already made themselves the king's subjects before the Phoenician expedition, by an agreement with the governor at Dascyleum, Oebares son of Megabazus.

The Phoenicians subdued all the cities in the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese except Cardia. Miltiades son of Cimon son of Stesagoras was tyrant there. Miltiades son of Cypselus had gained the rule earlier in the following manner: the Thracian Dolonci held possession of this Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese. They were crushed in war by the Apsinthians, so they sent their kings to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi to inquire about the war.

The Pythia answered that they should bring to their land as founder the first man who offered them hospitality after they left the sacred precinct. But as the Dolonci passed through +Phocis (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Phocis and Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia, going along the Sacred Way, no one invited them, so they turned toward Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens.

At that time in Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, Pisistratus held all power, but Miltiades son of Cypselus also had great influence. His household was rich enough to maintain a four-horse chariot, and he traced his earliest descent to Aeacus and +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina, though his later ancestry was Athenian. Philaeus son of Ajax was the first of that house to be an Athenian.

Miltiades was sitting on his porch when he saw the Dolonci go by with their foreign clothing and spears, so he called out to them, and when they came over, he invited them in for lodging and hospitality. They accepted, and after he entertained them, they revealed the whole story of the oracle to him and asked him to obey the god.

He was persuaded as soon as he heard their speech, for he was tired of Pisistratus' rule and wanted to be away from it. He immediately set out for Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi to ask the oracle if he should do what the Dolonci asked of him.

The Pythia also bade him do so. Then Miltiades son of Cypselus, previously an Olympic victor in the four-horse chariot, recruited any Athenian who wanted to take part in the expedition, sailed off with the Dolonci, and took possession of their land. Those who brought him appointed him tyrant.

His first act was to wall off the isthmus of the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese from the city of Cardia across to Pactye, so that the Apsinthians would not be able to harm them by invading their land. The isthmus is thirty-six stadia across, and to the south of the isthmus the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese is four hundred and twenty stadia in length.

After Miltiades had pushed away the Apsinthians by walling off the neck of the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese, he made war first on the people of +Lapseki [26.7,40.366] (inhabited place), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Lampsacus, but the Lampsacenes laid an ambush and took him prisoner. However, Miltiades stood high in the opinion of Croesus the Lydian, and when Croesus heard what had happened, he sent to the Lampsacenes and commanded them to release Miltiades. If they did not do so, he threatened to cut them down like a pine tree.

The Lampsacenes went astray in their counsels as to what the utterance meant which Croesus had threatened them with, saying he would devastate them like a pine tree, until at last one of the elders understood and said what it was: the pine is the only tree that once cut down never sends out any shoots; it is utterly destroyed. So out of fear of Croesus the Lampsacenes released Miltiades and let him go.

So he escaped by the intervention of Croesus, but he later died childless and left his rule and possessions to Stesagoras, the son of his half-brother Cimon. Since his death, the people of the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese offer sacrifices to him as their founder in the customary manner, instituting a contest of horse races and gymnastics. No one from +Lapseki [26.7,40.366] (inhabited place), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Lampsacus is allowed to compete.

But in the war against the Lampsacenes Stesagoras too met his end and died childless; he was struck on the head with an axe in the town-hall by a man who pretended to be a deserter but in truth was an enemy and a man of violence.

Stesagoras met his end in this way. The sons of Pisistratus sent Miltiades, son of Cimon and brother of the dead Stesagoras, in a trireme to the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese to take control of the country; they had already treated him well at Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, feigning that they had not been accessory to the death of Cimon his father, which I will relate in another place.

Reaching the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese, Miltiades kept himself within his house, professing thus to honor the memory of his brother Stesagoras. When the people of the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese learned this, their ruling men gathered together from all the cities on every side, and came together in a group to show fellow-feeling with his mourning; but he put them in bonds. So Miltiades made himself master of the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese; there he maintained a guard of five hundred men, and married Hegesipyle the daughter of Olorus, king of Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace.

But not long after this Miltiades son of Cimon had come to the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese, greater difficulties than the present afflictions overtook him. He had been driven from the country three years before this by the Scythians. The nomadic Scythians, provoked by Darius, gathered themselves together and rode as far as the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese.

Book 6, Part 3

Miltiades did not await their attack and fled from the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese, until the Scythians departed and the Dolonci brought him back again. All this had happened three years before the matters that now engaged him.

But now, learning that the Phoenicians were in +Tenedos [26.05,39.8167] (Perseus) Tenedos, he sailed away to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens with five triremes loaded with the possessions that he had nearby. He set out from Kardia [26.7333,40.5833] (Perseus)Cardia and crossed the Black Bay, and as he was sailing along the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese the Phoenicians fell upon him with their ships.

Miltiades himself escaped with four of his ships to Imbros, but the fifth was pursued and overtaken by the Phoenicians. It happened that the captain of this ship was Metiochus, the eldest son of Miltiades by another wife, not the daughter of Olorus the Thracian.

The Phoenicians took this man captive with his ship; and when they heard that he was Miltiades' son, they brought him up to the king, thinking that this would be a very favorable service, because Miltiades had declared his opinion among the Ionians that they should obey the Scythians in their demand to break the bridge of boats and sail away to their homes.

But when the Phoenicians brought Miltiades' son Metiochus before him, Darius did him no harm but much good, giving him a house and possessions and a Persian wife, who bore him children who were reckoned as Persians. Miltiades made his way from Imbros to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens.

In this year the Persians caused no further trouble for the Ionians, and at this same time certain things happened which greatly benefited the Ionians. Artaphrenes governor of Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis summoned ambassadors from the cities and compelled the Ionians to make agreements among themselves that they would abide by the law and not rob and plunder each other.

He compelled them to do this, and he measured their lands by parasangs, which is the Persian name for a distance of thirty stadia, and ordered that each people should according to this measurement pay a tribute which has remained fixed as assessed by Artaphrenes ever since that time up to this day; the sum appointed was about the same as that which they had rendered before. This then kept them peaceable.

But at the beginning of spring the other generals were deposed by the king from their offices, and Mardonius son of Gobryas, a man young in years and recently married to Darius' daughter Artozostre, came down to the coast at the head of a very great army and fleet.

When Mardonius reached Cilicia [34.333,36.666] (region (general)), Turkey, AsiaCilicia at the head of this army, he himself embarked on shipboard and sailed with the rest of his ships, while other captains led the land army to the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont.

When Mardonius arrived in Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia in his voyage along the coast of Asia (continent)Asia, he did a thing which I here set down for the wonder of those Greeks who will not believe Otanes to have declared his opinion among the Seven that democracy was best for Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia: Mardonius deposed all the Ionian tyrants and set up democracies in their cities.

He did this and hurried to the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont. When a great multitude of ships and a great army were assembled, the Persians crossed the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont on shipboard and marched through Europe (continent)Europe, with +Eretria [23.8083,38.3917] (Perseus) Eretria and Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens as their goal.

This was the stated end of their expedition, but they intended to subdue as many of the Greek cities as they could. Their fleet subdued the Thasians, who did not so much as lift up their hands against it; their land army added the Macedonians to the slaves that they had already, for all the nations nearer to them than Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia had been made subject to the Persians before this.

Crossing over from +Thasos [24.716,40.783] (deserted settlement), Thasos, Kavalla, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Thasos they travelled near the land as far as Acanthus, and putting out from there they tried to round +Mount Athos [24.316,40.166] (inhabited place), Pangaion Oros, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Athos. But a great and irresistible north wind fell upon them as they sailed past and dealt very roughly with them, driving many of their ships upon +Mount Athos [24.316,40.166] (inhabited place), Pangaion Oros, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Athos.

It is said that about three hundred ships were lost, and more than twenty thousand men. Since the coasts of +Mount Athos [24.316,40.166] (inhabited place), Pangaion Oros, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Athos abound in wild beasts, some men were carried off by beasts and so perished; others were dashed against the rocks; those who could not swim perished because of that, and still others by the cold.

Thus it fared with the fleet; as for Mardonius and his land army, while they were encamped in Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia, the Brygi of Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace attacked them by night and killed many of them, wounding Mardonius himself. But not even these could escape being enslaved by the Persians; Mardonius did not depart from those lands before he had subjugated them.

After conquering them, he led his army away homewards, since the Brygi had dealt a heavy blow to his army and +Mount Athos [24.316,40.166] (inhabited place), Pangaion Oros, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Athos an even heavier blow to his fleet. This expedition after an inglorious adventure returned back to Asia (continent)Asia.

In the next year after this, Darius first sent a message bidding the Thasians, who were falsely reported by their neighbors to be planning rebellion, to destroy their walls and bring their ships to +Abdera [24.9667,40.9833] (Perseus) Abdera.

Since they had been besieged by Histiaeus of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus and had great revenues, the Thasians had used their wealth to build ships of war and surround themselves with stronger walls.

Their revenue came from the mainland and from the mines. About eighty talents on average came in from the gold-mines of the “Dug Forest”, and less from the mines of +Thasos [24.716,40.783] (deserted settlement), Thasos, Kavalla, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Thasos itself, yet so much that the Thasians, paying no tax on their crops, drew a yearly revenue from the mainland and the mines of two hundred talents on average, and three hundred when the revenue was greatest.

I myself have seen these mines; by far the most marvellous were those that were found by the Phoenicians who with +Thasos [24.716,40.783] (deserted settlement), Thasos, Kavalla, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Thasos colonized this island, which is now called after that Phoenician Thasos.

These Phoenician mines are between the place called Aenyra and Coenyra in +Thasos [24.716,40.783] (deserted settlement), Thasos, Kavalla, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Thasos, opposite +Samothrace (island), Nomos Evrou, Western Thrace, Greece, Europe Samothrace; they are in a great hill that has been dug up in the searching. So much for that. The Thasians at the king's command destroyed their walls and brought all their ships to +Abdera [24.9667,40.9833] (Perseus) Abdera.

Then Darius attempted to learn whether the Greeks intended to wage war against him or to surrender themselves. He sent heralds this way and that throughout Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, bidding them demand a gift of earth and water for the king.

He despatched some to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, and he sent others to his own tributary cities of the coast, commanding that ships of war and transports for horses be built.

So the cities set about these preparations. The heralds who went to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas received what the king's proclamation demanded from many of those dwelling on the mainland and from all the islanders to whom they came with the demand. Among the islanders who gave earth and water to Darius were the Aeginetans.

The Athenians immediately came down upon them for doing this, for they supposed the Aeginetans to have given the gift out of enmity for Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, so they might join with the Persians in attacking the Athenians. Gladly laying hold of this pretext, they went to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta and there accused the Aeginetans of acting to betray Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

Regarding this accusation, Cleomenes son of Anaxandrides, king of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, crossed over to +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina intending to arrest the most culpable of its people.

But when he attempted to make the arrests, the Aeginetans opposed him, especially Crius son of Polycritus, who told him he would not take away any Aeginetan with impunity, for he had no authority from the Spartans for what he was doing; instead he had been bribed by the Athenians; otherwise he would have come to make the arrests with the other king. He said this because of a letter from Demaratus.

Driven from +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina, Cleomenes asked Crius his name; and when Crius told him what it was, Cleomenes said to him, “Now is the time to put bronze on your horns, Mr. Ram, for great calamity will confront you.”

All this time Demaratus son of Ariston remained at Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta and spread evil reports of Cleomenes. This Demaratus was also king of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, but of the inferior house; not indeed inferior in any other regard (for they have a common ancestor), but the house of Eurysthenes has in some sort the greater honor by right of primogeniture.

The Lacedaemonians say (but no poet agrees) that it was Aristodemus son of Aristomachus son of Cleodaeus son of Hyllus, and not his sons, who led them to that land which they now possess.

After no long time Aristodemus' wife, whose name was Argeia, bore him offspring; they say she was daughter of Autesion son of Tisamenus son of Thersander son of Polynices; she bore him twins; Aristodemus lived to see the children, then died of a sickness.

The Lacedaemonians of that day planned to follow their custom and make the eldest of the children king. But the children were identical in all respects, so the Lacedaemonians did not know which to choose; when they could not judge between them, or perhaps even before this, they asked the mother.

She said she knew no better than the Lacedaemonians which was the elder; she knew perfectly well, but she said this because she desired that by some means both might be made kings. The Lacedaemonians were at a loss, so they sent to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi to inquire how they should deal with the matter.

The priestess bade them make both children kings but give greater honor to the elder. When the priestess gave this response, the Lacedaemonians knew no better than before how to discover the elder child, and a man of +Nomos Messinias [21.833,37.25] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Messenia, whose name was Panites, gave them advice:

he advised them to watch the mother and see which of the children she washed and fed before the other; if she was seen to do this always in the same order, they would then have all that they sought and desired to discover; but if she changed her practice haphazardly, then it would be manifest to the Lacedaemonians that she know no more than they did, and they must have recourse to some other means.

Then the Spartans did as the Messenian advised; as they watched the mother of Aristodemus' children, they found her always preferring the elder when she fed and washed them, since she did not know why she was being watched. So they took the child that was preferred by its mother and brought it up at public expense as the first-born; and they called it Eurysthenes, and the other Procles.

They say that when these two brothers grew to manhood, they feuded with each other as long as they lived, and their descendants continued to do likewise.

The Lacedaemonians are the only Greeks who tell this story. But in what I write I follow the Greek report, and hold that the Greeks correctly recount these kings of the Dorians as far back as Perseus son of Danae—they make no mention of the god —and prove these kings to be Greek; for by that time they had come to be classified as Greeks.

I said as far back as Perseus, and I took the matter no further than that, because no one is named as the mortal father of Perseus, as Amphitryon is named father of Heracles. So I used correct reasoning when I said that the Greek record is correct as far back as Perseus; farther back than that, if the king's ancestors in each generation, from Danae daughter of Acrisius upward, be reckoned, then the leaders of the Dorians will be shown to be true-born Egyptians.

Thus have I traced their lineage according to the Greek story; but the Persian tale is that Perseus himself was an Assyrian, and became a Greek, which his forebears had not been; the Persians say that the ancestors of Acrisius had no bond of kinship with Perseus, and they indeed were, as the Greeks say, Egyptians.

Enough of these matters. Why and for what achievements these men, being Egyptian, won the kingship of the Dorians has been told by others, so I will let it go, and will make mention of matters which others have not touched.

These privileges the Spartans have given to their kings: two priesthoods, of Zeus called Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon and of Zeus of Heaven; they wage war against whatever land they wish, and no Spartan can hinder them in this on peril of being put under a curse; when the armies go forth the kings go out first and return last; one hundred chosen men guard them in their campaigns; they sacrifice as many sheep and goats as they wish at the start of their expeditions, and take the hides and backs of all sacrificed beasts.

Such are their rights in war; in peace the powers given them are as follows: at all public sacrifices the kings first sit down to the banquet and are first served, each of them receiving a portion double of what is given to the rest of the company; they make the first libations, and the hides of the sacrificed beasts are theirs.

Book 6, Part 4

At each new moon and each seventh day of the first part of the month, a full-grown victim for Apollo's temple, a bushel of barley-meal, and a Laconian quart of wine are given to each from the public store, and chief seats are set apart for them at the games.

It is their right to appoint whatever citizens they wish to be protectors of foreigners; and they each choose two Pythians. (The Pythians are the ambassadors to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi and eat with the kings at the public expense.) If the kings do not come to the public dinner, two choenixes of barley-meal and half a pint of wine are sent to their houses, but when they come, they receive a double share of everything; and the same honor shall be theirs when they are invited by private citizens to dinner.

They keep all oracles that are given, though the Pythians also know them. The kings alone judge cases concerning the rightful possessor of an unwedded heiress, if her father has not betrothed her, and cases concerning public roads.

If a man desires to adopt a son, it is done in the presence of the kings. They sit with the twenty-eight elders in council; if they do not come, the elders most closely related to them hold the king's privilege, giving two votes over and above the third which is their own.

The kings are granted these rights from the Spartan commonwealth while they live; when they die, their rights are as follows: Horsemen proclaim their death in all parts of +Laconia [22.583,37] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Laconia, and in the city women go about beating on cauldrons. When this happens, two free persons from each house, a man and a woman, are required to wear mourning, or incur heavy penalties if they fail to do so.

The Lacedaemonians have the same custom at the deaths of their kings as the foreigners in Asia (continent)Asia; most foreigners use the same custom at their kings' deaths. When a king of the Lacedaemonians dies, a fixed number of their subject neighbors must come to the funeral from all Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon, besides the Spartans.

When these and the helots and the Spartans themselves have assembled in one place to the number of many thousands, together with the women, they zealously beat their foreheads and make long and loud lamentation, calling that king that is most recently dead the best of all their kings. Whenever a king dies in war, they make an image of him and carry it out on a well-spread bier. For ten days after the burial there are no assemblies or elections, and they mourn during these days.

The Lacedaemonians also resemble the Persians in this: when one king is dead and another takes his office, this successor releases from debt any Spartan who owes a debt to the king or to the commonwealth. Among the Persians the king at the beginning of his reign forgives all cities their arrears of tribute.

The Lacedaemonians resemble the Egyptians in that their heralds and flute-players and cooks inherit the craft from their fathers, a flute-player's son being a flute-player, and a cook's son a cook, and a herald's son a herald; no others usurp their places, making themselves heralds by loudness of voice; they ply their craft by right of birth. Such is the way of these matters.

While Cleomenes was in +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina working for the common good of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, Demaratus slandered him, not out of care for the Aeginetans, but out of jealousy and envy. Once Cleomenes returned home from +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina, he planned to remove Demaratus from his kingship, using the following affair as a pretext against him: Ariston, king of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, had married twice but had no children.

He did not admit that he himself was responsible, so he married a third time. This is how it came about: he had among the Spartans a friend to whom he was especially attached. This man's wife was by far the most beautiful woman in Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, but she who was now most beautiful had once been the ugliest.

Her nurse considered her inferior looks and how she was of wealthy people yet unattractive, and, seeing how the parents felt her appearance to be a great misfortune, she contrived to carry the child every day to the sacred precinct of Helen, which is in the place called Therapne, beyond the sacred precinct of Phoebus. Every time the nurse carried the child there, she set her beside the image and beseeched the goddess to release the child from her ugliness.

Once as she was leaving the sacred precinct, it is said that a woman appeared to her and asked her what she was carrying in her arms. The nurse said she was carrying a child and the woman bade her show it to her, but she refused, saying that the parents had forbidden her to show it to anyone. But the woman strongly bade her show it to her,

and when the nurse saw how important it was to her, she showed her the child. The woman stroked the child's head and said that she would be the most beautiful woman in all Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta. From that day her looks changed, and when she reached the time for marriage, Agetus son of Alcidas married her. This man was Ariston's friend.

So love for this woman pricked Ariston, and he contrived as follows: He promised to give to his comrade any one thing out of all he owned, whatever Agetus might choose, and he bade his comrade make him the same promise. Agetus had no fear about his wife, seeing that Ariston was already married, so he agreed and they took oaths on these terms.

Ariston gave Agetus whatever it was that he chose out of all his treasures, and then, seeking equal recompense from him, tried to take the wife of his comrade. Agetus said that he had agreed to anything but that, but he was forced by his oath and by the deceitful trick to let his wife be taken.

In this way Ariston married his third wife, after divorcing the second one. But his new wife gave birth to Demaratus too soon, before ten lunar months had passed.

When one of his servants announced to him as he sat in council with the ephors that he had a son, Ariston, knowing the time of the marriage, counted up the months on his fingers and swore on oath, “It's not mine.” The ephors heard this but did not make anything of it. When the boy grew up, Ariston regretted having said that, for he firmly believed Demaratus to be his own son.

He named him Demaratus because before his birth all the Spartan populace had prayed that Ariston, the man most highly esteemed out of all the kings of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, might have a son. Thus he was named Demaratus, which means “answer to the people's prayer.”

Time passed and Ariston died, so Demaratus held the kingship. But it seems that these matters had to become known and cause Demaratus to lose his kingship. He had already fallen out with Cleomenes when he had brought the army back from +Eleusis [23.5583,38.0417] (Perseus) Eleusis, and now they were even more at odds when Cleomenes crossed over after the Aeginetans who were Medizing.

Cleomenes wanted revenge, so he made a deal with Leotychides son of Menares son of Agis, of the same family as Demaratus. The deal was that Leotychides would go with Cleomenes against the Aeginetans if he became king.

Leotychides had already become strongly hostile to Demaratus for the following reason: Leotychides was betrothed to Percalus, daughter of Demarmenus, but Demaratus plotted and robbed him of his marriage, stealing Percalus and marrying her first.

From this affair Leotychides was hostile toward Demaratus, so at Cleomenes' instigation he took an oath against him, saying that he was not king of the Spartans by right, since he was not Ariston's son. After making this oath, he prosecuted him, recalling that utterance which Ariston had made when the servant told him he had a son, and he counted up the months and swore that it was not his.

Taking his stand on this remark, Leotychides declared that Demaratus was not Ariston's son and that he was not rightly king of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, bringing as witnesses the ephors who had been sitting beside Ariston and heard him say this.

Disputes arose over it, so the Spartans resolved to ask the oracle at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi if Demaratus was the son of Ariston.

At Cleomenes' instigation this was revealed to the Pythia. He had won over a man of great influence among the Delphians, Cobon son of Aristophantus, and Cobon persuaded the priestess, Periallus, to say what Cleomenes wanted her to.

When the ambassadors asked if Demaratus was the son of Ariston, the Pythia gave judgment that he was not. All this came to light later; Cobon was exiled from Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi, and Periallus was deposed from her position.

So it was concerning Demaratus' loss of the kingship, and from Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta he went into exile among the Medes because of the following reproach: after he was deposed from the kingship, he was elected to office.

When it was the time of the Gymnopaidia, Leotychides, now king in his place, saw him in the audience and, as a joke and an insult, sent a messenger to him to ask what it was like to hold office after being king.

He was grieved by the question and said that he had experience of both, while Leotychides did not, and that this question would be the beginning for Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta of either immense evil or immense good fortune. He said this, covered his head, left the theater, and went home, where he immediately made preparations and sacrificed an ox to Zeus. Then he summoned his mother.

When she came in, he put some of the entrails in her hands and entreated her, saying, “Mother, appealing to Zeus of the household and to all the other gods, I beseech you to tell me the truth. Who is my father? Tell me truly.

Leotychides said in the disputes that you were already pregnant by your former husband when you came to Ariston. Others say more foolishly that you approached to one of the servants, the ass-keeper, and that I am his son.

I adjure you by the gods to speak what is true. If you have done anything of what they say, you are not the only one; you are in company with many women. There is much talk at Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta that Ariston did not have child-bearing seed in him, or his former wives would have given him children.”

Thus he spoke. His mother answered, “My son, since you adjure me by entreaties to speak the truth, I will speak out to you all that is true. On the third night after Ariston brought me to his house, a phantom resembling him came to me. It came and lay with me and then put on me the garlands which it had.

It went away, and when Ariston came in later and saw me with the garlands, he asked who gave them to me. I said he did, but he denied it. I swore an oath that just a little while before he had come in and lain with me and given me the garlands, and I said it was not good of him to deny it.

When he saw me swearing, he perceived that this was some divine affair. For the garlands had clearly come from the hero's precinct which is established at the courtyard doors, which they call the precinct of Astrabacus, and the seers responded that this was the same hero who had come to me. Thus, my son, you have all you want to know.

Either you are from this hero and Astrabacus the hero is your father, or Ariston is, for I conceived you that night. As for how your enemies chiefly attack you, saying that Ariston himself, when your birth was announced, denied in front of a large audience that you were his because the ten months had not yet been completed, he spoke an idle word, out of ignorance of such things.

Some women give birth after nine months or seven months; not all complete the ten months. I gave birth to you, my son, after seven months. A little later Ariston himself recognized that he had blurted out that speech because of foolishness. Do not believe other stories about your manner of birth. You have heard the whole truth. May the wife of Leotychides himself, and the wives of the others who say these things, give birth to children fathered by ass-keepers.”

Thus his mother spoke. After learning what he desired, Demaratus took provisions and travelled to +Elis [21.4,37.8833] (Perseus) Elis, pretending that he was going to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi to inquire of the oracle. But the Lacedaemonians suspected that he planned to escape and went in pursuit.

Demaratus somehow went across to +Zakinthos [20.9,37.783] (inhabited place), Nisos Zakinthos, Zakinthos, Ionian Islands, Greece, Europe Zacynthus from +Elis [21.4,37.8833] (Perseus) Elis before them; the Lacedaemonians crossed over after him and laid hands on him, carrying off his servants. But the Zacynthians refused to give him up, and later he crossed from there to Asia (continent)Asia and went to king Darius, who received him in grand style and gave him lands and cities.

So Demaratus reached Asia (continent)Asia through such chances, a man who had gained much renown in Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon by his many achievements and his wisdom, and by conferring on the state the victory in a chariot-race he had won at Olympia [21.6333,37.65] (Perseus)Olympia; he was the only king of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta who did this.

Leutychides son of Menares succeeded to the kingship after Demaratus was deposed. A son was born to him, Zeuxidemus, called by some of the Spartans Cyniscus. This Zeuxidemus never became king of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, for he died before Leutychides, leaving his son Archidemus.

After the loss of Zeuxidemus, Leutychides married a second wife, Eurydame, sister of Menius and daughter of Diactorides; by her he had no male offspring, but a daughter, Lampito, to whom Archidemus son of Zeuxidemus was married by Leutychides.

Book 6, Part 5

But Leutychides also did not come to old age in Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta; he was punished for his dealings with Demaratus as I will show. He led a Lacedaemonian army to +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly, and when he could have subdued all the country he took a great bribe.

After being caught in the act of hoarding a sleeve full of silver there in the camp, he was brought before a court and banished from Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, and his house was destroyed. He went into exile at Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea and died in that country.

This happened long afterwards. When Cleomenes' dealings with Demaratus came off successfully, he immediately took Leutychides with him and went to punish the Aeginetans, with whom he was terribly angry because of their insulting behavior.

When the Aeginetans saw that both kings had come after them, they now deemed it best to offer no further resistance; the kings chose ten men of +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina who were most honored for wealth and lineage, among them Crius son of Polycritus and Casambus son of Aristocrates, the two most powerful men in +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina; they carried them to Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica and gave them into the keeping of the Athenians, the bitterest foes of the Aeginetans.

Later Cleomenes' treacherous plot against Demaratus became known; he was seized with fear of the Spartans and secretly fled to +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly. From there he came to +Arcadia [22.25,37.583] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Arcadia and stirred up disorder, uniting the Arcadians against Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta; among his methods of binding them by oath to follow him wherever he led was his zeal to bring the chief men of +Arcadia [22.25,37.583] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Arcadia to the city of Nonacris and make them swear by the water of the Styx.

Near this city is said to be the Arcadian water of the Styx, and this is its nature: it is a stream of small appearance, dropping from a cliff into a pool; a wall of stones runs round the pool. Nonacris, where this spring rises, is a city of +Arcadia [22.25,37.583] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Arcadia near Pheneus.

When the Lacedaemonians learned that Cleomenes was doing this, they took fright and brought him back to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta to rule on the same terms as before. Cleomenes had already been not entirely in his right mind, and on his return from exile a mad sickness fell upon him: any Spartan that he happened to meet he would hit in the face with his staff.

For doing this, and because he was out of his mind, his relatives bound him in the stocks. When he was in the stocks and saw that his guard was left alone, he demanded a dagger; the guard at first refused to give it, but Cleomenes threatened what he would do to him when he was freed, until the guard, who was a helot, was frightened by the threats and gave him the dagger.

Cleomenes took the weapon and set about slashing himself from his shins upwards; from the shin to the thigh he cut his flesh lengthways, then from the thigh to the hip and the sides, until he reached the belly, and cut it into strips; thus he died, as most of the Greeks say, because he persuaded the Pythian priestess to tell the tale of Demaratus. The Athenians alone say it was because he invaded +Eleusis [23.5583,38.0417] (Perseus) Eleusis and laid waste the precinct of the gods. The Argives say it was because when Argives had taken refuge after the battle in their temple of Argus he brought them out and cut them down, then paid no heed to the sacred grove and set it on fire.

As Cleomenes was seeking divination at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi, the oracle responded that he would take Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos. When he came with Spartans to the river Erasinus, which is said to flow from the Stymphalian lake (this lake issues into a cleft out of sight and reappears at Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos, and from that place onwards the stream is called by the Argives Erasinus)—when Cleomenes came to this river he offered sacrifices to it.

The omens were in no way favorable for his crossing, so he said that he honored the Erasinus for not betraying its countrymen, but even so the Argives would not go unscathed. Then he withdrew and led his army seaward to Thyrea, where he sacrificed a bull to the sea and carried his men on shipboard to the region of +Tiryns [22.8167,37.6] (Perseus) Tiryns and to +Navplion [22.8,37.566] (inhabited place), Nomos Argolidhos, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Nauplia.

The Argives heard of this and came to the coast to do battle with him. When they had come near +Tiryns [22.8167,37.6] (Perseus) Tiryns and were at the place called Hesipeia, they encamped opposite the Lacedaemonians, leaving only a little space between the armies. There the Argives had no fear of fair fighting, but rather of being captured by a trick.

This was the affair referred to by that oracle which the Pythian priestess gave to the Argives and Milesians in common, which ran thus: When the female defeats the male And drives him away, winning glory in Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos, She will make many Argive women tear their cheeks. As someday one of men to come will say: The dread thrice-coiled serpent died tamed by the spear.

All these things coming together spread fear among the Argives. Therefore they resolved to defend themselves by making use of the enemies' herald, and they performed their resolve in this way: whenever the Spartan herald signalled anything to the Lacedaemonians, the Argives did the same thing.

When Cleomenes saw that the Argives did whatever was signalled by his herald, he commanded that when the herald cried the signal for breakfast, they should then put on their armor and attack the Argives.

The Lacedaemonians performed this command, and when they assaulted the Argives they caught them at breakfast in obedience to the herald's signal; they killed many of them, and far more fled for refuge into the grove of Argus, which the Lacedaemonians encamped around and guarded.

Then Cleomenes' plan was this: He had with him some deserters from whom he learned the names, then he sent a herald calling by name the Argives that were shut up in the sacred precinct and inviting them to come out, saying that he had their ransom. (Among the Peloponnesians there is a fixed ransom of two minae to be paid for every prisoner.) So Cleomenes invited about fifty Argives to come out one after another and murdered them.

Somehow the rest of the men in the temple precinct did not know this was happening, for the grove was thick and those inside could not see how those outside were faring, until one of them climbed a tree and saw what was being done. Thereafter they would not come out at the herald's call.

Then Cleomenes bade all the helots pile wood about the grove; they obeyed, and he burnt the grove. When the fire was now burning, he asked of one of the deserters to what god the grove belonged; the man said it was of Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos. When he heard that, he groaned aloud, “Apollo, god of oracles, you have gravely deceived me by saying that I would take Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos; this, I guess, is the fulfillment of that prophecy.”

Then Cleomenes sent most of his army back to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, while he himself took a thousand of the best warriors and went to the temple of Hera to sacrifice. When he wished to sacrifice at the altar the priest forbade him, saying that it was not holy for a stranger to sacrifice there. Cleomenes ordered the helots to carry the priest away from the altar and whip him, and he performed the sacrifice. After doing this, he returned to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta.

But after his return his enemies brought him before the ephors, saying that he had been bribed not to take Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos when he might have easily taken it. Cleomenes alleged (whether falsely or truly, I cannot rightly say; but this he alleged in his speech) that he had supposed the god's oracle to be fulfilled by his taking of the temple of Argus; therefore he had thought it best not to make any attempt on the city before he had learned from the sacrifices whether the god would deliver it to him or withstand him;

when he was taking omens in Hera's temple a flame of fire had shone forth from the breast of the image, and so he learned the truth of the matter, that he would not take Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos. If the flame had come out of the head of the image, he would have taken the city from head to foot utterly; but its coming from the breast signified that he had done as much as the god willed to happen. This plea of his seemed to the Spartans to be credible and reasonable, and he far outdistanced the pursuit of his accusers.

But Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos was so wholly deprived of men that their slaves took possession of all affairs, ruling and governing until the sons of the slain men grew up. Then they recovered Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos for themselves and cast out the slaves; when they were driven out, the slaves took possession of +Tiryns [22.8167,37.6] (Perseus) Tiryns by force.

For a while they were at peace with each other; but then there came to the slaves a prophet, Cleander, a man of Phigalea in +Arcadia [22.25,37.583] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Arcadia by birth; he persuaded the slaves to attack their masters. From that time there was a long-lasting war between them, until with difficulty the Argives got the upper hand.

The Argives say this was the reason Cleomenes went mad and met an evil end; the Spartans themselves say that Cleomenes' madness arose from no divine agent, but that by consorting with Scythians he became a drinker of strong wine, and the madness came from this.

The nomadic Scythians, after Darius had invaded their land, were eager for revenge, so they sent to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta and made an alliance. They agreed that the Scythians would attempt to invade Media by way of the river +Poti [41.683,42.183] (inhabited place), regions under republican jurisdiction, Georgia, Asia Phasis, and they urged the Spartans to set out and march inland from +Ephesus [27.316,37.916] (deserted settlement), Izmir Ili, Ege kiyilari, Turkey, Asia Ephesus and meet the Scythians.

They say that when the Scythians had come for this purpose, Cleomenes kept rather close company with them, and by consorting with them more than was fitting he learned from them to drink strong wine. The Spartans consider him to have gone mad from this. Ever since, as they themselves say, whenever they desire a strong drink they call for “a Scythian cup.” Such is the Spartan story of Cleomenes; but to my thinking it was for what he did to Demaratus that he was punished thus.

When the Aeginetans heard that Cleomenes was dead, they sent messengers to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta to cry out against Leutychides concerning the hostages that were held at Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens. The Lacedaemonians then assembled a court and gave judgment that Leutychides had done violence to the Aeginetans; and they condemned him to be given up and carried to +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina in requital for the men that were held at Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens.

But when the Aeginetans were about to carry Leutychides away, a man of repute at Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, Theasides son of Leoprepes, said to them, “Men of +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina, what are you planning to do? To have the king of the Spartans given up to you by the citizens and carry him away? If the Spartans have now so judged in their anger, see that they do not bring utter destruction upon your country if you do this.”

The Aeginetans heard this and refrained from carrying the king away, and made an agreement that Leutychides should go with them to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens and restore the men to the Aeginetans.

When Leutychides came to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens and demanded back the hostages, the Athenians were unwilling to give them back and made excuses, saying that two kings had given them the trust and they deemed it wrong to restore it to one without the other.

When the Athenians refused to give them back, Leutychides said to them: “Men of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, do whichever thing you desire. If you give them back, you do righteously; if you do not give them back, you do the opposite. But I want to tell you the story of what happened at Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta in the matter of a trust.

We Spartans say that three generations ago there was at Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon one Glaucus, the son of Epicydes. We say that this man added to his other excellences a reputation for justice above all men who at that time dwelt in Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon.

But we say that at the fitting time this befell him: There came to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta a certain man of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus, who desired to have a talk with Glaucus and made him this offer: ‘I am a Milesian, and I have come to have the benefit of your justice, Glaucus.

Since there is much talk about your justice throughout all the rest of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, and even in Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia, I considered the fact that Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia is always in danger while the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese is securely established, and nowhere in Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia are the same men seen continuing in possession of wealth.

Considering and taking counsel concerning these matters, I resolved to turn half of my property into silver and deposit it with you, being well assured that it will lie safe for me in your keeping. Accept the money for me, and take and keep these tokens; restore the money to whoever comes with the same tokens and demands it back.’

Thus spoke the stranger who had come from Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus, and Glaucus received the trust according to the agreement. After a long time had passed, the sons of the man who had deposited the money came to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta; they spoke with Glaucus, showing him the tokens and demanding the money back.

But Glaucus put them off and answered in turn: ‘I do not remember the matter, and nothing of what you say carries my mind back. Let me think; I wish to do all that is just. If I took the money, I will duly restore it; if I never took it at all, I will deal with you according to the customs of the Greeks. I will put off making my decision for you until the fourth month from this day.’

So the Milesians went away in sorrow, as men robbed of their possessions; but Glaucus journeyed to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi to question the oracle. When he asked the oracle whether he should seize the money under oath, the Pythian priestess threatened him in these verses:

Glaucus son of Epicydes, it is more profitable now To prevail by your oath and seize the money. Swear, for death awaits even the man who swears true. But Oath has a son, nameless; he is without hands Or feet, but he pursues swiftly, until he catches And destroys all the family and the entire house. The line of a man who swears true is better later on. When Glaucus heard this, he entreated the god to pardon him for what he had said. The priestess answered that to tempt the god and to do the deed had the same effect.

So Glaucus summoned the Milesian strangers and gave them back their money. But hear now, Athenians, why I began to tell you this story: there is today no descendant of Glaucus, nor any household that bears Glaucus' name; he has been utterly rooted out of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta. So good is it not even to think anything concerning a trust except giving it back on demand!”

Thus spoke Leutychides; but even so the Athenians would not listen to him, and he departed. The Aeginetans, before paying the penalty for the violence they had done to the Athenians to please the Thebans, acted as follows: blaming the Athenians and deeming themselves wronged, they prepared to take vengeance on the Athenians, who were now celebrating a quinquennial festival at Sunium. The Aeginetans set an ambush and captured the sacred ship, with many leading Athenians on board, and put in prison the men they seized.

Suffering this from the Aeginetans, the Athenians no longer put off devising all mischief against +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina. There was a notable man in +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina, Nicodromus son of Cnoethus by name, who held a grudge against the Aeginetans for his former banishment from the island. When he learned that the Athenians were now set upon harming the Aeginetans, he agreed to betray +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina to the Athenians, naming the day when he would make the attempt and when they must come to aid him.

Book 6, Part 6

Later Nicodromus, according to his agreement with the Athenians, took possession of the Old City, as it was called; but the Athenians were not there at the right time, for they did not have ships worthy to fight the Aeginetans. While they were asking the Corinthians to lend them ships, the affair was ruined. The Corinthians at that time were their close friends, so they consented to the Athenians' plea and gave them twenty ships, at a price of five drachmas apiece; by their law they could not make a free gift of them. Taking these ships and their own, the Athenians manned seventy in all and sailed for +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina, but they came a day later than the time agreed.

When the Athenians did not show up at the right time, Nicodromus took ship and escaped from +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina. Other Aeginetans followed him, and the Athenians gave them Sunium to dwell in; setting out from there they harried the Aeginetans of the island.

But this happened later. The rich men of +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina gained mastery over the people, who had risen against them with Nicodromus, then made them captive and led them out to be killed. Because of this a curse fell upon them, which despite all their efforts they could not get rid of by sacrifice, and they were driven out of their island before the goddess would be merciful to them.

They had taken seven hundred of the people alive; as they led these out for slaughter one of them escaped from his bonds and fled to the temple gate of Demeter the Lawgiver, where he laid hold of the door-handles and clung to them. They could not tear him away by force, so they cut off his hands and carried him off, and those hands were left clinging fast to the door-handles.

Thus the Aeginetans dealt with each other. When the Athenians came, they fought them at sea with seventy ships; the Aeginetans were defeated in the sea-fight and asked for help from the Argives, as they had done before. But this time the Argives would not aid them, holding a grudge because ships of +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina had been taken by force by Cleomenes and put in on the +Nomos Argolidhos [22.833,37.666] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Argolid coast, where their crews landed with the Lacedaemonians; men from ships of Sikyon [22.725,37.9833] (Perseus)Sicyon also took part in the same invasion.

The Argives laid on them the payment of a fine of a thousand talents, five hundred each. The Sicyonians confessed that they had done wrong and agreed to go free with a payment of a hundred talents, but the Aeginetans made no such confession and remained stubborn. For this cause the Argive state sent no one to aid them at their request, but about a thousand came voluntarily, led by a captain whose name was Eurybates, a man who practiced the pentathlon.

Most of these never returned, meeting their death at the hands of the Athenians in +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina; Eurybates himself, their captain, fought in single combat and thus killed three men, but was slain by the fourth, Sophanes the son of Deceles.

The Aeginetan ships found the Athenians in disarray and attacked and overcame them, taking four Athenian ships and their crews.

Thus Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens and +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina grappled together in war. The Persian was going about his own business, for his servant was constantly reminding him to remember the Athenians, and the Pisistratidae were at his elbow maligning the Athenians; moreover, Darius desired to take this pretext for subduing all the men of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas who had not given him earth and water.

He dismissed from command Mardonius, who had fared so badly on his expedition, and appointed other generals to lead his armies against Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens and +Eretria [23.8083,38.3917] (Perseus) Eretria, Datis, a Mede by birth, and his own nephew Artaphrenes son of Artaphrenes; the order he gave them at their departure was to enslave Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens and +Eretria [23.8083,38.3917] (Perseus) Eretria and bring the slaves into his presence.

When these appointed generals on their way from the king reached the Aleian plain in Cilicia [34.333,36.666] (region (general)), Turkey, AsiaCilicia, bringing with them a great and well-furnished army, they camped there and were overtaken by all the fleet that was assigned to each; there also arrived the transports for horses, which in the previous year Darius had bidden his tributary subjects to make ready.

Having loaded the horses into these, and embarked the land army in the ships, they sailed to Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia with six hundred triremes. From there they held their course not by the mainland and straight towards the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont and Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace, but setting forth from +Nisos Samos [26.8,37.75] (island), Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Samos they sailed by the Icarian sea and from island to island; this, to my thinking, was because they feared above all the voyage around +Mount Athos [24.316,40.166] (inhabited place), Pangaion Oros, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Athos, seeing that in the previous year they had come to great disaster by holding their course that way; moreover, +Nisos Naxos [25.583,32.33] (island), Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Naxos was still unconquered and constrained them.

When they approached +Naxos [15.283,37.816] (deserted settlement), Messina, Sicily, Italy, Europe Naxos from the Icarian sea and came to land (for it was +Naxos [15.283,37.816] (deserted settlement), Messina, Sicily, Italy, Europe Naxos which the Persians intended to attack first), the Naxians, remembering what had happened before, fled away to the mountains instead of waiting for them. The Persians enslaved all of them that they caught, and burnt their temples and their city. After doing this, they set sail for the other islands.

While they did this, the Delians also left Delos [25.2833,37.4] (Perseus)Delos and fled away to +Nisos Tinos [25.166,37.583] (island), Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Tenos. As his expedition was sailing landwards, Datis went on ahead and bade his fleet anchor not off Delos [25.2833,37.4] (Perseus)Delos, but across the water off Rhenaea. Learning where the Delians were, he sent a herald to them with this proclamation:

“Holy men, why have you fled away, and so misjudged my intent? It is my own desire, and the king's command to me, to do no harm to the land where the two gods were born, neither to the land itself nor to its inhabitants. So return now to your homes and dwell on your island.” He made this proclamation to the Delians, and then piled up three hundred talents of frankincense on the altar and burnt it.

After doing this, Datis sailed with his army against +Eretria [23.8083,38.3917] (Perseus) Eretria first, taking with him Ionians and Aeolians; and after he had put out from there, Delos [25.2833,37.4] (Perseus)Delos was shaken by an earthquake, the first and last, as the Delians say, before my time. This portent was sent by heaven, as I suppose, to be an omen of the ills that were coming on the world.

For in three generations, that is, in the time of Darius son of Hystaspes and Xerxes son of Darius and Artaxerxes son of Xerxes, more ills happened to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas than in twenty generations before Darius; some coming from the Persians, some from the wars for preeminence among the chief of the nations themselves.

Thus it was no marvel that there should be an earthquake in Delos [25.2833,37.4] (Perseus)Delos when there had been none before. Also there was an oracle concerning Delos [25.2833,37.4] (Perseus)Delos, where it was written: I will shake Delos [25.2833,37.4] (Perseus)Delos, though unshaken before. In the Greek language these names have the following meanings: Darius is the Doer, Xerxes the Warrior, Artaxerxes the Great Warrior. The Greeks would rightly call the kings thus in their language.

Launching out to sea from Delos [25.2833,37.4] (Perseus)Delos, the foreigners put in at the islands and gathered an army from there, taking the sons of the islanders for hostages.

When in their voyage about the islands they put in at Carystos, the Carystians gave them no hostages and refused to join them against neighboring cities, meaning +Eretria [23.8083,38.3917] (Perseus) Eretria and Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens; the Persians besieged them and laid waste their land, until the Carystians too came over to their side.

When the Eretrians learned that the Persian expedition was sailing to attack them, they asked for help from the Athenians. The Athenians did not refuse the aid, but gave them for defenders the four thousand tenant farmers who held the land of the Chalcidian horse-breeders. But it seems that all the plans of the Eretrians were unsound; they sent to the Athenians for aid, but their counsels were divided.

Some of them planned to leave the city and make for the heights of +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea; others plotted treason in hope of winning advantages from the Persians.

When Aeschines son of Nothon, a leading man in +Eretria [23.8083,38.3917] (Perseus) Eretria, learned of both designs, he told the Athenians who had come how matters stood, and asked them to depart to their own country so they would not perish like the rest. The Athenians followed Aeschines' advice.

So they saved themselves by crossing over to Oropus; the Persians sailed holding their course for Temenos and Choereae and Aegilea, all in Eretrian territory. Landing at these places, they immediately unloaded their horses and made preparation to attack their enemies.

The Eretrians had no intention of coming out and fighting; all their care was to guard their walls if they could, since it was the prevailing counsel not to leave the city. The walls were strongly attacked, and for six days many fell on both sides; but on the seventh two Eretrians of repute, Euphorbus son of Alcimachus and Philagrus son of Cineas, betrayed the city to the Persians.

They entered the city and plundered and burnt the temples, in revenge for the temples that were burnt at Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis; moreover, they enslaved the townspeople, according to Darius' command.

After subduing +Eretria [23.8083,38.3917] (Perseus) Eretria, the Persians waited a few days and then sailed away to the land of Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica, pressing ahead in expectation of doing to the Athenians exactly what they had done to the Eretrians. Marathon was the place in Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica most suitable for riding horses and closest to +Eretria [23.8083,38.3917] (Perseus) Eretria, so Hippias son of Pisistratus led them there.

When the Athenians learned this, they too marched out to Marathon, with ten generals leading them. The tenth was Miltiades, and it had befallen his father Cimon son of Stesagoras to be banished from Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens by Pisistratus son of Hippocrates.

While in exile he happened to take the Olympic prize in the four-horse chariot, and by taking this victory he won the same prize as his half-brother Miltiades. At the next Olympic games he won with the same horses but permitted Pisistratus to be proclaimed victor, and by resigning the victory to him he came back from exile to his own property under truce.

After taking yet another Olympic prize with the same horses, he happened to be murdered by Pisistratus' sons, since Pisistratus was no longer living. They murdered him by placing men in ambush at night near the town-hall. Cimon was buried in front of the city, across the road called “Through the Hollow”, and buried opposite him are the mares who won the three Olympic prizes.

The mares of Evagoras the Laconian did the same as these, but none others. Stesagoras, the elder of Cimon's sons, was then being brought up with his uncle Miltiades in the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese. The younger was with Cimon at Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, and he took the name Miltiades from Miltiades the founder of the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese.

It was this Miltiades who was now the Athenian general, after coming from the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese and escaping a two-fold death. The Phoenicians pursued him as far as Imbros, considering it of great importance to catch him and bring him to the king.

He escaped from them, but when he reached his own country and thought he was safe, then his enemies met him. They brought him to court and prosecuted him for tyranny in the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese, but he was acquitted and appointed Athenian general, chosen by the people.

While still in the city, the generals first sent to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta the herald Philippides, an Athenian and a long-distance runner who made that his calling. As Philippides himself said when he brought the message to the Athenians, when he was in the Parthenian mountain above Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea he encountered Pan.

Pan called out Philippides' name and bade him ask the Athenians why they paid him no attention, though he was of goodwill to the Athenians, had often been of service to them, and would be in the future.

The Athenians believed that these things were true, and when they became prosperous they established a sacred precinct of Pan beneath the Acropolis. Ever since that message they propitiate him with annual sacrifices and a torch-race.

This Philippides was in Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta on the day after leaving the city of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, that time when he was sent by the generals and said that Pan had appeared to him. He came to the magistrates and said,

“Lacedaemonians, the Athenians ask you to come to their aid and not allow the most ancient city among the Hellenes to fall into slavery at the hands of the foreigners. Even now +Eretria [23.8083,38.3917] (Perseus) Eretria has been enslaved, and Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas has become weaker by an important city.”

He told them what he had been ordered to say, and they resolved to send help to the Athenians, but they could not do this immediately, for they were unwilling to break the law. It was the ninth day of the rising month, and they said that on the ninth they could not go out to war until the moon's circle was full.

So they waited for the full moon, while the foreigners were guided to Marathon by Hippias son of Pisistratus. The previous night Hippias had a dream in which he slept with his mother.

He supposed from the dream that he would return from exile to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, recover his rule, and end his days an old man in his own country. Thus he reckoned from the dream. Then as guide he unloaded the slaves from +Eretria [23.8083,38.3917] (Perseus) Eretria onto the island of the Styrians called Aegilia, and brought to anchor the ships that had put ashore at Marathon, then marshalled the foreigners who had disembarked onto land.

As he was tending to this, he happened to sneeze and cough more violently than usual. Since he was an elderly man, most of his teeth were loose, and he lost one of them by the force of his cough. It fell into the sand and he expended much effort in looking for it, but the tooth could not be found.

He groaned aloud and said to those standing by him: “This land is not ours and we will not be able to subdue it. My tooth holds whatever share of it was mine.”

Book 6, Part 7

Hippias supposed that the dream had in this way come true. As the Athenians were marshalled in the precinct of Heracles, the Plataeans came to help them in full force. The Plataeans had put themselves under the protection of the Athenians, and the Athenians had undergone many labors on their behalf. This is how they did it:

when the Plataeans were pressed by the Thebans, they first tried to put themselves under the protection of Cleomenes son of Anaxandrides and the Lacedaemonians, who happened to be there. But they did not accept them, saying, “We live too far away, and our help would be cold comfort to you. You could be enslaved many times over before any of us heard about it.

We advise you to put yourselves under the protection of the Athenians, since they are your neighbors and not bad men at giving help.” The Lacedaemonians gave this advice not so much out of goodwill toward the Plataeans as wishing to cause trouble for the Athenians with the Boeotians.

So the Lacedaemonians gave this advice to the Plataeans, who did not disobey it. When the Athenians were making sacrifices to the twelve gods, they sat at the altar as suppliants and put themselves under protection. When the Thebans heard this, they marched against the Plataeans, but the Athenians came to their aid.

As they were about to join battle, the Corinthians, who happened to be there, prevented them and brought about a reconciliation. Since both sides desired them to arbitrate, they fixed the boundaries of the country on condition that the Thebans leave alone those Boeotians who were unwilling to be enrolled as Boeotian. After rendering this decision, the Corinthians departed. The Boeotians attacked the Athenians as they were leaving but were defeated in battle.

The Athenians went beyond the boundaries the Corinthians had made for the Plataeans, fixing the Asopus river as the boundary for the Thebans in the direction of Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea and Hysiae. So the Plataeans had put themselves under the protection of the Athenians in the aforesaid manner, and now came to help at Marathon.

The Athenian generals were of divided opinion, some advocating not fighting because they were too few to attack the army of the Medes; others, including Miltiades, advocating fighting.

Thus they were at odds, and the inferior plan prevailed. An eleventh man had a vote, chosen by lot to be polemarch of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, and by ancient custom the Athenians had made his vote of equal weight with the generals. Callimachus of Aphidnae was polemarch at this time. Miltiades approached him and said,

“Callimachus, it is now in your hands to enslave Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens or make her free, and thereby leave behind for all posterity a memorial such as not even Harmodius and Aristogeiton left. Now the Athenians have come to their greatest danger since they first came into being, and, if we surrender, it is clear what we will suffer when handed over to Hippias. But if the city prevails, it will take first place among Hellenic cities.

I will tell you how this can happen, and how the deciding voice on these matters has devolved upon you. The ten generals are of divided opinion, some urging to attack, others urging not to.

If we do not attack now, I expect that great strife will fall upon and shake the spirit of the Athenians, leading them to medize. But if we attack now, before anything unsound corrupts the Athenians, we can win the battle, if the gods are fair.

All this concerns and depends on you in this way: if you vote with me, your country will be free and your city the first in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas. But if you side with those eager to avoid battle, you will have the opposite to all the good things I enumerated.”

