to accomplish, at once with great joy proceeded to send Hydarnes and the
men of whom Hydarnes was commander; 215 and they set forth from the camp
about the time when the lamps are lit. This path of which we speak
had been discovered by the Malians who dwell in that land, and having
discovered it they led the Thessalians by it against the Phokians, at
the time when the Phokians had fenced the pass with a wall and thus were
sheltered from the attacks upon them: so long ago as this had the pass
been proved by the Malians to be of no value. 216 And this path lies
as follows:--it begins from the river Asopos, which flows through the
cleft, and the name of this mountain and of the path is the same, namely
Anopaia; and this Anopaia stretches over the ridge of the mountain and
ends by the town of Alpenos, which is the first town of the Locrians
towards Malis, and by the stone called Black Buttocks 217 and the seats
of the Kercopes, where is the very narrowest part.
217. By this path thus situated the Persians after crossing over the
Asopos proceeded all through the night, having on their right hand the
mountains of the Oitaians and on the left those of the Trachinians: and
when dawn appeared, they had reached the summit of the mountain. In
this part of the mountain there were, as I have before shown, a thousand
hoplites of the Phokians keeping guard, to protect their own country and
to keep the path: for while the pass below was guarded by those whom I
have mentioned, the path over the mountain was guarded by the Phokians,
who had undertaken the business for Leonidas by their own offer.
218. While the Persians were ascending they were concealed from these,
since all the mountain was covered with oak-trees; and the Phokians
became aware of them after they had made the ascent as follows:--the day
was calm, and not a little noise was made by the Persians, as was likely
when leaves were lying spread upon the ground under their feet; upon
which the Phokians started up and began to put on their arms, and by
this time the Barbarians were close upon them. These, when they saw men
arming themselves, fell into wonder, for they were expecting that no one
would appear to oppose them, and instead of that they had met with an
armed force. Then Hydarnes, seized with fear lest the Phokians should
be Lacedemonians, asked Epialtes of what people the force was; and
being accurately informed he set the Persians in order for battle. The
Phokians however, when they were hit by the arrows of the enemy, which
flew thickly, fled and got away at once to the topmost peak of the
mountain, fully assured that it was against them that the enemy had
designed to come, 218 and here they were ready to meet death. These,
I say, were in this mind; but the Persians meanwhile with Epialtes and
Hydarnes made no account of the Phokians, but descended the mountain
with all speed.
219. To the Hellenes who were in Thermopylai first the soothsayer
Megistias, after looking into the victims which were sacrificed,
declared the death which was to come to them at dawn of day; and
afterwards deserters brought the report 219 of the Persians having gone
round. These signified it to them while it was yet night, and thirdly
came the day-watchers, who had run down from the heights when day was
already dawning. Then the Hellenes deliberated, and their opinions were
divided; for some urged that they should not desert their post, while
others opposed this counsel. After this they departed from their
assembly, 220 and some went away and dispersed each to their several
cities, while others of them were ready to remain there together with
Leonidas.
220. However it is reported also that Leonidas himself sent them away,
having a care that they might not perish, but thinking that it was not
seemly for himself and for the Spartans who were present to leave the
post to which they had come at first to keep guard there. I am inclined
rather to be of this latter opinion, 221 namely that because Leonidas
perceived that the allies were out of heart and did not desire to face
the danger with him to the end, he ordered them to depart, but held that
for himself to go away was not honourable, whereas if he remained, a
great fame of him would be left behind, and the prosperity of Sparta
would not be blotted out: for an oracle had been given by the Pythian
prophetess to the Spartans, when they consulted about this war at the
time when it was being first set on foot, to the effect that either
Lacedemon must be destroyed by the Barbarians, or their king must lose
his life. This reply the prophetess gave them in hexameter verses, and
it ran thus:
"But as for you, ye men who in wide-spaced Sparta inhabit,
Either your glorious city is sacked by the children of Perses,
Or, if it be not so, then a king of the stock Heracleian
Dead shall be mourned for by all in the boundaries of broad Lacedemon.
