The Greeks engaged in the sea-service were
the following. The Athenians
furnished a hundred
and twenty-seven vessels to the fleet, which were manned
in part by the Plataeans, who, though unskilled
in such matters, were led
by their active and
daring spirit to undertake this duty; the Corinthians
furnished a contingent of forty vessels; the
Megarians sent twenty; the
Chalcideans also
manned twenty, which had been furnished to them by the
Athenians; the Eginetans came with eighteen; the
Sicyonians with twelve;
the Lacedaemonians with
ten; the Epidaurians with eight; the Eretrians
with seven; the Troezenians with five; the
Styreans with two; and the Ceans
with two
triremes and two penteconters. Last of all, the Locrians of Opus
came in aid with a squadron of seven
penteconters.
Such were the nations which furnished vessels to the fleet now
at Artemisium; and in mentioning them I have
given the number of ships
furnished by each. The
total number of the ships thus brought together,
without counting the penteconters, was two
hundred and seventy-one; and
the captain, who had
the chief command over the whole fleet, was Eurybiades
the son of Eurycleides. He was furnished by
Sparta, since the allies had
said that "if a
Lacedaemonian did not take the command, they would break
up the fleet, for never would they serve under
the Athenians."
From the first, even
earlier than the time when the embassy went to
Sicily to solicit alliance, there had been a talk of intrusting
the Athenians with the command at sea; but the
allies were averse to the plan, wherefore the
Athenians did not press it; for there was nothing they had
so much at heart as the salvation of Greece, and
they knew that, if they quarrelled among
themselves about the command, Greece would be brought
to ruin. Herein they judged rightly; for internal
strife is a thing as much worse than war carried
on by a united people, as war itself is worse
than peace. The Athenians therefore, being so
persuaded, did not push their claims, but waived
them, so long as they were in such great need of aid
from the other Greeks. And they afterwards showed
their motive; for at the time when the Persians
had been driven from Greece, and were now threatened
by the Greeks in their own country, they took
occasion of the insolence of Pausanias to deprive
the Lacedaemonians of their leadership. This, however,
happened afterwards.
At the present time the Greeks, on their arrival at Artemisium,
when they saw the number of the ships which lay
at anchor near Aphetae, and the abundance of
troops everywhere, feeling disappointed that matters
had gone with the barbarians so far otherwise
than they had expected, and full of alarm at what
they saw, began to speak of drawing back from Artemisium
towards the inner parts of their country. So when
the Euboeans heard what was in debate, they went
to Eurybiades, and besought him to wait a few
days, while they removed their children and their
slaves to a place of safety. But, as they found
that they prevailed nothing, they left him and
went to Themistocles, the Athenian commander, to
whom they gave a bribe of thirty talents, on his
promise that the fleet should remain and risk a
battle in defence of Euboea.
And Themistocles succeeded in detaining the fleet in the way which
I will now relate. He made over to Eurybiades
five talents out of the thirty paid him, which he
gave as if they came from himself; and having in this
way gained over the admiral, he addressed himself
to Adeimantus, the son of Ocytus, the Corinthian
leader, who was the only remonstrant now, and who
still threatened to sail away from Artemisium and not wait for the
other captains. Addressing himself to this man,
Themistocles said with an oath- "Thou forsake us?
By no means! I will pay thee better for remaining
than the Mede would for leaving thy friends"- and
straightway he sent on board the ship of
Adeimantus a present of three talents of silver. So these
two captains were won by gifts, and came over to
the views of Themistocles, who was thereby
enabled to gratify the wishes of the Euboeans. He likewise
made his own gain on the occasion; for he kept
the rest of the money, and no one knew of it. The
commanders who took the gifts thought that the sums
were furnished by Athens, and had been sent to be
used in this way.
Thus it came to pass that the Greeks stayed at Euboea and there
gave battle to the enemy.
Now the battle was on this wise. The barbarians reached Aphetae
early in the afternoon, and then saw (as they had
previously heard reported) that a fleet of Greek
ships, weak in number, lay at Artemisium. At once
they were eager to engage, fearing that the
Greeks would fly, and hoping to capture them
before they should get away. They did not however think
it wise to make straight for the Greek station,
lest the enemy should see them as they bore down,
and betake themselves to flight immediately; in
which case night might close in before they came
up with the fugitives, and so they might get
clean off and make their escape from them; whereas
the Persians were minded not to let a single soul
slip through their hands.
They therefore contrived a plan, which was the following:- They
detached two hundred of their ships from the
rest, and- to prevent the enemy from seeing them
start- sent them round outside the island of Sciathos,
to make the circuit of Euboea by Caphareus and
Geraestus, and so to reach the Euripus. By this
plan they thought to enclose the Greeks on every side;
for the ships detached would block up the only
way by which they could retreat, while the others
would press upon them in front. With these designs
therefore they dispatched the two hundred ships,
while they themselves waited- since they did not
mean to attack the Greeks upon that day, or until
they knew, by signal, of the arrival of the detachment which had
been ordered to sail round Euboea. Meanwhile they
made a muster of the other ships at Aphetae.
Now the Persians had with them a man named Scyllias, a native of
Scione, who was the most expert diver of his day.
At the time of the shipwreck off Mount Pelion he
had recovered for the Persians a great part of what
they lost; and at the same time he had taken
care to obtain for himself a good share of the
treasure. He had for some time been wishing to go over
to the Greeks; but no good opportunity had
offered till now, when the Persians were making
the muster of their ships. In what way he contrived to reach
the Greeks I am not able to say for certain: I
marvel much if the tale that is commonly told be
true. 'Tis said he dived into the sea at Aphetae,
and did not once come to the surface till he
reached Artemisium, a distance of nearly eighty
furlongs. Now many things are related of this man which
are plainly false; but some of the stories seem
to be true. My own opinion is that on this
occasion he made the passage to Artemisium in a
boat.
However this might be, Scyllias no sooner reached Artemisium than
he gave the Greek captains a full account of the
damage done by the storm, and likewise told them
of the ships sent to make the circuit of Euboea.
So the Greeks on receiving these tidings held a council, whereat,
after much debate, it was resolved that they
should stay quiet for the present where they
were, and remain at their moorings, but that after midnight
they should put out to sea, and encounter the
ships which were on their way round the island.
Later in the day, when they found that no one meddled
with them, they formed a new plan, which was to
wait till near evening, and then sail out
against the main body of the barbarians, for the purpose
of trying their mode of fight and skill in
manoeuvring.
When the Persian commanders and crews saw the Greeks thus boldly
sailing towards them with their few ships, they
thought them possessed with madness, and went
out to meet them, expecting (as indeed seemed likely
enough) that they would take all their vessels
with the greatest ease. The Greek ships were so
few, and their own so far outnumbered them, and
sailed so much better, that they resolved,
seeing their advantage, to encompass their foe
on every side. And now such of the Ionians as wished well to
the Grecian cause and served in the Persian
fleet unwillingly, seeing their countrymen
surrounded, were sorely distressed; for they felt sure that
not one of them would ever make his escape, so
poor an opinion had they of the strength of the
Greeks. On the other hand, such as saw with pleasure
the attack on Greece, now vied eagerly with each
other which should be the first to make prize of
an Athenian ship, and thereby to secure himself
a rich reward from the king. For through both
the hosts none were so much accounted of as the
Athenians.
The Greeks, at a signal, brought the sterns of their ships
together into a small compass, and turned their
prows on every side towards the barbarians;
after which, at a second signal, although inclosed within a
narrow space, and closely pressed upon by the
foe, yet they fell bravely to work, and captured
thirty ships of the barbarians, at the same time
taking prisoner Philaon, the son of Chersis, and
brother of Gorgus king of Salamis, a man of much
repute in the fleet. The first who made prize of
a ship of the enemy was Lycomedes the son of Aeschreas, an
Athenian, who was afterwards adjudged the meed
of valour. Victory however was still doubtful
when night came on, and put a stop to the combat. The Greeks
sailed back to Artemisium; and the barbarians
returned to Aphetae, much surprised at the
result, which was far other than they had looked for. In this
battle only one of the Greeks who fought on the
side of the king deserted and joined his
countrymen. This was Antidorus of Lemnos, whom the Athenians
rewarded for his desertion by the present of a
piece of land in Salamis.
Evening had barely closed in when a heavy rain- it was about
midsummer- began to fall, which continued the
whole night, with terrible thunderings and
lightnings from Mount Pelion: the bodies of the slain and the
broken pieces of the damaged ships were drifted
in the direction of Aphetae, and floated about
the prows of the vessels there, disturbing the action of
the oars. The barbarians, hearing the storm,
were greatly dismayed, expecting certainly to
perish, as they had fallen into such a multitude of misfortunes.
For before they were well recovered from the
tempest and the wreck of their vessels off Mount
Pelion, they had been surprised by a sea-fight which
had taxed all their strength, and now the
sea-fight was scarcely over when they were
exposed to floods of rain, and the rush of swollen streams into
the sea, and violent thunderings.
If, however, they who lay at Aphetae passed a comfortless night,
far worse were the sufferings of those who had
been sent to make the circuit of Euboea;
inasmuch as the storm fell on them out at sea, whereby the issue
was indeed calamitous. They were sailing along
near the Hollows of Euboea, when the wind began
to rise and the rain to pour: overpowered by the force
of the gale, and driven they knew not whither,
at the last they fell upon rocks- Heaven so
contriving, in order that the Persian fleet might not
greatly exceed the Greek, but be brought nearly
to its level. This squadron, therefore, was
entirely lost about the Hollows of Euboea.
The barbarians at Aphetae were glad when day dawned, and remained
in quiet at their station, content if they might
enjoy a little peace after so many sufferings.
Meanwhile there came to the aid of the Greeks a reinforcement
of fifty-three ships from Attica. Their arrival,
and the news (which reached Artemisium about the
same time) of the complete destruction by the storm
of the ships sent to sail round Euboea, greatly
cheered the spirits of the Greek sailors. So
they waited again till the same hour as the day before,
and, once more putting out to sea, attacked the
enemy. This time they fell in with some Cilician
vessels, which they sank; when night came on, they
withdrew to Artemisium.
