RUINS OF AN ANCIENT TEMPLE IN CORINTH.
RUINS OF AN ANCIENT TEMPLE IN CORINTH.
RUINS OF AN ANCIENT TEMPLE IN CORINTH.
The Æginetæ, offended at what they considered a great affront, prepared to revenge themselves on the Athenians: and as the Athenians happened to have a five-benched galley at Sunium, they formed an ambuscade and took the ship "Theoris"[24]filled with the principal Athenians, and put the men in chains. The Athenians, thus treated by the Æginetæ, no longer delayed to devise all sorts of plans against them. Now there was in Ægina an eminent man named Nicodromus, son of Cnœthus; incensed against the Æginetæ on account of his former banishment from the island, and now hearing that the Athenians were preparing to do a mischief to the Æginetæ, he entered into an agreement with the Athenians for the betrayal of Ægina, mentioning on what day he would make the attempt, and on what it would be necessary for them to come to his assistance. Nicodromus, according to his agreement, on the appointed day seized that which is called the old town. The Athenians, however, did not arrive at the proper time, for they happened not to have a sufficient number of ships to engage with the Æginetæ; and while they were entreating the Corinthians to furnish them with ships, their plan was ruined. The Corinthians, for they were then on very friendly terms with them, at their request supplied the Athenians with twenty ships, hiringthem out at a nominal price of five drachmæ each; because by their laws they were forbidden to give them for nothing. The Athenians, taking these and their own, manned seventy ships in all, sailed to Ægina, and arrived one day after that agreed upon. When the Athenians did not arrive at the proper time, Nicodromus embarked on shipboard and made his escape from Ægina; and others of the Æginetæ accompanied him, to whom the Athenians gave Sunium for a habitation; and they, sallying from thence, plundered the Æginetæ in the island. This, however, happened subsequently. In the meantime the most wealthy of the Æginetæ overpowered the common people, who, together with Nicodromus, had revolted against them, and led them out to execution. On this occasion they incurred a guilt, which they were unable to expiate by any contrivance, as they were ejected out of the island before the goddess became propitious to them. For having taken seven hundred of the common people prisoners, they led them out to execution; and one of them, who escaped from his bonds, fled to the porch of Ceres the lawgiver, and seizing the door-handle, held it fast; when they were unable by dragging to tear him away, they cut off his hands, and so took him away; and the hands were left sticking on the door-handles. So did the Æginetæ treat their own people. But when the Athenians arrived with their seventy ships, they came to an engagement, and being conquered in the sea-fight, they called upon the same persons as before for assistance, that is, on the Argives. They, however, would not any longer succor them, but complained that the ships of the Æginetæ, having been forcibly seized by Cleomenes, had touched on the territory of Argos, and the crews had disembarked with the Lacedæmonians. Some men had also disembarked from Sicyonian ships in the same invasion; and a penalty was imposed upon them by the Argives, to pay a thousand talents, five hundred each. The Sicyonians, acknowledging that they had acted unjustly, made an agreement to pay one hundred talents, and be free from the rest; but the Æginetæ would not own themselves in the wrong, and were very obstinate. On this account, therefore, none of theArgives were sent by the commonwealth to assist them; but, on their request, volunteers went to the number of a thousand; a general, whose name was Eurybates, and who had practised for the pentathlon, led them. The greater number of these never returned home, but were slain by the Athenians in Ægina. The general, Eurybates, engaging in single combat, killed three several antagonists in that manner, but was slain by the fourth, Sophanes of Decelea. But the Æginetæ attacked the fleet of the Athenians when they were in disorder, and obtained a victory, and took four of their ships with the men on board.