By saying this Miltiades won over Callimachus. The polemarch's vote was counted in, and the decision to attack was resolved upon. Thereafter the generals who had voted to fight turned the presidency over to Miltiades as each one's day came in turn. He accepted the office but did not make an attack until it was his own day to preside.

When the presidency came round to him, he arrayed the Athenians for battle, with the polemarch Callimachus commanding the right wing, since it was then the Athenian custom for the polemarch to hold the right wing. He led, and the other tribes were numbered out in succession next to each other. The Plataeans were marshalled last, holding the left wing.

Ever since that battle, when the Athenians are conducting sacrifices at the festivals every fourth year, the Athenian herald prays for good things for the Athenians and Plataeans together.

As the Athenians were marshalled at Marathon, it happened that their line of battle was as long as the line of the Medes. The center, where the line was weakest, was only a few ranks deep, but each wing was strong in numbers.

When they had been set in order and the sacrifices were favorable, the Athenians were sent forth and charged the foreigners at a run. The space between the armies was no less than eight stadia.

The Persians saw them running to attack and prepared to receive them, thinking the Athenians absolutely crazy, since they saw how few of them there were and that they ran up so fast without either cavalry or archers.

So the foreigners imagined, but when the Athenians all together fell upon the foreigners they fought in a way worthy of record. These are the first Hellenes whom we know of to use running against the enemy. They are also the first to endure looking at Median dress and men wearing it, for up until then just hearing the name of the Medes caused the Hellenes to panic.

They fought a long time at Marathon. In the center of the line the foreigners prevailed, where the Persians and Sacae were arrayed. The foreigners prevailed there and broke through in pursuit inland, but on each wing the Athenians and Plataeans prevailed.

In victory they let the routed foreigners flee, and brought the wings together to fight those who had broken through the center. The Athenians prevailed, then followed the fleeing Persians and struck them down. When they reached the sea they demanded fire and laid hold of the Persian ships.

In this labor Callimachus the polemarch was slain, a brave man, and of the generals Stesilaus son of Thrasylaus died. Cynegirus son of Euphorion fell there, his hand cut off with an ax as he grabbed a ship's figurehead. Many other famous Athenians also fell there.

In this way the Athenians overpowered seven ships. The foreigners pushed off with the rest, picked up the Eretrian slaves from the island where they had left them, and sailed around Sunium hoping to reach the city before the Athenians. There was an accusation at Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens that they devised this by a plan of the Alcmaeonidae, who were said to have arranged to hold up a shield as a signal once the Persians were in their ships.

They sailed around Sunium, but the Athenians marched back to defend the city as fast as their feet could carry them and got there ahead of the foreigners. Coming from the sacred precinct of Heracles in Marathon, they pitched camp in the sacred precinct of Heracles in Cynosarges. The foreigners lay at anchor off Phalerum, the Athenian naval port at that time. After riding anchor there, they sailed their ships back to Asia (continent)Asia.

In the battle at Marathon about six thousand four hundred men of the foreigners were killed, and one hundred and ninety-two Athenians; that many fell on each side.

The following marvel happened there: an Athenian, Epizelus son of Couphagoras, was fighting as a brave man in the battle when he was deprived of his sight, though struck or hit nowhere on his body, and from that time on he spent the rest of his life in blindness.

I have heard that he tells this story about his misfortune: he saw opposing him a tall armed man, whose beard overshadowed his shield, but the phantom passed him by and killed the man next to him. I learned by inquiry that this is the story Epizelus tells.

Datis journeyed with his army to Asia (continent)Asia, and when he arrived at Myconos he saw a vision in his sleep. What that vision was is not told, but as soon as day broke Datis made a search of his ships. He found in a Phoenician ship a gilded image of Apollo, and asked where this plunder had been taken. Learning from what temple it had come, he sailed in his own ship to Delos [25.2833,37.4] (Perseus)Delos.

The Delians had now returned to their island, and Datis set the image in the temple, instructing the Delians to carry it away to Theban Delium, on the coast opposite +Chalcis [23.6083,38.4667] (Perseus) Chalcis.

Datis gave this order and sailed away, but the Delians never carried that statue away; twenty years later the Thebans brought it to +Delium (deserted settlement), Boeotia, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Delium by command of an oracle.

When Datis and Artaphrenes reached Asia (continent)Asia in their voyage, they carried the enslaved Eretrians inland to Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa.

Before the Eretrians were taken captive, king Darius had been terribly angry with them for doing him unprovoked wrong; but when he saw them brought before him and subject to him, he did them no harm, but settled them in a domain of his own called Ardericca in the Cissian land; this place is two hundred and ten stadia distant from Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa, and forty from the well that is of three kinds.

Asphalt and salt and oil are drawn from it in the following way: a windlass is used in the drawing, with half a skin tied to it in place of a bucket; this is dipped into the well and then poured into a tank; then what is drawn is poured into another tank and goes three ways: the asphalt and the salt congeal immediately; the oil, which the Persians call rhadinace, is dark and evil-smelling.

There king Darius settled the Eretrians, and they dwelt in that place until my time, keeping their ancient language. Such was the fate of the Eretrians.

After the full moon two thousand Lacedaemonians came to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, making such great haste to reach it that they were in Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica on the third day after leaving Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta. Although they came too late for the battle, they desired to see the Medes, so they went to Marathon and saw them. Then they departed again, praising the Athenians and their achievement.

It is a wonder to me, and I do not believe the story, that the Alcmeonidae would ever have agreed to hold up a shield as a sign for the Persians out of a desire to make Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens subject to foreigners and to Hippias; for it is plain to see that they were tyrant-haters as much as Callias (son of Phaenippus and father of Hipponicus), or even more so.

Callias was the only Athenian who dared to buy Pisistratus' possessions when they were put up for sale by the state after Pisistratus' banishment from Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens; and he devised other acts of bitter hatred against him.

[This Callias is worthy of all men's remembrance for many reasons: first, because he so excellently freed his country, as I have said; second, for what he did at Olympia [21.6333,37.65] (Perseus)Olympia, where he won a horserace, and was second in a four-horse chariot, after already winning a Pythian prize, and was the cynosure of all Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas for the lavishness of his spending;

and third, for his behavior regarding his three daughters. When they were of marriageable age, he gave them a most splendid gift and one very pleasant to them, promising that each would wed that man whom she chose for herself from all the Athenians.]

The Alcmeonidae were tyrant-haters as much as Callias, or not less so. Therefore I find it a strange and unbelievable accusation that they of all men should have held up a shield; at all times they shunned tyrants, and it was by their contrivance that the sons of Pisistratus were deposed from their tyranny.

Thus in my judgment it was they who freed Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens much more than did Harmodius and Aristogeiton. These only enraged the remaining sons of Pisistratus by killing Hipparchus, and did nothing to end the tyranny of the rest of them; but the Alcmeonidae plainly liberated their country, if they truly were the ones who persuaded the Pythian priestess to signify to the Lacedaemonians that they should free Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, as I have previously shown.

Perhaps out of some grudge against the Athenian people they betrayed their country. But there were no others at Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens more esteemed or more honored than they;

therefore plain reason forbids believing that they of all men could have held up the shield for any such cause. A shield was held up; this cannot be denied, for it happened; but who did it I do not know, and I can say no further.

Book 6, Part 8

The Alcmeonidae had been men of renown at Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens even in the old days, and from the time of Alcmeon and then Megacles their renown increased.

When the Lydians from Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis came from Croesus to the Delphic oracle, Alcmeon son of Megacles worked with them and zealously aided them; when Croesus heard from the Lydians who visited the oracle of Alcmeon's benefits to him, he summoned Alcmeon to Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis, and there made him a gift of as much gold as he could carry away at one time on his person.

Considering the nature of the gift, Alcmeon planned and employed this device: he donned a wide tunic, leaving a deep fold in it, and put on the most spacious boots that he could find, then went into the treasury to which they led him.

Falling upon a heap of gold-dust, first he packed next to his legs as much gold as his boots would contain; then he filled all the fold of his tunic with gold and strewed the dust among the hair of his head, and took more of it into his mouth; when he came out of the treasury, hardly dragging the weight of his boots, he was like anything rather than a human being, with his mouth crammed full and all his body swollen.

Croesus burst out laughing at the sight and gave him all the gold he already had and that much more again. Thus the family grew very rich; Alcmeon came to keep four-horse chariots and won with them at Olympia [21.6333,37.65] (Perseus)Olympia.

In the next generation Cleisthenes the tyrant of Sikyon [22.725,37.9833] (Perseus)Sicyon raised that house still higher, so that it grew much more famous in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas than it had formerly been. Cleisthenes son of Aristonymus son of Myron son of Andreas had one daughter, whose name was Agariste. He desired to wed her to the best man he could find in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

It was the time of the Olympian games, and when he was victor there with a four-horse chariot, Cleisthenes made a proclamation that whichever Greek thought himself worthy to be his son-in-law should come on the sixtieth day from then or earlier to Sikyon [22.725,37.9833] (Perseus)Sicyon, and Cleisthenes would make good his promise of marriage in a year from that sixtieth day.

Then all the Greeks who were proud of themselves and their country came as suitors, and to that end Cleisthenes had them compete in running and wrestling contests.

From Italy [12.833,42.833] (nation), Europe Italy came Smindyrides of +Sybaris [16.4833,39.75] (Perseus) Sybaris, son of Hippocrates, the most luxurious liver of his day (and +Sybaris [16.4833,39.75] (Perseus) Sybaris was then at the height of its prosperity), and Damasus of +Siris [15.6333,40.0667] (Perseus) Siris, son of that Amyris who was called the Wise.

These came from Italy [12.833,42.833] (nation), Europe Italy; from the Ionian Gulf, Amphimnestus son of Epistrophus, an Epidamnian; he was from the Ionian Gulf. From +Aetolia (region (general)), Aitolia and Akarnania, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aetolia came Males, the brother of that Titormus who surpassed all the Greeks in strength, and fled from the sight of men to the farthest parts of the Aetolian land.

From the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese came Leocedes, son of Phidon the tyrant of Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos, that Phidon who made weights and measures for the Peloponnesians and acted more arrogantly than any other Greek; he drove out the Elean contest-directors and held the contests at Olympia [21.6333,37.65] (Perseus)Olympia himself. This man's son now came, and Amiantus, an Arcadian from +Trapezus [39.7167,41] (Perseus) Trapezus, son of Lycurgus; and an Azenian from the town of Paeus, Laphanes, son of that Euphorion who, as the Arcadian tale relates, gave lodging to the Dioscuri, and ever since kept open house for all men; and Onomastus from +Elis [21.4,37.8833] (Perseus) Elis, son of Agaeus.

These came from the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese itself; from Athens Megacles, son of that Alcmeon who visited Croesus, and also Hippocleides son of Tisandrus, who surpassed the Athenians in wealth and looks. From +Eretria [23.8083,38.3917] (Perseus) Eretria, which at that time was prosperous, came Lysanias; he was the only man from +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea. From +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly came a Scopad, Diactorides of Crannon; and from the Molossians, Alcon.

These were the suitors. When they arrived on the appointed day, Cleisthenes first inquired the country and lineage of each; then he kept them with him for a year, testing their manliness and temper and upbringing and manner of life; this he did by consorting with them alone and in company, putting the younger of them to contests of strength, but especially watching their demeanor at the common meal; for as long as he kept them with him, he did everything for them and entertained them with magnificence.

The suitors that most pleased him were the ones who had come from Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, and of these Hippocleides son of Tisandrus was judged foremost, both for his manliness and because in ancestry he was related to the Cypselids of Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus) Corinth.

When the appointed day came for the marriage feast and for Cleisthenes' declaration of whom he had chosen out of them all, Cleisthenes sacrificed a hundred oxen and gave a feast to the suitors and to the whole of Sikyon [22.725,37.9833] (Perseus)Sicyon.

After dinner the suitors vied with each other in music and in anecdotes for all to hear. As they sat late drinking, Hippocleides, now far outdoing the rest, ordered the flute-player to play him a dance-tune; the flute-player obeyed and he began to dance. I suppose he pleased himself with his dancing, but Cleisthenes saw the whole business with much disfavor.

Hippocleides then stopped for a while and ordered a table to be brought in; when the table arrived, he danced Laconian figures on it first, and then Attic; last of all he rested his head on the table and made gestures with his legs in the air.

Now Cleisthenes at the first and the second bout of dancing could no more bear to think of Hippocleides as his son-in-law, because of his dancing and his shamelessness, but he had held himself in check, not wanting to explode at Hippocleides; but when he saw him making gestures with his legs, he could no longer keep silence and said, “son of Tisandrus, you have danced away your marriage.” Hippocleides said in answer, “It does not matter to Hippocleides!” Since then this is proverbial.

Then Cleisthenes bade them all be silent and spoke to the company at large: “Suitors for my daughter's hand, I thank you one and all; if it were possible I would grant each of you his wish, neither choosing out one to set him above another nor disparaging the rest.

But since I have but one maiden to plan for and so cannot please all of you, to those of you whose suit is rejected I make a gift of a talent of silver to each, for his desire to take a wife from my house and for his sojourn away from his home; and to Megacles son of Alcmeon do I betroth my daughter Agariste, by the laws of the Athenians.” Megacles accepted the betrothal, and Cleisthenes brought the marriage to pass.

Such is the tale of the choice among the suitors; and thus the fame of the Alcmeonidae resounded throughout Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas. From this marriage was born that Cleisthenes, named after his mother's father from Sikyon [22.725,37.9833] (Perseus)Sicyon, who gave the Athenians their tribes and their democracy;

he and Hippocrates were born to Megacles; Hippocrates was father of another Megacles and another Agariste, called after Agariste who was Cleisthenes' daughter. She was married to Xanthippus son of Ariphron, and when she was pregnant she saw in her sleep a vision in which she thought she gave birth to a lion. In a few days she bore Xanthippus a son, Pericles.

After the Persian disaster at Marathon, the reputation of Miltiades, already great at Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, very much increased. He asked the Athenians for seventy ships, an army, and money, not revealing against what country he would lead them, but saying that he would make them rich if they followed him; he would bring them to a country from which they could easily carry away an abundance of gold; so he said when he asked for the ships. The Athenians were induced by these promises and granted his request.

Miltiades took his army and sailed for +Nisos Paros [25.2,37.1] (island), Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Paros, on the pretext that the Parians had brought this on themselves by first sending triremes with the Persian fleet to Marathon. Such was the pretext of his argument, but he had a grudge against the Parians because Lysagoras son of Tisias, a man of Parian descent, had slandered him to Hydarnes the Persian.

When he reached his voyage's destination, Miltiades with his army drove the Parians inside their walls and besieged them; he sent in a herald and demanded a hundred talents, saying that if they did not give it to him, his army would not return home before it had stormed their city.

The Parians had no intention of giving Miltiades any money at all, and they contrived how to defend their city. They did this by building their wall at night to double its former height where it was most assailable, and also by other devices.

All the Greeks tell the same story up to this point; after this the Parians themselves say that the following happened: as Miltiades was in a quandary, a captive woman named Timo, Parian by birth and an under-priestess of the goddesses of the dead, came to talk with him.

Coming before Miltiades, she advised him, if taking +Nisos Paros [25.2,37.1] (island), Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Paros was very important to him, to do whatever she suggested. Then, following her advice, he passed through to the hill in front of the city and jumped over the fence of the precinct of Demeter the Lawgiver, since he was unable to open the door. After leaping over, he went to the shrine, whether to move something that should not be moved, or with some other intention. When he was right at the doors, he was immediately seized with panic and hurried back by the same route; leaping down from the wall he twisted his thigh, but some say he hit his knee.

So Miltiades sailed back home in a sorry condition, neither bringing money for the Athenians nor having won +Nisos Paros [25.2,37.1] (island), Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Paros; he had besieged the town for twenty-six days and ravaged the island.

The Parians learned that Timo the under-priestess of the goddesses had been Miltiades' guide and desired to punish her for this. Since they now had respite from the siege, they sent messengers to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi to ask if they should put the under-priestess to death for guiding their enemies to the capture of her native country, and for revealing to Miltiades the rites that no male should know.

But the Pythian priestess forbade them, saying that Timo was not responsible: Miltiades was doomed to make a bad end, and an apparition had led him in these evils.

Such was the priestess' reply to the Parians. The Athenians had much to say about Miltiades on his return from +Nisos Paros [25.2,37.1] (island), Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Paros, especially Xanthippus son of Ariphron, who prosecuted Miltiades before the people for deceiving the Athenians and called for the death penalty.

Miltiades was present but could not speak in his own defense, since his thigh was festering; he was laid before the court on a couch, and his friends spoke for him, often mentioning the fight at Marathon and the conquest of +Lemnos [25.25,39.916] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lemnos: how Miltiades had punished the Pelasgians and taken +Lemnos [25.25,39.916] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lemnos, delivering it to the Athenians.

The people took his side as far as not condemning him to death, but they fined him fifty talents for his wrongdoing. Miltiades later died of gangrene and rot in his thigh, and the fifty talents were paid by his son Cimon.

Miltiades son of Cimon took possession of +Lemnos [25.25,39.916] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lemnos in this way: When the Pelasgians were driven out of Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica by the Athenians, whether justly or unjustly I cannot say, beyond what is told; namely, that Hecataeus the son of Hegesandrus declares in his history that the act was unjust;

for when the Athenians saw the land under +Imittos [23.816,37.95] (inhabited place), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Hymettus, formerly theirs, which they had given to the Pelasgians as a dwelling-place in reward for the wall that had once been built around the acropolis—when the Athenians saw how well this place was tilled which previously had been bad and worthless, they were envious and coveted the land, and so drove the Pelasgians out on this and no other pretext. But the Athenians themselves say that their reason for expelling the Pelasgians was just.

The Pelasgians set out from their settlement at the foot of +Imittos [23.816,37.95] (inhabited place), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Hymettus and wronged the Athenians in this way: Neither the Athenians nor any other Hellenes had servants yet at that time, and their sons and daughters used to go to the Nine Wells for water; and whenever they came, the Pelasgians maltreated them out of mere arrogance and pride. And this was not enough for them; finally they were caught in the act of planning to attack Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens.

The Athenians were much better men than the Pelasgians, since when they could have killed them, caught plotting as they were, they would not so do, but ordered them out of the country. The Pelasgians departed and took possession of +Lemnos [25.25,39.916] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lemnos, besides other places. This is the Athenian story; the other is told by Hecataeus.

These Pelasgians dwelt at that time in +Lemnos [25.25,39.916] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lemnos and desired vengeance on the Athenians. Since they well knew the time of the Athenian festivals, they acquired fifty-oared ships and set an ambush for the Athenian women celebrating the festival of Artemis at +Brauron [24.025,37.9167] (Perseus) Brauron. They seized many of the women, then sailed away with them and brought them to +Lemnos [25.25,39.916] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lemnos to be their concubines.

These women bore more and more children, and they taught their sons the speech of Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica and Athenian manners. These boys would not mix with the sons of the Pelasgian women; if one of them was beaten by one of the others, they would all run to his aid and help each other; these boys even claimed to rule the others, and were much stronger.

When the Pelasgians perceived this, they took counsel together; it troubled them much in their deliberations to think what the boys would do when they grew to manhood, if they were resolved to help each other against the sons of the lawful wives and attempted to rule them already.

Thereupon the Pelasgians resolved to kill the sons of the Attic women; they did this, and then killed the boys' mothers also. From this deed and the earlier one which was done by the women when they killed their own husbands who were Thoas' companions, a “Lemnian crime” has been a proverb in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas for any deed of cruelty.

But when the Pelasgians had murdered their own sons and women, their land brought forth no fruit, nor did their wives and their flocks and herds bear offspring as before. Crushed by hunger and childlessness, they sent to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi to ask for some release from their present ills.

Book 6, Part 9

The Pythian priestess ordered them to pay the Athenians whatever penalty the Athenians themselves judged. The Pelasgians went to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens and offered to pay the penalty for all their wrongdoing.

The Athenians set in their town-hall a couch adorned as finely as possible, and placed beside it a table covered with all manner of good things, then ordered the Pelasgians to deliver their land to them in the same condition.

The Pelasgians answered, “We will deliver it when a ship with a north wind accomplishes the voyage from your country to ours in one day”; they supposed that this was impossible, since Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica is far to the south of +Lemnos [25.25,39.916] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lemnos.

At the time that was all. But a great many years later, when the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese on the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont was made subject to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, Miltiades son of Cimon accomplished the voyage from Elaeus on the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese to +Lemnos [25.25,39.916] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lemnos with the Etesian winds then constantly blowing; he proclaimed that the Pelasgians must leave their island, reminding them of the oracle which the Pelasgians thought would never be fulfilled.

The Hephaestians obeyed, but the Myrinaeans would not agree that the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese was Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica and were besieged, until they too submitted. Thus did Miltiades and the Athenians take possession of +Lemnos [25.25,39.916] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lemnos.

Book 7, Part 1

When the message concerning the fight at Marathon came to Darius son of Hystaspes, already greatly angry against the Athenians for their attack upon Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis, he was now much more angry and eager to send an expedition against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

Immediately he sent messengers to all the cities and commanded them to equip an army, instructing each to provide many more ships and horses and provisions and transport vessels than they had before. Asia (continent)Asia was in commotion with these messages for three years, as the best men were enrolled for service against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas and made preparations.

In the fourth year the Egyptians, whom Cambyses had enslaved, revolted from the Persians; thereupon Darius was even more eager to send expeditions against both.

But while Darius was making preparations against Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt and Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, a great quarrel arose among his sons concerning the chief power in the land. They held that before his army marched he must declare an heir to the kingship according to Persian law.

Three sons had been born to Darius before he became king by his first wife, the daughter of Gobryas, and four more after he became king by Atossa daughter of Cyrus. Artobazanes was the oldest of the earlier sons, Xerxes of the later;

and as sons of different mothers they were rivals. Artobazanes pleaded that he was the oldest of all Darius' offspring and that it was everywhere customary that the eldest should rule; Xerxes argued that he was the son of Cyrus' daughter Atossa and that it was Cyrus who had won the Persians their freedom.

While Darius delayed making his decision, it chanced that at this time Demaratus son of Ariston had come up to Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa, in voluntary exile from Lacedaemonia after he had lost the kingship of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta.

Learning of the contention between the sons of Darius, this man, as the story goes, came and advised Xerxes to add this to what he said: that he had been born when Darius was already king and ruler of Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia, but Artobazanes when Darius was yet a subject;

therefore it was neither reasonable nor just that anyone should have the royal privilege before him. At Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta too (advised Demaratus) it was customary that if sons were born before their father became king, and another son born later when the father was king, the succession to the kingship belongs to the later-born.

Xerxes followed Demaratus advice, and Darius judged his plea to be just and declared him king. But to my thinking Xerxes would have been made king even without this advice, for Atossa held complete sway.

After declaring Xerxes king, Darius was intent on his expedition. But in the year after this and the revolt of Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt, death came upon him in the midst of his preparations, after a reign of six and thirty years in all, and it was not granted to him to punish either the revolted Egyptians or the Athenians.

After Darius' death, the royal power descended to his son Xerxes. Now Xerxes was at first by no means eager to march against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas; it was against Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt that he mustered his army. But Mardonius son of Gobryas, Xerxes cousin and the son of Darius' sister, was with the king and had more influence with him than any Persian. He argued as follows: “Master, it is not fitting that the Athenians should go unpunished for their deeds, after all the evil they have done to the Persians.

For now you should do what you have in hand; then, when you have tamed the insolence of Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt, lead your armies against Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, so that you may have fair fame among men, and others may beware of invading your realm in the future.”

This argument was for vengeance, but he kept adding that Europe (continent)Europe was an extremely beautiful land, one that bore all kinds of orchard trees, a land of highest excellence, worthy of no mortal master but the king.

He said this because he desired adventures and wanted to be governor of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas. Finally he worked on Xerxes and persuaded him to do this, and other things happened that helped him to persuade Xerxes.

Messengers came from +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly from the Aleuadae (who were princes of +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly) and invited the king into Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas with all earnestness; the Pisistratidae who had come up to Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa used the same pleas as the Aleuadae, offering Xerxes even more than they did.

They had come up to Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis with Onomacritus, an Athenian diviner who had set in order the oracles of Musaeus. They had reconciled their previous hostility with him; Onomacritus had been banished from Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens by Pisistratus' son Hipparchus, when he was caught by Lasus of +Hermione [23.2583,37.3833] (Perseus) Hermione in the act of interpolating into the writings of Musaeus an oracle showing that the islands off +Lemnos [25.25,39.916] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lemnos would disappear into the sea.

Because of this Hipparchus banished him, though they had previously been close friends. Now he had arrived at Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa with the Pisistratidae, and whenever he came into the king's presence they used lofty words concerning him and he recited from his oracles; all that portended disaster to the Persian he left unspoken, choosing and reciting such prophecies as were most favorable, telling how the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont must be bridged by a man of Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia and describing the expedition.

So he brought his oracles to bear, while the Pisistratidae and Aleuadae gave their opinions.

After being persuaded to send an expedition against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, Xerxes first marched against the rebels in the year after Darius death. He subdued them and laid Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt under a much harder slavery than in the time of Darius, and he handed it over to Achaemenes, his own brother and Darius' son. While governing Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt, this Achaemenes was at a later time slain by a Libyan, Inaros son of Psammetichus.

After the conquest of Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt, intending now to take in hand the expedition against Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, Xerxes held a special assembly of the noblest among the Persians, so he could learn their opinions and declare his will before them all. When they were assembled, Xerxes spoke to them as follows:

“Men of Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia, I am not bringing in and establishing a new custom, but following one that I have inherited. As I learn from our elders, we have never yet remained at peace ever since Cyrus deposed Astyages and we won this sovereignty from the Medes. It is the will of heaven; and we ourselves win advantage by our many enterprises. No one needs to tell you, who already know them well, which nations Cyrus and Cambyses and Darius my father subdued and added to our realm.

Ever since I came to this throne, I have considered how I might not fall short of my predecessors in this honor, and not add less power to the Persians; and my considerations persuade me that we may win not only renown, but a land neither less nor worse, and more fertile, than that which we now possess; and we would also gain vengeance and requital. For this cause I have now summoned you together, that I may impart to you what I intend to do.

It is my intent to bridge the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont and lead my army through Europe (continent)Europe to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, so I may punish the Athenians for what they have done to the Persians and to my father.

You saw that Darius my father was set on making an expedition against these men. But he is dead, and it was not granted him to punish them. On his behalf and that of all the Persians, I will never rest until I have taken Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens and burnt it, for the unprovoked wrong that its people did to my father and me.

First they came to Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis with our slave Aristagoras the Milesian and burnt the groves and the temples; next, how they dealt with us when we landed on their shores, when Datis and Artaphrenes were our generals, I suppose you all know.

For these reasons I am resolved to send an army against them; and I reckon that we will find the following benefits among them: if we subdue those men, and their neighbors who dwell in the land of Pelops the Phrygian, we will make the borders of Persian territory and of the firmament of heaven be the same.

No land that the sun beholds will border ours, but I will make all into one country, when I have passed over the whole of Europe (continent)Europe.

I learn that this is the situation: no city of men or any human nation which is able to meet us in battle will be left, if those of whom I speak are taken out of our way. Thus the guilty and the innocent will alike bear the yoke of slavery.

This is how you would best please me: when I declare the time for your coming, every one of you must eagerly appear; and whoever comes with his army best equipped will receive from me such gifts as are reckoned most precious among us.

Thus it must be done; but so that I not seem to you to have my own way, I lay the matter before you all, and bid whoever wishes to declare his opinion.” So spoke Xerxes and ceased.

After him Mardonius said: “Master, you surpass not only all Persians that have been but also all that shall be; besides having dealt excellently and truly with all other matters, you will not suffer the Ionians who dwell in Europe (continent)Europe to laugh at us, which they have no right to do.

It would be strange indeed if we who have subdued and made slaves of Sacae and Indians and Ethiopians and Assyrians and many other great nations, for no wrong done to the Persians but of mere desire to add to our power, will not take vengeance on the Greeks for unprovoked wrongs.

What have we to fear from them? Have they a massive population or abundance of wealth? Their manner of fighting we know, and we know how weak their power is; we have conquered and hold their sons, those who dwell in our land and are called Ionians and Aeolians and Dorians.

I myself have made trial of these men, when by your father's command I marched against them. I marched as far as Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia and almost to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens itself, yet none came out to meet me in battle.

Yet the Greeks are accustomed to wage wars, as I learn, and they do it most senselessly in their wrongheadedness and folly. When they have declared war against each other, they come down to the fairest and most level ground that they can find and fight there, so that the victors come off with great harm; of the vanquished I say not so much as a word, for they are utterly destroyed.

Since they speak the same language, they should end their disputes by means of heralds or messengers, or by any way rather than fighting; if they must make war upon each other, they should each discover where they are in the strongest position and make the attempt there. The Greek custom, then, is not good; and when I marched as far as the land of Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia, it had not come into their minds to fight.

But against you, O king, who shall make war? You will bring the multitudes of Asia (continent)Asia, and all your ships. I think there is not so much boldness in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas as that; but if time should show me wrong in my judgment, and those men prove foolhardy enough to do battle with us, they would be taught that we are the greatest warriors on earth. Let us leave nothing untried; for nothing happens by itself, and all men's gains are the fruit of adventure.”

Thus Mardonius smoothed Xerxes' resolution and stopped. The rest of the Persians held their peace, not daring to utter any opinion contrary to what had been put forward; then Artabanus son of Hystaspes, the king's uncle, spoke. Relying on his position, he said,

“O king, if opposite opinions are not uttered, it is impossible for someone to choose the better; the one which has been spoken must be followed. If they are spoken, the better can be found; just as the purity of gold cannot be determined by itself, but when gold is compared with gold by rubbing, we then determine the better.

Now I advised Darius, your father and my brother, not to lead his army against the Scythians, who have no cities anywhere to dwell in. But he hoped to subdue the nomadic Scythians and would not obey me; he went on the expedition and returned after losing many gallant men from his army.

You, O king, are proposing to lead your armies against far better men than the Scythians—men who are said to be excellent warriors by sea and land. It is right that I should show you what danger there is in this.

You say that you will bridge the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont and march your army through Europe (continent)Europe to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas. Now suppose you happen to be defeated either by land or by sea, or even both; the men are said to be valiant, and we may well guess that it is so, since the Athenians alone destroyed the great army that followed Datis and Artaphrenes to Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica.

Suppose they do not succeed in both ways; but if they attack with their ships and prevail in a sea-fight, and then sail to the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont and destroy your bridge, that, O king, is the hour of peril.

It is from no wisdom of my own that I thus conjecture; it is because I know what disaster once almost overtook us, when your father, making a highway over the Karadeniz Bogazi (strait), Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaThracian Bosporus and bridging the river Ister, crossed over to attack the Scythians. At that time the Scythians used every means of entreating the Ionians, who had been charged to guard the bridges of the Ister, to destroy the way of passage.

If Histiaeus the tyrant of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus had consented to the opinion of the other tyrants instead of opposing it, the power of Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia would have perished. Yet it is dreadful even in the telling, that one man should hold in his hand all the king's fortunes.

So do not plan to run the risk of any such danger when there is no need for it. Listen to me instead: for now dismiss this assembly; consider the matter by yourself and, whenever you so please, declare what seems best to you.

A well-laid plan is always to my mind most profitable; even if it is thwarted later, the plan was no less good, and it is only chance that has baffled the design; but if fortune favor one who has planned poorly, then he has gotten only a prize of chance, and his plan was no less bad.

You see how the god smites with his thunderbolt creatures of greatness and does not suffer them to display their pride, while little ones do not move him to anger; and you see how it is always on the tallest buildings and trees that his bolts fall; for the god loves to bring low all things of surpassing greatness. Thus a large army is destroyed by a smaller, when the jealous god sends panic or the thunderbolt among them, and they perish unworthily; for the god suffers pride in none but himself.

Now haste is always the parent of failure, and great damages are likely to arise; but in waiting there is good, and in time this becomes clear, even though it does not seem so in the present.

This, O king, is my advice to you. But you, Mardonius son of Gobryas, cease your foolish words about the Greeks, for they do not deserve to be maligned. By slandering the Greeks you incite the king to send this expedition; that is the end to which you press with all eagerness. Let it not be so.

Slander is a terrible business; there are two in it who do wrong and one who suffers wrong. The slanderer wrongs another by accusing an absent man, and the other does wrong in that he is persuaded before he has learned the whole truth; the absent man does not hear what is said of him and suffers wrong in the matter, being maligned by the one and condemned by the other.

If an army must by all means be sent against these Greeks, hear me now: let the king himself remain in the Persian land, and let us two stake our children's lives upon it; you lead out the army, choosing whatever men you wish and taking as great an army as you desire.

If the king's fortunes fare as you say, let my sons be slain, and myself with them; but if it turns out as I foretell, let your sons be so treated, and you likewise, if you return.

But if you are unwilling to submit to this and will at all hazards lead your army overseas to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, then I think that those left behind in this place will hear that Mardonius has done great harm to Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia, and has been torn apart by dogs and birds in the land of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens or of Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon, if not even before that on the way there; and that you have learned what kind of men you persuade the king to attack.”

Thus spoke Artabanus. Xerxes answered angrily, “Artabanus, you are my father's brother; that will save you from receiving the fitting reward of foolish words. But for your cowardly lack of spirit I lay upon you this disgrace, that you will not go with me and my army against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, but will stay here with the women; I myself will accomplish all that I have said, with no help from you.

May I not be the son of Darius son of Hystaspes son of Arsames son of Ariaramnes son of Teispes son of Cyrus son of Cambyses son of Teispes son of Achaemenes, if I do not have vengeance on the Athenians; I well know that if we remain at peace they will not; they will assuredly invade our country, if we may infer from what they have done already, for they burnt Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis and marched into Asia (continent)Asia.

It is not possible for either of us to turn back: to do or to suffer is our task, so that what is ours be under the Greeks, or what is theirs under the Persians; there is no middle way in our quarrel.

Honor then demands that we avenge ourselves for what has been done to us; thus will I learn what is this evil that will befall me when I march against these Greeks—men that even Pelops the Phrygian, the slave of my forefathers, did so utterly subdue that to this day they and their country are called by the name of their conqueror.”

The discussion went that far; then night came, and Xerxes was pricked by the advice of Artabanus. Thinking it over at night, he saw clearly that to send an army against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas was not his affair. He made this second resolve and fell asleep; then (so the Persians say) in the night he saw this vision: It seemed to Xerxes that a tall and handsome man stood over him and said,

“Are you then changing your mind, Persian, and will not lead the expedition against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, although you have proclaimed the mustering of the army? It is not good for you to change your mind, and there will be no one here to pardon you for it; let your course be along the path you resolved upon yesterday.”

So the vision spoke, and seemed to Xerxes to vanish away. When day dawned, the king took no account of this dream, and he assembled the Persians whom he had before gathered together and addressed them thus:

“Persians, forgive me for turning and twisting in my purpose; I am not yet come to the fullness of my wisdom, and I am never free from people who exhort me to do as I said. It is true that when I heard Artabanus' opinion my youthful spirit immediately boiled up, and I burst out with an unseemly and wrongful answer to one older than myself; but now I see my fault and will follow his judgment.

Be at peace, since I have changed my mind about marching against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.”

When the Persians heard that, they rejoiced and made obeisance to him. But when night came on, the same vision stood again over Xerxes as he slept, and said, “Son of Darius, have you then plainly renounced your army's march among the Persians, and made my words of no account, as though you had not heard them? Know for certain that, if you do not lead out your army immediately, this will be the outcome of it: as you became great and mighty in a short time, so in a moment will you be brought low again.”

Greatly frightened by the vision, Xerxes leapt up from his bed, and sent a messenger to summon Artabanus. When he came, Xerxes said, “Artabanus, for a moment I was of unsound mind, and I answered your good advice with foolish words; but after no long time I repented, and saw that it was right for me to follow your advice.

Yet, though I desire to, I cannot do it; ever since I turned back and repented, a vision keeps coming to haunt my sight, and it will not allow me to do as you advise; just now it has threatened me and gone.

Now if a god is sending the vision, and it is his full pleasure that there this expedition against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas take place, that same dream will hover about you and give you the same command it gives me. I believe that this is most likely to happen, if you take all my apparel and sit wearing it upon my throne, and then lie down to sleep in my bed.”

Xerxes said this, but Artabanus would not obey the first command, thinking it was not right for him to sit on the royal throne; at last he was compelled and did as he was bid, saying first:

“O king, I judge it of equal worth whether a man is wise or is willing to obey good advice; to both of these you have attained, but the company of bad men trips you up; just as they say that sea, of all things the most serviceable to men, is hindered from following its nature by the blasts of winds that fall upon it.

It was not that I heard harsh words from you that stung me so much as that, when two opinions were laid before the Persians, one tending to the increase of pride, the other to its abatement, showing how evil a thing it is to teach the heart continual desire of more than it has, of these two opinions you preferred that one which was more fraught with danger to yourself and to the Persians.

Now when you have turned to the better opinion, you say that, while intending to abandon the expedition against the Greeks, you are haunted by a dream sent by some god, which forbids you to disband the expedition.

Book 7, Part 2

But this is none of heaven's working, my son. The roving dreams that visit men are of such nature as I shall teach you, since I am many years older than you. Those visions that rove about us in dreams are for the most part the thoughts of the day; and in these recent days we have been very busy with this expedition.

But if this is not as I determine and it has something divine to it, then you have spoken the conclusion of the matter; let it appear to me just as it has to you, and utter its command. If it really wishes to appear, it should do so to me no more by virtue of my wearing your dress instead of mine, and my sleeping in your bed rather than in my own.

Whatever it is that appears to you in your sleep, surely it has not come to such folly as to infer from your dress that I am you when it sees me. We now must learn if it will take no account of me and not deign to appear and haunt me, whether I am wearing your robes or my own, but will come to you; if it comes continually, I myself would say that it is something divine.

If you are determined that this must be done and there is no averting it, and I must lie down to sleep in your bed, so be it; this duty I will fulfill, and let the vision appear also to me. But until then I will keep my present opinion.”

So spoke Artabanus and did as he was bid, hoping to prove Xerxes' words vain; he put on Xerxes' robes and sat on the king's throne. Then while he slept there came to him in his sleep the same dream that had haunted Xerxes; it stood over him and spoke thus:

“Are you the one who dissuades Xerxes from marching against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, because you care for him? Neither in the future nor now will you escape with impunity for striving to turn aside what must be. To Xerxes himself it has been declared what will befall him if he disobeys.”

With this threat (so it seemed to Artabanus) the vision was about to burn his eyes with hot irons. He leapt up with a loud cry, then sat by Xerxes and told him the whole story of what he had seen in his dream, and next he said:

“O King, since I have seen, as much as a man may, how the greater has often been brought low by the lesser, I forbade you to always give rein to your youthful spirit, knowing how evil a thing it is to have many desires, and remembering the end of Cyrus' expedition against the Massagetae and of Cambyses' against the Ethiopians, and I myself marched with Darius against the Scythians.

Knowing this, I judged that you had only to remain in peace for all men to deem you fortunate. But since there is some divine motivation, and it seems that the gods mark Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas for destruction, I myself change and correct my judgment. Now declare the gods' message to the Persians, and bid them obey your first command for all due preparation. Do this, so that nothing on your part be lacking to the fulfillment of the gods' commission.”

After this was said, they were incited by the vision, and when daylight came Xerxes imparted all this to the Persians. Artabanus now openly encouraged that course which he alone had before openly discouraged.

Xerxes was now intent on the expedition and then saw a third vision in his sleep, which the Magi interpreted to refer to the whole earth and to signify that all men should be his slaves. This was the vision: Xerxes thought that he was crowned with an olive bough, of which the shoots spread over the whole earth, and then the crown vanished from off his head where it was set.

The Magi interpreted it in this way, and immediately every single man of the Persians who had been assembled rode away to his own province and there used all zeal to fulfill the kings command, each desiring to receive the promised gifts. Thus it was that Xerxes mustered his army, searching out every part of the continent.

For full four years after the conquest of Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt he was equipping his force and preparing all that was needed for it; before the fifth year was completed, he set forth on his march with the might of a great multitude.

This was by far the greatest of all expeditions that we know of. The one that Darius led against the Scythians is nothing compared to it; neither is the Scythian expedition when they burst into Media in pursuit of the Cimmerians and subdued and ruled almost all the upper lands of Asia (continent)Asia (it was for this that Darius afterwards attempted to punish them). According to the reports, the expedition led by the sons of Atreus against +Troy [26.2833,39.9167] (Perseus) Troy is also nothing by comparison; neither is the one of the Mysians and Teucrians which before the Trojan war crossed the +Karadeniz Bogazi (strait), Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Bosporus into Europe (continent)Europe, subdued all the Thracians, and came down to the +Ionian Sea [19,39] (sea), Europe Ionian sea, marching southward as far as the river Peneus.

All these expeditions and whatever others have happened in addition could not together be compared with this single one. For what nation did Xerxes not lead from Asia (continent)Asia against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas? What water did not fail when being drunk up, except only the greatest rivers?

Some people supplied him with ships, some were enrolled in his infantry, some were assigned the provision of horsemen, others of horse-bearing transports to follow the army, and others again of warships for the bridges, or of food and ships.

Since those who had earlier attempted to sail around +Mount Athos [24.316,40.166] (inhabited place), Pangaion Oros, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Athos had suffered shipwreck, for about three years preparations had been underway there. Triremes were anchored off Elaeus in the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese; with these for their headquarters, all sorts of men in the army were compelled by whippings to dig a canal, coming by turns to the work; the inhabitants about +Mount Athos [24.316,40.166] (inhabited place), Pangaion Oros, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Athos also dug.

Bubares son of Megabazus and Artachaees son of Artaeus, both Persians, were the overseers of the workmen. +Mount Athos [24.316,40.166] (inhabited place), Pangaion Oros, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Athos is a great and famous mountain, running out into the sea and inhabited by men. At the mountain's landward end it is in the form of a peninsula, and there is an isthmus about twelve stadia wide; here is a place of level ground or little hills, from the sea by Acanthus to the sea opposite +Torone [23.8167,40.05] (Perseus) Torone.

On this isthmus which is at the end of +Mount Athos [24.316,40.166] (inhabited place), Pangaion Oros, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Athos, there stands a Greek town, Sane; there are others situated seaward of Sane and landward of +Mount Athos [24.316,40.166] (inhabited place), Pangaion Oros, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Athos, and the Persian now intended to make them into island and not mainland towns; they are +Dion [22.5,40.175] (Perseus) Dion, Olophyxus, Acrothoum, Thyssus, and Cleonae.

These are the towns situated on +Mount Athos [24.316,40.166] (inhabited place), Pangaion Oros, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Athos. The foreigners dug as follows, dividing up the ground by nation: they made a straight line near the town of Sane; when the channel had been dug to some depth, some men stood at the bottom of it and dug, others took the dirt as it was dug out and delivered it to yet others that stood higher on stages, and they again to others as they received it, until they came to those that were highest; these carried it out and threw it away.

For all except the Phoenicians, the steep sides of the canal caved in, doubling their labor; since they made the span the same breadth at its mouth and at the bottom, this was bound to happen.

But the Phoenicians showed the same skill in this as in all else they do; taking in hand the portion that fell to them, they dug by making the topmost span of the canal as wide again as the canal was to be, and narrowed it as they worked lower, until at the bottom their work was of the same span as that of the others.

There is a meadow there, where they made a place for buying and marketing; much ground grain frequently came to them from Asia (continent)Asia.

As far as I can judge by conjecture, Xerxes gave the command for this digging out of pride, wishing to display his power and leave a memorial; with no trouble they could have drawn their ships across the isthmus, yet he ordered them to dig a canal from sea to sea, wide enough to float two triremes rowed abreast. The same men who were assigned the digging were also assigned to join the banks of the river Strymon by a bridge.

Thus Xerxes did this. He assigned the Phoenicians and Egyptians to make ropes of papyrus and white flax for the bridges, and to store provisions for his army, so that neither the army nor the beasts of burden would starve on the march to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

After making inquiry, he ordered them to store it in the most fitting places, carrying it to the various places from all parts of Asia (continent)Asia in cargo ships and transports. They brought most of it to the White Headland (as it is called) in Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace; some were dispatched to Tyrodiza in the Perinthian country or to Doriscus, others to Eion on the Strymon or to Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia.

While these worked at their appointed task, all the land force had been mustered and was marching with Xerxes to Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis, setting forth from Critalla in +Cappadocia [36,38.5] (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Cappadocia, which was the place appointed for gathering all the army that was to march with Xerxes himself by land.

Now which of his governors received the promised gifts from the king for bringing the best-equipped army, I cannot say; I do not even know if the matter was ever determined.

When they had crossed the river Halys River (river), Turkey, Asia Halys and entered Phrygia (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Phrygia, they marched through that country to Celaenae, where rises the source of the river +Buyukmenderes Nehri [27.183,37.466] (river), Turkey, Asia Maeander and of another river no smaller, which is called Cataractes; it rises right in the market-place of Celaenae and issues into the +Buyukmenderes Nehri [27.183,37.466] (river), Turkey, Asia Maeander. The skin of Marsyas the Silenus also hangs there; the Phrygian story tells that it was flayed off him and hung up by Apollo.

In this city Pythius son of Atys, a Lydian, sat awaiting them; he entertained Xerxes himself and all the king's army with the greatest hospitality, and declared himself willing to provide money for the war.

When Pythius offered the money, Xerxes asked the Persians present who this Pythius was and how much wealth he possessed in making the offer. They said, “O king, this is the one who gave your father Darius the gift of a golden plane-tree and vine; he is now the richest man we know of after you.”

Xerxes marvelled at this last saying and next himself asked Pythius how much wealth he had. “O king,” said Pythius, “I will not conceal the quantity of my property from you, nor pretend that I do not know; I know and will tell you the exact truth.

As soon as I learned that you were coming down to the Greek sea, I wanted to give you money for the war, so I inquired into the matter, and my reckoning showed me that I had two thousand talents of silver, and four million Daric staters of gold, lacking seven thousand.

All this I freely give to you; for myself, I have a sufficient livelihood from my slaves and my farms.”

Thus he spoke. Xerxes was pleased with what he said and replied: “My Lydian friend, since I came out of Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia I have so far met with no man who was willing to give hospitality to my army, nor who came into my presence unsummoned and offered to furnish money for the war, besides you.

But you have entertained my army nobly and offer me great sums. In return for this I give you these privileges: I make you my friend, and out of my own wealth I give you the seven thousand staters which will complete your total of four million, so that your four million not lack the seven thousand and the even number be reached by my completing it.

Remain in possession of what you now possess, and be mindful to be always such as you are; neither for the present nor in time will you regret what you now do.”

Xerxes said this and made good his words, then journeyed ever onward. Passing by the Phrygian town called Anaua, and the lake from which salt is obtained, he came to +Colossae [29.25,37.783] (deserted settlement), Denizli Ili, Ege kiyilari, Turkey, Asia Colossae, a great city in Phrygia (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Phrygia; there the river Lycus plunges into a cleft in the earth and disappears, until it reappears about five stadia away; this river issues into the +Buyukmenderes Nehri [27.183,37.466] (river), Turkey, Asia Maeander.

From +Colossae [29.25,37.783] (deserted settlement), Denizli Ili, Ege kiyilari, Turkey, Asia Colossae the army held its course for the borders of Phrygia (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Phrygia and Lydia [27.516,38.683] (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Lydia, and came to the city of Cydrara, where there stands a pillar set up by Croesus which marks the boundary with an inscription.

Passing from Phrygia (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Phrygia into Lydia [27.516,38.683] (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Lydia, he came to the place where the roads part; the road on the left leads to +Caria [28,37.5] (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Caria, the one on the right to Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis; on the latter the traveller must cross the river +Buyukmenderes Nehri [27.183,37.466] (river), Turkey, Asia Maeander and pass by the city of Callatebus, where craftsmen make honey out of wheat and tamarisks. Xerxes went by this road and found a plane-tree, which he adorned with gold because of its beauty, and he assigned one of his immortals to guard it. On the next day he reached the city of the Lydians.

After he arrived in Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis, he first sent heralds to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas to demand earth and water and to command the preparation of meals for the king. He sent demands for earth everywhere except to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens and Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon. The reason for his sending for earth and water the second time was this: he fully believed that whoever had not previously given it to Darius' messengers would now be compelled to give by fear; so he sent out of desire to know this for certain.

After this he prepared to march to Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaAbydos; meanwhile his men were bridging the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont from Asia (continent)Asia to Europe (continent)Europe. On the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese, which is on the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont, between the city of Sestos [26.4,40.2833] (Perseus)Sestus and Madytos [26.3667,40.2] (Perseus)Madytus there is a broad headland running out into the sea opposite Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaAbydos. It was here that not long afterwards the Athenians, when Xanthippus son of Ariphron was their general, took Artayctes, a Persian and the governor of Sestos [26.4,40.2833] (Perseus)Sestus, and crucified him alive; he had been in the habit of bringing women right into the temple of Protesilaus at Elaeus and doing impious deeds there.

The men who had been given this assignment made bridges starting from Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaAbydos across to that headland; the Phoenicians one of flaxen cables, and the Egyptians a papyrus one. From Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Abydos to the opposite shore it is a distance of seven stadia. But no sooner had the strait been bridged than a great storm swept down, breaking and scattering everything.

When Xerxes heard of this, he was very angry and commanded that the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont be whipped with three hundred lashes, and a pair of fetters be thrown into the sea. I have even heard that he sent branders with them to brand the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont.

He commanded them while they whipped to utter words outlandish and presumptuous, “Bitter water, our master thus punishes you, because you did him wrong though he had done you none. Xerxes the king will pass over you, whether you want it or not; in accordance with justice no one offers you sacrifice, for you are a turbid and briny river.”

He commanded that the sea receive these punishments and that the overseers of the bridge over the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont be beheaded.

So this was done by those who were appointed to the thankless honor, and new engineers set about making the bridges. They made the bridges as follows: in order to lighten the strain of the cables, they placed fifty-oared ships and triremes alongside each other, three hundred and sixty to bear the bridge nearest the Black Sea [38,42] (sea)Euxine sea, and three hundred and fourteen to bear the other; all lay obliquely to the line of the Black Sea [38,42] (sea)Pontus and parallel with the current of the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont.

After putting the ships together they let down very great anchors, both from the end of the ships on the Black Sea [38,42] (sea)Pontus side to hold fast against the winds blowing from within that sea, and from the other end, towards the west and the Aegean Sea [25,38.5] (sea)Aegean, to hold against the west and south winds. They left a narrow opening to sail through in the line of fifty-oared ships and triremes, that so whoever wanted to could sail by small craft to the Black Sea [38,42] (sea)Pontus or out of it.

After doing this, they stretched the cables from the land, twisting them taut with wooden windlasses; they did not as before keep the two kinds apart, but assigned for each bridge two cables of flax and four of papyrus.

All these had the same thickness and fine appearance, but the flaxen were heavier in proportion, for a cubit of them weighed a talent.

When the strait was thus bridged, they sawed logs of wood to a length equal to the breadth of the floating supports, and laid them in order on the taut cables; after placing them together they then made them fast. After doing this, they carried brushwood onto the bridge; when this was all laid in order they heaped earth on it and stamped it down; then they made a fence on either side, so that the beasts of burden and horses not be frightened by the sight of the sea below them.

When the bridges and the work at Mount Athos [24.316,40.166] (inhabited place), Pangaion Oros, Macedonia, Greece, EuropeAthos were ready, and both the dikes at the canal's entrances, built to prevent the surf from silting up the entrances of the dug passage, and the canal itself were reported to be now completely finished, the army then wintered. At the beginning of spring the army made ready and set forth from Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis to march to Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Abydos.

As it was setting out, the sun left his place in the heaven and was invisible, although the sky was without clouds and very clear, and the day turned into night. When Xerxes saw and took note of that, he was concerned and asked the Magi what the vision might signify.

They declared to him that the god was showing the Greeks the abandonment of their cities; for the sun (they said) was the prophet of the Greeks, as the moon was their own. Xerxes rejoiced exceedingly to hear that and continued on his march.

As Xerxes led his army away, Pythius the Lydian, frightened by the heavenly vision and encouraged by the gifts that he had received, came to Xerxes and said, “Master, I have a favor to ask that I desire of you, easy for you to grant and precious for me to receive.”