The third day was now come, and the captains of the barbarians,
ashamed that so small a number of ships should
harass their fleet, and afraid of the anger of
Xerxes, instead of waiting for the others to begin
the battle, weighed anchor themselves, and
advanced against the Greeks about the hour of
noon, with shouts encouraging one another. Now it happened
that these sea-fights took place on the very
same days with the combats at Thermopylae; and
as the aim of the struggle was in the one case to maintain
the pass, so in the other it was to defend the
Euripus. While the Greeks, therefore, exhorted
one another not to let the barbarians burst in upon
Greece, these latter shouted to their fellows to
destroy the Grecian fleet, and get possession of
the channel.
And now the fleet of Xerxes advanced in good order to the attack,
while the Greeks on their side remained quite
motionless at Artemisium. The Persians therefore
spread themselves, and came forward in a half-moon,
seeking to encircle the Greeks on all sides, and
thereby prevent them from escaping. The Greeks,
when they saw this, sailed out to meet their assailants;
and the battle forthwith began. In this
engagement the two fleets contended with no
clear advantage to either- for the armament of Xerxes injured
itself by its own greatness, the vessels falling
into disorder, and oft-times running foul of one
another; yet still they did not give way, but made
a stout fight, since the crews felt it would
indeed be a disgrace to turn and fly from a
fleet so inferior in number. The Greeks therefore suffered
much, both in ships and men; but the barbarians
experienced a far larger loss of each. So the
fleets separated after such a combat as I have
described.
On the side of Xerxes the Egyptians distinguished themselves above
all the combatants; for besides performing many
other noble deeds, they took five vessels from
the Greeks with their crews on board. On the side
of the Greeks the Athenians bore off the meed of
valour; and among them the most distinguished
was Clinias, the son of Alcibiades, who served at
his own charge with two hundred men, on board a
vessel which he had himself furnished.
The two fleets, on separating, hastened very gladly to their
anchorage-grounds. The Greeks, indeed, when the
battle was over, became masters of the bodies of
the slain and the wrecks of the vessels; but they had been so
roughly handled, especially the Athenians,
one-half of whose vessels had suffered damage,
that they determined to break up from their station, and withdraw
to the inner parts of their country.
Then Themistocles, who thought that if the Ionian and Carian ships
could be detached from the barbarian fleet, the
Greeks might be well able to defeat the rest,
called the captains together. They met upon the seashore,
where the Euboeans were now assembling their
flocks and herds; and here Themistocles told
them he thought that he knew of a plan whereby he could
detach from the king those who were of most
worth among his allies. This was all that he
disclosed to them of his plan at that time. Meanwhile,
looking to the circumstances in which they were,
he advised them to slaughter as many of the
Euboean cattle- they liked- for it was better (he said)
that their own troops should enjoy them than the
enemy- and to give orders to their men to kindle
the fires as usual. With regard to the retreat,
he said that he would take upon himself to watch
the proper moment, and would manage matters so
that they should return to Greece without loss.
These words pleased the captains; so they had
the fires lighted, and began the slaughter of
the cattle.
The Euboeans, until now, had made light of the oracle of Bacis,
as though it had been void of all significancy,
and had neither removed their goods from the
island, nor yet taken them into their strong places;
as they would most certainly have done if they
had believed that war was approaching. By this
neglect they had brought their affairs into the very
greatest danger. Now the oracle of which I speak
ran as follows:-
When o'er the main shall be thrown a byblus yoke by a
stranger,
Be thou ware, and drive from Euboea the goats' loud-bleating. So,
as the Euboeans had paid no regard to this
oracle when the evils approached and impended,
now that they had arrived, the worst was likely to befall
them.
While the Greeks were employed in the way described above, the
scout who had been on the watch at Trachis
arrived at Artemisium. For the Greeks had
employed two watchers:- Polyas, a native of Anticyra, had been
stationed off Artemisium, with a row-boat at his
command ready to sail at any moment, his orders
being that, if an engagement took place by sea,
he should convey the news at once to the Greeks
at Thermopylae; and in like manner Abronychus
the son of Lysicles, an Athenian, had been stationed
with a triaconter near Leonidas, to be ready, in
case of disaster befalling the land force, to
carry tidings of it to Artemisium. It was this Abronychus
who now arrived with news of what had befallen
Leonidas and those who were with him. When the
Greeks heard the tidings they no longer delayed to retreat,
but withdrew in the order wherein they had been
stationed, the Corinthians leading, and the
Athenians sailing last of all.
And now Themistocles chose out the swiftest sailers from among
the Athenian vessels, and, proceeding to the
various watering-places along the coast, cut
inscriptions on the rocks, which were read by the Ionians
the day following, on their arrival at
Artemisium. The inscriptions ran thus:- "Men of
Ionia, ye do wrong to fight against your own fathers, and
to give your help to enslave Greece. We beseech
you therefore to come over, if possible, to our
side: if you cannot do this, then, we pray you, stand
aloof from the contest yourselves, and persuade
the Carians to do the like. If neither of these
things be possible, and you are hindered, by a force
too strong to resist, from venturing upon
desertion, at least when we come to blows fight
backwardly, remembering that you are sprung from us, and
that it was through you we first provoked the
hatred of the barbarian." Themistocles, in
putting up these inscriptions, looked, I believe, to two
chances- either Xerxes would not discover them,
in which case they might bring over the Ionians
to the side of the Greeks; or they would be reported
to him and made a ground of accusation against
the Ionians, who would thereupon be distrusted,
and would not be allowed to take part in the
sea-fights.
Shortly after the cutting of the inscriptions, a man of Histiaea
went in a merchantship to Aphetae, and told the
Persians that the Greeks had fled from
Artemisium. Disbelieving his report, the Persians kept the
man a prisoner, while they sent some of their
fastest vessels to see what had happened. These
brought back word how matters stood; whereupon at sunrise
the whole fleet advanced together in a body, and
sailed to Artemisium, where they remained till
mid-day; after which they went on to Histiaea.
That city fell into their hands immediately; and
they shortly overran the various villages upon
the coast in the district of Hellopia, which was
part of the Histiaean territory.
It was while they were at this station that a herald reached them
from Xerxes, whom he had sent after making the
following dispositions with respect to the
bodies of those who fell at Thermopylae. Of the twenty thousand
who had been slain on the Persian side, he left
one thousand upon the field while he buried the
rest in trenches; and these he carefully filled up
with earth, and hid with foliage, that the
sailors might not see any signs of them. The
herald, on reaching Histiaea, caused the whole force to be
collected together, and spake thus to them:
"Comrades, King Xerxes gives permission to all who please, to quit
their posts, and see how he fights with the
senseless men who think to overthrow his
armies."
No sooner had these words been uttered, than it became difficult
to get a boat, so great was the number of those
who desired to see the sight. Such as went
crossed the strait, and passing among the heaps of
dead, in this way viewed the spectacle. Many
helots were included in the slain, but every one
imagined that the bodies were all either Lacedaemonians
or Thespians. However, no one was deceived by
what Xerxes had done with his own dead. It was
indeed most truly a laughable device- on the one side
a thousand men were seen lying about the field,
on the other four thousand crowded together into
one spot. This day then was given up to sight-seeing;
on the next the seamen embarked on board their
ships and sailed back to Histiaea, while Xerxes
and his army proceeded upon their march.
There came now a few deserters from Arcadia to join the Persians-
poor men who had nothing to live on, and were in
want of employment. The Persians brought them
into the king's presence, and there inquired of them,
by a man who acted as their spokesman, "what the
Greeks were doing?" The Arcadians answered-
"They are holding the Olympic Games, seeing the athletic
sports and the chariot-races." "And what," said
the man, "is the prize for which they contend?"
"An olive-wreath," returned the others, "which
is given to the man who wins." On hearing this,
Tritantaechmes, the son of Artabanus, uttered a
speech which was in truth most noble, but which
caused him to be taxed with cowardice by King
Xerxes. Hearing the men say that the prize was
not money but a wreath of olive, he could not forbear
from exclaiming before them all: "Good heavens!
Mardonius, what manner of men are these against
whom thou hast brought us to fight?- men who contend
with one another, not for money, but for
honour!"
A little before this, and just after the blow had been struck at
Thermopylae, a herald was sent into Phocis by
the Thessalians, who had always been on bad
terms with the Phocians, and especially since their
last overthrow. For it was not many years
previous to this invasion of Greece by the king,
that the Thessalians, with their allies, entered Phocis
in full force, but were defeated by the Phocians
in an engagement wherein they were very roughly
handled. The Phocians, who had with them as soothsayer
Tellias of Elis, were blocked up in the mountain
of Parnassus, when the following stratagem was
contrived for them by their Elean ally. He took
six hundred of their bravest men, and whitened
their bodies and their arms with chalk; then
instructing them to slay every one whom they should meet
that was not whitened like themselves, he made a
night attack upon the Thessalians. No sooner did
the Thessalian sentries, who were the first to
see them, behold this strange sight, than, imagining it to be a
prodigy, they were all filled with affright.
From the sentries the alarm spread to the army,
which was seized with such a panic that the Phocians killed
four thousand of them, and became masters of
their dead bodies and shields. Of the shields
one half were sent as an offering to the temple at Abae,
the other half were deposited at Delphi; while
from the tenth part of the booty gained in the
battle, were made the gigantic figures which stand
round the tripod in front of the Delphic shrine,
and likewise the figures of the same size and
character at Abae.
Besides this slaughter of the Thessalian foot when it was
blockading them, the Phocians had dealt a blow
to their horse upon its invading their
territory, from which they had never recovered.
There is a pass near the city of Hyampolis,
where the Phocians, having dug a broad trench, filled
up the void with empty wine-jars, after which
they covered the place with mould, so that the
ground all looked alike, and then awaited the coming
of the Thessalians. These, thinking to destroy
the Phocians at one sweep, rushed rapidly
forward, and became entangled in the wine-jars, which broke
the legs of their horses.