Warwas accordingly kindled between the Athenians and Æginetæ. But the Persian pursued his own design, for the servant continually reminded him to remember the Athenians, and the Pisistratidæ constantly importuned him and accused the Athenians; and at the same time Darius was desirous of subduing those people of Greece who had refused to give him earth and water. He therefore dismissed Mardonius from his command, because he had succeeded ill in his expedition; and appointed other generals, whom he sent against Eretria and Athens, namely, Datis, who was a Mede by birth, and Artaphernes, son of Artaphernes, his own nephew; and he despatched them with strict orders to enslave Athens and Eretria, and bring the bondsmen into his presence. When these generals who were appointed left the king, and reached the Aleian plain of Cilicia, bringing with them a numerous and well-equipped army, they encamped there until the whole naval force required from each people came up: the horse-transports were also present, which Darius in the preceding year had commanded his tributaries to prepare. They put the horses on board of these, and embarked the land-forces in the ships, and sailed for Ionia with six hundred triremes. From there they did not steer their ships along the continent direct to the Hellespont and Thrace; but parting from Samos they bent their course across the Icarian sea, and through the islands, dreading the circumnavigation of Athos, because in the preceding year, in attempting a passage that way, they had sustained great loss.
While they were doing this, the Delians also, abandoningDelos, fled to Tenos; but as the fleet was sailing down toward it, Datis would not permit the ships to anchor near the island, but further on, off Rhenea; and he, having ascertained where the Delians were, sent a herald and addressed them as follows: "Sacred men, why have you fled, forming an unfavorable opinion of me? For both I myself have so much wisdom, and am so ordered by the king, that in the region where the two deities[25]were born, no harm should be done either to the country itself or its inhabitants. Return, therefore, to your houses, and resume possession of the island." This message he sent to the Delians by means of a herald; and afterward heaped up three hundred talents of frankincense upon the altar, and burnt it. Then Datis sailed with the army first against Eretria, taking with him both Ionians and Æolians. But after he had put out to sea from there, Delos was shaken by an earthquake, as the Delians say, the first and last time that it was ever so affected. And the deity assuredly by this portent intimated to men the evils that were about to befall them. For during the three successive reigns of Darius, son of Hystaspes, of Xerxes, son of Darius, and of Artaxerxes, son of Xerxes, more disasters befell Greece than during the twenty generations that preceded the time of Darius, partly brought upon it by the Persians, and partly by the chief men amongst them contending for power. So that it is not at all improbable that Delos should be moved at that time, though until then unmoved; and in an oracle respecting it, it had been thus written: "I will move even Delos, although hitherto unmoved." And in the Greek language these names mean: Darius, "one who restrains"; Xerxes, "a warrior"; and Artaxerxes, "a mighty warrior."
After the barbarians had parted from Delos, and touched at the islands, they took with them men to serve in the army, and carried away the sons of the islanders for hostages. Having subdued Eretria, and rested a few days, they sailed to Attica, pressing the inhabitants very close, and expecting to treat them in the same way as they had the Eretrians. Now as Marathon was the spotin Attica best adapted for cavalry, and nearest to Eretria, they gathered their forces there. When the Athenians heard of this, they also sent their forces to Marathon: and ten generals led them, of whom the tenth was Miltiades, whose father, Cimon, had been banished from Athens by Pisistratus. During his exile, it was his good fortune to obtain the Olympic prize in the four-horse chariot race, the honor of which victory he transferred to Miltiades, his brother by the same mother; afterward, in the next Olympiad, being victorious with the same mares, he permitted Pisistratus to be proclaimed victor, and returned home under terms. But after he had gained a third Olympic prize with the same mares, it happened that he died by the hands of the sons of Pisistratus, when Pisistratus himself was no longer alive; they slew him near the Prytaneum, having placed men to waylay him by night. Cimon was buried in front of the city, beyond that which is called the road to Cœla, and opposite him these same mares were buried, which won the three Olympic prizes. Stesagoras, the elder son of Cimon, was at that time being educated by his uncle in the Chersonese, but the younger by Cimon himself at Athens, and he had the name of Miltiades, from Miltiades, the founder of the Chersonese. At that time, then, this Miltiades, coming from the Chersonese, and having escaped a twofold death, became general of the Athenians; for in the first place, the Phœnicians pursued him as far as Imbros, exceedingly desirous of seizing him and carrying him up to the king; and in the next, when he had escaped them, and had returned to his own country, and thought himself in safety, his enemies attacked him, and brought him before a court of justice, to prosecute him for tyranny in the Chersonese. These also he escaped, and was at length appointed general of the Athenians by the choice of the people.
