Histories — Book 7 (Polymnia)

Herodotus · a new plain-English translation from the Greek

When news of the battle fought at Marathon reached King Darius son of Hystaspes, who had already been greatly provoked at the Athenians because of their attack on Sardis, he now grew far more indignant still and was all the more eager to march against Greece. At once he sent messengers around to the cities ordering them to prepare an army, commanding each to furnish far more

than before—ships, horses, grain, and transport vessels. As these orders went out, Asia was in turmoil for three years, as the best men were being enrolled and equipped to campaign against Greece. But in the fourth year the Egyptians, who had been enslaved by Cambyses, revolted from the Persians. At that point Darius was all the more eager to campaign against both peoples. While Darius was preparing

his expedition against Egypt and Athens, a great dispute arose among his sons over the succession, since Persian custom required that a king be designated before he went on campaign. Darius had had three sons born before he became king, by his first wife, the daughter of Gobryas, and four more after he became king, by Atossa, daughter of Cyrus. Of the elder sons the eldest was Artobazanes; of the

younger, Xerxes. Since they were of different mothers, they were in dispute: Artobazanes because he was the eldest of all the offspring, and because it was customary among all mankind for the eldest to hold rule; Xerxes because he was the son of Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, and because it was Cyrus who had won the Persians their freedom. Darius had

had not yet given his verdict, when it so happened that Demaratus son of Ariston, stripped of his kingship at Sparta and having exiled himself from Lacedaemon, had also come up to Susa around this same time. Learning of the quarrel between the sons of Darius, this man went to Xerxes—so the account goes—and urged him to add, beyond what he had already been arguing, that he himself was born to Darius after Darius had already become king and

already held the Persian throne, whereas Artobazanes had been born to Darius while he was still a private man; so it would be neither fitting nor just for anyone else to receive the honor ahead of him. Demaratus pointed out that this same custom held even at Sparta: if sons were born before their father took the throne, and a later son was born to him once he was already king, the claim to succeed

kingship belonged to the one born after. Xerxes followed Demaratus's advice, and Darius, recognizing that he spoke justly, declared him king. But it seems to me that even without this advice Xerxes would have become king, for Atossa held all the power. Having declared Xerxes king of the Persians, Darius set about his campaign. But then, after this, while preparing his response to the revolt of Egypt in the following year,

Darius, after a reign of thirty-six years in all, came to die, and he was never able to punish either the rebel Egyptians or the Athenians. When Darius died, the throne passed to his son Xerxes. Xerxes, for his part, had at the outset no real eagerness to march against Greece, and instead set about mustering an army against Egypt. But present

and the man who carried the most weight with him among the Persians, Mardonius son of Gobryas, kept returning to this argument, saying, "Master, it would not be right for the Athenians, after inflicting so much harm on the Persians, to escape paying the penalty for what they did. Still, for the moment attend to the business now in your hands; once you have subdued Egypt in its arrogance,

lead your army against Athens, so that you may have a good name among men, and that in future anyone will think twice before invading your land." This was his argument for vengeance; but to this argument he would also add the claim that Europe was an exceedingly beautiful land, bearing every kind of cultivated tree, and of surpassing excellence, worthy to be possessed by the king alone among mortals.

He said this because he was eager for new exploits and wished himself to be governor of Greece. In time he worked on Xerxes and persuaded him to do this; and other things happening to coincide helped bring Xerxes around to being persuaded. For one thing, messengers had come from Thessaly on behalf of the Aleuadae, urging the king with every show of eagerness to march against Greece; these

Aleuadae were kings of Thessaly. For another, those of the Pisistratids who had come up to Susa were pressing the same arguments as the Aleuadae, and moreover urged him even further still: they had with them Onomacritus, an Athenian, an oracle-monger and arranger of the oracles of Musaeus, and they had come up having first settled their quarrel with him. For Onomacritus had been driven out of

Athens by Hipparchus son of Pisistratus, having been caught red-handed by Lasus of Hermione inserting into the oracles of Musaeus a prophecy that the islands lying off Lemnos would vanish beneath the sea. For this Hipparchus drove him out, though before that he had made great use of him. But now he had gone up together with them, and whenever he came into the king's presence, the Pisistratids would speak solemn words about him, and he would recite from the oracles; and if there

was anything in them foretelling misfortune for the barbarian, he said nothing of it, but chose out the most favorable prophecies and recited them, saying that it was fated that the Hellespont be bridged by a Persian, and expounding the details of the march. So this man came bearing his oracles, and the Pisistratids and the Aleuadae kept declaring their opinions besides. When Xerxes was persuaded to march against Greece, then, in the second year after

the death of Darius, he first made an expedition against those who had revolted. Having subdued them and made all Egypt far more enslaved than it had been under Darius, he entrusted it to Achaemenes, his own brother and a son of Darius. Now Achaemenes, while governing Egypt, was later murdered by Inaros son of Psammetichus, a Libyan. After the conquest of Egypt, when Xerxes was about to take in hand

the expedition against Athens, he convened a special assembly of the leading Persians, so that he might learn their opinions and himself state before them all what he wished. When they had gathered, Xerxes spoke as follows. After him Mardonius spoke: "Master, you are not only the best of the Persians who have ever lived but also of those yet to come, since in everything else you have judged most excellently