The Thessalians had therefore a double cause of quarrel with the
Phocians, when they dispatched the herald above
mentioned, who thus delivered his message:-
"At length acknowledge, ye men of Phocis, that ye may not think
to match with us. In times past, when it pleased
us to hold with the Greeks, we had always the
vantage over you; and now our influence is such with
the barbarian, that, if we choose it, you will
lose your country, and (what is even worse) you
will be sold as slaves. However, though we can now do
with you exactly as we like, we are willing to
forget our wrongs. Quit them with a payment of
fifty talents of silver, and we undertake to ward
off the evils which threaten your country."
Such was the message which the Thessalians sent. The Phocians were
the only people in these parts who had not
espoused the cause of the Medes; and it is my
deliberate opinion that the motive which swayed them was none
other- neither more nor less- than their hatred
of the Thessalians: for had the Thessalians
declared in favour of the Greeks, I believe that the
men of Phocis would have joined the Median side.
As it was, when the message arrived, the
Phocians made answer, that "they would not pay anything- it
was open to them, equally with the Thessalians,
to make common cause with the Medes, if they
only chose so to do- but they would never of their own
free will become traitors to Greece."
On the return of this answer, the Thessalians, full of wrath
against the Phocians, offered themselves as
guides to the barbarian army, and led them forth
from Trachinia into Doris. In this place there is a narrow tongue
of Dorian territory, not more than thirty
furlongs across, interposed between Malis and
Phocis; it is the tract in ancient times called Dryopis; and
the land, of which it is a part, is the
mother-country of the Dorians in the
Peloponnese. This territory the barbarians did not plunder, for
the inhabitants had espoused their side; and
besides, the Thessalians wished that they should
be spared.
From Doris they marched forward into Phocis; but here the
inhabitants did not fall into their power: for
some of them had taken refuge in the high
grounds of Parnassus- one summit of which, called Tithorea,
standing quite by itself, not far from the city
of Neon, is well fitted to give shelter to a
large body of men, and had now received a number of the Phocians
with their movables; while the greater portion
had fled to the country of the Ozolian Locrians,
and placed their goods in the city called Amphissa,
which lies above the Crissaean plain. The land
of Phocis, however, was entirely overrun, for
the Thessalians led the Persian army through the
whole of it; and wherever they went, the country
was wasted with fire and sword, the cities and
even the temples being wilfully set alight by the
troops.
The march of the army lay along the valley of the Cephissus; and
here they ravaged far and wide, burning the
towns of Drymus, Charadra, Erochus, Tethronium,
Amphicaea, Neon, Pedieis, Triteis, Elateia, Hyampolis,
Parapotamii, and Abae. At the last-named place
there was a temple of Apollo, very rich, and
adorned with a vast number of treasures and offerings. There
was likewise an oracle there in those days, as
indeed there is at the present time. This temple
the Persians plundered and burnt; and here they captured
a number of the Phocians before they could reach
the hills, and caused the death of some of their
women by ill-usage.
After passing Parapotamii, the barbarians marched to Panopeis;
and now the army separated into two bodies,
whereof one, which was the more numerous and the
stronger of the two, marched, under Xerxes himself,
towards Athens, entering Boeotia by the country
of the Orchomenians. The Boeotians had one and
all embraced the cause of the Medes; and their towns
were in the possession of Macedonian garrisons,
whom Alexander had sent there, to make it
manifest to Xerxes that the Boeotians were on the Median
side. Such then was the road followed by one
division of the barbarians.
The other division took guides, and proceeded towards the temple
of Delphi, keeping Mount Parnassus on their
right hand. They too laid waste such parts of
Phocis as they passed through, burning the city of the Panopeans,
together with those of the Daulians and of the
Aeolidae. This body had been detached from the
rest of the army, and made to march in this direction,
for the purpose of plundering the Delphian
temple and conveying to King Xerxes the riches
which were there laid up. For Xerxes, as I am informed,
was better acquainted with what there was worthy
of note at Delphi, than even with what he had
left in his own house; so many of those about him
were continually describing the treasures- more
especially the offerings made by Croesus the son
of Alyattes.
Now when the Delphians heard what danger they were in, great fear
fell on them. In their terror they consulted the
oracle concerning the holy treasures, and
inquired if they should bury them in the ground, or
carry them away to some other country. The god,
in reply, bade them leave the treasures
untouched- "He was able," he said, "without help to protect
his own." So the Delphians, when they received
this answer, began to think about saving
themselves. And first of all they sent their women and children
across the gulf into Achaea; after which the
greater number of them climbed up into the tops
of Parnassus, and placed their goods for safety in the
Corycian cave; while some effected their escape
to Amphissa in Locris. In this way all the
Delphians quitted the city, except sixty men, and the
Prophet.
When the barbarian assailants drew near and were in sight of the
place, the Prophet, who was named Aceratus,
beheld, in front of the temple, a portion of the
sacred armour, which it was not lawful for any mortal
hand to touch, lying upon the ground, removed
from the inner shrine where it was wont to hang.
Then went he and told the prodigy to the Delphians
who had remained behind. Meanwhile the enemy
pressed forward briskly, and had reached the
shrine of Minerva Pronaia, when they were overtaken by
other prodigies still more wonderful than the
first. Truly it was marvel enough, when warlike
harness was seen lying outside the temple, removed
there by no power but its own; what followed,
however, exceeded in strangeness all prodigies
that had ever before been seen. The barbarians had just reached
in their advance the chapel of Minerva Pronaia,
when a storm of thunder burst suddenly over
their heads- at the same time two crags split off from
Mount Parnassus, and rolled down upon them with
a loud noise, crushing vast numbers beneath
their weight- while from the temple of Minerva there
went up the war-cry and the shout of victory.
All these things together struck terror into the barbarians, who
forthwith turned and fled. The Delphians, seeing
this, came down from their hiding-places, and
smote them with a great slaughter, from which such as
escaped fled straight into Boeotia. These men,
on their return, declared (as I am told) that
besides the marvels mentioned above, they witnessed
also other supernatural sights. Two armed
warriors, they said, of a stature more than
human, pursued after their flying ranks, pressing them close
and slaying them.
These men, the Delphians maintain, were two Heroes belonging to
the place- by name Phylacus and Autonous- each
of whom has a sacred precinct near the temple;
one, that of Phylacus, hard by the road which runs above
the temple of Pronaia; the other, that of
Autonous, near the Castalian spring, at the foot
of the peak called Hyampeia. The blocks of stone which
fell from Parnassus might still be seen in my
day; they lay in the precinct of Pronaia, where
they stopped, after rolling through the host of the barbarians.
Thus was this body of men forced to retire from
the temple.
Meanwhile, the Grecian fleet, which had left Artemisium, proceeded
to Salamis, at the request of the Athenians, and
there cast anchor. The Athenians had begged them
to take up this position, in order that they
might convey their women and children out of
Attica, and further might deliberate upon the
course which it now behoved them to follow. Disappointed
in the hopes which they had previously
entertained, they were about to hold a council
concerning the present posture of their affairs. For they
had looked to see the Peloponnesians drawn up in
full force to resist the enemy in Boeotia, but
found nothing of what they had expected; nay, they
learnt that the Greeks of those parts, only
concerning themselves about their own safety,
were building a wall across the Isthmus, and intended
to guard the Peloponnese, and let the rest of
Greece take its chance. These tidings caused
them to make the request whereof I spoke, that the combined
fleet should anchor at Salamis.
So while the rest of the fleet lay to off this island, the
Athenians cast anchor along their own coast.
Immediately upon their arrival, proclamation was
made that every Athenian should save his children and household as
he best could; whereupon some sent their
families to Egina, some to Salamis, but the
greater number to Troezen. This removal was made with all possible
haste, partly from a desire to obey the advice
of the oracle, but still more for another
reason. The Athenians say that they have in their Acropolis
a huge serpent, which lives in the temple, and
is the guardian of the whole place. Nor do they
only say this, but, as if the serpent really dwelt there,
every month they lay out its food, which
consists of a honey-cake. Up to this time the
honey-cake had always been consumed; but now it remained
untouched. So the priestess told the people what
had happened; whereupon they left Athens the
more readily, since they believed that the goddess
had already abandoned the citadel. As soon as
all was removed, the Athenians sailed back to
their station.
And now, the remainder of the Grecian sea-force, hearing that the
fleet which had been at Artemisium, was come to
Salamis, joined it at that island from Troezen-
orders having been issued previously that the ships
should muster at Pogon, the port of the
Troezenians. The vessels collected were many
more in number than those which had fought at Artemisium, and
were furnished by more cities. The admiral was
the same who had commanded before, to wit,
Eurybiades, the son of Eurycleides, who was a Spartan,
but not of the family of the kings: the city,
however, which sent by far the greatest number
of ships, and the best sailers, was Athens.
Now these were the nations who composed the Grecian fleet. From
the Peloponnese, the following- the
Lacedaemonians with six, teen ships; the
Corinthians with the same number as at Artemisium; the Sicyonians
with fifteen; the Epidaurians with ten; the
Troezenians with five; and the Hermionians with
three. These were Dorians and Macedonians all of them (except
those from Hermione), and had emigrated last
from Erineus, Pindus, and Dryopis. The
Hermionians were Dryopians, of the race which Hercules and the
Malians drove out of the land now called Doris.
Such were the Peloponnesian nations.
From the mainland of Greece beyond the Peloponnese, came the
Athenians with a hundred and eighty ships, a
greater number than that furnished by any other
people; and these were now manned wholly by themselves; for the
Plataeans did not serve aboard the Athenian
ships at Salamis, owing to the following reason.