And first, while the generals were yet in the city, they despatched a herald to Sparta, one Phidippides, an Athenian, a courier by profession, who arrived in Sparta on the following day after his departure from the city of the Athenians, and on coming in presence of the magistrates, said: "Lacedæmonians, the Atheniansentreat you to assist them, and not to suffer the most ancient city among the Greeks to fall into bondage to barbarians; for Eretria is already reduced to slavery, and Greece has become weaker by the loss of a renowned city." He delivered the message according to his instructions, and they resolved to assist the Athenians; but it was out of their power to do so immediately, as they were unwilling to violate the law; for it was the ninth day of the current month; and they said they could not march out until the moon's circle should be full.
Meanwhile the traitor Hippias, son of Pisistratus, had guided the barbarians to Marathon. He first of all landed the slaves from Eretria on the island of the Styreans, called Ægilia; and next he moored the ships as they came to Marathon, and drew up the barbarians as they disembarked on land. But as he was busied in doing this, it happened that he sneezed and coughed more violently than he was accustomed; and as he was far advanced in years, several of his teeth were loose, so that through the violence of his cough he threw out one of these teeth. It fell on the sand, and he used every endeavor to find it; but when the tooth could nowhere be found, he drew a deep sigh, and said to the bystanders: "This country is not ours, nor shall we be able to subdue it; whatever share belongeth to me, my tooth possesses."
When the Athenians were drawn up in a place sacred to Hercules, the Platæans came to their assistance with all their forces. For the Platæans had given themselves up to the Athenians, as the Athenians had already undergone many toils on their account.
The opinions of the Athenian generals were divided: one party not consenting to engage, "because they were too few to engage with the army of the Medes"; and the others, among whom was Miltiades, urging them to give battle. There was an eleventh voter who was appointed minister of war among the Athenians, who had an equal vote with the generals, and at that time Callimachus of Aphidnæ was minister of war. To him Miltiades came and spoke as follows: "It now depends on you, Callimachus, either to enslave Athens, or, by preserving its liberty, to leave amemorial of yourself to every age, such as not even Harmodius and Aristogeiton have left. For the Athenians were never in so great danger from the time they were first a people. If they succumb to the Medes, it has been determined what they are to suffer when delivered up to Hippias; but if the city survives, it will become the first of the Greek cities. How, then, this can be brought to pass, and how the power of deciding the matter depends on you, I will now proceed to explain. The opinions of us generals, who are ten, are equally divided; the one party urging that we should engage, the other that we should not. Now, if we do not engage, I expect that some great dissension arising amongst us will shake the minds of the Athenians so as to induce them to a compliance with the Medes. But if we engage before any dastardly thought arises in the minds of some of the Athenians, if the gods are impartial, we shall be able to get the better in the engagement. All these things now entirely depend on you. For if you will support my opinion, your country will be free, and the city the first in Greece; but if you join with those who would dissuade us from an engagement, the contrary of the advantages I have enumerated will fall to your lot." Miltiades, by these words, gained over Callimachus, and it was determined to engage. Afterward the generals whose opinions had been given to engage, as the command for the day devolved upon each of them, gave it up to Miltiades; but though he accepted it, he would not come to an engagement before his own turn to command came.
The war-minister, Callimachus, commanded the right wing, for the law at that time was so settled among the Athenians; the Platæans were drawn out last of all, occupying the left wing. Now, ever since that battle, when the Athenians offer sacrifices and celebrate the public festivals which take place every five years, the Athenian herald prays, saying: "May blessings attend both the Athenians and the Platæans." Their line was equal in extent to the Medic line, but the middle of it was but few deep, and there the line was weakest, while each wing was strong in numbers. When they were drawn up, and the victims were favorable, theAthenians, at the order to charge, advanced against the barbarians in double-quick time; and the space between them was not less than eight stades. The Persians, seeing them charging at full speed, prepared to receive them, laughing at their madness when they saw that they were so few in number, and that they rushed on at full speed without cavalry or archers. The Athenians, however, when they engaged in close ranks with the barbarians, fought in a manner worthy of record. For they, the first of all the Greeks whom we know of, charged the enemy at full speed, and first endured the sight of the Medic garb and the men that wore it; for until that time the very name of the Medes was a terror to the Greeks. The battle at Marathon lasted a long time: and in the middle of the line, where the Persians themselves and the Sacæ were arrayed, the barbarians were victorious, and having broken the line, pursued to the interior; but in both wings the Athenians and the Platæans were victorious. Here they allowed the defeated portion of the barbarians to flee; and having united both wings, they fought with those who had broken their centre until at last the Athenians were victorious. They followed the Persians in their flight, cutting them to pieces, till, reaching the shore, they called for fire and attacked the ships.
