over the business reported the reckoning to be: for the dinner was
given as follows, having been ordered a long time beforehand, and being
counted by them a matter of great importance:--In the first place,
so soon as they heard of it from the heralds who carried round the
proclamation, the citizens in the various cities distributed corn among
their several households, and all continued to make wheat and barley
meal for many months; then they fed cattle, finding out and obtaining
the finest animals for a high price; and they kept birds both of the
land and of the water, in cages or in pools, all for the entertainment
of the army. Then again they had drinking-cups and mixing-bowls made of
gold and of silver, and all the other things which are placed upon the
table: these were made for the king himself and for those who ate at his
table; but for the rest of the army only the things appointed for food
were provided. Then whenever the army came to any place, there was a
tent pitched ready wherein Xerxes himself made his stay, while the rest
of the army remained out in the open air; and when it came to be time
for dinner, then the entertainers had labour; but the others, after they
had been satiated with food and had spent the night there, on the next
day tore up the tent and taking with them all the movable furniture
proceeded on their march, leaving nothing, but carrying all away with
them.
120. Then was uttered a word well spoken by Megacreon, a man of Abdera,
who advised those of Abdera to go in a body, both themselves and their
wives, to their temples, and to sit down as suppliants of the gods,
entreating them that for the future also they would ward off from them
the half of the evils which threatened; and he bade them feel great
thankfulness to the gods for the past events, because king Xerxes had
not thought good to take food twice in each day; for if it had been
ordered to them beforehand to prepare breakfast also in like manner as
the dinner, it would have remained for the men of Abdera either not
to await the coming of Xerxes, or if they stayed, to be crushed by
misfortune more than any other men upon the Earth.
121. They then, I say, though hard put to it, yet were performing that
which was appointed to them; and from Acanthos Xerxes, after having
commanded the generals to wait for the fleet at Therma, let the ships
take their course apart from himself, (now this Therma is that which is
situated on the Thermaic gulf, from which also this gulf has its name);
and thus he did because he was informed that this was the shortest way:
for from Doriscos as far as Acanthos the army had been making its march
thus:--Xerxes had divided the whole land-army into three divisions, and
one of them he had set to go along the sea accompanying the fleet, of
which division Mardonios and Masistes were commanders; another third
of the army had been appointed to go by the inland way, and of this the
generals in command were Tritantaichmes and Gergis; and meanwhile the
third of the subdivisions, with which Xerxes himself went, marched in
the middle between them, and acknowledged as its commanders Smerdomenes
and Megabyzos.
122. The fleet, when it was let go by Xerxes and had sailed right
through the channel made in Athos (which went across to the gulf on
which are situated the cities of Assa, Piloros, Singos and Sarte),
having taken up a contingent from these cities also, sailed thence
with a free course to the Thermaïc gulf, and turning round Ampelos the
headland of Torone, it left on one side the following Hellenic cities,
from which it took up contingents of ships and men, namely Torone,
Galepsos, Sermyle, Mekyberna, Olynthos: this region is called Sithonia.
123. And the fleet of Xerxes, cutting across from the headland of
Ampelos to that of Canastron, which runs out furthest to sea of all
Pallene, took up there contingents of ships and men from Potidaia,
Aphytis, Neapolis, Aige, Therambo, Skione, Mende and Sane, for these are
the cities which occupy the region which now is called Pallene, but was
formerly called Phlegra. Then sailing along the coast of this country
also the fleet continued its course towards the place which has been
mentioned before, taking up contingents also from the cities which come
next after Pallene and border upon the Thermaïc gulf; and the names
of them are these,--Lipaxos, Combreia, Lisai, Gigonos, Campsa, Smila,
Aineia; and the region in which these cities are is called even to
the present day Crossaia. Then sailing from Aineia, with which name I
brought to an end the list of the cities, at once the fleet came into
the Thermaïc gulf and to the region of Mygdonia, and so it arrived at
the aforesaid Therma and at the cities of Sindos and Chalestra upon the
river Axios. This river is the boundary between the land of Mygdonia
and Bottiaia, of which district the narrow region which lies on the sea
coast is occupied by the cities of Ichnai and Pella.