Xerxes supposed that Pythius would demand anything rather than what he did ask and answered that he would grant the request, bidding him declare what he desired. When Pythius heard this, he took courage and said: “Master, I have five sons, and all of them are constrained to march with you against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

I pray you, O king, take pity on me in my advanced age, and release one of my sons, the eldest, from service, so that he may take care of me and of my possessions; take the four others with you, and may you return back with all your plans accomplished.”

Xerxes became very angry and thus replied: “Villain, you see me marching against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas myself, and taking with me my sons and brothers and relations and friends; do you, my slave, who should have followed me with all your household and your very wife, speak to me of your son? Be well assured of this, that a man's spirit dwells in his ears; when it hears good words it fills the whole body with delight, but when it hears the opposite it swells with anger.

When you did me good service and promised more, you will never boast that you outdid your king in the matter of benefits; and now that you have turned aside to the way of shamelessness, you will receive a lesser requital than you merit. You and four of your sons are saved by your hospitality; but you shall be punished by the life of that one you most desire to keep.”

With that reply, he immediately ordered those who were assigned to do these things to find the eldest of Pythius sons and cut him in half, then to set one half of his body on the right side of the road and the other on the left, so that the army would pass between them.

This they did, and the army passed between. First went the baggage train and the beasts of burden, and after them a mixed army of all sorts of nations, not according to their divisions but all mingled together; when more than half had passed there was a space left, and these did not come near the king.

After that, first came a thousand horsemen, chosen out of all Persians; next, a thousand spearmen, picked men like the others, carrying their spears reversed; and after them ten horses of the breed called Nesaean, equipped most splendidly.

The horses are called Nesaean because there is in Media a wide plain of that name, where the great horses are bred.

Behind these ten horses was the place of the sacred chariot of Zeus, drawn by eight white horses, with the charioteer following the horses on foot and holding the reins; for no mortal man may mount into that seat. After these came Xerxes himself in a chariot drawn by Nesaean horses; beside him was his charioteer, whose name was Patiramphes, the son of Otanes, a Persian.

In this way Xerxes rode out from Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis; but whenever the thought took him he would alight from the chariot into a carriage. Behind him came a thousand spearmen of the best and noblest blood of Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia, carrying their spears in the customary manner; after them a thousand picked Persian horsemen, and after the horse ten thousand that were foot soldiers, chosen out of the rest of the Persians.

One thousand of these had golden pomegranates on their spear-shafts instead of a spike, and surrounded the rest; the nine thousand who were inside them had silver pomegranates. Those who held their spears reversed also carried golden pomegranates, and those following nearest to Xerxes had apples of gold. After the ten thousand came ten thousand Persian horsemen in array. After these there was a space of two stadia, and then the rest of the multitude followed all mixed together.

From Lydia [27.516,38.683] (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Lydia the army took its course to the river Bakir Cayi [27,38.916] (river), Turkey, AsiaCaicus and the land of +Mysia (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Mysia; leaving the Bakir Cayi [27,38.916] (river), Turkey, AsiaCaicus, they went through +Atarneus [26.95,39.05] (Perseus) Atarneus to the city of Carene, keeping the mountain of Khalkodonion (mountains), Nomos Larisis, Thessaly, Greece, EuropeCane on the left. From there they journeyed over the plain of Thebe, passing the city of Adramytteum and the Pelasgian city of Antandrus.

Then they came into the territory of Troy [26.25,39.95] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaIlium, with Ida on their left. When they had halted for the night at the foot of Ida, a storm of thunder and lightning fell upon them, killing a great crowd of them there.

When the army had come to the river Scamander, which was the first river after the beginning of their march from Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis that fell short of their needs and was not sufficient for the army and the cattle to drink—arriving at this river, Xerxes ascended to the citadel of Priam, having a desire to see it.

After he saw it and asked about everything there, he sacrificed a thousand cattle to Athena of Troy [26.25,39.95] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaIlium, and the Magi offered libations to the heroes. After they did this, a panic fell upon the camp in the night. When it was day they journeyed on from there, keeping on their left the cities of Rhoetium and Ophryneum and Dardanus, which borders Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Abydos, and on their right the Teucrian Gergithae.

When they were at Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Abydos, Xerxes wanted to see the whole of his army. A lofty seat of white stone had been set up for him on a hill there for this very purpose, built by the people of Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Abydos at the king's command. There he sat and looked down on the seashore, viewing his army and his fleet; as he viewed them he desired to see the ships contend in a race. They did so, and the Phoenicians of Sidon [35.366,33.55] (inhabited place), Al-Janub, Lebanon, Asia Sidon won; Xerxes was pleased with the race and with his expedition.

When he saw the whole Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont covered with ships, and all the shores and plains of Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Abydos full of men, Xerxes first declared himself blessed, and then wept.

Book 7, Part 3

His uncle Artabanus perceived this, he who in the beginning had spoken his mind freely and advised Xerxes not to march against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas. Marking how Xerxes wept, he questioned him and said, “O king, what a distance there is between what you are doing now and a little while ago! After declaring yourself blessed you weep.”

Xerxes said, “I was moved to compassion when I considered the shortness of all human life, since of all this multitude of men not one will be alive a hundred years from now.”

Artabanus answered, “In one life we have deeper sorrows to bear than that. Short as our lives are, there is no human being either here or elsewhere so fortunate that it will not occur to him, often and not just once, to wish himself dead rather than alive. Misfortunes fall upon us and sicknesses trouble us, so that they make life, though short, seem long.

Life is so miserable a thing that death has become the most desirable refuge for humans; the god is found to be envious in this, giving us only a taste of the sweetness of living.”

Xerxes answered and said, “Artabanus, human life is such as you define it to be. Let us speak no more of that, nor remember evils in our present prosperous estate. But tell me this: if you had not seen the vision in your dream so clearly, would you still have held your former opinion and advised me not to march against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, or would you have changed your mind? Come, tell me this truly.”

Artabanus answered and said, “O king, may the vision that appeared in my dream bring such an end as we both desire! But I am even now full of fear and beside myself for many reasons, especially when I see that the two greatest things in the world are your greatest enemies.”

Xerxes made this response: “Are you possessed? What are these two things that you say are my greatest enemies? Is there some fault with the numbers of my land army? Does it seem that the Greek army will be many times greater than ours? Or do you think that our navy will fall short of theirs? Or that the fault is in both? If our power seems to you to lack anything in this regard, it would be best to muster another army as quickly as possible.”

Artabanus answered and said, “O king, there is no fault that any man of sound judgment could find either with this army or with the number of your ships; and if you gather more, those two things I speak of become even much more your enemies. These two are the land and the sea.

The sea has nowhere any harbor, as I conjecture, that will be able to receive this navy and save your ships if a storm arise. Yet there has to be not just one such harbor, but many of them all along the land you are sailing by.

Since there are no harbors able to receive you, understand that men are the subjects and not the rulers of their accidents. I have spoken of one of the two, and now I will tell you of the other.

The land is your enemy in this way: if nothing is going to stand in your way and hinder you, the land becomes more your enemy the further you advance, constantly unaware of what lies beyond; no man is ever satisfied with success.

So I say that if no one opposes you, the increase of your territory and the time passed in getting it will breed famine. The best man is one who is timid while making plans because he takes into account all that may happen to him, but is bold in action.”

Xerxes answered, “Artabanus, you define these matters reasonably. But do not fear everything, nor take account of all alike; If you wanted to take everything equally into account on every occasion that happens, you would never do anything; it is better to do everything boldly and suffer half of what you dread than to fear all chances and so never suffer anything.

But if you quarrel with whatever is said yet cannot put forth a secure position, you must be proved as wrong on your part as he who holds the contrary opinion. In this both are alike: how can someone who is only human know where there is security? I think it is impossible. Those who have the will to act most often win the rewards, not those who hesitate and take account of all chances.

You see what power Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia has attained. Now if those kings who came before me had held such opinions as yours, or if they had not held them but had had advisers like you, you would never have seen our fortunes at their present height; but as it is those kings ran the risks and advanced them to this height.

Great successes are not won except by great risks. So we will do as they did; we are travelling in the fairest season of the year, and we will return home the conquerors of all Europe (continent)Europe without suffering famine or any other harm anywhere. First, we carry ample provisions with us on our march; second, we will have the food of those whose land and nation we invade; for we are marching against men who are tillers of the soil, not nomads.”

Then said Artabanus: “O king, I see that you will not allow us to fear any danger. But take from me this advice, as there is need for much speaking when our affairs are so great.

Cyrus son of Cambyses subdued and made tributary to Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia all Ionians except only the Athenians. I advise you by no means to lead these Ionians against the land of their fathers, since even without their aid we are well able to overcome our enemies. If they come with our army, they must either behave very unjustly by enslaving their mother city, or very justly by aiding it to be free.

If they deal very unjustly they bring us no great advantage, but by dealing very justly they may well do great harm to your army. Take to heart the truth of that ancient saying, that the end of every matter is not revealed at its beginning.”

Xerxes answered, “Artabanus, in all your pronouncements you are most mistaken when you fear that the Ionians might change sides; we have the surest guarantee for them, and you and all who marched with Darius against the Scythians can bear witness. They had the power to destroy or to save the whole Persian army, and they gave proof of their justice and faithfulness, with no evil intent.

Moreover, since they have left their children and wives and possessions in our country, we need not consider it even possible that they will make any violent change. So be rid of that fear; keep a stout heart and guard my household and tyranny; to you alone I entrust the symbols of my kingship.”

Xerxes spoke thus and sent Artabanus away to Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa. He next sent for the most notable among the Persians, and when they were present he said, “Persians, I have assembled you to make this demand, that you bear yourselves bravely and never sully the great and glorious former achievements of the Persians. Let us each and all be zealous, for the good that we seek is common to all.

For these reasons I bid you set your hands to the war strenuously; I know that we march against valiant men, and if we overcome them it is certain that no other human army will ever withstand us. Let us now cross over, after praying to the gods who hold Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia for their allotted realm.”

All that day they made preparations for the crossing. On the next they waited until they could see the sun rise, burning all kinds of incense on the bridges and strewing the road with myrtle boughs.

At sunrise Xerxes poured a libation from a golden phial into the sea, praying to the sun that no accident might befall him which would keep him from subduing Europe (continent)Europe before he reached its farthest borders. After the prayer, he cast the phial into the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont, and along with it a golden bowl, and a Persian sword which they call “acinaces.”

As for these, I cannot rightly determine whether he cast them into the sea for offerings to the sun, or repented having whipped the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont and gave gifts to the sea as atonement.

When they had done this they crossed over, the foot and horse all by the bridge nearest to the Black Sea [38,42] (sea) Pontus, the beasts of burden and the service train by the bridge towards the Aegean Sea [25,38.5] (sea) Aegean.

The ten thousand Persians, all wearing garlands, led the way, and after them came the mixed army of diverse nations. All that day these crossed; on the next, first crossed the horsemen and the ones who carried their spears reversed; these also wore garlands.

After them came the sacred horses and the sacred chariot, then Xerxes himself and the spearmen and the thousand horse, and after them the rest of the army. Meanwhile the ships put out and crossed to the opposite shore. But I have also heard that the king crossed last of all.

When Xerxes had passed over to Europe (continent)Europe, he viewed his army crossing under the lash. Seven days and seven nights it was in crossing, with no pause.

It is said that when Xerxes had now crossed the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont, a man of the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont cried, “O Zeus, why have you taken the likeness of a Persian man and changed your name to Xerxes, leading the whole world with you to remove Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas from its place? You could have done that without these means.”

When all had passed over and were ready for the road, a great portent appeared among them. Xerxes took no account of it, although it was easy to interpret: a mare gave birth to a hare. The meaning of it was easy to guess: Xerxes was to march his army to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas with great pomp and pride, but to come back to the same place fleeing for his life.

There was another portent that was shown to him at Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis: a mule gave birth to a mule that had double genitals, both male and female, the male above the other. But he took no account of either sign and journeyed onward; the land army was with him.

His navy sailed out of the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont and travelled along the land, going across from the land army.

The ships sailed westwards, laying their course for the headland of Sarpedon, where Xerxes had ordered them to go and wait for him; the army of the mainland travelled towards the east and the sunrise through the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese, with the tomb of Athamas' daughter Helle on its right and the town of Cardia on its left, marching through the middle of a city called Agora.

From there they rounded the head of the Black Bay (as it is called) and crossed the Black River, which could not hold its own then against the army, but gave out—crossing this river, which gives its name to the bay, they went westwards, past the Aeolian city of Enez [26.83,40.733] (inhabited place), Edirne, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaAenus and the marsh of Stentor, until they came to Doriscus.

The territory of Doriscus is in Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace, a wide plain by the sea, and through it flows a great river, the +Maritsa [26.2,40.866] (river), Europe Hebrus; here had been built that royal fortress which is called Doriscus, and a Persian guard had been posted there by Darius ever since the time of his march against Scythia (region (general)), AsiaScythia.

It seemed to Xerxes to be a fit place for him to arrange and number his army, and he did so. All the ships had now arrived at Doriscus, and the captains at Xerxes' command brought them to the beach near Doriscus, where stands the Samothracian city of Sane, and Zone; at the end is Serreum, a well-known headland. This country was in former days possessed by the Cicones.

To this beach they brought in their ships and hauled them up for rest. Meanwhile Xerxes made a reckoning of his forces at Doriscus.

I cannot give the exact number that each part contributed to the total, for there is no one who tells us that; but the total of the whole land army was shown to be one million and seven hundred thousand.

They were counted in this way: ten thousand men were collected in one place, and when they were packed together as closely as could be a line was drawn around them; when this was drawn, the ten thousand were sent away and a wall of stones was built on the line reaching up to a man's navel;

when this was done, others were brought into the walled space, until in this way all were numbered. When they had been numbered, they were marshalled by nations.

The men who served in the army were the following: the Persians were equipped in this way: they wore on their heads loose caps called tiaras, and on their bodies embroidered sleeved tunics, with scales of iron like the scales of fish in appearance, and trousers on their legs; for shields they had wicker bucklers, with quivers hanging beneath them; they carried short spears, long bows, and reed arrows, and daggers that hung from the girdle by the right thigh.

Their commander was Otanes, son of Amestris and father of Xerxes' wife. They were formerly called by the Greeks Cephenes, but by themselves and their neighbors Artaei.

When Perseus son of Danae and Zeus had come to Cepheus son of Belus and married his daughter Andromeda, a son was born to him whom he called Perses, and he left him there; for Cepheus had no male offspring; it was from this Perses that the Persians took their name.

The Medes in the army were equipped like the Persians; indeed, that fashion of armor is Median, not Persian. Their commander was Tigranes, an Achaemenid. The Medes were formerly called by everyone Arians, but when the Colchian woman Medea came from Athens [23.733,38] (inhabited place), Perifereia Protevousis, Greece, EuropeAthens to the Arians they changed their name, like the Persians. This is the Medes' own account of themselves.

The Cissians in the army were equipped like the Persians, but they wore turbans instead of caps. Their commander was Anaphes son of Otanes. The Hyrcanians were armed like the Persians; their leader was Megapanus, who was afterwards the governor of Babylon [44.4,32.55] (deserted settlement), Babil, Iraq, AsiaBabylon.

The Assyrians in the army wore on their heads helmets of twisted bronze made in an outlandish fashion not easy to describe. They carried shields and spears and daggers of Egyptian fashion, and also wooden clubs studded with iron, and they wore linen breastplates. They are called by the Greeks Syrians, but the foreigners called them Assyrians. With them were the Chaldeans. Their commander was Otaspes son of Artachaees.

The Bactrians in the army wore a headgear very similar to the Median, carrying their native reed bows and short spears.

The Sacae, who are Scythians, had on their heads tall caps, erect and stiff and tapering to a point; they wore trousers, and carried their native bows, and daggers, and also axes which they call “sagaris.” These were Amyrgian Scythians, but were called Sacae; that is the Persian name for all Scythians. The commander of the Bactrians and Sacae was Hystaspes, son of Darius and Cyrus' daughter Atossa.

The Indians wore garments of tree-wool, and carried reed bows and iron-tipped reed arrows. Such was their equipment; they were appointed to march under the command of Pharnazathres son of Artabates.

The Arians were equipped with Median bows, but in all else like the Bactrians; their commander was Sisamnes son of Hydarnes. The Parthians, Chorasmians, Sogdians, Gandarians, and Dadicae in the army had the same equipment as the Bactrians.

The Parthians and Chorasmians had for their commander Artabazus son of Pharnaces, the Sogdians Azanes son of Artaeus, the Gandarians and Dadicae Artyphius son of Artabanus.

The Caspians in the army wore cloaks and carried their native reed bows and short swords. Such was their equipment; their leader was Ariomardus, brother of Artyphius. The Sarangae were conspicuous in their dyed garments and knee-high boots, carrying bows and Median spears. Their commander was Pherendates son of Megabazus.

The Pactyes wore cloaks and carried their native bows and daggers; their commander was Artayntes son of Ithamitres.

The Utians and Mycians and Paricanians were equipped like the Pactyes; the Utians and Mycians had for their commander Arsamenes son of Darius, the Paricanians Siromitres son of Oeobazus.

The Arabians wore mantles girded up, and carried at their right side long bows curving backwards. The Ethiopians were wrapped in skins of leopards and lions, and carried bows made of palmwood strips, no less than four cubits long, and short arrows pointed not with iron but with a sharpened stone that they use to carve seals; furthermore, they had spears pointed with a gazelle's horn sharpened like a lance, and also studded clubs.

When they went into battle they painted half their bodies with gypsum and the other half with vermilion. The Arabians and the Ethiopians who dwell above Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt had as commander Arsames, the son of Darius and Artystone daughter of Cyrus, whom Darius loved best of his wives; he had an image made of her of hammered gold.

The Ethiopians above Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt and the Arabians had Arsames for commander, while the Ethiopians of the east (for there were two kinds of them in the army) served with the Indians; they were not different in appearance from the others, only in speech and hair: the Ethiopians from the east are straight-haired, but the ones from Libya [17,25] (nation), AfricaLibya have the woolliest hair of all men.

These Ethiopians of Asia (continent)Asia were for the most part armed like the Indians; but they wore on their heads the skins of horses' foreheads, stripped from the head with ears and mane; the mane served them for a crest, and they wore the horses' ears stiff and upright; for shields they had bucklers of the skin of cranes.

The Libyans came in leather garments, using javelins of burnt wood. Their commander was Massages son of Oarizus.

The Paphlagonians in the army had woven helmets on their heads, and small shields and short spears, and also javelins and daggers; they wore their native shoes that reach midway to the knee. The Ligyes and Matieni and Mariandyni and Syrians were equipped like the Paphlagonians. These Syrians are called by the Persians Cappadocians.

Dotus son of Megasidrus was commander of the Paphlagonians and Matieni, Gobryas son of Darius and Artystone of the Mariandyni and Ligyes and Syrians.

The Phrygian equipment was very similar to the Paphlagonian, with only a small difference. As the Macedonians say, these Phrygians were called Briges as long as they dwelt in Europe (continent)Europe, where they were neighbors of the Macedonians; but when they changed their home to Asia (continent)Asia, they changed their name also and were called Phrygians. The Armenians, who are settlers from Phrygia (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Phrygia, were armed like the Phrygians. Both these together had as their commander Artochmes, who had married a daughter of Darius.

The Lydian armor was most similar to the Greek. The Lydians were formerly called Meiones, until they changed their name and were called after Lydus son of Atys. The Mysians wore on their heads their native helmets, carrying small shields and javelins of burnt wood.

They are settlers from Lydia [27.516,38.683] (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Lydia, and are called Olympieni after the mountain +Olympus (mountain), Nomos Larisis, Thessaly, Greece, Europe Olympus. The commander of the Lydians and Mysians was that Artaphrenes son of Artaphrenes, who attacked Marathon with Datis.

The Thracians in the army wore fox-skin caps on their heads, and tunics on their bodies; over these they wore embroidered mantles; they had shoes of fawnskin on their feet and legs; they also had javelins and little shields and daggers.

They took the name of Bithynians after they crossed over to Asia (continent)Asia; before that they were called (as they themselves say) Strymonians, since they lived by the Strymon; they say that they were driven from their homes by Teucrians and Mysians. The commander of the Thracians of Asia (continent)Asia was Bassaces son of Artabanus.

The <Pisidians> had little shields of raw oxhide; each man carried two wolf-hunters' spears; they wore helmets of bronze, and on these helmets were the ears and horns of oxen wrought in bronze, and also crests; their legs were wrapped around with strips of purple rags. Among these men is a place of divination sacred to Ares.

The Cabelees, who are Meiones and are called Lasonii, had the same equipment as the Cilicians; when I come in my narrative to the place of the Cilicians, I will then declare what it was. The Milyae had short spears and garments fastened by brooches; some of them carried Lycian bows and wore caps of skin on their heads. The commander of all these was Badres son of Hystanes.

The Moschi wore wooden helmets on their heads, and carried shields and small spears with long points. The Tibareni and Macrones and Mossynoeci in the army were equipped like the Moschi. The commanders who marshalled them were, for the Moschi and Tibareni, Ariomardus son of Darius and Parmys, the daughter of Cyrus' son Smerdis; for the Macrones and Mossynoeci, Artayctes son of Cherasmis, who was governor of Sestos [26.4,40.2833] (Perseus)Sestus on the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont.

The Mares wore on their heads their native woven helmets, and carried javelins and small hide shields. The Colchians had wooden helmets and small shields of raw oxhide and short spears, and also swords. The commander of the Mares and Colchians was Pharandates son of Teaspis. The Alarodians and Saspires in the army were armed like the Colchians; Masistius son of Siromitres was their commander.

Book 7, Part 4

The island tribes that came from the +Red Sea [42,15] (sea) Red Sea, and from the islands where the king settles those who are called Exiles, wore dress and armor very similar to the Median. The commander of these islanders was Mardontes son of Bagaeus, who in the next year was general at Mykale [26.8667,38.1] (Perseus)Mykale and died in the battle.

These are the nations that marched by the mainland and had their places in the infantry. The commanders of this army were those whom I have mentioned, and they were the ones who marshalled and numbered them and appointed captains of thousands and ten thousands; the captains of ten thousands appointed the captains of hundreds and of tens. There were others who were leaders of companies and nations.

These were the commanders, as I have said; the generals of these and of the whole infantry were Mardonius son of Gobryas, Tritantaechmes son of that Artabanus who delivered the opinion that there should be no expedition against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, Smerdomenes son of Otanes (these two latter were sons of Darius' brothers, and thus they were Xerxes' cousins), Masistes son of Darius and Atossa, Gergis son of Ariazus, and Megabyzus son of Zopyrus.

These were the generals of the whole infantry, except the Ten Thousand. Hydarnes son of Hydarnes was general of these picked ten thousand Persians, who were called Immortals for this reason: when any one of them was forced to fall out of the number by death or sickness, another was chosen so that they were never more or fewer than ten thousand.

The Persians showed the richest adornment of all, and they were the best men in the army. Their equipment was such as I have said; beyond this they stood out by the abundance of gold that they had. They also brought carriages bearing concubines and many well-equipped servants; camels and beasts of burden carried food for them, apart from the rest of the army.

There are horsemen in these nations, but not all of them furnished cavalry. Only the following did so: the Persians, equipped like their infantry, except that some of them wore headgear of hammered bronze and iron.

There are also certain nomads called Sagartian; they are Persian in speech, and the fashion of their equipment is somewhat between the Persian and the Pactyan; they furnished eight thousand horsemen. It is their custom to carry no armor of bronze or iron, except only daggers, and to use ropes of twisted leather.

They go to battle relying on these. This is the manner of fighting of these men: when they are at close quarters with their enemy, they throw their ropes, which have a noose at the end; whatever he catches, horse or man, each man drags to himself, and the enemy is entangled in the coils and slain. Such is their manner of fighting; they were marshalled with the Persians.

The Median cavalry were equipped like their infantry, and the Cissians similarly. The Indians were armed in the same manner as their infantry; they rode swift horses and drove chariots drawn by horses and wild asses. The Bactrians were equipped as were their foot, and the Caspians in the same manner.

The Libyans, too, were armed like the men of their infantry, and all of them also drove chariots. In the same manner the Caspians and Paricanians were armed as the men of their infantry. The Arabians had the same equipment as the men of their infantry, and all of them rode on camels no less swift than horses.

These nations alone were on horseback; the number of the horsemen was shown to be eighty thousand, besides the camels and the chariots. All the rest of the horsemen were ranked with their companies, but the Arabians were posted last. Since horses cannot endure camels, their place was in the rear, so that the horses would not be frightened.

The captains of cavalry were Harmamithres and Tithaeus, sons of Datis; the third who was captain with them, Pharnuches, had been left behind sick at Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis. As they set forth from Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis, an unwelcome mishap befell him: a dog ran under the feet of the horse he was riding, and the horse was taken by surprise and frightened, so it reared up and threw Pharnuches; after his fall he vomited blood and began to waste away.

The horse was immediately dealt with according to Pharnuces' command; his servants led it away to the place where it had thrown their master, and cut off its legs at the knee. Thus it was that Pharnuches lost his command.

The number of the triremes was twelve hundred and seven, and they were furnished by the following: the Phoenicians with the Syrians of +Palestine [35.333,31.916] (region (general)), Asia Palestine furnished three hundred; for their equipment, they had on their heads helmets very close to the Greek in style; they wore linen breastplates, and carried shields without rims, and javelins.

These Phoenicians formerly dwelt, as they themselves say, by the +Red Sea [42,15] (sea) Red Sea; they crossed from there and now inhabit the seacoast of +Syria [38,35] (nation), Asia Syria. This part of +Syria [38,35] (nation), Asia Syria as far as Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt is all called +Palestine [35.333,31.916] (region (general)), Asia Palestine.

The Egyptians furnished two hundred ships. They wore woven helmets and carried hollow shields with broad rims, and spears for sea-warfare, and great battle-axes. Most of them wore cuirasses and carried long swords.

Such was their armor. The Cyprians furnished a hundred and fifty ships; for their equipment, their princes wore turbans wrapped around their heads, and the people wore tunics, but in all else they were like the Greeks. These are their tribes: some are from Salamis [33.9,35.166] (deserted settlement), Famagusta, Cyprus, AsiaSalamis and Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, some from +Arcadia [22.25,37.583] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Arcadia, some from Cythnus, some from Phoenice, and some from Ethiopia [39,8] (nation), AfricaEthiopia, as the Cyprians themselves say.

The Cilicians furnished a hundred ships. They also wore on their heads their native helmets, carried bucklers of raw oxhide for shields, and were clad in woollen tunics; each had two javelins and a sword very close in style to the knives of Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt. These Cilicians were formerly called Hypachaei, and took their name from Cilix son of Agenor, a Phoenician. The Pamphylians furnished a hundred ships: they were armed like the Greeks. These Pamphylians are descended from the Trojans of the diaspora who followed Amphilochus and Calchas.

The Lycians furnished fifty ships; they wore cuirasses and greaves, and carried cornel-wood bows and unfeathered arrows and javelins; goat-skins hung from their shoulders, and they wore on their heads caps crowned with feathers; they also had daggers and scimitars. The Lycians are from +Crete [25,35.166] (region), Greece, Europe Crete and were once called Termilae; they took their name from Lycus son of Pandion, an Athenian.

The Dorians of Asia (continent)Asia furnished thirty ships; their armor was Greek; they are of Peloponnesian descent. The Carians furnished seventy ships; they had scimitars and daggers, but the rest of their equipment was Greek. I have said in the beginning of my history what they were formerly called.

The Ionians furnished a hundred ships; their equipment was like the Greek. These Ionians, as long as they were in the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, dwelt in what is now called +Achaea [21.75,38.25] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Achaia, and before Danaus and Xuthus came to the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, as the Greeks say, they were called Aegialian Pelasgians. They were named Ionians after Ion the son of Xuthus.

The islanders provided seventeen ships and were armed like Greeks; they were also of Pelasgian stock, which was later called Ionian for the same reason as were the Ionians of the twelve cities, who came from Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens. The Aeolians furnished sixty ships and were equipped like Greeks; formerly they were called Pelasgian, as the Greek story goes.

Of the people of the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont, the people of Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Abydos had been charged by the king to remain at home and guard the bridges; the rest of the people from +Black Sea [38,42] (sea) Pontus who came with the army furnished a hundred ships and were equipped like Greeks. They were settlers from the Ionians and Dorians.

Persians and Medes and Sacae served as soldiers on all the ships. The most seaworthy ships were furnished by the Phoenicians, and among them by the Sidonians. All of these, as with those who were marshalled in the infantry, each had their native leaders, whose names I do not record, since it is not necessary for the purpose of my history.

The leaders of each nation are not worthy of mention, and every city of each nation had a leader of its own. These came not as generals but as slaves, like the rest of the expedition; I have already said who were the generals of supreme authority and the Persian commanders of each nation.

The admirals of the navy were Ariabignes son of Darius, Prexaspes son of Aspathines, Megabazus son of Megabates, and Achaemenes son of Darius. Ariabignes, son of Darius and Gobryas' daughter, was admiral of the Ionian and Carian fleet; the admiral of the Egyptians was Achaemenes, full brother of Xerxes; and the two others were admirals of the rest. The ships of thirty and of fifty oars, the light galleys, and the great transports for horses came to a total of three thousand all together.

After the admirals, the most famous of those on board were these: from +Sidon [35.366,33.55] (inhabited place), Al-Janub, Lebanon, Asia Sidon, Tetramnestus son of Anysus; from +Tyre [35.183,33.266] (inhabited place), Al-Janub, Lebanon, Asia Tyre, Matten son of Siromus; from +Jazirat Arwad (island), Tartus, Syria, Asia Aradus, Merbalus son of Agbalus; from Cilicia [34.333,36.666] (region (general)), Turkey, AsiaCilicia, Syennesis son of Oromedon; from +Lycia (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Lycia, Cyberniscus son of Sicas; from Cyprus [33,35] (island), AsiaCyprus, Gorgus son of Chersis and Timonax son of Timagoras; and from +Caria [28,37.5] (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Caria, Histiaeus son of Tymnes, Pigres son of Hysseldomus, and Damasithymus son of Candaules.

I see no need to mention any of the other captains except Artemisia. I find it a great marvel that a woman went on the expedition against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas: after her husband died, she took over his tyranny, though she had a young son, and followed the army from youthful spirits and manliness, under no compulsion.

Artemisia was her name, and she was the daughter of Lygdamis; on her fathers' side she was of Halicarnassian lineage, and on her mothers' Cretan. She was the leader of the men of Bodrum [27.466,37.5] (inhabited place), Mugla Ili, Ege kiyilari, Turkey, Asia Halicarnassus and Kos City [27.3,36.8917] (Perseus)Cos and Nisyrus and Calydnos, and provided five ships.

Her ships were reputed to be the best in the whole fleet after the ships of +Sidon [35.366,33.55] (inhabited place), Al-Janub, Lebanon, Asia Sidon, and she gave the king the best advice of all his allies. The cities that I said she was the leader of are all of Dorian stock, as I can show, since the Halicarnassians are from Troizen [23.375,37.5] (Perseus)Troezen, and the rest are from Epidauros [23.0917,37.6] (Perseus)Epidaurus.

Here ends what I have said of the fleet. When his army had been numbered and marshalled, Xerxes desired to ride through and view it. Then he did this; as he rode in a chariot past the men of each nation, he questioned them while his scribes wrote it all down, until he had gone from one end to the other of the cavalry and infantry.

After he had done this, the ships were drawn down and launched into the sea. Xerxes alighted from his chariot into a Sidonian ship and sat under a golden canopy while he was carried past the prows of the ships, questioning the men in the same way as the army and having the answers written down.

The captains put out and anchored in line four hundred feet from the shore, with their prows turned landward and the marines armed for war; Xerxes viewed them by passing between the prows and the land.

After he passed by all his fleet and disembarked from the ship, he sent for Demaratus son of Ariston, who was on the expedition with him against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas. He summoned him and said, “Demaratus, it is now my pleasure to ask you what I wish to know. You are a Greek, and, as I am told both by you and by the other Greeks whom I have talked to, a man from neither the least nor the weakest of Greek cities.

So tell me: will the Greeks offer battle and oppose me? I think that even if all the Greeks and all the men of the western lands were assembled together, they are not powerful enough to withstand my attack, unless they are united.

Still I want to hear from you what you say of them.” To this question Demaratus answered, “O king, should I speak the truth or try to please you?” Xerxes bade him speak the truth and said that it would be no more unpleasant for him than before.

Demaratus heard this and said, “O King, since you bid me by all means to speak the whole truth, and to say what you will not later prove to be false, in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas poverty is always endemic, but courage is acquired as the fruit of wisdom and strong law; by use of this courage Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas defends herself from poverty and tyranny.

Now I praise all the Greeks who dwell in those Dorian lands, yet I am not going to speak these words about all of them, but only about the Lacedaemonians. First, they will never accept conditions from you that bring slavery upon Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas; and second, they will meet you in battle even if all the other Greeks are on your side.

Do not ask me how many these men are who can do this; they will fight with you whether they have an army of a thousand men, or more than that, or less.”

When he heard this, Xerxes smiled and said, “What a strange thing to say, Demaratus, that a thousand men would fight with so great an army! Come now, tell me this: you say that you were king of these men. Are you willing right now to fight with ten men? Yet if your state is entirely as you define it, you as their king should by right encounter twice as many according to your laws.

If each of them is a match for ten men of my army, then it is plain to me that you must be a match for twenty; in this way you would prove that what you say is true. But if you Greeks who so exalt yourselves are just like you and the others who come to speak with me, and are also the same size, then beware lest the words you have spoken be only idle boasting.

Let us look at it with all reasonableness: how could a thousand, or ten thousand, or even fifty thousand men, if they are all equally free and not under the rule of one man, withstand so great an army as mine? If you Greeks are five thousand, we still would be more than a thousand to one.

If they were under the rule of one man according to our custom, they might out of fear of him become better than they naturally are, and under compulsion of the lash they might go against greater numbers of inferior men; but if they are allowed to go free they would do neither. I myself think that even if they were equal in numbers it would be hard for the Greeks to fight just against the Persians.

What you are talking about is found among us alone, and even then it is not common but rare; there are some among my Persian spearmen who will gladly fight with three Greeks at once. You have no knowledge of this and are spouting a lot of nonsense.”

To this Demaratus answered, “O king I knew from the first that the truth would be unwelcome to you. But since you compelled me to speak as truly as I could, I have told you how it stands with the Spartans.

You yourself best know what love I bear them: they have robbed me of my office and the privileges of my house, and made me a cityless exile; your father received me and gave me a house and the means to live on. It is not reasonable for a sensible man to reject goodwill when it appears; rather he will hold it in great affection.

I myself do not promise that I can fight with ten men or with two, and I would not even willingly fight with one; yet if it were necessary, or if some great contest spurred me, I would most gladly fight with one of those men who claim to be each a match for three Greeks.

So is it with the Lacedaemonians; fighting singly they are as brave as any man living, and together they are the best warriors on earth. They are free, yet not wholly free: law is their master, whom they fear much more than your men fear you.

They do whatever it bids; and its bidding is always the same, that they must never flee from the battle before any multitude of men, but must abide at their post and there conquer or die. If I seem to you to speak foolishness when I say this, then let me hereafter hold my peace; it is under constraint that I have now spoken. But may your wish be fulfilled, King.”

Thus Demaratus answered. Xerxes made a joke of the matter and showed no anger, but sent him away kindly. After he had conversed with Demaratus, and appointed Mascames son of Megadostes governor of this Doriscus, deposing the governor Darius had appointed, Xerxes marched his army through Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace towards Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

Xerxes left behind this Mascames, who so conducted himself that to him alone Xerxes always sent gifts, as being the most valiant of all the governors that he or Darius appointed; he sent these gifts every year, and so did Artaxerxes son of Xerxes to Mascames' descendants. Before this march, governors had been appointed everywhere in Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace and on the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont.

All of these in Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace and the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont, except the governor of Doriscus, were after this expedition captured by the Greeks; but no one could ever drive out Mascames in Doriscus, though many tried. For this reason gifts are sent by the successive kings of Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia.

The only one of those who were driven out by the Greeks whom king Xerxes considered a valiant man was Boges, from whom they took +Eion [23.8833,40.7333] (Perseus) Eion. He never ceased praising this man, and gave very great honor to his sons who were left alive in Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia; indeed Boges proved himself worthy of all praise. When he was besieged by the Athenians under Cimon son of Miltiades, he could have departed under treaty from +Eion [23.8833,40.7333] (Perseus) Eion and returned to Asia (continent)Asia, but he refused, lest the king think that he had saved his life out of cowardice; instead he resisted to the last.

When there was no food left within his walls, he piled up a great pyre and slew his children and wife and concubines and servants and cast them into the fire; after that, he took all the gold and silver from the city and scattered it from the walls into the Strymon; after he had done this, he cast himself into the fire. Thus he is justly praised by the Persians to this day.

From Doriscus Xerxes went on his way towards Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, compelling all that he met to go with his army. As I have shown earlier, all the country as far as +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly had been enslaved and was tributary to the king, by the conquests of Megabazus and Mardonius after him.

On his road from Doriscus he first passed the Samothracian fortresses; of these, the city built farthest to the west is called Mesambria. Next to it is the Thasian city of +Stryme [25.6167,40.8833] (Perseus) Stryme; between them runs the river Lisus, which now could not furnish water enough for Xerxes' army, but was exhausted.

All this region was once called Gallaic, but it is now called Briantic; however, by rights it also belongs to the Ciconians.

After he had crossed the dried-up bed of the river Lisus, he passed by the Greek cities of Maronea, Dicaea, and +Abdera [24.9667,40.9833] (Perseus) Abdera. He passed by these, and along certain well-known lakes near them: the Ismarid lake that lies between Maronea and +Stryme [25.6167,40.8833] (Perseus) Stryme, and near Dicaea the Bistonian lake, into which the rivers Travus and Compsantus discharge. Near Abdera Xerxes passed no well-known lake, but crossed the river Nestus where it flows into the sea.

From these regions he passed by the cities of the mainland, one of which has near it a lake of about thirty stadia in circuit, full of fish and very salty; this was drained dry by watering the beasts of burden alone. This city is called Pistyrus.

Xerxes marched past these Greek cities of the coast, keeping them on his left. The Thracian tribes through whose lands he journeyed were the Paeti, Cicones, Bistones, Sapaei, Dersaei, Edoni, and Satrae. Of these, the ones who dwelt by the sea followed his army on shipboard; the ones living inland, whose names I have recorded, were forced to join with his land army, all of them except the Satrae.

The Satrae, as far as we know, have never yet been subject to any man; they alone of the Thracians have continued living in freedom to this day; they dwell on high mountains covered with forests of all kinds and snow, and they are excellent warriors.

It is they who possess the place of divination sacred to Dionysus. This place is in their highest mountains; the Bessi, a clan of the Satrae, are the prophets of the shrine; there is a priestess who utters the oracle, as at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi; it is no more complicated here than there.

After passing through the aforementioned land, Xerxes next passed the fortresses of the Pierians, one called Phagres and the other +Bergama [27.166,39.133] (inhabited place), Izmir Ili, Ege kiyilari, Turkey, Asia Pergamus. By going this way he marched right under their walls, keeping on his right the great and high Pangaean range, where the Pierians and Odomanti and especially the Satrae have gold and silver mines.

Marching past the Paeonians, Doberes, and Paeoplae, who dwell beyond and northward of the Pangaean mountains, he kept going westwards, until he came to the river Strymon and the city of +Eion [23.8833,40.7333] (Perseus) Eion; its governor was that Boges, then still alive, whom I mentioned just before this.

All this region about the Pangaean range is called Phyllis; it stretches westwards to the river Angites, which issues into the Strymon, and southwards to the Strymon itself; at this river the Magi sought good omens by sacrificing white horses.

After using these enchantments and many others besides on the river, they passed over it at the Nine Ways in Edonian country, by the bridges which they found thrown across the Strymon. When they learned that Nine Ways was the name of the place, they buried alive that number of boys and maidens, children of the local people.

To bury people alive is a Persian custom; I have learned by inquiry that when Xerxes' wife Amestris reached old age, she buried twice seven sons of notable Persians as an offering on her own behalf to the fabled god beneath the earth.

Journeying from the Strymon, the army passed by Argilus, a Greek town standing on a stretch of coast further westwards; the territory of this town and that which lies inland of it are called Bisaltia.

From there, keeping on his left hand the gulf off Poseideion, Xerxes traversed the plain of Syleus (as they call it), passing by the Greek town of Stagirus, and came to Acanthus. He took along with him all these tribes and those that dwelt about the Pangaean range, just as he did those previously mentioned, the men of the coast serving in his fleet and the inland men in his land army.

The entire road along which king Xerxes led his army the Thracians neither break up nor sow, but they hold it in great reverence to this day.

When Xerxes came to Acanthus, he declared the Acanthians his guests and friends, and gave them Median clothing, praising them for the zeal with which he saw them furthering his campaign, and for what he heard of the digging of the canal.

While Xerxes was at Acanthus, it happened that Artachaees, overseer of the digging of the canal, died of an illness. He was high in Xerxes' favor, an Achaemenid by lineage, and the tallest man in Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia, lacking four finger-breadths of five royal cubits in stature, and his voice was the loudest on earth. For this reason Xerxes mourned him greatly and gave him a funeral and burial of great pomp, and the whole army poured libations on his tomb.

Book 7, Part 5

The Acanthians hold Artachaees a hero, and sacrifice to him, calling upon his name. This they do at the command of an oracle.

King Xerxes, then, mourned for the death of Artachaees. But the Greeks who received Xerxes' army and entertained the king himself were brought to such a degree of misery, that they were driven from house and home. Witness the case of the Thasians, who received and feasted Xerxes' army on behalf of their towns on the mainland; Antipatrus son of Orgeus, as notable a man as any of his townsmen, chosen by them for this task, rendered them an account of four hundred silver talents expended on the dinner.

Similar accounts were returned by the officers in the other towns. Now the dinner, about which a great deal of fuss had been made and for the preparation of which orders had been given long ago, proceeded as I will tell.

As soon as the townsmen had word from the herald's proclamation, they divided corn among themselves in their cities and all of them for many months ground it to wheat and barley meal; moreover, they fed the finest beasts that money could buy, and kept landfowl and waterfowl in cages and ponds, for the entertaining of the army. They also made gold and silver cups and bowls and all manner of service for the table.

These things were provided for the king himself and those that ate with him. For the rest of the army they provided only food. At the coming of the army, there was always a tent ready for Xerxes to take his rest in, while the men camped out in the open air.

When the hour came for dinner, the real trouble for the hosts began. When they had eaten their fill and passed the night there, the army tore down the tent on the next day and marched off with all the movables, leaving nothing but carrying all with them.

It was then that a very apt saying was uttered by one Megacreon of +Abdera [24.9667,40.9833] (Perseus) Abdera. He advised his townsmen, men and women alike, to gather at their temples, and there in all humility to entreat the gods to defend them in the future from half of every threatened ill. They should also, he said, thank the gods heartily for their previous show of favor, for it was Xerxes' custom to take a meal only once a day. Otherwise they would have been commanded to furnish a breakfast similar to the dinner.

The people of +Abdera [24.9667,40.9833] (Perseus) Abdera would then have had no choice but to flee before Xerxes' coming, or to perish most miserably if they awaited him.

So the townsmen, oppressed as they were, nevertheless did as they were commanded. Upon leaving Acanthus, Xerxes sent his ships on their course away from him, giving orders to his generals that the fleet should await him at +Thessaloniki [22.933,40.633] (inhabited place), Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Therma, the town on the Thermaic gulf which gives the gulf its name, for this, he learned, was his shortest way.

The order of the army's march, from Doriscus to Acanthus, had been such as I will show. Dividing his entire land army into three parts, Xerxes appointed one of them to march beside his fleet along the coast.

Mardonius and Masistes were the generals of this segment, while another third of the army marched, as appointed, further inland under Tritantaechmes and Gergis. The third part, with which Xerxes himself went, marched between the two, and its generals were Smerdomenes and Megabyzus.

Now when the fleet had left Xerxes, it sailed through the +Mount Athos [24.316,40.166] (inhabited place), Pangaion Oros, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Athos canal which reached to the gulf in which are located the towns of +Assa [45.416,43.233] (river), Asia Assa, Pilorus, Singus, and Sarte. The fleet took on board troops from all these cities and then headed for the Thermaic gulf. Then rounding Ampelus, the headland of +Torone [23.8167,40.05] (Perseus) Torone, it passed the Greek towns of +Torone [23.8167,40.05] (Perseus) Torone, Galepsus, Sermyle, Mecyberna, and +Olynthus [23.3667,40.3] (Perseus) Olynthus, all of which gave them ships and men.

This country is called +Sithonia (peninsula), Chalcidice, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Sithonia. The fleet held a straight course from the headland of Ampelus to the Canastraean headland, where +Pallene [23.8833,38.05] (Perseus) Pallene runs farthest out to sea, and received ships and men from the towns of what is now +Pallene [23.8833,38.05] (Perseus) Pallene but was formerly called Phlegra, namely, +Potidaea (deserted settlement), Chalcidice, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Potidaea, Aphytis, +Kavala [24.416,40.933] (inhabited place), Kavalla, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Neapolis, Aege, Therambus, +Scione [23.55,39.95] (Perseus) Scione, Mende, and Sane.

Sailing along this coast they made for the appointed place, taking troops from the towns adjacent to +Pallene [23.8833,38.05] (Perseus) Pallene and near the Thermaic gulf, of which the names are Lipaxus, Combrea, Aesa, Gigonus, Campsa, +Smela [31.9,49.25] (inhabited place), Cerkassy, Ukraine, Europe Smila, Aenea; the territory of these cities is called Crossaea to this day.

From Aenea, the last-named in my list of the towns, the course of the fleet lay from the Thermaic gulf itself and the Mygdonian territory until its voyage ended at +Thessaloniki [22.933,40.633] (inhabited place), Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Therma, the place appointed, and the towns of Sindus and Chalestra, where it came to the river +Vardar [22.833,40.583] (river), Europe Axius; this is the boundary, between the Mygdonian and the Bottiaean territory, in which are located the towns of Ichnae and +Pella [22.5333,40.7583] (Perseus) Pella on the narrow strip of coast.

So the fleet lay there off the river +Vardar [22.833,40.583] (river), Europe Axius and the city of +Thessaloniki [22.933,40.633] (inhabited place), Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Therma and the towns between them, awaiting the king. But Xerxes and his land army marched from Acanthus by the straightest inland course, making for +Thessaloniki [22.933,40.633] (inhabited place), Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Therma. Their way lay through the Paeonian and the Crestonaean country to the river Cheidorus, which, rising in the Crestonaean land, flows through the Mygdonian country and issues by the marshes of the +Vardar [22.833,40.583] (river), Europe Axius.

As Xerxes marched by this route, lions attacked the camels which carried his provisions; nightly they would come down out of their lairs and made havoc of the camels alone, seizing nothing else, man or beast of burden. I wonder what prevented the lions from touching anything but the camels, creatures which they had not seen and had no knowledge of until then.

In these parts there are many lions and wild oxen, whose horns are those very long ones which are brought into Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas. The boundary of the lions' country is the river Nestus which flows through +Abdera [24.9667,40.9833] (Perseus) Abdera and the river Achelous which flows through +Akarnania (region (general)), Aitolia and Akarnania, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Acarnania. Neither to the east of the Nestus anywhere in the nearer part of Europe (continent)Europe, nor to the west of the Achelous in the rest of the mainland, is any lion to be seen, but they are found in the country between those rivers.

When he had arrived at +Thessaloniki [22.933,40.633] (inhabited place), Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Therma, Xerxes quartered his army there. Its encampment by the sea covered all the space from +Thessaloniki [22.933,40.633] (inhabited place), Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Therma and the Mygdonian country to the rivers Lydias and Haliacmon, which unite their waters in one stream and so make the border between the Bottiaean and the Macedonian territory.

In this place the foreigners lay encamped; of the rivers just mentioned, the Cheidorus, which flows from the Crestonaean country, was the only one which could not suffice for the army's drinking but was completely drained by it.

When Xerxes saw from +Thessaloniki [22.933,40.633] (inhabited place), Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Therma the very great height of the Thessalian mountains +Olympus (mountain), Nomos Larisis, Thessaly, Greece, Europe Olympus and Ossa and learned that the Peneus flows through them in a narrow pass, which was the way that led into +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly, he desired to view the mouth of the Peneus because he intended to march by the upper road through the highland people of Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia to the country of the Perrhaebi and the town of Gonnus; this, it was told him, was the safest way.

He did exactly as he desired. He embarked on a Sidonian ship which he always used when he had some such business in hand, and hoisted his signal for the rest also to put out to sea, leaving his land army where it was. Great wonder took him when he came and viewed the mouth of the Peneus, and calling his guides, he asked them if it were possible to turn the river from its course and lead it into the sea by another way.

+Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly, as tradition has it, was in old times a lake enclosed all round by high mountains. On its eastern side it is fenced in by the joining of the lower parts of the mountains +Pilion (mountain range), Nomos Magnisias, Thessaly, Greece, Europe Pelion and Ossa, to the north by +Olympus (mountain), Nomos Larisis, Thessaly, Greece, Europe Olympus, to the west by Pindus, towards the south and the southerly wind by Othrys. In the middle, then, of this ring of mountains, lies the vale of +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly.

A number of rivers pour into this vale, the most notable of which are Peneus, Apidanus, Onochonus, Enipeus, Pamisus. These five, while they flow towards their meeting place from the mountains which surround +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly, have their several names, until their waters all unite and issue into the sea by one narrow passage.

As soon as they are united, the name of the Peneus prevails, making the rest nameless. In ancient days, it is said, there was not yet this channel and outfall, but those rivers and the Boebean lake, which was not yet named, had the same volume of water as now, and thereby turned all +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly into a sea.

Now the Thessalians say that Poseidon made the passage by which the Peneus flows. This is reasonable, for whoever believes that Poseidon is the shaker of the earth and that rifts made by earthquakes are the work of that god will conclude, upon seeing that passage, that it is of Poseidon's making. It was manifest to me that it must have been an earthquake which forced the mountains apart.

Xerxes asked his guides if there were any other outlet for the Peneus into the sea, and they, with their full knowledge of the matter, answered him: “The river, O king, has no other way into the sea, but this alone. This is so because there is a ring of mountains around the whole of +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly.” Upon hearing this Xerxes said: “These Thessalians are wise men;

this, then, was the primary reason for their precaution long before when they changed to a better mind, for they perceived that their country would be easily and speedily conquerable. It would only have been necessary to let the river out over their land by barring the channel with a dam and to turn it from its present bed so that the whole of +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly, with the exception of the mountains, might be under water.”

This he said with regard in particular to the sons of Aleues, the Thessalians who were the first Greeks to surrender themselves to the king. Xerxes supposed that when they offered him friendship they spoke for the whole of their nation. After delivering this speech and seeing what he had come to see, he sailed back to +Thessaloniki [22.933,40.633] (inhabited place), Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Therma.

Xerxes stayed for many days in the region of +Pieria [22.416,40.25] (department), Macedonia, Greece, Europe Pieria while a third part of his army was clearing a road over the Macedonian mountains so that the whole army might pass by that way to the Perrhaebian country. Now it was that the heralds who had been sent to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas to demand earth, some empty-handed, some bearing earth and water, returned.

Among those who paid that tribute were the Thessalians, Dolopes, Enienes, Perrhaebians, Locrians, Magnesians, Melians, Achaeans of +Phthia [22.75,36.2667] (Perseus) Phthia, Thebans, and all the Boeotians except the men of +Thespiai [23.166,38.283] (inhabited place), Boeotia, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Thespiae and Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea.

Against all of these the Greeks who declared war with the foreigner entered into a sworn agreement, which was this: that if they should be victorious, they would dedicate to the god of Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi the possessions of all Greeks who had of free will surrendered themselves to the Persians. Such was the agreement sworn by the Greeks.

To Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens and Sparta Xerxes sent no heralds to demand earth, and this he did for the following reason. When Darius had previously sent men with this same purpose, those who made the request were cast at the one city into the Pit and at the other into a well, and bidden to obtain their earth and water for the king from these locations.

What calamity befell the Athenians for dealing in this way with the heralds I cannot say, save that their land and their city were laid waste. I think, however, that there was another reason for this, and not the aforesaid.