When the Greeks, on their withdrawal from Artemisium,
arrived off Chalcis, the Plataeans disembarked
upon the opposite shore of Boeotia, and set to
work to remove their households, whereby it happened
that they were left behind. (The Athenians, when
the region which is now called Greece was held
by the Pelasgi, were Pelasgians, and bore the name
of Cranaans; but under their king Cecrops, they
were called Cecropidae; when Erechtheus got the
sovereignty, they changed their name to Athenians;
and when Ion, the son of Xuthus, became their
general, they were named after him Ionians.)
The Megarians served with the same number of ships as at
Artemisium; the Ambraciots came with seven; the
Leucadians (who were Dorians from Corinth) with
three.
Of the islanders, the Eginetans furnished thirty ships- they had
a larger number equipped; but some were kept
back to guard their own coasts, and only thirty,
which however were their best sailers, took part in the
fight at Salamis. (The Eginetans are Dorians
from Epidaurus; their island was called formerly
Oenone). The Chalcideans came next in order; they furnished
the twenty ships with which they had served at
Artemisium. The Eretrians likewise furnished
their seven. These races are Ionian. Ceos gave its old
number- the Ceans are Ionians from Attica. Naxos
furnished four: this detachment, like those from
the other islands, had been sent by the citizens at home
to join the Medes; but they made light of the
orders given them, and joined the Greeks, at the
instigation of Democritus, a citizen of good report,
who was at that time captain of a trireme. The
Naxians are Ionians, of the Athenian stock. The
Styreans served with the same ships as before;
the Cythnians contributed one, and likewise a
penteconter- these two nations are Dryopians:
the Seriphians, Siphnians, and Melians, also served; they
were the only islanders who had not given earth
and water to the barbarian.
All these nations dwelt inside the river Acheron and the country
inhabited by the Thesprotians; for that people
borders on the Ambraciots and Leucadians, who
are the most remote of all those by whom the fleet
was furnished. From the countries beyond, there
was only one people which gave help to the
Greeks in their danger. This was the people of Crotona,
who contributed a single ship, under the command
of Phayllus, a man who had thrice carried off
the prize at the Pythian Games. The Crotoniats are,
by descent, Achaeans.
Most of the allies came with triremes; but the Melians, Siphnians,
and Seriphians, brought penteconters. The
Melians, who draw their race from Lacedaemon,
furnished two; the Siphnians and Seriphians, who are Ionians
of the Athenian stock, one each. The whole
number of the ships, without counting the
penteconters, was three hundred and seventy-eight.
When the captains from these various nations were come together
at Salamis, a council of war was summoned; and
Eurybiades proposed that any one who liked to
advise, should say which place seemed to him the fittest,
among those still in the possession of the
Greeks, to be the scene of a naval combat.
Attica, he said, was not to be thought of now; but he desired
their counsel as to the remainder. The speakers
mostly advised that the fleet should sail away
to the Isthmus, and there give battle in defence
of the Peloponnese; and they urged as a reason
for this, that if they were worsted in a
sea-fight at Salamis, they would be shut up in an island where
they could get no help; but if they were beaten
near the Isthmus, they could escape to their
homes.
As the captains from the Peloponnese were thus advising, there
came an Athenian to the camp, who brought word
that the barbarians had entered Attica, and were
ravaging and burning everything. For the division
of the army under Xerxes was just arrived at
Athens from its march through Boeotia, where it
had burnt Thespiae and Plataea- both which cities were
forsaken by their inhabitants, who had fled to
the Peloponnese- and now it was laying waste all
the possessions of the Athenians. Thespiae and
Plataea had been burnt by the Persians, because
they knew from the Thebans that neither of those
cities had espoused their side.
Since the passage of the Hellespont and the commencement of the
march upon Greece, a space of four months had
gone by; one, while the army made the crossing,
and delayed about the region of the Hellespont; and
three while they proceeded thence to Attica,
which they entered in the archonship of
Calliades. They found the city forsaken; a few people only
remained in the temple, either keepers of the
treasures, or men of the poorer sort. These
persons having fortified the citadel with planks and
boards, held out against the enemy. It was in
some measure their poverty which had prevented
them from seeking shelter in Salamis; but there was
likewise another reason which in part induced
them to remain. They imagined themselves to have
discovered the true meaning of the oracle uttered by
the Pythoness, which promised that "the wooden
wall" should never be taken- the wooden wall,
they thought, did not mean the ships, but the place where
they had taken refuge.
The Persians encamped upon the hill over against the citadel,
which is called Mars' hill by the Athenians, and
began the siege of the place, attacking the
Greeks with arrows whereto pieces of lighted tow were attached,
which they shot at the barricade. And now those
who were within the citadel found themselves in
a most woeful case; for their wooden rampart betrayed
them; still, however, they continued to resist.
It was in vain that the Pisistratidae came to
them and offered terms of surrender- they stoutly
refused all parley, and among their other modes
of defence, rolled down huge masses of stone
upon the barbarians as they were mounting up to the
gates: so that Xerxes was for a long time very
greatly perplexed, and could not contrive any
way to take them.
At last, however, in the midst of these many difficulties, the
barbarians made discovery of an access. For
verily the oracle had spoken truth; and it was
fated that the whole mainland of Attica should fall beneath
the sway of the Persians. Right in front of the
citadel, but behind the gates and the common
ascent- where no watch was kept, and no one would
have thought it possible that any foot of man
could climb- a few soldiers mounted from the
sanctuary of Aglaurus, Cecrops' daughter, notwithstanding
the steepness of the precipice. As soon as the
Athenians saw them upon the summit, some threw
themselves headlong from the wall, and so perished;
while others fled for refuge to the inner part
of the temple. The Persians rushed to the gates
and opened them, after which they massacred the suppliants,
When all were slain, they plundered the temple,
and fired every part of the citadel.
Xerxes, thus completely master of Athens, despatched a horseman
to Susa, with a message to Artabanus, informing
him of his success hitherto. The day after, he
collected together all the Athenian exiles who had come
into Greece in his train, and bade them go up
into the citadel, and there offer sacrifice
after their own fashion. I know not whether he had had
a dream which made him give this order, or
whether he felt some remorse on account of
having set the temple on fire. However this may have been,
the exiles were not slow to obey the command
given them.
I will now explain why I have made mention of this circumstance:
there is a temple of Erechtheus the Earth-born,
as he is called, in this citadel, containing
within it an olive-tree and a sea. The tale goes among
the Athenians, that they were placed there as
witnesses by Neptune and Minerva, when they had
their contention about the country. Now this olive-tree
had been burnt with the rest of the temple when
the barbarians took the place. But when the
Athenians, whom the king had commanded to offer sacrifice,
went up into the temple for the purpose, they
found a fresh shoot, as much as a cubit in
length, thrown out from the old trunk. Such at least was
the account which these persons gave.
Meanwhile, at Salamis, the Greeks no sooner heard what had
befallen the Athenian citadel, than they fell
into such alarm that some of the captains did
not even wait for the council to come to a vote, but embarked
hastily on board their vessels, and hoisted sail
as though they would take to flight immediately.
The rest, who stayed at the council board, came to a vote
that the fleet should give battle at the
Isthmus. Night now drew on; and the captains,
dispersing from the meeting, proceeded on board their respective
ships.
Themistocles, as he entered his own vessel, was met by
Mnesiphilus, an Athenian, who asked him what the
council had resolved to do. On learning that the
resolve was to stand away for the Isthmus, and there give battle
on behalf of the Peloponnese, Mnesiphilus
exclaimed:-
"If these men sail away from Salamis, thou wilt have no fight at
all for the one fatherland; for they will all
scatter themselves to their own homes; and
neither Eurybiades nor any one else will be able to hinder
them, nor to stop the breaking up of the
armament. Thus will Greece be brought to ruin
through evil counsels. But haste thee now; and, if there
be any possible way, seek to unsettle these
resolves- mayhap thou mightest persuade
Eurybiades to change his mind, and continue
here."
The suggestion greatly pleased Themistocles; and without answering
a word, he went straight to the vessel of
Eurybiades. Arrived there, he let him know that
he wanted to speak with him on a matter touching the
public service. So Eurybiades bade him come on
board, and say whatever he wished. Then
Themistocles, seating himself at his side, went over all
the arguments which he had heard from
Mnesiphilus, pretending as if they were his own,
and added to them many new ones besides; until at last he
persuaded Eurybiades, by his importunity, to
quit his ship and again collect the captains to
council.
As soon as they were come, and before Eurybiades had opened to
them his purpose in assembling them together,
Themistocles, as men are wont to do when they
are very anxious, spoke much to divers of them; whereupon
the Corinthian captain, Adeimantus, the son of
Ocytus, observed- "Themistocles, at the Games
they who start too soon are scourged." "True," rejoined the
other in his excuse, "but they who wait too late
are not crowned."
Thus he gave the Corinthian at this time a mild answer; and
towards Eurybiades himself he did not now use
any of those arguments which he had urged
before, or say aught of the allies betaking themselves to flight
if once they broke up from Salamis; it would
have been ungraceful for him, when the
confederates were present, to make accusation against any: but
he had recourse to quite a new sort of
reasoning, and addressed him as follows:-
"With thee it rests, O Eurybiades! to save Greece, if thou wilt
only hearken unto me, and give the enemy battle
here, rather than yield to the advice of those
among us, who would have the fleet withdrawn to
the Isthmus. Hear now, I beseech thee, and judge
between the two courses. At the Isthmus thou
wilt fight in an open sea, which is greatly to our
disadvantage, since our ships are heavier and
fewer in number than the enemy's; and further,
thou wilt in any case lose Salamis, Megara, and Egina,
even if all the rest goes well with us. The land
and sea force of the Persians will advance
together; and thy retreat will but draw them towards the
Peloponnese, and so bring all Greece into peril.
If, on the other hand, thou doest as I advise,
these are the advantages which thou wilt so secure: in the first
place, as we shall fight in a narrow sea with
few ships against many, if the war follows the
common course, we shall gain a great victory; for to
fight in a narrow space is favourable to us- in
an open sea, to them. Again, Salamis will in
this case be preserved, where we have placed our wives
and children. Nay, that very point by which ye
set most store, is secured as much by this
course as by the other; for whether we fight here or at
the Isthmus, we shall equally give battle in
defence of the Peloponnese. Assuredly ye will
not do wisely to draw the Persians upon that region.