124. Now while his naval force was encamped about the river Axios an the
city of Therma and the cities which lie between these two, waiting for
the coming of the king, Xerxes and the land-army were proceeding from
Acanthos, cutting through the middle by the shortest way 109 with a view
to reaching Therma: and he was proceeding through Paionia and Crestonia
to the river Cheidoros, 110 which beginning from the land of the
Crestonians, runs through the region of Mygdonia and comes out alongside
of the marsh which is by the river Axios.
125. As he was proceeding by this way, lions attacked the camels which
carried his provisions; for the lions used to come down regularly by
night, leaving their own haunts, but they touched nothing else, neither
beast of burden nor man, but killed the camels only: and I marvel what
was the cause, and what was it that impelled the lions to abstain from
all else and to attack the camels only, creatures which they had never
seen before, and of which they had had no experience.
126. Now there are in these parts both many lions and also wild oxen,
those that have the very large horns which are often brought into
Hellas: and the limit within which these lions are found is on the one
side the river Nestos, which flows through Abdera, and on the other the
Achelos, which flows through Acarnania; for neither do the East of the
Nestos, in any part of Europe before you come to this, would you see a
lion, nor again in the remaining part of the continent to the West of
the Acheloos, but they are produced in the middle space between these
rivers.
127. When Xerxes had reached Therma he established the army there; and
his army encamping there occupied of the land along by the sea no less
than this,--beginning from the city of Therma and from Mygdonia it
extended as far as the river Lydias and the Haliacmon, which form the
boundary between the lands of Bottiaia and Macedonia, mingling their
waters together in one and the same stream. The Barbarians, I say, were
encamped in these regions; and of the rivers which have been enumerated,
only the river Cheidoros flowing from the Crestonian land was
insufficient for the drinking of the army and failed in its stream.
128. Then Xerxes seeing from Therma the mountains of Thessaly, Olympos
and Ossa, that they were of very great height, and being informed that
in the midst between them there was a narrow channel, through which
flows the Peneios, and hearing also that by this way there was a good
road leading to Thessaly, formed a desire to sail thither and look at
the outlet of the Peneios, because he was meaning to march by the upper
road, through the land of the Macedonians who dwell inland, until he
came to the Perraibians, passing by the city of Gonnos; for by this way
he was informed that it was safest to go. And having formed this desire,
so also he proceeded to do; that is, he embarked in a Sidonian ship, the
same in which he used always to embark when he wished to do anything of
this kind, and he displayed a signal for the others to put out to sea
also, leaving there the land-army. Then when Xerxes had looked at the
outlet of the Peneios, he was possessed by great wonder, and summoning
his guides he asked them whether it was possible to turn the river aside
and bring it out to the sea by another way.
129. Now it is said that Thessaly was in old time a lake, being enclosed
on all sides by very lofty mountains: for the parts of it which lie
towards the East are shut in by the ranges of Pelion and Ossa, which
join one another in their lower slopes, the parts towards the North
Wind by Olympos, those towards the West by Pindos and those towards
the mid-day and the South Wind by Othrys; and the region in the midst,
between these mountains which have been named, is Thessaly, forming as
it were a hollow. Whereas then many rivers flow into it and among them
these five of most note, namely Peneios, Apidanos, Onochonos, Enipeus
and Pamisos, these, which collect their waters from the mountains that
enclose Thessaly round, and flow into this plain, with names separate
each one, having their outflow into the sea by one channel and that a
narrow one, first mingling their waters all together in one and the
same stream; and so soon as they are mingled together, from that point
onwards the Peneios prevails with its name over the rest and causes
the others to lose their separate names. And it is said that in
ancient time, there not being yet this channel and outflow between the
mountains, these rivers, and besides these rivers the lake Boibeïs also,
had no names as they have now, but by their waters they made Thessaly
to be all sea. The Thessalians themselves say that Poseidon made the
channel through which the Peneios flows; and reasonably they report
it thus, because whosoever believes that it is Poseidon who shakes the
Earth and that the partings asunder produced by earthquake are the work
of this god, would say, if he saw this, that it was made by Poseidon;
for the parting asunder of the mountains is the work of an earthquake,
as is evident to me.
