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READING HALLTHE DOORS OF WISDOM |
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BOOK VI. ERATOBOOK VII. POLYMNIA
BOOK IX. CALLIOPE
BOOK VIII.URANIA1. Those of the
Hellenes who had been appointed to serve in the fleet were these:—the Athenians
furnished a hundred and twenty-seven ships, and the Plataians moved by valour and zeal for the service, although
they had had no practice in seamanship, yet joined with the Athenians in
manning their ships. The Corinthians furnished forty ships, the Megarians
twenty; the Chalkidians manned twenty ships with
which the Athenians furnished them; the Eginetans furnished eighteen ships, the Sikyonians twelve, the
Lacedemonians ten, the Epidaurians eight, the Eretrians seven, the Troizenians five, the Styrians two, the Keïans two ships and two fifty-oared galleys, while the Locrians
of Opus came also to the assistance of the rest with seven fifty-oared galleys.
2. These were
those who joined in the expedition to Artemision, and
I have mentioned them according to the number of the ships which they severally supplied: so
the number of the ships which were assembled at Artemision was (apart from the fifty-oared galleys) two hundred and seventy-one: and the
commander who had the supreme power was furnished by the Spartans, namely Eurybiades son of Eurycleides,
since the allies said that they would not follow the lead of the Athenians, but
unless a Lacedemonian were leader they would break up the expedition which was
to be made:
3, for it had come
to be said at first, even before they sent to Sicily to obtain allies, that the
fleet ought to be placed in the charge of the Athenians. So as the allies
opposed this, the Athenians yielded, having it much at heart that Hellas should
be saved, and perceiving that if they should have disagreement with one another
about the leadership, Hellas would perish: and herein they judged rightly, for
disagreement between those of the same race is worse than war undertaken with
one consent by as much as war is worse than peace. Being assured then of this
truth, they did not contend, but gave way for so long time as they were
urgently in need of the allies; and that this was so their conduct proved; for
when, after repelling the Persian from themselves, they were now contending for
his land and no longer for their own, they alleged the insolence of Pausanias
as a pretext and took away the leadership from the Lacedemonians. This however
took place afterwards.
4. But at this
time these Hellenes also who had come to Artemision, when they saw that a great number of ships had
put in to Aphetai and that everything was filled with
their armament, were struck with fear, because the fortunes of the Barbarians
had different issue from that which they expected, and they deliberated about
retreating from Artemision to the inner parts of
Hellas. And the Euboeans perceiving that they were so deliberating, asked Eurybiades to stay there by them for a short time, until
they should have removed out of their land their children, and their
households; and as they did not persuade him, they went elsewhere and persuaded
Themistocles the commander of the Athenians by a payment of thirty talents, the
condition being that the fleet should stay and fight the sea-battle in front of
Euboea.
5. Themistocles
then caused the Hellenes to stay in the following manner:—to Eurybiades he imparted five talents of the sum with the pretence that he was giving it from himself; and when Eurybiades had been persuaded by him to change his
resolution, Adeimantos son of Okytos,
the Corinthian commander, was the only one of all the others who still made a
struggle, saying that he would sail away from Artemision and would not stay with the others: to him therefore Themistocles said with an
oath: "Thou at least shalt not leave us, for I will give thee greater
gifts than the king of the Medes would send to thee, if thou shouldest desert
thy allies." Thus he spoke, and at the same time he sent to the ship of Adeimantos three talents of silver. So these all had been persuaded by gifts to change their
resolution, and at the same time the request of the Euboeans had been gratified
and Themistocles himself gained money; and it was not known that he had the
rest of the money, but those who received a share of this money were fully
persuaded that it had come from the Athenian State for this purpose.
6. Thus they
remained in Euboea and fought a sea-battle; and it came to pass as
follows:—when the Barbarians had arrived at Aphetai about the beginning of the afternoon, having been informed even before they
came that a few ships of the Hellenes were stationed about Artemision and now seeing them for themselves, they were eager to attack them, to see if
they could capture them. Now they did not think it good yet to sail against
them directly for this reason,—for fear namely that the Hellenes, when they saw
them sailing against them, should set forth to take flight and darkness should
come upon them in their flight; and so they were likely (thought the
Persians) to get away; whereas it was right, according to
their calculation, that not even the fire-bearer should escape and save his life.
7. With a view to
this then they contrived as follows:—of the whole number of their ships they
parted off two hundred and sent them round to sail by Caphereus and round Geriastos to the Euripos,
going outside Skiathos so that they might not be sighted by the enemy as they
sailed round Euboea: and their purpose was that with these coming up by that
way, and blocking the enemies' retreat, and themselves advancing against them
directly, they might surround them on all sides. Having formed this plan they
proceeded to send off the ships which were appointed for this, and they
themselves had no design of attacking the Hellenes on that day nor until the
signal agreed upon should be displayed to them by those who were sailing round,
to show that they had arrived. These ships, I say, they were sending round, and
meanwhile they were numbering the rest at Aphetai.
8. During this
time, while these were numbering their ships, it happened thus:—there was in that
camp a man of Skione named Skyllias,
as a diver the best of all the men of that time, who also in the shipwreck
which took place by Pelion had saved for the Persians many of their goods and
many of them also he had acquired for himself: this Skyllias it appears had had an intention even before this of deserting to the side of
the Hellenes, but it had not been possible for him to do so then. In what
manner after this attempt he did actually come to the Hellenes, I am not able
to say with certainty, but I marvel if the tale is true which is reported; for
it is said that he dived into the sea at Aphetai and
did not come up till he reached Artemision, having
traversed here somewhere about eighty furlongs through the sea. Now there are
told about this man several other tales which seem likely to be false, but some
also which are true: about this matter however let it be stated as my opinion
that he came to Artemision in a boat. Then when he
had come, he forthwith informed the commanders about the shipwreck, how it had
come to pass, and of the ships which had been sent away to go round Euboea.
9. Hearing this the Hellenes considered the matter with one another; and after many things had been spoken, the prevailing opinion was that they should remain there that day and encamp on shore, and then, when midnight was past, they should set forth and go to meet those ships which were sailing round. After this however, as no one sailed out to attack them, they waited for the coming of the late hours of the afternoon and sailed out themselves to attack the Barbarians, desiring to make a trial both of their manner of fighting and of the trick of breaking their line. 10. And seeing
them sailing thus against them with few ships, not only the others in the army
of Xerxes but also their commanders judged them to be moved by mere madness,
and they themselves also put out their ships to sea, supposing that they would
easily capture them: and their expectation was reasonable enough, since they
saw that the ships of the Hellenes were few, while theirs were many times as
numerous and sailed better. Setting their mind then on this, they came round
and enclosed them in the middle. Then so many of the Ionians as were kindly
disposed to the Hellenes and were serving in the expedition against their will,
counted it a matter of great grief to themselves when they saw them being
surrounded and felt assured that not one of them would return home, so feeble did
they think the power of the Hellenes to be; while those to whom that which was
happening was a source of pleasure, were vying with one another, each one endeavouring to be the first to take an Athenian ship and
receive gifts from the king: for in their camps there was more report of the
Athenians than of any others.
11. The Hellenes
meanwhile, when the signal was given, first set themselves with prows facing
the Barbarians and drew the sterns of their ships together in the middle; and
when the signal was given a second time, although shut off in a small space and
prow against prow, they set to work vigorously; and they captured
thirty ships of the Barbarians and also Philaon the
son of Chersis, the brother of Gorgos kind of the Salaminians, who was a man of great
repute in the army. Now the first of the Hellenes who captured a ship of the
enemy was an Athenian, Lycomedes the son of Aischraios,
and he received the prize for valour. So these, as
they were contending in this sea-fight with doubtful result, were parted from
one another by the coming on of night. The Hellenes accordingly sailed away to Artemision and the Barbarians to Aphetai,
the contest having been widely different from their expectation. In this
sea-fight Antidoros of Lemnos alone of the Hellenes
who were with the king deserted to the side of the Hellenes, and the Athenians
on account of this deed gave him a piece of land in Salamis.
12. When the
darkness had come on, although the season was the middle of summer, yet there
came on very abundant rain, which lasted through the whole of the night, with
crashing thunder from Mount Pelion; and the dead bodies and
pieces of wreck were cast up at Aphetai and became
entangled round the prows of the ships and struck against the blades of the
oars: and the men of the army who were there, hearing these things became
afraid, expecting that they would certainly perish, to such troubles had they
come; for before they had had even breathing space after the shipwreck and the
storm which had arisen off Mount Pelion, there had come upon them a hard
sea-fight, and after the sea-fight a violent storm of rain and strong streams
rushing to the sea and crashing thunder.
13. These then had
such a night as I have said; and meanwhile those of them who had been appointed
to sail round Euboea experienced the very same night, but against them it raged
much more fiercely, inasmuch as it fell upon them while they were making their
course in the open sea. And the end of it proved distressful to them; for when the storm and the rain
together came upon them as they sailed, being then off the "Hollows"
of Euboea, they were borne by the wind not knowing by what
way they were carried, and were cast away upon the rocks. And all this was
being brought about by God in order that the Persian force might be made more
equal to that of the Hellenes and might not be by very much the larger.
14. These then, I
say, were perishing about the Hollows of Euboea, and meanwhile the Barbarians
at Aphetai, when day had dawned upon them, of which
they were glad, were keeping their ships quiet, and were satisfied in their
evil plight to remain still for the present time; but to the Hellenes there
came as a reinforcement three-and-fifty Athenian ships. The coming of these
gave them more courage, and at the same time they were encouraged also by a
report that those of the Barbarians who had been sailing round Euboea had all
been destroyed by the storm that had taken place. They waited then for the same
time of day as before, and then they sailed and fell upon some Kilikian ships; and having destroyed these, they sailed
away when the darkness came on, and returned to Artemision.
15. On the third
day the commanders of the Barbarians, being exceedingly indignant that so small
a number of ships should thus do them damage, and fearing what Xerxes might do,
did not wait this time for the Hellenes to begin the fight, but passed the word
of command and put out their ships to sea about the middle of the day. Now it
so happened that these battles at sea and the battles on land at Thermopylai took place on the same days; and for those who
fought by sea the whole aim of the fighting was concerned with the channel of Euripos, just as the aim of Leonidas and of his band was to
guard the pass: the Hellenes accordingly exhorted one another not to let the
Barbarians go by into Hellas; while these cheered one another on to destroy the
fleet of the Hellenes and to get possession of the straits.
16. Now while the
forces of Xerxes were sailing in order towards them, the Hellenes kept quiet at Artemision; and the Barbarians, having made a
crescent of their ships that they might enclose them, were endeavouring to surround them. Then the Hellenes put out to sea and engaged with them; and
in this battle the two sides were nearly equal to one another; for the fleet of
Xerxes by reason of its great size and numbers suffered damage from itself,
since the ships were thrown into confusion and ran into one another:
nevertheless it stood out and did not give way, for they disdained to be turned
to flight by so few ships. Many ships therefore of the Hellenes were destroyed
and many men perished, but many more ships and men of the Barbarians. Thus
contending they parted and went each to their own place.
17. In this
sea-fight the Egyptians did best of the men who fought for Xerxes; and these,
besides other great deeds which they displayed, captured five ships of the
Hellenes together with their crews: while of the Hellenes those who did best on
this day were the Athenians, and of the Athenians Cleinias the son of Alkibiades, who was serving with two
hundred man and a ship of his own, furnishing the expense at his own proper
cost.
18. Having parted,
both sides gladly hastened to their moorings; and after they had separated and
got away out of the sea-fight, although the Hellenes had possession of the
bodies of the dead and of the wrecks of the ships, yet having suffered
severely (and especially the Athenians, of whose ships
half had been disabled), they were deliberating now about retreating to the
inner parts of Hellas.
19. Themistocles
however had conceived that if there should be detached from the force of the
Barbarians the Ionian and Carian nations, they would be able to overcome the
rest; and when the people of Euboea were driving their flocks down to that
sea, he assembled the generals and said to them that
he thought he had a device by which he hoped to cause the best of the king's
allies to leave him. This matter he revealed to that extent only; and with
regard to their present circumstances, he said that they must do as follows:—every one must slaughter of the flocks of the Euboeans as
many as he wanted, for it was better that their army should have them than the
enemy; moreover he advised that each one should command his own men to kindle a
fire: and as for the time of their departure he would see to it in such wise
that they should come safe to Hellas. This they were content to do, and
forthwith when they had kindled a fire they turned their attention to the
flocks.
20. For in fact
the Euboeans, neglecting the oracle of Bakis as if it
had no meaning at all, had neither carried away anything from their land nor
laid in any store of provisions with a view to war coming upon them, and by
their conduct moreover they had brought trouble upon themselves. For the oracle uttered by Bakis about these matters runs as follows:
"Mark, when a man, a Barbarian, shall
yoke the Sea with papyrus,
Then do
thou plan to remove the loud-bleating goats from Euboea."
In the evils which
at this time were either upon them or soon to be expected they might feel not a
little sorry that they had paid no attention to these lines.
21. While these
were thus engaged, there came to them the scout from Trachis:
for there was at Artemision a scout named Polyas, by birth of Antikyra, to
whom it had been appointed, if the fleet should be disabled, to signify this to those at Thermopylai,
and he had a vessel equipped and ready for this purpose; and similarly there
was with Leonidas Abronichos son of Lysicles, an Athenian, ready to carry news to those at Artemision with a thirty-oared galley, if any disaster
should happen to the land-army. This Abronichos then
had arrived, and he proceeded to signify to them that which had come to pass
about Leonidas and his army; and then when they were informed of it no longer
put off their retreat, but set forth in the order in which they were severally
posted, the Corinthians first and the Athenians last.
