A Smaller History of Greece

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From Doriscus Xerxes his march along the coast through Thrace and
Macedonia. The principal cities through which he passed had to
furnish a day's meal for the immense host, and for this purpose
had made preparations many months before-hand. The cost of
feeding such a multitude brought many cities to the brink of
ruin. At Acanthus his fleet sailed through the isthmus of Athos
and after doubling the promontories of Sithonia and Pallene
joined him at the city of Therma, better known by its later name
of Thessalonica. Thence he continued his march through the
southern part of Macedonia and Thessaly, meeting with no
opposition till he reached the celebrated pass of Thermopylae.

The mighty preparations of Xerxes had been no secret in Greece;
and during the preceding winter a congress of the Grecian states
had been summoned by the Spartans and Athenians to meet at the
isthmus of Corinth. But so great was the terror inspired by the
countless hosts of Xerxes that many of the Grecian states at once
tendered their submission to him, and others refused to take any
part in the congress. The only people, north of the isthmus of
Corinth, who remained faithful to the cause of Grecian liberty,
were the Athenians and Phocians, and the inhabitants of the small
Boeotian towns of Plataea and Thespiae. The other people in
northern Greece were either partisans of the Persians, like the
Thebans, or were unwilling to make any great sacrifices for the
preservation of their independence. In Peloponnesus, the
powerful city of Argos and the Achaeans stood aloof. From the
more distant members of the Hellenic race no assistance was
obtained. Gelon, the ruler of Syracuse, offered to send a
powerful armament, provided the command of the allied forces was
intrusted to him; but the envoys did not venture to accept a
proposal which would have placed both Sparta and Athens under the
control of a Sicilian tyrant.

The desertion of the cause of Grecian independence by so many of
the Greeks did not shake the resolution of Sparta and of Athens.
The Athenians, especially, set a noble example of an enlarged
patriotism. They became reconciled to the AEginetans, and thus
gained for the common cause the powerful navy of their rival.
They readily granted to the Spartans the supreme command of the
forces by sea as well as by land, although they furnished two-
thirds of the vessels of the entire fleet. Their illustrious
citizen Themistocles was the soul of the congress. He sought to
enkindle in the other Greeks some portion of the ardour and
energy which he had succeeded in breathing into the Athenians.

The Greeks determined to make a stand at the pass of Thermopylae,
which forms the entrance from northern into southern Greece.
This pass lies between Mount OEta and the sea. It is about a
mile in length. At each of its extremities the mountains
approach so near the sea as to leave barely room for the passage
of a single carriage. The northern, or, to speak more properly,
the western Gate, was close to the town of Anthela, where the
Amphictyonic council held its autumnal meetings; while the
southern, or the eastern Gate, was near the Locrian town of
Alpeni. These narrow entrances were called Pylae, or the Gates.
The space between the gates was wider and more open, and was
distinguished by its hot springs, from which the pass derived the
name of Thermopylae, or the "Hot-Gates." The island of Euboea is
here separated from the mainland by a narrow strait, which in one
part is only two miles and a half in breadth; and accordingly it
is easy, by defending this part of the sea with a fleet, to
prevent an enemy from landing troops at the southern end of the
pass.

The Grecian fleet, under the command of the Spartan Eurybiades,
took up its station off that portion of the northern coast of
Euboea which faces Magnesia and the entrance to the Thessalian
gulf and which was called Artemisium, from a neighbouring temple
of Artemis (Diana). It was, however, only a small land-force
that was sent to the defence of Thermopylae. When the arrival of
Xerxes at Therma became known, the Greeks were upon the point of
celebrating the Olympic games, and the festival of the Carnean
Apollo, which was observed with great solemnity at Sparta and in
other Doric states. The Peloponnesians therefore sent forward
only 300 Spartans and 3000 hoplites from other Peloponnesian
states, under the command of the Spartan king Leonidas, a force
which they thought would be sufficient to maintain the pass till
the festivals were over. In his march northwards Leonidas
received additions from the Thespians, Phocians, and Locrians, so
that he had under his command at Thermopylae about 7000 men.