Him 222 nor the might of bulls nor the raging of lions shall hinder;
For he hath might as of Zeus; and I say he shall not be restrained,
Till one of the other of these he have utterly torn and divided." 223
I am of opinion that Leonidas considering these things and desiring to
lay up for himself glory above all the other Spartans, 224 dismissed the
allies, rather than that those who departed did so in such disorderly
fashion, because they were divided in opinion.
221. Of this the following has been to my mind a proof as convincing as
any other, namely that Leonidas is known to have endeavoured to dismiss
the soothsayer also who accompanied this army, Megistias the Acarnanian,
who was said to be descended from Melampus, that he might not perish
with them after he had declared from the victims that which was about
to come to pass for them. He however when he was bidden to go would
not himself depart, but sent away his son who was with him in the army,
besides whom he had no other child.
222. The allies then who were dismissed departed and went away, obeying
the word of Leonidas, and only the Thespians and the Thebans remained
behind with the Lacedemonians. Of these the Thebans stayed against their
will and not because they desired it, for Leonidas kept them, counting
them as hostages; but the Thespians very willingly, for they said that
they would not depart and leave Leonidas and those with him, but they
stayed behind and died with them. The commander of these was Demophilos
the son of Diadromes.
223. Xerxes meanwhile, having made libations at sunrise, stayed for
some time, until about the hour when the market fills, and then made
an advance upon them; for thus it had been enjoined by Epialtes, seeing
that the descent of the mountain is shorter and the space to be passed
over much less than the going round and the ascent. The Barbarians
accordingly with Xerxes were advancing to the attack; and the Hellenes
with Leonidas, feeling that they were going forth to death, now advanced
out much further than at first into the broader part of the defile; for
when the fence of the wall was being guarded, 225 they on the former
days fought retiring before the enemy into the narrow part of the pass;
but now they engaged with them outside the narrows, and very many of
the Barbarians fell: for behind them the leaders of the divisions with
scourges in their hands were striking each man, ever urging them on to
the front. Many of them then were driven into the sea and perished, and
many more still were trodden down while yet alive by one another, and
there was no reckoning of the number that perished: for knowing the
death which was about to come upon them by reason of those who were
going round the mountain, they 226 displayed upon the Barbarians all the
strength which they had, to its greatest extent, disregarding danger and
acting as if possessed by a spirit of recklessness.
224. Now by this time the spears of the greater number of them were
broken, so it chanced, in this combat, and they were slaying the
Persians with their swords; and in this fighting fell Leonidas, having
proved himself a very good man, and others also of the Spartans with
him, men of note, of whose names I was informed as of men who had proved
themselves worthy, and indeed I was told also the names of all the three
hundred. Moreover of the Persians there fell here, besides many others
of note, especially two sons of Dareios, Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, born
to Dareios of Phratagune the daughter of Artanes: now Artanes was the
brother of king Dareios and the son of Hystaspes, the son of Arsames;
and he in giving his daughter in marriage to Dareios gave also with her
all his substance, because she was his only child.
225. Two brothers of Xerxes, I say, fell here fighting; and meanwhile
over the body of Leonidas there arose a great struggle between the
Persians and the Lacedemonians, until the Hellenes by valour dragged
this away from the enemy and turned their opponents to flight four
times. This conflict continued until those who had gone with Epialtes
came up; and when the Hellenes learnt that these had come, from that
moment the nature of the combat was changed; for they retired backwards
to the narrow part of the way, and having passed by the wall they went
and placed themselves upon the hillock, 227 all in a body together
except only the Thebans: now this hillock is in the entrance, where
now the stone lion is placed for Leonidas. On this spot while defending
themselves with daggers, that is those who still had them left, and also
with hands and with teeth, they were overwhelmed by the missiles of
the Barbarians, some of these having followed directly after them and
destroyed the fence of the wall, while others had come round and stood
about them on all sides.