and most truly, and you will not allow the Ionians settled in Europe to laugh at us, unworthy as they are. For it would be a monstrous thing if we, who have subdued and hold as slaves the Sacae, Indians, Ethiopians, Assyrians, and many other great nations that did us no wrong, merely because we wished to add to our power, should fail to take vengeance on the Greeks who were the first to commit injustice against us. Mardonius,

having smoothed Xerxes's judgment with words to this effect, fell silent. And since the rest of the Persians were silent and did not dare to put forward an opinion opposed to the one already proposed, Artabanus son of Hystaspes, who was Xerxes's uncle and relied on that very fact, spoke as follows. Artabanus said this, and Xerxes, angered, answered him thus: "Artabanus, you are my father's brother; that alone will save you from receiving the fitting payment for

your foolish words. But I do impose this disgrace upon you, since you are a coward and lack spirit: you shall not campaign with me against Greece, but shall remain here with the women. As for me, I will accomplish all that I have said, even without you. For may I not be a descendant of Darius son of Hystaspes, son of Arsames, son of Ariaramnes, son of Teispes, son of Cyrus, son of Cambyses, son of Teispes, son of Achaemenes,

if I do not take vengeance on the Athenians—knowing well that if we remain at peace, they will not, but will indeed march against our land, if one may judge by what they have already done: they burned Sardis and marched into Asia. So it is not possible for either side now to withdraw; the contest before us is to do or to suffer, so that either all this land shall come under the Greeks or all

that land shall come under the Persians, for there is no middle ground in this hostility. It is right, then, that since we have already suffered wrong, we should now take our vengeance, so that I may also learn what this terrible thing is that I am to suffer, by marching against these men—men whom even Pelops the Phrygian, who was a slave of my forefathers, subdued so completely that to this very day the people themselves and their land are named

after their conqueror." So much was said on this matter. Afterward night came, and the opinion of Artabanus continued to trouble Xerxes; and taking counsel with himself in the night, he found it altogether no advantage to campaign against Greece. Having again resolved on this, he fell asleep, and in the night, it is said by the Persians, he saw a vision of this kind: Xerxes

dreamed that a tall and handsome man stood over him and said, "Are you then changing your mind, Persian, about not leading your army against Greece, after having proclaimed that the Persians should gather their forces? You do not do well in changing your mind, nor is there anyone here who will forgive you; but go the way you resolved to go by day." Having said this, the figure seemed to Xerxes to fly away; and when day dawned, he

took no account of this dream, but assembled the Persians whom he had gathered before and said to them: "Men of Persia, forgive me for changing my mind so abruptly; I have not yet reached the full maturity of my judgment, and those who urge me toward that other course never leave me in peace for a moment. When I heard the opinion of Artabanus, my youth at once boiled over, so that I

hurled at an older man words more unbecoming than was proper; but now I acknowledge my fault and will follow his judgment. So then, since I have changed my mind and will not campaign against Greece, be at ease." When the Persians heard this, they rejoiced and did obeisance. But when night came, the same dream stood again over Xerxes as he slept and said, "Son of Darius, you have now plainly declared before the Persians that you renounce the expedition,

and hold my words in no regard, as though you had heard them from no one? Know this well: if you do not lead an army at once, this is what will come of it—just as you became great and mighty in a short time, so too you will quickly become humbled again." Xerxes, terrified by the vision, leapt up from his bed and

sent a messenger to summon Artabanus. When he arrived, Xerxes said this to him: "Artabanus, in the moment I was not of sound mind when I spoke rash words to you in return for your good advice; but not long after I changed my mind, and I recognized that I must do what you had proposed. Yet I am not able to do this even though I wish to, for since I turned back and changed my mind, a dream keeps visiting me

that appears to me and by no means approves of my doing this; and just now it has departed after threatening me besides. Now if it is a god who is sending it, and it is altogether his pleasure that the expedition against Greece take place, this same dream will fly to you as well and give you the same command it gives me. And I find this would happen if you were to take all my clothing and, putting it on, sit down

onto my own throne, and afterward lie down and sleep in my bed." Such were Xerxes' words to him. Artabanus did not yield to the first order, feeling unworthy to take his seat upon the royal throne, but finally, once compelled, having said as much, he carried out what was asked of him. Having spoken those words, and expecting to prove that Xerxes' claim amounted to nothing, Artabanus did as he was told. He put on Xerxes' robes and

sat upon the royal throne, and when afterward he lay down to sleep, the same dream that had been visiting Xerxes came to him too, and standing over Artabanus it said: "Are you indeed the one who tries to dissuade Xerxes from marching against Greece, as though you cared for him? But neither in the future nor now at present will you escape the consequences of turning aside what

was destined to happen. As for Xerxes, what would befall him for refusing to listen has already been shown to him directly." Artabanus took this to mean the dream was threatening him, and that it meant to sear his eyes shut with heated iron rods. Crying out loudly, he sprang up, and taking a seat beside Xerxes, after describing the vision of the dream to him in full, he spoke to him a second time, saying: "I, O king, being a man who has already witnessed many