Be that as it may, the anger of Talthybius, Agamemnon's herald, fell upon the Lacedaemonians. At Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta there is a shrine of Talthybius and descendants of Talthybius called Talthybiadae, who have the special privilege of conducting all embassies from Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta.

Now there was a long period after the incident I have mentioned above during which the Spartans were unable to obtain good omens from sacrifice. The Lacedaemonians were grieved and dismayed by this and frequently called assemblies, making a proclamation inviting some Lacedaemonian to give his life for Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta. Then two Spartans of noble birth and great wealth, Sperthias son of Aneristus and Bulis son of Nicolaus, undertook of their own free will to make atonement to Xerxes for Darius' heralds who had been killed at Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta.

Thereupon the Spartans sent these men to Media for execution.

Worthy of admiration was these men's deed of daring, and so also were their sayings. On their way to Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa, they came to Hydarnes, a Persian, who was general of the coast of Asia (continent)Asia. He entertained and feasted them as his guests, and as they sat at his board, he asked:

“Lacedaemonians, why do you shun the king's friendship? You can judge from what you see of me and my condition how well the king can honor men of worth. So might it be with you if you would but put yourselves in the king's hands, being as you are of proven worth in his eyes, and every one of you might by his commission be a ruler of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.”

To this the Spartans answered: “Your advice to us, Hydarnes, is not completely sound; one half of it rests on knowledge, but the other on ignorance. You know well how to be a slave, but you, who have never tasted freedom, do not know whether it is sweet or not. Were you to taste of it, not with spears you would counsel us to fight for it, no, but with axes.”

This was their answer to Hydarnes. From there they came to Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa, into the king's presence, and when the guards commanded and would have compelled them to fall down and bow to the king, they said they would never do that. This they would refuse even if they were thrust down headlong, for it was not their custom, said they, to bow to mortal men, nor was that the purpose of their coming. Having averted that, they next said,

“The Lacedaemonians have sent us, O king of the Medes, in requital for the slaying of your heralds at Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, to make atonement for their death,” and more to that effect. To this Xerxes, with great magnanimity, replied that he would not imitate the Lacedaemonians. “You,” said he, “made havoc of all human law by slaying heralds, but I will not do that for which I censure you, nor by putting you in turn to death will I set the Lacedaemonians free from this guilt.”

This conduct on the part of the Spartans succeeded for a time in allaying the anger of Talthybius, in spite of the fact that Sperthias and Bulis returned to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta. Long after that, however, it rose up again in the war between the Peloponnesians and Athenians, as the Lacedaemonians say. That seems to me to be an indication of something divine.

It was just that the wrath of Talthybius descended on ambassadors, nor abated until it was satisfied. The venting of it, however, on the sons of those men who went up to the king to appease it, namely on Nicolas son of Bulis and Aneristus son of Sperthias (that Aneristus who landed a merchant ships crew at the Tirynthian settlement of Halia and took it), makes it plain to me that this was the divine result of Talthybius' anger.

These two had been sent by the Lacedaemonians as ambassadors to Asia (continent)Asia, and betrayed by the Thracian king Sitalces son of Tereus and Nymphodorus son of Pytheas of +Abdera [24.9667,40.9833] (Perseus) Abdera, they were made captive at +Tekirdag [27.516,40.983] (inhabited place), Tekirdag, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Bisanthe on the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont, and carried away to Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica, where the Athenians put them, and with them Aristeas son of Adimantus, a Corinthian, to death. This happened many years after the king's expedition, and I return now to the course of my history.

The professed intent of the king's march was to attack Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, but in truth all Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas was his aim. This the Greeks had long since learned, but not all of them regarded the matter alike.

Those of them who had paid the tribute of earth and water to the Persian were of good courage, thinking that the foreigner would do them no harm, but they who had refused tribute were afraid, since there were not enough ships in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas to do battle with their invader; furthermore, the greater part of them had no stomach for grappling with the war, but were making haste to side with the Persian.

Here I am forced to declare an opinion which will be displeasing to most, but I will not refrain from saying what seems to me to be true.

Had the Athenians been panic-struck by the threatened peril and left their own country, or had they not indeed left it but remained and surrendered themselves to Xerxes, none would have attempted to withstand the king by sea. What would have happened on land if no one had resisted the king by sea is easy enough to determine.

Although the Peloponnesians had built not one but many walls across the Isthmus for their defense, they would nevertheless have been deserted by their allies (these having no choice or free will in the matter, but seeing their cities taken one by one by the foreign fleet), until at last they would have stood alone. They would then have put up quite a fight and perished nobly.

Such would have been their fate. Perhaps, however, when they saw the rest of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas siding with the enemy, they would have made terms with Xerxes. In either case Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas would have been subdued by the Persians, for I cannot see what advantage could accrue from the walls built across the isthmus, while the king was master of the seas.

As it is, to say that the Athenians were the saviors of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas is to hit the truth. It was the Athenians who held the balance; whichever side they joined was sure to prevail. choosing that Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeGreece should preserve her freedom, the Athenians roused to battle the other Greek states which had not yet gone over to the Persians and, after the gods, were responsible for driving the king off.

Nor were they moved to desert Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas by the threatening oracles which came from Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi and sorely dismayed them, but they stood firm and had the courage to meet the invader of their country.

The Athenians had sent messages to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi asking that an oracle be given them, and when they had performed all due rites at the temple and sat down in the inner hall, the priestess, whose name was Aristonice, gave them this answer:

Wretches, why do you linger here? Rather flee from your houses and city, Flee to the ends of the earth from the circle embattled of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens! The head will not remain in its place, nor in the body, Nor the feet beneath, nor the hands, nor the parts between; But all is ruined, for fire and the headlong god of war speeding in a Syrian chariot will bring you low.

Many a fortress too, not yours alone, will he shatter; Many a shrine of the gods will he give to the flame for devouring; Sweating for fear they stand, and quaking for dread of the enemy, Running with gore are their roofs, foreseeing the stress of their sorrow; Therefore I bid you depart from the sanctuary. Have courage to lighten your evil.

When the Athenian messengers heard that, they were very greatly dismayed, and gave themselves up for lost by reason of the evil foretold. Then Timon son of Androbulus, as notable a man as any Delphian, advised them to take boughs of supplication and in the guise of suppliants, approach the oracle a second time.

The Athenians did exactly this; “Lord,” they said, “regard mercifully these suppliant boughs which we bring to you, and give us some better answer concerning our country. Otherwise we will not depart from your temple, but remain here until we die.” Thereupon the priestess gave them this second oracle:

Vainly does Pallas strive to appease great Zeus of +Olympus (mountain), Nomos Larisis, Thessaly, Greece, Europe Olympus; Words of entreaty are vain, and so too cunning counsels of wisdom. Nevertheless I will speak to you again of strength adamantine. All will be taken and lost that the sacred border of Cecrops Holds in keeping today, and the dales divine of Cithaeron; Yet a wood-built wall will by Zeus all-seeing be granted To the Trito-born, a stronghold for you and your children.

Await not the host of horse and foot coming from Asia (continent)Asia, Nor be still, but turn your back and withdraw from the foe. Truly a day will come when you will meet him face to face. Divine Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, you will bring death to women's sons When the corn is scattered, or the harvest gathered in.

This answer seemed to be and really was more merciful than the first, and the envoys, writing it down, departed for Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens. When the messengers had left Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi and laid the oracle before the people, there was much inquiry concerning its meaning, and among the many opinions which were uttered, two contrary ones were especially worthy of note. Some of the elder men said that the gods answer signified that the acropolis should be saved, for in old time the acropolis of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens had been fenced by a thorn hedge,

which, by their interpretation, was the wooden wall. But others supposed that the god was referring to their ships, and they were for doing nothing but equipping these. Those who believed their ships to be the wooden wall were disabled by the two last verses of the oracle: Divine Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, you will bring death to women's sons When the corn is scattered, or the harvest gathered in.

These verses confounded the opinion of those who said that their ships were the wooden wall, for the readers of oracles took the verses to mean that they should offer battle by sea near Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis and be there overthrown.

Now there was a certain Athenian, by name and title Themistocles son of Neocles, who had lately risen to be among their chief men. He claimed that the readers of oracles had incorrectly interpreted the whole of the oracle and reasoned that if the verse really pertained to the Athenians, it would have been formulated in less mild language, calling Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis “cruel” rather than “divine ” seeing that its inhabitants were to perish.

Correctly understood, the gods' oracle was spoken not of the Athenians but of their enemies, and his advice was that they should believe their ships to be the wooden wall and so make ready to fight by sea.

When Themistocles put forward this interpretation, the Athenians judged him to be a better counsellor than the readers of oracles, who would have had them prepare for no sea fight, and, in short, offer no resistance at all, but leave Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica and settle in some other country.

The advice of Themistocles had prevailed on a previous occasion. The revenues from the mines at +Lavrion [24.5,37.716] (inhabited place), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Laurium had brought great wealth into the Athenians' treasury, and when each man was to receive ten drachmae for his share, Themistocles persuaded the Athenians to make no such division but to use the money to build two hundred ships for the war, that is, for the war with +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina.

This was in fact the war the outbreak of which saved Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas by compelling the Athenians to become seamen. The ships were not used for the purpose for which they were built, but later came to serve Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas in her need. These ships, then, had been made and were already there for the Athenians' service, and now they had to build yet others.

In their debate after the giving of the oracle they accordingly resolved that they would put their trust in the god and meet the foreign invader of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas with the whole power of their fleet, ships and men, and with all other Greeks who were so minded.

These oracles, then, had been given to the Athenians. All the Greeks who were concerned about the general welfare of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas met in conference and exchanged guarantees. They resolved in debate to make an end of all their feuds and wars against each other, whatever the cause from which they arose; among others that were in course at that time, the greatest was the war between the Athenians and the Aeginetans.

Presently, learning that Xerxes was at Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis with his army, they planned to send men into Asia (continent)Asia to spy out the king's doings and to despatch messengers, some to Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos, who should make the Argives their brothers in arms against the Persian, some to Gelon son of Dinomenes in Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily, some to +Corfu [19.916,39.633] (inhabited place), Corfu, Kerkira, Ionian Islands, Greece, Europe Corcyra, praying aid for Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, and some to +Crete [25,35.166] (region), Greece, Europe Crete. This they did in the hope that since the danger threatened all Greeks alike, all of Greek blood might unite and work jointly for one common end. Now the power of Gelon was said to be very great, surpassing by far any power in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

Being so resolved and having composed their quarrels, they first sent three men as spies into Asia (continent)Asia. These came to Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis and took note of the king's army. They were discovered, however, and after examination by the generals of the land army, they were led away for execution.

Book 7, Part 6

They were condemned to die, but when Xerxes heard of it, he blamed the judgment of his generals and sent some of his guards, charging them to bring the spies before him if they should be found alive.

They were found still living and brought into the king's presence; then Xerxes, having inquired of them the purpose of their coming, ordered his guards to lead them around and show them his whole army. When the spies had seen all to their heart's content, they were to send them away unharmed to whatever country they pleased.

The reason alleged for his command was this: had the spies been put to death, the Greeks would not so soon have learned the unspeakable greatness of his power, and the Persians would have done their enemy no great harm by putting three men to death. Xerxes said that if they should return to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, the Greeks would hear of his power and would surrender their peculiar freedom before the expedition with the result that there would be no need to march against them.

This was like that other saying of Xerxes when he was at Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Abydos and saw ships laden with corn sailing out of the +Black Sea [38,42] (sea) Pontus through the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont on their way to +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina and the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese. His counsellors, perceiving that they were enemy ships, were for taking them, and looked to the king for orders to do so.

Xerxes, however, asked them where the ships were sailing, and they answered: “To your enemies, Sire, carrying corn.” Xerxes then answered, “And are not we too sailing to the same places as they, with corn among all our other provisions? What wrong are they doing us in carrying food there?”

So the spies were sent back after they had seen all and returned to Europe (continent)Europe. After sending the spies, those of the Greeks who had sworn alliance against the Persian next sent messengers to Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos.

Now this is what the Argives say of their own part in the matter. They were informed from the first that the foreigner was stirring up war against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas. When they learned that the Greeks would attempt to gain their aid against the Persian, they sent messengers to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi to inquire of the god how it would be best for them to act, for six thousand of them had been lately slain by a Lacedaemonian army and Cleomenes son of Anaxandrides its general. For this reason, they said, the messengers were sent.

The priestess gave this answer to their question: Hated by your neighbors, dear to the immortals, Crouch with a lance in rest, like a warrior fenced in his armor, Guarding your head from the blow, and the head will shelter the body. This answer had already been uttered by the priestess when the envoys arrived in Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos and entered the council chamber to speak as they were charged.

Then the Argives answered to what had been said that they would do as was asked of them if they might first make a thirty years peace with Lacedaemonia and if the command of half the allied power were theirs. It was their right to have the full command, but they would nevertheless be content with half.

This, they say, was the answer of their council, although the oracle forbade them to make the alliance with the Greeks; furthermore, they, despite their fear of the oracle, were eager to secure a thirty years treaty so that their children might have time in those years to grow to be men. If there were to be no such treaty—so they reasoned—then, if after the evil that had befallen them the Persian should deal them yet another blow, it was to be feared that they would be at the Lacedaemonians' mercy.

Then those of the envoys who were Spartans replied to the demands of the council, saying that they would refer the question of the truce to their own government at home; as for the command, however, they themselves had been commissioned to say that the Spartans had two kings, and the Argives but one. Now it was impossible to deprive either Spartan of his command, but there was nothing to prevent the Argive from having the same right of voting as their two had.

At that, say the Argives, they decided that the Spartans' covetousness was past all bearing and that it was better to be ruled by the foreigners than give way to the Lacedaemonians. They then bade the envoys depart from the land of Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos before sunset, for they would otherwise be treated as enemies.

Such is the Argives' account of this matter, but there is another story told in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, namely that before Xerxes set forth on his march against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, he sent a herald to Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos, who said on his coming (so the story goes),

“Men of Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos, this is the message to you from King Xerxes. Perses our forefather had, as we believe, Perseus son of Danae for his father, and Andromeda daughter of Cepheus for his mother; if that is so, then we are descended from your nation. In all right and reason we should therefore neither march against the land of our forefathers, nor should you become our enemies by aiding others or do anything but abide by yourselves in peace. If all goes as I desire, I will hold none in higher esteem than you.”

The Argives were strongly moved when they heard this, and although they made no promise immediately and demanded no share, they later, when the Greeks were trying to obtain their support, did make the claim, because they knew that the Lacedaemonians would refuse to grant it, and that they would thus have an excuse for taking no part in the war.

This is borne out, some of the Greeks say, by the tale of a thing which happened many years afterwards. It happened that while Athenian envoys, Callias son of Hipponicus, and the rest who had come up with him, were at Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa, called the Memnonian, about some other business, the Argives also had at this same time sent envoys to Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa, asking of Xerxes' son Artoxerxes whether the friendship which they had forged with Xerxes still held good, as they desired, or whether he considered them as his enemies. Artoxerxes responded to this that it did indeed hold good and that he believed no city to be a better friend to him than Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos.”

Now, whether it is true that Xerxes sent a herald with such a message to Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos, and that the Argive envoys came up to Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa and questioned Artoxerxes about their friendship, I cannot say with exactness, nor do I now declare that I consider anything true except what the Argives themselves say.

This, however, I know full well, namely if all men should carry their own private troubles to market for barter with their neighbors, there would not be a single one who, when he had looked into the troubles of other men, would not be glad to carry home again what he had brought.

The conduct of the Argives was accordingly not utterly shameful. As for myself, although it is my business to set down that which is told me, to believe it is none at all of my business. This I ask the reader to hold true for the whole of my history, for there is another tale current, according to which it would seem that it was the Argives who invited the Persian into Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, because the war with the Lacedaemonians was going badly, and they would prefer anything to their present distresses.

Such is the end of the story of the Argives. As for Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily, envoys were sent there by the allies to hold converse with Gelon, Syagrus from Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon among them. The ancestor of this Gelon, who settled at +Gela [14.25,37.0667] (Perseus) Gela, was from the island of +Nisos Tilos [27.416,36.416] (island), Sporades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Telos which lies off Triopium. When the founding of +Gela [14.25,37.0667] (Perseus) Gela by Antiphemus and the Lindians of +Rhodes [28,36.166] (island), Sporades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Rhodes was happening, he would not be left behind.

His descendants in time became and continue to be priests of the goddesses of the underworld; this office had been won, as I will show, by Telines, one of their forefathers. There were certain Geloans who had been worsted in party strife and had been banished to the town of Mactorium, inland of +Gela [14.25,37.0667] (Perseus) Gela.

These men Telines brought to +Gela [14.25,37.0667] (Perseus) Gela with no force of men but only the holy instruments of the goddesses worship to aid him. From where he got these, and whether or not they were his own invention, I cannot say; however that may be, it was in reliance upon them that he restored the exiles, on the condition that his descendants should be ministering priests of the goddesses.

Now it makes me marvel that Telines should have achieved such a feat, for I have always supposed that such feats cannot be performed by any man but only by such as have a stout heart and manly strength. Telines, however, is reported by the dwellers in Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily to have had a soft and effeminate disposition.

At the death of Cleandrus son of Pantares, who had been tyrant of +Gela [14.25,37.0667] (Perseus) Gela for seven years, and had been slain by a man of that city named Sabyllus, the sovereignty passed to Cleandrus' brother Hippocrates. While Hippocrates was tyrant, Gelon, a descendant of the ministering priest Telines, was one of Hippocrates' guard, as were Aenesidemus son of Pataecus and many others.

In no long time he was appointed for his worth to be captain of the entire cavalry, for his performance had been preeminent while he served under Hippocrates in the assaults against +Gallipoli [17.983,40.5] (inhabited place), Lecce, Apulia, Italy, Europe Callipolis, +Naxos [15.283,37.816] (deserted settlement), Messina, Sicily, Italy, Europe Naxos, +Zancle [15.5667,38.1833] (Perseus) Zancle, Leontini, +Syracuse [15.3,37.0667] (Perseus) Syracuse, and many other of the foreigners' towns. None of these cities, with the exception of +Syracuse [15.3,37.0667] (Perseus) Syracuse, escaped enslavement by Hippocrates; the Syracusans were defeated in battle on the river Elorus.

They were, however, rescued by the Corinthians and Corcyraeans, who made a peace for them on the condition that the Syracusans should deliver up to Hippocrates Camarina, which had formerly been theirs.

When Hippocrates, too, after reigning the same number of years as his brother Cleandrus, came to his end near the town of Hybla—from where he had marched against the Sicels—then Gelon made a pretence of serving the cause of Hippocrates' sons Euclides and Cleandrus, whose rule the citizens would no longer bear. When he had defeated the men of +Gela [14.25,37.0667] (Perseus) Gela, however, he deposed the sons of Hippocrates and held sway himself.

After this stroke of good fortune, Gelon brought back from the town of Casmena to +Syracuse [15.3,37.0667] (Perseus) Syracuse both the so-called landed gentry of +Syracuse [15.3,37.0667] (Perseus) Syracuse, who had been driven into exile by the common people, and their slaves, the Cyllyrians. He then took possession of that city also, for the Syracusan common people surrendered themselves and it to Gelon at his coming.

When he had made +Syracuse [15.3,37.0667] (Perseus) Syracuse his own, he took less account of his rule over +Gela [14.25,37.0667] (Perseus) Gela, which he gave in charge to his brother Hiero; over +Syracuse [15.3,37.0667] (Perseus) Syracuse he reigned, and all his care was for +Syracuse [15.3,37.0667] (Perseus) Syracuse.

Straightway that city grew and became great, for not only did Gelon bring all the people of Camarina to +Syracuse [15.3,37.0667] (Perseus) Syracuse and give them its citizenship, razing the township of Camarina, but he did the same thing to more than half of the townsmen of +Gela [14.25,37.0667] (Perseus) Gela, and when the Megarians in Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily surrendered to him on terms after a siege, he took the wealthier of them, who had made war on him and expected to be put to death for this, and brought them to +Syracuse [15.3,37.0667] (Perseus) Syracuse to be citizens there. As for the common people of +Megara [23.35,38] (Perseus) Megara, who had had no hand in the making of that war and expected that no harm would be done them, these too he brought to +Syracuse [15.3,37.0667] (Perseus) Syracuse and sold them for slaves to be taken out of Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily.

He dealt in a similar way with the Euboeans of Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily, making the same distinction. The reason for his treating the people of both places in this way was that he held the common people to be exceedingly disagreeable to live with.

By these means Gelon had grown to greatness as a tyrant, and now, when the Greek envoys had come to +Syracuse [15.3,37.0667] (Perseus) Syracuse, they had audience with him and spoke as follows: “The Lacedaemonians and their allies have sent us to win your aid against the foreigner, for it cannot be, we think, that you have no knowledge of the Persian invader of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, how he proposes to bridge the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont and lead all the hosts of the east from Asia (continent)Asia against us, making an open show of marching against Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, but actually with intent to subdue all Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas to his will.

Now you are rich in power, and as lord of Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily you rule what is not the least part of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas; therefore, we beg of you, send help to those who are going to free Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, and aid them in so doing. The uniting of all those of Greek stock entails the mustering of a mighty host able to meet our invaders in the field. If, however, some of us play false and others will not come to our aid, while the sound part of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas is but small, then it is to be feared that all Greek lands alike will be destroyed.

Do not for a moment think that if the Persian defeats us in battle and subdues us, he will leave you unassailed, but rather look well to yourself before that day comes. Aid us, and you champion your own cause; in general a well-laid plan leads to a happy issue.”

This is what they said, and Gelon, speaking very vehemently, said in response to this: “Men of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, it is with a self-seeking plea that you have dared to come here and invite me to be your ally against the foreigners; yet what of yourselves?

When I was at odds with the Carchedonians, and asked you to be my comrades against a foreign army, and when I desired that you should avenge the slaying of Dorieus son of Anaxandrides on the men of +Segesta [12.85,37.95] (deserted settlement), Trapani, Sicily, Italy, Europe Egesta, and when I promised to free those trading ports from which great advantage and profit have accrued to you,—then neither for my sake would you come to aid nor to avenge the slaying of Dorieus. Because of your position in these matters, all these lands lie beneath the foreigners' feet.

Let that be; for all ended well, and our state was improved. But now that the war has come round to you in your turn, it is time for remembering Gelon!

Despite the fact that you slighted me, I will not make an example of you; I am ready to send to your aid two hundred triremes, twenty thousand men-at-arms, two thousand horsemen, two thousand archers, two thousand slingers, and two thousand light-armed men to run with horsemen. I also pledge to furnish provisions for the whole Greek army until we have made an end of the war.

All this, however, I promise on one condition, that I shall be general and leader of the Greeks against the foreigner. On no other condition will I come myself or send others.”

When Syagrus heard that, he could not contain himself; “In truth,” he cried, “loudly would Agamemnon son of Pelops lament, when hearing that the Spartans had been bereft of their command by Gelon and his Syracusans! No, rather, put the thought out of your minds that we will give up the command to you. If it is your will to aid Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, know that you must obey the Lacedaemonians; but if, as I think, you are too proud to obey, then send no aid.”

Thereupon Gelon, seeing how unfriendly Syagrus' words were, for the last time declared his opinion to them: “My Spartan friend, the hard words that a man hears are likely to arouse his anger; but for all the arrogant tenor of your speech you will not move me to make an unseemly answer.

When you set such store by the command, it is but reasonable that it should be still more important to me since I am the leader of an army many times greater than yours and more ships by far. But seeing that your response to me is so haughty, we will make some concession in our original condition. It might be that you should command the army, and I the fleet; or if it is your pleasure to lead by sea, then I am ready to take charge of the army. With that you will surely be content, unless you want depart from here without such allies as we are.”

Such was Gelon's offer, and the Athenian envoy answered him before the Lacedaemonian could speak. “King of the Syracusans,” he said, “Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas sends us to you to ask not for a leader but for an army. You however, say no word of sending an army without the condition of your being the leader of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas; it is the command alone that you desire.

Now as long as you sought the leadership of the whole force, we Athenians were content to hold our peace, knowing that the Laconian was well able to answer for both of us; but since, failing to win the whole, you would gladly command the fleet, we want to let you know how the matter stands. Even if the Laconian should permit you to command it, we would not do so, for the command of the fleet, which the Lacedaemonians do not desire for themselves, is ours. If they should desire to lead it, we will not withstand them, but we will not allow anyone else to be admiral.

It would be for nothing, then, that we possess the greatest number of seafaring men in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, if we Athenians yield our command to Syracusans,—we who can demonstrate the longest lineage of all and who alone among the Greeks have never changed our place of habitation; of our stock too was the man of whom the poet Homer says that of all who came to +Troy [26.25,39.95] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Ilion, he was the best man in ordering and marshalling armies. We accordingly cannot be reproached for what we now say. ”

“My Athenian friend,” Gelon answered, “it would seem that you have many who lead, but none who will follow. Since, then, you will waive no claim but must have the whole, it is high time that you hasten home and tell your Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas that her year has lost its spring.”

The significance of this statement was that Gelon's army was the most notable part of the Greek army, just as the spring is the best part of the year. He accordingly compared Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas deprived of alliance with him to a year bereft of its spring.

After such dealings with Gelon the Greek envoys sailed away. Gelon, however, feared that the Greeks would not be able to overcome the barbarian, while believing it dreadful and intolerable that he, the tyrant of Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily, should go to the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese to be at the beck and call of Lacedaemonians. For this reason he took no more thought of this plan but followed another instead.

As soon as he was informed that the Persian had crossed the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont, he sent Cadmus son of Scythes, a man of Kos City [27.3,36.8917] (Perseus)Cos, to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi with three fifty-oared ships, bringing them money and messages of friendship. Cadmus was to observe the outcome of the battle, and if the barbarian should be victorious, he was to give him both the money, and earth and water on behalf of Gelon's dominions. If, however, the Greeks were victorious, he was to bring everything back again.

This Cadmus had previously inherited from his father the tyranny of Cos. Although the tyranny was well established, he nevertheless handed the government over to the whole body of Coans of his own free will. This he did under no constraint of danger, but out of a sense of justice, and he then went to Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily, where he was given by the Samians the city of +Zancle [15.5667,38.1833] (Perseus) Zancle which he colonized and changed its name to +Messene [21.9333,37.175] (Perseus) Messene.

This is how Cadmus had come, and it was he whom Gelon now sent because of his sense of justice. What I will now relate was not the least of the many just acts of Cadmus' life; he had in his possession great wealth entrusted to him by Gelon and might have kept it. He nevertheless would not do so, but when the Greeks had prevailed in the sea-fight and Xerxes had headed home, Cadmus returned to Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily with all that money.

There is, however, another story told by the Sicilians: even though he was to be under Lacedaemonian authority, Gelon would still have aided the Greeks had it not been for Terillus son of Crinippus, the tyrant of Himera. This man, who had been expelled from Himera by Theron son of Aenesidemus, sovereign ruler of +Agrigento [13.566,37.316] (inhabited place), Agrigento, Sicily, Italy, Europe Acragas, at this very time brought against Gelon three hundred thousand Phoenicians, Libyans, Iberians, Ligyes, Elisyci, Sardinians, and Cyrnians, led by Amilcas son of Annon, the king of the Carchedonians. Terillus had induced him to do this partly through the prerogative of personal friendship, but mainly through the efforts of Anaxilaus son of Cretines, tyrant of +Reggio di Calabria [15.65,38.1] (inhabited place), Reggio di Calabria, Calabria, Italy, Europe Rhegium. He had handed over his own children as hostages to Amilcas, and brought him into Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily to the help of his father-in-law; for Anaxilaus had as his wife Terillus' daughter Cydippe. Accordingly Gelon sent the money to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi, because he could not aid the Greeks.

They add this tale too—that Gelon and Theron won a victory over Amilcas the Carchedonian in Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily on the same day that the Greeks defeated the Persian at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis. This Amilcas was, on his father's side, a Carchedonian, and a Syracusan on his mother's and had been made king of Carchedon for his virtue. When the armies met and he was defeated in the battle, it is said that he vanished from sight, for Gelon looked for him everywhere but was not able to find him anywhere on earth, dead or alive.

The story told by the Carchedonians themselves seems to have some element of truth. They say that the barbarians fought with the Greeks in Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily from dawn until late evening (so long, it is said, the battle was drawn out), during which time Amilcas stayed in his camp offering sacrifice and striving to obtain favorable omens by burning whole bodies on a great pyre. When he saw his army routed, he cast himself into the fire where he was pouring libations on the sacrifice; he was consumed by this and was not seen any more.

Whether he vanished as the Phoenicians say, or in the manner related by the Carchedonians and Syracusans, sacrifice is offered to him, and monuments have been set up in all the colonists' cities, the greatest of which is in Carchedon itself.

This is how the campaign in Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily fell out. As for the Corcyraeans, their answer to the envoys and their acts were as I will show. The men who had gone to Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily sought their aid too, using the same arguments which they had used with Gelon. The Corcyraeans straightaway promised to send help and protection, declaring that they would not allow Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas to perish, for if she should fall, the very next day would certainly see them also enslaved. They would accordingly have to help to the best of their ability.

Now this answer seemed fair enough, but when the time came for sending help, their minds changed. They manned sixty ships and put out to sea, making for the coast of the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese. There, however, they anchored off Pylos [21.7083,36.9167] (Perseus) Pylos and Taenarus in the Lacedaemonian territory, waiting like the others to see which way the war should incline. They had no hope that the Greeks would prevail, but thought that the Persian would win a great victory and be lord of all Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

Their course of action, therefore, had been planned with a view to being able to say to the Persian, “O king, we whose power is as great as any and who could have furnished as many ships as any state save Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens,—we, when the Greeks attempted to gain our aid in this war, would not resist you nor do anything displeasing to you.” This plea, they hoped, would win them some advantage more than ordinary; and so, I believe, it would have been.

They were, however, also ready with an excuse which they could make to the Greeks, and in the end they made it; when the Greeks blamed them for sending no help, they said that they had manned sixty triremes, but that they could not round Malea because of the Etesian winds. It was for this reason, they said, that they could not arrive at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis; it was not cowardliness which made them late for the sea-fight. With such a plea they put the Greeks off.

But the Cretans, when the Greeks appointed to deal with them were trying to gain their aid, acted as I will show. They sent messengers to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi, inquiring if it would be to their advantage to help the Greeks.

The Pythia answered them, “Foolish men, was not the grief enough which Minos sent upon your people for the help given to Menelaus, out of anger that those others would not help to avenge his death at Camicus, while you helped them to avenge the stealing of that woman from Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta by a barbarian?” When this was brought to the ears of the Cretans, they would have nothing to do with aiding the Greeks.

Now Minos, it is said, went to Sicania, which is now called Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily, in search for Daedalus, and perished there by a violent death. Presently all the Cretans except the men of Polichne and Praesus were bidden by a god to go with a great host to Sicania. Here they besieged the town of Camicus, where in my day the men of +Agrigento [13.566,37.316] (inhabited place), Agrigento, Sicily, Italy, Europe Acragas dwelt, for five years.

Presently, since they could neither take it nor remain there because of the famine which afflicted them, they departed. However, when they were at sea off Iapygia, a great storm caught and drove them ashore. Because their ships had been wrecked and there was no way left of returning to +Crete [25,35.166] (region), Greece, Europe Crete, they founded there the town of +Hyria [23.8,38.3167] (Perseus) Hyria, and made this their dwelling place, accordingly changing from Cretans to Messapians of Iapygia, and from islanders to dwellers on the mainland.

From +Hyria [23.8,38.3167] (Perseus) Hyria they made settlements in those other towns which a very long time afterwards the Tarentines attempted to destroy, thereby suffering great disaster. The result was that no one has ever heard of so great a slaughter of Greeks as that of the Tarentines and Rhegians; three thousand townsmen of the latter, men who had been coerced by Micythus son of Choerus to come and help the Tarentines, were killed, and no count was kept of the Tarentine slain.

Micythus was a servant of Anaxilaus and had been left in charge of +Reggio di Calabria [15.65,38.1] (inhabited place), Reggio di Calabria, Calabria, Italy, Europe Rhegium; it was he who was banished from +Reggio di Calabria [15.65,38.1] (inhabited place), Reggio di Calabria, Calabria, Italy, Europe Rhegium and settled in Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea of +Arcadia [22.25,37.583] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Arcadia, and who set up those many statues at Olympia [21.6333,37.65] (Perseus)Olympia.

In relating the matter of the Rhegians and Tarentines, however, I digress from the main thread of my history. The Praesians say that when +Crete [25,35.166] (region), Greece, Europe Crete was left desolate, it was populated especially by Greeks, among other peoples. Then, in the third generation after Minos, the events surrounding the Trojan War, in which the Cretans bore themselves as bravely as any in the cause of Menelaus, took place.

After this, when they returned from +Troy [26.2833,39.9167] (Perseus) Troy, they and their flocks and herds were afflicted by famine and pestilence, until +Crete [25,35.166] (region), Greece, Europe Crete was once more left desolate. Then came a third influx of Cretans, and it is they who, with those that were left, now dwell there. It was this that the priestess bade them remember, and so prevented them from aiding the Greeks as they were previously inclined.

The Thessalians had at first sided with the Persians, not willingly but of necessity. This their acts revealed, because they disliked the plans of the Aleuadae; as soon as they heard that the Persian was about to cross over into Europe (continent)Europe, they sent messengers to the Isthmus, where men chosen from the cities which were best disposed towards Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas were assembled in council for the Greek cause.

To these the Thessalian messengers came and said, “Men of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, the pass of +Olympus (mountain), Nomos Larisis, Thessaly, Greece, Europe Olympus must be guarded so that +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly and all Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas may be sheltered from the war. Now we are ready to guard it with you, but you too must send a great force. If you will not send it, be assured that we will make terms with the Persian, for it is not right that we should be left to stand guard alone and so perish for your sakes.

If you will not send help, there is nothing you can do to constrain us, for no necessity can prevail over lack of ability. As for us, we will attempt to find some means of deliverance for ourselves.” These are the words of the men of +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly.

Thereupon the Greeks resolved that they would send a land army to +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly by sea to guard the pass. When the forces had assembled, they passed through the Euripus and came to Alus in +Achaea [21.75,38.25] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Achaea, where they disembarked and took the road for +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly, leaving their ships where they were. They then came to the pass of Tempe, which runs from the lower Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia into +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly along the river Peneus, between the mountains +Olympus (mountain), Nomos Larisis, Thessaly, Greece, Europe Olympus and Ossa.

There the Greeks were encamped, about ten thousand men-at-arms altogether, and the cavalry was there as well. The general of the Lacedaemonians was Euaenetus son of Carenus, chosen from among the Polemarchs, yet not of the royal house, and Themistocles son of Neocles was the general of the Athenians.

Book 7, Part 7

They remained there for only a few days, for messengers came from Alexander son of Amyntas, the Macedonian. These, pointing out the size of the army and the great number of ships, advised them to depart and not remain there to be trodden under foot by the invading host. When they had received this advice from the messengers (as they thought their advice was sound and that the Macedonian meant well by them), the Greeks followed their counsel.

To my thinking, however, what persuaded them was fear, since they had found out that there was another pass leading into +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly by the hill country of Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia through the country of the Perrhaebi, near the town of Gonnus; this was indeed the way by which Xerxes' army descended on +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly. The Greeks accordingly went down to their ships and made their way back to the Isthmus.

This was the course of their expedition into +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly, while the king was planning to cross into Europe (continent)Europe from Asia (continent)Asia and was already at Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Abydos. The Thessalians, now bereft of their allies, sided with the Persian wholeheartedly and unequivocally. As a result of this they, in their acts, proved themselves to be most useful to the king.

When they had come to the Isthmus, the Greeks, taking into account what was said by Alexander, deliberated as a body how and where they should stand to fight. It was decided that they should guard the pass of +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae, for they saw that it was narrower than the pass into +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly and nearer home.

The pass, then, which brought about the fall of those Greeks who fell at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae, was unknown to them until they came to +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae and learned of it from the men of +Trachis [22.55,38.8] (Perseus) Trachis. This pass they were resolved to guard and so stay the barbarian's passage into Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, while their fleet should sail to +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium in the territory of Histiaea. These places are near to each other, and each force could therefore be informed of the other's doings. As for the places themselves, their nature is as follows.

+Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium is where the wide Thracian sea contracts until the passage between the island of Sciathus and the mainland of Nomos Magnisias [22.75,39.25] (department), Thessaly, Greece, EuropeMagnesia is but narrow. This strait leads next to +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium, which is a beach on the coast of +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea, on which stands a temple of Artemis.

The pass through +Trachis [22.55,38.8] (Perseus) Trachis into Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas is fifty feet wide at its narrowest point. It is not here, however, but elsewhere that the way is narrowest, namely, in front of +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae and behind it; at Alpeni, which lies behind, it is only the breadth of a cart-way, and it is the same at the Phoenix stream, near the town of Anthele.

To the west of +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae rises a high mountain, inaccessible and precipitous, a spur of Oeta; to the east of the road there is nothing but marshes and sea. In this pass are warm springs for bathing, called the Basins by the people of the country, and an altar of Heracles stands nearby. Across this entry a wall had been built, and formerly there was a gate in it.

It was the Phocians who built it for fear of the Thessalians when these came from +Nomo Thesprotias [20.333,39.5] (department), Epirus, Greece, Europe Thesprotia to dwell in the Aeolian land, the region which they now possess. Since the Thessalians were trying to subdue them, the Phocians made this their protection, and in their search for every means to keep the Thessalians from invading their country, they then turned the stream from the hot springs into the pass, so that it might be a watercourse.

The ancient wall had been built long ago and most of it lay in ruins; those who built it up again thought that they would in this way bar the foreigner's way into Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas. Very near the road is a village called Alpeni, and it is from here that the Greeks expected to obtain provisions.

These places, then, were thought by the Greeks to suit their purpose. After making a thorough survey, they concluded that the barbarians could not make use of their entire army, nor of their horsemen. They therefore resolved, that they would meet the invader of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas here. Then, when they heard that the Persian was in +Pieria [22.416,40.25] (department), Macedonia, Greece, Europe Pieria, they broke up from the Isthmus and set out with their army to +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae and with their fleet to +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium.

So with all speed the Greeks went their several ways to meet the enemy. In the meantime, the Delphians, who were afraid for themselves and for Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, consulted the god. They were advised to pray to the winds, for these would be potent allies for Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

When they had received the oracle, the Delphians first sent word of it to those Greeks who desired to be free; because of their dread of the barbarian, they were forever grateful. Subsequently they erected an altar to the winds at Thyia, the present location of the precinct of Thyia the daughter of Cephisus, and they offered sacrifices to them. This, then, is the reason why the Delphians to this day offer the winds sacrifice of propitiation.

Xerxes' fleet, however, set forth from the city of +Thessaloniki [22.933,40.633] (inhabited place), Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Therma, and the ten swiftest of the ships laid their course straight for Sciathus, where there lay an advance guard of three Greek ships, a Troezenian, an Aeginetan, and an Attic. These, when they sighted the foreigners ships, took to flight.

The ship of Troizen [23.375,37.5] (Perseus)Troezen, of which Prexinus was captain, was pursued and straightway captured by the foreigners, who brought the best of its fighting men and cut his throat on the ship's prow, thinking that the sacrifice of the foremost and fairest of their Greek captives would be auspicious. The name of the sacrificed man was Leon, and it was perhaps his name that he had to thank for it.

The Aeginetan trireme, of which Asonides was captain, did however give them some trouble. On board this ship was Pytheas son of Ischenous, who acted heroically on that day. When his ship had been taken, he would not stop fighting until he had been entirely hacked to mincemeat.

When he finally did fall, he still had life in him, and the Persian soldiers on the ships took great pains to keep him alive for his valor, tending his wounds with ointments and wrapping him in bandages of linen cloth.

Upon returning to their own station, they showed him to the whole host, and made much of him and treated him with kindness. The rest of those whom they took in that ship, however, they used as slaves.

Two of the ships, then, were made captive, and the third trireme, of which Phormus an Athenian was captain, ran aground in her flight at the mouth of the Peneus; the barbarians took her hull but not the crew, for the Athenians, as soon as they had run their craft aground, leapt out and made their way through +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens.

The Greeks who were stationed at +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium were informed of these matters by beacons from Sciathus. They were frightened by this and accordingly changed their anchorage from +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium to +Chalcis [23.6083,38.4667] (Perseus) Chalcis, proposing to guard the Euripus and leaving watchmen on the heights of +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea.

Three of the ten barbarian ships ran aground on the reef called the Ant, which lies between Sciathus and Nomos Magnisias [22.75,39.25] (department), Thessaly, Greece, EuropeMagnesia. The barbarians then brought a pillar of stone and set it on the reef, and when their course was plain before them, the whole fleet set forth and sailed from +Thessaloniki [22.933,40.633] (inhabited place), Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Therma, eleven days after the king had marched from there.

It was Pammon of Scyros who showed them where in the strait the reef lay. After sailing along all day, the foreign fleet reached Sepias in Nomos Magnisias [22.75,39.25] (department), Thessaly, Greece, EuropeMagnesia and the beach between the town of Casthanaea and the Sepiad headland.

Until the whole host reached this place and +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae it suffered no hurt, and calculation proves to me that its numbers were still such as I will now show. The ships from Asia (continent)Asia were twelve hundred and seven in number, and including the entire host of nations involved, there were a total of two hundred and forty-one thousand and four hundred men, two hundred being reckoned for each ship.

On board all these ships were thirty fighting men of the Persians and Medes and Sacae in addition to the company which each had of native fighters; the number of this added contingent is thirty-six thousand, two hundred and ten.

To this and to the first number I add the crews of the ships of fifty oars, calculating eighty men for each, whether there were actually more or fewer. Now seeing that, as has already been said, three thousand of these vessels were assembled, the number of men in them must have been two hundred and forty thousand.

These, then, were the ships' companies from Asia (continent)Asia, and the total number of them was five hundred and seventeen thousand, six hundred and ten. There were seven hundred thousand and one hundred footsoldiers and eighty thousand cavalrymen; to these I add the Arabian camel-riders and Libyan charioteers, estimating them to have been twenty thousand in number.

The forces of sea and land added together would consist of two million, three hundred and seventeen thousand, six hundred and ten men. So far I have spoken of the force which came from Asia (continent)Asia itself, without the train of servants which followed it and the companies of the grain-bearing craft.

I must, however, also take into account the force brought from Europe (continent)Europe, and I will rely on my best judgment in doing so. The Greeks of Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace and the islands off Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace furnished one hundred and twenty ships, and the companies of these ships must then have consisted of twenty-four thousand men.

As regards the land army supplied by all the nations—Thracians, Paeonians, Eordi, Bottiaei, Chalcidians, Brygi, Pierians, Macedonians, Perrhaebi, Enienes, Dolopes, Magnesians, Achaeans, dwellers on the coast of Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace—of all these I suppose the number to have been three hundred thousand.

When these numbers are added to the numbers from Asia (continent)Asia, the sum total of fighting men is two million, six hundred and forty-one thousand, six hundred and ten.

This then is the number of soldiers. As for the service-train which followed them and the crews of the light corn-bearing vessels and all the other vessels besides which came by sea with the force, these I believe to have been not fewer but more than the fighting men.

Suppose, however, that they were equal in number, neither more nor fewer. If they were equal to the fighting contingent, they made up as many tens of thousands as the others. The number, then, of those whom Xerxes son of Darius led as far as the Sepiad headland and +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae was five million, two hundred and eighty-three thousand, two hundred and twenty.

That is the number of Xerxes' whole force. No one, however, can say what the exact number of cooking women, and concubines, and eunuchs was, nor can one determine the number of the beasts of draught and burden, and the Indian dogs which accompanied the host; so many of them were there. It is accordingly not surprising to me that some of the streams of water ran dry. I do, however, wonder how there were provisions sufficient for so many tens of thousands,

for calculation shows me, that if each man received one choenix of wheat a day and no more, eleven hundred thousand and three hundred and forty bushels would be required every day. In this calculation I take no account of the provisions for the women, eunuchs, beasts of burden and dogs. Of all those tens of thousands of men, there was not one, as regards looks and grandeur, worthier than Xerxes himself to hold that command.

The Persian fleet put to sea and reached the beach of the Magnesian land, between the city of Casthanaea and the headland of Sepia. The first ships to arrive moored close to land, with the others after them at anchor; since the beach was not large, they lay at anchor in rows eight ships deep out into the sea.

They spent the night in this way, but at dawn a storm descended upon them out of a clear and windless sky, and the sea began to boil. A strong east wind blew, which the people living in those parts call Hellespontian.

Those who felt the wind rising or had proper mooring dragged their ships up on shore ahead of the storm and so survived with their ships. The wind did, however, carry those ships caught out in the open sea against the rocks called the Ovens at +Pilion (mountain range), Nomos Magnisias, Thessaly, Greece, Europe Pelion or onto the beach. Some ships were wrecked on the Sepian headland, others were cast ashore at the city of +Meliboea [22.8167,39.75] (Perseus) Meliboea or at Casthanaea. The storm was indeed unbearable.

The story is told that because of an oracle the Athenians invoked Boreas, the north wind, to help them, since another oracle told them to summon their son-in-law as an ally. According to the Hellenic story, Boreas had an Attic wife, Orithyia, the daughter of Erechtheus, ancient king of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens.

Because of this connection, so the tale goes, the Athenians considered Boreas to be their son-in-law. They were stationed off +Chalcis [23.6083,38.4667] (Perseus) Chalcis in +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea, and when they saw the storm rising, they then, if they had not already, sacrificed to and called upon Boreas and Orithyia to help them by destroying the barbarian fleet, just as before at +Mount Athos [24.316,40.166] (inhabited place), Pangaion Oros, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Athos.

I cannot say whether this was the cause of Boreas falling upon the barbarians as they lay at anchor, but the Athenians say that he had come to their aid before and that he was the agent this time. When they went home, they founded a sacred precinct of Boreas beside the Ilissus river.

They say that at the very least no fewer than 400 ships were destroyed in this labor, along with innumerable men and abundant wealth. This shipwreck proved useful to Ameinocles son of Cretines, a man of Nomos Magnisias [22.75,39.25] (department), Thessaly, Greece, EuropeMagnesia who owned land around Sepia, for he later picked up many gold and silver cups cast up on shore, found the Persian treasures, and acquired other untold riches. Although he became very rich from his findings, he did not enjoy luck in everything, for he suffered greatly when his son was murdered.

There was no counting how many grain-ships and other vessels were destroyed. The generals of the fleet were afraid that the Thessalians might attack them now that they had been defeated, so they built a high palisade out of the wreckage.

The storm lasted three days. Finally the Magi made offerings and cast spells upon the wind, sacrificing also to Thetis and the Nereids. In this way they made the wind stop on the fourth day—or perhaps it died down on its own. They sacrificed to Thetis after hearing from the Ionians the story that it was from this place that Peleus had carried her off and that all the headland of Sepia belonged to her and to the other Nereids.

The storm, then, ceased on the fourth day. Now the scouts stationed on the headlands of +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea ran down and told the Hellenes all about the shipwreck on the second day after the storm began.

After hearing this they prayed to Poseidon as their savior and poured libations. Then they hurried to +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium hoping to find few ships opposing them. So they came to +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium a second time and made their station there. From that time on they call Poseidon their savior.

The barbarians, when the wind ceased and the waves no longer ran high, put to sea and coasted along the mainland; they sailed around the headland of Nomos Magnisias [22.75,39.25] (department), Thessaly, Greece, EuropeMagnesia and sailed straight into the gulf which stretches toward +Pagasae (deserted settlement), Nomos Magnisias, Thessaly, Greece, Europe Pagasae.

There is a place on this gulf in Nomos Magnisias [22.75,39.25] (department), Thessaly, Greece, EuropeMagnesia, where, it is said, Heracles was sent for water and was left behind by Jason and his comrades of the Argo, when they were sailing to Aea in Caucasus (region (general)), AsiaColchis for the fleece; their purpose was to draw water from there and then to put out to sea. This is the reason why that place has been called +Aphetae [23.1167,39.1167] (Perseus) Aphetae. Here Xerxes' men made their anchorage.

Fifteen of those ships had put to sea a long time after all the rest, and it chanced that they sighted the Greek ships off +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium. Supposing these to be their own fleet, the barbarians proceeded into the midst of their enemies. Their captain was the viceroy from Kyme [24.1167,38.6333] (Perseus)Cyme in +Aeolis (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Aeolia, Sandoces son of Thamasius. This man, who was one of the king's judges, had once before been taken and crucified by Darius because he had given unjust judgment for a bribe.

When Sandoces had been hung on the cross, Darius found on consideration that his good services to the royal house outweighed his offenses. The king then perceived that he had acted with more haste than wisdom and set Sandoces free.

In this way he escaped from being put to death by Darius. Now that he was taken into the midst of the Greeks, however, he was not to escape a second time, for when the Greeks saw the Persians bearing down on them, they perceived their mistake and putting to sea, easily took them captive.

In one of these ships they took Aridolis, the tyrant of +Alabanda [28,37.6] (Perseus) Alabanda in +Caria [28,37.5] (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Caria, and in another the Paphian captain Penthylus, son of Demonous; of the twelve ships which he had brought from +Paphos [32.416,34.75] (inhabited place), Paphos, Cyprus, Asia Paphos he had lost eleven in the storm off the Sepiad headland and was in the one which remained when he was taken as he headed down on +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium. Having questioned these men and learned what they desired to know of Xerxes' force, the Greeks sent them away to the isthmus of Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus) Corinth in bonds.

So the foreign fleet, of which, with the exception of fifteen ships Sandoces was captain, came to +Aphetae [23.1167,39.1167] (Perseus) Aphetae. Xerxes and his land army marched through +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly and +Achaea [21.75,38.25] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Achaea, and it was three days since he had entered Malis. In +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly he held a race for his own cavalry; this was also a test of the Thessalian horsemen, whom he had heard were the best in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas. The Greek horses were far outpaced in this contest. Of the Thessalian rivers, the Onochonus was the only one which could not provide enough water for his army to drink. In +Achaea [21.75,38.25] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Achaea, however, even the greatest river there, the Apidanus, gave out, remaining but a sorry trickle.

When Xerxes had come to Alus in +Achaea [21.75,38.25] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Achaea, his guides, desiring to inform him of all they knew, told him the story which is related in that country concerning the worship of Laphystian Zeus, namely how Athamas son of Aeolus plotted Phrixus' death with Ino, and further, how the Achaeans by an oracle's bidding compel Phrixus descendants to certain tasks.

They order the eldest of that family not to enter their town-hall (which the Achaeans call the People's House) and themselves keep watch there. If he should enter, he may not come out, save only to be sacrificed. They say as well that many of those who were to be sacrificed had fled in fear to another country, and that if they returned at a later day and were taken, they were brought into the town-hall. The guides showed Xerxes how the man is sacrificed, namely with fillets covering him all over and a procession to lead him forth.

It is the descendants of Phrixus' son Cytissorus who are treated in this way, because when the Achaeans by an oracle's bidding made Athamas son of Aeolus a scapegoat for their country and were about to sacrifice him, this Cytissorus came from Aea in +Caucasus (region (general)), Asia Colchis and delivered him, thereby bringing the god's wrath on his own descendants.

Hearing all this, Xerxes, when he came to the temple grove, refrained from entering it himself and bade all his army do likewise, holding the house and the precinct of Athamas' descendants alike in reverence.

These were Xerxes' actions in +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly and +Achaea [21.75,38.25] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Achaea. From here he came into Malis along a gulf of the sea, in which the tide ebbs and flows daily. There is low-lying ground about this gulf, sometimes wide and sometimes very narrow, and around it stand high and inaccessible mountains which enclose the whole of Malis and are called the Rocks of +Trachis [22.55,38.8] (Perseus) Trachis.

Now the first town by the gulf on the way from +Achaea [21.75,38.25] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Achaea is Anticyra, near to which the river Spercheus flows from the country of the Enieni and issues into the sea. About twenty furlongs from that river is another named Dyras, which is said to have risen from the ground to aid Heracles against the fire that consumed him and twenty furlongs again from that there is another river called the Black river.

The town of +Trachis [22.55,38.8] (Perseus) Trachis is five furlongs away from this Black river. Here is the greatest distance in all this region between the sea and the hills on which +Trachis [22.55,38.8] (Perseus) Trachis stands, for the plain is twenty-two thousand plethra in extent. In the mountains which hem in the Trachinian land there is a ravine to the south of +Trachis [22.55,38.8] (Perseus) Trachis, through which the river Asopus flows past the lower slopes of the mountains.