226. Such were the proofs of valour given by the Lacedemonians and
Thespians; yet the Spartan Dienekes is said to have proved himself
the best man of all, the same who, as they report, uttered this saying
before they engaged battle with the Medes:--being informed by one of
the men of Trachis that when the Barbarians discharged their arrows they
obscured the light of the sun by the multitude of the arrows, so great
was the number of their host, he was not dismayed by this, but making
small account of the number of the Medes, he said that their guest from
Trachis brought them very good news, for if the Medes obscured the light
of the sun, the battle against them would be in the shade and not in the
sun.
227. This and other sayings of this kind they report that Dienekes the
Lacedemonian left as memorials of himself; and after him the bravest
they say of the Lacedemonians were two brothers Alpheos and Maron, sons
of Orsiphantos. Of the Thespians the man who gained most honour was
named Dithyrambos son of Harmatides.
228. The men were buried where they fell; and for these, as well as for
those who were slain before being sent away 228 by Leonidas, there is an
inscription which runs thus:
"Here once, facing in fight three hundred myriads of foemen,
Thousands four did contend, men of the Peloponnese."
This is the inscription for the whole body; and for the Spartans
separately there is this:
"Stranger, report this word, we pray, to the Spartans, that lying
Here in this spot we remain, faithfully keeping their laws." 229
This, I say, for the Lacedemonians; and for the soothsayer as follows:
"This is the tomb of Megistias renowned, whom the Median foemen,
Where Sperchios doth flow, slew when they forded the stream;
Soothsayer he, who then knowing clearly the fates that were coming,
Did not endure in the fray Sparta's good leaders to leave."
The Amphictyons it was who honoured them with inscriptions and
memorial pillars, excepting only in the case of the inscription to
the soothsayer; but that of the soothsayer Megistias was inscribed by
Simonides the son of Leoprepes on account of guest-friendship.
229. Two of these three hundred, it is said, namely Eurystos and
Aristodemos, who, if they had made agreement with one another, might
either have come safe home to Sparta together (seeing that they had
been dismissed from the camp by Leonidas and were lying at Alpenoi with
disease of the eyes, suffering extremely), or again, if they had not
wished to return home, they might have been slain together with the
rest,--when they might, I say, have done either one of these two
things, would not agree together; but the two being divided in opinion,
Eurystos, it is said, when he was informed that the Persians had gone
round, asked for his arms and having put them on ordered his Helot to
lead him to those who were fighting; and after he had led him thither,
the man who had led him ran away and departed, but Eurystos plunged into
the thick of the fighting, and so lost his life: but Aristodemos was
left behind fainting. 230 Now if either Aristodemos had been ill 231
alone, and so had returned home to Sparta, or the men had both of
them come back together, I do not suppose that the Spartans would have
displayed any anger against them; but in this case, as the one of them
had lost his life and the other, clinging to an excuse which the first
also might have used, 232 had not been willing to die, it necessarily
happened that the Spartans had great indignation against Aristodemos.
230. Some say that Aristodemos came safe to Sparta in this manner, and
on a pretext such as I have said; but others, that he had been sent as a
messenger from the camp, and when he might have come up in time to find
the battle going on, was not willing to do so, but stayed upon the road
and so saved his life, while his fellow-messenger reached the battle and
was slain.
231. When Aristodemos, I say, had returned home to Lacedemon, he
had reproach and dishonour; 233 and that which he suffered by way of
dishonour was this,--no one of the Spartans would either give him light
for a fire or speak with him, and he had reproach in that he was called
Aristodemos the coward. 234
232. He however in the battle at Plataia repaired all the guilt that was
charged against him: but it is reported that another man also survived
of these three hundred, whose name was Pantites, having been sent as a
messenger to Thessaly, and this man, when he returned back to Sparta and
found himself dishonoured, is said to have strangled himself.