great affairs collapse at the hands of lesser men, would not allow you to give way entirely to your youth, knowing how harmful it is to crave more and more—recalling how Cyrus's campaign against the Massagetae turned out, and recalling too Cambyses' campaign against the Ethiopians, while I myself took part with Darius in the expedition against the Scythians. Knowing all this, my judgment was that if you stayed at peace, you would be counted fortunate above everyone

men. But since some divine impulse has arisen, and it seems that some god-driven destruction is now overtaking the Greeks, I myself also turn and change my mind, and you should announce to the Persians what is being sent from the god, and bid them make use of the preparations you first proposed, and act in such a way that, since the god is granting it, nothing on your part

shall be lacking." When these things had been said, both being lifted up by the vision, as soon as day came Xerxes laid this matter before the Persians, and Artabanus, who before had alone appeared to oppose it, now was plainly urging it on. When Xerxes had set his mind on leading the campaign, after this a third vision came to him in his sleep, which the Magi, upon hearing of it, interpreted to mean that it portended rule over the whole earth and that all mankind would be his slaves.

The dream vision was this: Xerxes dreamed he was crowned with an olive branch, and that shoots from the olive spread out to cover the whole earth, after which the crown resting on his head vanished. Once the Magi had interpreted this, every Persian who had gathered there set off at once for his own province, full of enthusiasm over what had been declared, each man wishing

to obtain the prizes set before them, and it was in this way that Xerxes gathered his army, searching out every region of the continent. For from the conquest of Egypt he spent four full years preparing his army and what was suited to it, and in the fifth year, as it was ending, he led forth his expedition with a great multitude of forces. Of all the expeditions known to us, none came close to matching this one in scale, so that neither that of Darius

against the Scythians appears anything beside it, nor the Scythian one, when the Scythians, pursuing the Cimmerians, invaded the land of the Medes, conquering and settling in almost the whole upper region of Asia, for which Darius afterward took vengeance, nor, according to what is said, that of the sons of Atreus against Ilium, nor that of the Mysians and Teucrians, which came before the Trojan war, when they, crossing over into

Europe by the Bosporus, subdued all the Thracians and came down to the Ionian sea, and advanced as far south as the river Peneius. All these expeditions together, even if others were added to them besides, are not worth this one. What people did Xerxes fail to draw out of Asia against Greece? What water fit for drinking did he not exhaust,

except that of the great rivers? For some peoples furnished ships, others were arrayed as infantry, others had cavalry assigned to them, others horse-transport vessels along with the troops on campaign, others were to furnish long ships for the bridges, and others provisions and ships. And this, since those who first sailed around Athos had come to grief, had been prepared for about three years before,

the works concerning Athos. For triremes lay at anchor at Elaeus in the Chersonese; setting out from there, men of every nation in the army dug under the lash, and relief crews came in turn; and those who dwelt around Athos also dug. Bubares son of Megabazus and Artachaees son of Artaeus, Persian men, oversaw the work. For Athos is a mountain great and famous, reaching down

to the sea, and inhabited by people. Where the mountain ends toward the mainland, it is peninsula-shaped, with an isthmus about twelve stadia wide; there is a plain here and low hills, from the sea by Acanthus to the sea opposite Torone. On this isthmus, where Athos ends, the Greek city of Sane is settled, and the cities beyond Sane, within

Athos, which the Persian was then trying to make into islands instead of parts of the mainland, are these: Dium, Olophyxus, Acrothoum, Thyssus, and Cleonae. These are the cities that occupy Athos, and the barbarians dug in this way, having divided the ground by nations: at the city of Sane they made a line with a rope, and when the trench became deep, some stood at the very bottom and dug, while others

passed on the earth as it was continually dug out to others standing above on platforms, and these in turn to others, until it reached those at the very top; and these carried it off and threw it away. Now for all the others except the Phoenicians, the sides of the excavation kept collapsing and caused them double labor; for since they made the top opening and the bottom the same width, this

result was bound to follow for them. But the Phoenicians displayed their skill in this matter as in other works too. For having been allotted the portion that fell to them, they dug the upper mouth of the channel twice as wide as the channel itself needed to be, and as the work progressed they kept narrowing it; so that at the bottom it came out even with the work of the others.

There is a meadow there, where they had a market and a place of trade; and much grain, already ground, was brought to them from Asia. As far as I can conjecture, Xerxes ordered it to be dug out of pride, wanting to show off his power and leave something by which he would be remembered; for though it was possible, without taking any trouble, to haul the ships across the isthmus, he ordered a channel to be dug for the sea, wide enough for two

triremes to be rowed through it side by side. The same men who were assigned to the digging were also ordered to bridge the river Strymon by yoking it together. This is how he did these things; and he also had prepared for the bridges cables of papyrus and of white flax, assigning this task to the Phoenicians and Egyptians, and he had provisions laid up for the army, so that neither the army nor the pack animals should go hungry as they marched

against Greece. And having inquired about the locations, he ordered provisions to be stored wherever it was most suitable, bringing them from all parts of Asia in merchant ships and ferry boats to various places. Most of it they brought to a place called the White Shore in Thrace, some to Tyrodiza in the territory of Perinthus, some to Doriscus, some to Eion on the Strymon, and some assigned to Macedonia.