In this battle the brave war-minister, Callimachus, was killed, and among the generals, Stesilaus, son of Thrasylas, perished; Cynægeirus, son of Euphorion, laid hold of a ship's stern and had his hand severed by an axe and fell; and besides, many other distinguished Athenians were slain. In this manner the Athenians made themselves masters of seven ships: but with the rest the barbarians rowed rapidly back, and after taking off the Eretrian slaves from the island in which they had left them, sailed round Sunium, wishing to anticipate the Athenians in reaching the city. But the Athenians marched with all speed to the assistance of the city, and reached it before the barbarians arrived; and as they had come from the precinct of Hercules at Marathon, they took up their station in another precinct of Hercules at Cynosarges. The barbarians, having laid to with their fleet off Phalerumfor a time, soon sailed away for Asia. In this battle at Marathon there died of the barbarians about six thousand four hundred men; and of the Athenians, one hundred and ninety-two. An Athenian, Epizelus, son of Cuphagoras, while fighting in the medley, and behaving valiantly, was deprived of sight, though wounded in no part of his body, nor struck from a distance; and he continued to be blind from that time for the remainder of his life. I have heard that he used to give the following account of his loss. He thought that a large heavy-armed man stood before him, whose beard shaded the whole of his shield; that this spectre passed by him, and killed the man that stood by his side, smiting him with this loss as it passed.
King Darius, before the Eretrians were made captive, harbored a deep resentment against them, as the Eretrians had been the first to begin acts of injustice: but when he saw them brought into his presence, and subject to his power, he did them no other harm, but settled them in the Cissian territory at a station of his own, the name of which is Ardericca; it is two hundred and ten stades distant from Susa, and forty from the well which produces three different substances; for asphalt, salt, and oil are drawn up from it, in the following manner. It is pumped up by means of a swipe, and, instead of a bucket, half of a wine-skin is attached to it; having dipped down with this, a man draws it up and then pours the contents into a receiver; and being poured from this into another, it assumes three different forms: the asphalt and the salt immediately become solid, but the oil they collect, and the Persians call it rhadinace; it is black and emits a strong odor. Here king Darius settled the Eretrians; who, even to my time, occupied this territory, retaining their ancient language. Two thousand of the Lacedæmonians came to Athens after the full moon, making such haste to be in time, that they arrived in Attica on the third day after leaving Sparta. Too late for the battle, they, nevertheless, proceeded to Marathon, saw the slain, commended the Athenians and their achievement, and returned home.
After the defeat of the Persians at Marathon, Miltiades, askedof the Athenians seventy ships, and troops, and money, without telling them what country he purposed to invade, but saying that he would make them rich if they would follow him, for he would take them to a country, from which they would easily bring an abundance of gold, and the Athenians, elated by these hopes, granted the ships. Miltiades, accordingly took the troops and sailed against Paros, alleging as a pretext, that the Parians had first begun hostilities by sending a trireme with the Persians to Marathon. But his real reason was that he had a grudge against the Parians on account of Lysagoras, son of Tisias, who was a Parian by birth and who had calumniated him to Hydarnes the Persian. Miltiades arrived with his forces and besieged the Parians, who were driven within their walls; and sent a herald to them to demand a hundred talents, saying, that if they did not furnish him that sum, he would not draw off his army until he had destroyed them. The Parians never entertained the thought of giving Miltiades any money; but devised means by which they might defend the city; and in several parts where the wall was most exposed to attack, they raised it, during the night, to double its former height. Up to this point of the story all the Greeks agree; but after this the Parians themselves say that it happened as follows. That when Miltiades was in a state of perplexity, a captive woman, by birth a Parian, and named Timo, conferred with him; she was an inferior priestess of the infernal goddesses. When she came into the presence of Miltiades, she advised him, if he deemed it of great consequence to take Paros, to act as she should suggest. Following out her suggestions he came to the mound before the city and leaped over the fence of Ceres Thesmophora, as he was unable to open the door; and went to the temple, for the purpose either to move some of the things that may not be moved, or to do something or other, I know not what. He was just at the door, when suddenly a thrill of horror came over him, and he went back by the same way; and in leaping over the fence his thigh was dislocated, or his knee was hurt. Miltiades, in a bad plight, sailed back home, neither bringingmoney to the Athenians, nor having reduced Paros, but having