233. The Thebans however, of whom the commander was Leontiades, being
with the Hellenes had continued for some time to fight against the
king's army, constrained by necessity; but when they saw that the
fortunes of the Persians were prevailing, then and not before, while the
Hellenes with Leonidas were making their way with speed to the hillock,
they separated from these and holding out their hands came near to the
Barbarians, saying at the same time that which was most true, namely
that they were on the side of the Medes and that they had been among the
first to give earth and water to the king; and moreover that they had
come to Thermopylai constrained by necessity, and were blameless for the
loss which had been inflicted upon the king: so that thus saying they
preserved their lives, for they had also the Thessalians to bear witness
to these words. However, they did not altogether meet with good fortune,
for some had even been slain as they had been approaching, and when they
had come and the Barbarians had them in their power, the greater
number of them were branded by command of Xerxes with the royal marks,
beginning with their leader Leontiades, the same whose son Eurymachos
was afterwards slain by the Plataians, when he had been made commander
of four hundred Thebans and had seized the city of the Plataians. 235
234. Thus did the Hellenes at Thermopylai contend in fight; and
Xerxes summoned Demaratos and inquired of him, having first said this:
"Demaratos, thou art a good man; and this I conclude by the truth of thy
words, for all that thou saidest turned out so as thou didst say. Now,
however, tell me how many in number are the remaining Lacedemonians, and
of them how many are like these in matters of war; or are they so even
all of them?" He said: "O king, the number of all the Lacedemonians is
great and their cities are many, but that which thou desirest to learn,
thou shalt know. There is in Lacedemon the city of Sparta, having about
eight thousand men; and these are all equal to those who fought here:
the other Lacedemonians are not equal to these, but they are good men
too." To this Xerxes said: "Demaratos, in what manner shall we with
least labour get the better of these men? Come set forth to us this; for
thou knowest the courses of their counsels, 236 seeing that thou wert
once their king."
235. He made answer: "O king, if thou dost in very earnest take counsel
with me, it is right that I declare to thee the best thing. What if thou
shouldest send three hundred ships from thy fleet to attack the Laconian
land? Now there is lying near it an island named Kythera, about which
Chilon, who was a very wise man among us, said that it would be a
greater gain for the Spartans that it should be sunk under the sea than
that it should remain above it; for he always anticipated that something
would happen from it of such a kind as I am now setting forth to thee:
not that he knew of thy armament beforehand, but that he feared equally
every armament of men. Let thy forces then set forth from this island
and keep the Lacedemonians in fear; and while they have a war of their
own close at their doors, there will be no fear for thee from them that
when the remainder of Hellas is being conquered by the land-army, they
will come to the rescue there. Then after the remainder of Hellas has
been reduced to subjection, from that moment the Lacedemonian power will
be left alone and therefore feeble. If however thou shalt not do this,
I will tell thee what thou must look for. There is a narrow isthmus
leading to the Peloponnese, and in this place thou must look that other
battles will be fought more severe than those which have taken place,
seeing that all the Peloponnesians have sworn to a league against thee:
but if thou shalt do the other thing of which I spoke, this isthmus and
the cities within it will come over to thy side without a battle."
236. After him spoke Achaimenes, brother of Xerxes and also commander
of the fleet, who chanced to have been present at this discourse and was
afraid lest Xerxes should be persuaded to do this: "O king," he said,
"I see that thou art admitting the speech of a man who envies thy good
fortune, or is even a traitor to thy cause: for in truth the Hellenes
delight in such a temper as this; they envy a man for his good luck, and
they hate that which is stronger than themselves. And if, besides other
misfortunes which we have upon us, seeing that four hundred of our ships
237 have suffered wreck, thou shalt send away another three hundred from
the station of the fleet to sail round Peloponnese, then thy antagonists
become a match for thee in fight; whereas while it is all assembled
together our fleet is hard for them to deal with, and they will not be
at all a match for thee: and moreover the whole sea-force will support
the land-force and be supported by it, if they proceed onwards together;
but if thou shalt divide them, neither wilt thou be of service to them
nor they to thee. My determination is rather to set thy affairs in good
order 238 and not to consider the affairs of the enemy, either where
they will set on foot the war or what they will do or how many in number
they are; for it is sufficient that they should themselves take thought
for themselves, and we for ourselves likewise: and if the Lacedemonians
come to stand against the Persians in fight, they will assuredly not
heal the wound from which they are now suffering." 239
237. To him Xerxes made answer as follows: "Achaimenes, I think that
thou speakest well, and so will I do; but Demaratos speaks that which he
believes to be best for me, though his opinion is defeated by thine: for
I will not certainly admit that which thou saidest, namely that he is
not well-disposed to my cause, judging both by what was said by him
before this, and also by that which is the truth, namely that though one
citizen envies another for his good fortune and shows enmity to him by
his silence, 240 nor would a citizen when a fellow-citizen consulted him
suggest that which seemed to him the best, unless he had attained to a
great height of virtue, and such men doubtless are few; yet guest-friend
to guest-friend in prosperity is well-disposed as nothing else on
earth, and if his friend should consult him, he would give him the best
counsel. Thus then as regards the evil-speaking against Demaratos, that
is to say about one who is my guest-friend, I bid every one abstain from
it in the future."