While these men were carrying out the appointed labor, meanwhile the entire infantry, having been assembled, marched together with Xerxes to Sardis, setting out from Critalla in Cappadocia; for it had been ordered that there all the land forces that were to march together with Xerxes himself should assemble. Which of the governors, having led the army arrayed most splendidly, received from the king the promised

gifts, I am unable to say, since I have no knowledge that they ever reached any judgment on this matter. But when they had crossed the river Halys and entered Phrygia, marching through it they arrived at Celaenae, where the springs rise that give rise to the river Maeander and to another river no smaller than the Maeander, whose name happens to be Catarrhactes, which rises out of the very marketplace of Celaenae and flows into the

Maeander; in which city also the skin of Silenus Marsyas is hung up, which, as the Phrygians tell the tale, was flayed by Apollo and hung up there. In this city Pythius son of Atys, a Lydian man, residing there, entertained the king's entire army with the greatest hospitality, and Xerxes himself, and he offered to furnish money for the war. And when Pythius offered money, Xerxes asked the Persians

who among the men present Pythius was and how much wealth he possessed, that he made this offer. In reply they said: "O king, this man gave your father Darius the golden plane tree and gave him also the golden vine; and among the men we know of, he now ranks first in wealth after you." Marveling at the last of these words, Xerxes himself then asked

Pythius how much wealth he had. He said, "O king, I will neither hide it from you nor pretend not to know my own property, but since I know it exactly I will tell you precisely. For as soon as I learned that you were coming down to the Greek sea, wishing to give you money for the war, I worked it out, and I found by reckoning that I have two thousand talents of silver, and of gold

four hundred myriads of Daric staters, lacking seven thousand. These I give to you as a gift; for myself, from my slaves and my farmland I have a sufficient livelihood." So he spoke, and Xerxes, pleased with what had been said, replied, "Lydian guest-friend, since I left the land of Persia I have met no man up to now who wished to offer hospitality to my army, nor

anyone who, coming into my presence of his own accord, wished to give money toward my war effort, except you. You have both entertained my army lavishly and now offer great sums of money. In return for this I give you these honors: I make you my guest-friend, and I will make up your four hundred myriads of staters to the full sum by giving you from my own the seven thousand that are lacking,

so that your four million may not be seven thousand pieces short, but the exact sum stand complete through my hand. Keep for yourself what you yourself have acquired, and know how to remain always such a man; for by acting so you will not regret it, either now or in time to come." Having said this and made it good, he went on ever forward. Passing by the city called Anaua

of the Phrygians, and a lake from which salt is produced, he arrived at Colossae, a large Phrygian city, where the river Lycus, plunging into a chasm in the earth, disappears, then after about five stadia reappears and empties, it too, into the Maeander. Setting out from Colossae, the army arrived at the borders of the Phrygians and Lydians, at the city of Cydrara,

where a stone pillar, fixed in the ground and set up by Croesus, marks the borders by an inscription. When he entered Lydia from Phrygia, the road forks, one branch leading left toward Caria, the other right toward Sardis; for one traveling this way it is entirely necessary to cross the river Maeander and to pass by the city of Callatebus, where

craftsmen make honey from tamarisk and wheat. Going along this road, Xerxes found a plane tree which, because of its beauty, he adorned with golden ornaments and entrusted to one of the Immortals as its keeper; on the following day he arrived at the city of the Lydians. Having reached Sardis, he first sent out heralds to Greece to demand earth and water, and to instruct the cities to prepare feasts

for the king; except that he did not send to Athens or to Lacedaemon to demand earth, but everywhere else. The reason he sent a second time to demand earth and water was this: he thought that those who had not given it before, when Darius had sent for it, would now give it out of fear; wishing to learn this precisely, he sent. After this he made preparations to march to Abydos.

Meanwhile they were bridging the Hellespont from Asia to Europe. There is, on the Chersonese by the Hellespont, between the cities of Sestos and Madytus, a broad headland running down to the sea opposite Abydos; there afterward, not long after this, under the generalship of Xanthippus son of Ariphron, the Athenians took Artayctes, a Persian man, governor of Sestos, alive, and nailed him to a plank,

a man who used to bring women to the shrine of Protesilaus at Elaeus and there commit unlawful acts. To this headland, then, setting out from Abydos, they built the bridges, with those assigned to the task working on them, the Phoenicians with a cable of white flax, the Egyptians the other with a cable of papyrus. It is seven stadia from Abydos to the point opposite. When the strait had been bridged, a great storm came up and smashed

all of it and broke it apart. When Xerxes learned of this, furious, he ordered that the Hellespont be given three hundred lashes with a whip and that a pair of fetters be let down into the sea. I have even heard that he sent branders along with these to brand the Hellespont. He commanded them, as they scourged it, to say barbarous and reckless words: "Bitter water, your master lays this punishment on you because you wronged him,

though you suffered no wrong from him. King Xerxes will cross you whether you wish it or not; it is with justice that no man offers you sacrifice, since you are a turbid and brackish river." He commanded the sea to be punished with these words, and the heads to be cut off of those who had overseen the bridging of the Hellespont. And those