besieged it for six and twenty days, and ravaged the island. When the Parians were informed that Timo, the priestess of the goddesses, had directed Miltiades, they desired to punish her, and sent deputies to the oracle at Delphi, as soon as they were relieved from the siege, to inquire whether they should put to death the priestess of the goddesses, for having made known to the enemy the means of capturing the country, and for having discovered to Miltiades sacred things, which ought not to be revealed to the male sex. But the Pythian did not allow them, but said, "that Timo was not to blame for this, but that it was fated Miltiades should come to a miserable end, and she had appeared to him as a guide to misfortune." When Miltiades returned from Paros, the Athenians were loud in their complaints against him, especially Xanthippus, son of Ariphron, who brought a capital charge against Miltiades before the people, and prosecuted him for deception. Miltiades, though present in person, made no defence, through inability, as his thigh had begun to mortify. But while he lay on a couch his friends made a defence for him, dwelling much on the battle that had been fought at Marathon, and on the capture of Lemnos; since he had taken Lemnos, and inflicted vengeance on the Pelasgians, and had given it up to the Athenians. The people so far favored him as to acquit him of the capital offence, but fined him fifty talents for the injury he had done. Miltiades soon after ended his life by the mortification of his thigh, and his son Cimon paid the fifty talents.
[22]The Greek words, literally translated, mean "on a razor's edge."[23]There is very good reason to believe that this fine was really imposed for the adoption of a modern theme by Phrynichus, when hitherto only the gods and heroes had been permissible subjects.[24]The "Theoris" was a vessel which was sent every year to Delos to offer sacrifice to Apollo.[25]Apollo and Diana.
[22]The Greek words, literally translated, mean "on a razor's edge."
[23]There is very good reason to believe that this fine was really imposed for the adoption of a modern theme by Phrynichus, when hitherto only the gods and heroes had been permissible subjects.
[24]The "Theoris" was a vessel which was sent every year to Delos to offer sacrifice to Apollo.
[25]Apollo and Diana.
Whenthe news of the battle fought at Marathon reached Darius, who was before much exasperated with the Athenians on account of the attack upon Sardis, he grew still more eager to prosecute the war against Greece. He therefore immediately sent messengers to the several cities, and bade them prepare an army much greater than they had furnished before, and ships, horses, corn, and transports. Asia was thrown into agitation during the space of three years, the bravest men being enrolled and prepared for the purpose of invading Greece. In the fourth year the Egyptians, who had been subdued by Cambyses, revolted from the Persians; whereupon Darius only became the more eager to march against both. Just then a violent dissension arose between the sons of Darius concerning the sovereignty; for by the customs of the Persians he was obliged to nominate his successor before he marched out on any expedition. Before Darius became king, he had three sons born to him by his former wife, the daughter of Gobryas; and after his accession to the throne, four others by Atossa, daughter of Cyrus. Of the former, Artabazanes was the eldest; of those born after, Xerxes: and these two, not being of the same mother, were at variance. Artabazanes urged that he was the eldest of all the sons, and that it was the established usage among all men that the eldest son should succeed to the sovereignty: on the other hand, Xerxes alleged that he was son of Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, and that it was Cyrus who had acquired freedomfor the Persians. At this very juncture, when Darius had not yet declared his opinion, Demaratus, son of Ariston, happened to come up to Susa, deprived of his kingly office at Sparta, and having imposed on himself a voluntary exile from Lacedæmon. This man went to Xerxes, as report has it, and advised him to say in addition to what he had already said, that "he was born after his father Darius had become king, and was possessed of the empire of the Persians; whereas Artabazanes was born while he was yet a private person; wherefore it was not reasonable or just that any other should possess that dignity in preference to himself." "Since in Sparta also," Demaratus continued to suggest, "this custom prevailed, that if some children were born before their father became king, and one was born subsequently, when he had come to the throne, this last-born son should succeed to the kingdom." Darius acknowledged this point, and declared Xerxes king. But it appears to me that even without this suggestion Xerxes would have been made king, for Atossa had unbounded influence. So Darius appointed Xerxes to be king over the Persians, and prepared to march. But just at this juncture, and in the year after the revolt of Egypt, Darius himself, while making preparations, died, having reigned thirty-six years in all; nor was he able to avenge himself either on the Egyptians, who had revolted, or on the Athenians; and when Darius was dead, the kingdom devolved on his son Xerxes.