For if things turn out as I anticipate, and we
beat them by sea, then we shall have kept your
Isthmus free from the barbarians, and they will have
advanced no further than Attica, but from thence
have fled back in disorder; and we shall,
moreover, have saved Megara, Egina, and Salamis itself, where
an oracle has said that we are to overcome our
enemies. When men counsel reasonably, reasonable
success ensues; but when in their counsels they
reject reason, God does not choose to follow the
wanderings of human fancies."
When Themistocles had thus spoken, Adeimantus the Corinthian again
attacked him, and bade him be silent, since he
was a man without a city; at the same time he
called on Eurybiades not to put the question at the
instance of one who had no country, and urged
that Themistocles should show of what state he
was envoy, before he gave his voice with the rest.
This reproach he made, because the city of
Athens had been taken, and was in the hands of
the barbarians. Hereupon Themistocles spake many bitter
things against Adeimantus and the Corinthians
generally; and for proof that he had a country,
reminded the captains, that with two hundred ships
at his command, all fully manned for battle, he
had both city and territory as good as theirs;
since there was no Grecian state which could resist
his men if they were to make a descent.
After this declaration, he turned to Eurybiades, and addressing
him with still greater warmth and earnestness-
"If thou wilt stay here," he said, "and behave
like a brave man, all will be well- if not, thou wilt
bring Greece to ruin. For the whole fortune of
the war depends on our ships. Be thou persuaded
by my words. If not, we will take our families on board,
and go, just as we are, to Siris, in Italy,
which is ours from of old, and which the
prophecies declare we are to colonise some day or other.
You then, when you have lost allies like us,
will hereafter call to mind what I have now
said."
At these words of Themistocles, Eurybiades changed his
determination; principally, as I believe,
because he feared that if he withdrew the fleet
to the Isthmus, the Athenians would sail away,
and knew that without the Athenians, the rest of
their ships could be no match for the fleet of the
enemy. He therefore decided to remain, and give
battle at Salamis.
And now, the different chiefs, notwithstanding their skirmish of
words, on learning the decision of Eurybiades,
at once made ready for the fight. Morning broke;
and, just as the sun rose, the shock of an earthquake
was felt both on shore and at sea: whereupon the
Greeks resolved to approach the gods with
prayer, and likewise to send and invite the Aeacids to their
aid. And this they did, with as much speed as
they had resolved on it. Prayers were offered to
all the gods; and Telamon and Ajax were invoked
at once from Salamis, while a ship was sent to
Egina to fetch Aeacus himself, and the other
Aeacids.
The following is a tale which was told by Dicaeus, the son of
Theocydes, an Athenian, who was at this time an
exile, and had gained a good report among the
Medes. He declared that after the army of Xerxes had, in the
absence of the Athenians, wasted Attica, he
chanced to be with Demaratus the Lacedaemonian
in the Thriasian plain, and that while there, he saw
a cloud of dust advancing from Eleusis, such as
a host of thirty thousand men might raise. As he
and his companion were wondering who the men, from
whom the dust arose, could possibly be, a sound
of voices reached his ear, and he thought that
he recognised the mystic hymn to Bacchus. Now Demaratus
was unacquainted with the rites of Eleusis, and
so he inquired of Dicaeus what the voices were
saying. Dicaeus made answer- "O Demaratus! beyond
a doubt some mighty calamity is about to befall
the king's army! For it is manifest, inasmuch as
Attica is deserted by its inhabitants, that the
sound which we have heard is an unearthly one,
and is now upon its way from Eleusis to aid the
Athenians and their confederates. If it descends
upon the Peloponnese, danger will threaten the
king himself and his land army- if it moves
towards the ships at Salamis, 'twill go hard but the
king's fleet there suffers destruction. Every
year the Athenians celebrate this feast to the
Mother and the Daughter; and all who wish, whether they
be Athenians or any other Greeks, are initiated.
The sound thou hearest is the Bacchic song,
which is wont to be sung at that festival." "Hush
now," rejoined the other; "and see thou tell no
man of this matter. For if thy words be brought
to the king's ear, thou wilt assuredly lose thy
head because of them; neither I nor any man
living can then save thee. Hold thy peace
therefore. The gods will see to the king's army." Thus Demaratus
counselled him; and they looked, and saw the
dust, from which the sound arose, become a
cloud, and the cloud rise up into the air and sail away
to Salamis, making for the station of the
Grecian fleet. Then they knew that it was the
fleet of Xerxes which would suffer destruction. Such was
the tale told by Dicaeus the son of Theocydes;
and he appealed for its truth to Demaratus and
other eye-witnesses.
The men belonging to the fleet of Xerxes, after they had seen the
Spartan dead at Thermopylae, and crossed the
channel from Trachis to Histiaea, waited there
by the space of three days, and then sailing down through
the Euripus, in three more came to Phalerum. In
my judgment, the Persian forces both by land and
sea when they invaded Attica were not less numerous
than they had been on their arrival at Sepias
and Thermopylae. For against the Persian loss in
the storm and at Thermopylae, and again in the sea-fights
off Artemisium, I set the various nations which
had since joined the king- as the Malians, the
Dorians, the Locrians, and the Boeotians- each serving
in full force in his army except the last, who
did not number in their ranks either the
Thespians or the Plataeans; and together with these, the
Carystians, the Andrians, the Tenians, and the
other people of the islands, who all fought on
this side except the five states already mentioned. For
as the Persians penetrated further into Greece,
they were joined continually by fresh nations.
Reinforced by the contingents of all these various states, except
Paros, the barbarians reached Athens. As for the
Parians, they tarried at Cythnus, waiting to see
how the war would go. The rest of the sea forces
came safe to Phalerum; where they were visited
by Xerxes, who had conceived a desire to go
aboard and learn the wishes of the fleet. So he came and
sate in a seat of honour; and the sovereigns of
the nations, and the captains of the ships, were
sent for, to appear before him, and as they arrived
took their seats according to the rank assigned
them by the king. In the first seat sate the
king of Sidon; after him, the king of Tyre; then the
rest in their order. When the whole had taken
their places, one after another, and were set
down in orderly array, Xerxes, to try them, sent Mardonius
and questioned each, whether a sea-fight should
be risked or no.
Mardonius accordingly went round the entire assemblage, beginning
with the Sidonian monarch, and asked this
question; to which all gave the same answer,
advising to engage the Greeks, except only Artemisia, who
spake as follows (SS 1.):-
"Say to the king, Mardonius, that these are my words to him: I
was not the least brave of those who fought at
Euboea, nor were my achievements there among the
meanest; it is my right, therefore, O my lord, to tell
thee plainly what I think to be most for thy
advantage now. This then is my advice. Spare thy
ships, and do not risk a battle; for these people
are as much superior to thy people in
seamanship, as men to women. What so great need
is there for thee to incur hazard at sea? Art thou not master
of Athens, for which thou didst undertake thy
expedition? Is not Greece subject to thee? Not a
soul now resists thy advance. They who once resisted,
were handled even as they deserved. (SS 2.) Now
learn how I expect that affairs will go with thy
adversaries. If thou art not over-hasty to engage
with them by sea, but wilt keep thy fleet near
the land, then whether thou abidest as thou art,
or marchest forward towards the Peloponnese, thou
wilt easily accomplish all for which thou art
come hither. The Greeks cannot hold out against
thee very long; thou wilt soon part them asunder, and
scatter them to their several homes. In the
island where they lie, I hear they have no food
in store; nor is it likely, if thy land force begins
its march towards the Peloponnese, that they
will remain quietly where they are- at least
such as come from that region. Of a surety they will
not greatly trouble themselves to give battle on
behalf of the Athenians. (SS 3.) On the other
hand, if thou art hasty to fight, I tremble lest the
defeat of thy sea force bring harm likewise to
thy land army. This, too, thou shouldst
remember, O king; good masters are apt to have bad servants,
and bad masters good ones. Now, as thou art the
best of men, thy servants must needs be a sorry
set. These Egyptians, Cyprians, Cilicians, and Pamphylians,
who are counted in the number of thy
subject-allies, of how little service are they
to thee!"
As Artemisia spake, they who wished her well were greatly troubled
concerning her words, thinking that she would
suffer some hurt at the king's hands, because
she exhorted him not to risk a battle; they, on the other
hand, who disliked and envied her, favoured as
she was by the king above all the rest of the
allies, rejoiced at her declaration, expecting that
her life would be the forfeit. But Xerxes, when
the words of the several speakers were reported
to him, was pleased beyond all others with the reply
of Artemisia; and whereas, even before this, he
had always esteemed her much, he now praised her
more than ever. Nevertheless, he gave orders that
the advice of the greater number should be
followed; for he thought that at Euboea the
fleet had not done its best, because he himself was not there
to see- whereas this time he resolved that he
would be an eye-witness of the combat.
Orders were now given to stand out to sea; and the ships proceeded
towards Salamis, and took up the stations to
which they were directed, without let or
hindrance from the enemy. The day, however, was too far
spent for them to begin the battle, since night
already approached: so they prepared to engage
upon the morrow. The Greeks, meanwhile, were in
great distress and alarm, more especially those
of the Peloponnese, who were troubled that they
had been kept at Salamis to fight on behalf of
the Athenian territory, and feared that, if they
should suffer defeat, they would be pent up and
besieged in an island, while their own country
was left unprotected.
The same night the land army of the barbarians began its march
towards the Peloponnese, where, however, all
that was possible had been done to prevent the
enemy from forcing an entrance by land. As soon as
ever news reached the Peloponnese of the death
of Leonidas and his companions at Thermopylae,
the inhabitants flocked together from the various cities,
and encamped at the Isthmus, under the command
of Cleombrotus, son of Anaxandridas, and brother
of Leonidas. Here their first care was to block up the Scironian
Way; after which it was determined in council to
build a wall across the Isthmus. As the number
assembled amounted to many tens of thousands, and
there was not one who did not give himself to
the work, it was soon finished. Stones, bricks,
timber, baskets filled full of sand, were used in the building;
and not a moment was lost by those who gave
their aid; for they laboured without ceasing
either by night or day.