to whom this thankless honor had fallen did as ordered, and other master-builders bridged the strait anew. They bridged it in this way: joining together fifty-oared ships and triremes, three hundred and sixty under the bridge toward the Black Sea, and three hundred and fourteen under the other, the ships on the Black Sea side set crosswise to the current, those on the Hellespont side aligned with it, so as to ease the strain on the cables; and having joined them together they let down

very long anchors, on the Black Sea side because of the winds blowing outward from within, and on the other side, toward the west and the Aegean, because of the west and south winds. They left a gap as a passage among the fifty-oared ships and triremes, so that whoever wished could still sail into and out of the Black Sea with small boats. Having done this,

they stretched the cables taut from the shore, twisting them with wooden windlasses, no longer keeping the two kinds of cable separate as before, but assigning two flax cables to each bridge and four papyrus ones. The thickness and appearance were the same, but proportionally the flax cables were heavier, a cubit of it weighing a talent. When the strait had been bridged, they sawed logs of timber and cut them to a length equal to

the width of the floating bridge, and laid them in order on top of the stretched cables; and having set them side by side there, they fastened them together again. Having done this, they carried brushwood onto it, and having laid the brushwood in order, they carried earth on top of it and tamped it down; and having also tamped down the earth, they drew a fence along either side, so that the pack animals and horses would not be frightened at seeing the sea below them. When the work on

the bridges were now complete, along with the works done at Athos — the mounds around the mouths of the canal, which had been made because of the surf, so that the mouths of the excavation should not be silted up, and the canal itself was reported complete — then, having wintered there, the army, once prepared, set out with the coming of spring from Sardis to march on Abydos. As it set out, the sun

left its place in the sky and vanished, although not a cloud was in sight and the air was utterly clear, and night came in place of day. Seeing and taking note of this, Xerxes grew concerned, and he asked the Magi what the apparition meant to foretell. They declared that the god was giving the Greeks advance notice that their cities would be destroyed, explaining that for the Greeks the sun serves as herald, and the moon

for the Persians themselves. Learning this, Xerxes, overjoyed, pressed on with the march. As he was marching the army out, Pythius the Lydian, frightened by the apparition from the sky and emboldened by the gifts Xerxes had given him, approached and spoke as follows: "Master, I would like to ask something of you, a thing that is light for you to grant but would be great for me." Xerxes, expecting

that he would ask for almost anything rather than what he actually requested, said he would grant it and told him to say what he wanted. When he heard this, he spoke boldly as follows: "Master, I happen to have five sons, and it falls to all of them at once to campaign with you against Greece. You, O king, take pity on me, who have reached this age, and release one of my sons

the eldest, from the campaign, so that he may be the caretaker of me and of my property; take the other four with you, and having accomplished what you intend, may you return home safely." Xerxes grew violently angry and answered as follows: "Wretched man, you dared, when I myself am campaigning against Greece, and leading my own sons and brothers and kinsmen and friends,

to make mention of your son, though you are my slave, one who ought to follow along with his whole household, his wife included? Know this well: the heart lives in men's ears — hearing what is good, it floods the body with joy, while hearing the reverse, it swells with rage. When you did good deeds and offered more of the same, you will not be able to boast of having outdone the king in acts of generosity; but since

you have now turned to shamelessness, you will not receive what you deserve, but less than you deserve. You and four of your sons are saved by your hospitality; but for the one you cling to most, you will be punished with his life." Having given this answer, he immediately ordered those assigned to the task to carry it out: to find the eldest of Pythius' sons and cut him in half, and having cut him,

to set the two halves apart, placing one to the right of the road and one to the left, so the army could march through the space between. When they had done this, the army then passed through. Leading the way first were the baggage-carriers and the pack animals, and after them a mixed army of every sort of people together, not sorted out by nation; and when more than half had passed by, a gap was left there, and these did not mix

These belonged to the king. In front marched a thousand cavalrymen, chosen out of all the Persians; then a thousand spearmen, these too chosen out of all, with their spear-points turned down toward the ground; then ten sacred horses called Nisaean, adorned as beautifully as possible. The horses are called Nisaean for this reason: there is a great plain in Media called Nisaean, and it is this plain that produces

the large horses. Behind these ten horses came the sacred chariot of Zeus, pulled by a team of eight white horses, and following behind on foot was a charioteer gripping the reins, since no human being takes that seat. After this rode Xerxes in person, in a chariot pulled by Nisaean horses, and beside him stood

a charioteer named Patiramphes, son of Otanes, a Persian. Xerxes rode out of Sardis in this fashion, but he would change over, whenever the fancy took him, from the chariot to a covered carriage. Behind him came the spearmen, the best and noblest of the Persians, a thousand strong, holding their spears in the customary manner; then another thousand cavalry chosen from the Persians; then, after the cavalry, chosen from

the rest of the Persians, ten thousand men. These were infantry, and of them a thousand had golden pomegranates on the butt-ends of their spears instead of spikes, and these enclosed the rest all around, while the other nine thousand, who were within them, had silver pomegranates. Those who turned their spears toward the ground also had golden pomegranates, and those who followed closest behind Xerxes had golden apples. Behind these