Xerxes was at first by no means inclined to make war against Greece, but he levied forces for the reduction of Egypt. Mardonius, son of Gobryas, who was cousin to Xerxes, and son of Darius' sister, and who had the greatest influence with him of all the Persians, constantly held the following language: "Sire, it is not right that the Athenians, who have already done so much mischief to the Persians, should go unpunished? However, for the present, finish the enterprise you have in hand; and when you have quelled the insolence of Egypt, lead your army against Athens; that you may acquire a good reputation among men, and any one for the future may be cautious of marching against your territory."This language was used by him for the purpose of revenge, but he frequently made the following addition to it, that "Europe was a very beautiful country, and produced all kinds of cultivated trees,—and was very fertile, and worthy to be possessed by the king alone of all mortals." Mardonius was desirous of new enterprises, and wished to be himself governor of Greece, and in time he persuaded Xerxes to do as he advised. Xerxes, in the second year after the death of Darius, reduced all Egypt to a worse state of servitude than ever under Darius, and committed the government to Achæmenes, his brother.
He then convoked an assembly of the principal Persians, that he might hear their opinions, and make known his intentions to them all. "Men of Persia," said Xerxes, "I learn from older men that we have never remained inactive since we wrested the sovereign power from the Medes, and Cyrus overthrew Astyages; but the deity has led the way, and we have followed his guidance to our advantage. What deeds Cyrus and Cambyses and my father Darius have achieved, and what nations they have added to our empire, no one need mention to you who know them well. But since I have succeeded to the throne, I have carefully considered how I may not fall short of my predecessors in honor, nor acquire less additional power to the Persians."
"I have now called you together, that I may communicate to you what I purpose to do. I intend to throw a bridge over the Hellespont, and to march an army through Europe against Greece, that I may punish the Athenians for the injuries they have done to the Persians and to my father. You have already seen Darius preparing to make war against those people; but he died, and had it not in his power to avenge himself. But I, in his cause and that of the other Persians, will not rest till I have taken and burnt Athens; for they began by doing acts of injustice against my father and me. First they came to Sardis, with Aristagoras the Milesian, our servant, and burnt down the groves and the temples. You all know well enough how they treated us on our making a descent on their territory, when Datis and Artaphernes led ourforces. For these reasons, therefore, I have resolved to make war upon them. And I am sure that if we subdue them, and their neighbors, who inhabit the country of Pelops the Phrygian, we shall make the Persian territory co-extensive with the air of heaven, for the sun will not look down upon any land that borders on ours. When I shall have informed you of the time, it will be the duty of each of you to come promptly. And whosoever shall appear with the best-appointed troops, to him I will give such presents as are accounted most honorable in our country."
After this, when Xerxes had resolved to undertake the expedition, a vision appeared to him in his sleep, which the magi interpreted to signify that all mankind should serve him. Xerxes imagined that he was crowned with the sprig of an olive tree, whose branches covered the whole earth; and that afterward the crown that was placed on his head disappeared. After the magi had given this interpretation, all the Persians who were assembled departed immediately to their own governments, and used all diligence to execute what had been ordered, every man hoping to obtain the proposed reward; Xerxes thus levied his army, searching out every region of the continent. He was employed four whole years in assembling his forces and providing things necessary for the expedition. In the fifth he began his march with a vast multitude of men. For this was by far the greatest of all the expeditions with which we are acquainted. What nation did not Xerxes lead out of Asia against Greece? what stream, except that of great rivers, did not his army drink dry? Some supplied ships; others were ordered to furnish men for the infantry, others cavalry, some transports for horses, together with men to serve in the army; others had to furnish long ships for the bridges, and others provisions and vessels.