There is another river south of the Asopus, the Phoenix, a little stream which flows from those mountains into the Asopus. Near this stream is the narrowest place; there is only space for a single cart-way. +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae is fifteen furlongs away from the river Phoenix.

Between the river and +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae there is a village named Anthele, past which the Asopus flows out into the sea, and there is a wide space around it in which stand a temple of Amphictyonid Demeter, seats for the Amphictyons, and a temple of Amphictyon himself

King Xerxes lay encamped in +Trachis [22.55,38.8] (Perseus) Trachis in Malis and the Hellenes in the pass. This place is called +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae by most of the Hellenes, but by the natives and their neighbors Pylae. Each lay encamped in these places. Xerxes was master of everything to the north from +Trachis [22.55,38.8] (Perseus) Trachis, and the Hellenes of all that lay toward the south on the mainland.

The Hellenes who awaited the Persians in that place were these: three hundred Spartan armed men; one thousand from Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea and +Mantinea [22.3833,37.6167] (Perseus) Mantinea, half from each place; one hundred and twenty from Kalpali [22.3,37.716] (inhabited place), Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Orchomenus in +Arcadia [22.25,37.583] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Arcadia and one thousand from the rest of +Arcadia [22.25,37.583] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Arcadia; that many Arcadians, four hundred from Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus) Corinth, two hundred from Phlius, and eighty Mycenaeans. These were the Peloponnesians present; from Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia there were seven hundred Thespians and four hundred Thebans.

In addition, the Opuntian Locrians in full force and one thousand Phocians came at the summons. The Hellenes had called upon them through messengers who told them that this was only the advance guard, that the rest of the allies were expected any day now, and that the sea was being watched, with the Athenians and Aeginetans and all those enrolled in the fleet on guard. There was nothing for them to be afraid of.

The invader of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas was not a god but a human being, and there was not, and never would be, any mortal on whom some amount of evil was not bestowed at birth, with the greatest men receiving the largest share. The one marching against them was certain to fall from pride, since he was a mortal. When they heard this, the Locrians and Phocians marched to +Trachis [22.55,38.8] (Perseus) Trachis to help.

Each city had its own general, but the one most admired and the leader of the whole army was a Lacedaemonian, Leonidas, son of Anaxandrides, son of Leon, son of Eurycratides, son of Anaxandrus, son of Eurycrates, son of Polydorus, son of Alcamenes, son of Teleclus, son of Archelaus, son of Hegesilaus, son of Doryssus, son of Leobotes, son of Echestratus, son of Agis, son of Eurysthenes, son of Aristodemus, son of Aristomachus, son of Cleodaeus, son of Hyllus, son of Heracles. Leonidas had gained the kingship at Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta unexpectedly.

Since he had two older brothers, Cleomenes and Dorieus, he had renounced all thought of the kingship. Cleomenes, however, died without male offspring, and Dorieus, who had met his end in Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily, was also no longer alive. The succession therefore fell to Leonidas since he was older than Anaxandrides' youngest son Cleombrotus and had married Cleomenes' daughter.

He now came to +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae with the appointed three hundred he had selected, all of whom had sons. He also brought those Thebans whom I counted among the number and whose general was Leontiades son of Eurymachus.

Leonidas took pains to bring only the Thebans among the Hellenes, because they were accused of medizing; he summoned them to the war wishing to know whether they would send their men with him or openly refuse the Hellenic alliance. They sent the men but intended something quite different

The Spartans sent the men with Leonidas on ahead so that the rest of the allies would see them and march, instead of medizing like the others if they learned that the Spartans were delaying. At present the Carneia was in their way, but once they had completed the festival, they intended to leave a garrison at Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta and march out in full force with all speed.

The rest of the allies planned to do likewise, for the Olympiad coincided with these events. They accordingly sent their advance guard, not expecting the war at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae to be decided so quickly.

This is what they intended, but the Hellenes at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae, when the Persians drew near the pass, fearfully took counsel whether to depart. The rest of the Peloponnesians were for returning to the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese and guarding the isthmus, but the Phocians and Locrians were greatly angered by this counsel. Leonidas voted to remain where they were and send messengers to the cities bidding them to send help, since they were too few to ward off the army of the Medes.

Book 7, Part 8

While they debated in this way, Xerxes sent a mounted scout to see how many there were and what they were doing. While he was still in +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly, he had heard that a small army was gathered there and that its leaders were Lacedaemonians, including Leonidas, who was of the Heracleid clan.

Riding up to the camp, the horseman watched and spied out the place. He could, however, not see the whole camp, for it was impossible to see those posted inside the wall which they had rebuilt and were guarding. He did take note of those outside, whose arms lay in front of the wall, and it chanced that at that time the Lacedaemonians were posted there.

He saw some of the men exercising naked and others combing their hair. He marvelled at the sight and took note of their numbers. When he had observed it all carefully, he rode back in leisure, since no one pursued him or paid him any attention at all. So he returned and told Xerxes all that he had seen.

When Xerxes heard that, he could not comprehend the fact that the Lacedaemonians were actually, to the best of their ability, preparing to kill or be killed. What they did appeared laughable to him, so he sent for Demaratus the son of Ariston, who was in his camp.

When this man arrived, he asked him about each of these matters, wanting to understand what it was that the Lacedaemonians were doing. Demaratus said, “You have already heard about these men from me, when we were setting out for Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, but when you heard, you mocked me, although I told you how I expected things to turn out. It is my greatest aim, O King, to be truthful in your presence.

So hear me now. These men have come to fight us for the pass, and it for this that they are preparing. This is their custom: when they are about to risk their lives, they arrange their hair.

Rest assured that if you overcome these men and those remaining behind at Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, there is no one else on earth who will raise his hands to withstand you, my King. You are now attacking the fairest kingdom in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas and men who are the very best.”

What he said seemed completely incredible to Xerxes, so he then asked how they, who were so few in number, would fight against his army. Demaratus answered, “My King, take me for a liar if this does not turn out as I say.” So he spoke, but he did not persuade Xerxes.

He let four days go by, expecting them to run away at any minute. They did not leave, and it seemed to him that they stayed out of folly and lack of due respect. On the fifth day he became angry and sent the Medes and Cissians against them, bidding them take them prisoner and bring them into his presence.

The Medes bore down upon the Hellenes and attacked. Many fell, but others attacked in turn, and they made it clear to everyone, especially to the king himself, that among so many people there were few real men. The battle lasted all day.

When the Medes had been roughly handled, they retired, and the Persians whom the king called Immortals, led by Hydarnes, attacked in turn. It was thought that they would easily accomplish the task.

When they joined battle with the Hellenes, they fared neither better nor worse than the Median army, since they used shorter spears than the Hellenes and could not use their numbers fighting in a narrow space.

The Lacedaemonians fought memorably, showing themselves skilled fighters amidst unskilled on many occasions, as when they would turn their backs and feign flight. The barbarians would see them fleeing and give chase with shouting and noise, but when the Lacedaemonians were overtaken, they would turn to face the barbarians and overthrow innumerable Persians. A few of the Spartans themselves were also slain. When the Persians could gain no inch of the pass, attacking by companies and in every other fashion, they withdrew.

It is said that during these assaults in the battle the king, as he watched, jumped up three times from the throne in fear for his army. This, then, is how the fighting progressed, and on the next day the barbarians fought no better. They joined battle supposing that their enemies, being so few, were now disabled by wounds and could no longer resist.

The Hellenes, however, stood ordered in ranks by nation, and each of them fought in turn, except the Phocians, who were posted on the mountain to guard the path. When the Persians found nothing different from what they saw the day before, they withdrew.

The king was at a loss as to how to deal with the present difficulty. Epialtes son of Eurydemus, a Malian, thinking he would get a great reward from the king, came to speak with him and told him of the path leading over the mountain to +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae. In so doing he caused the destruction of the Hellenes remaining there.

Later he fled into +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly in fear of the Lacedaemonians, and while he was in exile, a price was put on his head by the Pylagori when the Amphictyons assembled at Pylae. Still later he returned from exile to Anticyra and was killed by Athenades, a Trachinian.

Athenades slew Epialtes for a different reason, which I will tell later in my history, but he was given no less honor by the Lacedaemonians. It was in this way, then, that Epialtes was later killed.

There is another story told, namely that Onetes son of Phanagoras, a Carystian, and Corydallus of Anticyra are the ones who gave the king this information and guided the Persians around the mountain, but I find it totally incredible.

One must judge by the fact that the Pylagori set a price not on Onetes and Corydallus but on Epialtes the Trachinian, and I suppose they had exact knowledge; furthermore, we know that Epialtes was banished on this charge.

Onetes might have known the path, although he was not a Malian, if he had often come to that country, but Epialtes was the one who guided them along the path around the mountain. It is he whom I put on record as guilty.

Xerxes was pleased by what Epialtes promised to accomplish. He immediately became overjoyed and sent out Hydarnes and the men under Hydarnes command, who set forth from the camp at about lamp-lighting time. This path had been discovered by the native Malians, who used it to guide the Thessalians into +Phocis (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Phocis when the Phocians had fenced off the pass with a wall and were sheltered from the war. So long ago the Malians had discovered that the pass was in no way a good thing.

The course of the path is as follows: it begins at the river Asopus as it flows through the ravine, and this mountain and the path have the same name, Anopaea. This Anopaea stretches along the ridge of the mountain and ends at Alpenus, the Locrian city nearest to Malis, near the rock called Blackbuttock and the seats of the Cercopes, where it is narrowest.

This, then, was the nature of the pass. The Persians crossed the Asopus and travelled all night along this path, with the Oetaean mountains on their right and the Trachinian on their left. At dawn they came to the summit of the pass.

In this part of the mountain one thousand armed men of the Phocians were on watch, as I have already shown, defending their own country and guarding the path. The lower pass was held by those I have mentioned, but the Phocians had voluntarily promised Leonidas to guard the path over the mountain.

The Phocians learned in the following way that the Persians had climbed up: they had ascended without the Phocians' notice because the mountain was entirely covered with oak trees. Although there was no wind, a great noise arose like leaves being trodden underfoot. The Phocians jumped up and began to put on their weapons, and in a moment the barbarians were there.

When they saw the men arming themselves, they were amazed, for they had supposed that no opposition would appear, but they had now met with an army. Hydarnes feared that the Phocians might be Lacedaemonians and asked Epialtes what country the army was from. When he had established what he wanted to know with certainty, he arrayed the Persians for battle.

The Phocians, assailed by thick showers of arrows and supposing that the Persians had set out against them from the start, fled to the top of the mountain and prepared to meet their destruction. This is what they intended, but the Persians with Epialtes and Hydarnes paid no attention to the Phocians and went down the mountain as fast as possible.

The seer Megistias, examining the sacrifices, first told the Hellenes at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae that death was coming to them with the dawn. Then deserters came who announced the circuit made by the Persians. These gave their signals while it was still night; a third report came from the watchers running down from the heights at dawn.

The Hellenes then took counsel, but their opinions were divided. Some advised not to leave their post, but others spoke against them. They eventually parted, some departing and dispersing each to their own cities, others preparing to remain there with Leonidas.

It is said that Leonidas himself sent them away because he was concerned that they would be killed, but felt it not fitting for himself and the Spartans to desert that post which they had come to defend at the beginning.

I, however, tend to believe that when Leonidas perceived that the allies were dispirited and unwilling to run all risks with him, he told then to depart. For himself, however, it was not good to leave; if he remained, he would leave a name of great fame, and the prosperity of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta would not be blotted out.

When the Spartans asked the oracle about this war when it broke out, the Pythia had foretold that either Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon would be destroyed by the barbarians or their king would be killed. She gave them this answer in hexameter verses running as follows:

For you, inhabitants of wide-wayed Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, Either your great and glorious city must be wasted by Persian men, Or if not that, then the bound of Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon must mourn a dead king, from Heracles' line. The might of bulls or lions will not restrain him with opposing strength; for he has the might of Zeus. I declare that he will not be restrained until he utterly tears apart one of these. Considering this and wishing to win distinction for the Spartans alone, he sent away the allies rather than have them leave in disorder because of a difference of opinion.

Not the least proof I have of this is the fact that Leonidas publicly dismissed the seer who attended the expedition, for fear that he might die with them. This was Megistias the Acarnanian, said to be descended from Melampus, the one who told from the sacrifices what was going to happen to them. He was dismissed but did not leave; instead he sent away his only son who was also with the army.

Those allies who were dismissed went off in obedience to Leonidas, only the Thespians and Thebans remaining with the Lacedaemonians. The Thebans remained against their will and desire, for Leonidas kept them as hostages. The Thespians very gladly remained, saying they would not abandon Leonidas and those with him by leaving; instead they would stay and die with them. Their general was Demophilus son of Diadromes.

Xerxes made libations at sunrise and waiting till about mid-morning, made his assault. Epialtes had advised this, for the descent from the mountain is more direct, and the way is much shorter than the circuit and ascent.

Xerxes and his barbarians attacked, but Leonidas and his Hellenes, knowing they were going to their deaths, advanced now much farther than before into the wider part of the pass. In all the previous days they had sallied out into the narrow way and fought there, guarding the defensive wall.

Now, however, they joined battle outside the narrows and many of the barbarians fell, for the leaders of the companies beat everyone with whips from behind, urging them ever forward. Many of them were pushed into the sea and drowned; far more were trampled alive by each other, with no regard for who perished.

Since the Hellenes knew that they must die at the hands of those who had come around the mountain, they displayed the greatest strength they had against the barbarians, fighting recklessly and desperately.

By this time most of them had had their spears broken and were killing the Persians with swords. Leonidas, proving himself extremely valiant, fell in that struggle and with him other famous Spartans, whose names I have learned by inquiry since they were worthy men. Indeed, I have learned by inquiry the names of all three hundred.

Many famous Persians also fell there, including two sons of Darius, Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, born to Darius by Phratagune daughter of Artanes. Artanes was the brother of king Darius and son of Hystaspes son of Arsames. When he gave his daughter in marriage to Darius, he gave his whole house as dowry, since she was his only child.

Two brothers of Xerxes accordingly fought and fell there. There was a great struggle between the Persians and Lacedaemonians over Leonidas' body, until the Hellenes by their courageous prowess dragged it away and routed their enemies four times. The battle went on until the men with Epialtes arrived.

When the Hellenes saw that they had come, the contest turned, for they retired to the narrow part of the way, passed behind the wall, and took their position crowded together on the hill, all except the Thebans. This hill is at the mouth of the pass, where the stone lion in honor of Leonidas now stands.

In that place they defended themselves with swords, if they still had them, and with hands and teeth. The barbarians buried them with missiles, some attacking from the front and throwing down the defensive wall, others surrounding them on all sides.

This then is how the Lacedaemonians and Thespians conducted themselves, but the Spartan Dieneces is said to have exhibited the greatest courage of all. They say that he made the following speech before they joined battle with the Medes: he had learned from a Trachinian that there were so many of the barbarians that when they shot their missiles, the sun was hidden by the multitude of their arrows.

He was not at all disturbed by this and made light of the multitude of the Medes, saying that their Trachinian foreigner brought them good news. If the Medes hid the sun, they could fight them in the shade instead of in the sun. This saying and others like it, they claim, Dieneces the Lacedaemonian left behind as a memorial.

Next after him two Lacedaemonian brothers, Alpheus and Maron, sons of Orsiphantus, are said to have been most courageous. The Thespian who gained most renown was one whose name was Dithyrambus son of Harmatides.

There is an inscription written over these men, who were buried where they fell, and over those who died before the others went away, dismissed by Leonidas. It reads as follows: Here four thousand from the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese once fought three million.

That inscription is for them all, but the Spartans have their own: Foreigner, go tell the Spartans that we lie here obedient to their commands.

That one is to the Lacedaemonians, this one to the seer: This is a monument to the renowned Megistias, Slain by the Medes who crossed the Spercheius river. The seer knew well his coming doom, But endured not to abandon the leaders of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta.

Except for the seer's inscription, the Amphictyons are the ones who honored them by erecting inscriptions and pillars. That of the seer Megistias was inscribed by Simonides son of Leoprepes because of his tie of guest-friendship with the man.

It is said that two of these three hundred, Eurytus and Aristodemus, could have agreed with each other either to come home safely together to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, since Leonidas had dismissed them from the camp and they were lying at Alpeni very sick of ophthalmia, or to die with the others, if they were unwilling to return home. They could have done either of these things, but they could not agree and had different intentions. When Eurytus learned of the Persians circuit, he demanded his armor and put it on, bidding his helot to lead him to the fighting. The helot led him there and fled, but he rushed into the fray and was killed. Aristodemus, however, lost his strength and stayed behind.

Now if Aristodemus alone had been sick and returned to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, or if they had both made the trip, I think the Spartans would not have been angry with them. When, however, one of them died, and the other had the same excuse but was unwilling to die, the Spartans had no choice but to display great anger towards Aristodemus.

Some say that Aristodemus came home safely to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta in this way and by this excuse. Others say that he had been sent out of the camp as a messenger and could have gotten back in time for the battle but chose not to, staying behind on the road and so surviving, while his fellow-messenger arrived at the battle and was killed.

When Aristodemus returned to Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon, he was disgraced and without honor. He was deprived of his honor in this way: no Spartan would give him fire or speak with him, and they taunted him by calling him Aristodemus the Trembler. In the battle at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea, however, he made up for all the blame brought against him.

It is said that another of the three hundred survived because he was sent as a messenger to +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly. His name was Pantites. When he returned to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, he was dishonored and hanged himself.

The Thebans, whose general was Leontiades, fought against the king's army as long as they were with the Hellenes and under compulsion. When, however, they saw the Persian side prevailing and the Hellenes with Leonidas hurrying toward the hill, they split off and approached the barbarians, holding out their hands. With the most truthful words ever spoken, they explained that they were Medizers, had been among the first to give earth and water to the king, had come to +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae under constraint, and were guiltless of the harm done to the king.

By this plea they saved their lives, and the Thessalians bore witness to their words. They were not, however, completely lucky. When the barbarians took hold of them as they approached, they killed some of them even as they drew near. Most of them were branded by Xerxes command with the kings marks, starting with the general Leontiades. His son Eurymachus long afterwards was murdered by the Plataeans when, as general of four hundred Thebans, he seized the town of Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea.

This, then, is how the Greeks fought at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae. Xerxes then sent for Demaratus and questioned him, saying first, “Demaratus you are a good man. I hold that proven by the plain truth, for things have turned out no differently than you foretold. Now, tell me this: how many Lacedaemonians are left, and how many of them are warriors like these? or is it so with them all?”

“My king,” said Demaratus, “the number of the Lacedaemonians is great, and so too the number of their cities. But what you would like to know, I will tell you: there is in Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon a city called Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, a city of about eight thousand men, all of them equal to those who have fought here; the rest of the Lacedaemonians are not equal to these, yet they are valiant men.”

“And how, Demaratus,” answered Xerxes, “can we overcome those men with the least trouble to ourselves? Come, disclose that to me, for you have been their king and know the plan and order of their counsels.”

“My king,” Demaratus replied, “if you in sincerity ask my counsel, it is but right that I should point out to you the best way. It is this, namely that you should send three hundred ships of your fleet to the Laconian land.

There is an island lying off their coasts called +Cerigo (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Cythera. Chilon, a man of much wisdom among us, says about it that it would be better for the Spartans if +Cerigo (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Cythera were beneath the sea rather than above it. This he said because he expected that it would provide an opportunity for attack just as I am suggesting—not that he had any foreknowledge of your force, but he dreaded all men's forces alike.

Let them then make that island their station and set out from there to strike fear into the Lacedaemonians. If these have a war of their own on their borders, you will have no cause to fear that they will send men to save the rest of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas from being overrun by your armies; furthermore, the enslavement of the rest of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas must weaken +Laconia [22.583,37] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Laconia if it is left to stand alone.

If, however, you do not do this, then expect what I will now tell you: a narrow isthmus leads to the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese; all the Peloponnesians will be banded together there against you, and you may expect battles more stubborn than those that you have fought already. But if you do as I have said, then you may have that isthmus and all their cities without striking a blow.”

Next spoke Achaemenes, Xerxes' brother and admiral of the fleet; it chanced that he was present during their conversation, and he feared that Xerxes would be persuaded to follow Demaratus' counsel. “O king,” he said, “I see that you are listening to a man who is jealous of your good fortune or is perhaps even a traitor to your cause. These are the ways that are dear to the hearts of all Greeks: they are jealous of success and they hate power.

No, if after the recent calamity which has wrecked four hundred of your ships you send away three hundred more from your fleet to sail round the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, your enemies will be enough to do battle with you; while your fleet is united, however, it is invincible, and your enemies will not be so many as to be enough to fight; moreover, all your navy will be a help to your army and your army to your navy, both moving together. If you separate some of your fleet from yourself, you will be of no use to them, nor they to you.

My counsel is rather that you make your own plans well, and take no account of the business of your adversaries, what battlefields they will choose, what they will do, and how many they are. They are able enough to think for themselves, and we similarly for ourselves. As for the Lacedaemonians, if they meet the Persians in the field, they will in no way repair their most recent losses.”

“Achaemenes,” Xerxes answered, “I think that you speak well, and I will do as you counsel. Despite the fact that your advice is better than his, Demaratus does say what he supposes to be most serviceable to me,

for assuredly I will never believe that he is no friend to my cause. I believe this of him because of all that he has already said and by what is the truth, namely, that if one citizen prospers, another citizen is jealous of him and shows his enmity by silence, and no one, (except if he has attained the height of excellence; and such are seldom seen) if his own townsman asks for counsel, will give him what he thinks to be the best advice.

If one stranger prospers, however, another stranger is beyond all men his well-wisher and will, if he is asked, impart to him the best counsel he has. It is for this reason that I bid you all to refrain from maligning Demaratus, seeing that he is a stranger and a friend.”

Book 7, Part 9

Having spoken in this way, Xerxes passed over the place where the dead lay and hearing that Leonidas had been king and general of the Lacedaemonians, he gave orders to cut off his head and impale it.

It is plain to me by this piece of evidence among many others, that while Leonidas lived, king Xerxes was more incensed against him than against all others; otherwise he would never have dealt so outrageously with his dead body, for the Persians are beyond all men known in the habit of honoring valiant warriors. They, then, who received these orders did as I have said.

I return now to that place in my history where it earlier left off. The Lacedaemonians were the first to be informed that the king was equipping himself to attack Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas; with this knowledge it was that they sent to the oracle at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi, where they received the answer about which I spoke a little while ago. Now the way in which they were informed of this was strange.

Demaratus son of Ariston, an exile among the Medes, was, as I suppose (reason being also my ally), no friend to the Lacedaemonians, and I leave it to be imagined whether what he did was done out of goodwill or spiteful triumph. When Xerxes was resolved to march against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, Demaratus, who was then at Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa and had knowledge of this, desired to send word of it to the Lacedaemonians.

He, however, feared detection and had no other way of informing them than this trick:—taking a double tablet, he scraped away the wax from it, and then wrote the king's plan on the wood. Next he melted the wax back again over the writing, so that the bearer of this seemingly blank tablet might not be troubled by the way-wardens.

When the tablet came to Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon, the Lacedaemonians could not guess its meaning, until at last (as I have been told) Gorgo, Cleomenes' daughter and Leonidas' wife, discovered the trick herself and advised them to scrape the wax away so that they would find writing on the wood. When they did so, they found and read the message, and presently sent it to the rest of the Greeks. This is the story, as it is told.

Book 8, Part 1

The Greeks appointed to serve in the fleet were these: the Athenians furnished a hundred and twenty-seven ships; the Plataeans manned these ships with the Athenians, not that they had any knowledge of seamanship, but because of mere valor and zeal. The Corinthians furnished forty ships and the Megarians twenty;

the Chalcidians manned twenty, the Athenians furnishing the ships; the Aeginetans eighteen, the Sicyonians twelve, the Lacedaemonians ten, the Epidaurians eight, the Eretrians seven, the Troezenians five, the Styrians two, and the Ceans two, and two fifty-oared barks; the Opuntian Locrians brought seven fifty-oared barks to their aid.

These are the forces which came to +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium for battle, and I have now shown how they individually furnished the whole sum. The number of ships mustered at +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium was two hundred and seventy-one, besides the fifty-oared barks.

The Spartans, however, provided the admiral who had the chief command, Eurybiades, son of Euryclides, for the allies said that if the Laconian were not their leader, they would rather make an end of the fleet that was assembling than be led by the Athenians.

In the first days, before the sending to Sicily [14,37.5] (region), Italy, Europe Sicily for alliance, there had been talk of entrusting the command at sea to the Athenians. However, when the allies resisted, the Athenians waived their claim, considering the safety of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas of prime importance and seeing that if they quarrelled over the leadership, Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas must perish. In this they judged rightly, for civil strife is as much worse than united war as war is worse than peace.

Knowing that, they gave ground and waived their claim, but only so long as they had great need of the others. This is clear, for when they had driven the Persian back and the battle was no longer for their territory but for his, they made a pretext of Pausanias' highhandedness and took the command away from the Lacedaemonians. All that, however, took place later.

But now, the Greeks who had at last come to +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium saw a multitude of ships launched at +Aphetae [23.1167,39.1167] (Perseus) Aphetae and forces everywhere, and contrary to all expectation, the barbarian was shown to be in much different shape than they had supposed. They accordingly lost heart and began to deliberate about flight from +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium homewards into Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

Then the Euboeans, noticing that they were making such plans, entreated Eurybiades to wait a little while, till they themselves had removed their children and households. When they could not prevail with him, they tried another way and gave Themistocles, the Athenian admiral, a bribe of thirty talents on the condition that the Greek fleet should remain there and fight, when they fought, to defend +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea.

This was the way in which Themistocles made the Greeks stay where they were: he gave Eurybiades for his share five talents of that money, as though he were making the present of his own money. When Eurybiades had been won over in this way, none of the rest was inclined to resist save Adimantus, son of Ocytus, the Corinthian admiral, who said that he would not remain but sail away from +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium; to him Themistocles, adding an oath, said:

“No, you of all men will not desert us, for I will give you a greater gift than the king of the Medes would send you for deserting your allies.” With that he sent three talents of silver to Adimantus ship.

These two, then, were won over by gifts, the Euboeans got what they wanted, and Themistocles himself was the gainer. No one knew that he had kept the rest of the money, and those who had received a part of it supposed that it had been sent for that purpose by the Athenians.

So the Greeks remained in +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea and fought there; this came about as I will now reveal. Having arrived at +Aphetae [23.1167,39.1167] (Perseus) Aphetae in the early part of the afternoon, the barbarians saw for themselves the few Greek ships that they had already heard were stationed off +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium, and they were eager to attack so that they might take them.

They were not prepared to make a head-on attack since they feared that the Greeks would see them coming and turn to flee with night close upon them as they fled; it was their belief that the Greeks would save themselves by flight, and they did not want even so much as a firebearer to be saved.

Taking these things into consideration, they devised the following plan; separating two hundred ships from the whole number, they sent them to cruise outside Sciathus so that the enemies might not see them sailing round +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea and by way of Caphereus round Geraestus to the Euripus so that they might catch the Greeks between them, the one part holding that course and barring the retreat, and they themselves attacking in front.

Upon making these plans they sent the appointed ships on their way, intending not to make an attack upon the Greeks either on that day or before the signal should be seen, whereby the ships that sailed round were to declare their coming. So they sent those ships to sail round, and set about counting the rest at +Aphetae [23.1167,39.1167] (Perseus) Aphetae.

Now when they were engaged in this count, there was in the fleet one Scyllias, a man of +Scione [23.55,39.95] (Perseus) Scione; he was the best diver of the time, and in the shipwreck at +Pilion (mountain range), Nomos Magnisias, Thessaly, Greece, Europe Pelion he had saved for the Persians much of their possessions and gotten much for himself in addition; this Scyllias had before now, it would seem, intended to desert to the Greeks, but he never had had so fair an occasion as now.

By what means he did at last make his way to the Greeks, I cannot with exactness say. If the story is true, it is marvellous indeed, for it is said that he dove into the sea at +Aphetae [23.1167,39.1167] (Perseus) Aphetae and never rose to the surface till he came to +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium, thus passing underneath the sea for about eighty furlongs.

There are many tales about this man, some similar to lies and some true, but as regards the present business it is my opinion that he came to +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium in a boat. After arriving, he straightway told the admirals the story of the shipwreck, and of the ships that had been sent round +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea.

Hearing that, the Greeks took counsel together; there was much talk, but the opinion prevailed that they should remain and encamp where they were for that day, and then, after midnight, to put to sea and meet the ships which were sailing around. Presently, however, meeting with no opposition, they waited for the late afternoon of the day and themselves advanced their ships against the barbarian, desiring to put to the proof his fashion of fighting and the art of breaking the line.

When Xerxes' men and their generals saw the Greeks bearing down on them with but a few ships, they thought that they were definitely mad and put out to sea themselves, thinking that they would win an easy victory; this expectation was very reasonable, since they saw that the Greek ships so few while their own were many times more numerous and more seaworthy. With this assurance, they hemmed in the Greeks in their midst.

Now all the Ionians who were friendly to the Greeks came unwillingly to the war and were distressed to see the Greeks surrounded. They supposed that not one of them would return home, so powerless did the Greeks seem to them to be.

Those who were glad about the business, however, vied each with each that he might be the first to take an Attic ship and receive gifts from the king, for it was the Athenians of whom there was most talk in the fleet.

But the Greeks, when the signal was given them, first drew the sterns of their ships together, their prows turned towards the foreigners; then at the second signal they put their hands to the work, despite the fact that they were hemmed in within a narrow space and were fighting face-to-face.

There they took thirty of the foreigners ships as well as the brother of Gorgus king of Salamis [33.9,35.166] (deserted settlement), Famagusta, Cyprus, AsiaSalamis, Philaon son of Chersis, a man of note in the fleet. The first Greek to take an enemy ship was an Athenian, Lycomedes, son of Aeschraeus, and he it was who received the prize for valor.

They fought that sea-fight with doubtful issue, and nightfall ended the battle; the Greeks sailed back to +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium, and the barbarians to +Aphetae [23.1167,39.1167] (Perseus) Aphetae, after faring far below their hopes in the fight. In that battle Antidorus of +Lemnos [25.25,39.916] (island), Lesvos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Lemnos, the only one of the Greeks siding with the Persian, deserted to the Greeks, and for that the Athenians gave him land in Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis.

When darkness came on, the season being then midsummer, there was abundance of rain all through the night and violent thunderings from +Pilion (mountain range), Nomos Magnisias, Thessaly, Greece, Europe Pelion. The dead and the wrecks were driven towards +Aphetae [23.1167,39.1167] (Perseus) Aphetae, where they were entangled with the ships' prows and jumbled the blades of the oars.

The ships crews who were there were dismayed by the noise of this, and considering their present bad state, expected utter destruction; for before they had recovered from the shipwreck and the storm off +Pilion (mountain range), Nomos Magnisias, Thessaly, Greece, Europe Pelion, they next endured a stubborn sea-fight, and after the sea-fight, rushing rain and mighty torrents pouring seaward and violent thunderings.

This is how the night dealt with them. To those who were appointed to sail round +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea, however, that same night was still more cruel since it caught them on the open sea. Their end was a terrible one, for when the storm and the rain came on them in their course off the Hollows of +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea, they were driven by the wind in an unknown direction and were driven onto the rocks. All this was done by the god so that the Persian power might be more equally matched with the Greek, and not much greater than it.

These men, then, perished at the Hollows of +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea. As for the barbarians at +Aphetae [23.1167,39.1167] (Perseus) Aphetae, when to their great comfort the day dawned, they kept their ships unmoved, being in their evil plight well content to do nothing for the moment. Now fifty-three Attic ships came to aid the Greeks,

who were encouraged both by the ships coming and by the news that the barbarians sailing round +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea had all perished in the recent storm. They waited then for the same hour as before, and fell upon certain Cilician ships when they put to sea. After destroying these when night fell, they sailed back to +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium.

On the third day, however, the barbarian admirals, finding it hard to bear that so few ships should do them hurt and fearing Xerxes' anger, waited no longer for the Greeks to begin the fight, but gave the word and put out to sea about midday. So it came to pass that these sea-battles were fought on the same days as the land-battles at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae;

the seamen's whole endeavor was to hold the Euripus while Leonidas' men strove to guard the passage; the Greeks were ordered to give the barbarian no entry into Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, and the Persians to destroy the Greek host and win the strait.

So when Xerxes' men ordered their battle and advanced, the Greeks remained in their station off +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium, and the barbarians made a half circle of their ships striving to encircle and enclose them. At that the Greeks charged and joined battle. In that sea-fight both had equal success.

Xerxes' fleet did itself harm by its numbers and size. The ships were thrown into confusion and ran foul of each other; nevertheless they held fast and did not yield, for they could not bear to be put to flight by a few ships.

Many were the Greek ships and men that perished there, and far more yet of the foreigners' ships and men; this is how they fought until they drew off and parted from each other.

In that sea-fight of all Xerxes' fighters the Egyptians conducted themselves with the greatest valor; besides other great feats of arms which they achieved, they took five Greek ships together with their crews. As regards the Greeks, it was the Athenians who bore themselves best on that day, and of the Athenians Clinias son of Alcibiades. He brought to the war two hundred men and a ship of his own, all at his own expense.

So they parted, and each hurried gladly to his own place of anchorage. When the Greeks had withdrawn and come out of the battle, they were left in possession of the dead and the wrecks. They had, however, had a rough time of it themselves, chiefly the Athenians, half of whose ships had suffered some damage. Now their counsel was to flee to the inner waters of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas

Themistocles thought that if the Ionian and Carian nations were removed from the forces of the barbarians, the Greeks might be strong enough to prevail over the rest. Now it was the custom of the Euboeans to drive their flocks down to the sea there. Gathering the admirals together, he told them that he thought he had a device whereby he hoped to draw away the best of the king's allies.

So much he revealed for the moment, but merely advised them to let everyone slay as many from the Euboean flocks as he wanted; it was better that the fleet should have them, than the enemy. Moreover, he counselled them each to order his men to light a fire; as for the time of their departure from that place, he would see to it that they would return to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas unscathed. All this they agreed to do and immediately lit fires and set upon the flocks.

Now the Euboeans had neglected the oracle of Bacis, believing it to be empty of meaning, and neither by carrying away nor by bringing in anything had they shown that they feared an enemy's coming. In so doing they were the cause of their own destruction,

for Bacis' oracle concerning this matter runs as follows When a strange-tongued man casts a yoke of papyrus on the waves, Then take care to keep bleating goats far from the coasts of +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea To these verses the Euboeans gave no heed; but in the evils then present and soon to come they suffered the greatest calamity.

While the Greeks were doing as I have said, there came to them their lookout from +Trachis [22.55,38.8] (Perseus) Trachis. There was a scout at +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium, one Polyas, a native of Anticyra, who was charged (and had a rowing boat standing ready for it), if the fleet should suffer a reverse to declare it to the men at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae. Similarly, if any ill should befall the land army, Abronichus son of Lysicles, an Athenian, was with Leonidas, ready for his part to bring the news in a thirty-oared bark to the Greeks at +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium.

Book 8, Part 2

So this Abronichus came and declared to them the fate of Leonidas and his army. When the Greeks learned this, they no longer delayed their departure but went their ways in their appointed order, the Corinthians first and last of all the Athenians.

Themistocles, however, picked out the seaworthiest Athenian ships and made his way to the places where drinking water could be found. Here he engraved on the rocks words which the Ionians read on the next day when they came to +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium. This was what the writing said: “Men of Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia, you do wrongly to fight against the land of your fathers and bring slavery upon Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

It would best for you to join yourselves to us, but if that should be impossible for you, then at least now withdraw from the war, and entreat the Carians to do the same as you. If neither of these things may be and you are fast bound by such constraint that you cannot rebel, yet we ask you not to use your full strength in the day of battle. Remember that you are our sons and that our quarrel with the barbarian was of your making in the beginning.”

To my thinking Themistocles wrote this with a double intent, namely that if the king knew nothing of the writing, it might induce the Ionians to change sides and join with the Greeks, while if the writing were maliciously reported to Xerxes, he might thereby be led to mistrust the Ionians and keep them out of the sea-fights.

Such was Themistocles' writing. Immediately after this there came to the barbarians a man of Histiaea in a boat, telling them of the flight of the Greeks from +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium. Not believing this, they kept the bringer of the news in confinement and sent swift ships to spy out the matter. When the crews of these brought word of the truth, the whole armada sailed all together to +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium at the crack of dawn. Here they waited till midday and then sailed to Histiaea. Upon their arrival they took possession of the Histiaeans' city and overran all the villages on the seaboard of the Ellopian region, which is a district belonging to Histiaea.

While they were there, Xerxes sent a herald to the fleet. Before sending him, Xerxes had made the following preparations: of all his own soldiers who had fallen at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae (that is, as many as twenty thousand) he left about a thousand, and the rest he buried in trenches, which he covered with leaves and heaped earth so that the men of the fleet might not see them.

When the herald had crossed over to Histiaea, he assembled all the men of the fleet and said: “Men of our allies, King Xerxes permits any one of you who should so desire to leave his place and come to see how he fights against those foolish men who thought they could overcome the king's power.”

After this proclamation, there was nothing so hard to get as a boat, so many were they who wanted to see this. They crossed over and went about viewing the dead. All of them supposed that the fallen Greeks were all Lacedaemonians and Thespians, though helots were also there for them to see.

For all that, however, those who crossed over were not deceived by what Xerxes had done with his own dead, for the thing was truly ridiculous; of the Persians a thousand lay dead before their eyes, but the Greeks lay all together assembled in one place, to the number of four thousand.

All that day they spent in observation, and on the next the shipmen returned to their fleet at Histiaea while Xerxes' army set forth on its march.

There had come to them a few deserters, men of +Arcadia [22.25,37.583] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Arcadia, lacking a livelihood and desirous to find some service. Bringing these men into the king's presence, the Persians inquired of them what the Greeks were doing, there being one who put this question in the name of all.

When the Arcadians told them that the Greeks were holding the Olympic festival and viewing sports and horseraces, the Persian asked what was the prize offered, for which they contended. They told him of the crown of olive that was given to the victor. Then Tigranes son of Artabanus uttered a most noble saying (but the king deemed him a coward for it);

when he heard that the prize was not money but a crown, he could not hold his peace, but cried, “Good heavens, Mardonius, what kind of men are these that you have pitted us against? It is not for money they contend but for glory of achievement!” Such was Tigranes' saying.

In the meantime, immediately after the misfortune at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae, the Thessalians sent a herald to the Phocians, because they bore an old grudge against them and still more because of their latest disaster.

Now a few years before the king's expedition, the Thessalians and their allies had invaded +Phocis (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Phocis with their whole army but had been worsted and roughly handled by the Phocians.

When the Phocians were besieged on +Parnassus (mountain), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Parnassus, they had with them the diviner Tellias of +Elis [21.4,37.8833] (Perseus) Elis; Tellias devised a stratagem for them: he covered six hundred of the bravest Phocians with gypsum, themselves and their armor, and led them to attack the Thessalians by night, bidding them slay whomever they should see not whitened.

The Thessalian sentinels were the first to see these men and to flee for fear, supposing falsely that it was something supernatural, and after the sentinels the whole army fled as well. The Phocians made themselves masters of four thousand dead, and their shields, of which they dedicated half at Abai [22.9583,38.5917] (Perseus)Abae and the rest at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi.

A tithe of what they won in that fight went to the making of the great statues that stand around the tripod in front of the shrine at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi, and there are others like them dedicated at Abai [22.9583,38.5917] (Perseus)Abae.

This is what the besieged Phocians did with the Thessalian footsoldiers. When the Thessalian horsemen rode into their country, the Phocians did them mortal harm; they dug a great pit in the pass near +Hyampolis [22.9,38.6] (Perseus) Hyampolis and put empty jars inside it. They then covered it with earth till all was like the rest of the ground and awaited the onset of the Thessalians. These rode on intending to sweep the Phocians before them, and fell in among the jars, whereby their horses' legs were broken.

These two deeds had never been forgiven by the Thessalians, and now they sent a herald with this message: “Men of +Phocis (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Phocis, it is time now that you confess yourselves to be no match for us.

We were even formerly preferred to you by the Greeks, as long as we were on their side, and now we bear such weight with the foreigner that it lies in our power to have you deprived of your lands and to have you enslaved. Nevertheless, although we could easily do these things, we bear you no ill-will for the past. Pay us fifty talents of silver for what you did, and we promise to turn aside what threatens your land.”

This was the Thessalians' offer. The Phocians alone of all that region would not take the Persians' side, and that for no other reason (if I argue correctly) than their hatred of the Thessalians.

Had the Thessalians aided the Greek side, then the Phocians would certainly have stood for the Persians. They replied to the offer of the Thessalians that they would give no money; they could do as the Thessalians did and take the Persian part, if for any cause they so wished, but they would not willingly betray the cause of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

When this answer was returned to them, the Thessalians in their wrath against the Phocians began to guide the barbarian on his march. From the lands of +Trachis [22.55,38.8] (Perseus) Trachis they broke into Doris; there is a narrow tongue of Dorian land stretching that way, about thirty furlongs wide, between the Malian territory and the Phocian, which in old time was Dryopian. This region is the motherland of the Dorians of the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese. To this Dorian territory the barbarians did no harm at their invasion, for the people took the Persian side, and the Thessalians would not have them harmed.

When they entered +Phocis (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Phocis from Doris, they could not take the Phocians themselves, for some of the Phocians ascended to the heights of +Parnassus (mountain), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Parnassus. The peak of +Parnassus (mountain), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Parnassus called +Tithorea [22.6833,38.5833] (Perseus) Tithorea, which rises by itself near the town Neon, has room enough for a multitude of people. It was there that they carried their goods and themselves ascended to it,

but most of them made their way out of the country to the Ozolian Locrians, where the town of +Amphissa [22.3833,38.525] (Perseus) Amphissa lies above the Crisaean plain. The barbarians, while the Thessalians so guided their army, overran the whole of +Phocis (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Phocis. All that came within their power they laid waste to and burnt, setting fire to towns and temples.

Marching this way down the river Cephisus, they ravaged everything that lay in their way, burning the towns of Drymus, +Charadra [20.9917,39.1667] (Perseus) Charadra, Erochus, Tethronium, Amphicaea, Neon, Pediea, Tritea, Elatea, +Hyampolis [22.9,38.6] (Perseus) Hyampolis, Parapotamii, and Abai [22.9583,38.5917] (Perseus)Abae, where there was a richly endowed temple of Apollo, provided with wealth of treasure and offerings. There was also then as now a place of divination at this place. This temple, too, they plundered and burnt, and they pursued and caught some of the Phocians near the mountains. Certain women too perished because of the multitude of their violators.

Passing Parapotamii, the foreigners came to Panopea. There their army parted into two companies. The greater and stronger part of the host marched with Xerxes himself towards Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens and broke into the territory of Orkhomenos (deserted settlement), Boeotia, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeOrchomenus in Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia. Now the whole population of Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia took the Persian side, and men of Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia sent by Alexander safeguarded their towns, each in his appointed place; the reason of the safeguarding was that Xerxes should see that the Boeotians were on the Persian side.

So this part of the barbarian army marched as I have said, and others set forth with guides for the temple at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi, keeping +Parnassus (mountain), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Parnassus on their right. These, too, laid waste to every part of +Phocis (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Phocis which they occupied, burning the towns of the Panopeans and Daulii and Aeolidae.

The purpose of their parting from the rest of the army and marching this way was that they might plunder the temple at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi and lay its wealth before Xerxes, who (as I have been told) had better knowledge of the most notable possessions in the temple than of what he had left in his own palace, chiefly the offerings of Croesus son of Alyattes; so many had always spoken of them.

When the Delphians learned all this, they were very much afraid, and in their great fear they inquired of the oracle whether they should bury the sacred treasure in the ground or take it away to another country. The god told them to move nothing, saying that he was able to protect what belonged to him.

Upon hearing that, the Delphians took thought for themselves. They sent their children and women overseas to +Achaea [21.75,38.25] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Achaia. Most of the men went up to the peaks of +Parnassus (mountain), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Parnassus and carried their goods into the Corycian cave, but some escaped to +Amphissa [22.3833,38.525] (Perseus) Amphissa in +Lokris (region (general)), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Locris. In short, all the Delphians left the town save sixty men and the prophet.

Now when the barbarians drew near and could see the temple, the prophet, whose name was Aceratus, saw certain sacred arms, which no man might touch without sacrilege, brought out of the chamber within and laid before the shrine.

So he went to tell the Delphians of this miracle, but when the barbarians came with all speed near to the temple of Athena Pronaea, they were visited by miracles yet greater than the aforesaid. Marvellous indeed it is, that weapons of war should of their own motion appear lying outside in front of the shrine, but the visitation which followed was more wondrous than anything else ever seen.

When the barbarians were near to the temple of Athena Pronaea, they were struck by thunderbolts from the sky, and two peaks broken off from +Parnassus (mountain), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Parnassus came rushing among them with a mighty noise and overwhelmed many of them. In addition to this a shout and a cry of triumph were heard from the temple of Athena.

All of this together struck panic into the barbarians, and the Delphians, perceiving that they fled, descended upon them and killed a great number. The survivors fled straight to Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia. Those of the barbarians who returned said (as I have been told) that they had seen other divine signs besides what I have just described: two men-at-arms of stature greater than human,they said, had come after them, slaying and pursuing.

These two, say the Delphians, were the native heroes Phylacus and Autonous, whose precincts are near the temple, Phylacus' by the road itself above the shrine of Athena Pronaea, and Autonous' near the Castalian spring, under the Hyarapean Peak.

The rocks that fell from +Parnassus (mountain), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Parnassus were yet to be seen in my day, lying in the precinct of Athena Pronaea, from where their descent through the foreigners' ranks had hurled them. Such, then, was the manner of those men's departure from the temple.

At the request of the Athenians, the fleet of the Hellenes came from +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium and put in at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis. The Athenians requested them to put in at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis so that they take their children and women out of Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica and also take counsel what they should do. They had been disappointed in their plans, so they were going to hold a council about the current state of affairs.

They expected to find the entire population of the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese in Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia awaiting the barbarian, but they found no such thing. They learned that they were fortifying the Isthmus instead and considered the defense of the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese the most important thing, disregarding all the rest. When the Athenians learned this, they asked the fleet to put in at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis.

While the others put in at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, the Athenians landed in their own country. When they arrived, they made a proclamation that every Athenian should save his children and servants as he best could. Thereupon most of them sent the members of their households to Troizen [23.375,37.5] (Perseus)Troezen, and some to +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina and Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis.

They were anxious to get everything out safely because they wished to obey the oracle, and also not least because of this: the Athenians say that a great snake lives in the sacred precinct guarding the acropolis. They say this and even put out monthly offerings for it as if it really existed. The monthly offering is a honey-cake.

Book 8, Part 3

In all the time before this the honey-cake had been consumed, but this time it was untouched. When the priestess interpreted the significance of this, the Athenians were all the more eager to abandon the city since the goddess had deserted the acropolis. When they had removed everything to safety, they returned to the camp.

When those from +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium had put in at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, the rest of the Hellenic fleet learned of this and streamed in from Troizen [23.375,37.5] (Perseus)Troezen, for they had been commanded to assemble at Pogon, the harbor of Troizen [23.375,37.5] (Perseus)Troezen. Many more ships assembled now than had fought at +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium, and from more cities.

The admiral was the same as at +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium, Eurybiades son of Euryclides, a Spartan but not of royal descent. The ships provided by the Athenians were by far the most numerous and the most seaworthy.

The following took part in the war: from the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, the Lacedaemonians provided sixteen ships; the Corinthians the same number as at +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium; the Sicyonians furnished fifteen ships, the Epidaurians ten, the Troezenians five, the Hermioneans three. All of these except the Hermioneans are Dorian and Macedonian and had last come from Erineus and Pindus and the Dryopian region. The Hermioneans are Dryopians, driven out of the country now called Doris by Herakles and the Malians.

These, then, were the Peloponnesians who took part in the war. From the mainland outside the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese came the following: the Athenians provided more than all the rest, one hundred and eighty ships. They provided these alone, since the Plataeans did not fight with the Athenians at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis for this reason: when the Hellenes departed from +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium and were off +Chalcis [23.6083,38.4667] (Perseus) Chalcis, the Plataeans landed on the opposite shore of Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia and attended to the removal of their households. In bringing these to safety they were left behind.

The Athenians, while the Pelasgians ruled what is now called Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, were Pelasgians, bearing the name of Cranai. When Cecrops was their king they were called Cecropidae, and when Erechtheus succeeded to the rule, they changed their name and became Athenians. When, however, Ion son of Xuthus was commander of the Athenian army, they were called after him Ionians.

The Megarians provided the same number as at +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium. The Ampraciots came to help with seven ships, and the Leucadians, who are Dorians from Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus) Corinth, with three.

Of the islanders, the Aeginetans provided thirty ships. They had other manned ships, but they guarded their own land with these and fought at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis with the thirty most seaworthy. The Aeginetans are Dorians from Epidauros [23.0917,37.6] (Perseus)Epidaurus, and their island was formerly called Oenone.

After the Aeginetans came the Chalcidians with their twenty ships from +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium, and the Eretrians with the same seven; these are Ionians. Next were the Ceans, Ionians from Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, with the same ships as before.

The Naxians provided four ships. They had been sent by their fellow citizens to the Persians, like the rest of the islanders, but they disregarded their orders and came to the Hellenes at the urging of Democritus, an esteemed man among the townsmen and at that time captain of a trireme. The Naxians are Ionians descended from Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens.

The Styrians provided the same number of ships as at +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium, and the Cythnians one trireme and a fifty-oared boat; these are both Dryopians. The Seriphians, Siphnians, and Melians also took part, since they were the only islanders who had not given earth and water to the barbarian.

All these people who live this side of +Nomo Thesprotias [20.333,39.5] (department), Epirus, Greece, Europe Thesprotia and the Acheron river took part in the war. The Thesprotians border on the Ampraciots and Leucadians, who were the ones who came from the most distant countries to take part in the war. The only ones living beyond these to help Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas in its danger were the Crotonians, with one ship. Its captain was Phayllus, three times victor in the Pythian games. The Crotonians are Achaeans by birth.

All of these came to the war providing triremes, except the Melians and Siphnians and Seriphians, who brought fifty-oared boats. The Melians (who are of Lacedaemonian stock) provided two; the Siphnians and Seriphians, who are Ionians from Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, one each. The total number of ships, besides the fifty-oared boats, was three hundred and seventy-eight.

When the generals from the aforementioned cities, met at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, they held a council and Eurybiades proposed that whoever wanted to should give his opinion on what place under their control was most suitable for a sea battle. Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica was already lost, and he proposed that they consider the places which were left.

The consensus of most of the speakers was to sail to the Isthmus and fight at sea for the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, giving this reason: if they were defeated in the fight at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis they would be besieged on an island, where no help could come to them, but if they were at the Isthmus they could go ashore to their own lands.

While the generals from the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese considered this argument, an Athenian came with the message that the barbarians had reached Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica and were destroying all of it by fire.

The army with Xerxes had made its way through Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia and burnt the city of the Thespians, who had abandoned it and gone to the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, and Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea likewise. Now the army had come to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens and was devastating everything there. The army burnt Thespia and Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea upon learning from the Thebans that they had not medized.

Since the crossing of the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont, where the barbarians began their journey, they had spent one month there crossing into Europe (continent)Europe and in three more months were in Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica, when Calliades was archon at Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens.

When they took the town it was deserted, but in the sacred precinct they found a few Athenians, stewards of the sacred precinct and poor people, who defended themselves against the assault by fencing the acropolis with doors and logs. They had not withdrawn to Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis not only because of poverty but also because they thought they had discovered the meaning of the oracle the Pythia had given, namely that the wooden wall would be impregnable. They believed that according to the oracle this, not the ships, was the refuge.

The Persians took up a position on the hill opposite the acropolis, which the Athenians call the Areopagus, and besieged them in this way: they wrapped arrows in tar and set them on fire, and then shot them at the barricade. Still the besieged Athenians defended themselves, although they had come to the utmost danger and their barricade had failed them.