Now the nations who gave their aid, and who had flocked in full
force to the Isthmus, were the following: the
Lacedaemonians, all the tribes of the Arcadians,
the Eleans, the Corinthians, the Sicyonians, the Epidaurians,
the Phliasians, the Troezenians, and the
Hermionians. These all gave their aid, being
greatly alarmed at the danger which threatened Greece. But the
other inhabitants of the Peloponnese took no
part in the matter; though the Olympic and
Carneian festivals were now over.
Seven nations inhabit the Peloponnese. Two of them are aboriginal,
and still continue in the regions where they
dwelt at the first- to wit, the Arcadians and
the Cynurians. A third, that of the Achaeans, has never
left the Peloponnese, but has been dislodged
from its own proper country, and inhabits a
district which once belonged to others. The remaining nations,
four out of the seven, are all immigrants-
namely, the Dorians, the Aetolians, the
Dryopians, and the Lemnians. To the Dorians belong several very
famous cities; to the Aetolians one only, that
is, Elis; to the Dryopians, Hermione and that
Asine which lies over against Cardamyle in Laconia; to the
Lemnians, all the towns of the Paroreats. The
aboriginal Cynurians alone seem to be Ionians;
even they, however, have, in course of time, grown to be Dorians,
under the government of the Argives, whose
Orneats and vassals they were. All the cities of
these seven nations, except those mentioned above, stood
aloof from the war; and by so doing, if I may
speak freely, they in fact took part with the
Medes.
So the Greeks at the Isthmus toiled unceasingly, as though in the
greatest peril; since they never imagined that
any great success would be gained by the fleet.
The Greeks at Salamis, on the other hand, when
they heard what the rest were about, felt
greatly alarmed; but their fear was not so much
for themselves as for the Peloponnese. At first they conversed
together in low tones, each man with his fellow,
secretly, and marvelled at the folly shown by
Eurybiades; but presently the smothered feeling broke
out, and another assembly was held; whereat the
old subjects provoked much talk from the
speakers, one side maintaining that it was best to sail to
the Peloponnese and risk battle for that,
instead of abiding at Salamis and fighting for a
land already taken by the enemy; while the other, which
consisted of the Athenians, Eginetans, and
Megarians, was urgent to remain and have the
battle fought where they were.
Then Themistocles, when he saw that the Peloponnesians would carry
the vote against him, went out secretly from the
council, and, instructing a certain man what he
should say, sent him on board a merchant ship to
the fleet of the Medes. The man's name was
Sicinnus; he was one of Themistocles' household
slaves, and acted as tutor to his sons; in after times, when
the Thespians were admitting persons to
citizenship, Themistocles made him a Thespian,
and a rich man to boot. The ship brought Sicinnus to the
Persian fleet, and there he delivered his
message to the leaders in these words:-
"The Athenian commander has sent me to you privily, without the
knowledge of the other Greeks. He is a
well-wisher to the king's cause, and would
rather success should attend on you than on his countrymen;
wherefore he bids me tell you that fear has
seized the Greeks and they are meditating a
hasty flight. Now then it is open to you to achieve the best work
that ever ye wrought, if only ye will hinder
their escaping. They no longer agree among
themselves, so that they will not now make any resistance-
nay, 'tis likely ye may see a fight already
begun between such as favour and such as oppose
your cause." The messenger, when he had thus expressed
himself, departed and was seen no more.
Then the captains, believing all that the messenger had said,
proceeded to land a large body of Persian troops
on the islet of Psyttaleia, which lies between
Salamis and the mainland; after which, about the hour of midnight,
they advanced their western wing towards
Salamis, so as to inclose the Greeks. At the
same time the force stationed about Ceos and Cynosura moved
forward, and filled the whole strait as far as
Munychia with their ships. This advance was made
to prevent the Greeks from escaping by flight, and
to block them up in Salamis, where it was
thought that vengeance might be taken upon them
for the battles fought near Artemisium. The Persian
troops were landed on the islet of Psyttaleia,
because, as soon as the battle began, the men
and wrecks were likely to be drifted thither, as
the isle lay in the very path of the coming
fight- and they would thus be able to save their
own men and destroy those of the enemy. All these
movements were made in silence, that the Greeks
might have no knowledge of them; and they
occupied the whole night, so that the men had no time
to get their sleep.
I cannot say that there is no truth in prophecies, or feel
inclined to call in question those which speak
with clearness, when I think of the following:-
When they shall bridge with their ships to the sacred strand of
Diana
Girt with the golden falchion, and eke to marine
Cynosura,
Mad hope swelling their hearts at the downfall of beautiful
Athens
Then shall godlike Right extinguish haughty Presumption,
Insult's furious offspring, who thinketh to overthrow all
things.
Brass with brass shall mingle, and Mars with blood shall
empurple
Ocean's waves. Then- then shall the day of Grecia's
freedom
Come from Victory fair, and Saturn's son all-seeing. When I look
to this, and perceive how clearly Bacis spoke,
neither venture myself to say anything against
prophecies, nor do approve of others impugning
them.
Meanwhile, among the captains at Salamis, the strife of words grew
fierce. As yet they did not know that they were
encompassed, but imagined that the barbarians
remained in the same places where they had seen them
the day before.
In the midst of their contention, Aristides, the son of
Lysimachus, who had crossed from Egina, arrived
in Salamis. He was an Athenian, and had been
ostracised by the commonalty; yet I believe, from what I have
heard concerning his character, that there was
not in all Athens a man so worthy or so just as
he. He now came to the council, and, standing outside,
called for Themistocles. Now Themistocles was
not his friend, but his most determined enemy.
However, under the pressure of the great dangers impending,
Aristides forgot their feud, and called
Themistocles out of the council, since he wished
to confer with him. He had heard before his arrival of
the impatience of the Peloponnesians to withdraw
the fleet to the Isthmus. As soon therefore as
Themistocles came forth, Aristides addressed him in
these words:-
"Our rivalry at all times, and especially at the present season,
ought to be a struggle, which of us shall most
advantage our country. Let me then say to thee,
that so far as regards the departure of the Peloponnesians
from this place, much talk and little will be
found precisely alike. I have seen with my own
eyes that which I now report: that, however much
the Corinthians or Eurybiades himself may wish
it, they cannot now retreat; for we are enclosed
on every side by the enemy. Go in to them, and make
this known."
"Thy advice is excellent," answered the other; "and thy tidings
are also good. That which I earnestly desired to
happen, thine eyes have beheld accomplished.
Know that what the Medes have now done was at my instance;
for it was necessary, as our men would not fight
here of their own free will, to make them fight
whether they would or no. But come now, as thou
hast brought the good news, go in and tell it.
For if I speak to them, they will think it a
feigned tale, and will not believe that the barbarians
have inclosed us around. Therefore do thou go
to them, and inform them how matters stand. If
they believe thee, 'twill be for the best; but if
otherwise, it will not harm. For it is
impossible that they should now flee away, if
we are indeed shut in on all sides, as thou
sayest."
Then Aristides entered the assembly, and spoke to the captains:
he had come, he told them, from Egina, and had
but barely escaped the blockading vessels- the
Greek fleet was entirely inclosed by the ships of Xerxes-
and he advised them to get themselves in
readiness to resist the foe. Having said so
much, he withdrew. And now another contest arose; for the greater
part of the captains would not believe the
tidings.
But while they still doubted, a Tenian trireme, commanded by
Panaetius the son of Sosimenes, deserted from
the Persians and joined the Greeks, bringing
full intelligence. For this reason the Tenians were inscribed
upon the tripod at Delphi among those who
overthrew the barbarians. With this ship, which
deserted to their side at Salamis, and the Lemnian vessel
which came over before at Artemisium, the Greek
fleet was brought to the full number of 380
ships; otherwise it fell short by two of that
amount.
The Greeks now, not doubting what the Tenians told them, made
ready for the coming fight. At the dawn of day,
all the men-at-arms were assembled together,
and speeches were made to them, of which the best was that of
Themistocles; who throughout contrasted what
was noble with what was base, and bade them, in
all that came within the range of man's nature and constitution,
always to make choice of the nobler part.
Having thus wound up his discourse, he told
them to go at once on board their ships, which they accordingly
did; and about his time the trireme, that had
been sent to Egina for the Aeacidae, returned;
whereupon the Greeks put to sea with all their
fleet.
The fleet had scarce left the land when they were attacked by the
barbarians. At once most of the Greeks began to
back water, and were about touching the shore,
when Ameinias of Palline, one of the Athenian captains,
darted forth in front of the line, and charged
a ship of the enemy. The two vessels became
entangled, and could not separate, whereupon the rest
of the fleet came up to help Ameinias, and
engaged with the Persians. Such is the account
which the Athenians give of the way in which the battle
began; but the Eginetans maintain that the
vessel which had been to Egina for the
Aeacidae, was the one that brought on the fight. It is also
reported, that a phantom in the form of a woman
appeared to the Greeks, and, in a voice that
was heard from end to end of the fleet, cheered them on to the
fight; first, however, rebuking them, and
saying- "Strange men, how long are ye going to
back water?"
Against the Athenians, who held the western extremity of the line
towards Eleusis, were placed the Phoenicians;
against the Lacedaemonians, whose station was
eastward towards the Piraeus, the Ionians. Of these last
a few only followed the advice of Themistocles,
to fight backwardly; the greater number did far
otherwise. I could mention here the names of many
trierarchs who took vessels from the Greeks,
but I shall pass over all excepting Theomestor,
the son of Androdamas, and Phylacus, the son of Histiaeus,
both Samians. I show this preference to them,
inasmuch as for this service Theomestor was
made tyrant of Samos by the Persians, which Phylacus was
enrolled among the king's benefactors, and
presented with a large estate in land. In the
Persian tongue the king's benefactors are called
Orosangs.