22. Themistocles
however selected those ships of the Athenians which sailed best, and went round
to the springs of drinking-water, cutting inscriptions on the stones there,
which the Ionians read when they came to Artemision on the following day. These inscriptions ran thus: "Ionians, ye act not
rightly in making expedition against the fathers of your race and endeavouring to enslave Hellas. Best of all were it that ye
should come and be on our side; but if that may not be done by you, stand aside
even now from the combat against us and ask the Carians to do the same as ye.
If however neither of these two things is possible to be done, and ye are bound
down by too strong compulsion to be able to make revolt, then in the action,
when we engage battle, be purposely slack, remember that ye are descended from
us and that our quarrel with the Barbarian took its rise at the first from
you." Themistocles wrote thus, having, as I suppose, two things together
in his mind, namely that either the inscriptions might elude the notice of the
king and cause the Ionians to change and come over to the side on which he was,
or that having been reported and denounced to Xerxes they might cause the
Ionians to be distrusted by him, and so he might keep them apart from the
sea-fights.
23. Themistocles
then had set these inscriptions: and to the Barbarians there came immediately
after these things a man of Histaia in a boat
bringing word of the retreat of the Hellenes from Artemision.
They however, not believing it, kept the messenger under guard and sent
swift-sailing ships to look on before. Then these having reported the facts, at
last as daylight was spreading over the sky, the whole armament sailed in a
body to Artemision; and having stayed at this place
till midday, after this they sailed to Histaia, and
there arrived they took possession of the city of Histaia and overran all the villages which lie along the coast in the region of Ellopia, which is the land of Histaia.
24. While they
were there, Xerxes, after he had made his dispositions with regard to the
bodies of the dead, sent a herald to the fleet: and the dispositions which he
made beforehand were as follows:—for all those of his army who were lying dead
at Thermopylai, (and there were as many as twenty
thousand in all), with the exception of about a thousand whom he left, he dug
trenches and buried them, laying over them leaves and heaping earth upon them,
that they might not be seen by the men of the fleet. Then when the herald had
gone over to Histaia, he gathered an assembly of the
whole force and spoke these words: "Allies, king Xerxes grants permission
to any one of you who desires it, to leave his post and to come and see how he
fights against those most senseless men who looked to overcome the power of the
king."
25. When the
herald had proclaimed this, then boats were of all things most in request, so
many were they who desired to see this sight; and when they had passed over
they went through the dead bodies and looked at them: and every one supposed
that those who were lying there were all Lacedemonians or Thespians, though the
Helots also were among those that they saw: however, they who had passed over
did not fail to perceive that Xerxes had done that which I mentioned about the
bodies of his own dead; for in truth it was a thing to cause laughter even: on
the one side there were seen a thousand dead bodies lying, while the others lay
all gathered together in the same place, four thousand of them. During this day then they busied
themselves with looking, and on the day after this they sailed back to the
ships at Histaia, while Xerxes and his army set forth
upon their march.
26. There had come
also to them a few deserters from Arcadia, men in want of livelihood and
desiring to be employed. These the Persians brought into the king's presence
and inquired about the Hellenes, what they were doing; and one man it was who
asked them this for all the rest. They told them that the Hellenes were keeping
the Olympic festival and were looking on at a contest of athletics and
horsemanship. He then inquired again, what was the prize proposed to them, for
the sake of which they contended; and they told them of the wreath of olive
which is given. Then Tigranes the son of Artabanos uttered a thought which was most noble, though thereby he incurred from the
king the reproach of cowardice: for hearing that the prize was a wreath and not
money, he could not endure to keep silence, but in the presence of all he spoke
these words: "Ah! Mardonios, what kind of men
are these against whom thou hast brought us to fight, who make their contest
not for money but for honour!" Thus was it
spoken by this man.
27. In the
meantime, so soon as the disaster at Thermopylai had
come about, the Thessalians sent a herald forthwith to the Phokians,
against whom they had a grudge always, but especially because of the latest
disaster which they had suffered: for when both the Thessalians themselves and
their allies had invaded the Phokian land not many
years before this expedition of the king, they had been defeated by the Phokians and handled by them roughly. For the Phokians had been shut up in Mount Parnassos having with
them a soothsayer, Tellias the Eleian;
and this Tellias contrived for them a device of the
following kind:—he took six hundred men, the best of the Phokians,
and whitened them over with chalk, both themselves and their armour, and then he attacked the Thessalians by night,
telling the Phokians beforehand to slay every man
whom they should see not coloured over with white. So
not only the sentinels of the Thessalians, who saw these first, were terrified
by them, supposing it to be something portentous and other than it was, but
also after the sentinels the main body of their army; so that the Phokians remained in possession of four thousand bodies of
slain men and shields; of which last they dedicated half at Abai and half at Delphi; and from the tithe of booty got by this battle were made
the large statues which are contending for the tripod in front of the
temple at Delphi, and others similar to these are
dedicated as an offering at Abai.
28. Thus had the Phokians done to the Thessalian footmen, when they were
besieged by them; and they had done irreparable hurt to their cavalry also,
when this had invaded their land: for in the pass which is by Hyampolis they had dug a great trench and laid down in it
empty wine-jars; and then having carried earth and laid it on the top and made
it like the rest of the ground, they waited for the Thessalians to invade their
land. These supposing that they would make short work with the Phokians, riding in full course fell upon the wine-jars;
and there the legs of their horses were utterly crippled.
29. Bearing then a
grudge for both of these things, the Thessalians sent a herald and addressed
them thus: "Phokians, we advise you to be more
disposed now to change your minds and to admit that ye are not on a level with
us: for in former times among the Hellenes, so long as it pleased us to be on
that side, we always had the preference over you, and now we have such great
power with the Barbarian that it rests with us to cause you to be deprived of
your land and to be sold into slavery also. We however, though we have all the
power in our hands, do not bear malice, but let there be paid to us fifty
talents of silver in return for this, and we will engage to avert the dangers
which threaten to come upon your land."
30. Thus the Thessalians
proposed to them; for the Phokians alone of all the
people in those parts were not taking the side of the Medes, and this for no
other reason, as I conjecture, but only because of their enmity with the
Thessalians; and if the Thessalians had supported the cause of the Hellenes, I
am of opinion that the Phokians would have been on
the side of the Medes. When the Thessalians proposed this, they said that they
would not give the money, and that it was open to them to take the Median side
just as much as the Thessalians, if they desired it for other reasons; but they
would not with their own will be traitors to Hellas.
31. When these
words were reported, then the Thessalians, moved with anger against the Phokians, became guides to the Barbarian to show him the
way: and from the land of Trachis they entered Doris;
for a narrow strip of the Dorian territory extends this way, about
thirty furlongs in breadth, lying between Malis and Phokis, the region which was in ancient time called Dryopis; this land is the mother-country of the Dorians in
Peloponnese. Now the Barbarians did not lay waste this land of Doris when they
entered it, for the people of it were taking the side of the Medes, and also
the Thessalians did not desire it.
32. When however
from Doris they entered Phokis, they did not indeed
capture the Phokians themselves; for some of them had
gone up to the heights of Parnassos,—and that summit of Parnassos is very
convenient to receive a large number, which lies by itself near the city of
Neon, the name of it being Tithorea,—to this, I say,
some of them had carried up their goods and gone up themselves; but most of
them had conveyed their goods out to the Ozolian Locrians,
to the city of Amphissa, which is situated above the Crissaian plain. The Barbarians however overran the whole
land of Phokis, for so the Thessalians led their
army, and all that they came to as they marched they burned or cut down, and
delivered to the flames both the cities and the temples:
33, for they laid
everything waste, proceeding this way by the river Kephisos,
and they destroyed the city of Drymos by fire, and
also the following, namely Charadra, Erochos, Tethronion, Amphikaia, Neon, Pedieis, Triteis, Elateia, Hyampolis, Parapotamioi and Abai, at which
last-named place there was a temple of Apollo, wealthy and furnished with
treasuries and votive offerings in abundance; and there was then, as there is
even now, the seat of an Oracle there: this temple they plundered and burnt.
Some also of the Phokians they pursued and captured
upon the mountains, and some women they did to death by repeated outrage.
34. Passing by Parapotamioi the Barbarians came to Panopeus,
and from this point onwards their army was separated and went different ways.
The largest and strongest part of the army, proceeding with Xerxes himself
against Athens, entered the land of the Boeotians, coming into the territory of
Orchomenos. Now the general body of the Boeotians was taking the side of the
Medes, and their cities were being kept by Macedonians appointed for each, who
had been sent by Alexander; and they were keeping them this aim, namely in
order to make it plain to Xerxes that the Boeotians were disposed to be on the
side of the Medes.
35. These, I say,
of the Barbarians took their way in this direction; but others of them with
guides had set forth to go to the temple at Delphi, keeping Parnassos on their
right hand: and all the parts of Phokis over which
these marched they ravaged; for they set fire to the towns of Panopeus and Daulis and Aiolis. And for this reason they marched in that direction,
parted off from the rest of the army, namely in order that they might plunder
the temple at Delphi and deliver over the treasures there to king Xerxes: and
Xerxes was well acquainted with all that there was in it of any account,
better, I am told, than with the things which he had left in his own house at
home, seeing that many constantly reported of them, and especially of the
votive offerings of Croesus the son of Alyattes.
36. Meanwhile the Delphians, having been informed of this, had been brought to extreme fear; and being in great terror they consulted the Oracle about the sacred things, whether they should bury them in the earth or carry them forth to another land; but the god forbade them to meddle with these, saying that he was able by himself to take care of his own. Hearing this they began to take thought for themselves, and they sent their children and women over to Achaia on the other side of the sea, while most of the men themselves ascended up towards the summits of Parnassos and carried their property to the Corykian cave, while others departed for refuge to Amphissa of the Locrians. In short the Delphians had all left the town excepting sixty men and the prophet of the Oracle. 37. When the
Barbarians had come near and could see the temple, then the prophet, whose name
was Akeratos, saw before the cell arms lying laid out, having been brought forth
out of the sanctuary, which were sacred and on which it was not
permitted to any man to lay hands. He then was going to announce the portent to
those of the Delphians who were still there, but when the Barbarians pressing
onwards came opposite the temple of Athene Pronaia,
there happened to them in addition portents yet greater than that which had
come to pass before: for though that too was a marvel, that arms of war should
appear of themselves laid forth outside the cell, yet this, which happened
straightway after that, is worthy of marvel even beyond all other prodigies.
When the Barbarians in their approach were opposite the temple of Athene Pronaia, at this point of time from the heaven there fell
thunderbolts upon them, and from Parnassos two crags were broken away and
rushed down upon them with a great crashing noise falling upon many of them,
while from the temple of Pronaia there was heard a
shout, and a battle-cry was raised.
38. All these
things having come together, there fell fear upon the Barbarians; and the
Delphians having perceived that they were flying, came down after them and slew
a great number of them; and those who survived fled straight to Boeotia. These
who returned of the Barbarians reported, as I am informed, that in addition to
this which we have said they saw also other miraculous things; for two men
(they said) in full armour and of stature more than
human followed them slaying and pursuing.
39. These two the
Delphians say were the native heroes Phylacos and Autonoös, whose sacred enclosures are about the temple,
that of Phylacos being close by the side of the road
above the temple of Pronaia and that of Autonoös near Castalia under the peak called Hyampeia. Moreover the rocks which fell from Parnassos were
still preserved even to my time, lying in the sacred enclosure of Athene Pronaia, into which they fell when they rushed through the
ranks of the Barbarians. Such departure had these men from the temple.
40. Meanwhile the
fleet of the Hellenes after leaving Artemision put in
to land at Salamis at the request of the Athenians: and for this reason the
Athenians requested them to put in to Salamis, namely in order that they might
remove out of Attica to a place of safety their children and their wives, and
also deliberate what they would have to do; for in their present case they
meant to take counsel afresh, because they had been deceived in their
expectation. For they had thought to find the Peloponnesians in full force
waiting for the Barbarians in Boeotia; they found however nothing of this, but
they were informed on the contrary that the Peloponnesians were fortifying the
Isthmus with a wall, valuing above all things the safety of the Peloponnese and
keeping this in guard; and that they were disposed to let all else go. Being
informed of this, the Athenians therefore made request of them to put in to
Salamis.
41. The others
then put in their ships to land at Salamis, but the Athenians went over to
their own land; and after their coming they made a proclamation that every one
of the Athenians should endeavour to save his
children and household as best he could. So the greater number sent them to Troizen, but others to Egina, and
others to Salamis, and they were urgent to put these out of danger, both
because they desired to obey the oracle and also especially for another reason,
which was this:—the Athenians say that a great serpent lives in the
temple and guards the Acropolis; and they not only say
this, but also they set forth for it monthly
offerings, as if it were really there; and the offering consists of a
honey-cake. This honey-cake, which before used always to be consumed, was at
this time left untouched. When the priestess had signified this, the Athenians
left the city much more and with greater eagerness than before, seeing that the
goddess also had (as they supposed) left the Acropolis. Then when all their
belongings had been removed out of danger, they sailed to the encampment of the
fleet.
42. When those who
came from Artemision had put their ships in to land
at Salamis, the remainder of the naval force of the Hellenes, being informed of
this, came over gradually to join them from Troizen: for they
had been ordered beforehand to assemble at Pogon,
which is the harbour of the Troizenians.
There were assembled accordingly now many more ships than those which were in
the sea-fight at Artemision, and from more cities.
Over the whole was set as admiral the same man as at Artemision,
namely Eurybiades the son of Eurycleides,
a Spartan but not of the royal house; the Athenians however supplied by far the
greatest number of ships and those which sailed the best.