When the Pisistratids proposed terms of surrender, they would not listen but contrived defenses such as rolling down boulders onto the barbarians when they came near the gates. For a long time Xerxes was at a loss, unable to capture them.

In time a way out of their difficulties was revealed to the barbarians, since according to the oracle all the mainland of Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica had to become subject to the Persians. In front of the acropolis, and behind the gates and the ascent, was a place where no one was on guard, since no one thought any man could go up that way. Here some men climbed up, near the sacred precinct of Cecrops' daughter Aglaurus, although the place was a sheer cliff.

When the Athenians saw that they had ascended to the acropolis, some threw themselves off the wall and were killed, and others fled into the chamber. The Persians who had come up first turned to the gates, opened them, and murdered the suppliants. When they had levelled everything, they plundered the sacred precinct and set fire to the entire acropolis.

So it was that Xerxes took complete possession of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, and he sent a horseman to Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa to announce his present success to Artabanus. On the day after the messenger was sent, he called together the Athenian exiles who accompanied him and asked them go up to the acropolis and perform sacrifices in their customary way, an order given because he had been inspired by a dream or because he felt remorse after burning the sacred precinct. The Athenian exiles did as they were commanded.

I will tell why I have mentioned this. In that acropolis is a shrine of Erechtheus, called the “Earthborn,” and in the shrine are an olive tree and a pool of salt water. The story among the Athenians is that they were set there by Poseidon and Athena as tokens when they contended for the land. It happened that the olive tree was burnt by the barbarians with the rest of the sacred precinct, but on the day after its burning, when the Athenians ordered by the king to sacrifice went up to the sacred precinct, they saw a shoot of about a cubit's length sprung from the stump, and they reported this.

When this business concerning the Athenian acropolis was announced to the Hellenes at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, some of the Peloponnesian generals became so alarmed that they did not even wait for the proposed matter to be decided, but jumped into their ships and hoisted their sails for flight. Those left behind resolved that the fleet should fight for the Isthmus. Night fell, and they dissolved the assembly and boarded their ships.

When Themistocles returned to his ship, Mnesiphilus, an Athenian, asked him what had been decided. Learning from him that they had resolved to sail to the Isthmus and fight for the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, he said,

“If they depart from Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, you will no longer be fighting for one country. Each will make his way to his own city, and neither Eurybiades nor any other man will be able to keep them from disbanding the army. Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas will be destroyed by bad planning. If there is any way at all that you could persuade Eurybiades to change his decision and remain here, go try to undo this resolution.”

This advice greatly pleased Themistocles. He made no answer and went to the ship of Eurybiades. When he arrived there, he said he wanted to talk with him on a matter of common interest, so Eurybiades bade him come aboard and say what he wanted.

Themistocles sat next to him and told him all that he had heard from Mnesiphilus, pretending it was his own idea and adding many other things. Finally by his entreaty he persuaded him to disembark and gather the generals for a council of war.

When they were assembled and before Eurybiades had a chance to put forward the reason he had called the generals together, Themistocles spoke at length in accordance with the urgency of his request. While he was speaking, the Corinthian general Adeimantus son of Ocytus said, “Themistocles, at the games those who start before the signal are beaten with rods.” Themistocles said in justification, “Those left behind win no crown.”

He answered the Corinthian mildly and said to Eurybiades nothing of what he had said before, how if they put out from Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis they would flee different ways, for it would be unbecoming for him to accuse the allies in their presence. Instead he relied on a different argument and said,

“It is in your hands to save Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, if you will obey me and remain here to fight, and not obey the words of these others and move your ships back to the Isthmus. Compare each plan after you have heard. If you join battle at the Isthmus, you will fight in the open sea where it is least to our advantage, since our ships are heavier and fewer in number. You will also lose Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis and +Megara [23.35,38] (Perseus) Megara and +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina, even if we succeed in all else. Their land army will accompany their fleet, and so you will lead them to the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese and risk all Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

But if you do what I say, you will find it useful in these ways: first, by engaging many ships with our few in the strait, we shall win a great victory, if the war turns out reasonably, for it is to our advantage to fight in a strait and to their advantage to fight in a wide area. Second, Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis will survive, where we have carried our children and women to safety. It also has in it something you are very fond of: by remaining here you will be fighting for the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese just as much as at the Isthmus, and you will not lead them to the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, if you exercise good judgment.

If what I expect happens and we win the victory with our ships, you will not have the barbarians upon you at the Isthmus. They will advance no further than Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica and depart in no order, and we shall gain an advantage by the survival of +Megara [23.35,38] (Perseus) Megara, +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina, and Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, where it is prophesied that we will prevail against our enemies. Men usually succeed when they have reasonable plans. If their plans are unreasonable, the god does not wish to assent to human intentions.”

As Themistocles said this, Adeimantus the Corinthian attacked him again, advising that a man without a city should keep quiet and that Eurybiades should not ask the vote of a man without a city. He advised Themistocles to contribute his opinion when he provided a city—attacking him in this way because Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens was captured and occupied.

This time Themistocles said many things against him and the Corinthians, declaring that so long as they had two hundred manned ships, the Athenians had both a city and a land greater than theirs, and that none of the Hellenes could repel them if they attacked.

Next he turned his argument to Eurybiades, saying more vehemently than before, “If you remain here, you will be an noble man. If not, you will ruin Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas. All our strength for war is in our ships, so listen to me.

If you do not do this, we will immediately gather up our households and travel to +Siris [15.6333,40.0667] (Perseus) Siris in Italy [12.833,42.833] (nation), Europe Italy, which has been ours since ancient times, and the prophecies say we must found a colony there. You will remember these words when you are without such allies.”

When Themistocles said this, Eurybiades changed his mind. I think he did so chiefly out of fear that the Athenians might desert them if they set sail for the Isthmus. If the Athenians left, the rest would be no match for the enemy, so he made the choice to remain there and fight.

After this skirmish of words, since Eurybiades had so resolved, the men at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis prepared to fight where they were. At sunrise on the next day there was an earthquake on land and sea,

and they resolved to pray to the gods and summon the sons of Aeacus as allies. When they had so resolved, they did as follows: they prayed to all the gods, called Ajax and Telamon to come straight from Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, and sent a ship to +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina for Aeacus and his sons.

Book 8, Part 4

Dicaeus son of Theocydes, an Athenian exile who had become important among the Medes, said that at the time when the land of Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica was being laid waste by Xerxes' army and there were no Athenians in the country, he was with Demaratus the Lacedaemonian on the Thriasian plain and saw advancing from +Eleusis [23.5583,38.0417] (Perseus) Eleusis a cloud of dust as if raised by the feet of about thirty thousand men. They marvelled at what men might be raising such a cloud of dust and immediately heard a cry. The cry seemed to be the “Iacchus” of the mysteries,

and when Demaratus, ignorant of the rites of +Eleusis [23.5583,38.0417] (Perseus) Eleusis, asked him what was making this sound, Dicaeus said, “Demaratus, there is no way that some great disaster will not befall the king's army. Since Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica is deserted, it is obvious that this voice is divine and comes from +Eleusis [23.5583,38.0417] (Perseus) Eleusis to help the Athenians and their allies.

If it descends upon the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, the king himself and his army on the mainland will be endangered. If, however, it turns towards the ships at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, the king will be in danger of losing his fleet.

Every year the Athenians observe this festival for the Mother and the Maiden, and any Athenian or other Hellene who wishes is initiated. The voice which you hear is the ‘Iacchus’ they cry at this festival.” To this Demaratus replied, “Keep silent and tell this to no one else.

If these words of yours are reported to the king, you will lose your head, and neither I nor any other man will be able to save you, so be silent. The gods will see to the army.”

Thus he advised, and after the dust and the cry came a cloud, which rose aloft and floated away towards Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis to the camp of the Hellenes. In this way they understood that Xerxes' fleet was going to be destroyed. Dicaeus son of Theocydes used to say this, appealing to Demaratus and others as witnesses.

When those stationed with Xerxes' fleet had been to see the Laconian disaster at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae, they crossed over from +Trachis [22.55,38.8] (Perseus) Trachis to Histiaea, waited three days, and then sailed through the Euripus, and in three more days they were at Phalerum, the port of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens. I think no less a number invaded Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens by land and sea than came to Sepias and +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae.

Those killed by the storm, at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae, and in the naval battles at +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium, I offset with those who did not yet follow the king: the Melians and Dorians and Locrians and the whole force of Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia except the Thespians and Plataeans; and the Carystians and Andrians and Teneans and all the rest of the islanders, except the five cities whose names I previously mentioned. The farther into Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas the Persian advanced, the more nations followed him.

All these came to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens except the Parians. The Parians stayed behind in Cythnus watching to see which way the war turned out. When the rest of them reached Phalerum, Xerxes himself went down to the ships, wishing to mix with the sailors and hear their opinions.

He came and sat on his throne, and present at his summons were the tyrants of all the peoples and the company leaders from the fleet. They sat according to the honor which the king had granted each of them, first the king of +Sidon [35.366,33.55] (inhabited place), Al-Janub, Lebanon, Asia Sidon, then the king of +Tyre [35.183,33.266] (inhabited place), Al-Janub, Lebanon, Asia Tyre, then the rest. When they sat in order one after another, Xerxes sent Mardonius to test each by asking if they should fight at sea.

Mardonius went about questioning them, starting with the Sidonian, and all the others were unanimous, advising to fight at sea, but Artemisia said,

“Tell the king, Mardonius, that I, who neither was most cowardly in the sea battles off +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea nor performed the least feats of arms, say this: ‘Master, it is just for me to declare my real opinion, what I consider to be best for your cause. And I say to you this: spare your ships, and do not fight at sea. Their men are as much stronger than your men by sea as men are stronger than women.

Why is it so necessary for you to risk everything by fighting at sea? Do you not possess Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, for which you set out on this march, and do you not have the rest of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas? No one stands in your way. Those who opposed you have received what they deserved.

I will tell you how I think the affairs of your enemies will turn out: If you do not hurry to fight at sea, but keep your ships here and stay near land, or even advance into the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, then, my lord, you will easily accomplish what you had in mind on coming here.

The Hellenes are not able to hold out against you for a long time, but you will scatter them, and they will each flee to their own cities. I have learned that they have no food on this island, and it is not likely, if you lead your army against the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, that those of them who have come from there will sit still, nor will they care to fight at sea for Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens.

But if you hurry to fight at sea immediately, I fear that your fleet if reduced to cowardice may also injure your army on land. In addition, my King, take this to heart: Good people's slaves tend to be base, and the slaves of the base tend to be good. You, who are best among men, have base slaves, who are accounted your allies, the Egyptians and Cyprians and Cilicians and Pamphylians, who are of no use at all.’”

When she said this to Mardonius, all who were well disposed towards Artemisia lamented her words, thinking she would suffer some ill from the king because she advised against fighting at sea. Those who were jealous and envied her, because she was given honor among the chief of all the allies, were glad at her answer, thinking she would be killed.

But when the counsels were reported to Xerxes, he was greatly pleased by Artemisia's opinion. Even before this he had considered her of excellent character, and now he praised her much more highly. Still he ordered that the majority be obeyed, for he believed that at +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea they had purposely fought badly because he was not there. This time he had made preparations to see the battle in person.

When the command to put out to sea was given, they set sail for Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis and were calmly marshalled in line. There was not enough daylight left for them to fight, since night came on, so they made preparations for the next day.

Fear and dread possessed the Hellenes, especially those from the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese. They were afraid because they were stationed in Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis and were about to fight at sea on behalf of the land of the Athenians, and if they were defeated they would be trapped on an island and besieged, leaving their own land unguarded.

That very night the land army of the barbarians began marching to the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese. Yet every possible device had been used to prevent the barbarians from invading by the mainland. As soon as the Peloponnesians learned that Leonidas and his men at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae were dead, they ran together from their cities and took up their position at the Isthmus. Their general was Cleombrotus son of Anaxandrides, the brother of Leonidas.

When they were in position at the Isthmus, they demolished the Scironian road and then, after resolving in council, built a wall across the Isthmus. Since there were many tens of thousands and everyone worked, the task was completed, as they brought in stones and bricks and logs and baskets full of sand. At no moment of the day or night did those who had marched out there rest from their work.

These were the Hellenes who marched out in a body to the Isthmus: the Lacedaemonians and all the Arcadians, the Eleans and Corinthians and Sicyonians and Epidaurians and Phliasians and Troezenians and Hermioneans. These were the ones who marched out and feared for Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas in her peril. The rest of the Peloponnesians cared nothing, though the Olympian and Carnean festivals were now past.

Seven nations inhabit the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese. Two of these are aboriginal and are now settled in the land where they lived in the old days, the Arcadians and Cynurians. One nation, the Achaean, has never left the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, but it has left its own country and inhabits another nation's land.

The four remaining nations of the seven are immigrants, the Dorians and Aetolians and Dryopians and Lemnians. The Dorians have many famous cities, the Aetolians only +Elis [21.4,37.8833] (Perseus) Elis, the Dryopians Hermione and +Asine [22.8833,37.525] (Perseus) Asine near Laconian Cardamyle, the Lemnians all the Paroreatae.

The Cynurians are aboriginal and seem to be the only Ionians, but they have been Dorianized by time and by Argive rule. They are the Orneatae and the perioikoi. All the remaining cities of these seven nations, except those I enumerated, stayed neutral. If I may speak freely, by staying neutral they medized.

Those at the Isthmus were involved in so great a labor, since all they had was at stake and they did not expect the ships to win distinction. Those at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis heard of their labors but still were full of dread, fearing not for themselves but for the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese.

For a time each man talked quietly to his neighbor, wondering at Eurybiades' folly, but finally it came out into the open. They held an assembly and talked at length on the same matters as before: some said they must sail away to the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese and risk battle for that country, not stay and fight for a captured land; but the Athenians and Aeginetans and Megarians said they must stay and defend themselves.

When the Peloponnesians were outvoting him, Themistocles secretly left the assembly, and sent a man by boat to the Median fleet after ordering him what to say. His name was Sicinnus, and he was Themistocles' servant and his sons' attendant. Later Themistocles enrolled him as a Thespian, when the Thespians were adopting citizens, and made him wealthy with money.

He now came by boat and said to the generals of the barbarians, “The Athenian general has sent me without the knowledge of the other Hellenes. He is on the king's side and prefers that your affairs prevail, not the Hellenes'. I am to tell you that the Hellenes are terrified and plan flight, and you can now perform the finest deed of all if you do not allow them to escape.

They do not all have the same intent, and they will no longer oppose you. Instead you will see them fighting against themselves, those who are on your side against those who are not.” After indicating this to them he departed.

Finding the message credible, they first landed many of the Persians on the islet of Psyttalea, which lies between Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis and the mainland. When it was midnight, they brought their western wing in a circle towards Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, and those stationed at +Kea [24.366,37.566] (island), Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Ceos and Cynosura also put out to sea, occupying all the passage as far as Munychia with their ships.

They launched their ships in this way so that the Hellenes would have no escape: they would be trapped at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis and pay the penalty for the battles at +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium. The purpose of their landing Persians on the islet called Psyttalea was this: when the battle took place, it was chiefly there that the men and wrecks would be washed ashore, for the island lay in the path of the impending battle. The Persians would be able to save some of those who washed up and kill the others.

They did this in silence for fear that their enemies hear, making their preparations at night without sleep.

I cannot say against oracles that they are not true, and I do not wish to try to discredit them when they speak plainly. Look at the following matter: When the sacred headland of golden-sworded Artemis and Cynosura by the sea they bridge with ships, After sacking shiny Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens in mad hope, Divine Justice will extinguish mighty Greed the son of Insolence Lusting terribly, thinking to devour all.

Bronze will come together with bronze, and Ares Will redden the sea with blood. To Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas the day of freedom Far-seeing Zeus and august Victory will bring. Considering this, I dare to say nothing against Bacis concerning oracles when he speaks so plainly, nor will I consent to it by others.

Among the generals at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis there was fierce argument. They did not yet know that the barbarians had encircled them with their ships, supposing them still marshalled in the place where they had seen them by day.

As the generals disputed, Aristides son of Lysimachus, an Athenian, crossed over from +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina. Although he had been ostracized by the people, I, learning by inquiry of his character, have come to believe that he was the best and most just man in Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens.

This man stood at the assembly and called Themistocles out, although he was no friend of his, but his bitter enemy. Because of the magnitude of the present ills, he deliberately forgot all that and called him out, wanting to talk to him. He had already heard that those from the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese were anxious to set sail for the Isthmus,

so when Themistocles came out he said, “On all occasions and especially now our contention must be over which of us will do our country more good.

I say that it is all the same for the Peloponnesians to speak much or little about sailing away from here, for I have seen with my own eyes that even if the Corinthians and Eurybiades himself wanted to, they would not be able to escape. We are encircled by the enemy. Go in and indicate this to them.”

Themistocles answered, “Your exhortation is most useful and you bring good news. You have come as an eyewitness of just what I wanted to happen. Know that I am the cause of what the Medes are doing. When the Hellenes would not willingly enter battle, it was necessary to force them against their will. Since you have come bringing good news, tell it to them yourself.

Book 8, Part 5

If I say these things, they will think I invented it, and they will not believe that the barbarians are doing this. Go in yourself and let them know how it stands. It would be best if they believe you when you tell them, but if they find these things incredible it is all the same to us. They will not be able to run away, if indeed we are surrounded on all sides as you say.”

Aristides went in and told them, saying that he had come from +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina and had barely made it past the blockade when he sailed out, since all the Hellenic camp was surrounded by Xerxes' ships. He advised them to prepare to defend themselves. He said this and left, and again a dispute arose among them. The majority of the generals did not believe the news.

While they were still held by disbelief, a trireme of Tenian deserters arrived, captained by Panaetius son of Sosimenes, which brought them the whole truth. For this deed the Tenians were engraved on the tripod at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi with those who had conquered the barbarian.

With this ship that deserted at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis and the Lemnian which deserted earlier at +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium, the Hellenic fleet reached its full number of three hundred and eighty ships, for it had fallen short of the number by two ships.

When they found the words of the Tenians worthy of belief, the Hellenes prepared to fight at sea. As dawn glimmered, they held an assembly of the fighting men, and Themistocles gave the best address among the others. His entire speech involved comparing the better and lesser elements in human nature and the human condition.

He concluded his speech by advising them to choose the better of these, then gave the command to mount the ships. Just as they embarked, the trireme which had gone after the sons of Aeacus arrived from +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina.

Then the Hellenes set sail with all their ships, and as they were putting out to sea the barbarians immediately attacked them. The rest of the Hellenes began to back water and tried to beach their ships, but Ameinias of +Pallene [23.8833,38.05] (Perseus) Pallene, an Athenian, charged and rammed a ship. When his ship became entangled and the crew could not free it, the others came to help Ameinias and joined battle.

The Athenians say that the fighting at sea began this way, but the Aeginetans say that the ship which had been sent to +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina after the sons of Aeacus was the one that started it. The story is also told that the phantom of a woman appeared to them, who cried commands loud enough for all the Hellenic fleet to hear, reproaching them first with, “Men possessed, how long will you still be backing water?”

The Phoenicians were marshalled against the Athenians, holding the western wing toward +Eleusis [23.5583,38.0417] (Perseus) Eleusis. Against the Lacedaemonians were the Ionians, on the eastern wing toward +Piraeus [23.6583,37.9583] (Perseus) Piraeus, and a few of them fought badly according to Themistocles' instructions, but the majority did not.

I can list the names of many captains who captured Hellenic ships, but I will mention none except Theomestor son of Androdamas and Phylacus son of Histiaeus, both Samians.

I mention only these because Theomestor was appointed tyrant of +Nisos Samos [26.8,37.75] (island), Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Samos by the Persians for this feat, and Phylacus was recorded as a benefactor of the king and granted much land. The king's benefactors are called “orosangae” in the Persian language.

Thus it was concerning them. But the majority of the ships at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis were sunk, some destroyed by the Athenians, some by the Aeginetans. Since the Hellenes fought in an orderly fashion by line, but the barbarians were no longer in position and did nothing with forethought, it was likely to turn out as it did. Yet they were brave that day, much more brave than they had been at +Euboea [23.833,38.566] (island), Nomos Evvoias, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Euboea, for they all showed zeal out of fear of Xerxes, each one thinking that the king was watching him.

I cannot say exactly how each of the other barbarians or Hellenes fought, but this is what happened to Artemisia, and it gave her still higher esteem with the king:

When the king's side was all in commotion, at that time Artemisia's ship was pursued by a ship of Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica. She could not escape, for other allied ships were in front of her and hers was the nearest to the enemy. So she resolved to do something which did in fact benefit her: as she was pursued by the Attic ship, she charged and rammed an allied ship, with a Calyndian crew and Damasithymus himself, king of the Calyndians, aboard.

I cannot say if she had some quarrel with him while they were still at the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont, or whether she did this intentionally or if the ship of the Calyndians fell in her path by chance.

But when she rammed and sank it, she had the luck of gaining two advantages. When the captain of the Attic ship saw her ram a ship with a barbarian crew, he decided that Artemisia's ship was either Hellenic or a deserter from the barbarians fighting for them, so he turned away to deal with others.

Thus she happened to escape and not be destroyed, and it also turned out that the harmful thing which she had done won her exceptional esteem from Xerxes.

It is said that the king, as he watched the battle, saw her ship ram the other, and one of the bystanders said, “Master, do you see how well Artemisia contends in the contest and how she has sunk an enemy ship?” When he asked if the deed was truly Artemisia's, they affirmed it, knowing reliably the marking of her ship, and they supposed that the ruined ship was an enemy.

As I have said, all this happened to bring her luck, and also that no one from the Calyndian ship survived to accuse her. It is said that Xerxes replied to what was told him, “My men have become women, and my women men.” They say this is what Xerxes said.

In this struggle the general Ariabignes died, son of Darius and the brother of Xerxes. Many other famous men of the Persians and Medes and other allies also died, but only a few Hellenes, since they knew how to swim. Those whose ships were sunk swam across to Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, unless they were killed in action,

but many of the barbarians drowned in the sea since they did not know how to swim. Most of the ships were sunk when those in the front turned to flee, since those marshalled in the rear, as they tried to go forward with their ships so they too could display some feat to the king, ran afoul of their own side's ships in flight.

It also happened in this commotion that certain Phoenicians whose ships had been destroyed came to the king and accused the Ionians of treason, saying that it was by their doing that the ships had been lost. It turned out that the Ionian generals were not put to death, and those Phoenicians who slandered them were rewarded as I will show.

While they were still speaking, a Samothracian ship rammed an Attic ship. The Attic ship sank and an Aeginetan ship bore down and sank the Samothracian ship, but the Samothracians, being javelin-throwers, by pelting them with missiles knocked the fighters off the ship that had sunk theirs and boarded and seized it.

This saved the Ionians. In his deep vexation Xerxes blamed everyone. When he saw the Ionians performing this great feat, he turned to the Phoenicians and commanded that their heads be cut off, so that they who were base not slander men more noble.

Whenever Xerxes, as he sat beneath the mountain opposite Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis which is called Aegaleos, saw one of his own men achieve some feat in the battle, he inquired who did it, and his scribes wrote down the captain's name with his father and city of residence. The presence of Ariaramnes, a Persian and a friend of the Ionians, contributed still more to this calamity of the Phoenicians. Thus they dealt with the Phoenicians.

The barbarians were routed and tried to flee by sailing out to Phalerum, but the Aeginetans lay in wait for them in the strait and then performed deeds worth telling. The Athenians in the commotion destroyed those ships which either resisted or tried to flee, the Aeginetans those sailing out of the strait. Whoever escaped from the Athenians charged right into the Aeginetans.

The ships of Themistocles, as he was pursuing a ship, and of Polycritus son of Crius, an Aeginetan, then met. Polycritus had rammed a Sidonian ship, the one which had captured the Aeginetan ship that was on watch off Sciathus, and on it was Pytheas son of Ischenous, the one the Persians marvelled at when severely wounded and kept aboard their ship because of his virtue. This Sidonian ship carrying him with the Persians was now captured, so Pytheas came back safe to +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina.

When Polycritus saw the Attic ship, he recognized it by seeing the flagship's marking and shouted to Themistocles, mocking and reproaching him concerning the Medizing of the Aeginetans. After ramming an enemy ship, Polycritus hurled these insults at Themistocles. The barbarians whose ships were still intact fled and reached Phalerum under cover of the land army.

In this battle the Hellenes with the reputation as most courageous were the Aeginetans, then the Athenians. Among individuals they were Polycritus the Aeginetan and the Athenians Eumenes of Anagyrus and Aminias of +Pallene [23.8833,38.05] (Perseus) Pallene, the one who pursued Artemisia. If he had known she was in that ship, he would not have stopped before either capturing it or being captured himself.

Such were the orders given to the Athenian captains, and there was a prize offered of ten thousand drachmas to whoever took her alive, since they were indignant that a woman waged war against Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens. But she escaped, as I said earlier, and the others whose ships survived were also in Phalerum.

The Athenians say that when the ships joined battle, the Corinthian general Adeimantus, struck with bewilderment and terror, hoisted his sails and fled away. When the Corinthians saw their flagship fleeing, they departed in the same way,

but when in their flight they were opposite the sacred precinct of Athena Sciras on Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, by divine guidance a boat encountered them. No one appeared to have sent it, and the Corinthians knew nothing about the affairs of the fleet when it approached. They reckon the affair to involve the gods because when the boat came near the ships, the people on the boat said,

“Adeimantus, you have turned your ships to flight and betrayed the Hellenes, but they are overcoming their enemies to the fulfillment of their prayers for victory.” Adeimantus did not believe them when they said this, so they spoke again, saying that they could be taken as hostages and killed if the Hellenes were not seen to be victorious.

So he and the others turned their ships around and came to the fleet, but it was all over. The Athenians spread this rumor about them, but the Corinthians do not agree at all, and they consider themselves to have been among the foremost in the battle. The rest of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas bears them witness.

Aristides son of Lysimachus, the Athenian whom I mentioned a little before this as a valiant man, did this in the commotion that arose at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis: taking many of the armed men who were arrayed along the shore of Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, he brought them across and landed them on the island of Psyttalea, and they slaughtered all the Persians who were on that islet.

When the battle was broken off, the Hellenes towed to Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis as many of the wrecks as were still there and kept ready for another battle, supposing that the king could still make use of his surviving ships.

A west wind had caught many of the wrecks and carried them to the shore in Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica called Colias. Thus not only was all the rest of the oracle fulfilled which Bacis and Musaeus had spoken about this battle, but also what had been said many years before this in an oracle by Lysistratus, an Athenian soothsayer, concerning the wrecks carried to shore there. Its meaning had eluded all the Hellenes: The Colian women will cook with oars. But this was to happen after the king had marched away.

When Xerxes understood the calamity which had taken place, he feared that some of the Ionians might advise the Hellenes, if they did not think of it themselves, to sail to the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont and destroy the bridges. He would be trapped in Europe (continent)Europe in danger of destruction, so he resolved on flight. He did not want to be detected either by the Hellenes or by his own men, so he attempted to build a dike across to Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, and joined together Phoenician cargo ships to be both a bridge and a wall, making preparations as if to fight another sea battle.

All who saw him doing this confidently supposed that he fully intended to stay and fight there, but none of this eluded Mardonius, who had the most experience of the king's intentions. While doing all this, Xerxes sent a messenger to Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia to announce the disaster.

While Xerxes did thus, he sent a messenger to Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia with news of his present misfortune. Now there is nothing mortal that accomplishes a course more swiftly than do these messengers, by the Persians' skillful contrivance. It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day's journey. These are stopped neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.

The first rider delivers his charge to the second, the second to the third, and thence it passes on from hand to hand, even as in the Greek torch-bearers' race in honor of Hephaestus. This riding-post is called in Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia, angareion.

When the first message came to Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa, saying that Xerxes had taken Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, it gave such delight to the Persians who were left at home that they strewed all the roads with myrtle boughs and burnt incense and gave themselves up to sacrificial feasts and jollity.

Book 8, Part 6

The second, however, coming on the heels of the first, so confounded them that they all tore their tunics, and cried and lamented without ceasing, holding Mardonius to blame; it was not so much in grief for their ships that they did this as because they feared for Xerxes himself.

Such was the plight of the Persians for all the time until the coming of Xerxes himself ended it. Mardonius, however, seeing that Xerxes was greatly distressed because of the sea-fight, and suspecting that he planned flight from Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, thought that he would be punished for persuading the king to march against Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas and that it was better for him to risk the chance of either subduing Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas or dying honorably while engaged in a noble cause; yet his hope rather inclined to the subduing of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas. Taking all this into account, he made this proposal:

“Sire, be not grieved nor greatly distressed because of what has befallen us. It is not on things of wood that the issue hangs for us, but on men and horses; furthermore, there is no one among these men, who thinks that he has now won a crowning victory and will disembark from his ship in an attempt to withstand you, no, nor anyone from this mainland. Those who have withstood us have paid the penalty.

If then you so desire, let us straightway attack the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, or if it pleases you to wait, that also we can do. Do not be downcast, for the Greeks have no way of escaping guilt for their former and their later deeds and from becoming your slaves. It is best then that you should do as I have said, but if you have resolved to lead your army away, even then I have another plan.

Do not, O king, make the Persians the laughing-stock of the Greeks, for if you have suffered harm, it is by no fault of the Persians. Nor can you say that we have anywhere done less than brave men should, and if Phoenicians and Egyptians and Cyprians and Cilicians have so done, it is not the Persians who have any part in this disaster.

Therefore, since the Persians are in no way to blame, be guided by me; if you are resolved not to remain, march homewards with the greater part of your army. It is for me, however, to enslave and deliver Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas to you with three hundred thousand of your host whom I will choose.”

When Xerxes heard that, he was as glad and joyful as a man in his situation might be and said to Mardonius that he would answer him after deliberating which of the two plans he would follow. When he consulted with those Persians whom he summoned, he resolved to send for Artemisia as well, because he saw that she alone at the former sitting had discerned what was best to do.

When Artemisia came, Xerxes bade all others withdraw, both Persian councillors and guards, and said to her: “It is Mardonius' advice that I should follow here and attack the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, for the Persians, he says, and the land army are not to blame for our disaster; of that they would willingly give proof.

Therefore he advises me to do this, or else he offers to choose three hundred thousand men of the army and deliver Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas to me enslaved, while I myself by his counsel march homeward with the rest of the host.

Now I ask of you, seeing that you correctly advised me against the late sea-fight, counsel me as to which of these two things would be best for me to do.”

When she was asked for advice, she replied: “It is difficult, O king, to answer your plea for advice by saying that which is best, but in the present turn of affairs I think it best that you march back and that Mardonius, if he so wishes and promises to do as he says, be left here with those whom he desires.

For if he subdues all that he offers to subdue and prospers in his design, the achievement, Sire, is yours since it will be your servants who have accomplished it. If, on the other hand, the issue is contrary to Mardonius' expectation, it is no great misfortune so long as you and all that household of yours are safe;

for while you and the members of your household are safe, many a time will the Greeks have to fight for their lives. As for Mardonius, if any disaster befalls him, it is does not much matter, nor will any victory of the Greeks be a real victory when they have but slain your servant. As for you, you will be marching home after the burning of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, which thing was the whole purpose of your expedition.”

Artemisia's counsel pleased Xerxes, for it happened that she spoke what he himself had in mind. In truth, I think that he would not have remained even if all men and women had counselled him so to do—so panic-stricken was he. Having then thanked Artemisia, he sent her away to take his sons to +Ephesus [27.316,37.916] (deserted settlement), Izmir Ili, Ege kiyilari, Turkey, Asia Ephesus, for he had some bastard sons with him.

With these sons he sent Hermotimus as guardian. This man was by birth of +Pedasa [27.3833,37.0333] (Perseus) Pedasa, and the most honored by Xerxes of all his eunuchs. The people of +Pedasa [27.3833,37.0333] (Perseus) Pedasa dwell above Bodrum [27.466,37.5] (inhabited place), Mugla Ili, Ege kiyilari, Turkey, Asia Halicarnassus. The following thing happens among these people: when anything untoward is about to befall those who dwell about their city, the priestess of Athena then grows a great beard. This had already happened to them twice.

Hermotimus, who came from +Pedasa [27.3833,37.0333] (Perseus) Pedasa, had achieved a fuller vengeance for wrong done to him than had any man whom we know. When he had been taken captive by enemies and put up for sale, he was bought by one Panionius of +Khios [26.116,38.383] (inhabited place), Chios, Khios, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Chios, a man who had set himself to earn a livelihood out of most wicked practices. He would procure beautiful boys and castrate and take them to Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis and +Ephesus [27.316,37.916] (deserted settlement), Izmir Ili, Ege kiyilari, Turkey, Asia Ephesus where he sold them for a great price,

for the barbarians value eunuchs more than perfect men, by reason of the full trust that they have in them. Now among the many whom Panionius had castrated was Hermotimus, who was not entirely unfortunate; he was brought from Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis together with other gifts to the king, and as time went on, he stood higher in Xerxes' favor than any other eunuch.

Now while the king was at Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis and preparing to lead his Persian army against Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, Hermotimus came for some business down to the part of +Mysia (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Mysia which is inhabited by Chians and called +Atarneus [26.95,39.05] (Perseus) Atarneus. There he found Panionius.

Perceiving who he was, he held long and friendly converse with him, telling him that it was to him that he owed all this prosperity and promising that he would make him prosperous in return if he were to bring his household and dwell there. Panionius accepted his offer gladly, and brought his children and his wife.

When Hermotimus had gotten the man and all his household into his power, he said to him: “Tell me, you who have made a livelihood out of the wickedest trade on earth, what harm had I or any of my forefathers done to you or yours, that you made me to be no man, but a thing of nought? You no doubt thought that the gods would have no knowledge of your former practices, but their just law has brought you for your wicked deeds into my hands. Now you will be well content with the fullness of that justice which I will execute upon you.”

With these words of reproach, he brought Panionius' sons before him and compelled him to castrate all four of them—his own children; this Panionius was compelled to do. When he had done this, the sons were compelled to castrate their father in turn. This, then, was the way in which Panionius was overtaken by vengeance at the hands of Hermotimus.

Having given his sons to Artemisia's charge to be carried to +Ephesus [27.316,37.916] (deserted settlement), Izmir Ili, Ege kiyilari, Turkey, Asia Ephesus, Xerxes called Mardonius to him and bade him choose whom he would from the army, and make his words good so far as endeavor availed. That is as far as matters went on that day; in the night, however, the admirals, by the king's command, put out to sea from Phalerum and made for the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont again with all speed to guard the bridges for the king's passage.

When the barbarians came near to the “Girdle” in their course, they thought that certain little headlands, which here jut out from the mainland, were ships, and they fled for a long way. When they learned at last that they were no ships but headlands, they drew together and went on their way.

When it was day, the Greeks saw the land army abiding where it had been and supposed the ships also to be at Phalerum. Thinking also that there would be a sea-fight they prepared to defend themselves. When, however, they learned that the ships were gone, they straightway resolved on pursuit; so they pursued Xerxes' fleet as far as +Andros [24.9,37.816] (inhabited place), Nisos Andros, Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Andros, but failed to catch sight of it. When they came to +Andros [24.9,37.816] (inhabited place), Nisos Andros, Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Andros, they held a council there.

Themistocles declared his opinion that they should hold their course through the islands, and having pursued the ships, should sail forthwith to the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont to break the bridges. Eurybiades, on the other hand, offered a contrary opinion, saying that to break the bridges would be the greatest harm that they could do to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

“For,” said he, “if the Persian is cut off and compelled to remain in Europe (continent)Europe, he will attempt not to be inactive. This he will do because if he remains inactive, he can neither make his cause prosper nor find any way of return home, but his army will perish of hunger. If, on the other hand, he is enterprising and active, it may well be that every town and nation in Europe (continent)Europe will join itself to him, by conquest or, before that, by compact. He will then live on whatever yearly fruits of the earth Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas produces.

But, as I think that the Persian will not remain in Europe (continent)Europe after his defeat in the sea-fight, let us permit him to flee to his own country. Thereafter let it be that country and not ours which is at stake in the war.” With that opinion the rest of the Peloponnesian admirals also agreed.

When Themistocles perceived that he could not persuade the greater part of them to sail to the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont, he turned to the Athenians (for they were the angriest at the Persians' escape, and they were minded to sail to the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont even by themselves, if the rest would not) and addressed them as follows:

“This I have often seen with my eyes and heard yet more often, namely that beaten men, when they be driven to bay, will rally and retrieve their former mishap. Therefore I say to you,—as it is to a fortunate chance that we owe ourselves and Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, and have driven away so mighty a band of enemies—let us not pursue men who flee,

for it is not we who have won this victory, but the gods and the heroes, who deemed Asia (continent)Asia and Europe (continent)Europe too great a realm for one man to rule, and that a wicked man and an impious one who dealt alike with temples and bones, burning and overthrowing the images of the gods,—yes, and one who scourged the sea and threw fetters into it.

But as it is well with us for the moment, let us abide now in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas and take thought for ourselves and our households. Let us build our houses again and be diligent in sowing, when we have driven the foreigner completely away. Then when the next spring comes, let us set sail for the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont and Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia.”

This he said with intent to have something to his credit with the Persian, so that he might have a place of refuge if ever (as might chance) he should suffer anything at the hands of the Athenians—and just that did in fact happen.

Thus spoke Themistocles with intent to deceive, and the Athenians obeyed him; since he had always been esteemed wise and now had shown himself to be both wise and prudent, they were ready to obey whatever he said.

Having won them over, Themistocles straightway sent men in a boat whom he could trust not to reveal under any question the message which he charged them to deliver to the king; one of these was his servant Sicinnus. When these men came to Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica, the rest remained with the boat, and Sicinnus went up to Xerxes;

“Themistocles son of Neocles,” he said, “who is the Athenian general and of all the allies the worthiest and wisest, has sent me to tell you this: Themistocles the Athenian has out of his desire to do you a service stayed the Greeks when they wanted to pursue your ships and break the bridges of the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont. Now he bids you go your way, none hindering you.” With that message, the men returned in their boat.

But the Greeks, now that they were no longer minded to pursue the barbarians' ships farther or sail to the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont and break the way of passage, besieged +Andros [24.9,37.816] (inhabited place), Nisos Andros, Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Andros so that they might take it,

for the men of that place, the first islanders of whom Themistocles demanded money, would not give it. When, however, Themistocles gave them to understand that the Athenians had come with two great gods to aid them, Persuasion and Necessity, and that the Andrians must therefore certainly give money, they said in response, “It is then but reasonable that Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens is great and prosperous, being blessed with serviceable gods.

As for us Andrians, we are but blessed with a plentiful lack of land, and we have two unserviceable gods who never quit our island but want to dwell there forever, namely Poverty and Helplessness. Since we are in the hands of these gods, we will give no money; the power of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens can never be stronger than our inability.”

It was for giving this answer and refusing to give what was asked of them that they were besieged. There was no end to Themistocles' avarice; using the same agents whom he had used with the king, he sent threatening messages to the other islands, demanding money and saying that if they would not give what he asked he would bring the Greek armada upon them and besiege and take their islands.

Thereby he collected great sums from the Carystians and Parians, for these were informed that +Andros [24.9,37.816] (inhabited place), Nisos Andros, Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Andros was besieged for taking the Persian side and that Themistocles was of all the generals the most esteemed. This frightened them so much that they sent money. I suppose that there were other islanders too who gave and not these alone, but I cannot with certainty say.

Nevertheless, the Carystians got no respite from misfortune by doing this. The Parians, however, propitiated Themistocles with money and so escaped the force. So Themistocles went away from +Andros [24.9,37.816] (inhabited place), Nisos Andros, Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Andros and took money from the islanders, unknown to the other generals.

Those who were with Xerxes waited for a few days after the sea-fight and then marched away to Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia by the road by which they had come. Mardonius wanted to give the king safe conduct and thought the time of year unseasonable for war; it was better, he thought, to winter in +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly, and then attack the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese in the spring.

Book 8, Part 7

When they had arrived in +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly, Mardonius first chose all the Persians called Immortals, save only Hydarnes their general who said that he would not quit the king's person, and next, the Persian cuirassiers and the thousand horse and the Medes and Sacae and Bactrians and Indians, alike their infantrymen and the rest of the horsemen.

These nations he chose in their entirety; of the rest of his allies he picked out a few from each people, the best men and those whom he knew to have done some good service. The Persians whom he chose (men who wore torques and bracelets) were more in number than those of any other nation and next to them the Medes; these indeed were as many as the Persians, but not such stout fighters. Thereby the whole number, together with the horsemen, grew to three hundred thousand men.

Now while Mardonius was choosing his army and Xerxes was in +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly, there came an oracle from Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi to the Lacedaemonians, that they should demand justice of Xerxes for the slaying of Leonidas and take whatever he should offer them. The Spartans then sent a herald with all speed. He found the army yet undivided in +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly, came into Xerxes' presence, and spoke as follows:

“The Lacedaemonians and the Heraclidae of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta demand of you, king of the Medes, that you pay the penalty for the death of their king, whom you killed while he defended Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.” At that Xerxes laughed, and after a long while, he pointed to Mardonius, who chanced to be standing by him and said, “Then here is Mardonius, who shall pay those you speak of such penalty as befits them.”

So the herald took that response and departed, but Xerxes left Mardonius in +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly. He himself journeyed with all speed to the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont and came in forty-five days to the passage for crossing, bringing back with him as good as none (if one may say so) of his host.

Wherever and to whatever people they came, they seized and devoured its produce. If they found none, they would eat the grass of the field and strip the bark and pluck the leaves of the trees, garden and wild alike, leaving nothing—such was the degree of their starvation.

Moreover, pestilence and dysentery broke out among them on their way, from which they died. Some who were sick Xerxes left behind, charging the cities to which he came in his march to care for them and nourish them, some in +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly and some in +Siris [15.6333,40.0667] (Perseus) Siris of Paeonia and in Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia.

In +Siris [15.6333,40.0667] (Perseus) Siris he had left the sacred chariot of Zeus when he was marching to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, but on his return he did not get it back again. The Paeonians had given it to the Thracians, and when Xerxes demanded it back, they said that the horses had been carried off from pasture by the Thracians of the hills who dwelt about the headwaters of the Strymon.

It was then that a monstrous deed was done by the Thracian king of the Bisaltae and the Crestonian country. He had refused to be of his own free will Xerxes' slave, and fled to the mountains called +Nomos Rodhopis [25.5,41.83] (department), Western Thrace, Greece, Europe Rhodope. He forbade his sons to go with the army to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas,

but they took no account of that; they had always wanted to see the war, and they followed the Persians' march. For this reason, when all the six of them returned back scatheless, their father tore out their eyes.

This was their reward. Now the Persians, journeying through Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace to the passage, made haste to cross to Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Abydos in their ships, for they found the bridges no longer made fast but broken by a storm. There their march halted, and more food was given them than on their way.

Then by reason of their immoderate gorging and the change of the water which they drank, many of the army that had survived died. The rest came with Xerxes to Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis.

There is, however, another tale, which is this: when Xerxes came in his march from Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens to +Eion [23.8833,40.7333] (Perseus) Eion on the Strymon, he travelled no farther than that by land, but committed his army to Hydarnes to be led to the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont. He himself embarked and set sail for Asia (continent)Asia in a Phoenician ship.

In the course of this voyage he was caught by a strong wind called the Strymonian, which lifted up the waves. This storm bearing the harder upon him by reason of the heavy load of the ship (for the Persians of his company who were on the deck were so many), the king grew afraid and cried to the ship's pilot asking him if there were any way of deliverance. To this the man said,

“Sire, there is none, if we do not rid ourselves of these many who are on board.” Hearing that, it is said, Xerxes said to the Persians, “Now it is for you to prove your concern for your king, for it seems that my deliverance rests with you.”

At this they bowed and leapt into the sea. The ship, now much lighter, came by these means safe to Asia (continent)Asia. No sooner had Xerxes disembarked on land, than he made the pilot a gift of a golden crown for saving the king's life but cut off his head for being the death of many Persians.

This is the other tale of Xerxes' return; but I for my part believe neither the story of the Persians' fate nor any other part of it. For if indeed the pilot had spoken to Xerxes in this way, I think that there is not one in ten thousand who would not say that the king would have bidden the men on deck (who were Persians and of the best blood of Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia) descend into the ship's hold, and would have taken from the Phoenician rowers a number equal to the number of the Persians and cast them into the sea. No, the truth is that Xerxes did as I have already said, and returned to Asia (continent)Asia with his army by road.

There is further proof of this, for it is known that when Xerxes came to +Abdera [24.9667,40.9833] (Perseus) Abdera in his return, he made a compact of friendship with its people and gave them a golden sword and a gilt tiara. As the people of +Abdera [24.9667,40.9833] (Perseus) Abdera say (but for my part I wholly disbelieve them), it was here that Xerxes in his flight back from Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens first loosed his girdle, as being here in safety. Now +Abdera [24.9667,40.9833] (Perseus) Abdera lies nearer to the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont than the Strymon and +Eion [23.8833,40.7333] (Perseus) Eion, where they say that he took ship.

As for the Greeks, not being able to take +Andros [24.9,37.816] (inhabited place), Nisos Andros, Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Andros, they went to Carystus. When they had laid it waste, they returned to Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis. First of all they set apart for the gods, among other first-fruits, three Phoenician triremes, one to be dedicated at the Isthmus, where it was till my lifetime, the second at Sunium, and the third for Ajax at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis where they were.

After that, they divided the spoils and sent the first-fruits of it to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi; of this was made a man's image twelve cubits high, holding in his hand the figurehead of a ship. This stood in the same place as the golden statue of Alexander the Macedonian.

Having sent the first-fruits to Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi, the Greeks, in the name of the country generally, made inquiry of the god whether the first-fruits which he had received were of full measure and whether he was content. To this he said that he was content with what he had received from all other Greeks, but not from the Aeginetans. From these he demanded the victor's prize for the sea-fight of Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis. When the Aeginetans learned that, they dedicated three golden stars which are set on a bronze mast, in the angle, nearest to Croesus' bowl.

After the division of the spoils, the Greeks sailed to the Isthmus, there to award the prize of excellence to him who had shown himself most worthy of it in that war.

But when the admirals came and at the altar of Poseidon gave their votes to judge who was first and who second among them, each of them voted for himself, supposing himself to have done the best service. The greater part of them, however, united in giving the second place to Themistocles. So they each gained but one vote, while Themistocles far outstripped them in votes for the second place.

The Greeks were too jealous to assign the prize and sailed away each to his own place, leaving the matter undecided; nevertheless, Themistocles was lauded, and throughout all of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas was deemed the wisest man by far of the Greeks.

However, because he had not received from those that fought at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis the honor due to his preeminence, he immediately afterwards went to Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon in order that he might receive honor there. The Lacedaemonians welcomed him and paid him high honor. They bestowed on Eurybiades a crown of olive as the reward of excellence and another such crown on Themistocles for his wisdom and cleverness. They also gave him the finest chariot in Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta,

and with many words of praise, they sent him home with the three hundred picked men of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta who are called Knights to escort him as far as the borders of Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea. Themistocles was the only man of whom we know to whom the Spartans gave this escort.

But when Themistocles returned to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens from Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon, Timodemus of Aphidnae, who was one of Themistocles' enemies but not a man of note, was crazed with envy and spoke bitterly to Themistocles of his visit to Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon, saying that the honors he had from the Lacedaemonians were paid him for Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens' sake and not for his own.

This he kept saying until Themistocles replied, “This is the truth of the matter: if I had been a man of Belbina I would not have been honored in this way by the Spartans, nor would you, sir, for all you are a man of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens.” Such was the end of that business.

Artabazus son of Pharnaces, who was already a notable man among the Persians and grew to be yet more so through the Plataean business, escorted the king as far as the passage with sixty thousand men of the army that Mardonius had chosen.

Xerxes, then, was now in Asia (continent)Asia, and when Artabazus came near +Pallene [23.8833,38.05] (Perseus) Pallene in his return (for Mardonius was wintering in +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly and Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia and making no haste to come to the rest of his army), he thought it right that he should enslave the people of +Potidaea (deserted settlement), Chalcidice, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Potidaea, whom he found in revolt.

When the king had marched away past the town and the Persian fleet had taken flight from Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, +Potidaea (deserted settlement), Chalcidice, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Potidaea had openly revolted from the barbarians and so too had the rest of the people of +Pallene [23.8833,38.05] (Perseus) Pallene.

Thereupon Artabazus laid siege to +Potidaea (deserted settlement), Chalcidice, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Potidaea, and suspecting that +Olynthus [23.3667,40.3] (Perseus) Olynthus too was plotting revolt from the king, he laid siege to it also. This town was held by Bottiaeans who had been driven from the Thermaic gulf by the Macedonians. Having besieged and taken +Olynthus [23.3667,40.3] (Perseus) Olynthus, he brought these men to a lake and there cut their throats and delivered their city over to the charge of Critobulus of +Torone [23.8167,40.05] (Perseus) Torone and the Chalcidian people. It was in this way that the Chalcidians gained possession of +Olynthus [23.3667,40.3] (Perseus) Olynthus.

Having taken +Olynthus [23.3667,40.3] (Perseus) Olynthus, Artabazus dealt immediately with +Potidaea (deserted settlement), Chalcidice, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Potidaea, and his zeal was aided by Timoxenus the general of the Scionaeans, who agreed to betray the place to him. I do not know how the agreement was first made, since there is no information available about it. The result, however, was as I will now show. Whenever Timoxenus wrote a letter to be sent to Artabazus, or Artabazus to Timoxenus, they would wrap it around the shaft of an arrow at the notches, attach feathers to the letter, and shoot it to a place upon which they had agreed.

Timoxenus' plot to betray +Potidaea (deserted settlement), Chalcidice, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Potidaea was, however, discovered, for Artabazus in shooting an arrow to the place agreed upon, missed it and hit the shoulder of a man of +Potidaea (deserted settlement), Chalcidice, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Potidaea. A throng gathered quickly around the man when he was struck (which is a thing that always happens in war), and they straightway took the arrow, found the letter, and carried it to their generals; the rest of their allies of +Pallene [23.8833,38.05] (Perseus) Pallene were also there present.

The generals read the letter and perceived who was the traitor, but they resolved for +Scione [23.55,39.95] (Perseus) Scione's sake that they would not condemn Timoxenus with a charge of treason, for fear that the people of +Scione [23.55,39.95] (Perseus) Scione should hereafter be called traitors.

This is how Timoxenus' treachery was brought to light. But when Artabazus had besieged +Potidaea (deserted settlement), Chalcidice, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Potidaea for three months, there was a great ebb-tide in the sea which lasted for a long while, and when the foreigners saw that the sea was turned to a marsh, they prepared to pass over it into +Pallene [23.8833,38.05] (Perseus) Pallene.

When they had made their way over two-fifths of it, however, and three yet remained to cross before they could be in +Pallene [23.8833,38.05] (Perseus) Pallene, there came a great flood-tide, higher, as the people of the place say, than any one of the many that had been before. Some of them who did not know how to swim were drowned, and those who knew were slain by the Potidaeans, who came among them in boats.

The Potidaeans say that the cause of the high sea and flood and the Persian disaster lay in the fact that those same Persians who now perished in the sea had profaned the temple and the image of Poseidon which was in the suburb of the city. I think that in saying that this was the cause they are correct. Those who escaped alive were led away by Artabazus to Mardonius in +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly. This is how the men who had been the king's escort fared.

All that was left of Xerxes' fleet, having in its flight from Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis touched the coast of Asia (continent)Asia and ferried the king and his army over from the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese to Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Abydos, wintered at Kyme [24.1167,38.6333] (Perseus)Cyme. Then early in the first dawn of spring they mustered at +Nisos Samos [26.8,37.75] (island), Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Samos, where some of the ships had wintered. The majority of their fighting men were Persians and Medes.

Mardontes son of Bagaeus and Artayntes son of Artachaees came to be their admirals, and Artayntes chose also his own nephew Ithamitres to have a share in the command. But by reason of the heavy blow dealt them they went no further out to sea westwards, nor did anyone insist that they should so do. They did, however, lie off +Nisos Samos [26.8,37.75] (island), Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Samos keeping watch against a revolt in Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia. The whole number of their ships, Ionian and other, was three hundred.

In truth they did not expect that the Greeks would come to Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia, but rather that they would be content to guard their own country. This they thought because the Greeks had not pursued them when they fled from Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis, but had been glad to be quit of them. In regard to the sea, the Persians were at heart beaten men, but they supposed that on land Mardonius would easily prevail.