Meanwhile Xerxes had arrived within sight of Thermopylae. He had
heard that a handful of desperate men, commanded by a Spartan,
had determined to dispute his passage, but he refused to believe
the news. He was still more astonished when a horseman, whom he
had sent to reconnoitre, brought back word that he had seen
several Spartans outside the wall in front of the pass, some
amusing themselves with gymnastic exercises, and others combing
their long hair. In great perplexity, he sent for the exiled
Spartan king Demaratus, who had accompanied him from Persia, and
asked him the meaning of such madness. Demaratus replied, that
the Spartans would defend the pass to the death, and that it was
their practice to dress their heads with peculiar care when they
were going to battle. Later writers relate that Xerxes sent to
them to deliver up their arms. Leonidas desired him "to come and
take them." One of the Spartans being told that "the Persian
host was so prodigious that their arrows would conceal the sun:"
--"So much the better" (he replied), "we shall then fight in the
shade."

At length, upon the fifth day, Xerxes ordered a chosen body of
Medes to advance against the presumptuous foes and bring them
into his presence. But their superior numbers were of no avail
in such a narrow space, and they were kept at bay by the long
spears and steady ranks of the Greeks. After the combat had
lasted a long time with heavy loss to the Medes, Xerxes ordered
his ten thousand "Immortals," the flower of the Persian army, to
advance. But they were as unsuccessful as the Medes. Xerxes
beheld the repulse of his troops from a lofty throne which had
been provided for him, and was seen to leap thrice from his seat
in an agony of fear or rage.

On the following day the attack was renewed, but with no better
success: and Xerxes was beginning to despair of forcing his way
through the pass, when a Malian, of the name of Ephialtes,
betrayed to the Persian king that there was an unfrequented path
across Mount OEta, ascending on the northern side of the mountain
and descending on the southern side near the termination of the
pass. Overjoyed at this discovery, a strong detachment of
Persians was ordered to follow the traitor. Meantime Leonidas
and his troops had received ample notice of the impending danger.
During the night deserters from the enemy had brought him the
news; and their intelligence was confirmed by his own scouts on
the hills. His resolution was at once taken. As a Spartan he
was bound to conquer or to die in the post assigned to him; and
he was the more ready to sacrifice his life, since an oracle had
declared that either Sparta itself or a Spartan king must perish
by the Persian arms. His three hundred comrades were fully equal
to the same heroism which actuated their King; and the seven
hundred Thespians resolved to share the fate of this gallant
band. He allowed the, rest of the allies to retire, with the
exception of four hundred Boeotians, whom he retained as
hostages. Xerxes delayed his attack till the middle of the day,
when it was expected that the detachment sent across the mountain
would arrive at the rear of the pass. But Leonidas and his
comrades, only anxious to sell their lives as dearly as possible,
did not wait to receive the attack of the Persians, but advanced
into the open space in front of the pass, and charged the enemy
with desperate valour. Numbers of the Persians were slain; many
were driven into the neighbouring sea; and others again were
trampled to death by the vast hosts behind them. As long as the
Greeks could maintain their ranks they repelled every attack; but
when their spears were broken, and they had only their swords
left, the enemy began to press in between them. Leonidas was one
of the first that fell, and around his body the battle raged
fiercer than ever. The Persians made the greatest efforts to
obtain possession of it; but four times they were driven back by
the Greeks with great slaughter. At length, thinned in numbers,
and exhausted by fatigue and wounds, this noble band retired
within the pass, and seated themselves on a hillock. Meanwhile
the Persian detachment, which had been sent across the mountains,
began to enter the pass from the south. The Spartan heroes were
now surrounded on every side, overwhelmed with a shower of
missiles, and killed to a man.

On the hillock, where the Greeks made their last stand, a marble
lion was set up in honour of Leonidas. Another monument, erected
near the spot, contained the memorable inscription:--

"Go, tell the Spartans, thou that passest by,
That here obedient to their laws we lie."