43. The following
were those who joined the muster:—From Peloponnese the Lacedemonians furnishing
sixteen ships, the Corinthians furnishing the same complement as at Artemision, the Sikyonians furnishing fifteen ships, the Epidaurians ten, the Troizenians five, the men of Hermion three, these all, except
the Hermionians, being of Doric and Makednian race and having made their last migration from Erineos and Pindos and the land of Dryopis; but the people of Hermion are Dryopians, driven out by Heracles and the Malians
from the land which is now called Doris.
44. These were the
Peloponnesians who joined the fleet, and those of the mainland outside the
Peloponnese were as follows:—the Athenians, furnishing a number larger than all
the rest, namely one hundred and eighty ships, and serving
alone, since the Plataians did not take part with the
Athenians in the sea-fight at Salamis, because when the Hellenes were departing
from Artemision and come near Chalkis,
the Plataians disembarked on the opposite shore of
Boeotia and proceeded to the removal of their households. So being engaged in
saving these, they had been left behind. As for the Athenians, in the time when
the Pelasgians occupied that which is now called Hellas, they were Pelasgians,
being named Cranaoi, and in the time of king Kecrops they came to be called Kecropidai;
then when Erechtheus had succeeded to his power, they
had their name changed to Athenians; and after Ion the son of Xuthos became commander of the Athenians, they got the name from him of
Ionians.
45. The Megarians
furnished the same complement as at Artermision; the Amprakiots came to the assistance of the rest with seven
ships, and the Leucadians with three, these being by race Dorians from Corinth.
46. Of the
islanders the Eginetans furnished thirty; these had
also other ships manned, but with them they were guarding their own land, while
with the thirty which sailed best they joined in the sea-fight at Salamis. Now
the Eginetans are Dorians from Epidauros,
and their island had formerly the name of Oinone.
After the Eginetans came the Chalkidians with the twenty ships which were at Artemision, and
the Eretrians with their seven: these are Ionians.
Next the Keïans, furnishing the same as before and
being by race Ionians from Athens. The Naxians furnished four ships, they having been sent out by the citizens of their State
to join the Persians, like the other islanders; but neglecting these commands
they had come to the Hellenes, urged thereto by Democritos,
a man of repute among the citizens and at that time commander of a trireme. Now
the Naxians are Ionians coming originally from
Athens. The Styrians furnished the same ships as at Artemision, and the men of Kythnos one ship and one fifty-oared galley, these both being Dryopians.
Also the Seriphians, the Siphnians and the Melians served with the rest; for they alone of the islanders had not
given earth and water to the Barbarian.
47. These all who
have been named dwelt inside the land of the Thesprotians and the river Acheron; for the Thesprotians border
upon the land of the Amprakiots and Leucadians, and
these were they who came from the greatest distance to serve: but of those who
dwell outside these limits the men of Croton were the only people who came to
the assistance of Hellas in her danger; and these sent one ship, of whom the
commander was Phaÿlos, a man who had three times won
victories at the Pythian games. Now the men of Croton are by descent Achaians.
48. All the rest who served in the fleet furnished triremes, but the Melians, Siphnian and Seriphians fifty-oared galleys: the Melians, who are by descent from Lacedemon, furnished two, the Siphnians and Seriphians, who are Ionians from Athens, each one. And the whole number of the ships, apart from the fifty-oared galleys, was three hundred and seventy-eight. 49. When the
commanders had assembled at Salamis from the States which have been mentioned,
they began to deliberate, Eurybiades having proposed
that any one who desired it should declare his
opinion as to where he thought it most convenient to fight a sea-battle in
those regions of which they had command; for Attica had already been let go,
and he was now proposing the question about the other regions. And the opinions
of the speakers for the most part agreed that they should sail to the Isthmus
and there fight a sea-battle in defence of the
Peloponnese, arguing that if they should be defeated in the sea-battle,
supposing them to be at Salamis they would be blockaded in an island, where no
help would come to them, but at the Isthmus they would be able to land where
their own men were.
50. While the
commanders from the Peloponnese argued thus, an Athenian had come in reporting
that the Barbarians were arrived in Attica and that all the land was being laid
waste with fire. For the army which directed its march through Boeotia in
company with Xerxes, after it had burnt the city of the Thespians (the
inhabitants having left it and gone to the Peloponnese) and that of the Plataians likewise, had now come to Athens and was laying
waste everything in those regions. Now he had burnt Thespiai and Plataia because he was informed by the Thebans that these were not taking the side of
the Medes.
51. So in three
months from the crossing of the Hellespont, whence the Barbarians began their
march, after having stayed there one month while they crossed over into Europe,
they had reached Attica, in the year when Calliades was archon of the Athenians. And they took the lower city, which was deserted,
and then they found that there were still a few Athenians left in the temple,
either stewards of the temple or needy persons, who had barred the entrance to
the Acropolis with doors and with a palisade of timber and endeavoured to defend themselves against the attacks of the enemy, being men who had not
gone out to Salamis partly because of their poverty, and also because they
thought that they alone had discovered the meaning of the oracle which the
Pythian prophetess had uttered to them, namely that the "bulwark of
wood" should be impregnable, and supposed that this was in fact the safe
refuge according to the oracle, and not the ships.
52. So the
Persians taking their post upon the rising ground opposite the Acropolis, which
the Athenians call the Hill of Ares, proceeded to besiege them in this fashion, that
is they put tow round about their arrows and lighted it, and then shot them against
the palisade. The Athenians who were besieged continued to defend themselves
nevertheless, although they had come to the extremity of distress and their
palisade had played them false; nor would they accept proposals for surrender,
when the sons of Peisistratos brought them forward:
but endeavouring to defend themselves they contrived
several contrivances against the enemy, and among the rest they rolled down
large stones when the Barbarians approached the gates; so that for a long time
Xerxes was in a difficulty, not being able to capture them.
53. In time
however there appeared for the Barbarians a way of approach after their
difficulties, since by the oracle it was destined that all of Attica which is
on the mainland should come to be under the Persians. Thus then it happened
that on the front side of the Acropolis behind the gates and the way up
to the entrance, in a place where no one was keeping guard, nor would one have
supposed that any man could ascend by this way, here men ascended by the temple
of Aglauros the daughter of Kecrops,
although indeed the place is precipitous: and when the Athenians saw that they
had ascended up to the Acropolis, some of them threw themselves down from the
wall and perished, while others took refuge in the sanctuary of the temple. Then those of the Persians who
had ascended went first to the gates, and after opening these they proceeded to
kill the suppliants; and when all had been slain by them, they plundered the
temple and set fire to the whole of the Acropolis.
54. Then Xerxes,
having fully taken possession of Athens, sent to Susa a mounted messenger to
report to Artabanos the good success which they had.
And on the next day after sending the herald he called together the exiles of
the Athenians who were accompanying him, and bade them go up to the Acropolis
and sacrifice the victims after their own manner; whether it was that he had
seen some vision of a dream which caused him to give this command, or whether
perchance he had a scruple in his mind because he had set fire to the temple.
The Athenian exiles did accordingly that which was commanded them:
55, and the reason
why I made mention of this I will here declare:—there is in this Acropolis a
temple of Erechtheus, who is
said to have been born of the Earth, and in this there is an olive-tree and a
sea, which (according to the story told by the Athenians) Poseidon and Athene,
when they contended for the land, set as witnesses of themselves. Now it
happened to this olive-tree to be set on fire with the rest of the temple by
the Barbarians; and on the next day after the conflagration those of the
Athenians who were commanded by the king to offer sacrifice, saw when they had
gone up to the temple that a shoot had run up from the stock of the tree about
a cubit in length. These then made report of this.
56. The Hellenes
meanwhile at Salamis, when it was announced to them how it had been as regards
the Acropolis of the Athenians, were disturbed so greatly that some of the
commanders did not even wait for the question to be decided which had been
proposed, but began to go hastily to their ships and to put up their sails,
meaning to make off with speed; and by those of them who remained behind it was
finally decided to fight at sea in defence of the
Isthmus. So night came on, and they having been dismissed from the council were
going to their ships:
57, and when
Themistocles had come to his ship, Mnesiphilos an
Athenian asked him what they had resolved; and being informed by him that it
had been determined to take out the ships to the Isthmus and fight a battle by
sea in defence of the Peloponnese, he said:
"Then, if they set sail with the ships from Salamis, thou wilt not fight
any more sea-battles at all for the fatherland, for they will all take their
way to their several cities and neither Eurybiades nor any other man will be able to detain them or to prevent the fleet from
being dispersed: and Hellas will perish by reason of evil counsels. But if
there by any means, go thou and try to unsettle that which has been resolved,
if perchance thou mayest persuade Eurybiades to
change his plans, so as to stay here."
58. This advice
very much commended itself to Themistocles; and without making any answer he
went to the ship of Eurybiades. Having come thither
he said that he desired to communicate to him a matter which concerned the
common good; and Eurybiades bade him come into his
ship and speak, if he desired to say anything. Then Themistocles sitting down
beside him repeated to him all those things which he had heard Mnesiphilos say, making as if they were his own thoughts,
and adding to them many others; until at last by urgent request he persuaded
him to come out of his ship and gather the commanders to the council.
59. So when they
were gathered together, before Eurybiades proposed
the discussion of the things for which he had assembled the commanders,
Themistocles spoke with much vehemence being very eager to gain his end; and as he was
speaking, the Corinthian commander, Adeimantos the
son of Okytos, said: "Themistocles, at the games
those who stand forth for the contest before the due time are beaten with
rods." He justifying himself said: "Yes, but those who remain behind
are not crowned."
60. At that time
he made answer mildly to the Corinthian; and to Eurybiades he said not now any of those things which he had said before, to the effect
that if they should set sail from Salamis they would disperse in different
directions; for it was not seemly for him to bring charges against the allies
in their presence: but he held to another way of reasoning, saying: "Now
it is in thy power to save Hellas, if thou wilt follow my advice, which is to
stay here and here to fight a sea-battle, and if thou wilt not follow the
advice of those among these men who bid thee remove the ships to the Isthmus.
For hear both ways, and then set them in comparison. If thou engage battle at
the Isthmus, thou wilt fight in an open sea, into which it is by no means
convenient for us that we go to fight, seeing that we have ships which are
heavier and fewer in number than those of the enemy. Then secondly thou wilt
give up to destruction Salamis and Megara and Egina,
even if we have success in all else; for with their fleet will come also the
land-army, and thus thou wilt thyself lead them to the Peloponnese and wilt
risk the safety of all Hellas. If however thou shalt do as I say, thou wilt
find therein all the advantages which I shall tell thee of:—in the first place
by engaging in a narrow place with few ships against many, if the fighting has
that issue which it is reasonable to expect, we shall have very much the
better; for to fight a sea-fight in a narrow space is for our advantage, but to
fight in a wide open space is for theirs. Then again Salamis will be preserved,
whither our children and our wives have been removed for safety; and moreover
there is this also secured thereby, to which ye are most of all attached,
namely that by remaining here thou wilt fight in defence of the Peloponnese as much as if the fight were at the Isthmus; and thou wilt
not lead the enemy to Peloponnese, if thou art wise. Then if that which I
expect come to pass and we gain a victory with our ships, the Barbarians will
not come to you at the Isthmus nor will they advance further than Attica, but
they will retire in disorder; and we shall be the gainers by the preservation
of Megara and Egina and Salamis, at which place too
an oracle tells us that we shall get the victory over our enemies. Now when men take counsel reasonably for
themselves, reasonable issues are wont as a rule to come, but if they do not
take counsel reasonably, then God is not wont generally to attach himself to
the judgment of men."
61. When
Themistocles thus spoke, the Corinthian Adeimantos inveighed against him for the second time, bidding him to be silent because he
had no native land, and urging Eurybiades not to put
to the vote the proposal of one who was a citizen of no city; for he said that
Themistocles might bring opinions before the council if he could show a city
belonging to him, but otherwise not. This objection he made against him because
Athens had been taken and was held by the enemy. Then Themistocles said many
evil things of him and of the Corinthians both, and declared also that he
himself and his countrymen had in truth a city and a land larger than that of
the Corinthians, so long as they had two hundred ships fully manned; for none
of the Hellenes would be able to repel the Athenians if they came to fight
against them.
62. Signifying
this he turned then to Eurybiades and spoke yet more
urgently: "If thou wilt remain here, and remaining here wilt show thyself
a good man, well; but if not, thou wilt bring about the overthrow of Hellas,
for upon the ships depends all our power in the war. Nay, but do as I advise.
If, however, thou shalt not do so, we shall forthwith take up our households
and voyage to Siris in Italy, which is ours already of old and the oracles say
that it is destined to be colonised by us; and ye,
when ye are left alone and deprived of allies such as we are, will remember my
words."
63. When
Themistocles thus spoke, Eurybiades was persuaded to
change his mind; and, as I think, he changed his mind chiefly from fear lest
the Athenians should depart and leave them, if he should take the ships to the
Isthmus; for if the Athenians left them and departed, the rest would be no
longer able to fight with the enemy. He chose then this counsel, to stay in
that place and decide matters there by a sea-fight.
64. Thus those at
Salamis, after having skirmished with one another in speech, were making
preparations for a sea-fight there, since Eurybiades had so determined: and as day was coming on, at the same time when the sun rose
there was an earthquake felt both on the land and on the sea: and they
determined to pray to the gods and to call upon the sons of Aiacos to be their helpers. And as they had determined, so also they did; for when
they had prayed to all the gods, they called Ajax and Telamon to their help
from Salamis, where the fleet was, and sent a ship to Egina to bring Aiacos himself and the rest of the sons of Aiacos.