ten thousand was stationed ten thousand Persian cavalry. After the cavalry there was a gap of as much as two stadia, and then the rest of the host followed all mixed together. The army made its way from Lydia to the river Caicus and the land of Mysia, and setting out from the Caicus, keeping Mount Canes on its left, it went through Atarneus to the city of Carene, and from there

it made its way across the plain of Thebe, going past the city of Adramyttium and Antandrus, the Pelasgian city. Then, keeping Mount Ida on its left, it entered the land of Ilium. And first, as it waited through the night beneath Ida, thunder and lightning bolts fell upon it and destroyed a good many people there. When the army arrived at the river Scamander, which was the first river,

since setting out from Sardis and undertaking the march, whose water failed and was not sufficient for the army and the animals to drink — when Xerxes arrived at this river, he climbed up to Priam's citadel, Pergamum, wishing to view it; and after seeing it and inquiring into everything about it, he sacrificed a thousand cattle to Athena of Ilium, and the Magi poured libations to the heroes.

After they had done this, a panic fell upon the camp during the night. At daybreak the army set out from there, keeping on its left the cities of Rhoeteum, Ophryneum, and Dardanus, which borders on Abydos, and on its right the Teucrian Gergithes. When it came to be in the middle of Abydos, Xerxes wished to view the whole army; and a raised seat of white stone had been built beforehand for him on a hill there for this very purpose,

the men of Abydos having made it at the king's earlier command. There he sat, and looking down upon the shore he viewed both the infantry and the ships, and as he watched he desired to see a race held among the ships. It took place, and the Phoenicians of Sidon won, and he was delighted both with the race and with the army. And when he saw the whole of the Hellespont

hidden by ships, and all the shores and plains of Abydos filled with people, then Xerxes counted himself blessed, but afterward he wept. Artabanus his uncle, who earlier had spoken his mind openly, urging that Xerxes should not campaign against Greece, this man, perceiving that Xerxes had wept, asked him this: "O king, how far apart are the things you have just done from what you did a little while ago!

Just now you counted yourself blessed, and now you weep." And he said, "Yes, for a feeling of pity came over me as I reckoned how brief the whole of human life is, seeing that of all these people here, not one will still be alive a hundred years from now." And the other answered, saying, "Yet we suffer other things in the course of life more pitiable than that. For in so short a life no human being is

so fortunate, neither these men nor any others, that the wish to die will not come upon him many times, and not once only, rather than to live. For the misfortunes that befall us and the sicknesses that trouble us make life, brief as it is, seem long. And so death has become, since life is so wretched, the most desirable refuge for man, and the god, having given us a taste of the sweetness of life,

is found to be envious in this." Xerxes answered, saying, "Artabanus, let us stop speaking of human life, since it is such as you describe it to be, and let us not brood over misfortunes while good matters are before us; instead answer me this — had the vision in the dream not shown itself so clearly, would you still keep your earlier opinion, refusing to let me march against

Greece, or would you have changed your mind? Come, tell me this truly." And in reply he said, "O king, may the dream-vision that appeared come to pass just as we both hope; but I am still, even to this moment, full of fear and not in my right mind, considering many other things and especially seeing that there are two things, the greatest of all, that are most hostile to you." Xerxes

answered this with the following: "You strange man, what are these two things you say are most hostile to me? Is it that the infantry seems to you deficient in number, and that the Greek army will prove many times greater than ours, or that our navy will fall short of theirs, or both of these together? For if in this respect our forces seem to you insufficient,

one might very quickly gather another army." And he answered, saying, "O king, no man of sense would find fault with this army, nor with the number of the ships; but if you gather more, the two things I speak of become still far more hostile to you. Land and sea are the two things I mean. For nowhere is there, as I reckon,

a harbor anywhere so large that, when a storm arises, it would be able to receive this fleet of yours and keep the ships safe. And yet it is not enough that there be one such harbor, but there must be one all along the coast you sail past. Since then you have no harbors able to receive you, understand that misfortunes rule men, and not men their misfortunes. And so, of the

two things, having spoken of one, I now go on to speak of the other. The land becomes hostile to you in this way: if nothing opposes you, the land becomes the more hostile to you the farther you advance, always lured onward and onward, since men never reach their fill of good fortune. And so, I tell you, supposing no one opposes you, the land, growing greater over greater time, will bring forth

famine. But the best man would be one who, in deliberating, is fearful, reckoning that he will suffer every possible mischance, but who in action is bold." Xerxes answered with the following: "Artabanus, you reason reasonably about each of these matters; but do not fear everything, nor reckon on everything alike. For if in every matter that comes up you wished to reckon on everything alike, you would

accomplish nothing at all. It is better to face all things with confidence and suffer half of the terrors than to fear everything beforehand and suffer nothing at all. And if you dispute everything that is said without showing what is certain, you are bound to be mistaken in these matters just as much as the one who says the opposite. This, then, is equal on both sides; but how can a man, being human, know what is certain? I think

in no way. So then, for those who wish to act, gains generally tend to come, but for those who reckon on everything and hesitate, they do not come so readily. You see to what power the Persians' affairs have advanced. If those kings who came before me had held opinions like yours, or, without holding such opinions, had had other advisers of that sort, you would never