238. Having thus said Xerxes passed in review the bodies of the dead;
and as for Leonidas, hearing that he had been the king and commander of
the Lacedemonians he bade them cut off his head and crucify him. And
it has been made plain to me by many proofs besides, but by none more
strongly than by this, that king Xerxes was enraged with Leonidas while
alive more than with any other man on earth; for otherwise he would
never have done this outrage to his corpse; since of all the men whom I
know, the Persians are accustomed most to honour those who are good men
in war. They then to whom it was appointed to do these things, proceeded
to do so.
239. I will return now to that point of my narrative where it remained
unfinished. 241 The Lacedemonians had been informed before all others
that the king was preparing an expedition against Hellas; and thus it
happened that they sent to the Oracle at Delphi, where that reply was
given them which I reported shortly before this. And they got this
information in a strange manner; for Demaratos the son of Ariston
after he had fled for refuge to the Medes was not friendly to the
Lacedemonians, as I am of opinion and as likelihood suggests supporting
my opinion; but it is open to any man to make conjecture whether he did
this thing which follows in a friendly spirit or in malicious triumph
over them. When Xerxes had resolved to make a campaign against Hellas,
Demaratos, being in Susa and having been informed of this, had a desire
to report it to the Lacedemonians. Now in no other way was he able to
signify it, for there was danger that he should be discovered, but he
contrived thus, that is to say, he took a folding tablet and scraped off
the wax which was upon it, and then he wrote the design of the king upon
the wood of the tablet, and having done so he melted the wax and poured
it over the writing, so that the tablet (being carried without writing
upon it) might not cause any trouble to be given by the keepers of the
road. Then when it had arrived at Lacedemon, the Lacedemonians were not
able to make conjecture of the matter; until at last, as I am informed,
Gorgo, the daughter of Cleomenes and wife of Leonidas, suggested a plan
of which she had herself thought, bidding them scrape the wax and they
would find writing upon the wood; and doing as she said they found
the writing and read it, and after that they sent notice to the other
Hellenes. These things are said to have come to pass in this manner. 242
NOTES TO BOOK VII
1 [ {kai ploia}, for transport of horses and also of provisions: however
these words are omitted in some of the best MSS.]
2 [ {all ei}: this is the reading of the better class of MSS. The
rest have {alla}, which with {pressois} could only express a wish for
success, and not an exhortation to action.]
3 [ {outos men oi o logos en timoros}: the words may mean "this manner
of discourse was helpful for his purpose."]
4 [ {khresmologon e kai diatheten khresmon ton Mousaiou}.]
5 [ {aphanizoiato}, representing the present tense {aphanizontai} in the
oracle.]
6 [ {ton thronon touton}: most MSS. have {ton thronon, touto}.]
7 [ {epistasthe kou pantes}: the MSS. have {ta epistasthe kou pantes},
which is given by most Editors. In that case {oia erxan} would be an
exclamation, "What evils they did to us,... things which ye all know
well, I think."]
8 [ {touton mentoi eineka}: it is hardly possible here to give {mentoi}
its usual meaning: Stein in his latest edition reads {touton men
toinun}.]
9 [ {suneneike}: Stein reads {suneneike se}, "supposing that thou art
worsted."]
10 [ {ep andri ge eni}, as opposed to a god.]
11 [ {akousesthai tina psemi ton k.t.l.}, "each one of those who are
left behind."]