130. So the guides, when Xerxes asked whether there was any other
possible outlet to the sea for the Peneios, said with exact knowledge
of the truth: "O king, for this river there is no other outgoing which
extends to the sea, but this alone; for all Thessaly is circled about
with mountains as with a crown." To this Xerxes is said to have replied:
"The Thessalians then are prudent men. This it appears was that which
they desired to guard against in good time 111 when they changed their
counsel, 112 reflecting on this especially besides other things, namely
that they had a country which, it appears, is easy to conquer and may
quickly be taken: for it would have been necessary only to let the
river flow over their land by making an embankment to keep it from going
through the narrow channel and so diverting the course by which now it
flows, in order to put all Thessaly under water except the mountains."
This he said in reference to the sons of Aleuas, because they, being
Thessalians, were the first of the Hellenes who gave themselves over to
the king; for Xerxes thought that they offered him friendship on behalf
of their whole nation. Having said thus and having looked at the place,
he sailed back to Therma.
131. He then was staying in the region of Pieria many days, for the road
over the mountains of Macedonia was being cut meanwhile by a third part
of his army, that all the host might pass over by this way into the land
of the Perraibians: and now the heralds returned who had been sent to
Hellas to demand the gift of earth, some empty-handed and others bearing
earth and water.
132. And among those who gave that which was demanded were the
following, namely the Thessalians, Dolopians, Enianians, 113
Perraibians, Locrians, Megnesians, Malians, Achaians of Phthiotis, and
Thebans, with the rest of the Boeotians also excepting the Thespians and
Plataians. Against these the Hellenes who took up war with the Barbarian
made an oath; and the oath was this,--that whosoever being Hellenes had
given themselves over to the Persian, not being compelled, these, if
their own affairs should come to a good conclusion, they would dedicate
as an offering 114 to the god at Delphi.
133. Thus ran the oath which was taken by the Hellenes: Xerxes however
had not sent to Athens or to Sparta heralds to demand the gift of earth,
and for this reason, namely because at the former time when Dareios had
sent for this very purpose, the one people threw the men who made the
demand into the pit 115 and the others into a well, and bade them take
from thence earth and water and bear them to the king. For this reason
Xerxes did not send men to make this demand. And what evil thing 116
came upon the Athenians for having done this to the heralds, I am not
able to say, except indeed that their land and city were laid waste; but
I do not think that this happened for that cause:
134, on the Lacedemonians however the wrath fell of Talthybios, the
herald of Agamemnon; for in Sparta there is a temple of Talthybios, and
there are also descendants of Talthybios called Talthybiads, to whom
have been given as a right all the missions of heralds which go from
Sparta; and after this event it was not possible for the Spartans when
they sacrificed to obtain favourable omens. This was the case with them
for a long time; and as the Lacedemonians were grieved and regarded it
as a great misfortune, and general assemblies were repeatedly gathered
together and proclamation made, asking if any one of the Lacedemonians
was willing to die for Sparta, at length Sperthias the son of Aneristos
and Bulis the son of Nicolaos, Spartans of noble birth and in wealth
attaining to the first rank, voluntarily submitted to pay the penalty to
Xerxes for the heralds of Dareios which had perished at Sparta. Thus the
Spartans sent these to the Medes to be put to death.
135. And not only the courage then shown by these men is worthy of
admiration, but also the following sayings in addition: for as they were
on their way to Susa they came to Hydarnes (now Hydarnes was a Persian
by race and commander of those who dwelt on the sea coasts of Asia), and
he offered them hospitality and entertained them; and while they were
his guests he asked them as follows: "Lacedemonians, why is it that ye
flee from becoming friends to the king? for ye may see that the king
knows how to honour good men, when ye look at me and at my fortunes. So
also ye, Lacedemonians, if ye gave yourselves to the king, since ye have
the reputation with him already of being good men, would have rule each
one of you over Hellenic land by the gift of the king." To this they
made answer thus: "Hydarnes, thy counsel with regard to us is not
equally balanced, 117 for thou givest counsel having made trial indeed
of the one thing, but being without experience of the other: thou
knowest well what it is to be a slave, but thou hast never yet made
trial of freedom, whether it is pleasant to the taste or no; for if thou
shouldest make trial of it, thou wouldest then counsel us to fight for
it not with spears only but also with axes."