Far the greater number of the Persian ships engaged in this battle
were disabled, either by the Athenians or by
the Eginetans. For as the Greeks fought in
order and kept their line, while the barbarians were in
confusion and had no plan in anything that they
did, the issue of the battle could scarce be
other than it was. Yet the Persians fought far more bravely
here than at Euboea, and indeed surpassed
themselves; each did his utmost through fear of
Xerxes, for each thought that the king's eye was upon
himself.
What part the several nations, whether Greek or barbarian, took
in the combat, I am not able to say for
certain; Artemisia, however, I know,
distinguished herself in such a way as raised her even higher than
she stood before in the esteem of the king. For
after confusion had spread throughout the whole
of the king's fleet, and her ship was closely pursued
by an Athenian trireme, she, having no way to
fly, since in front of her were a number of
friendly vessels, and she was nearest of all the Persians
to the enemy, resolved on a measure which in
fact proved her safety. Pressed by the Athenian
pursuer, she bore straight against one of the ships of
her own party, a Calyndian, which had
Damasithymus, the Calyndian king, himself on
board. I cannot say whether she had had any quarrel with the
man while the fleet was at the Hellespont, or
no- neither can I decide whether she of set
purpose attacked his vessel, or whether it merely chanced
that the Calyndian ship came in her way- but
certain it is that she bore down upon his
vessel and sank it, and that thereby she had the good fortune
to procure herself a double advantage. For the
commander of the Athenian trireme, when he saw
her bear down on one of the enemy's fleet, thought
immediately that her vessel was a Greek, or
else had deserted from the Persians, and was
now fighting on the Greek side; he therefore gave up
the chase, and turned away to attack others.
Thus in the first place she saved her life by the action, and was
enabled to get clear off from the battle; while
further, it fell out that in the very act of
doing the king an injury she raised herself to a greater
height than ever in his esteem. For as Xerxes
beheld the fight, he remarked (it is said) the
destruction of the vessel, whereupon the bystanders observed
to him- "Seest thou, master, how well Artemisia
fights, and how she has just sunk a ship of the
enemy?" Then Xerxes asked if it were really Artemisia's
doing; and they answered, "Certainly; for they
knew her ensign": while all made sure that the
sunken vessel belonged to the opposite side. Everything,
it is said, conspired to prosper the queen- it
was especially fortunate for her that not one
of those on board the Calyndian ship survived to become
her accuser. Xerxes, they say, in reply to the
remarks made to him, observed- "My men have
behaved like women, my women like men!"
There fell in this combat Ariabignes, one of the chief commanders
of the fleet, who was son of Darius and brother
of Xerxes; and with him perished a vast number
of men of high repute, Persians, Medes, and allies.
Of the Greeks there died only a few; for, as
they were able to swim, all those that were not
slain outright by the enemy escaped from the sinking
vessels and swam across to Salamis. But on the
side of the barbarians more perished by
drowning than in any other way, since they did not know how
to swim. The great destruction took place when
the ships which had been first engaged began to
fly; for they who were stationed in the rear, anxious
to display their valour before the eyes of the
king, made every effort to force their way to
the front, and thus became entangled with such of
their own vessels as were retreating.
In this confusion the following event occurred: certain
Phoenicians belonging to the ships which had
thus perished made their appearance before the
king, and laid the blame of their loss on the Ionians, declaring
that they were traitors, and had wilfully
destroyed the vessels. But the upshot of this
complaint was that the Ionian captains escaped the death which
threatened them, while their Phoenician
accusers received death as their reward. For it
happened that, exactly as they spoke, a Samothracian vessel
bore down on an Athenian and sank it, but was
attacked and crippled immediately by one of the
Eginetan squadron. Now the Samothracians were expert with
the javelin, and aimed their weapons so well,
that they cleared the deck of the vessel which
had disabled their own, after which they sprang on
board, and took it. This saved the Ionians.
Xerxes, when he saw the exploit, turned
fiercely on the Phoenicians- (he was ready, in his extreme
vexation, to find fault with any one)- and
ordered their heads to be cut off, to prevent
them, he said, from casting the blame of their own misconduct upon
braver men. During the whole time of the battle
Xerxes sate at the base of the hill called
Aegaleos, over against Salamis; and whenever he saw
any of his own captains perform any worthy
exploit he inquired concerning him; and the
man's name was taken down by his scribes, together with the
names of his father and his city. Ariaramnes
too, a Persian, who was a friend of the
Ionians, and present at the time whereof I speak, had a share
in bringing about the punishment of the
Phoenicians.
When the rout of the barbarians began, and they sought to make
their escape to Phalerum, the Eginetans,
awaiting them in the channel, performed
exploits worthy to be recorded. Through the whole of the confused
struggle the Athenians employed themselves in
destroying such ships as either made resistance
or fled to shore, while the Eginetans dealt with
those which endeavoured to escape down the
strait; so that the Persian vessels were no
sooner clear of the Athenians than forthwith they fell
into the hands of the Eginetan squadron.
It chanced here that there was a meeting between the ship of
Themistocles, which was hasting in pursuit of
the enemy, and that of Polycritus, son of Crius
the Eginetan, which had just charged a Sidonian trireme. The
Sidonian vessel was the same that captured the
Eginetan guard-ship off Sciathus, which had
Pythias, the son of Ischenous, on board- that Pythias, I mean,
who fell covered with wounds, and whom the
Sidonians kept on board their ship, from
admiration of his gallantry. This man afterwards returned in
safety to Egina; for when the Sidonian vessel
with its Persian crew fell into the hands of
the Greeks, he was still found on board. Polycritus no
sooner saw the Athenian trireme than, knowing
at once whose vessel it was, as he observed
that it bore the ensign of the admiral, he shouted to Themistocles
jeeringly, and asked him, in a tone of
reproach, if the Eginetans did not show
themselves rare friends to the Medes. At the same time, while he
thus reproached Themistocles, Polycritus bore
straight down on the Sidonian. Such of the
barbarian vessels as escaped from the battle fled to Phalerum,
and there sheltered themselves under the
protection of the land army.
The Greeks who gained the greatest glory of all in the sea-fight
off Salamis were the Eginetans, and after them
the Athenians. The individuals of most
distinction were Polycritus the Eginetan, and two Athenians,
Eumenes of Anagyrus, and Ameinias of Palline;
the latter of whom had pressed Artemisia so
hard. And assuredly, if he had known that the vessel carried
Artemisia on board, he would never have given
over the chase till he had either succeeded in
taking her, or else been taken himself. For the Athenian captains
had received special orders touching the queen;
and moreover a reward of ten thousand drachmas
had been proclaimed for any one who should make her prisoner;
since there was great indignation felt that a
woman should appear in arms against Athens.
However, as I said before, she escaped; and so did some
others whose ships survived the engagement; and
these were all now assembled at the port of
Phalerum.
The Athenians say that Adeimantus, the Corinthian commander, at
the moment when the two fleets joined battle,
was seized with fear, and being beyond measure
alarmed, spread his sails, and hasted to fly away;
on which the other Corinthians, seeing their
leader's ship in full flight, sailed off
likewise. They had reached in their flight that part of the
coast of Salamis where stands the temple of
Minerva Sciras, when they met a light bark, a
very strange apparition: it was never discovered that any
one had sent it to them; and till it appeared
they were altogether ignorant how the battle
was going. That there was something beyond nature in the
matter they judged from this- that when the men
in the bark drew near to their ships they
addressed them, saying- "Adeimantus, while thou playest
the traitor's part, by withdrawing all these
ships, and flying away from the fight, the
Greeks whom thou hast deserted are defeating their foes
as completely as they ever wished in their
prayers." Adeimantus, however, would not
believe what the men said; whereupon they told him "he might
take them with him as hostages, and put them to
death if he did not find the Greeks winning."
Then Adeimantus put about, both he and those who were
with him; and they re-joined the fleet when the
victory was already gained. Such is the tale
which the Athenians tell concerning them of Corinth; these
latter however do not allow its truth. On the
contrary, they declare that they were among
those who distinguished themselves most in the fight. And
the rest of Greece bears witness in their
favour.
In the midst of the confusion Aristides, the son of Lysimachus,
the Athenian, of whom I lately spoke as a man
of the greatest excellence, performed the
following service. He took a number of the Athenian heavy-armed
troops, who had previously been stationed along
the shore of Salamis, and, landing with them on
the islet of Psyttaleia, slew all the Persians by
whom it was occupied.
As soon as the sea-fight was ended, the Greeks drew together to
Salamis all the wrecks that were to be found in
that quarter, and prepared themselves for
another engagement, supposing that the king would renew
the fight with the vessels which still remained
to him. Many of the wrecks had been carried
away by a westerly wind to the coast of Attica, where
they were thrown upon the strip of shore called
Colias. Thus not only were the prophecies of
Bacis and Musaeus concerning this battle fulfilled completely,
but likewise, by the place to which the wrecks
were drifted, the prediction of Lysistratus, an
Athenian soothsayer, uttered many years before these
events, and quite forgotten at the time by all
the Greeks, was fully accomplished. The words
were-
Then shall the sight of the oars fill Colian dames with amazement.
Now this must have happened as soon as the king
was departed.
Xerxes, when he saw the extent of his loss, began to be afraid
lest the Greeks might be counselled by the
Ionians, or without their advice might
determine to sail straight to the Hellespont and break down the
bridges there; in which case he would be
blocked up in Europe, and run great risk of
perishing. He therefore made up his mind to fly; but, as he wished
to hide his purpose alike from the Greeks and
from his own people, he set to work to carry a
mound across the channel to Salamis, and at the same
time began fastening a number of Phoenician
merchant ships together, to serve at once for a
bridge and a wall. He likewise made many warlike preparations,
as if he were about to engage the Greeks once
more at sea. Now, when these things were seen,
all grew fully persuaded that the king was bent on remaining,
and intended to push the war in good earnest.