65. Moreover Dicaios the son of Theokydes, an
Athenian, who was an exile and had become of great repute among the Medes at
this time, declared that when the Attic land was being ravaged by the land-army
of Xerxes, having been deserted by the Athenians, he happened then to be in
company with Demaratos the Lacedemonian in the Thriasian plain; and he saw a cloud of dust going up from
Eleusis, as if made by a company of about thirty thousand men, and they wondered
at the cloud of dust, by what men it was caused. Then forthwith they heard a
sound of voices, and Dicaios perceived that the sound
was the mystic cry Iacchos; but Demaratos, having no knowledge of the sacred rites which
are done at Eleusis, asked him what this was that uttered the sound, and he
said: "Demaratos, it cannot be but that some
great destruction is about to come to the army of the king: for as to this, it
is very manifest, seeing that Attica is deserted, that this which utters the
sound is of the gods, and that it is going from Eleusis to help the Athenians
and their allies: if then it shall come down in the Peloponnese, there is
danger for the king himself and for the army which is upon the mainland, but if
it shall direct its course towards the ships which are at Salamis, the king
will be in danger of losing his fleet. This feast the Athenians celebrate every
year to the Mother and the Daughter; and he that desires it, both of them and of the
other Hellenes, is initiated in the mysteries; and the sound of voices which
thou hearest is the cry Iacchos which
they utter at this feast." To this Demaratos said: "Keep silence and tell not this tale to any other man; for if these
words of thine be reported to the king, thou wilt surely lose thy head, and
neither I nor any other man upon earth will be able to save thee: but keep thou
quiet, and about this expedition the gods will provide." He then thus advised,
and after the cloud of dust and the sound of voices there came a mist which was
borne aloft and carried towards Salamis to the camp of the Hellenes: and thus
they learnt (said he) that the fleet of Xerxes was destined to be destroyed.
Such was the report made by Dicaios the son of Theodykes, appealing to Demaratos and others also as witnesses.
66. Meanwhile
those who were appointed to serve in the fleet of Xerxes, having gazed in Trachis upon the disaster of the Lacedemonians and having
passed over from thence to Histiaia, after staying
three days sailed through Euripos, and in other three
days they had reached Phaleron. And, as I suppose,
they made their attack upon Athens not fewer in number both by land and sea
than when they had arrived at Sepias and at Thermopylai:
for against those of them who perished by reason of the storm and those who
were slain at Thermopylai and in the sea-fights at Artemision, I will set those who at that time were not yet
accompanying the king, the Malians, Dorians, Locrians, and Boeotians (who
accompanied him in a body, except the Thespians and Plataians),
and moreover those of Carystos, Andros, and Tenos,
with all the other islanders except the five cities of which I mentioned the
names before; for the more the Persian advanced towards the centre of Hellas, the more nations accompanied him.
67. So then, when
all these had come to Athens except the Parians (now the Parians had remained
behind at Kythnos waiting to see how the war would
turn out),—when all the rest, I say, had come to Phaleron,
then Xerxes himself came down to the ships desiring to visit them and to learn
the opinions of those who sailed in them: and when he had come and was set in a
conspicuous place, then those who were despots of their own nations or
commanders of divisions being sent for came before him from their ships, and
took their seats as the king had assigned rank to each one, first the king of
Sidon, then he of Tyre, and after them the rest: and when they were seated in
due order, Xerxes sent Mardonios and inquired, making
trial of each one, whether he should fight a battle by sea.
68. So when Mardonios went round asking them, beginning with the king
of Sidon, the others gave their opinions all to the same effect, advising him
to fight a battle by sea, but Artemisia spoke these words:—(a) "Tell the
king I pray thee, Mardonios, that I, who have proved
myself not to be the worst in the sea-fights which have been fought near
Euboea, and have displayed deeds not inferior to those of others, speak to him
thus: Master, it is right that I set forth the opinion which I really have, and
say that which I happen to think best for thy cause: and this I say,—spare thy
ships and do not make a sea-fight; for the men are as much stronger than thy
men by sea, as men are stronger than women. And why must thou needs run the
risk of sea-battles? Hast thou not Athens in thy possession, for the sake of
which thou didst set forth on thy march, and also the rest of Hellas? and no
man stands in thy way to resist, but those who did stand against thee came off
as it was fitting that they should. (b) Now the manner in which I think the
affairs of thy adversaries will have their issue, I will declare. If thou do
not hasten to make a sea-fight, but keep thy ships here by the land, either
remaining here thyself or even advancing on to the Peloponnese, that which thou
hast come to do, O master, will easily be effected; for the Hellenes are not
able to hold out against thee for any long time, but thou wilt soon disperse
them and they will take flight to their several cities: since neither have they
provisions with them in this island, as I am informed, nor is it probable that
if thou shalt march thy land-army against the Peloponnese, they who have come
from thence will remain still; for these will have no care to fight a battle in defence of Athens. (c) If however thou hasten to
fight forthwith, I fear that damage done to the fleet may ruin the land-army
also. Moreover, O king, consider also this, that the servants of good men are
apt to grow bad, but those of bad men good; and thou, who art of all men the best,
hast bad servants, namely those who are reckoned as allies, Egyptians and
Cyprians and Kilikians and Pamphylians,
in whom there is no profit."
69. When she thus
spoke to Mardonios, those who were friendly to
Artemisia were grieved at her words, supposing that she would suffer some evil
from the king because she urged him not to fight at sea; while those who had
envy and jealousy of her, because she had been honoured above all the allies, were rejoiced at the opposition, supposing that she would now be ruined. When
however the opinions were reported to Xerxes, he was greatly pleased with the
opinion of Artemisia; and whereas even before this he thought her excellent, he
commended her now yet more. Nevertheless he gave orders to follow the advice of
the greater number, thinking that when they fought by Euboea they were
purposely slack, because he was not himself present with them, whereas now he
had made himself ready to look on while they fought a sea-battle.
70. So when they
passed the word to put out to sea, they brought their ships out to Salamis and
quietly ranged themselves along the shore in their several positions. At that
time the daylight was not sufficient for them to engage battle, for night had
come on; but they made their preparations to fight on the following day.
Meanwhile the Hellenes were possessed by fear and dismay, especially those who
were from Peloponnese: and these were dismayed because remaining in Salamis
they were to fight a battle on behalf of the land of the Athenians, and being
defeated they would be cut off from escape and blockaded in an island, leaving
their own land unguarded. And indeed the land-army of the Barbarians was
marching forward during that very night towards the Peloponnese.
71. Yet every
means had been taken that the Barbarians might not be able to enter
Peloponnesus by land: for as soon as the Peloponnesians heard that Leonidas and
his company had perished at Thermopylai, they came
together quickly from the cities and took post at the Isthmus, and over them
was set as commander Cleombrotos, the son of Anaxandrides and brother of Leonidas. These being posted at
the Isthmus had destroyed the Skironian way, and
after this (having so determined in counsel with one another) they began to
build a wall across the Isthmus; and as they were many myriads and every man joined in the work, the work proceeded
fast; for stones and bricks and pieces of timber and baskets full of sand were
carried to it continually, and they who had thus come to help paused not at all
in their work either by night or by day.
72. Now those of
the Hellenes who came in full force to the Isthmus to help their country were
these,—the Lacedemonians, the Arcadians of every division, the Eleians, Corinthians, Sikyonians, Epidaurians, Phliasians, Troizenians and Hermionians.
These were they who came to the help of Hellas in her danger and who had
apprehension for her, while the rest of the Peloponnesians showed no care: and
the Olympic and Carneian festivals had by this time
gone by.
73. Now
Peloponnesus is inhabited by seven races; and of these, two are natives of the
soil and are settled now in the place where they dwelt of old, namely the
Arcadians and the Kynurians; and one race, that of
the Achaians, though it did not remove from the
Peloponnese, yet removed in former time from its own land and dwells now in
that which was not its own. The remaining races, four in number, have come in
from without, namely the Dorians, Aitolians, Dryopians and Lemnians. Of the
Dorians there are many cities and of great renown; of the Aitolians,
Elis alone; of the Dryopians, Hermion and Asine, which
latter is opposite Cardamyle in the Laconian land;
and of the Lemnians, all the Paroreatai.
The Kynurians, who are natives of the soil, seem
alone to be Ionians, but they have become Dorians completely because they are
subject to the Argives and by lapse of time, being originally citizens of Orneai or the dwellers in the country round Orneai. Of these seven nations the remaining cities,
except those which I enumerated just now, stood aside and did nothing; and if
one may be allowed to speak freely, in thus standing aside they were in fact
taking the side of the Medes.
74. Those at the
Isthmus were struggling with the labour which I have
said, since now they were running a course in which their very being was at
stake, and they did not look to have any brilliant success with their ships:
while those who were at Salamis, though informed of this work, were yet
dismayed, not fearing so much for themselves as for Peloponnesus. For some time
then they spoke of it in private, one man standing by another, and they marvelled at the ill-counsel of Eurybiades;
but at last it broke out publicly. A meeting accordingly was held, and much was
spoken about the same points as before, some saying that they ought to sail
away to Peloponnesus and run the risk in defence of
that, and not stay and fight for a land which had been captured by the enemy,
while the Athenians, Eginetans and Megarians urged
that they should stay there and defend themselves.
75. Then
Themistocles, when his opinion was like to be defeated by the Peloponnesians,
secretly went forth from the assembly, and having gone out he sent a man to the
encampment of the Medes in a boat, charging him with that which he must say:
this man's name was Sikinnos, and he was a servant of
Themistocles and tutor to his children; and after these events Themistocles
entered him as a Thespian citizen, when the Thespians were admitting new
citizens, and made him a wealthy man. He at this time came with a boat and said
to the commanders of the Barbarians these words: "The commander of the
Athenians sent me privately without the knowledge of the other Hellenes (for,
as it chances, he is disposed to the cause of the king, and desires rather that
your side should gain the victory than that of the Hellenes), to inform you
that the Hellenes are planning to take flight, having been struck with dismay;
and now it is possible for you to execute a most noble work, if ye do not
permit them to flee away: for they are not of one mind with one another and
they will not stand against you in fight, but ye shall see them fighting a
battle by sea with one another, those who are disposed to your side against
those who are not."
76. He then having
signified to them this, departed out of the way; and they, thinking that the
message deserved credit, landed first a large number of Persians in the small
island of Psyttaleia, which lies between Salamis and
the mainland; and then, as midnight came on, they put out the Western wing of
their fleet to sea, circling round towards Salamis, and also those stationed
about Keos and Kynosura put out their ships to sea;
and they occupied all the passage with their ships as far as Munychia. And for this reason they put out their ships,
namely in order that the Hellenes might not even be permitted to get away, but
being cut off in Salamis might pay the penalty for the contests at Artemision: and they disembarked men of the Persians on the
small island called Psyttaleia for this reason,
namely that when the fight should take place, these might save the men of one
side and destroy those of the other, since there especially it was likely that
the men and the wrecks of ships would be cast up on shore, for the island lay
in the way of the sea-fight which was to be. These things they did in silence,
that the enemy might not have information of them.
77. They then were
making their preparations thus in the night without having taken any sleep at
all: and with regard to oracles, I am not able to make objections against them
that they are not true, for I do not desire to attempt to overthrow the credit
of them when they speak clearly, looking at such matters as these which here
follow:
"But
when with ships they shall join the sacred strand of the goddess,
Artemis
golden-sword-girded, and thee, wave-washed Kynosura,
Urged by
a maddening hope, having given rich Athens to plunder,
Then shall Justice divine quell Riot, of Insolence first-born, Longing
to overthrow all things and terribly panting for bloodhshed:
Brass
shall encounter with brass, and Ares the sea shall empurple,
Tinging
its waves with the blood: then a day of freedom for Hellas
Cometh from wide-seeing Zeus and from Victory, lady and mother." Looking to such
things as this, and when Bakis speaks so clearly, I
do not venture myself to make any objections about oracles, nor can I admit
them from others.
78. Now between
the commanders that were at Salamis there came to be great contention of speech
and they did not yet know that the Barbarians were surrounding them with their
ships, but they thought that they were still in their place as they saw them
disposed in the day.
79. Then while the
commanders were engaged in strife, there came over from Egina Aristeides the son of Lysimachos,
an Athenian who had been ostracised by the people, a
man whom I hold (according to that which I hear of his character) to have been
the best and most upright of all Athenians. This man came into the council and
called forth Themistocles, who was to him not a friend, but an enemy to the
last degree; but because of the greatness of the present troubles he let those
matters be forgotten and called him forth, desiring to communicate with him.
Now he had heard beforehand that the Peloponnesians were pressing to take the
ships away to the Isthmus. So when Themistocles came forth to him, Aristeides spoke these words: "Both at other times
when occasion arises, and also especially at this time we ought to carry on
rivalry as to which of us shall do more service to our country. And I tell thee
now that it is indifferent whether the Peloponnesians say many words or few
about sailing away from hence; for having been myself an eye-witness I tell
thee that now not even if the Corinthians and Eurybiades himself desire to sail out, will they be able; for we are encompassed round by
the enemy. Go thou in then, and signify this to them."
80. He made answer
as follows: "Thou advisest very well, and also the news which thou hast brought is
good, since thou art come having witnessed with thine own eyes that which I
desired might come to pass: for know that this which is being done by the Medes
is of my suggestion; because, when the Hellenes would not come to a battle of
their own will, it was necessary to bring them over to us against their will.