136. Thus they answered Hydarnes; and then, after they had gone up to
Susa and had come into the presence of the king, first when the spearmen
of the guard commanded them and endeavoured to compel them by force to
do obeisance to the king by falling down before him, they said that they
would not do any such deed, though they should be pushed down by them
head foremost; for it was not their custom to do obeisance to a man,
and it was not for this that they had come. Then when they had resisted
this, next they spoke these words or words to this effect: "O king of
the Medes, the Lacedemonians sent us in place of the heralds who were
slain in Sparta, to pay the penalty for their lives." When they said
this, Xerxes moved by a spirit of magnanimity replied that he would
not be like the Lacedemonians; for they had violated the rules which
prevailed among all men by slaying heralds, but he would not do that
himself which he blamed them for having done, nor would he free the
Lacedemonians from their guilt by slaying these in return.
137. Thus the wrath of Talthybios ceased for the time being, even though
the Spartans had done no more than this and although Sperthias and Bulis
returned back to Sparta; but a long time after this it was roused
again during the war between the Peloponnesians and Athenians, as the
Lacedemonians report. This I perceive to have been most evidently
the act of the Deity: for in that the wrath of Talthybios fell upon
messengers and did not cease until it had been fully satisfied, so much
was but in accordance with justice; but that it happened to come upon
the sons of these men who went up to the king on account of the wrath,
namely upon Nicolaos the son of Bulis and Aneristos the son of Sperthias
(the same who conquered the men of Halieis, who came from Tiryns, by
sailing into their harbour with a merchant ship filled with fighting
men),--by this it is evident to me that the matter came to pass by
the act of the Deity caused by this wrath. For these men, sent by the
Lacedemonians as envoys to Asia, having been betrayed by Sitalkes the
son of Teres king of the Thracians and by Nymphodoros the son of Pythes
a man of Abdera, were captured at Bisanthe on the Hellespont; and
then having been carried away to Attica they were put to death by
the Athenians, and with them also Aristeas the son of Adeimantos the
Corinthian. These things happened many years after the expedition of the
king; and I return now to the former narrative.
138. Now the march of the king's army was in name against Athens, but in
fact it was going against all Hellas: and the Hellenes being informed of
this long before were not all equally affected by it; for some of them
having given earth and water to the Persian had confidence, supposing
that they would suffer no hurt from the Barbarian; while others not
having given were in great terror, seeing that there were not ships
existing in Hellas which were capable as regards number of receiving the
invader in fight, and seeing that the greater part of the States were
not willing to take up the war, but adopted readily the side of the
Medes.
139. And here I am compelled by necessity to declare an opinion which in
the eyes of most men would seem to be invidious, but nevertheless I will
not abstain from saying that which I see evidently to be the truth. If
the Athenians had been seized with fear of the danger which threatened
them and had left their land, 118 or again, without leaving their land,
had stayed and given themselves up to Xerxes, none would have made any
attempt by sea to oppose the king. If then none had opposed Xerxes by
sea, it would have happened on the land somewhat thus:--even if
many tunics of walls 119 had been thrown across the Isthmus by the
Peloponnesians, the Lacedemonians would have been deserted by their
allies, not voluntarily but of necessity, since these would have been
conquered city after city by the naval force of the Barbarian, and so
they would have been left alone: and having been left alone and having
displayed great deeds of valour, they would have met their death nobly.
Either they would have suffered this fate, or before this, seeing the
other Hellenes also taking the side of the Medes, they would have made
an agreement with Xerxes; and thus in either case Hellas would have come
to be under the rule of the Persians: for as to the good to be got from
the walls thrown across the Isthmus, I am unable to discover what it
would have been, when the king had command of the sea. As it is however,
if a man should say that the Athenians proved to be the saviours of
Hellas, he would not fail to hit the truth; for to whichever side these
turned, to that the balance was likely to incline: and these were they
who, preferring that Hellas should continue to exist in freedom, roused
up all of Hellas which remained, so much, that is, as had not gone over
to the Medes, and (after the gods at least) these were they who repelled
the king. Nor did fearful oracles, which came from Delphi and cast them
into dread, induce them to leave Hellas, but they stayed behind and
endured to receive the invader of their land.