So they were at +Nisos Samos [26.8,37.75] (island), Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Samos, and there planned to do what harm they could to their enemies and to listen in the interim for news of how Mardonius' affairs were proceeding.

Book 8, Part 8

As for the Greeks, the coming of spring and Mardonius' being in +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly moved them to action. They had not yet begun the mustering of their army, but their fleet, one hundred and ten ships, came to +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina.

Their general and admiral was Leutychides son of Menares, who traced his lineage from son to father through Hegesilaus, Hippocratides, Leutychides, Anaxilaus, Archidemus, Anaxandrides, Theopompus, Nicandrus, Charilaus, Eunomus, Polydectes, Prytanis, Euryphon, Procles, Aristodemus, Aristomachus, Cleodaeus, to Hyllus who was the son of Heracles. He was of the second royal house.

All the aforesaid had been kings of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, save the seven named first after Leutychides. The general of the Athenians was Xanthippus son of Ariphron.

When all the ships had arrived at +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina, there came to the Greek quarters messengers from the Ionians, the same who a little while before that had gone to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta and entreated the Lacedaemonians to free Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia.

One of these was Herodotus the son of Basileides. These, who at first were seven, made a faction and conspired to slay Strattis, the tyrant of +Chios [26,38.366] (island), Khios, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Chios, but when their conspiracy became known, one of the accomplices having revealed their enterprise, the six who remained got them secretly out of +Chios [26,38.366] (island), Khios, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Chios, from where they went to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta and now to +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina, entreating the Greeks to sail to Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia.

The Greeks took them as far as Delos [25.2833,37.4] (Perseus)Delos, and that not readily, for they, having no knowledge of those parts and thinking that armed men were everywhere, feared all that lay beyond. They supposed too that +Nisos Samos [26.8,37.75] (island), Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Samos was no nearer to them than the Pillars of Heracles. So it happened that the barbarians were too disheartened to dare to sail farther west than +Nisos Samos [26.8,37.75] (island), Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Samos, while at the same time the Greeks dared to go at the Chians' request no farther east than Delos [25.2833,37.4] (Perseus)Delos. It was fear which kept the middle space between them.

The Greeks, then, sailed to Delos [25.2833,37.4] (Perseus)Delos, and Mardonius wintered in +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly. Having his headquarters there he sent a man of +Salahiyeh [40.716,34.75] (deserted settlement), Dayr az-Zawr, Syria, Asia Europus called Mys to visit the places of divination, charging him to inquire of all the oracles which he could test. What it was that he desired to learn from the oracles when he gave this charge, I cannot say, for no one tells of it. I suppose that he sent to inquire concerning his present business, and that alone.

This man Mys is known to have gone to +Levadhia [22.883,38.433] (inhabited place), Boeotia, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Lebadea and to have bribed a man of the country to go down into the cave of Trophonius and to have gone to the place of divination at Abai [22.9583,38.5917] (Perseus)Abae in +Phocis (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Phocis. He went first to Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes where he inquired of Ismenian Apollo (sacrifice is there the way of divination, as at Olympia [21.6333,37.65] (Perseus)Olympia), and moreover he bribed one who was no Theban but a stranger to lie down to sleep in the shrine of Amphiaraus.

No Theban may seek a prophecy there, for Amphiaraus bade them by an oracle to choose which of the two they wanted and forgo the other, and take him either for their prophet or for their ally. They chose that he should be their ally. Therefore no Theban may lie down to sleep in that place.

But at this time there happened, as the Thebans say, a thing at which I marvel greatly. It would seem that this man Mys of +Salahiyeh [40.716,34.75] (deserted settlement), Dayr az-Zawr, Syria, Asia Europus came in his wanderings among the places of divination to the precinct of Ptoan Apollo. This temple is called Ptoum, and belongs to the Thebans. It lies by a hill, above lake +Kopais (dry lake), Boeotia, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Copais, very near to the town Acraephia.

When the man called Mys entered into this temple together with three men of the town who were chosen on the state's behalf to write down the oracles that should be given, straightway the diviner prophesied in a foreign tongue.

The Thebans who followed him were astonished to hear a strange language instead of Greek and knew not what this present matter might be. Mys of +Salahiyeh [40.716,34.75] (deserted settlement), Dayr az-Zawr, Syria, Asia Europus, however, snatched from them the tablet which they carried and wrote on it that which was spoken by the prophet, saying that the words of the oracle were Carian. After writing everything down, he went back to +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly.

Mardonius read whatever was said in the oracles, and presently he sent a messenger to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, Alexander, a Macedonian, son of Amyntas. Him he sent, partly because the Persians were akin to him; Bubares, a Persian, had taken to wife Gygaea Alexander's sister and Amyntas' daughter, who had borne to him that Amyntas of Asia (continent)Asia who was called by the name of his mother's father, and to whom the king gave +Alabanda [28,37.6] (Perseus) Alabanda a great city in Phrygia (region (general)), Turkey, Asia Phrygia for his dwelling. Partly too he sent him because he learned that Alexander was a protector and benefactor to the Athenians.

It was thus that he supposed he could best gain the Athenians for his allies, of whom he heard that they were a numerous and valiant people, and knew that they had been the chief authors of the calamities which had befallen the Persians at sea.

If he gained their friendship he thought he would easily become master of the seas, as truly he would have been. On land he supposed himself to be by much the stronger, and he accordingly reckoned that thus he would have the upper hand of the Greeks. This chanced to be the prediction of the oracles which counseled him to make the Athenians his ally. It was in obedience to this that he sent his messenger.

This Alexander was seventh in descent from Perdiccas, who got for himself the tyranny of Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia in the way that I will show. Three brothers of the lineage of Temenus came as banished men from Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos to +Illyria (region (general)), Europe Illyria, Gauanes and Aeropus and Perdiccas; and from +Illyria (region (general)), Europe Illyria they crossed over into the highlands of Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia till they came to the town Lebaea.

There they served for wages as thetes in the king's household, one tending horses and another oxen. Perdiccas, who was the youngest, tended the lesser flocks. Now the king's wife cooked their food for them, for in old times the ruling houses among men, and not the common people alone, were lacking in wealth.

Whenever she baked bread, the loaf of the thete Perdiccas grew double in size. Seeing that this kept happening, she told her husband, and it seemed to him when be heard it that this was a portent signifying some great matter. So he sent for his thetes and bade them depart from his territory.

They said it was only just that they should have their wages before they departed. When they spoke of wages, the king was moved to foolishness and said, “That is the wage you merit, and it is that I give you,” pointing to the sunlight that shone down the smoke vent into the house.

Gauanes and Aeropus, who were the elder, stood astonished when they heard that, but the boy said, “We accept what you give, O king,” and with that he took a knife which he had with him and drew a line with it on the floor of the house round the sunlight. When he had done this, he three times gathered up the sunlight into the fold of his garment and went his way with his companions.

So they departed, but one of those who sat nearby declared to the king what this was that the boy had done and how it was of set purpose that the youngest of them had accepted the gift offered. When the king heard this, he was angered, and sent riders after them to slay them. There is, however, in that land a river, to which the descendants from Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos of these men offer sacrifice as their deliverer.

This river, when the sons of Temenus had crossed it, rose in such flood that the riders could not cross. So the brothers came to another part of Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia and settled near the place called the garden of Midas son of Gordias, where roses grow of themselves, each bearing sixty blossoms and of surpassing fragrance.

In this garden, according to the Macedonian story, Silenus was taken captive. Above it rises the mountain called Bermius, which none can ascend for the wintry cold. From there they issued forth when they had won that country and presently subdued also the rest of Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia.

From that Perdiccas Alexander was descended, being the son of Amyntas, who was the son of Alcetes; Alcetes' father was Aeropus, and his was Philippus; Philippus' father was Argaeus, and his again was Perdiccas, who won that lordship.

Such was the lineage of Alexander son of Amyntas. When he came to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens from Mardonius who had sent him, he spoke as follows : “This, Athenians, is what Mardonius says to you:—there is a message come to me from the king, saying, ‘I forgive the Athenians all the offenses which they have committed against me;

and now, Mardonius, I bid you do this:—Give them back their territory and let them choose more for themselves besides, where ever they will, and dwell under their own laws. Rebuild all their temples which I burnt, if they will make a pact with me.’ This is the message, and I must obey it (says Mardonius), unless you take it upon yourselves to hinder me.

This too I say to you:—Why are you so insane as to wage war against the king? You cannot overcome him, nor can you resist him forever. As for the multitude of Xerxes' army, what it did, you have seen, and you have heard of the power that I now have with me. Even if you overcome and conquer us (whereof, if you be in your right minds, you can have no hope), yet there will come another host many times as great as this.

Be not then minded to match yourselves against the king, and thereby lose your land and always be yourselves in jeopardy, but make peace. This you can most honorably do since the king is that way inclined. Keep your freedom, and agree to be our brothers in arms in all faith and honesty.—

This Athenians, is the message which Mardonius charges me to give you. For my own part I will say nothing of the goodwill that I have towards you, for it would not be the first that you have learned of that. But I entreat you to follow Mardonius' counsel.

Well I see that you will not have power to wage war against Xerxes forever. If I saw such power in you, I would never have come to you with such language as this, for the king's might is greater than human, and his arm is long.

If, therefore, you will not straightway agree with them, when the conditions which they offer you are so great, I fear what may befall you. For of all the allies you dwell most in the very path of the war, and you alone will never escape destruction, your country being marked out for a battlefield.

No, rather follow his counsel, for it is not to be lightly regarded by you who are the only men in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas whose offenses the great king is ready to forgive and whose friend he would be.”

These were the words of Alexander. The Lacedaemonians, however, had heard that Alexander had come to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens to bring the Athenians to an agreement with the barbarian. Remembering the oracles, how that they themselves with the rest of the Dorians must be driven out of the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese by the Medes and the Athenians, they were greatly afraid that the Athenians should agree with the Persian, and they straightway resolved that they would send envoys.

Moreover, it so fell out for both that they made their entry at one and the same time, for the Athenians delayed and waited for them, being certain that the Lacedaemonians were going to hear that the messenger had come from the Persians for an agreement. They had heard that the Lacedaemonians would send their envoys with all speed. Therefore it was of set purpose that they did this in order that they might make their will known to the Lacedaemonians.

So when Alexander had made an end of speaking, the envoys from Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta said, “We on our part have been sent by the Lacedaemonians to entreat you to do nothing harmful to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas and accept no offer from the barbarian.

That would be unjust and dishonorable for any Greek, but for you most of all, on many counts; it was you who stirred up this war, by no desire of ours, and your territory was first the stake of that battle in which all Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas is now engaged.

Apart from that, it is unbearable that not all this alone but slavery too should be brought upon the Greeks by you Athenians, who have always been known as givers of freedom to many. Nevertheless, we grieve with you in your afflictions, seeing that you have lost two harvests and your substance has been for a long time wasted.

In requital for this the Lacedaemonians and their allies declare that they will nourish your women and all of your household members who are unserviceable for war, so long as this war will last. Let not Alexander the Macedonian win you with his smooth-tongued praise of Mardonius' counsel. It is his business to follow that counsel,

for as he is a tyrant so must he be the tyrant's fellow-worker; it is not your business, if you are men rightly minded, for you know that in foreigners there is no faith nor truth.” These are the words of the envoys.

But to Alexander the Athenians replied as follows: “We know of ourselves that the power of the Mede is many times greater than ours. There is no need to taunt us with that. Nevertheless in our zeal for freedom we will defend ourselves to the best of our ability. But as regards agreements with the barbarian, do not attempt to persuade us to enter into them, nor will we consent.

Now carry this answer back to Mardonius from the Athenians, that as long as the sun holds the course by which he now goes, we will make no agreement with Xerxes. We will fight against him without ceasing, trusting in the aid of the gods and the heroes whom he has disregarded and burnt their houses and their adornments.

Come no more to Athenians with such a plea, nor under the semblance of rendering us a service, counsel us to act wickedly. For we do not want those who are our friends and protectors to suffer any harm at Athenian hands.”

Book 8, Part 9

Such was their answer to Alexander, but to the Spartan envoys they said, “It was most human that the Lacedaemonians should fear our making an agreement with the barbarian. We think that it is an ignoble thing to be afraid, especially since we know the Athenian temper to be such that there is nowhere on earth such store of gold or such territory of surpassing fairness and excellence that the gift of it should win us to take the Persian part and enslave Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

For there are many great reasons why we should not do this, even if we so desired; first and foremost, the burning and destruction of the adornments and temples of our gods, whom we are constrained to avenge to the utmost rather than make pacts with the perpetrator of these things, and next the kinship of all Greeks in blood and speech, and the shrines of gods and the sacrifices that we have in common, and the likeness of our way of life, to all of which it would not befit the Athenians to be false.

Know this now, if you knew it not before, that as long as one Athenian is left alive we will make no agreement with Xerxes. Nevertheless we thank you for your forethought concerning us, in that you have so provided for our wasted state that you offer to nourish our households.

For your part, you have given us full measure of kindness, yet for ourselves, we will make shift to endure as best we may, and not be burdensome to you. But now, seeing that this is so, send your army with all speed,

for as we guess, the barbarian will be upon us and invade our country in no long time as soon as the message comes to him that we will do nothing that he requires of us; therefore, before he comes into Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica, now is the time for us to march first into Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia.” At this reply of the Athenians the envoys returned back to Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta.

Book 9, Part 1

When Alexander returned and told him what he had heard from the Athenians, Mardonius set forth from +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly and led his army with all zeal against Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens; he also took with him all the people to whose countries he came along the way. The rulers of +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly did not repent of what they had already done and were readier than before to further his march. Thorax of Larissa, who had given Xerxes safe-conduct in his flight, now, without any attempt of concealment, opened a passage for Mardonius into Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

But when, in the course of its march, the army had come into Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia, the Thebans attempted to stay Mardonius, advising him that he could find no country better fitted than theirs for encampment; he should not (they begged) go further, but rather halt there and subdue all Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas without fighting.

As long as the Greeks who were previously in accord remained so, it would be difficult even for the whole world to overcome them by force of arms; “but if you do as we advise,” said the Thebans, “you will without trouble be master of all their battle plans.

Send money to the men who have power in their cities, and thereby you will divide Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas against itself; after that, with your partisans to aid you, you will easily subdue those who are your adversaries.”

Such was their counsel, but he would not follow it. What he desired was to take Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens once more; this was partly out of mere perversity, and partly because he intended to signify to the king at Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis by a line of beacons across the islands that he held Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens.

When he came to Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica, however, he found the city as unpopulated as before, for, as he learned, the majority of them were on shipboard at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis. So he took the city, but without any of its men. There were ten months between the kings taking of the place and the later invasion of Mardonius.

When Mardonius came to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, he sent to Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis a certain Murychides, a man from Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont, bearing the same offer as Alexander the Macedonian had ferried across to the Athenians.

He sent this for the second time because although he already knew the Athenians' unfriendly purpose, he expected that they would abandon their stubbornness now that Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica was the captive of his spear and lay at his mercy.

For this reason he sent Murychides to Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis who came before the council and conveyed to them Mardonius message. Then Lycidas, one of the councillors, said that it seemed best to him to receive the offer brought to them by Murychides and lay it before the people.

This was the opinion which he declared, either because he had been bribed by Mardonius, or because the plan pleased him. The Athenians in the council were, however, very angry; so too were those outside when they heard of it. They made a ring round Lycidas and stoned him to death. Murychides the Hellespontian, however, they permitted to depart unharmed.

There was much noise at Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis over the business of Lycidas; and when the Athenian women learned what was afoot, one calling to another and bidding her follow, they went on their own impetus to the house of Lycidas and stoned to death his wife and his children.

Now this was how the Athenians had crossed over to Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis. As long as they expected that the Peloponnesian army would come to their aid, they remained in Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica. But when the Peloponnesians took longer and longer to act and the invader was said to be in Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia already, they then conveyed all their goods out of harms way and themselves crossed over to Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis. They also sent envoys to Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon, who were to upbraid the Lacedaemonians for permitting the barbarian to invade Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica and not helping the Athenians to meet him in Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia; and who were to remind the Lacedaemonians of the promises which the Persian had made to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens if she would change sides, and warn them that the Athenians would devise some means of salvation for themselves if the Lacedaemonians sent them no help.

The Lacedaemonians were at this time celebrating the festival of Hyacinthus, and their chief concern was to give the god his due; moreover, the wall which they were building on the Isthmus was by now getting its battlements. When the Athenian envoys arrived in Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon, bringing with them envoys from +Megara [23.35,38] (Perseus) Megara and Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea, they came before the ephors and said:

“The Athenians have sent us with this message: the king of the Medes is ready to give us back our country, and to make us his confederates, equal in right and standing, in all honor and honesty, and to give us whatever land we ourselves may choose besides our own.

But we, since we do not want to sin against Zeus the god of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas and think it shameful to betray Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, have not consented. This we have done despite the fact that the Greeks are dealing with us wrongfully and betraying us to our hurt; furthermore, we know that it is more to our advantage to make terms with the Persians than to wage war with him, yet we will not make terms with him of our own free will. For our part, we act honestly by the Greeks;

but what of you, who once were in great dread lest we should make terms with the Persian? Now that you have a clear idea of our sentiments and are sure that we will never betray Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, and now that the wall which you are building across the Isthmus is nearly finished, you take no account of the Athenians, but have deserted us despite all your promises that you would withstand the Persian in Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia, and have permitted the barbarian to march into Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica.

For the present, then, the Athenians are angry with you since you have acted in a manner unworthy of you. Now they ask you to send with us an army with all speed, so that we may await the foreigner's onset in Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica; since we have lost Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia, in our own territory the most suitable place for a battle is the Thriasian plain.”

When the ephors heard that, they delayed answering till the next day, and again till the day after. This they did for ten days, putting it off from day to day. In the meantime all the Peloponnesians were doing all they could to fortify the Isthmus, and they had nearly completed the task.

I cannot say for certain why it was that when Alexander the Macedonian came to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens the Lacedaemonians insisted that the Athenians should not join the side of the Persian, yet now took no account of that; it may be that with the Isthmus fortified, they thought they had no more need of the Athenians, whereas when Alexander came to Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica, their wall was not yet built and they were working at this in great fear of the Persians.

The nature of their response was as follows: on the day before the final hearing of the Athenian delegation, Chileus, a man of Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea, who had more authority with the Lacedaemonians than any other of their guests, learned from the ephors all that the Athenians had said.

Upon hearing this he, as the tale goes, said to the ephors, “Sirs, if the Athenians are our enemies and the barbarians allies, then although you push a strong wall across the Isthmus, a means of access into the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese lies wide open for the Persian. No, give heed to what they say before the Athenians take some new resolve which will bring calamity to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.”

This was the counsel he gave the ephors, who straightway took it to heart. Without saying a word to the envoys who had come from the cities, they ordered five thousand Spartans to march before dawn. Seven helots were appointed to attend each of them, and they gave the command to Pausanias son of Cleombrotus.

The leader's place rightfully belonged to Pleistarchus son of Leonidas, but he was still a boy, and Pausanias his guardian and cousin. Cleombrotus, Pausanias' father and Anaxandrides' son, was no longer living.

After he led the army which had built the wall away from the Isthmus, he lived but a little while before his death. The reason for Cleombrotus leading his army away from the Isthmus was that while he was offering sacrifice for victory over the Persian, the sun was darkened in the heavens. Pausanias chose as his colleague a man of the same family, Euryanax son of Dorieus.

So Pausanias' army had marched away from Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta; but as soon as it was day, the envoys came before the ephors, having no knowledge of the expedition, and being minded themselves too to depart each one to his own place. When they arrived, “You Lacedaemonians,” they said, “remain where you are, observing your Hyacinthia and celebrating, leaving your allies deserted. For the wrong that you do them and for lack of allies, the Athenians, will make their peace with the Persian as best they can,

and thereafter, in so far as we will be king's allies, we will march with him against whatever land his men lead us. Then will you learn what the issue of this matter will be for you.” In response to this the ephors swore to them that they believed their army to be even now at Orestheum, marching against the “strangers,” as they called the barbarians.

Having no knowledge of this, the envoys questioned them further as to the meaning of this and thereby learned the whole truth; they marvelled at this and hastened with all speed after the army. With them went five thousand men-at-arms of the Lacedaemonian countrymen.

So they made haste to reach the Isthmus. The Argives, however, had already promised Mardonius that they would prevent the Spartans from going out to war. As soon as they were informed that Pausanias and his army had departed from Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, they sent as their herald to Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica the swiftest runner of long distances whom they could find.

When he came to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, he spoke to Mardonius in the following manner: “I have been sent by the Argives to tell you that the young men have gone out from Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon to war, and that the Argives cannot prevent them from so doing; therefore, make plans accordingly.”

So spoke the herald, and went back again. When Mardonius heard that, he no longer desired to remain in Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica. Before he had word of it, he had held his land, desiring to know the Athenians' plan and what they would do; he neither harmed nor harried the land of Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica, for he still supposed that they would make terms with him.

But when he could not prevail upon them and learned the truth of the matter, he withdrew before Pausanias' army prior to its entering the Isthmus. First, however, he burnt Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, and utterly overthrew and demolished whatever wall or house or temple was left standing.

The reason for his marching away was that Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica was not a land fit for horses, and if he should be defeated in a battle, there was no way of retreat save one so narrow that a few men could prevent his passage. He therefore planned to retreat to Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes and do battle where he had a friendly city at his back and ground suitable for horsemen.

So Mardonius drew his men off, and when he had now set forth on his road there came a message that in addition to the others, an advance guard of a thousand Lacedaemonians had arrived at +Megara [23.35,38] (Perseus) Megara. When he heard this, he deliberated how he might first make an end of these. He accordingly turned about and led his army against +Megara [23.35,38] (Perseus) Megara, his cavalry going first and overrunning the lands of that city. That was the westernmost place in Europe (continent)Europe which this Persian army reached.

Presently there came a message to Mardonius that the Greeks were gathered together on the Isthmus. Thereupon he marched back again through Decelea; the rulers of Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia sent for those of the Asopus country who lived nearby, and these guided him to Sphendalae and from there to +Tanagra [23.6,38.3083] (Perseus) Tanagra.

Here he camped for the night, and on the next day he turned from there to Scolus, where he was in Theban territory. There he laid waste the lands of the Thebans, though they sided with the Persian part. This he did, not for any ill-will that he bore them, but because sheer necessity drove him to make a stronghold for his army and to have this for a refuge if the fortune of battle were other than he wished.

His army, stationed along the Asopus river, covered the ground from Erythrae past Hysiae and up to the lands of Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea. I do not mean to say that the walled camp which he made was of this size; each side of it was of a length of about ten furlongs.

While the barbarians were engaged in this task, Attaginus son of Phrynon, a Theban, made great preparations and invited Mardonius with fifty who were the most notable of the Persians to be his guests at a banquet. They came as they were bidden; the dinner was held at Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes. What follows was told me by Thersander of Orkhomenos (deserted settlement), Boeotia, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeOrchomenus, one of the most notable men of that place. Thersander too (he said) was invited to this dinner, and fifty Thebans in addition. Attaginus made them sit, not each man by himself but on each couch a Persian and a Theban together.

Now as they were drinking together after dinner, the Persian who sat with him asked Thersander in the Greek tongue from what country he was. Thersander answered that he was from Orkhomenos (deserted settlement), Boeotia, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeOrchomenus. Then said the Persian: “Since you have eaten at the board with me and drunk with me afterwards, I would like to leave a memorial of my belief, so that you yourself may have such knowledge as to take fitting counsel for your safety.

Do you see these Persians at the banquet and that host which we left encamped by the river side? In a little while you shall see but a small remnant left alive of all these.” As he said this, the Persian wept bitterly.

Book 9, Part 2

Marvelling at these words, Thersander answered: “Must you not then tell this to Mardonius and those honorable Persians who are with him?” “Sir,” said the Persian, “that which a god wills to send no man can turn aside, for even truth sometimes finds no one to believe it.

What I have said is known to many of us Persians, but we follow, in the bonds of necessity. It is the most hateful thing for a person to have much knowledge and no power.” This tale I heard from Thersander of Orkhomenos (deserted settlement), Boeotia, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeOrchomenus who told me in addition that he had straightway told this to others before the battle of Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea.

So Mardonius was making his encampment in Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia. All the Greeks of that region who sided with the Persians furnished fighting men, and they joined with him in his attack upon Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, with the exception of the Phocians; as for taking the Persian side, that they did right away, though from necessity rather than willingly.

A few days after the Persians' coming to Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes, a thousand Phocian men-at-arms under the leadership of Harmocydes, the most notable of their countrymen, arrived. When these men too were in Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes, Mardonius sent horsemen and bade the Phocians take their station on the plain by themselves.

When they had done so, the whole of the Persian cavalry appeared, and presently word was spread through all of the Greek army which was with Mardonius, and likewise among the Phocians themselves, that Mardonius would shoot them to death with javelins.

Then their general Harmocydes exhorted them: “Men of +Phocis (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Phocis,” he said, “seeing that death at these fellows' hands is staring us in the face (we being, as I surmise, maligned by the Thessalians), it is now time for every one of you to be noble; for it is better to end our lives in action and fighting than tamely to suffer a shameful death. No, rather we will teach them that they whose slaying they have devised are men of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.” Thus he exhorted them.

But when the horsemen had encircled the Phocians, they rode at them as if to slay them, and drew their bows to shoot; it is likely too that some did in fact shoot. The Phocians opposed them in every possible way, drawing in together and closing their ranks to the best of their power. At this the horsemen wheeled about and rode back and away.

Now I cannot with exactness say whether they came at the Thessalians' desire to slay the Phocians, but when they saw the men preparing to defend themselves, they feared lest they themselves should suffer some hurt, and so rode away (for such was Mardonius' command),—or if Mardonius wanted to test the Phocians' mettle.

When the horsemen had ridden away, Mardonius sent a herald, with this message: “Men of +Phocis (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Phocis, be of good courage, for you have shown yourselves to be valiant men, and not as it was reported to me. Now push this war zealously forward, for you will outdo neither myself nor the king in the rendering of service.” This is how the matter of the Phocians turned out.

As for the Lacedaemonians, when they had come to the Isthmus, they encamped there. When the rest of the Peloponnesians who chose the better cause heard that, seeing the Spartans setting forth to war, they thought that they should not lag behind the Lacedaemonians in so doing.

Accordingly, they all marched from the Isthmus (the omens of sacrifice being favorable) and came to +Eleusis [23.5583,38.0417] (Perseus) Eleusis. When they had offered sacrifice there also and the omens were favorable, they continued their march, having now the Athenians with them, who had crossed over from Salamis (island), Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeSalamis and joined with them at +Eleusis [23.5583,38.0417] (Perseus) Eleusis.

When they came (as it is said) to Erythrae in Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia, they learned that the barbarians were encamped by the Asopus. Taking note of that, they arrayed themselves opposite the enemy on the lower hills of Cithaeron.

When the Greeks did not come down into the plain, Mardonius sent against them his entire cavalry, whose commander was Masistius (whom the Greeks call Macistius), a man much honored among the Persians; he rode a Nesaean horse which had a golden bit and was elaborately adorned all over. Thereupon the horsemen rode up to the Greeks and charged them by squadrons; as they attacked, they did them much hurt, and called them women all the while.

Now it chanced that the Megarians were posted in that part of the field which was most open to attack, and here the horsemen found the readiest approach. Therefore, being hard-pressed by the charges, the Megarians sent a herald to the generals of the Greeks, who came to them and spoke as follows :

“From the men of +Megara [23.35,38] (Perseus) Megara to their allies: we cannot alone withstand the Persian cavalry (although we have till now held our ground with patience and valor, despite the fact that we were hard-pressed) in the position to which we were first appointed. Know that now we will abandon our post, unless you send others to take our place there.”

This the herald reported, and Pausanias inquired among the Greeks if any would offer to go to that place and relieve the Megarians by holding the post. All the others did not want to, but the Athenians took it upon themselves, that is three hundred picked men of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, whose captain was Olympiodorus son of Lampon.

Those who volunteered themselves, were posted at Erythrae in front of the whole Greek army, and they took with them the archers also. They fought for a long time and the end of the battle was as I will now tell. The cavalry charged by squadrons, and Masistius' horse, being at the head of the rest, was struck in the side by an arrow. Rearing up in pain, it threw Masistius,

who when he fell, was straightaway set upon by the Athenians. His horse they took then and there, and he himself was killed fighting. They could not, however, kill him at first, for he was outfitted in the following manner: he wore a purple tunic over a cuirass of golden scales which was within it; thus they accomplished nothing by striking at the cuirass, until someone saw what was happening and stabbed him in the eye. Then he collapsed and died.

But as chance would have it, the rest of the horsemen knew nothing of this, for they had not seen him fall from his horse, or die. They wheeled about and rode back without perceiving what was done. As soon as they halted, however, they saw what they were missing since there was no one to give them orders. Then when they perceived what had occurred, they gave each other the word, and all rode together to recover the dead body.

When the Athenians saw the horsemen riding at them, not by squadrons as before, but all together, they cried to the rest of the army for help. While all their infantry was rallying to aid, there was a bitter fight over the dead body.

As long as the three hundred stood alone, they had the worst of the battle by far, and were ready to leave the dead man. When the main body came to their aid, then it was the horsemen who could no longer hold their ground, nor help to recover the dead man, but rather lost others of their comrades in addition to Masistius. They accordingly withdrew and halted about two furlongs away, where they deliberated what they should do. Since there was no one to give them orders, they resolved to report to Mardonius.

When the cavalry returned to camp, Mardonius and the whole army mourned deeply for Masistius, cutting their own hair and the hair of their horses and beasts of burden, and lamenting loudly; the sound of this was heard over all Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia, for a man was dead who, next to Mardonius, was most esteemed by all Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia and the king.

So the barbarians honored Masistius' death in their customary way, but the Greeks were greatly encouraged that they withstood and drove off the charging horsemen. First they laid the dead man on a cart and carried him about their ranks, and the body was well worth seeing, because of its stature and grandeur; therefore, they would even leave their ranks and come to view Masistius.

Presently they resolved that they would march down to Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea, for they saw that the ground there was generally more suited for encampment than that at Erythrae, and chiefly because it was better watered. It was to this place and to the Gargaphian spring which was there, that they resolved to go and pitch camp in their several battalions;

They took up their arms and marched along the lower slopes of Cithaeron past Hysiae to the lands of Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea, and when they arrived, they arrayed themselves nation by nation near the Gargaphian spring and the precinct of the hero Androcrates, among low hills and in a level country.

During the drawing up of battle formation there arose much dispute between the Tegeans and the Athenians, for each of them claimed that they should hold the second wing of the army, justifying themselves by tales of deeds new and old.

First the Tegeans spoke: “We, among all the allies, have always had the right to hold this position in all campaigns, of the united Peloponnesian armies, both ancient and recent, ever since that time when the Heraclidae after Eurystheus' death attempted to return to the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese.

We gained because of the achievement which we will relate. When we marched out at the Isthmus for war, along with the Achaeans and Ionians who then dwelt in the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, and encamped opposite the returning exiles, then (it is said) Hyllus announced that army should not be risked against army in battle, but that that champion in the host of the Peloponnesians whom they chose as their best should fight with him in single combat on agreed conditions.

The Peloponnesians, resolving that this should be so, swore a compact that if Hyllus should overcome the Peloponnesian champion, the Heraclidae should return to the land of their fathers, but if he were himself beaten, then the Heraclidae should depart and lead their army away, not attempting to return to the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese until a hundred years had passed.

Then our general and king Echemus, son of Phegeus' son Eeropus, volunteered and was chosen out of all the allied host; he fought that duel and killed Hyllus. It was for that feat of arms that the Peloponnesians granted us this in addition to other great privileges which we have never ceased to possess, namely that in all united campaigns we should always lead the army's second wing.

Now with you, men of Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon, we have no rivalry, but forbear and bid you choose the command of whichever wing you want. We do, however, say that our place is at the head of the other, as it has always been. Quite apart from that feat which we have related, we are worthier than the Athenians to hold that post,

for we have fought many battles which turned out favorably for you, men of Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon, and others besides. It is accordingly we and not the Athenians who should hold the second wing, for neither at some earlier period nor recently, have they achieved such feats of arms as we.”

To these words the Athenians replied: “It is our belief that we are gathered for battle with the barbarian, and not for speeches; but since the man of Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea has made it his business to speak of all the valorous deeds, old and new, which either of our nations has at any time achieved, we must prove to you how we, rather than Arcadians, have by virtue of our valor a hereditary right to the place of honor. These Tegeans say that they killed the leader of the Heraclidae at the Isthmus.

Now when those same Heraclidae had been rejected by every Greek people to whom they resorted to escape the tyranny of the Mycenaeans, we alone received them. With them we vanquished those who then inhabited the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese, and we broke the pride of Eurystheus.

Furthermore, when the Argives who had marched with Polynices against Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes had there made an end of their lives and lay unburied, know that we sent our army against the Cadmeans and recovered the dead and buried them in +Eleusis [23.5583,38.0417] (Perseus) Eleusis.

We also have on record our great victory against the Amazons, who once came from the river Thermodon and broke into Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica, and in the hard days of +Troy [26.2833,39.9167] (Perseus) Troy we were second to none. But since it is useless to recall these matters—for those who were previously valiant may now be of lesser mettle, and those who lacked mettle then may be better men now—

enough of the past. Supposing that we were known for no achievement (although the fact is that we have done more than any other of the Greeks), we nevertheless deserve to have this honor and more beside because of the role we played at Marathon, seeing that alone of all Greeks we met the Persian singlehandedly and did not fail in that enterprise, but overcame forty-six nations.

Is it not then our right to hold this post, for that one feat alone? Yet seeing that this is no time for wrangling about our place in the battle, we are ready to obey you, men of Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon and take whatever place and face whatever enemy you think fitting. Wherever you set us, we will strive to be valiant men. Command us then, knowing that we will obey.”

This was the Athenians' response, and the whole army shouted aloud that the Athenians were worthier to hold the wing than the Arcadians. It was in this way that the Athenians were preferred to the men of Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea, and gained that place.

Book 9, Part 3

Presently the whole Greek army was arrayed as I will show, both the later and the earliest comers. On the right wing were ten thousand Lacedaemonians; five thousand of these, who were Spartans, had a guard of thirty-five thousand light-armed helots, seven appointed for each man.

The Spartans chose the Tegeans for their neighbors in the battle, both to do them honor, and for their valor; there were of these fifteen hundred men-at-arms. Next to these in the line were five thousand Corinthians, at whose desire Pausanias permitted the three hundred Potidaeans from +Pallene [23.8833,38.05] (Perseus) Pallene then present to stand by them.

Next to these were six hundred Arcadians from Kalpali [22.3,37.716] (inhabited place), Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Orchomenus, and after them three thousand men of Sikyon [22.725,37.9833] (Perseus)Sicyon. By these one thousand Troezenians were posted, and after them two hundred men of Lepreum, then four hundred from +Mycenae [22.7583,37.725] (Perseus) Mycenae and +Tiryns [22.8167,37.6] (Perseus) Tiryns, and next to them one thousand from Phlius. By these stood three hundred men of +Hermione [23.2583,37.3833] (Perseus) Hermione.

Next to the men of +Hermione [23.2583,37.3833] (Perseus) Hermione were six hundred Eretrians and Styreans; next to them, four hundred Chalcidians; next again, five hundred Ampraciots. After these stood eight hundred Leucadians and Anactorians, and next to them two hundred from Pale in Cephallenia;

after them in the array, five hundred Aeginetans; by them stood three thousand men of +Megara [23.35,38] (Perseus) Megara, and next to these six hundred Plataeans. At the end, and first in the line, were the Athenians who held the left wing. They were eight thousand in number, and their general was Aristides son of Lysimachus.

All these, except the seven appointed to attend each Spartan, were men-at-arms, and the whole sum of them was thirty-eight thousand and seven hundred. This was the number of men-at-arms that mustered for war against the barbarian; as regards the number of the light-armed men, there were in the Spartan array seven for each man-at-arms, that is, thirty-five thousand, and every one of these was equipped for war.

The light-armed from the rest of Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon and Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas were as one to every man-at-arms, and their number was thirty-four thousand and five hundred.

So the total of all the light-armed men who were fighters was sixty-nine thousand and five hundred, and of the whole Greek army mustered at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea, men-at-arms and light-armed fighting men together, eleven times ten thousand less eighteen hundred. The Thespians who were present were one hundred and ten thousand in number, for the survivors of the Thespians were also present with the army, eighteen hundred in number. These then were arrayed and encamped by the Asopus.

When Mardonius' barbarians had finished their mourning for Masistius and heard that the Greeks were at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea, they also came to the part of the Asopus river nearest to them. When they were there, they were arrayed for battle by Mardonius as I shall show. He posted the Persians facing the Lacedaemonians.

Seeing that the Persians by far outnumbered the Lacedaemonians, they were arrayed in deeper ranks and their line ran opposite the Tegeans also. In his arraying of them he chose out the strongest part of the Persians to set it over against the Lacedaemonians, and posted the weaker by them facing the Tegeans; this he did being so informed and taught by the Thebans.

Next to the Persians he posted the Medes opposite the men of Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus) Corinth, +Potidaea (deserted settlement), Chalcidice, Macedonia, Greece, Europe Potidaea, Orkhomenos (deserted settlement), Boeotia, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, EuropeOrchomenus, and Sikyon [22.725,37.9833] (Perseus)Sicyon; next to the Medes, the Bactrians, opposite the men of Epidauros [23.0917,37.6] (Perseus)Epidaurus, Troizen [23.375,37.5] (Perseus)Troezen, Lepreum, +Tiryns [22.8167,37.6] (Perseus) Tiryns, +Mycenae [22.7583,37.725] (Perseus) Mycenae, and Phlius.

After the Bactrians he set the Indians, opposite the men of +Hermione [23.2583,37.3833] (Perseus) Hermione and +Eretria [23.8083,38.3917] (Perseus) Eretria and +Styra [24.2167,38.1833] (Perseus) Styra and +Chalcis [23.6083,38.4667] (Perseus) Chalcis. Next to the Indians he posted the Sacae, opposite the Ampraciots, Anactorians, Leucadians, Paleans, and Aeginetans;

next to the Sacae, and opposite the Athenians, Plataeans, Megarians, the Boeotians, Locrians, Malians, Thessalians, and the thousand that came from +Phocis (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Phocis; for not all the Phocians took the Persian side, but some of them gave their aid to the Greek cause; these had been besieged on +Parnassus (mountain), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Parnassus, and issued out from there to harry Mardonius' army and the Greeks who were with him. Beside these, he arrayed the Macedonians also and those who lived in the area of +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly opposite the Athenians.

These which I have named were the greatest of the nations set in array by Mardonius, but there was also in the army a mixture of Phrygians, Thracians, Mysians, Paeonians, and the rest, besides Ethiopians and the Egyptian swordsmen called Hermotybies and Calasiries, who are the only fighting men in Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt.

These had been fighters on shipboard, till Mardonius while yet at Phalerum disembarked them from their ships; for the Egyptians were not appointed to serve in the land army which Xerxes led to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens. Of the barbarians, then, there were three hundred thousand, as I have already shown. As for the Greek allies of Mardonius, no one knows the number of them (for they were not counted), I suppose them to have been mustered to the number of fifty thousand. These were the footmen that were set in array; the cavalry were separately ordered.

On the second day after they had all been arrayed according to their nations and their battalions, both armies offered sacrifice. It was Tisamenus who sacrificed for the Greeks, for he was with their army as a diviner; he was an Elean by birth, a Clytiad of the Iamid clan, and the Lacedaemonians gave him the freedom of their city.

This they did, for when Tisamenus was inquiring of the oracle at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi concerning offspring, the priestess prophesied to him that he should win five great victories. Not understanding that oracle, he engaged in bodily exercise, thinking that he would then be able to win in similar sports. When he had trained himself for the Five Contests, he came within one wrestling bout of winning the Olympic prize, in a match with Hieronymus of +Andros [24.9,37.816] (inhabited place), Nisos Andros, Cyclades, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Andros.

The Lacedaemonians, however, perceived that the oracle given to Tisamenus spoke of the lists not of sport but of war, and they attempted to bribe Tisamenus to be a leader in their wars jointly with their kings of Heracles' line.

When he saw that the Spartans set great store by his friendship, he set his price higher, and made it known to them that he would do what they wanted only in exchange for the gift of full citizenship and all of the citizen's rights.

Hearing that, the Spartans at first were angry and completely abandoned their request; but when the dreadful menace of this Persian host hung over them, they consented and granted his demand. When he saw their purpose changed, he said that he would not be content with that alone; his brother Hegias too must be made a Spartan on the same terms as himself.

By so saying he imitated Melampus, in so far as one may compare demands for kingship with those for citizenship. For when the women of Argos [22.7333,37.6417] (Perseus) Argos had gone mad, and the Argives wanted him to come from Pylos [21.7083,36.9167] (Perseus) Pylos and heal them of that madness, Melampus demanded half of their kingship for his wages.

This the Argives would not put up with and departed. When, however, the madness spread among their women, they promised what Melampus demanded and were ready to give it to him. Thereupon, seeing their purpose changed, he demanded yet more and said that he would not do their will except if they gave a third of their kingship to his brother Bias; now driven into dire straits, the Argives consented to that also.

The Spartans too were so eagerly desirous of winning Tisamenus that they granted everything that he demanded. When they had granted him this also, Tisamenus of +Elis [21.4,37.8833] (Perseus) Elis, now a Spartan, engaged in divination for them and aided them to win five very great victories. No one on earth save Tisamenus and his brother ever became citizens of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta.

Now the five victories were these: one, the first, this victory at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea; next, that which was won at Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea over the Tegeans and Argives; after that, over all the Arcadians save the Mantineans at Dipaea; next, over the Messenians at +Ithome [21.8167,39.4167] (Perseus) Ithome; lastly, the victory at +Tanagra [23.6,38.3083] (Perseus) Tanagra over the Athenians and Argives, which was the last won of the five victories.

This Tisamenus had now been brought by the Spartans and was the diviner of the Greeks at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea. The sacrifices boded good to the Greeks if they would just defend themselves, but evil if they should cross the Asopus and be the first to attack.

Mardonius' sacrifices also foretold an unfavorable outcome if he should be zealous to attack first, and good if he should but defend himself. He too used the Greek manner of sacrifice, and Hegesistratus of +Elis [21.4,37.8833] (Perseus) Elis was his diviner, the most notable of the sons of Tellias. This man had been put in prison and condemned to die by the Spartans for the great harm which he had done them.

Being in such bad shape inasmuch as he was in peril of his life and was likely to be very grievously maltreated before his death, he did something which was almost beyond belief; made fast in iron-bound stocks, he got an iron weapon which was brought in some way into his prison, and straightway conceived a plan of such courage as we have never known; reckoning how best the rest of it might get free, he cut off his own foot at the instep.

This done, he tunneled through the wall out of the way of the guards who kept watch over him, and so escaped to Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea. All night he journeyed, and all day he hid and lay hidden in the woods, till on the third night he came to Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea, while all the people of Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon sought him. The latter were greatly amazed when they saw the half of his foot which had been cut off and lying there but not were unable to find the man himself.

This, then, is the way in which he escaped the Lacedaemonians and took refuge in Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea, which at that time was unfriendly to Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon. After he was healed and had made himself a foot of wood, he declared himself an open enemy of the Lacedaemonians. Yet the enmity which he bore them brought him no good at the last, for they caught him at his divinations in +Zakinthos [20.9,37.783] (inhabited place), Nisos Zakinthos, Zakinthos, Ionian Islands, Greece, Europe Zacynthus and killed him.

The death of Hegesistratus, however, took place after the Plataean business. At the present he was by the Asopus, hired by Mardonius for no small wage, where he sacrificed and worked zealously, both for the hatred he bore the Lacedaemonians and for gain.

When no favorable omens for battle could be won either by the Persians themselves or by the Greeks who were with them (for they too had a diviner of their own, Hippomachus of +Levkas [20.65,38.716] (island), Levkas, Ionian Islands, Greece, Europe Leucas), and the Greeks kept flocking in and their army grew, Timagenides son of Herpys, a Theban, advised Mardonius to guard the outlet of the pass over Cithaeron, telling him that the Greeks were coming in daily and that he would thereby cut off many of them.

The armies had already lain hidden opposite each other for eight days when he gave this counsel. Mardonius perceived that the advice was good, and when night had fallen, he sent his horsemen to the outlet of the pass over Cithaeron which leads towards Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea. This pass the Boeotians call the Three Heads, and the Athenians the Oak's Heads. The horsemen who were sent out did not go in vain,

for they caught both five hundred beasts of burden which were going into the low country, bringing provisions from the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese for the army, and men who came with the wagons. When they had taken this quarry, the Persians killed without mercy, sparing neither man nor beast. When they had their fill of slaughter, they encircled the rest and drove them to Mardonius and his camp.

After this deed they waited two days more, neither side desiring to begin the battle, for although the barbarians came to the Asopus to test the Greeks intent, neither army crossed it. Mardonius' cavalry, however, kept pressing upon and troubling the Greeks, for the Thebans, in their zeal for the Persian part, waged war heartily, and kept on guiding the horsemen to the encounter; thereafter it was the turn of the Persians and Medes, and they and none other would do deeds of valor.

Until ten days had passed, no more was done than this. On the eleventh day from their first encampment opposite each other, the Greeks growing greatly in number and Mardonius being greatly vexed by the delay, there was a debate held between Mardonius son of Gobryas and Artabazus son of Pharnaces, who stood as high as only few others in Xerxes' esteem.

Their opinions in council were as I will show. Artabazus thought it best that they should strike their camp with all speed and lead the whole army within the walls of Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes. Here there was much food stored and fodder for their beasts of burden; furthermore, they could sit at their ease here and conclude the business by doing as follows:

they could take the great store they had of gold, minted and other, and silver drinking-cups, and send all this to all places in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas without stint, excepting none, but especially to the chief men in the cities of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas. Let them do this (he said) and the Greeks would quickly surrender their liberty; but do not let the Persians risk the event of a battle.

This opinion of his was the same as the Thebans, inasmuch as he too had special foreknowledge. Mardonius' counsel, however, was more vehement and intemperate and not at all leaning to moderation. He said that he thought that their army was much stronger than the Greeks and that they should give battle with all speed so as not to let more Greeks muster than were mustered already. As for the sacrifices of Hegesistratus, let them pay no heed to these, nor seek to wring good from them, but rather give battle after Persian custom.

No one withstood this argument, and his opinion accordingly prevailed; for it was he and not Artabazus who was commander of the army by the king's commission. He therefore sent for the leaders of the battalions and the generals of those Greeks who were with him and asked them if they knew any oracle which prophesied that the Persians should perish in Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

Book 9, Part 4

Those who were summoned said nothing, some not knowing the prophecies, and some knowing them but thinking it perilous to speak, and then Mardonius himself said: “Since you either have no knowledge or are afraid to declare it, hear what I tell you based on the full knowledge that I have.

There is an oracle that Persians are fated to come to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas and all perish there after they have plundered the temple at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi. Since we have knowledge of this same oracle, we will neither approach that temple nor attempt to plunder it; in so far as destruction hinges on that, none awaits us.

Therefore, as many of you as wish the Persian well may rejoice in that we will overcome the Greeks.” Having spoken in this way, he gave command to have everything prepared and put in good order for the battle which would take place early the next morning.

Now for this prophecy, which Mardonius said was spoken of the Persians, I know it to have been made concerning not them but the Illyrians and the army of the Enchelees. There is, however, a prophecy made by Bacis concerning this battle:

By Thermodon's stream and the grass-grown banks of Asopus, Will be a gathering of Greeks for fight and the ring of the barbarian's war-cry; Many a Median archer, by death untimely overtaken will fall There in the battle when the day of his doom is upon him. I know that these verses and others very similar to them from Musaeus referred to the Persians. As for the river Thermodon, it flows between +Tanagra [23.6,38.3083] (Perseus) Tanagra and +Glisas [23.4167,38.2833] (Perseus) Glisas.

After this inquiry about oracles and Mardonius' exhortation, night fell, and the armies posted their sentries. Now when the night was far advanced and it seemed that all was still in the camps and the men were sleeping deeply, at that hour Alexander son of Amyntas, the general and king of the Macedonians, rode up to the Athenian outposts and wanted to speak to their generals.

The greater part of the sentries remained where they were, but the rest ran to their generals and told them that a horseman had ridden in from the Persian camp, imparting no other word save that he desired to speak to the generals and called them by their names.

Hearing that, the generals straightway went with the men to the outposts. When they had come, Alexander said to them: “Men of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, I give you this message in trust as a secret which you must reveal to no one but Pausanias, or else you will be responsible for my undoing. In truth I would not tell it to you if I did not care so much for all Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas;

I myself am by ancient descent a Greek, and I would not willingly see Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas change her freedom for slavery. I tell you, then, that Mardonius and his army cannot get omens to his liking from the sacrifices. Otherwise you would have fought long before this. Now, however, it is his purpose to pay no heed to the sacrifices, and to attack at the first glimmer of dawn, for he fears, as I surmise, that your numbers will become still greater. Therefore, I urge you to prepare, and if (as may be) Mardonius should delay and not attack, wait patiently where you are; for he has but a few days' provisions left.

If, however, this war ends as you wish, then must you take thought how to save me too from slavery, who have done so desperate a deed as this for the sake of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas in my desire to declare to you Mardonius' intent so that the barbarians may not attack you suddenly before you yet expect them. I who speak am Alexander the Macedonian.” With that he rode away back to the camp and his own station there.

The Athenian generals went to the right wing and told Pausanias what they had heard from Alexander. At the message Pausanias was terrified by the Persians, and said:

“Since, therefore, the battle is to begin at dawn, it is best that you Athenians should take your stand opposite the Persians, and we opposite the Boeotians and the Greeks who are posted opposite you; for you have fought with the Medes at Marathon and know them and their manner of fighting while we have no experience or knowledge of those men. We Spartans have experience of the Boeotians and Thessalians, but not one of us has experience with the Medes.

No, rather let us take up our equipment and change places, you to this wing and we to the left.” “We, too,” the Athenians answered, “even from the moment when we saw the Persians posted opposite you, had it in mind to make that suggestion which now has first come from you. We feared, however, that we would displease you by making it. But since you have spoken the wish yourselves, we too hear your words very gladly and are ready to do as you say.

Since both were satisfied with this, they exchanged their places in the ranks at the first light of dawn. The Boeotians noticed that and made it known to Mardonius. When he heard this, he straight away attempted to make a change for himself also, by moving the Persians opposite the Lacedaemonians. When Pausanias perceived what was being done, he saw that his action had been discovered and led the Spartans back to the right wing; Mardonius did the same thing on the left of his army.

When all were at their former posts again, Mardonius sent a herald to the Lacedaemonians with this message: “Men of Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon, you are said by the people of these parts to be very brave men. It is their boast of you that you neither flee from the field nor leave your post, but remain there and either slay your enemies or are yourselves killed. It would seem, however, that there is no truth in all this,

for before we could attack and fight hand to hand, we saw you even now fleeing and leaving your station, using Athenians for the first trial of your enemy and arraying yourselves opposite those who are but our slaves.

This is not the action of brave men. No, we have been grievously mistaken about you, for in accordance with what we heard about you, we expected that you would send us a herald challenging the Persians and none other to fight with you. That we were ready to do; but we find you making no such offer, but rather quailing before us. Now, therefore, since the challenge comes not from you, take it from us instead.

What is there to prevent us from fighting with equal numbers on both sides, you for the Greeks (since you have the reputation of being their best), and we for the barbarians? If it is desirable that the others fight also, let them fight after us, but if, on the contrary the opinion prevails that we alone suffice, then let us fight it out. Let the winner in this contest determine victory for the whole army.”

This is the proclamation made by the herald; and when he had waited a while and no one answered him, he went back again, and at his return told what had happened to him. Mardonius was overjoyed and proud of this semblance of victory, and sent his cavalry to attack the Greeks.

The horsemen rode at them and shot arrows and javelins among the whole Greek army to its great hurt, since they were mounted archers and difficult to deal with in an encounter; they spoiled and blocked the Gargaphian spring, from which the entire Greek army drew its water.

None indeed but the Lacedaemonians were posted near the spring, and it was far from the several stations of the other Greeks, whereas the Asopus was near; nevertheless, they would always go to the spring, since they were barred from the Asopus, not being able to draw water from that river because of the horsemen and the arrows.