While Leonidas had been fighting at Thermopylae, the Greek fleet
had also been engaged with the Persians at Artemisium. The
Persian fleet set sail from the gulf of Therma, and arrived in
one day at almost the southern corner of Magnesia. In this
position they were overtaken by a sudden hurricane, which blew
upon the shore with irresistible fury. For three days and three
nights the tempest raged without intermission; and when calm at
length returned, the shore was seen strewed for many miles with
wrecks and corpses. At least four hundred ships of war were
destroyed, together with a countless number of transports,
stores, and treasures. The Greek fleet had been seized with a
panic terror at the approach of the Persians, and retreated to
Chalcis in the narrowest part of the Euboean straits; but upon
hearing of the disaster of the Persian fleet, they took courage,
and sailed back with the utmost speed to their former station at
Artemisium. Being now encouraged to attack the enemy, they
gained some success. On the following night another terrific
storm burst upon the Persians. All night long it blew upon the
Thessalian coast at Aphetae, where the Persian ships were
stationed, thus causing little inconvenience to the Greeks upon
the opposite shore. Notwithstanding these losses, the Persian
fleet still had a vast superiority of numbers, and determined to
offer battle to the Greeks. Quitting the Thessalian coast, they
sailed towards Artemisium in the form of a crescent. The Greeks
kept near the shore, to prevent the Persians from bringing their
whole fleet into action. The battle raged furiously the whole
day, and each side fought with determined valour. Both parties
suffered severely; and though the Persians lost a greater number
of ships and men, yet so many of the Greek vessels were disabled
that they found it would be impossible to renew the combat.
Under these circumstances the Greek commanders saw that it would
be necessary to retreat; and their determination was hastened by
the news which they now received, that Leonidas and his
companions had fallen, and that Xerxes was master of the pass of
Thermopylae. Having sailed through the Euboean strait, the fleet
doubled the promontory of Sunium, and did not stop till it
reached the island of Salamis.

Meanwhile the Peloponnesians had abandoned Attica and the
adjoining states to their fate, whilst they strained every nerve
to secure themselves by fortifying the isthmus of Corinth. The
Athenians, relying upon the march of a Peloponnesian army into
Boeotia, had taken no measures for the security of their families
and property, and beheld with terror and dismay the barbarian
host in full march towards their city. In six days it was
calculated Xerxes would be at Athens--a short space to remove the
population of a whole city: but fear and necessity work wonders.
Before the six days had elapsed, all who were willing to abandon
their homes had been safely transported, some to AEgina, and
others to Troezen in Peloponnesus; but many could not be induced
to proceed farther than Salamis. It was necessary for
Themistocles to use all his art and all his eloquence on this
occasion. The oracle at Delphi had told the Athenians that "the
divine Salamis would make women childless,"--yet, "when all was
lost, a wooden wall should still shelter the Athenians."
Themistocles told his countrymen that these words clearly
indicated a fleet and a naval victory as the only means of
safety. Some however gave to the words another meaning; and a
few, especially among the aged and the poor, resolved to shut
themselves up in the Acropolis, and to fortify its accessible or
western front with barricades of timber.

On his march towards Athens, Xerxes sent a detachment of his army
to take and plunder Delphi. But this attempt proved
unsuccessful. The god of the most renowned oracle of the Grecian
world vindicated at once the majesty of his sanctuary and the
truth of his predictions. As the Persians climbed the rugged
path at the foot of Mount Parnassus, leading up to the shrine,
thunder was heard to roll, and two crags, suddenly detaching
themselves from the mountain, rolled down upon the Persians, and
spread dismay and destruction in their ranks, Seized with a
sudden panic, they turned and fled, pursued, as they said, by two
warriors of superhuman size and prowess, who had assisted the
Delphians in defending their temple.

On arriving before Athens, Xerxes found the Acropolis occupied by
a handful of desperate citizens, who made a brave resistance; but
they were overpowered and put to the sword. The temples and
houses on the Acropolis were pillaged and burnt; and Xerxes thus
became undisputed master of Athens.

About the same time the Persian fleet arrived in the bay of
Phalerum. Its strength is not accurately known, but it must have
exceeded 1000 vessels. The combined Grecian fleet at Salamis
consisted of 366 ships, of which 200 were Athenian.