have seen these affairs come to this point. As it is, they brought them to this point by risking dangers, for great things tend to be won by great dangers. We, then, following their example, are marching in the finest season of the year, and once we have subdued the whole of Europe we will return home, having encountered famine nowhere nor suffered any other unpleasant thing. For we are marching carrying much provision with us, and moreover,

whatever land and people we set foot upon, we shall have their grain as well; for we are marching against men who are farmers, not nomads." After this Artabanus said, "O king, since you allow no fear of anything at all, at least accept this advice from me; for in matters of great weight one must necessarily extend the discussion further. Cyrus son of Cambyses subdued the whole of Ionia, except for the Athenians, to be tribute-paying

to the Persians. These men, then, I advise you by no means to lead against their fathers, for even without them we are able to be superior to our enemies. For necessarily, if they follow, they will become the most unjust of men, by helping to enslave their mother-city, or the most just, by helping to set it free along with us. Now if they become most unjust, they bring us no great gain; but if they become most just, they are capable of doing great harm to

your army. Take to heart, then, the old saying, well spoken, that the end of a matter is not apparent at its beginning." Xerxes answered this: "Artabanus, of the opinions you have expressed, you are mistaken above all in this one, in that you fear the Ionians may change sides — the very thing of which we have the greatest proof, of which you yourself are a witness, as are the others who campaigned with Darius against the Scythians,

that the whole Persian army was capable of both destroying and preserving on these terms; and they had shown justice and loyalty, nothing displeasing. Besides this, since they have left children and wives and property in our land, you must not even imagine that they would attempt any revolt. So do not fear this either, but keep a good heart and preserve both my house and my kingship,

for to you alone of all men I entrust my scepter." Having said this and sent Artabanus off to Susa, Xerxes next summoned the most eminent of the Persians; and once they had assembled in his presence, he addressed them thus. "Men of Persia, I have gathered you together because I require this of you: to prove yourselves brave men and not to disgrace the deeds accomplished before now by the Persians, which are great and worth much, but rather

let each man individually, and all of us together, show eagerness; for this good that is being pursued is shared by all in common. I proclaim to you the reasons why you must hold fast to this war with all your strength: from what I have learned, the men we march against are brave, and if we defeat them, no other army in the world will ever again stand against us. Now let us cross, after praying to the gods who watch over the Persians." On that day

they made preparations for the crossing; and on the next they waited, wishing to see the sun rise, burning all sorts of incense upon the bridges and strewing the road with myrtle boughs. And when the sun rose, Xerxes poured a libation into the sea from a golden bowl and made a prayer to the sun, asking that no misfortune befall him such as would stop him from subduing Europe before he reached its farthest limits.

Having prayed, he threw the bowl into the Hellespont, together with a mixing-bowl of gold and a sword of Persian make, the type called an akinakes. I cannot say for certain whether he was dedicating these to the sun when he threw them into the sea, or whether he had repented of having scourged the Hellespont and was offering the sea these gifts in its place. When this had been done, the army crossed—

by one of the bridges, the one toward the Pontus, went the infantry and all the cavalry; by the other, toward the Aegean, went the pack animals and the camp-followers. Leading the way were first the ten thousand Persians, all crowned with wreaths, and after them the mixed army of every nation. That was the order for that day; but on the next, first came

the cavalry and those who carried their spears pointed downward; these too wore wreaths. After them came the sacred horses together with the sacred chariot, then Xerxes himself with his spearmen and his thousand cavalrymen, followed finally by the remainder of the army. And at the same time the fleet put out to sea for the opposite shore. I have also heard it said

that the king crossed last of all. When Xerxes had crossed into Europe, he watched the army crossing under the lash; his army took seven days and seven nights to cross, without any pause. It is said that at this point, when Xerxes had already crossed the Hellespont, a man of the Hellespont said, "O Zeus, why have you taken the likeness of a Persian man and taken the name Xerxes instead of Zeus,

in order to lay Greece waste, leading all mankind with you? For you could have done this without their help too." When all had crossed and were setting out on the march, a great portent appeared to them, which Xerxes made nothing of although it was easily interpreted: a mare gave birth to a hare. It was easily interpreted in this way, that Xerxes was about to lead his army against Greece

most proudly and magnificently, but would come running back to the same place for his own life. Another portent had also occurred to him while he was at Sardis: a mule gave birth to a mule that had double genitals, both male and female, with the male parts above. Taking no account of either portent, he continued on his way, with the infantry accompanying him.

The fleet, sailing out of the Hellespont, made its way along the coast, doing the opposite of what the infantry did. For it sailed westward, making for the Sarpedonian headland, where it had been ordered to go and wait for him; while the land army made its way eastward, toward the sunrise, through the Chersonese, having on its right

the tomb of Helle, Athamas's daughter, with the city of Cardia on its left, passing through the center of a city called Agora. From there, rounding the gulf called Melas and the river Melas, whose stream did not then suffice for the army but ran dry, crossing this river, from which the gulf also takes its name, he went westward,

passing by Aenus, an Aeolian city, and Lake Stentoris, until he arrived at Doriscus. Doriscus is a stretch of coast and a great plain of Thrace, through which flows a great river, the Hebrus; in it a royal fortress had been built, the one called Doriscus, and a Persian garrison had been stationed in it by Darius from the time

when he campaigned against the Scythians. So it seemed to Xerxes that this place was suitable for arranging and counting the army, and he did so. As for the ships, when they had all arrived at Doriscus, the admirals, at Xerxes' command, brought them to the stretch of coast adjoining Doriscus, where the Samothracian city of Sale is built, and Zone, and the promontory named Serreium marks its end.