Do thou however, since thou art come bearing good news, thyself report it to
them; for if I say these things, I shall be thought to speak that which I have
myself invented, and I shall not persuade them, but they will think that the
Barbarians are not doing so. Do thou thyself however come forward to speak, and
declare to them how things are; and when thou hast declared this, if they are
persuaded, that will be the best thing, but if this is not credible to them, it
will be the same thing so far as concerns us, for they will no longer be able
to take to flight, if we are encompassed on all sides, as thou sayest."
81. Aristeides accordingly came forward and told them this,
saying that he had come from Egina and had with
difficulty escaped without being perceived by those who were blockading them;
for the whole encampment of the Hellenes was encompassed by the ships of
Xerxes; and he counselled them to get ready to defend themselves. He then
having thus spoken retired, and among them again there arose dispute, for the
greater number of the commanders did not believe that which was reported to
them:
82. and while
these were doubting, there came a trireme manned by Tenians,
deserting from the enemy, of which the commander was Panaitios the son of Sosimenes, which brought them the whole
truth. For this deed the Tenians were inscribed at
Delphi on the tripod among those who had conquered the Barbarians. With the
ship which deserted at Salamis and the Lemnian ship
which deserted before and came to Artemision, the
naval force of the Hellenes was completed to the number of three hundred and
eighty ships, for before this two ships were yet wanting to make up this
number.
83. The Hellenes
then, since they believed that which was said by the Tenians,
were preparing for a sea-fight: and as the dawn appeared, they made an assembly
of those who fought on board the ships and addressed them, Themistocles making a speech
which was eloquent beyond the rest; and the substance of it was to set forth
all that is better as opposed to that which is worse, of the several things
which arise in the nature and constitution of man; and having exhorted them to
choose the better, and thus having wound up his speech, he bade
them embark in their ships. These then proceeded to embark, and there came in
meanwhile the trireme from Egina which had gone away
to bring the sons of Aiacos.
84. Then the
Hellenes put out all their ships, and while they were putting out from shore,
the Barbarians attacked them forthwith. Now the other Hellenes began backing
their ships and were about to run them aground, but Ameinias of Pallene, an Athenian, put forth with his ship and charged one of the enemy;
and his ship being entangled in combat and the men not being able to get away,
the others joined in the fight to assist Ameinias.
The Athenians say that the beginning of the battle was made thus, but the Eginetans say that the ship which went away to Egina to bring the sons of Aiacos was that which began the fight. It is also reported that an apparition of a
woman was seen by them, and that having appeared she encouraged them to the
fight so that the whole of the army of the Hellenes heard it, first having
reproached them in these words: "Madmen, how far will ye yet back your ships?"
85. Opposite the
Athenians had been ranged the Phenicians, for these occupied the wing towards
Eleusis and the West, and opposite the Lacedemonians were the Ionians, who
occupied the wing which extended to the East and to Piræus.
Of them however a few were purposely slack in the fight according to the
injunctions of Themistocles, but the greater number were not so. I might
mention now the names of many captains of ships who destroyed ships of the
Hellenes, but I will make no use of their names except in the case of Theomestor, the son of Androdamas and Phylacos the son of Histiaios,
of Samos both: and for this reason I make mention of these and not of the rest,
because Theomestor on account of this deed became
despot of Samos, appointed by the Persians, and Phylacos was recorded as a benefactor of the king and received much land as a reward.
Now the benefactors of the king are called in the Persian tongue orosangai.
86. Thus it was
with these; but the greater number of their ships were disabled at Salamis,
being destroyed some by the Athenians and others by the Eginetans:
for since the Hellenes fought in order and ranged in their places, while the
Barbarians were no longer ranged in order nor did anything with design, it was
likely that there would be some such result as in fact followed. Yet on this
day they surpassed themselves much more than when they fought by Euboea, every
one being eager and fearing Xerxes, and each man thinking that the king was
looking especially at him.
87. As regards the
rest I cannot speak of them separately, or say precisely how the Barbarians or
the Hellenes individually contended in the fight; but with regard to Artemisia
that which happened was this, whence she gained yet more esteem than before
from the king.—When the affairs of the king had come to great confusion, at
this crisis a ship of Artemisia was being pursued by an Athenian ship; and as
she was not able to escape, for in front of her were other ships of her own
side, while her ship, as it chanced, was furthest advanced towards the enemy,
she resolved what she would do, and it proved also much to her advantage to
have done so. While she was being pursued by the Athenian ship she charged with
full career against a ship of her own side manned by Calyndians and in which the king of the Calyndians Damasithymos was embarked. Now, even though it be true that
she had had some strife with him before, while they were still about the
Hellespont, yet I am not able to say whether she did this by intention, or
whether the Calyndian ship happened by chance to fall
in her way. Having charged against it however and sunk it, she enjoyed good
fortune and got for herself good in two ways; for first the captain of the
Athenian ship, when he saw her charge against a ship manned by Barbarians,
turned away and went after others, supposing that the ship of Artemisia was
either a Hellenic ship or was deserting from the Barbarians and fighting for
the Hellenes,
88,—first, I say,
it was her fortune to have this, namely to escape and not suffer destruction;
and then secondly it happened that though she had done mischief, she yet gained
great reputation by this thing with Xerxes. For it is said that the king
looking on at the fight perceived that her ship had charged the other; and one
of those present said: "Master, dost thou see Artemisia, how well she is
fighting, and how she sank even now a ship of the enemy?" He asked whether
this was in truth the deed of Artemisia, and they said that it was; for (they
declared) they knew very well the sign of her ship: and that which was
destroyed they thought surely was one of the enemy; for besides other things
which happened fortunately for her, as I have said, there was this also, namely
that not one of the crew of the Calyndian ship
survived to become her accuser. And Xerxes in answer to that which was said to
him is reported to have uttered these words: "My men have become women,
and my women men." Thus it is said that Xerxes spoke.
89. And meanwhile
in this struggle there was slain the commander Ariabignes,
son of Dareios and brother of Xerxes, and there were
slain too many others of note of the Persians and Medes and also of the allies;
and of the Hellenes on their part a few; for since they knew how to swim, those
whose ships were destroyed and who were not slain in hand-to-hand conflict swam
over to Salamis; but of the Barbarians the greater number perished in the sea,
not being able to swim. And when the first ships turned to flight, then it was
that the largest number perished, for those who were stationed behind, while endeavouring to pass with their ships to the front in order
that they also might display some deed of valour for
the king to see, ran into the ships of their own side as they fled.
90. It happened
also in the course of this confusion that some of the Phenicians, whose ships
had been destroyed, came to the king and accused the Ionians, saying that by
means of them their ships had been lost, and that they had been traitors to the
cause. Now it so came about that not only the commanders of the Ionians did not
lose their lives, but the Phenicians who accused them received a reward such as
I shall tell. While these men were yet speaking thus, a Samothrakian ship charged against an Athenian ship: and as the Athenian ship was being sunk
by it, an Eginetan ship came up against the Samothrakian vessel and ran it down. Then the Samothrakians, being skilful javelin-throwers, by hurling cleared off the fighting-men from the ship which
had wrecked theirs and then embarked upon it and took possession of it. This
event saved the Ionians from punishment; for when Xerxes saw that they had
performed a great exploit, he turned to the Phenicians (for he was exceedingly
vexed and disposed to find fault with all) and bade cut off their heads, in
order that they might not, after having been cowards themselves, accuse others
who were better men than they. For whensoever Xerxes (sitting just under the
mountain opposite Salamis, which is called Aigaleos)
saw any one of his own side display a deed of valour in the sea-fight, he inquired about him who had done it, and the scribes
recorded the name of the ship's captain with that of his father and the city
from whence he came. Moreover also Ariaramnes, a
Persian who was present, shared the fate of the Phenicians, being their friend.
They then proceeded to deal with the Phenicians.
91. In the
meantime, as the Barbarians turned to flight and were sailing out towards Phaleron, the Eginetans waited
for them in the passage and displayed memorable actions: for while the
Athenians in the confused tumult were disabling both those ships which resisted
and those which were fleeing, the Eginetans were
destroying those which attempted to sail away; and whenever any escaped the
Athenians, they went in full course and fell among the Eginetans.
92. Then there met
one another the ship of Themistocles, which was pursuing a ship of the enemy,
and that of Polycritos the son of Crios the Eginetan. This last had charged against a ship of
Sidon, the same that had taken the Eginetan vessel
which was keeping watch in advance at Skiathos, and in which sailed Pytheas the son of Ischenoös, whom the Persians kept in their
ship, all cut to pieces as he was, making a marvel of his valour.
The Sidonian ship then was captured bearing with it this man as well as the
Persians of whom I spoke, so that Pytheas thus came
safe to Egina. Now when Polycritos looked at the Athenian vessel he recognised when he
saw it the sign of the admiral's ship, and shouting out he addressed
Themistocles with mockery about the accusation brought against the Eginetans of taking the side of the Medes, and reproached him. This taunt Polycritos threw out against Themistocles after he had
charged against the ship of Sidon. And meanwhile those Barbarians whose ships
had escaped destruction fled and came to Phaleron to
be under cover of the land-army.
93. In this
sea-fight the Eginetans were of all the Hellenes the
best reported of, and next to them the Athenians; and of the individual men the Eginetan Polycritos and the
Athenians Eumenes of Anagyrus and Ameinias of Pallene, the man who had pursued after Artemisia. Now if he had known that
Artemisia was sailing in this ship, he would not have ceased until either he
had taken her or had been taken himself; for orders had been given to the
Athenian captains, and moreover a prize was offered of ten thousand drachmas
for the man who should take her alive; since they thought it intolerable that a
woman should make an expedition against Athens. She then, as has been said
before, had made her escape; and the others also, whose ships had escaped
destruction, were at Phaleron.
94. As regards Adeimantos the commander of the Corinthians, the Athenians
say that forthwith at the beginning when the ships were engaging in the fight,
being struck with panic and terror he put up his sails and fled away; and the
Corinthians, when they saw the admiral's ship fleeing, departed likewise: and
after this, as the story goes, when they came in their flight opposite to the
temple of Athene Skiras in the land of Salamis, there
fell in with them by divine guidance a light vessel, which no one was ever found to have sent, and
which approached the Corinthians at a time when they knew nothing of that which
was happening with the fleet. And by this it is conjectured that the matter was of the Deity; for when they
came near to the ships, the men in the light vessel said these words: "Adeimantos, thou hast turned thy ships away and hast set
forth to flee, deserting the cause of the Hellenes, while they are in truth
gaining a victory and getting the better of their foes as much as they
desired." When they said this, since Adeimantos doubted of it, they spoke a second time and said that they might be taken as
hostages and slain, if the Hellenes should prove not to be gaining the victory.
Then he turned his ship back, he and the others with him, and they reached the
camp when the work was finished. Such is the report spread by the Athenians
against these: the Corinthians however do not allow this to be so, but hold
that they were among the first in the sea-fight; and the rest of Hellas also
bears witness on their side.
95. Aristeides moreover the son of Lysimachos,
the Athenian, of whom I made mention also shortly before this as a very good
man, he in this tumult which had arisen about Salamis did as follows:—taking
with him a number of the hoplites of Athenian race who had been ranged along
the shore of the land of Salamis, with them he disembarked on the island of Psyttaleia; and these slew all the Persians who were in
this islet.
96. When the
sea-fight had been broken off, the Hellenes towed in to Salamis so many of the
wrecks as chanced to be still about there, and held themselves ready for
another sea-fight, expecting that the king would yet make use of the ships
which remained unhurt; but many of the wrecks were taken by the West Wind and
borne to that strand in Attica which is called Colias;
so as to fulfil not only all that other oracle which was spoken
about this sea-fight by Bakis and Musaios,
but also especially, with reference to the wrecks cast up here, that which had
been spoken in an oracle many years before these events by Lysistratos,
an Athenian who uttered oracles, and which had not been observed by any of the
Hellenes:
"Then shall the Colian women with firewood of oars roast barley."
This was destined
to come to pass after the king had marched away.
97. When Xerxes
perceived the disaster which had come upon him, he feared lest some one of the
Ionians should suggest to the Hellenes, or they should themselves form the idea,
to sail to the Hellespont and break up the bridges; and so he might be cut off
in Europe and run the risk of perishing utterly: therefore he began to consider
about taking flight. He desired however that his intention should not be
perceived either by the Hellenes or by those of his own side; therefore he
attempted to construct a mole going across to Salamis, and he bound together
Phenician merchant vessels in order that they might serve him both for a bridge
and a wall, and made preparations for fighting as if he were going to have
another battle by sea. Seeing him do so, all the rest made sure that he had got
himself ready in earnest and intended to stay and fight; but Mardonios did not fail to perceive the true meaning of all
these things, being by experience very well versed in his way of thinking.
98. While Xerxes
was doing thus, he sent a messenger to the Persians, to announce the calamity
which had come upon them. Now there is nothing mortal which accomplishes a
journey with more speed than these messengers, so skilfully has this been invented by the Persians: for they say that according to the
number of days of which the entire journey consists, so many horses and men are
set at intervals, each man and horse appointed for a day's journey. These neither
snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness of night prevents from accomplishing each
one the task proposed to him, with the very utmost speed. The first then rides
and delivers the message with which he is charged to the second, and the second
to the third; and after that it goes through them handed from one to the
other, as in the torch-race among the Hellenes, which
they perform for Hephaistos. This kind of running of their horses the Persians
call angareion.
99. The first
message then which came to Susa, announcing that Xerxes had Athens in his
possession, so greatly rejoiced the Persians who had been left behind, that
they strewed all the ways with myrtle boughs and offered incense perpetually,
and themselves continued in sacrifices and feasting. The second message
however, which came to them after this, so greatly disturbed them that they all
tore their garments and gave themselves up to crying and lamentation without stint,
laying the blame upon Mardonios: and this the
Persians did not so much because they were grieved about the ships, as because
they feared for Xerxes himself.