At this critical juncture dissension reigned in the Grecian
fleet. In the council of war which had been summoned by
Eurybiades the Spartan commander, Themistocles urged the
assembled chiefs to remain at Salamis, and give battle to the
Persians in the narrow straits, where the superior numbers of the
Persians would be of less consequence. The Peloponnesian
commanders, on the other hand, were anxious that the fleet should
be removed to the isthmus of Corinth, and thus be put in
communication with their land-forces. The council came to a vote
in favour of retreat; but Themistocles prevailed upon Eurybiades
to convene another assembly upon the following day. When the
council met, the Peloponnesian commanders loudly expressed their
dissatisfaction at seeing a debate re-opened which they had
deemed concluded. Adimantus, the Corinthian admiral broke out
into open rebukes and menaces. "Themistocles," he exclaimed,
"those who rise at the public games before the signal are
whipped." "True," replied Themistocles; "but they who lag behind
it never win a crown." Another incident in this discussion has
been immortalized by Plutarch. Eurybiades, incensed by the
language of Themistocles, lifted up his stick to strike him,
whereupon the Athenian exclaimed, "Strike, but hear me!"
Themistocles repeated his arguments and entreaties; and at length
threatened that he and the Athenians would sail away to Italy and
there found a new city, if the Peloponnesians still determined to
retreat. Eurybiades now gave way and issued orders for the fleet
to remain and fight at Salamis; but the Peloponnesians obeyed the
order with reluctance. A third council was summoned and
Themistocles, perceiving that the decision of the assembly would
be against him, determined to effect his object by stratagem. He
secretly despatched a trusty slave with a message to Xerxes,
representing the dissensions which prevailed in the Grecian
fleet, and how easy a matter it would be to surround and vanquish
an armament both small and disunited. Xerxes readily adopted the
suggestion, and ordered his captains to close up the straits of
Salamis at both ends during the night. On the council assembling
in the morning, Aristides arrived with the news that the Grecian
fleet was completely surrounded by that of the Persians, and that
retreat was no longer possible. As the veil of night rolled
gradually away, the Persian fleet was discovered stretching as
far as the eye could reach along the coast of Attica. The
Grecian fleet, being concentrated in the harbour of Salamis, was
thus surrounded by the Persians. Xerxes had caused a lofty
throne to be erected upon one of the projecting declivities of
Mount AEgaleos, opposite the harbour of Salamis, whence be could
survey the combat, and stimulate by his presence the courage of
his men.

As a battle was now inevitable the Grecian commanders lost no
time in making preparations for the encounter. The Greek seamen
embarked with alacrity, encouraging one another to deliver their
country, their wives, and children, and the temples of their
gods, from the grasp of the barbarians. History has preserved to
us but few details of the engagement. The Persian fleet, with
the exception of some of the Ionic contingents, fought with
courage. But the very numbers on which they so confidently
relied, proved one of the chief causes of their defeat. Too
crowded either to advance or to retreat, their oars broken or
impeded by collision with one another, their fleet lay like an
inert and lifeless mass upon the water, and fell an easy prey to
the Greeks. A single incident will illustrate the terror and
confusion which reigned among the Persians. Artemisia, queen of
Halicarnassus in Caria, distinguished herself in it by deeds of
daring bravery. At length she turned and fled, pursued by an
Athenian galley. Full in her course lay the vessel of a Carian
prince. Instead of avoiding, she struck and sunk it, sending
her countryman and all his crew to the bottom. The captain of
the Athenian galley, believing from this act that she was a
deserter from the Persian cause, suffered her to escape. Xerxes,
who from his lofty throne beheld the feat of the Halicarnassian
queen, but who imagined that the sunken ship belonged to the
Greeks, was filled with admiration at her courage, and exclaimed
--"My men are become women, my women men!"

Two hundred of the Persian ships were destroyed and sunk when
night put an end to the engagement. But notwithstanding this
loss the fleet was still formidable by its numbers. The Greeks
themselves did not regard the victory as decisive, and prepared
to renew the combat. But the pusillanimity of Xerxes relieved
them from all further anxiety. He became alarmed for his own
personal safety; and his whole care was now centred on securing
his retreat by land. The best troops were disembarked from the
ships, and marched towards the Hellespont, in order to secure the
bridge, whilst the fleet itself was ordered to make for Asia.
These dispositions of Xerxes were prompted by Mardonius. He
represented to his master that the defeat, after all, was but
slight; that having attained one of the great objects of the
expedition by the capture of Athens, he might now retire with
honour, and even with glory; and that for the rest he (Mardonius)
would undertake to complete the conquest of Greece with 300,000
men. While the Persian fleet sailed towards Asia, Xerxes set out
on his homeward march. In Thessaly Mardonius selected the
300,000 men with whom he proposed to conclude the war; but as
autumn was now approaching, he resolved to postpone all further
operations till the spring.

After forty-five days' march from Attica, Xerxes again reached
the shores of the Hellespont, with a force greatly diminished by
famine and pestilence. On the Hellespont he found his fleet, but
the bridge had been washed away by storms. Landed on the shores
of Asia, the Persian army at length obtained abundance of
provisions, and contracted new maladies by the sudden change from
privation to excess. Thus terminated this mighty but
unsuccessful expedition.