And first of all, as those who had first attempted to double Mount Athos had met with disaster, preparations were made for nearly three years to cut Athos off by a canal. Triremes were stationed at Eleus in the Chersonese, and from there men of every nation from the army dug under the lash. They went in succession;and the people who dwelt round Athos dug also. Bubares, son of Megabazus, and Artachæus, son of Artæus, both Persians, presided over the work. Athos is a vast and celebrated mountain, stretching into the sea, and inhabited by men. Where the mountain terminates toward the continent, it is in the form of a peninsula connected with the continent by an isthmus of about twelve stades; this is a plain with hills of no great height from the sea of the Acanthians to the sea which is opposite Torone. On this isthmus stands Sana, a Grecian city; and on Athos itself are the cities of Dion, Olophyxus, Acrothoon, Thyssus, and Cleonæ. To make the excavation the barbarians divided the ground among the several nations, having drawn a straight line near the city of Sana. When the trench was deep, some stood at the bottom and continued to dig, and others handed the soil that was dug out to men who stood above on ladders; they again in turn handed it to others, until they reached those that were at the top; the last carried it off and threw it away. In the case of all, except the Phœnicians, the brink of the excavation fell in and gave double labor, for as they made the upper and the lower opening of equal dimensions, this must necessarily happen. But the Phœnicians, who show their skill in other works, did so especially in this; for they dug the portion that fell to their share, making the upper opening of the trench twice as large as it was necessary for the trench itself to be; and as the work proceeded they contracted it gradually, so that when they came to the bottom the work was equal in width to the rest; near adjoining is a meadow, where they had a market and bazaar, and great abundance of meal was brought to them from Asia. According to my deliberate opinion, Xerxes ordered this excavation to be made from motives of ostentation, wishing to display his power, and to leave a memorial of himself. For though it was possible, without any great labor, to have drawn the ships over the isthmus, he commanded them to dig a channel for the sea of such a width that two triremes might pass through rowed abreast. And the same persons, to whom the excavation was committed, were ordered alsoto throw a bridge over the river Strymon. He also caused cables of papyrus and of white flax to be prepared for the bridges, and ordered the Phœnicians and Egyptians to lay up provisions for the army, that neither the men nor the beasts of burden might suffer from famine on their march toward Greece, conveying them to various quarters in merchant-ships and transports from all parts of Asia.
While these men were employed in their appointed task, the whole land-forces marched with Xerxes to Sardis, setting out from Critalla in Cappadocia, where it had been ordered that all the troops throughout the continent should assemble. They crossed the river Halys, entered Phrygia, and arrived at Celænæ, where rise the springs of the Mæander, and of another river not less than the Mæander, which is called the Catarractes, which, springing up in the very forum of the Celænians, discharges itself into the Mæander; in this city the skin of Silenus Marsyas is suspended, which, as the Phrygians report, was stripped off and suspended by Apollo. In this city Pythius, son of Atys, a Lydian, being in waiting, entertained the whole army of the king, and Xerxes himself, with most sumptuous feasts; and he offered to contribute money toward the expense of the war. Xerxes asked the Persians near him who this Pythius was, and what riches he possessed, that he made such an offer. They answered: "O king, this is the person who presented your father Darius with the golden plane tree and the vine; and he is now the richest man we know of in the world, next to yourself." Xerxes in surprise next asked Pythius what was the amount of his wealth. He said: "O king, as soon as I heard you were coming down to the Grecian sea, wishing to present you with money for the war, I made inquiry, and found by computation that I had two thousand talents of silver, and of gold four millions of Doric staters, lacking seven thousand. These I freely give you; for myself I have sufficient subsistence from my slaves and lands." Xerxes, delighted with his offer, replied: "My Lydian friend, since I left the Persian country I have met with no man to the present moment who was willing toentertain my army, or who, having come into my presence, has voluntarily offered to contribute money toward the war. But you have entertained my army magnificently, and have offered me vast sums; in return for this, I make you my friend. Keep what you have acquired, and I will myself make up to you the seven thousand staters which you lack of four millions. Be careful always to continue such as you are, and you shall never repent hereafter."