100. As regards
the Persians this went on for all the time which intervened, until the coming of
Xerxes himself caused them to cease: and Mardonios seeing that Xerxes was greatly troubled by reason of the sea-fight, and
suspecting that he was meaning to take flight from Athens, considered with
regard to himself that he would have to suffer punishment for having persuaded
the king to make an expedition against Hellas, and that it was better for him
to run the risk of either subduing Hellas or ending his own life honourably, placing his safety in suspense for a great
end, though his opinion was rather that he would
subdue Hellas;—he reckoned up these things, I say, and addressed his speech to
the king as follows: "Master, be not thou grieved, nor feel great trouble on
account of this thing which has come to pass; for it is not upon a contest of
timbers that all our fortunes depend, but of men and of horses: and none of
these who suppose now that all has been achieved by them will attempt to
disembark from the ships and stand against thee, nor will any in this mainland
do so; but those who did stand against us paid the penalty. If therefore thou thinkest this good to do, let us forthwith attempt the
Peloponnese, or if thou thinkest good to hold back,
we may do that. Do not despond however, for there is no way of escape for the
Hellenes to avoid being thy slaves, after they have first given an account of
that which they did to thee both now and at former times. Thus it were best to
do; but if thou hast indeed resolved to retire thyself and to withdraw thy
army, I have another counsel to offer for that case too. Do not thou, O king,
let the Persians be an object of laughter to the Hellenes; for none of thy
affairs have suffered by means of the Persians, nor wilt thou be able to
mention any place where we proved ourselves cowards: but if Phenicians or
Egyptians or Cyprians or Kilikians proved themselves
cowards, the calamity which followed does not belong to the Persians in any
way. Now therefore, since it is not the Persians who are guilty towards thee,
follow my counsel. If thou hast determined not to remain here, retire thou to
thine own abode, taking with thee the main body of the army, and it must then
be for me to deliver over to thee Hellas reduced to subjection, choosing for
this purpose thirty myriads from the army."
101. Hearing this
Xerxes was rejoiced and delighted so far as he might be after his
misfortunes, and to Mardonios he
said that when he had taken counsel he would reply and say which of these two
things he would do. So when he was taking counsel with those of the Persians
who were called to be his advisers, it seemed good to him to send for Artemisia also
to give him counsel, because at the former time she alone had showed herself to
have perception of that which ought to be done. So when Artemisia had come,
Xerxes removed from him all the rest, both the Persian councillors and also the spearmen of the guard and spoke to her thus: "Mardonios bids me stay here and make an attempt on the
Peloponnese, saying that the Persians and the land-army are not guilty of any
share in my calamity, and that they would gladly give me proof of this. He bids
me therefore either do this or, if not, he desires himself to choose thirty
myriads from the army and to deliver over to me Hellas reduced to subjection; and he bids me withdraw with the rest of the army
to my own abode. Do thou therefore, as thou didst well advise about the
sea-fight which was fought, urging that we should not bring it on, so also now
advise me which of these things I shall do, that I may succeed in determining
well."
102. He thus
consulted her, and she spoke these words: "O king, it is hard for me to
succeed in saying the best things when one asks me for counsel; yet it seems
good to me at the present that thou shouldest retire back and leave Mardonios here, if he desires it and undertakes to do this,
together with those whom he desires to have: for on the one hand if he subdue
those whom he says that he desires to subdue, and if those matters succeed well
which he has in mind when he thus speaks, the deed will after all be thine,
master, seeing that thy slaves achieved it: and on the other hand if the
opposite shall come to pass of that which Mardonios intends, it will be no great misfortune, seeing that thou wilt thyself remain
safe, and also the power in those parts which concerns thy house: for if thou shalt remain safe with thy house,
many contests many times over repeated will the Hellenes have to pass through
for their own existence. Of Mardonios however,
if he suffer any disaster, no account will be made; and if the Hellenes conquer
they gain a victory which is no victory, having destroyed one who is but thy
slave. Thou however wilt retire having done that for which thou didst make thy
march, that is to say, having delivered Athens to the fire."
103. With this
advice Xerxes was greatly delighted, since she succeeded in saying that very
thing which he himself was meaning to do: for not even if all the men and all
the women in the world had been counselling him to remain, would he have done
so, as I think, so much had he been struck with terror. He commended Artemisia
therefore and sent her away to conduct his sons to Ephesos,
for there were certain bastard sons of his which accompanied him.
104. With these
sons he sent Hermotimos to have charge of them, who
was by race of Pedasa and was in the estimation of
the king second to none of the eunuchs. [Now the Pedasians dwell above Halicarnassos, and at this Pedasa a thing happens as follows:—whenever to the whole
number of those who dwell about this city some trouble is about to come within
a certain time, then the priestess of Athene in that place gets a long beard;
and this has happened to them twice before now.
105. Of these Pedasians was Hermotimos. And this man of all persons whom we know up to
this time obtained the greatest revenge for a wrong done to him. For he had
been captured by enemies and was being sold, and Panionios a man of Chios
bought him, one who had set himself to gain his livelihood by the most impious
practices; for whenever he obtained boys who possessed some beauty, he would
make eunuchs of them, and then taking them to Sardis or Ephesos sold them for large sums of money, since with the Barbarians eunuchs are held
to be of more value for all matters of trust than those who are not eunuchs.
Panionios then, I say, made eunuchs of many others, since by this he got his
livelihood, and also of this man about whom I speak: and Hermotimos,
being not in everything unfortunate, was sent from Sardis to the king with
other gifts, and as time went on he came to be honoured more than all the other eunuchs in the sight of Xerxes.
106. And when the
king, being at that time in Sardis, was setting the Persian army in motion to
march against Athens, then Hermotimos, having gone
down for some business to that part of Mysia which the Chians occupy and which is called Atarneus, found there Panionios: and having recognised him he spoke to him many friendly words, first
recounting to him all the good things which he had by his means, and next
making promises in return for this, and saying how many good things he would do
for him, if he would bring his household and dwell in that land; so that
Panionios gladly accepting his proposals brought his children and his wife.
Then, when he had caught him together with his whole house, Hermotimos spoke as follows: "O thou, who of all men that ever lived up to this time
didst gain thy substance by the most impious deeds, what evil did either I
myself or any of my forefathers do either to thee or to any of thine, that thou
didst make me to be that which is nought instead of a
man? Didst thou suppose that thou wouldest escape the
notice of the gods for such things as then thou didst devise? They however
following the rule of justice delivered thee into my hands, since thou hadst done impious deeds; so that thou shalt not have
reason to find fault with the penalty which shall be inflicted upon thee by
me." When he had thus reproached him, the man's sons were brought into his
presence and Panionios was compelled to make eunuchs of his own sons, who were four
in number, and being compelled he did so; and then when he had so done, the
sons were compelled to do the same thing to him. Thus vengeance by the hands of Hermotimos overtook Panionios.
107. When Xerxes
had entrusted his sons to Artemisia to carry them back to Ephesos,
he called Mardonios and bade him choose of the army
whom he would, and make his deeds, if possible, correspond to his words. During
this day then things went so far; and in the night on the command of the king
the leaders of the fleet began to withdraw their ships from Phaleron to the Hellespont, as quickly as they might each one, to guard the bridges for
the king to pass over. And when the Barbarians were near Zoster as they sailed,
then seeing the small points of rock which stretch out to sea from this part of
the mainland, they thought that these were ships and fled for a good distance.
In time however, perceiving that they were not ships but points of rock, they
assembled together again and continued on their voyage.
108. When day
dawned, the Hellenes, seeing that the land-army was staying still in its place,
supposed that the ships also were about Phaleron; and
thinking that they would fight another sea-battle, they made preparations to
repel them. When however they were informed that the ships had departed,
forthwith upon this they thought it good to pursue after them. They pursued
therefore as far as Andros, but did not get a sight of the fleet of Xerxes; and
when they had come to Andros, they deliberated what they should do.
Themistocles then declared as his opinion that they should take their course
through the islands and pursue after the ships, and afterwards sail straight to
the Hellespont to break up the bridges; but Eurybiades expressed the opposite opinion to this, saying that if they should break up the
floating-bridges, they would therein do the greatest possible evil to Hellas: for if the
Persian should be cut off and compelled to remain in Europe, he would endeavour not to remain still, since if he remained still,
neither could any of his affairs go forward, nor would any way of returning
home appear; but his army would perish of hunger: whereas if he made the
attempt and persevered in it, all Europe might be brought over to him, city by
city and nation by nation, the inhabitants being either conquered or surrendering on terms before they were
conquered: moreover they would have for food the crops of the Hellenes which
grew year by year. He thought however that conquered in the sea-fight the
Persian would not stay in Europe, and therefore he might be allowed to flee
until in his flight he came to his own land. Then after that they might begin
the contest for the land which belonged to the Persian. To this opinion the
commanders of the other Peloponnesians adhered also.
109. When
Themistocles perceived that he would not be able to persuade them, or at least
the greater number of them, to sail to the Hellespont, he changed his
counsel and turning to the Athenians (for these were
grieved most at the escape of the enemy and were anxious to sail to the
Hellespont even by themselves alone, if the others were not willing) to them he spoke
as follows: "I myself also have been present before now on many occasions,
and have heard of many more, on which something of this kind came to pass,
namely that men who were forced into great straits, after they had been
defeated fought again and repaired their former disaster: and as for us, since
we have won as a prize from fortune the existence of ourselves and of Hellas by
repelling from our land so great a cloud of men, let us not pursue enemies who
flee from us: for of these things not we were the doors, but the gods and
heroes, who grudged that one man should become king of both Asia and of Europe,
and he a man unholy and presumptuous, one who made no difference between things
sacred and things profane, burning and casting down the images of the gods,
and who also scourged the Sea and let down into it fetters. But as things are
at present, it is well that we should now remain in Hellas and look after
ourselves and our households; and let each man repair his house, and have a
care for sowing his land, after he has completely driven away the Barbarian:
and then at the beginning of the spring let us sail down towards the Hellespont
and Ionia." Thus he spoke, intending to lay up for himself a store of gratitude
with the Persian, in order that if after all any evil should come upon him at
the hands of the Athenians, he might have a place of refuge: and this was in
fact that which came to pass.
110. Themistocles
then speaking thus endeavoured to deceive them, and
the Athenians followed his advice: for he had had the reputation even in former
times of being a man of ability and he had now proved himself to be in truth
both able and of good judgment; therefore they were ready in every way to
follow his advice when he spoke. So when these had been persuaded by him,
forthwith after this Themistocles sent men with a vessel, whom he trusted to
keep silence, to whatever test they might be brought, of that which he himself
charged them to tell the king; and of them Sikinnos his servant again was one. When these came to Attica, the rest stayed behind in
the ship, while Sikinnos went up to Xerxes and spoke
these words: "Themistocles the son of Neocles sent me, who is commander of the Athenians, and of all the allies the best and
ablest man, to tell thee that Themistocles the Athenian, desiring to be of
service to thee, held back the Hellenes when they were desirous to pursue after
thy ships and to destroy the bridges on the Hellespont. Now therefore thou
mayest make thy way home quite undisturbed." They having signified this
sailed away again.
111. The Hellenes meanwhile, having resolved not to pursue after the ships of the Barbarians further, nor to sail to the Hellespont to break up the passage, were investing Andros intending to take it: for the Andrians were the first of the islanders who, being asked by Themistocles for money, refused to give it: and when Themistocles made proposals to them and said that the Athenians had come having on their side two great deities, Persuasion and Compulsion, and therefore they must by all means give them money, they replied to this that not without reason, as it now appeared, was Athens great and prosperous, since the Athenians were well supplied with serviceable deities; but as for the Andrians, they were poor, having in this respect attained to the greatest eminence, and there were two unprofitable deities which never left their island but always remained attached to the place, Poverty, namely, and Helplessness: and the Andrians being possessed of these deities would not give money; for never could the power of the Athenians get the better of their inability. 112. These, I say,
having thus made answer and having refused to give the money, were being
besieged: and Themistocles not ceasing in his desire for gain sent threatening
messages to the other islands and asked them for money by the same envoys,
employing those whom he had before sent to the king; and he said that if they did not give that which
was demanded of them, he would bring the fleet of the Hellenes against them to
besiege and take them. Thus saying he collected great sums of money from the Carystians and the Parians, who being informed how Andros
was being besieged, because it had taken the side of the Medes, and how
Themistocles was held in more regard than any of the other commanders, sent
money for fear of this. Whether any others of the islanders also gave money I
am not able to say, but I think that some others gave and not these alone. Yet
to the Carystians at least there was no respite from
the evil on this account, but the Parians escaped the attack, because they
propitiated Themistocles with money. Thus Themistocles with Andros as his
starting-point was acquiring sums of money for himself from the men of the
islands without the knowledge of the other commanders.
113. Xerxes
meanwhile with his army stayed for a few days after the sea-fight, and then
they all began to march forth towards Boeotia by the same way by which they had
come: for Mardonios thought both that it was well for
him to escort the king on his way, and also that it was now too late in the
year to carry on the war; it was better, he thought, to winter in Thessaly and
then at the beginning of spring to attempt the Peloponnese. When he came to
Thessaly, then Mardonios chose out for himself first
all those Persians who are called "Immortals," except only their
commander Hydarnes (for Hydarnes said that he would not be left behind by the king), and after them of the other
Persians those who wore cuirasses, and the body of a thousand horse: also the
Medes, Sacans, Bactrians and Indians, foot and
horsemen both. These nations he chose in the mass, but from the other allies he selected by few at
a time, choosing whose who had fine appearance of those of whom he knew that
they had done good service. From the Persians he chose more than from any other
single nation, and these wore collars of twisted metal and bracelets; and after
them came the Medes, who in fact were not inferior in number to the Persians,
but only in bodily strength. The result was that there were thirty myriads in
all, including cavalry.