Greece owed its salvation to one man--Themistocles, This was
virtually admitted by the leaders of the other Grecian states,
when they assembled to assign the prizes of wisdom and conduct.
Upon the altar of Poseidon, at the isthmus of Corinth, each chief
deposited a ticket inscribed with two names, of those whom he
considered entitled to the first and second prizes. But in this
adjudication vanity and self-love defeated their own objects.
Each commander had put down his own name for the first prize; for
the second, a great majority preponderated in favour of
Themistocles. From the Spartans, also, Themistocles received the
honours due to his merit. A crown of olive was conferred upon
him, together with one of the most splendid chariots which the
city could produce.

On the very same day on which the Persians were defeated at
Salamis the Sicilian Greeks also obtained a victory over the
Carthaginians. There is reason to believe that the invasion of
Sicily by the Carthaginians was concerted with Xerxes, and that
the simultaneous attach on two distinct Grecian peoples, by two
immense armaments, was not merely the result of chance. Gelon,
the powerful ruler of Syracuse, defeated Hamilcar, the
Carthaginian general, with the loss it is said of 150,000 men.

In the spring of B.C. 479 Mardonius prepared to open the
campaign. He was not without hopes of inducing the Athenians to
join the Persian alliance, and he despatched Alexander, king of
Macedon, to conciliate the Athenians, now partially
re-established in their dilapidated city. His offers on the part
of the Persians were of the most seductive kind; but the
Athenians dismissed him with a positive refusal, whilst to the
Lacedaemonians they protested that no temptations, however great,
should ever induce them to desert the common cause of Greece and
freedom. In return for this disinterested conduct all they asked
was that a Peloponnesian army should be sent into Boeotia for the
defence of the Attic frontier: a request which the Spartan
envoys promised to fulfil. No sooner, however, had they returned
into their own country than this promise was completely
forgotten.

When Mardonius was informed that the Athenians had rejected his
proposal, he immediately marched against Athens, accompanied by
all his Grecian allies; and in May or June, B.C. 479, about ten
months after the retreat of Xerxes, the Persians again occupied
that city. With feelings of bitter indignation against their
faithless allies, the Athenians saw themselves once more
compelled to remove to Salamis. Mardonius took advantage of his
situation to endeavour once more to win them to his alliance.
Through a Hellespontine Greek, the same favourable conditions
were again offered to them, but were again refused. One voice
alone, that of the senator Lycidas, broke the unanimity of the
assembly. But his opposition cost him his life. He and his
family were stoned to death by the excited populace. In this
desperate condition the Athenians sent ambassadors to the
Spartans to remonstrate against their breach of faith, and to
intimate that necessity might at length compel them to listen to
the proposals of the enemy. The Spartans became alarmed. That
very night 5000 citizens, each attended by seven Helots, were
despatched to the frontiers; and these were shortly followed by
5000 Lacedaemonian Perioeci, each attended by one light-armed
Helot. Never before had the Spartans sent so large a force into
the field. Their example was followed by other Peloponnesian
cities; and the Athenian envoys returned to Salamis with the
joyful news that a large army was preparing to march against the
enemy, under the command of Pausanias, who acted as regent for
the infant son of Leonidas.

Mardonius, on learning the approach of the Lacedaemonians,
abandoned Attica and crossed into Boeotia. He finally took up a
position on the left bank of the Asopus, and not far from the
town of Plataea. Here he caused a camp to be constructed of ten
furlongs square, and fortified with barricades and towers.
Meanwhile the Grecian army continued to receive reinforcements
from the different states, and by the time it reached Boeotia, it
formed a grand total of about 110,000 men. After several days'
manoeuvring a general battle took place near Plataea. The light-
armed undisciplined Persians, whose bodies were unprotected by
armour, maintained a very unequal combat against the serried
ranks, the long spears, and the mailed bodies of the Spartan
phalanx. Mardonius, at the head of his body-guard of 1000 picked
men, and conspicuous by his white charger, was among the foremost
in the fight, till struck down by the hand of a Spartan. The
fall of their general was the signal for flight to the Persians,
already wearied and disheartened by the fruitless contest; nor
did they once stop till they lad again crossed the Asopus and
reached their fortified camp. The glory of having defeated the
Persians at Plataea rests with the Lacedaemonians, since the
Athenians were engaged in another part of the field with the
Thebans. After repulsing the Thebans, the Athenians joined the
Lacedaemonians, who had pursued the Persians as far as their
fortified camp. Upon the arrival of the Athenians the barricades
were stormed and carried, after a gallant resistance on the part
of the Persians. The camp became a scene of the most horrible
carnage. The Persian loss was immense, while that of the Greeks
seems not to have exceeded 1300 or 1400 men.

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