Mardonius, however, was in no respect deceived;
for long acquaintance enabled him to read all the
king's thoughts. Meanwhile, Xerxes, though
engaged in this way, sent off a messenger to
carry intelligence of his misfortune to Persia.
Nothing mortal travels so fast as these Persian messengers. The
entire plan is a Persian invention; and this is
the method of it. Along the whole line of road
there are men (they say) stationed with horses,
in number equal to the number of days which the
journey takes, allowing a man and horse to each
day; and these men will not be hindered from accomplishing
at their best speed the distance which they
have to go, either by snow, or rain, or heat,
or by the darkness of night. The first rider delivers
his despatch to the second and the second
passes it to the third; and so it is borne from
hand to hand along the whole line, like the light in the
torch-race, which the Greeks celebrate to
Vulcan. The Persians give the riding post in
this manner, the name of "Angarum."
At Susa, on the arrival of the first message, which said that
Xerxes was master of Athens, such was the
delight of the Persians who had remained
behind, that they forthwith strewed all the
streets with myrtle boughs, and burnt incense,
and fell to feasting and merriment. In like manner,
when the second message reached them, so sore
was their dismay, that they all with one accord
rent their garments, and cried aloud, and wept and
wailed without stint. They laid the blame of
the disaster on Mardonius; and their grief on
the occasion was less on account of the damage done
to their ships, than owing to the alarm which
they felt about the safety of the king. Hence
their trouble did not cease till Xerxes himself, by
his arrival, put an end to their fears.
And now Mardonius, perceiving that Xerxes took the defeat of his
fleet greatly to heart, and suspecting that he
had made up his mind to leave Athens and fly
away, began to think of the likelihood of his being
visited with punishment for having persuaded
the king to undertake the war. He therefore
considered that it would be the best thing for him to
adventure further, and either become the
conqueror of Greece- which was the result he
rather expected- or else die gloriously after aspiring to
a noble achievement. So with these thoughts in
his mind, he said one day to the king:-
"Do not grieve, master, or take so greatly to heart thy late loss.
Our hopes hang not altogether on the fate of a
few planks, but on our brave steeds and
horsemen. These fellows, whom thou imaginest to have quite
conquered us, will not venture- no, not one of
them- to come ashore and contend with our land
army; nor will the Greeks who are upon the mainland fight our
troops; such as did so have received their
punishment. If thou so pleasest, we may at once
attack the Peloponnese; if thou wouldst rather wait a while,
that too is in our power. Only be not
disheartened. For it is not possible that the
Greeks can avoid being brought to account, alike for this and
for their former injuries; nor can they anyhow
escape being thy slaves. Thou shouldst
therefore do as I have said. If, however, thy mind is made
up, and thou art resolved to retreat and lead
away thy army, listen to the counsel which, in
that case, I have to offer. Make not the Persians,
O king! a laughing-stock to the Greeks. If thy
affairs have succeeded ill, it has not been by
their fault; thou canst not say that thy Persians have
ever shown themselves cowards. What matters it
if Phoenicians and Egyptians, Cyprians and
Cilicians, have misbehaved?- their misconduct touches not
us. Since then thy Persians are without fault,
be advised by me. Depart home, if thou art so
minded, and take with thee the bulk of thy army; but
first let me choose out 300,000 troops, and let
it be my task to bring Greece beneath thy
sway."
Xerxes, when he heard these words, felt a sense of joy and
delight, like a man who is relieved from care.
Answering Mardonius, therefore, "that he would
consider his counsel, and let him know which course he might
prefer," Xerxes proceeded to consult with the
chief men among the Persians; and because
Artemisia on the former occasion had shown herself the only person
who knew what was best to be done, he was
pleased to summon her to advise him now. As
soon as she arrived, he put forth all the rest, both councillors
and bodyguards, and said to her:-
"Mardonius wishes me to stay and attack the Peloponnese. My
Persians, he says, and my other land forces,
are not to blame for the disasters which have
befallen our arms; and of this he declares they would very gladly
give me the proof. He therefore exhorts me,
either to stay and act as I have said, or to
let him choose Out 300,000 of my troops- wherewith he
undertakes to reduce Greece beneath my sway-
while I myself retire with the rest of my
forces, and withdraw into my own country. Do thou, therefore,
as thou didst counsel me so wisely to decline
the sea-fight, now also advise me in this
matter, and say, which course of the twain I ought to take for
my own good."
Thus did the king ask Artemisia's counsel; and the following are
the words wherewith she answered him:-
"'Tis a hard thing, O king! to give the best possible advice to
one who asks our counsel. Nevertheless, as thy
affairs now stand, it seemeth to me that thou
wilt do right to return home. As for Mardonius, if he prefers
to remain, and undertakes to do as he has said,
leave him behind by all means, with the troops
which he desires. If his design succeeds, and he
subdues the Greeks, as he promises, thine is
the conquest, master; for thy slaves will have
accomplished it. If, on the other hand, affairs run
counter to his wishes, we can suffer no great
loss, so long as thou art safe, and thy house
is in no danger. The Greeks, too, while thou livest,
and thy house flourishes, must be prepared to
fight full many a battle for their freedom;
whereas if Mardonius fall, it matters nothing- they
will have gained but a poor triumph- a victory
over one of thy slaves! Remember also, thou
goest home having gained the purpose of thy expedition;
for thou hast burnt Athens!"
The advice of Artemisia pleased Xerxes well; for she had exactly
uttered his own thoughts. I, for my part, do
not believe that he would have remained had all
his counsellors, both men and women, united to urge
his stay, so great was the alarm that he felt.
As it was, he gave praise to Artemisia, and
entrusted certain of his children to her care, ordering
her to convey them to Ephesus; for he had been
accompanied on the expedition by some of his
natural sons.
He likewise sent away at this time one of the principal of his
eunuchs, a man named Hermotimus, a Pedasian,
who was bidden to take charge of these sons.
Now the Pedasians inhabit the region above Halicarnassus;
and it is related of them, that in their
country the following circumstance happens:
when a mischance is about to befall any of their neighbours within
a certain time, the priestess of Minerva in
their city grows a long beard. This has already
taken place on two occasions.
The Hermotimus of whom I spoke above was, as I said, a Pedasian;
and he, of all men whom we know, took the most
cruel vengeance on the person who had done him
an injury. He had been made a prisoner of war, and when
his captors sold him, he was bought by a
certain Panionius, a native of Chios, who made
his living by a most nefarious traffic. Whenever he could
get any boys of unusual beauty, he made them
eunuchs, and, carrying them to Sardis or
Ephesus, sold them for large sums of money. For the barbarians
value eunuchs more than others, since they
regard them as more trustworthy. Many were the
slaves that Panionius, who made his living by the practice,
had thus treated; and among them was this
Hermotimus of whom I have here made mention.
However, he was not without his share of good fortune; for
after a while he was sent from Sardis, together
with other gifts, as a present to the king. Nor
was it long before he came to be esteemed by Xerxes
more highly than all his eunuchs.
When the king was on his way to Athens with the Persian army, and
abode for a time at Sardis, Hermotimus happened
to make a journey upon business into Mysia; and
there, in a district which is called Atarneus,
but belongs to Chios, he chanced to fall in
with Panionius. Recognising him at once, he
entered into a long and friendly talk with him, wherein
he counted up the numerous blessings he enjoyed
through his means, and promised him all manner
of favours in return, if he would bring his household
to Sardis and live there. Panionius was
overjoyed, and, accepting the offer made him,
came presently, and brought with him his wife and children. Then
Hermotimus, when he had got Panionius and all
his family into his power, addressed him in
these words:-
"Thou man, who gettest a living by viler deeds than any one else
in the whole world, what wrong to thee or thine
had I or any of mine done, that thou shouldst
have made me the nothing that I now am? Ah! surely thou
thoughtest that the gods took no note of thy
crimes. But they in their justice have
delivered thee, the doer of unrighteousness, into my hands;
and now thou canst not complain of the
vengeance which I am resolved to take on thee."
After these reproaches, Hermotimus commanded the four sons of
Panionius to be brought, and forced the father
to make them eunuchs with his own hand. Unable
to resist, he did as Hermotimus required; and then his sons
were made to treat him in the self-same way. So
in this way there came to Panionius requital at
the hands of Hermotimus.
Xerxes, after charging Artemisia to convey his sons safe to
Ephesus, sent for Mardonius, and bade him
choose from all his army such men as he wished,
and see that he made his achievements answer to his promises.
During this day he did no more; but no sooner
was night come, than he issued his orders, and
at once the captains of the ships left Phalerum, and bore away
for the Hellespont, each making all the speed
he could, and hasting to guard the bridges
against the king's return. On their way, as they sailed
by Zoster, where certain narrow points of land
project into the sea, they took the cliffs for
vessels, and fled far away in alarm. Discovering their
mistake, however, after a time, they joined
company once more, and proceeded upon their
voyage.
Next day the Greeks, seeing the land force of the barbarians
encamped in the same place, thought that their
ships must still be lying at Phalerum; and,
expecting another attack from that quarter, made preparations to
defend themselves. Soon however news came that
the ships were all departed and gone away;
whereupon it was instantly resolved to make sail in pursuit.
They went as far as Andros; but, seeing nothing
of the Persian fleet, they stopped at that
place, and held a council of war. At this council Themistocles
advised that the Greeks should follow on
through the islands, still pressing the
pursuit, and making all haste to the Hellespont, there to break
down the bridges. Eurybiades, however,
delivered a contrary opinion. "If," he said,
"the Greeks should break down the bridges, it would be the worst
thing that could possibly happen for Greece.
The Persian, supposing that his retreat were
cut off, and he compelled to remain in Europe, would be
sure never to give them any peace. Inaction on
his part would ruin all his affairs, and leave
him no chance of ever getting back to Asia- nay,
would even cause his army to perish by famine:
wh