114. During this
time, while Mardonios was selecting his army and
Xerxes was in Thessaly, there had come an oracle from Delphi to the
Lacedemonians, bidding them ask satisfaction from Xerxes for the murder of
Leonidas and accept that which should be given by him. The Spartans therefore
sent a herald as quickly as possible, who having found the whole army still in
Thessaly came into the presence of Xerxes and spoke these words: "O king
of the Medes, the Lacedemonians and the sons of Heracles of Sparta demand of
thee satisfaction for murder, because thou didst kill their king, fighting in defence of Hellas." He laughed and then kept silence
some time, and after that pointing to Mardonios, who
happened to be standing by him, he said: "Then Mardonios here shall give them satisfaction, such as is fitting for them to have."
115. The herald
accordingly accepted the utterance and departed; and Xerxes leaving Mardonios in Thessaly went on himself in haste to the
Hellespont and arrived at the passage where the crossing was in five-and-thirty
days, bringing back next to nothing, as one may say, of his army: and whithersoever they came on the
march and to whatever nation, they seized the crops of that people and used
them for provisions; and if they found no crops, then they took the grass which
was growing up from the earth, and stripped off the bark from the trees and
plucked down the leaves and devoured them, alike of the cultivated trees and of
those growing wild; and they left nothing behind them: thus they did by reason
of famine. Then plague too seized upon the army and dysentery, which destroyed
them by the way, and some of them also who were sick the king left behind,
laying charge upon the cities where at the time he chanced to be in his march,
to take care of them and support them: of these he left some in Thessaly, and some
at Siris in Paionia, and some in Macedonia. In these
parts too he had left behind him the sacred chariot of Zeus, when he was
marching against Hellas; but on his return he did not receive it back: for the Paionians had given it to the Thracians, and when Xerxes
asked for it again, they said that the mares while at pasture had been carried
off by the Thracians of the upper country, who dwelt about the source of the Strymon.
116. Here also a
Thracian, the king of the Bisaltians and of the Crestonian land, did a deed of surpassing horror; for he
had said that he would not himself be subject to Xerxes with his own will and
had gone away up to Mount Rhodope, and also he had forbidden his sons to go on
the march against Hellas. They however, either because they cared not for his
command, or else because a desire came upon them to see the war, went on the
march with the Persian: and when they returned all unhurt, being six in number,
their father plucked out their eyes for this cause.
117. They then
received this reward: and as to the Persians, when passing on from Thrace they
came to the passage, they crossed over the Hellespont in haste to Abydos by
means of the ships, for they did not find the floating-bridges still stretched
across but broken up by a storm. While staying there for a time they had
distributed to them an allowance of food more abundant than they had had by the
way, and from satisfying their hunger without restraint and also from the
changes of water there died many of those in the army who had remained safe
till then. The rest arrived with Xerxes at Sardis.
118. There is also
another story reported as follows, namely that when Xerxes on his march away
from Athens came to Eïon on the Strymon,
from that point he did not continue further to make marches by road, but
delivered his army to Hydarnes to lead back to the
Hellespont, while he himself embarked in a Phenician ship and set forth for
Asia; and as he sailed he was seized by a wind from the Strymon, violent and raising great waves; and since he
was tossed by the storm more and more, the ship being heavily laden (for there
were upon the deck great numbers of Persians, those namely who went with
Xerxes), the king upon that falling into fear shouted aloud and asked the pilot
whether there were for them any means of safety. He said: "Master, there
are none, unless some way be found of freeing ourselves of the excessive number
of passengers." Then it is said that Xerxes, when he heard this, spoke
thus: "Persians, now let each one of you show that he has care for the
king; for my safety, as it seems, depends upon you." He, they say, thus
spoke, and they made obeisance to him and leapt out into the sea; and so the
ship being lightened came safe to Asia. As soon as they had landed Xerxes, they
say, first presented the pilot with a wreath of gold, because he had saved the
life of the king, and then cut off his head, because he had caused the death of
many of the Persians.
119. This other
story, I say, is reported about the return of Xerxes, but I for my part can by
no means believe it, either in other respects or as regards this which is said
to have happened to the Persians; for if this which I have related had in truth
been said by the pilot to Xerxes, not one person's opinion in ten thousand will
differ from mine that the king would have done some such thing as this, that is
to say, he would have caused those who were upon the deck to go down below into
the hold, seeing that they were Persians of the highest rank among the
Persians; and of the rowers, who were Phenicians, he would have thrown out into
the sea a number equal to the number of those. In fact however, as I have said
before, he made his return to Asia together with the rest of the army by road.
120. And this also
which follows is a strong witness that it was so; for Xerxes is known to have
come to Abdera on his way back, and to have made with them a guest-friendship
and presented them with a Persian sword of gold and a gold-spangled tiara: and
as the men of Abdera themselves say (though I for my part can by no means
believe it), he loosed his girdle for the first time during his flight back
from Athens, considering himself to be in security. Now Abdera is situated
further towards the Hellespont than the river Strymon and Eïon, from which place the story says that he
embarked in the ship.
121. The Hellenes
meanwhile, when it proved that they were not able to conquer Andros, turned
towards Carystos, and having laid waste the land of
that people they departed and went to Salamis. First then for the gods they
chose out first-fruits of the spoil, and among them three Persian triremes, one
to be dedicated as an offering at the Isthmus, which remained there still up to
my time, another at Sunion, and the third to Ajax in
Salamis where they were. After this they divided the spoil among themselves and
sent the first-fruits to Delphi, of which was made a statue holding in
its hand the beak of a ship and in height measuring twelve cubits. This statue
stood in the same place with the golden statue of Alexander the Macedonian.
122. Then when the
Hellenes had sent first-fruits to Delphi, they asked the god on behalf of all
whether the first-fruits which he had received were fully sufficient and
acceptable to him. He said that from the Hellenes he had received enough, but
not from the Eginetans, and from them he demanded the
offering of their prize of valour for the sea-fight
at Salamis. Hearing this the Eginetans dedicated
golden stars, three in number, upon a ship's mast of bronze, which are placed
in the corner close to the mixing-bowl of Croesus.
123. After the
division of the spoil the Hellenes sailed to the Isthmus, to give the prize of valour to him who of all the Hellenes had proved himself
the most worthy during this war: and when they had come thither and the
commanders distributed their votes at the altar of Poseidon, selecting
from the whole number the first and the second in merit, then every one of them
gave in his vote for himself, each man thinking that he himself had been the
best; but for the second place the greater number of votes came out in
agreement, assigning that to Themistocles. They then were left alone in their
votes, while Themistocles in regard to the second place surpassed the rest by
far:
124, and although
the Hellenes would not give decision of this by reason of envy, but sailed away
each to their own city without deciding, yet Themistocles was loudly reported
of and was esteemed throughout Hellas to be the man who was the ablest by far of the Hellenes: and since he had not
received honour from those who had fought at Salamis,
although he was the first in the voting, he went forthwith after this to Lacedemon, desiring to receive honour there; and the Lacedemonians received him well and gave him great honours. As a prize of valour they gave to Eurybiades a wreath of olive; and for
ability and skill they gave to Themistocles also a wreath of olive, and
presented him besides with the chariot which was judged to be the best in
Sparta. So having much commended him, they escorted him on his departure with
three hundred picked men of the Spartans, the same who are called the
"horsemen," as far as the boundaries of Tegea:
and he is the only man of all we know to whom the Spartans ever gave escort on
his way.
125. When however
he had come to Athens from Lacedemon, Timodemos of Aphidnai, one of the
opponents of Themistocles, but in other respects not among the men of
distinction, maddened by envy attacked him, bringing forward against him his
going to Lacedemon, and saying that it was on account
of Athens that he had those marks of honour which he
had from the Lacedemonians, and not on his own account. Then, as Timodemos continued ceaselessly to repeat this,
Themistocles said: "I tell thee thus it is:—if I had been a native of Belbina I should never have been thus honoured by the Spartans; but neither wouldest thou, my friend, for all that thou art an Athenian." So far then went
these matters.
126. Artabazos meanwhile the son of Pharnakes,
a man who was held in esteem among the Persians even before this and came to be
so yet more after the events about Plataia, was
escorting the king as far as the passage with six myriads 92 of that army which Mardonios had selected for himself; and when the king was in Asia and Artabazos on his march back came near to Pallene, finding that Mardonios was wintering in Thessaly and Macedonia and was not at present urgent with him
to come and join the rest of the army, he thought it not good to pass by
without reducing the Potidaians to slavery, whom he
had found in revolt: for the men of Potidaia, when
the king had marched by them and when the fleet of the Persians had departed in
flight from Salamis, had openly made revolt from the Barbarians; and so also
had the others done who occupy Pallene.
127. So upon this Artabazos began to besiege Potidaia,
and suspecting that the men of Olynthos also were
intending revolt from the king, he began to besiege this city too, which was
occupied by Bottiaians who had been driven away from
the Thermaian gulf by the Macedonians. So when he had
taken these men by siege, he brought them forth to a lake and slew them there; and the city he delivered to Critobulos of Torone to have in
charge, and to the natives of Chalkidike; and thus it
was that the Chalkidians got possession of Olynthos.
128. Having taken
this city Artabazos set himself to attack Potidaia with vigour, and as he
was setting himself earnestly to this work, Timoxeinos the commander of the troops from Skione concerted
with him to give up the town by treachery. Now in what manner he did this at
the first, I for my part am not able to say, for this is not reported; at last
however it happened as follows. Whenever either Timoxeinos wrote a paper wishing to send it to Artabazos, or Artabazos wishing to send one to Timoxeinos,
they wound it round by the finger-notches of an arrow, and then, putting feathers over the
paper, they shot it to a place agreed upon between them. It came however to be
found out that Timoxeinos was attempting by treachery
to give up Potidaia; for Artabazos,
shooting an arrow at the place agreed upon, missed this spot and struck a man
of Potidaia in the shoulder; and when he was struck,
a crowd came about him, as is apt to happen when there is fighting, and they
forthwith took the arrow and having discovered the paper carried it to the
commanders. Now there was present an allied force of the other men of Pallene
also. Then when the commanders had read the paper and discovered who was guilty
of the treachery, they resolved not openly to convict Timoxeinos of
treachery, for the sake of the city of Skione, lest
the men of Skione should be esteemed traitors for all
time to come.
129. He then in
such a manner as this had been discovered; and when three months had gone by
while Artabazos was besieging the town, there came to
be a great ebb of the sea backwards, which lasted for a long time; and the
Barbarians, seeing that shallow water had been produced, endeavoured to get by into the peninsula of Pallene, but when they had passed through two fifth-parts
of the distance, and yet three-fifths remained, which they must pass through
before they were within Pallene, then there came upon them a great flood-tide
of the sea, higher than ever before, as the natives of the place say, though high
tides come often. So those of them who could not swim perished, and those who
could were slain by the men of Potidaia who put out
to them in boats. The cause of the high tide and flood and of that which befell
the Persians was this, as the Potidaians say, namely
that these same Persians who perished by means of the sea had committed impiety
towards the temple of Poseidon and his image in the suburb of their town; and
in saying that this was the cause, in my opinion they say well. The survivors
of his army Artabazos led away to Thessaly to join Mardonios. Thus it fared with these who escorted the king
on his way.
130. The fleet of
Xerxes, so much of it as remained, when it had touched Asia in its flight from
Salamis, and had conveyed the king and his army over from the Chersonese to
Abydos, passed the winter at Kyme: and when spring
dawned upon it, it assembled early at Samos, where some of the ships had even
passed the winter; and most of the Persians and Medes still served as
fighting-men on board of them. To be commanders of them there came Mardontes the son of Bagaios, and Artaÿntes the son of Artachaies,
and with them also Ithamitres was in joint command,
who was brother's son to Artaÿntes and had been added
by the choice of Artaÿntes himself. They then, since
they had suffered a heavy blow, did not advance further up towards the West,
nor did any one compel them to do so; but they remained still in Samos and kept
watch over Ionia, lest it should revolt, having three hundred ships including
those of the Ionians; and they did not expect that the Hellenes on their part
would come to Ionia, but thought that it would satisfy them to guard their own
land, judging from the fact that they had not pursued after them in their
flight from Salamis but were well contented then to depart homewards. As
regards the sea then their spirit was broken, but on land they thought that Mardonios would get much the advantage. So they being at Samos
were taking counsel to do some damage if they could to their enemies, and at
the same time they were listening for news how the affairs of Mardonios would fall out.
131. The Hellenes
on their part were roused both by the coming on of spring and by the presence
of Mardonios in Thessaly. Their land-army had not yet
begun to assemble, when the fleet arrived at Egina,
in number one hundred and ten ships, and the commander and admiral was Leotychides, who was the son of Menares,
the son of Hegesilaos, the son of Hippocratides,
the son of Leotychides, the son of Anaxilaos, the son of Archidemos,
the son of Anaxandriddes, the son of Theopompos, the
son of Nicander, the son of Charilaos, the son of Eunomos,
the son of Polydectes, the son of Prytanis, the son
of Euryphon, the son of Procles,
the son of Aristodemos, the son of Aristomachos, the son of Cleodaios,
the son of Hyllos, the son of Heracles, being of the
other royal house. These all, except the two enumerated first after Leotychides,
had been kings of Sparta. And of the Athenians the commander was Xanthippos the son of Ariphon.