140. For the Athenians had sent men to Delphi to inquire and were
preparing to consult the Oracle; and after these had performed the usual
rites in the sacred precincts, when they had entered the sanctuary 120
and were sitting down there, the Pythian prophetess, whose name was
Aristonike, uttered to them this oracle:
"Why do ye sit, O ye wretched? Flee thou 121 to the uttermost
limits, Leaving thy home and the heights of the wheel-round city
behind thee! Lo, there remaineth now nor the head nor the body in
safety,--Neither the feet below nor the hands nor the middle are
left thee,--All are destroyed 122 together; for fire and the
passionate War-god, 123 Urging the Syrian 124 car to speed, doth
hurl them 125 to ruin. Not thine alone, he shall cause many more
great strongholds to perish, Yes, many temples of gods to the
ravening fire shall deliver,--Temples which stand now surely with
sweat of their terror down-streaming, Quaking with dread; and lo!
from the topmost roof to the pavement Dark blood trickles,
forecasting the dire unavoidable evil. Forth with you, forth from
the shrine, and steep your soul in the sorrow!" 126
141. Hearing this the men who had been sent by the Athenians to consult
the Oracle were very greatly distressed; and as they were despairing by
reason of the evil which had been prophesied to them, Timon the son of
Androbulos, a man of the Delphians in reputation equal to the first,
counselled them to take a suppliant's bough and to approach the second
time and consult the Oracle as suppliants. The Athenians did as he
advised and said: "Lord, 127 we pray thee utter to us some better oracle
about our native land, having respect to these suppliant boughs which we
have come to thee bearing; otherwise surely we will not depart away from
the sanctuary, but will remain here where we are now, even until we
bring our lives to an end." When they spoke these words, the prophetess
gave them a second oracle as follows:
"Pallas cannot prevail to appease great Zeus in Olympos, Though she
with words very many and wiles close-woven entreat him. But I will
tell thee this more, and will clench it with steel adamantine: Then
when all else shall be taken, whatever the boundary 128 of Kecrops
Holdeth within, and the dark ravines of divinest Kithairon, A
bulwark of wood at the last Zeus grants to the Trito-born goddess
Sole to remain unwasted, which thee and thy children shall profit.
Stay thou not there for the horsemen to come and the footmen
unnumbered; Stay thou not still for the host from the mainland to
come, but retire thee, Turning thy back to the foe, for yet thou
shalt face him hereafter. Salamis, thou the divine, thou shalt cause
sons of women to perish, Or when the grain 129 is scattered or
when it is gathered together."
142. This seemed to them to be (as in truth it was) a milder utterance
than the former one; therefore they had it written down and departed
with it to Athens: and when the messengers after their return made
report to the people, many various opinions were expressed by persons
inquiring into the meaning of the oracle, and among them these, standing
most in opposition to one another:--some of the elder men said they
thought that the god had prophesied to them that the Acropolis should
survive; for the Acropolis of the Athenians was in old time fenced with
a thorn hedge; and they conjectured accordingly that this saying about
the "bulwark of wood" referred to the fence: others on the contrary said
that the god meant by this their ships, and they advised to leave all
else and get ready these. Now they who said that the ships were the
bulwark of wood were shaken in their interpretation by the two last
verses which the prophetess uttered:
"Salamis, thou the divine, thou shalt cause sons of women to perish,
Or when the grain is scattered or when it is gathered together."
In reference to these verses the opinions of those who said that the
ships were the bulwark of wood were disturbed; for the interpreters of
oracles took these to mean that it was fated for them, having got ready
for a sea-fight, to suffer defeat round about Salamis.
143. Now there was one man of the Athenians who had lately been coming
forward to take a place among the first, whose name was Themistocles,
called son of Neocles. This man said that the interpreters of oracles
did not make right conjecture of the whole, and he spoke as follows,
saying that if these words that had been uttered referred really to the
Athenians, he did not think it would have been so mildly expressed in
the oracle, but rather thus, "Salamis, thou the merciless," instead of
"Salamis, thou the divine," at least if its settlers were destined to
perish round about it: but in truth the oracle had been spoken by the
god with reference to the enemy, if one understood it rightly, and not
to the Athenians: therefore he counselled them to get ready to fight a
battle by sea, for in this was their bulwark of wood. When Themistocles
declared his opinion thus, the Athenians judged that this was to be
preferred by them rather than the advice of the interpreters of oracles,
who bade them not make ready for a sea-fight, nor in short raise their
hands at all in opposition, but leave the land of Attica and settle in
some other.