When this happened, seeing that their army was cut off from water and thrown into confusion by the horsemen, the generals of the Greeks went to Pausanias on the right wing, and debated concerning this and other matters; for there were other problems which troubled them more than what I have told. They had no food left, and their followers whom they had sent into the +Peloponnese [22,37.5] (region), Greece, Europe Peloponnese to bring provisions had been cut off by the horsemen and could not make their way to the army.

So they resolved in their council that if the Persians held off through that day from giving battle, they would go to the Island. This is ten furlongs distant from the Asopus and the Gargaphian spring, near which their army then lay, and in front of the town of Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea.

It is like an island on dry land because the river in its course down from Cithaeron into the plain is parted into two channels, and there is about three furlongs space in between till presently the two channels unite again, and the name of that river is Oeroe, who (as the people of the country say ) was the daughter of Asopus.

To that place then they planned to go so that they might have plenty of water for their use and not be harmed by the horsemen, as now when they were face to face with them; and they resolved to change places in the second watch of the night, lest the Persians should see them setting forth and the horsemen press after them and throw them into confusion.

Furthermore, they resolved that when they had come to that place, which is encircled by the divided channels of Asopus' daughter Oeroe as she flows from Cithaeron, they would in that night send half of their army to Cithaeron, to remove their followers who had gone to get the provisions; for these were cut off from them on Cithaeron.

Having made this plan, all that day they suffered constant hardship from the cavalry which continually pressed upon them. When the day ended, however, and the horsemen stopped their onslaught, then at that hour of the night at which it was agreed that they should depart, most of them rose and departed, not with intent to go to the place upon which they had agreed. Instead of that, once they were on their way, they joyfully shook off the horsemen and escaped to the town of Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea. In the course of their flight they came to the temple of Hera which is outside of that town, twenty furlongs distant from the Gargaphian spring and piled their arms in front of the temple.

So they encamped around the temple of Hera. Pausanias, however, seeing their departure from the camp, gave orders to the Lacedaemonians to take up their arms likewise and follow the others who had gone ahead, supposing that these were making for the place where they had agreed to go.

Thereupon, all the rest of the captains being ready to obey Pausanias, Amompharetus son of Poliades, the leader of the Pitanate battalion, refused to flee from the barbarians or (save by compulsion) bring shame on Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta; the whole business seemed strange to him, for he had not been present in the council recently held.

Pausanias and Euryanax were outraged that Amompharetus disobeyed them. Still more, however, they disliked that his refusing would compel them to abandon the Pitanate battalion, for they feared that if they fulfilled their agreement with the rest of the Greeks and abandoned him, Amompharetus and his men would be left behind to perish.

Bearing this in mind, they kept the Laconian army where it was and tried to persuade Amompharetus that he was in the wrong.

So they reasoned with Amompharetus, he being the only man left behind of all the Lacedaemonians and Tegeans. As for the Athenians, they stood unmoved at their post, well aware that the purposes and the promises of Lacedaemonians were not alike.

But when the army left its station, they sent a horseman of their own to see whether the Spartans were attempting to march or whether they were not intending to depart, and to ask Pausanias what the Athenians should do.

When the messenger arrived among the Lacedaemonians, he saw them arrayed where they had been, and their chief men by now in hot dispute. For though Euryanax and Pausanias reasoned with Amompharetus, that the Lacedaemonians should not be endangered by remaining there alone, they could in no way prevail upon him. At last, when the Athenian messenger came among them, angry words began to pass.

In this wrangling Amompharetus took up a stone with both hands and threw it down before Pausanias' feet, crying that it was the pebble with which he voted against fleeing from the strangers (meaning thereby the barbarians). Pausanias called him a madman; then when the Athenian messenger asked the question with which he had been charged, Pausanias asked the man to tell the Athenians of his present condition, and begged them to join themselves to the Lacedaemonians and, as for departure, to do as they did.

The messenger then went back to the Athenians. When dawn found the dispute still continuing, Pausanias, who had up to this point kept his army where it was, now gave the word and led all the rest away between the hillocks, the Tegeans following, for he supposed that Amompharetus would not stay behind when the rest of the Lacedaemonians left him; this was in fact exactly what happened.

The Athenians marshalled themselves and marched, but not by the same way as the Lacedaemonians, who stayed close to the broken ground and the lower slopes of Cithaeron in order to stay clear of the Persian horse. The Athenians marched down into the plain instead.

Now Amompharetus at first supposed that Pausanias would never have the heart to leave him and his men, and he insisted that they should remain where they were and not leave their post. When Pausanias' men had already proceeded some distance, he thought that they had really left him. He accordingly bade his battalion take up its arms and led it in marching step after the rest of the column,

which after going a distance of ten furlongs, was waiting for Amompharetus by the stream Molois and the place called Argiopium, where there is a shrine of Eleusinian Demeter. The reason for their waiting was that, if Amompharetus and his battalion should not leave the place where it was posted but remain there, they would then be able to assist him.

Book 9, Part 5

No sooner had Amompharetus' men come up than the barbarians' cavalry attacked the army, for the horsemen acted as they always had. When they saw no enemy on the ground where the Greeks had been on the days before this, they kept riding forward and attacked the Greeks as soon as they overtook them.

When Mardonius learned that the Greeks had departed under cover of night and saw the ground deserted, he called to him Thorax of Larissa and his brothers Eurypylus and Thrasydeius and said:

“What will you say now, sons of Aleuas, when you see this place deserted? For you, who are their neighbors, kept telling me that Lacedaemonians fled from no battlefield and were the masters of warfare. These same men, however, you just saw changing their post, and now you and all of us see that they have fled during the night. The moment they had to measure themselves in battle with those that are in very truth the bravest on earth, they plainly showed that they are men of no account, and all other Greeks likewise.

Now you, for your part, were strangers to the Persians, and I could readily pardon you for praising these fellows, who were in some sort known to you; but I marvelled much more that Artabazus, be he ever so frightened, should give us a coward's advice to strike our camp, and march away to be besieged in Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes. Of this advice the king will certainly hear from me, but it will be discussed elsewhere.

Now we must not permit our enemies to do as they want; they must be pursued till they are overtaken and pay the penalty for all the harm they have done the Persians.”

With that, he led the Persians with all speed across the Asopus in pursuit of the Greeks, supposing that they were in flight; it was the army of Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon and Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea alone which was his goal, for the Athenians marched another way over the broken ground, and were out of his sight.

Seeing the Persians setting forth in pursuit of the Greeks, the rest of the barbarian battalions straightway raised their standards and also gave pursuit, each at top speed, no battalion having order in its ranks nor place assigned in the line.

So they ran pell-mell and shouting, as though they would utterly make an end of the Greeks. Pausanias, however, when the cavalry attacked him, sent a horseman to the Athenians with this message: “Men of Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, in this great contest which must give freedom or slavery to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, we Lacedaemonians and you Athenians have been betrayed by the flight of our allies in the night that is past.

I have accordingly now resolved what we must do; we must protect each other by fighting as best we can. If the cavalry had attacked you first, it would have been the duty of both ourselves and the Tegeans, who are faithful to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, to aid you; but now, seeing that the whole brunt of their assault falls on us, it is right that you should come to the aid of that division which is hardest pressed.

But if, as may be, anything has befallen you which makes it impossible for you to aid us, do us the service of sending us your archers. We are sure that you will obey us, as knowing that you have been by far more zealous than all others in this present war.”

When the Athenians heard that, they attempted to help the Lacedaemonians and defend them with all their might. But when their march had already begun, they were set upon by the Greeks posted opposite them, who had joined themselves to the king. For this reason, being now under attack by the foe which was closest, they could at the time send no aid.

The Lacedaemonians and Tegeans accordingly stood alone, men-at-arms and light-armed together; there were of the Lacedaemonians fifty thousand and of the Tegeans, who had never been parted from the Lacedaemonians, three thousand. These offered sacrifice so that they would fare better in battle with Mardonius and the army which was with him.

They could get no favorable omen from their sacrifices, and in the meanwhile many of them were killed and by far more wounded (for the Persians set up their shields for a fence, and shot showers of arrows). Since the Spartans were being hard-pressed and their sacrifices were of no avail, Pausanias lifted up his eyes to the temple of Hera at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea and called on the goddess, praying that they might not be disappointed in their hope.

While he was still in the act of praying, the men of Tegea [22.4,37.5] (Perseus) Tegea leapt out before the rest and charged the barbarians, and immediately after Pausanias' prayer the sacrifices of the Lacedaemonians became favorable. Now they too charged the Persians, and the Persians met them, throwing away their bows.

First they fought by the fence of shields, and when that was down, there was a fierce and long fight around the temple of Demeter itself, until they came to blows at close quarters. For the barbarians laid hold of the spears and broke them short.

Now the Persians were neither less valorous nor weaker, but they had no armor; moreover, since they were unskilled and no match for their adversaries in craft, they would rush out singly and in tens or in groups great or small, hurling themselves on the Spartans and so perishing.

Where Mardonius was himself, riding a white horse in the battle and surrounded by a thousand picked men who were the flower of the Persians, there they pressed their adversaries hardest. So long as Mardonius was alive the Persians stood their ground and defended themselves, overthrowing many Lacedaemonians.

When, however, Mardonius was killed and his guards, who were the strongest part of the army, had also fallen, then the rest too yielded and gave ground before the men of Sparta [22.416,37.83] (inhabited place), Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Lacedaemon. For what harmed them the most was the fact that they wore no armor over their clothes and fought, as it were, naked against men fully armed.

On that day the Spartans, as the oracle had foretold, gained from Mardonius their full measure of vengeance for the slaying of Leonidas, and the most glorious of victories of all which we know was won by Pausanias, the son of Cleombrotus, who was the son of Anaxandrides.

(I have named the rest of Pausanias' ancestors in the lineage of Leonidas, for they are the same for both.) As for Mardonius, he was killed by Aeimnestus, a Spartan of note who long after the Persian business led three hundred men to battle at +Stenyclerus [21.9333,37.2333] (Perseus) Stenyclerus against the whole army of +Nomos Messinias [21.833,37.25] (department), Peloponnese, Greece, Europe Messenia, and was there killed, he and his three hundred.

At Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea, however, the Persians, routed by the Lacedaemonians, fled in disorder to their own camp and inside the wooden walls which they had made in the territory of Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes.

It is indeed a marvel that although the battle was right by the grove of Demeter, there was no sign that any Persian had been killed in the precinct or entered into it; most of them fell near the temple in unconsecrated ground. I think—if it is necessary to judge the ways of the gods—that the goddess herself denied them entry, since they had burnt her temple, the shrine at +Eleusis [23.5583,38.0417] (Perseus) Eleusis.

This, then, is what happened in this battle. But Artabazus son of Pharnaces had from the very first disapproved of the king's leaving Mardonius, and now all his counselling not to join battle had been of no avail. In his displeasure at what Mardonius was doing, he himself did as I will show.

He had with him a great army, as many as forty thousand men. He knew full well what the outcome of the battle would be, and no sooner had the Greeks and Persians met than he led these with a fixed purpose, telling them to follow him all together wherever he should lead them, whatever they thought his intent might be.

With that command he pretended to lead them into battle. As he came farther on his way, he saw the Persians already fleeing and accordingly led his men, no longer in the same array, but took to his heels and fled with all speed not to the wooden fort nor to the walled city of Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes, but to +Phocis (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Phocis, so that he might make his way with all haste to the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont.

So Artabazus and his army turned that way. All the rest of the Greeks who were on the king's side fought badly on purpose, but not so the Boeotians; they fought for a long time against the Athenians. For those Thebans who were on the Persian side had great enthusiasm in the battle, and did not want to fight in a cowardly manner. As a result of this, three hundred of their first and best were killed there by the Athenians. At last, however, the Boeotians too yielded and they fled to Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes, but not by the way which the Persians had fled and the multitude of the allies which had fought no fight to the end nor achieved any feat of arms.

This flight of theirs which took place before the actual closing of battle and was prompted because they saw the Persians flee, proves to me that it was on the Persians that the fortune of the barbarians hung. They accordingly all fled, save the cavalry, Boeotian and other; this helped the fleeing men in so far as it remained between them and their enemies and shielded its friends from the Greeks in their flight.

So the Greeks, now having the upper hand, followed Xerxes' men, pursuing and slaying. During this steadily growing rout there came a message to the rest of the Greeks, who were by the temple of Hera and had stayed out of the fighting, that there had been a battle and that Pausanias' men were victorious. When they heard this, they set forth in no ordered array, those who were with the Corinthians keeping to the spurs of the mountain and the hill country, by the road that led upward straight to the temple of Demeter, and those who were with the Megarians and Philasians taking the most level route over the plain.

However, when the Megarians and Philasians had come near the enemy, the Theban horsemen (whose captain was Asopodorus son of Timander) caught sight of them approaching in haste and disorder, and rode at them; in this attack they trampled six hundred of them, and pursued and drove the rest to Cithaeron.

So these perished without anyone noticing. But when the Persians and the rest of the multitude had fled within the wooden wall, they managed to get up on the towers before the coming of the Lacedaemonians; then they strengthened the wall as best they could. When the Athenians arrived, an intense battle for the wall began.

For as long as the Athenians were not there, the barbarians defended themselves and had a great advantage over the Lacedaemonians who had no skill in the assault of walls. When the Athenians came up, however, the fight for the wall became intense and lasted for a long time. In the end the Athenians, by valor and constant effort, scaled the wall and breached it. The Greeks poured in through the opening they had made;

the first to enter were the Tegeans, and it was they who plundered the tent of Mardonius, taking from it besides everything else the feeding trough of his horses which was all of bronze and a thing well worth looking at. The Tegeans dedicated this feeding trough of Mardonius in the temple of Athena Alea. Everything else which they took they brought into the common pool, as did the rest of the Greeks.

As for the barbarians, they did not form a unified body again once the wall was down, nor did anyone think of defense because the terrified men in the tiny space and the many myriads herded together were in great distress.

Such a slaughter were the Greeks able to make, that of two hundred and sixty thousand who remained after Artabazus had fled with his forty thousand, scarcely three thousand were left alive. Of the Lacedaemonians from Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta ninety-one all together were killed in battle; of the Tegeans, seventeen and of the Athenians, fifty-two.

Among the barbarians, the best fighters were the Persian infantry and the cavalry of the Sacae, and of men, it is said, the bravest was Mardonius. Among the Greeks, the Tegeans and Athenians conducted themselves nobly, but the Lacedaemonians excelled all in valor.

Of this my only clear proof is (for all these conquered the foes opposed to them) the fact that the Lacedaemonians fought with the strongest part of the army, and overcame it. According to my judgment, the bravest man by far was Aristodemus, who had been reviled and dishonored for being the only man of the three hundred that came alive from +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae; next after him in valor were Posidonius, Philocyon, and Amompharetus.

Nevertheless, when there was a general discussion about who had borne himself most bravely, those Spartans who were there judged that Aristodemus, who plainly wished to die because of the reproach hanging over him and so rushed out and left the battle column behind, had achieved great deeds, but that Posidonius, who had no wish to die, proved himself a courageous fighter, and so in this way he was the better man.

This they may have said merely out of jealousy, but all the aforesaid who were killed in that fight received honor, save Aristodemus; he, because he desired death because of the reproach previously mentioned, received none.

These won the most renown of all who fought at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea. For Callicrates, who, when he came to the army, was the finest not only of the Lacedaemonians, but also of all the other Greeks, died away from the battle. Callicrates, who was sitting in his place when Pausanias was offering sacrifice, was wounded in the side by an arrow.

Book 9, Part 6

While his comrades were fighting, he was carried out of the battle and died a lingering death, saying to Arimnestus, a Plataean, that it was not a source of grief to him to die for Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas' sake; his sorrow was rather that he had struck no blow and achieved no deed worthy of his merit, despite all his eager desire to do so.

Of the Athenians, Sophanes son of Eutychides is said to have won renown, a man from the town of Decelea, whose people once did a deed that was of eternal value, as the Athenians themselves say.

For in the past when the sons of Tyndarus were trying to recover Helen, after breaking into Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica with a great host, they turned the towns upside down because they did not know where Helen had been hidden, then (it is said) the Deceleans (and, as some say, Decelus himself, because he was angered by the pride of Theseus and feared for the whole land of Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica) revealed the whole matter to the sons of Tyndarus, and guided them to Aphidnae, which Titacus, one of the autochthonoi, handed over to to the Tyndaridae.

For that deed the Deceleans have always had and still have freedom at Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta from all dues and chief places at feasts. In fact, even as recently as the war which was waged many years after this time between the Athenians and Peloponnesians, the Lacedaemonians laid no hand on Decelea when they harried the rest of Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica.

From that town was Sophanes, who now was the best Athenian fighter in the battle, and about him two tales are told. According to the first, he bore an iron anchor attached to the belt of his cuirass with a chain of bronze. He would cast this anchor whenever he approached his enemies in an attack so that the enemy, as they left their ranks, might not be able to move him from his place. When they were put to flight, it was his plan that he would pull up his anchor and so pursue them.

So runs this tale. The second which contradicts with the first and relates that he wore no iron anchor attached to his cuirass, but that his shield, which he constantly whirled round and never held still, had on it an anchor as a device.

There is yet another glorious deed which Sophanes did; when the Athenians were besieging +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina, he challenged and killed Eurybates the Argive, a victor in the Five Contests. Long after this, Sophanes met his death when he was general of the Athenians with Leagrus, son of Glaucon. He was killed at Datus by the Edonians in a battle for the gold-mines.

Immediately after the Greeks had devastated the barbarians at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea, a woman, who was the concubine of Pharandates a Persian, son of Teaspis, deserting from the enemy, came to them. She, learning that the Persians were ruined and the Greeks victorious, decked herself (as did also her attendants) with many gold ornaments and the fairest clothing that she had, and alighting thus from her carriage came to the Lacedaemonians while they were still in the midst of slaughtering. When she saw Pausanias, whose name and country she had often heard of, directing everything, she knew that it was he, and supplicated him clasping his knees:

“Save me, your suppliant, O king of Sparta [22.4417,37.0667] (Perseus) Sparta, from captive slavery, for you have aided me till now, by making an end of those men who hold sacred nothing of the gods or of any divinities. Coan I am by birth, the daughter of Hegetorides, son of Antagoras; in Kos City [27.3,36.8917] (Perseus)Cos the Persian seized me by force and held me prisoner.”

“Take heart, lady,” Pausanias answered, “for you are my suppliant, and furthermore if you are really the daughter of Hegetorides of Kos City [27.3,36.8917] (Perseus)Cos, he is my closest friend of all who dwell in those lands.” For the present, he then entrusted her to those of the ephors who were present. Later he sent her to +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina, where she herself desired to go.

Immediately after the arrival of this woman, the men of +Mantinea [22.3833,37.6167] (Perseus) Mantinea came when everything was already over. Upon learning that they had come too late for the battle, they were extremely upset and said that they ought to punish themselves for that.

When they heard that those Medes with Artabazus were fleeing, they would have pursued them as far as +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly. The Lacedaemonians, however, would not permit them to pursue the fleeing men.

So when they returned to their own land, the Mantineans banished the leaders of their army from the country. After the Mantineans came the men of +Elis [21.4,37.8833] (Perseus) Elis, who also went away extremely upset, and after their departure, they too banished their leaders. Such were the doings of the Mantineans and Eleans.

There was at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea in the army of the Aeginetans one Lampon, son of Pytheas, a leading man of +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina. He hastened to Pausanias with really outrageous counsel and coming upon him, said to him:

“son of Cleombrotus, you have done a deed of surpassing greatness and glory; the god has granted to you in saving Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas to have won greater renown than any Greek whom we know. But now you must finish what remains for the rest, so that your fame may be greater still and so that no barbarian will hereafter begin doing reckless deeds against the Greeks.

When Leonidas was killed at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae, Mardonius and Xerxes cut off his head and set it on a pole; make them a like return, and you will win praise from all Spartans and the rest of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas besides. For if you impale Mardonius, you will be avenged for your father's brother Leonidas.”

This is what Lampon, thinking to please, said. Pausanias, however, answered him as follows: “Aeginetan, I thank you for your goodwill and forethought, but you have missed the mark of right judgment. First you exalt me and my fatherland and my deeds, yet next you cast me down to mere nothingness when you advise me to insult the dead, and say that I shall win more praise if I do so. That would be an act more proper for barbarians than for Greeks and one that we consider worthy of censure even in barbarians.

No, as for myself, I would prefer to find no favor either with the people of +Aegina [23.433,37.75] (inhabited place), Aegina, Attica, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Aegina or anyone else who is pleased by such acts. It is enough for me if I please the Spartans by righteous deeds and speech. As for Leonidas, whom you would have me avenge, I think that he has received a full measure of vengeance; the uncounted souls of these that you see have done honor to him and the rest of those who died at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae. But to you this is my warning: do not come again to me with words like these nor give me such counsel. Be thankful now that you go unpunished.”

With that Lampon departed. Then Pausanias made a proclamation that no man should touch the spoils, and ordered the helots to gather all the stuff together. They, spreading all over the camp, found there tents adorned with gold and silver, and couches gilded and silver-plated, and golden bowls and cups and other drinking-vessels;

and sacks they found on wagons, in which were seen cauldrons of gold and silver. They stripped from the dead who lay there their armlets and torques, and golden daggers; as for the embroidered clothing, it was disregarded.

Much of all this the helots showed, as much as they could not conceal, but much they stole and sold to the Aeginetans. As a result the Aeginetans laid the foundation of their great fortunes by buying gold from the helots as though it were bronze.

Having brought all the loot together, they set apart a tithe for the god of Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi. From this was made and dedicated that tripod which rests upon the bronze three-headed serpent, nearest to the altar; another they set apart for the god of Olympia [21.6333,37.65] (Perseus)Olympia, from which was made and dedicated a bronze figure of Zeus, ten cubits high; and another for the god of the Isthmus, from which was fashioned a bronze Poseidon seven cubits high. When they had set all this apart, they divided what remained, and each received, according to his worth, concubines of the Persians and gold and silver, and all the rest of the stuff and the beasts of burden.

How much was set apart and given to those who had fought best at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea, no man says. I think that they also received gifts, but tenfold of every kind, women, horses, talents, camels, and all other things also, was set apart and given to Pausanias.

This other story is also told. When Xerxes fled from Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, he left to Mardonius his own establishment. Pausanias, seeing Mardonius' establishment with its display of gold and silver and gaily colored tapestry, ordered the bakers and the cooks to prepare a dinner such as they were accustomed to do for Mardonius.

They did his bidding, but Pausanias, when he saw golden and silver couches richly covered, and tables of gold and silver, and all the magnificent service of the banquet, was amazed at the splendor before him, and for a joke commanded his own servants to prepare a dinner in Laconian fashion. When that meal, so different from the other, was ready, Pausanias burst out laughing and sent for the generals of the Greeks.

When these had assembled, Pausanias pointed to the manner in which each dinner was served and said: “Men of Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, I have brought you here because I desired to show you the foolishness of the leader of the Medes who, with such provisions for life as you see, came here to take away from us our possessions which are so pitiful.” In this way, it is said, Pausanias spoke to the generals of the Greeks.

Long after these events many of the Plataeans also found chests full of gold and silver and other things.

Moreover, when their bodies (which the Plataeans gathered into one place) were laid bare of flesh, a skull was found of which the bone was all of one piece without suture. A jawbone also came to light in which the teeth of the upper jaw were one whole, a single bone, front teeth and grinders, and one could see the body of a man of five cubits stature.

As for the body of Mardonius, it was removed on the day after the battle; by whom, I cannot with certainty say. I have, however, heard of very many countries that buried Mardonius, and I know of many that were richly rewarded for that act by Mardonius' son Artontes.

Which of them it was that stole and buried the body of Mardonius I cannot learn for certain. Some report that it was buried by Dionysophanes, an Ephesian. Such was the manner of Mardonius' burial.

But the Greeks, when they had divided the spoils at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea, buried each contingent of their dead in a separate place. The Lacedaemonians made three tombs; there they buried their “irens,” among whom were Posidonius, Amompharetus, Philocyon, and Callicrates.

In one of the tombs, then, were the “irens,” in the second the rest of the Spartans, and in the third the helots. This, then is how the Lacedaemonians buried their dead. The Tegeans, however, buried all theirs together in a place apart, and the Athenians did similarly with their own dead. So too did the Megarians and Phliasians with those who had been killed by the horsemen.

All the tombs of these peoples were filled with dead; but as for the rest of the states whose tombs are to be seen at +Plataea (inhabited place), Boeotia, Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Plataeae, their tombs are but empty barrows that they built for the sake of men that should come after, because they were ashamed to have been absent from the battle. There is one there called the tomb of the Aeginetans, which, as I learn by inquiry, was built as late as ten years after, at the Aeginetans' desire, by their patron and protector Cleades son of Autodicus, a Plataean.

As soon as the Greeks had buried their dead at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea, they resolved in council that they would march against Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes and demand surrender of those who had taken the Persian side—particularly of Timagenidas and Attaginus, who were chief among their foremost men. If these men were not delivered to them, they would not withdraw from the area in front of the city till they had taken it.

They came with this purpose on the eleventh day after the battle and laid siege to the Thebans, demanding the surrender of the men. When the Thebans refused this surrender, they laid waste to their lands and assaulted the walls.

Seeing that the Greeks would not cease from their harrying and nineteen days had passed, Timagenidas spoke as follows to the Thebans: “Men of Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes, since the Greeks have resolved that they will not raise the siege till Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes is taken or we are delivered to them, do not let the land of Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia increase the measure of its ills for our sake.

No, rather if it is money they desire and their demand for our surrender is but a pretext, let us give them money out of our common treasury (for it was by the common will and not ours alone that we took the Persian side). If, however, they are besieging the town for no other reason than to have us, then we will give ourselves up to be tried by them.” This seemed to be said well and at the right time, and the Thebans immediately sent a herald to Pausanias, offering to surrender the men.

On these terms they made an agreement, but Attaginus escaped from the town. His sons were seized, but Pausanias held them free of guilt, saying that the sons were not accessory to the treason. As for the rest of the men whom the Thebans surrendered, they supposed that they would be put on trial, and were confident that they would defeat the impeachment by bribery. Pausanias, however, had that very suspicion of them, and when they were put into his hands he sent away the whole allied army and carried the men to Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus) Corinth, where he put them to death. This is what happened at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea and Thebes [23.3333,38.325] (Perseus) Thebes.

Artabazus the son of Pharnaces was by now far on his way in his flight from Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea. The Thessalians, when he came among them, entertained him hospitably and inquired of him concerning the rest of the army, knowing nothing of what had happened at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea.

Book 9, Part 7

Artabazus understood that if he told them the whole truth about the fighting, he would endanger his own life and the lives of all those with him, for he thought that every man would set upon him if they heard the story. Therefore, although he had revealed nothing to the Phocians, he spoke as follows to the Thessalians:

“I myself, men of +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly, am pressing on with all speed and diligence to march into Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace, being despatched from the army for a certain purpose with the men whom you see. Mardonius and his army are expected marching close on my heels. It is for you to entertain him, and show that you do him good service, for if you so do, you will not afterwards regret it.”

So saying, he used all diligence to lead his army away straight towards Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace through +Thessaly [22.25,39.5] (region), Greece, Europe Thessaly and Macedonia (region (general)), EuropeMacedonia without any delay, following the shortest inland road. So he came to +Byzantium [28.95,41.0333] (Perseus) Byzantium, but he left behind many of his army who had been cut down by the Thracians or overcome by hunger and weariness. From +Byzantium [28.95,41.0333] (Perseus) Byzantium he crossed over in boats. In such a way Artabazus returned to Asia (continent)Asia.

Now on the same day when the Persians were so stricken at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea, it so happened that they suffered a similar fate at Mykale [26.8667,38.1] (Perseus)Mykale in Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia. When the Greeks who had come in their ships with Leutychides the Lacedaemonian were encamped at Delos [25.2833,37.4] (Perseus)Delos, certain messengers came to them there from +Nisos Samos [26.8,37.75] (island), Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Samos, Lampon of Thrasycles, Athenagoras son of Archestratides, and Hegesistratus son of Aristagoras. The Samians had sent these, keeping their despatch secret from the Persians and the tyrant Theomestor son of Androdamas, whom the Persians had made tyrant of +Nisos Samos [26.8,37.75] (island), Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Samos.

When they came before the generals, Hegesistratus spoke long and vehemently: “If the Ionians but see you,” he said, “they will revolt from the Persians, and the barbarians will not remain; but if they do remain, you will have such a prey as never again. “ He begged them in the name of the gods of their common worship to deliver Greeks from slavery and drive the barbarian away.

That, he said, would be an easy matter for them, “for the Persian ships are unseaworthy and no match for yours; and if you have any suspicion that we may be tempting you deceitfully, we are ready to be taken in your ships as hostages.”

As the Samian stranger was pleading so earnestly, Leutychides asked him (whether it was that he desired to know for the sake of a presage, or through some happy chance of a god), “Samian stranger, what is your name?” “Hegesistratus,” he replied.

Then Leutychides cut short whatever else Hegesistratus had begun to say, and cried: “I accept the omen of your name, Samian stranger; now see to it that before you sail from here you and those who are with you pledge that the Samians will be our zealous allies.”

He said this and added deed to word. For straightway the Samians bound themselves by pledge and oath to alliance with the Greeks.

This done, the rest sailed away, but Leutychides bade Hegesistratus to sail with the Greeks because of the good omen of his name. The Greeks waited through that day, and on the next they sought and received favorable augury; their diviner was Deiphonus son of Evenius, a man of that +Apollonia [14.5833,38.0167] (Perseus) Apollonia which is in the Ionian gulf. This man's father Evenius had once fared as I will now relate.

There is at +Apollonia [14.5833,38.0167] (Perseus) Apollonia a certain flock sacred to the Sun, which in the daytime is pastured beside the river Chon, which flows from the mountain called Lacmon through the lands of +Apollonia [14.5833,38.0167] (Perseus) Apollonia and empties into the sea by the harbor of Oricum. By night, those townsmen who are most notable for wealth or lineage are chosen to watch it, each man serving for a year, for the people of +Apollonia [14.5833,38.0167] (Perseus) Apollonia set great store by this flock, being so taught by a certain oracle. It is kept in a cave far distant from the town.

Now at the time of which I speak, Evenius was the chosen watchman. But one night he fell asleep, and wolves, coming past his guard into the cave, killed about sixty of the flock. When Evenius was aware of it, he held his peace and told no man, intending to restore what was lost by buying others.

This matter was not, however, hidden from the people of +Apollonia [14.5833,38.0167] (Perseus) Apollonia, and when it came to their knowledge they brought him to judgment and condemned him to lose his eyesight for sleeping at his watch. So they blinded Evenius, but from the day of their so doing their flocks bore no offspring, nor did their land yield fruit as before.

Furthermore, a declaration was given to them at Dodona [20.8,39.55] (Perseus)Dodona and Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi, when they inquired of the prophets what might be the cause of their present ill: the gods told them by their prophets that they had done unjustly in blinding Evenius, the guardian of the sacred flock, “for we ourselves” (they said) “sent those wolves, and we will not cease from avenging him until you make him such restitution for what you did as he himself chooses and approves; when that is fully done, we ourselves will give Evenius such a gift as will make many men consider him happy.”

This was the oracle given to the people of +Apollonia [14.5833,38.0167] (Perseus) Apollonia. They kept it secret and charged certain of their townsmen to carry the business through; they acted as I will now show. Coming and sitting down by Evenius at the place where he sat, they spoke of other matters, till at last they fell to commiserating his misfortune. Guiding the conversation in this way, they asked him what compensation he would choose, if the people of +Apollonia [14.5833,38.0167] (Perseus) Apollonia should promise to requite him for what they had done.

He, knowing nothing of the oracle, said he would choose for a gift the lands of certain named townsmen whom he thought to have the two fairest estates in +Apollonia [14.5833,38.0167] (Perseus) Apollonia, and a house besides which he knew to be the fairest in the town; let him (he said) have possession of these, and he would lay aside his anger, and be satisfied with that by way of restitution.

So he said this, and those who were sitting beside him said in reply: “Evenius, the people of +Apollonia [14.5833,38.0167] (Perseus) Apollonia hereby make you that restitution for the loss of your sight, obeying the oracle given to them.” At that he was very angry, for he learned through this the whole story and saw that they had cheated him. They did, however, buy from the possessors and give him what he had chosen, and from that day he had a natural gift of divination, through which he won fame.

Deiphonus, the son of this Evenius, had been brought by the Corinthians, and was the army's prophet. But I have heard it said before now, that Deiphonus was not the son of Evenius, but made a wrongful use of that name and worked for wages up and down Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas.

Having won favorable omens, the Greeks put out to sea from Delos [25.2833,37.4] (Perseus)Delos for +Nisos Samos [26.8,37.75] (island), Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, Europe Samos. When they were now near Calamisa in the Samian territory, they anchored there near the temple of Hera which is in those parts, and prepared for a sea-fight. The Persians, learning of their approach, also put out to sea and made for the mainland with all their ships save the Phoenicians, whom they sent sailing away. It was determined by them in council that they would not do battle by sea,

for they thought themselves overmatched; the reason of their making for the mainland was that they might be under the shelter of their army at Mykale [26.8667,38.1] (Perseus)Mykale, which had been left by Xerxes' command behind the rest of his host to hold Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia. There were sixty thousand men in it, and Tigranes, the noblest and tallest man in Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia, was their general.

It was the design of the Persian admirals to flee to the shelter of that army, and there to beach their ships and build a fence round them which should be a protection for the ship and a refuge for themselves.

With this design they put to sea. So when they came past the temple of the Goddesses at Mykale [26.8667,38.1] (Perseus)Mykale to the Gaeson and Scolopois, where there is a temple of Eleusinian Demeter (which was built by Philistus son of Pasicles when he went with Nileus son of Codrus to the founding of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus), they beached their ships and fenced them round with stones and the trunks of orchard trees which they cut down; they drove in stakes around the fence and prepared for siege or victory, making ready, after consideration, for either event.

When the Greeks learned that the barbarians had gone off to the mainland, they were not all pleased that their enemy had escaped them, and did not know whether to return back or set sail for the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont. At last they resolved that they would do neither, but sail to the mainland.

Equipping themselves for this with gangways and everything else necessary for a sea-fight, they held their course for Mykale [26.8667,38.1] (Perseus)Mykale. When they approached the camp, no one put out to meet them. Seeing the ships beached within the wall and a great host of men drawn up in array along the strand, Leutychides first sailed along in his ship, keeping as near to the shore as he could, and made this proclamation to the Ionians by the voice of a herald:

“Men of Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia, you who hear us, understand what I say, for by no means will the Persians understand anything I charge you with when we join battle; first of all it is right for each man to remember his freedom and next the battle-cry ‘Hebe’: and let him who hears me tell him who has not heard it.”

The purpose of this act was the same as Themsitocles' purpose at +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium; either the message would be unknown to the barbarians and would prevail with the Ionians, or if it were thereafter reported to the barbarians, it would cause them to mistrust their Greek allies.

After this counsel of Leutychides, the Greeks brought their ships to land and disembarked on the beach, where they formed a battle column. But the Persians, seeing the Greeks prepare for battle and exhort the Ionians, first of all took away the Samians' armor, suspecting that they would aid the Greeks;

for indeed when the barbarian's ships brought certain Athenian captives, who had been left in Attica [23.5,38.83] (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Attica and taken by Xerxes' army, the Samians had set them all free and sent them away to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens with provisions for the journey; for this reason in particular they were held suspect, as having set free five hundred souls of Xerxes' enemies.

Furthermore, they appointed the Milesians to guard the passes leading to the heights of Mykale [26.8667,38.1] (Perseus)Mykale, alleging that they were best acquainted with the country. Their true reason, however, for so doing was that the Milesians should be separate from the rest of their army. In such a manner the Persians safeguarded themselves from those Ionians who (they supposed) might turn against them if opportunity were given for themselves: they set their shields close to make a barricade.

The Greeks, having made all their preparations advanced their line against the barbarians. As they went, a rumor spread through the army, and a herald's wand was seen lying by the water-line. The rumor that ran was to the effect that the Greeks were victors over Mardonius' army at a battle in Boeotia (department), Central Greece and Euboea, Greece, Europe Boeotia.

Now there are many clear indications of the divine ordering of things, seeing that a message, which greatly heartened the army and made it ready to face danger, arrived amongst the Greeks the very day on which the Persians' disaster at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea and that other which was to befall them at Mykale [26.8667,38.1] (Perseus)Mykale took place.

Moreover, there was the additional coincidence, that there were precincts of Eleusinian Demeter on both battlefields; for at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea the fight was near the temple of Demeter, as I have already said, and so it was to be at Mykale [26.8667,38.1] (Perseus)Mykale also.

It happened that the rumor of a victory won by the Greeks with Pausanias was true, for the defeat at Plataea [23.2667,38.2] (Perseus) Plataea happened while it was yet early in the day, and the defeat of Mykale [26.8667,38.1] (Perseus)Mykale in the afternoon. That the two fell on the same day of the same month was proven to the Greeks when they examined the matter not long afterwards.

Now before this rumor came they had been faint-hearted, fearing less for themselves than for the Greeks with Pausanias, that Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas should stumble over Mardonius. But when the report sped among them, they grew stronger and swifter in their onset. So Greeks and barbarians alike were eager for battle, seeing that the islands and the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont were the prizes of victory.

As for the Athenians and those whose place was nearest them, that is, for about half of the line, their way lay over the beach and level ground; for the Lacedaemonians and those that were next to them, their way lay through a ravine and among hills. While the Lacedaemonians were making a circuit, those others on the other wing were already fighting.

As long as the Persians' shields stood upright, they defended themselves and held their own in the battle, but when the Athenians and their neighbors in the line passed the word and went more zealously to work, that they and not the Lacedaemonians might win the victory, immediately the face of the fight changed.

Breaking down the shields they charged all together into the midst of the Persians, who received the onset and stood their ground for a long time, but at last fled within their wall. The Athenians and Corinthians and Sicyonians and Troezenians, who were next to each other in the line, followed close after and rushed in together. But when the walled place had been razed, the barbarians made no further defense, but took to flight, all save the Persians,

who gathered into bands of a few men and fought with whatever Greeks came rushing within the walls. Of the Persian leaders two escaped by flight and two were killed; Artayntes and Ithanitres, who were admirals of the fleet, escaped; Mardontes and Tigranes, the general of the land army, were killed fighting.

While the Persians still fought, the Lacedaemonians and their comrades came up and finished what was left of the business. The Greeks too lost many men there, notably the men of Sikyon [22.725,37.9833] (Perseus)Sicyon and their general Perilaus.

Book 9, Part 8

As for the Samians who served in the Median army and had been disarmed, they, seeing from the first that victory hung in the balance, did what they could in their desire to aid the Greeks. When the other Ionians saw the Samians set the example, they also abandoned the Persians and attacked the foreigners.

The Persians had for their own safety appointed the Milesians to watch the passes, so that if anything should happen to the Persian army such as did happen to it, they might have guides to bring them safely to the heights of Mykale [26.8667,38.1] (Perseus)Mykale. This was the task to which the Milesians were appointed for the reason mentioned above and so that they might not be present with the army and so turn against it. They acted wholly contrary to the charge laid upon them; they misguided the fleeing Persians by ways that led them among their enemies, and at last they themselves became their worst enemies and killed them. In this way Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia revolted for the second time from the Persians.

In that battle those of the Greeks who fought best were the Athenians, and the Athenian who fought best was one who practised the pancratium, Hermolycus son of Euthoenus. This Hermolycus on a later day met his death in a battle at Cyrnus in Carystus during a war between the Athenians and Carystians, and lay dead on Geraestus. Those who fought best after the Athenians were the men of Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus) Corinth and Troizen [23.375,37.5] (Perseus)Troezen and Sikyon [22.725,37.9833] (Perseus)Sicyon.

When the Greeks had made an end of most of the barbarians, either in battle or in flight, they brought out their booty onto the beach, and found certain stores of wealth. Then after burning the ships and the whole of the wall, they sailed away.

When they had arrived at Nisos Samos [26.8,37.75] (island), Samos, Aegean Islands, Greece, EuropeSamos, they debated in council over the removal of all Greeks from Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia, and in what Greek lands under their dominion it would be best to plant the Ionians, leaving the country itself to the barbarians; for it seemed impossible to stand on guard between the Ionians and their enemies forever. If, however, they should not so stand, they had no hope that the Persians would permit the Ionians to go unpunished.

In this matter the Peloponnesians who were in charge were for removing the people from the lands of those Greek nations which had sided with the Persians and giving their land to the Ionians to dwell in. The Athenians disliked the whole plan of removing the Greeks from Ionia (region (general)), Europe Ionia, or allowing the Peloponnesians to determine the lot of Athenian colonies, and as they resisted vehemently, the Peloponnesians yielded.

It accordingly came about that they admitted to their alliance the Samians, Chians, Lesbians, and all other islanders who had served with their forces, and bound them by pledge and oaths to remain faithful and not desert their allies. When the oaths had been sworn, the Greeks set sail to break the bridges, supposing that these still held fast. So they laid their course for the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont.

The few barbarians who escaped were driven to the heights of Mykale [26.8667,38.1] (Perseus)Mykale, and made their way from there to Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis. While they were making their way along the road, Masistes son of Darius, who happened to have been present at the Persian disaster, reviled the admiral Artayntes very bitterly, telling him (with much beside) that such generalship as his proved him worse than a woman, and that no punishment was too severe for the harm he had done the king's estate. Now it is the greatest of all taunts in Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia to be called worse than a woman.

These many insults angered Artayntes so much that he drew his sword upon Masistes to kill him, but Xenagoras son of Praxilaus of Bodrum [27.466,37.5] (inhabited place), Mugla Ili, Ege kiyilari, Turkey, Asia Halicarnassus, who stood behind Artayntes himself saw him run at Masistes, and caught him round the middle and lifted and hurled him to the ground. In the meantime Masistes' guards had also come between them.

By doing so Xenagoras won the gratitude of Masistes himself and Xerxes, for saving the king's brother. For this deed he was made ruler of all Cilicia [34.333,36.666] (region (general)), Turkey, AsiaCilicia by the king's gift. Then they went on their way without anything further happening and came to Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis.

Now it happened that the king had been at Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis ever since he came there in flight from Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens after his overthrow in the sea-fight. Being then at Sardis [28.0167,38.475] (Perseus) Sardis he became enamored of Masistes' wife, who was also there. But as all his messages could not bring her to yield to him, and he would not force her to his will, out of regard for his brother Masistes (which indeed counted with the woman also, for she knew well that no force would be used against her), Xerxes found no other way to accomplish his purpose than that he should make a marriage between his own son Darius and the daughter of this woman and Masistes, for he thought that by doing so he would be most likely to win her.

So he betrothed them with all due ceremony and rode away to Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, AsiaSusa. But when he had come and had taken Darius' bride into his house, he thought no more of Masistes' wife, but changed his mind and wooed and won this girl Artaynte, Darius' wife and Masistes' daughter.

As time went on, however, the truth came to light, and in such manner as I will show. Xerxes' wife, Amestris, wove and gave to him a great gaily-colored mantle, marvellous to see. Xerxes was pleased with it, and went to Artaynte wearing it.

Being pleased with her too, he asked her what she wanted in return for her favors, for he would deny nothing at her asking. Thereupon—for she and all her house were doomed to evil—she said to Xerxes, “Will you give me whatever I ask of you?” He promised this, supposing that she would ask anything but that; when he had sworn, she asked boldly for his mantle.

Xerxes tried to refuse her, for no reason except that he feared that Amestris might have clear proof of his doing what she already guessed. He accordingly offered her cities instead and gold in abundance and an army for none but herself to command. Armies are the most suitable of gifts in Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia. But as he could not move her, he gave her the mantle; and she, rejoicing greatly in the gift, went flaunting her finery.

Amestris heard that she had the mantle, but when she learned the truth, it was not the girl with whom she was angry. She supposed rather that the girl's mother was guilty and that this was her doing, and so it was Masistes' wife whom she plotted to destroy.

She waited therefore till Xerxes her husband should be giving his royal feast. This banquet is served once a year, on the king's birthday; the Persian name for it is “tukta,” which is in the Greek language “perfect.” On that day (and none other) the king anoints his head and makes gifts to the Persians. Waiting for that day, Amestris then asked of Xerxes that Masistes' wife should be given to her.

Xerxes considered it a terrible and wicked act to give up his brother's wife, and that too when she was innocent of the deed; for he knew the purpose of the request.

Nevertheless, since Amestris was insistent and the law compelled him (for at this royal banquet in Iran [53,32] (nation), AsiaPersia every request must of necessity be granted), he unwillingly consented, and delivered the woman to Amestris. Then, bidding her do what she wanted, he sent for his brother and spoke as follows:

“Masistes, you are Darius' son and my brother, and a good man; hear me then. You must no longer live with her who is now your wife. I give you my daughter in her place. Take her for your own, but do away with the wife that you have, for it is not my will that you should have her.”

At that Masistes was amazed; “Sire,” he said, “what is this evil command that you lay upon me, telling me to deal with my wife in this way? I have by her young sons and daughters, of whom you have taken a wife for your own son, and I am very content with her herself. Yet you are asking me to get rid of my wife and wed your daughter?

Truly, O king, I consider it a great honor to be accounted worthy of your daughter, but I will do neither the one nor the other. No, rather, do not force me to consent to such a desire. You will find another husband for your daughter as good as I, but permit me to keep my own wife.”

This was Masistes' response, but Xerxes was very angry and said: “You have come to this pass, Masistes. I will give you no daughter of mine as a wife, nor will you any longer live with her whom you now have. In this way you will learn to accept that which is offered you.” Hearing that, Masistes said “No, sire, you have not destroyed me yet!” and so departed.

In the meantime, while Xerxes talked with his brother, Amestris sent for Xerxes' guards and treated Masistes' wife very cruelly; she cut off the woman's breasts and threw them to dogs, and her nose and ears and lips also, and cut out her tongue. Then she sent her home after she had undergone this dreadful ordeal.

Knowing nothing of this as yet, but fearing evil, Masistes ran home. Seeing what had been done to his wife, he immediately took counsel with his children and set out for Balkh [66.9,36.75] (inhabited place), Balkh, Afghanistan, AsiaBactra with his own sons (and others too), intending to raise the province of Balkh [66.9,36.75] (inhabited place), Balkh, Afghanistan, AsiaBactra in revolt and do the king the greatest of harm.

This he would have done, to my thinking, had he escaped to the country of the Bactrians and Sacae. They were fond of him, and he was viceroy over the Bactrians. But it was of no use, for Xerxes learned what he intended and sent against him an army which killed him on his way, and his sons and his army. Such is the story of Xerxes' love and Masistes' death.

The Greeks who had set out from Mykale [26.8667,38.1] (Perseus)Mykale for the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont first anchored off Lectum having been stopped by contrary winds, and came from there to Abydus [26.416,40.2] (deserted settlement), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaAbydos, where they found the bridges broken which they thought would still be in place; these were in fact the chief cause of their coming to the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont.

The Peloponnesians then who were with Leutychides decided to sail away to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, but the Athenians, with Xanthippus their general, that they would remain there and attack the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonesus. So the rest sailed away, but the Athenians crossed over to the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonesus and laid siege to Sestos [26.4,40.2833] (Perseus)Sestus.

Now when the Persians heard that the Greeks were at the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont, they had come in from the neighboring towns and assembled at this same Sestos [26.4,40.2833] (Perseus)Sestus, seeing that it was the strongest walled place in that region. Among them there was a Persian named Oeobazus from Cardia, and he had carried the equipment of the bridges there. Sestos [26.4,40.2833] (Perseus)Sestus was held by the Aeolians of the country, but with him were Persians and a great multitude of their allies.

This province was ruled by Xerxes' viceroy Artayctes, a cunning man and a wicked one; witness the deceit that he practised on the king in his march to Athens [23.7333,37.9667] (Perseus)Athens, how he stole away from Elaeus the treasure of Protesilaus son of Iphiclus.

This was the way of it; there is at Elaeus in the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonesus the tomb of Protesilaus, and a precinct around it, which contained much treasure: vessels of gold and silver, bronze, clothing, and other dedications; all of which Artayctes carried off by the king's gift.

“Sire,” he said deceitfully to Xerxes, “there is here the house of a certain Greek, who met a just death for invading your territory with an army; give me this man's house, so that all may be taught not to invade your territory.” One would think that this plea would easily persuade Xerxes to give him a man's house, since the latter had no suspicion of Artayctes' meaning. His reason for saying that Protesilaus had invaded the king's territory was that the Persians believe all Asia (continent)Asia to belong to themselves and whoever is their king. So when the treasure was given to him, he carried it away from Elaeus to Sestos [26.4,40.2833] (Perseus)Sestus, and planted and farmed the precinct. He would also come from Elaeus and have intercourse with women in the shrine. Now, when the Athenians laid siege to him, he had made no preparation for it; he did not think that the Greeks would come, and he had no way of escaping from their attack.

Since the siege continued into the late autumn, the Athenians grew weary of their absence from home and their lack of success at taking the fortress. They accordingly entreated their generals to lead them away again, but the generals refused to do that till they should take the place or be recalled by the Athenian state. At that the men endured their plight patiently.

But those who were within the walls were by now reduced to the last extremity, so much so that they boiled the thongs of their beds for food. At last, however, even these failed them, and Artayctes and Oeobazus and all the Persians made their way down from the back part of the fortress, where the fewest of their enemies were, and fled at nightfall.

When morning came, the people of the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese signified from their towers to the Athenians what had happened, and opened their gates. The greater part of the Athenians then went in pursuit, while the rest stayed to hold the town.

As Oeobazus was making his escape into Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace, the Apsinthians of that country caught and sacrificed him in their customary manner to Plistorus the god of their land; as for his companions, they did away with them by other means.

Artayctes and his company had begun their flight later, and were overtaken a little way beyond the Goat's Rivers, where after they had defended themselves a long time, some of them were killed and the rest taken alive. The Greeks bound them and carried them to Sestos [26.4,40.2833] (Perseus)Sestus, and together with them Artayctes and his son also in bonds.

It is related by the people of the Gelibolu Yarimadasi (peninsula), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaChersonese that a marvellous thing happened one of those who guarded Artayctes. He was frying dried fish, and these as they lay over the fire began to leap and writhe as though they had just been caught.

The rest gathered around, amazed at the sight, but when Artayctes saw this strange thing, he called the one who was frying the fish and said to him: “Athenian, do not be afraid of this portent, for it is not to you that it has been sent; it is to me that Protesilaus of Elaeus is trying to signify that although he is dead and dry, he has power given him by the god to take vengeance on me, the one who wronged him.

Book 9, Part 9

Now therefore I offer a ransom, the sum of one hundred talents to the god for the treasure that I took from his temple. I will also pay to the Athenians two hundred talents for myself and my son, if they spare us.”

But Xanthippus the general was unmoved by this promise, for the people of Elaeus desired that Artayctes should be put to death in revenge for Protesilaus, and the general himself was so inclined. So they carried Artayctes away to the headland where Xerxes had bridged the strait (or, by another story, to the hill above the town of Madytus), and there nailed him to boards and hanged him. As for his son, they stoned him to death before his father's eyes.

This done, they sailed away to Greece [22,39] (nation), EuropeHellas, carrying with them the cables of the bridges to be dedicated in their temples, and all sorts of things in addition. This, then, is all that was done in this year.

This Artayctes who was crucified was the grandson of that Artembares who instructed the Persians in a design which they took from him and laid before Cyrus; this was its purport:

“Seeing that Zeus grants lordship to the Persian people, and to you, Cyrus, among them, let us, after reducing Astyages, depart from the little and rugged land which we possess and occupy one that is better. There are many such lands on our borders, and many further distant. If we take one of these, we will all have more reasons for renown. It is only reasonable that a ruling people should act in this way, for when will we have a better opportunity than now, when we are lords of so many men and of all Asia (continent)Asia?”

Cyrus heard them, and found nothing to marvel at in their design; “Go ahead and do this,” he said; “but if you do so, be prepared no longer to be rulers but rather subjects. Soft lands breed soft men; wondrous fruits of the earth and valiant warriors grow not from the same soil.”

The Persians now realized that Cyrus reasoned better than they, and they departed, choosing rather to be rulers on a barren mountain side than dwelling in tilled valleys to be slaves to others.