132. When all the
ships had arrived at Egina, there came Ionian envoys
to the camp of the Hellenes, who also came a short time before this to Sparta
and asked the Lacedemonians to set Ionia free; and of them one was Herodotus
the son of Basileides. These had banded themselves
together and had plotted to put to death Strattis the
despot of Chios, being originally seven in number; but when one of those who
took part with them gave information of it and they were discovered to be
plotting against him, then the remaining six escaped from Chios and came both
to Sparta and also at this time to Egina, asking the
Hellenes to sail over to Ionia: but they with difficulty brought them forward
as far as Delos; for the parts beyond this were all fearful to the Hellenes,
since they were without experience of those regions and everything seemed to
them to be filled with armed force, while their persuasion was that it was as
long a voyage to Samos as to the Pillars of Heracles. Thus at the same time it
so chanced that the Barbarians dared sail no further up towards the West than
Samos, being smitten with fear, and the Hellenes no further down towards the
East than Delos, when the Chians made request of
them. So fear was guard of the space which lay between them.
133. The Hellenes,
I say, sailed to Delos; and Mardonios meanwhile had
been wintering in Thessaly. From thence he sent round a man, a native of
Europos, whose name was Mys, to the various Oracles,
charging him to go everywhere to consult, wherever they were permitted to make trial of the Oracles.
What he desired to find out from the Oracles when he gave this charge, I am not
able to say, for that is not reported; but I conceive for my part that he sent
to consult about his present affairs and not about other things.
134. This Mys is known to have come to Lebadeia and to have persuaded by payment of money one of the natives of the place to go
down to Trophonios, and also he came to the Oracle at Abai of the Phokians; and
moreover when he came for the first time to Thebes, he not only consulted the Ismenian Apollo,—there one may consult just as at Olympia
with victims,—but also by payment he persuaded a stranger who was not a Theban,
and induced him to lie down to sleep in the temple of Amphiaraos.
In this temple no one of the Thebans is permitted to seek divination, and that
for the following reason:—Amphiaraos dealing by
oracles bade them choose which they would of these two things, either to have
him as a diviner or else as an ally in war, abstaining from the other use; and
they chose that he should be their ally in war: for this reason it is not
permitted to any of the Thebans to lie down to sleep in that temple.
135. After this a
thing which to me is a very great marvel is said by the Thebans to have come to
pass:—it seems that this man Mys of Europos, as he
journeyed round to all the Oracles, came also to the sacred enclosure of the Ptoan Apollo. This temple is called "Ptoon," and belongs to the Thebans, and it lies above
the lake Copaïs at the foot of the mountains, close
to the town of Acraiphia. When the man called Mys came to this temple with three men chosen from the
citizens in his company, who were sent by the public
authority to write down that which the god should utter in his divination,
forthwith it is said the prophet of the god began to give the oracle in a
Barbarian tongue; and while those of the Thebans who accompanied him were full
of wonder, hearing a Barbarian instead of the Hellenic tongue, and did not know
what to make of the matter before them, it is said that the man of Europos, Mys, snatched from them the tablet which they bore and
wrote upon it that which was being spoken by the prophet; and he said that the
prophet was giving his answer in the Carian tongue: and then when he had
written it, he went away and departed to Thessaly.
136. Mardonios having read that which the Oracles uttered,
whatever that was, after this sent as an envoy to Athens Alexander the son of
Amyntas, the Macedonian, both because the Persians were connected with him by
marriage, (for Gygaia the sister of Alexander and
daughter of Amyntas had been married to a Persian Bubares, and from her had been born to him that Amyntas
who lived in Asia, having the name of his mother's father, to whom the king
gave Alabanda, a great city of Phrygia, to possess), and also Mardonios was sending him because he was informed that
Alexander was a public guest-friend and benefactor of the Athenians; for by
this means he thought that he would be most likely to gain over the Athenians
to his side, about whom he heard that they were a numerous people and brave in
war, and of whom he knew moreover that these were they who more than any others
had brought about the disasters which had befallen the Persians by sea.
Therefore if these should be added to him, he thought that he should easily
have command of the sea (and this in fact would have been the case), while on
land he supposed himself to be already much superior in force. Thus he reckoned
that his power would be much greater than that of the Hellenes. Perhaps also
the Oracles told him this beforehand, counselling him to make the Athenian his
ally, and so he was sending in obedience to their advice.
137. Now of this
Alexander the seventh ancestor was that Perdiccas who first became despot of
the Macedonians, and that in the manner which here follows:—From Argos there
fled to the Illyrians three brothers of the descendents of Temenos, Gauanes, Aëropos,
and Perdiccas; and passing over from the Illyrians into the upper parts of
Macedonia they came to the city of Lebaia. There they
became farm-servants for pay in the household of the king, one pasturing
horses, the second oxen, and the youngest of them, namely Perdiccas, the
smaller kinds of cattle; for in ancient times even those who were rulers over
men were poor in money, and not the common people
only; and the wife of the king cooked for them their food herself. And whenever
she baked, the loaf of the boy their servant, namely Perdiccas, became double
as large as by nature it should be. When this happened constantly in the same
manner, she told it to her husband, and he when he heard it conceived forthwith
that this was a portent and tended to something great. He summoned the
farm-servants therefore, and gave notice to them to depart out of his land; and
they said that it was right that before they went forth they should receive the
wages which were due. Now it chanced that the sun was shining into the house
down through the opening which received the smoke, and the king when he heard
about the wages said, being infatuated by a divine power: "I pay you then
this for wages, and it is such as ye deserve," pointing to the sunlight.
So then Gauanes and Aëropos the elder brothers stood struck with amazement when they heard this, but the
boy, who happened to have in his hand a knife, said these words: "We
accept, O king, that which thou dost give;" and he traced a line with his
knife round the sunlight on the floor of the house, and having traced the line
round he thrice drew of the sunlight into his bosom, and after that he departed
both himself and his fellows.
138. They then
were going away, and to the king one of those who sat by him at table told what
manner of thing the boy had done, and how the youngest of them had taken that
which was given with some design: and he hearing this and being moved with
anger, sent after them horsemen to slay them. Now there is a river in this land
to which the descendents of these men from Argos
sacrifice as a saviour. This river, so soon as the
sons of Temenos had passed over it, began to flow with such great volume of
water that the horsemen became unable to pass over. So the brothers, having
come to another region of Macedonia, took up their dwelling near the so-called
gardens of Midas the son of Gordias, where roses grow
wild which have each one sixty petals and excel all others in perfume. In these
gardens too Silenos was captured, as is reported by
the Macedonians: and above the gardens is situated a mountain called Bermion, which is inaccessible by reason of the cold.
Having taken possession of that region, they made this their starting-point,
and proceeded to subdue also the rest of Macedonia.
139. From this
Perdiccas the descent of Alexander was as follows:—Alexander was the son of
Amyntas, Amyntas was the son of Alketes, the father
of Alketes was Aëropos, of
him Philip, of Philip Argaios, and of this last the father
was Perdiccas, who first obtained the kingdom.
140. Thus then, I
say, Alexander the son of Amyntas was descended; and when he came to Athens
sent from Mardonios, he spoke as follows: (a)
"Athenians, Mardonios speaks these words:—There
has come to me a message from the king which speaks in this manner:—To the
Athenians I remit all the offences which were committed against me: and now, Mardonios, thus do,—first give them back their own land;
then let them choose for themselves another in addition to this, whichsoever
they desire, remaining independent; and set up for them again all their
temples, which I set on fire, provided that they consent to make a treaty with
me. This message having come to me, it is necessary for me to do so, unless by
your means I am prevented: and thus I speak to you now:—Why are ye so mad as to
raise up war against the king? since neither will ye overcome him, nor are ye able to hold out against him for
ever: for ye saw the multitude of the host of Xerxes and their deeds,
and ye are informed also of the power which is with me at the present time; so
that even if ye overcome and conquer us (of which ye can have no hope if ye are
rightly minded), another power will come many times as large. Do not ye then
desire to match yourselves with the king, and so to be both deprived of your
land and for ever running a course for your own
lives; but make peace with him: and ye have a most honourable occasion to make peace, since the king has himself set out upon this road:
agree to a league with us then without fraud or deceit, and remain free. (b)
These things Mardonios charged me to say to you, O
Athenians; and as for me, I will say nothing of the goodwill towards you on my
part, for ye would not learn that now for the first time; but I ask of you to
do as Mardonios says, since I perceive that ye will
not be able to war with Xerxes for ever,—if I
perceived in you ability to do this, I should never
have come to you speaking these words,—for the power of the king is above that
of a man and his arm is very long. If therefore ye do not make an agreement
forthwith, when they offer you great things as the terms on which they are
willing to make a treaty, I have fear on your behalf, seeing that ye dwell more
upon the highway than any of your allies, and are exposed ever to destruction
alone, the land which ye possess being parted off from the rest and lying
between the armies which are contending together. 111 Nay, but be persuaded, for this is a matter of
great consequence to you, that to you alone of the Hellenes the great king
remits the offences committed and desires to become a friend."
141. Thus spoke
Alexander; and the Lacedemonians having been informed that Alexander had come
to Athens to bring the Athenians to make a treaty with the Barbarians, and
remembering the oracles, who it was destined that they together with the other
Dorians should be driven forth out of the Peloponnese by the Medes and the
Athenians combined, had been very greatly afraid lest the Athenians should make
a treaty with the Persians; and forthwith they had resolved to send envoys. It
happened moreover that they were introduced at the same time with
Alexander; for the Athenians had waited for them,
protracting the time, because they were well assured that the Lacedemonians
would hear that an envoy had come from the Barbarians to make a treaty, and
that having heard it they would themselves send envoys with all speed. They
acted therefore of set purpose, so as to let the Lacedemonians see their
inclination.
142. So when
Alexander had ceased speaking, the envoys from Sparta followed him forthwith
and said: "As for us, the Lacedemonians sent us to ask of you not to make
any change in that which concerns Hellas, nor to accept proposals from the
Barbarian; since this is not just in any way nor honourable for any of the Hellenes to do, but least of all for you, and that for many
reasons. Ye were they who stirred up this war, when we by no means willed it;
and the contest came about for your dominion, but now it extends even to the
whole of Hellas. Besides this it is by no means to be endured that ye
Athenians, who are the authors of all this, should prove to be the cause of
slavery to the Hellenes, seeing that ye ever from ancient time also have been
known as the liberators of many. We feel sympathy however with you for your
sufferings and because ye were deprived of your crops twice and have had your
substance ruined now for a long time. In compensation for this the
Lacedemonians and their allies make offer to support your wives and all those
of your households who are unfitted for war, so long as this war shall last:
but let not Alexander the Macedonian persuade you, making smooth the speech of Mardonios; for these things are fitting for him to do,
since being himself a despot he is working in league with a despot: for you
however they are not fitting to do, if ye chance to be rightly minded; for ye
know that in Barbarians there is neither faith nor truth at all."
Thus spoke the
envoys:
143, and to
Alexander the Athenians made answer thus: "Even of ourselves we know so
much, that the Mede has a power many times as numerous as ours; so that there
is no need for thee to cast this up against us. Nevertheless because we long
for liberty we shall defend ourselves as we may be able: and do not thou endeavour to persuade us to make a treaty with the
Barbarian, for we on our part shall not be persuaded. And now report to Mardonios that the Athenians say thus:—So long as the Sun
goes on the same course by which he goes now, we will never make an agreement
with Xerxes; but we will go forth to defend ourselves against him, trusting in the gods and the heroes
as allies, for whom he had no respect when he set fire to their houses and to
their sacred images. And in the future do not thou appear before the Athenians
with any such proposals as these, nor think that thou art rendering them good
service in advising them to do that which is not lawful; for we do not desire
that thou shouldest suffer anything unpleasant at the hands of the Athenians,
who art their public guest and friend."
144. To Alexander
they thus made answer, but to the envoys from Sparta as follows: "That the
Lacedemonians should be afraid lest we should make a treaty with the Barbarian
was natural no doubt; but it seems to be an unworthy fear for men who
know so well the spirit of the Athenians, namely that there is neither so great
quantity of gold anywhere upon the earth, nor any land so much excelling in
beauty and goodness, that we should be willing to accept it and enslave Hellas
by taking the side of the Medes. For many and great are the reasons which
hinder us from doing this, even though we should desire it; first and greatest
the images and houses of the gods set on fire or reduced to ruin, which we must
necessarily avenge to the very utmost rather than make an agreement with him
who did these deeds; then secondly there is the bond of Hellenic race, by which
we are of one blood and of one speech, the common temples of the gods and the
common sacrifices, the manners of life which are the same for all; to these it
would not be well that the Athenians should become traitors. And be assured of
this, if by any chance ye were not assured of it before, that so long as one of
the Athenians remains alive, we will never make an agreement with Xerxes. We
admire however the forethought which ye had with regard to us, in that ye took
thought for us who have had our substance destroyed, and are willing to support
the members of our households; and so far as ye are concerned, the kindness has
been fully performed: but we shall continue to endure as we may, and not be a
trouble in any way to you. Now therefore, with full conviction this is so, send
out an army as speedily as ye may: for, as we conjecture, the Barbarian will be
here invading our land at no far distant time but so soon as he shall be
informed of the message sent, namely that we shall do none of those things
which he desired of us. Therefore before he arrives here in Attica, it is
fitting that ye come to our rescue quickly in Boeotia." Thus the Athenians
made answer, and upon that the envoys went away back to Sparta.
BOOK IX. CALLIOPE
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