This region was in ancient times inhabited by the Cicones. Putting in at this stretch of coast, they hauled up the ships and let the men rest. Meanwhile at Doriscus Xerxes was counting the number of his army at this time. Now how large a force each people supplied in number, I cannot say for certain, for no one reports it; but the total number of the whole infantry force

was found to be one million seven hundred thousand. They counted them in the following way: they gathered a myriad of men together in one place, and packing them together as tightly as possible, they drew a circle around them on the outside; having drawn the circle and released the ten thousand, they built a wall around the circle, reaching up to a man's navel in height; having made this, they brought others into the enclosed space, until they had counted

all of them in this manner. Having counted them, they arranged them by nation. The forces campaigning were as follows: the Persians were equipped in this manner: on their heads they wore soft felt caps called tiaras, and around their bodies they wore multicolored tunics with sleeves, with the look of iron scales like a fish's skin, and around their legs trousers, and instead of shields they carried wicker shields; and quivers hung beneath them; they had short spears,

large bows, and reed arrows, and besides these, daggers hanging from their belts alongside their right thighs. Their commander was Otanes, father of Amestris, Xerxes' wife. In old times they were called by the Greeks Cephenians, but by themselves and their neighbors, Artaeans. But when Perseus, son of Danae and Zeus, came to Cepheus son of Belus

and took his daughter Andromeda as wife, a son was born to him whom he named Perses, and he left him there; for Cepheus happened to have no male offspring. It was after this man that they took their name. The Medes campaigned equipped in this very same manner; for this equipment is Median, not Persian. The Medes provided as commander Tigranes, a man

of the Achaemenid line; in old times they were called by everyone Arians, but when Medea of Colchis came from Athens to these Arians, they too changed their name. This is how the Medes themselves tell it about themselves. The Cissians, when campaigning, were equipped in all other respects like the Persians, but instead of felt caps they wore turbans. Anaphes son of Otanes commanded the Cissians. The Hyrcanians were

equipped just like the Persians, providing as leader Megapanus, who later became governor of Babylon. The Assyrians, when campaigning, wore bronze helmets on their heads, woven in a somewhat barbaric fashion not easy to describe, and they carried shields and spears and daggers similar to those of the Egyptians, and besides these, wooden clubs studded with iron, and linen breastplates. These people are called by the Greeks Syrians, but

by the barbarians they are called Assyrians. Among these were the Chaldeans. Otaspes son of Artachaees commanded them. The Bactrians campaigned with headgear very close to that of the Medes, but with native reed bows and short spears. The Sacae, who are Scythians, wore on their heads tall stiff caps rising to a point, and had put on trousers, and carried native bows and

daggers, and besides these they also carried battle-axes called sagaris. These people, though they are Scythians, are called Amyrgian Sacae; for the Persians call all Scythians Sacae. Hystaspes, son of Darius and Atossa daughter of Cyrus, commanded the Bactrians and the Sacae. The Indians, wearing garments made of tree-fiber, carried reed bows and reed arrows tipped with iron. The Indians

were equipped in this way, and they had been assigned to campaign together under Pharnazathres son of Artabates. The Arians were equipped with Median bows, but in all else like the Bactrians. Sisamnes son of Hydarnes commanded the Arians. The Parthians, Chorasmians, Sogdians, Gandarians, and Dadicae campaigned equipped just like the Bactrians. These were commanded as follows: of the Parthians

and Chorasmians, Artabazus son of Pharnaces; of the Sogdians, Azanes son of Artaeus; of the Gandarians and Dadicae, Artyphius son of Artabanus. The Caspians campaigned wearing cloaks of skin and carrying native reed bows and short swords. They were equipped in this way, providing as leader Ariomardus, brother of Artyphius; the Sarangae wore conspicuous dyed garments, and boots reaching up to the knee, and

and Median spearheads. Pherendates son of Megabazus commanded the Sarangians. The Pactyans wore cloaks of skin and carried native bows and daggers. The Pactyans furnished as their commander Artayntes son of Ithamitres. The Utians, the Mycians, and the Paricanians were equipped just like the Pactyans. These were their commanders: Arsamenes son of Darius commanded the Utians and Mycians, and Siromitres son of Oeobazus commanded the Paricanians.

The Arabians wore girded robes, and carried long bows curved back, on their right side. The Ethiopians were clad in leopard and lion skins, and carried long bows made from palm-wood strips, no shorter than four cubits, and on these small reed arrows, tipped not with iron but with a sharpened stone, the very stone used for engraving seals. They also carried spears, tipped with a gazelle's horn

sharpened into the shape of a spearpoint, and they also carried knobbed clubs. Going into battle they smeared half their body with gypsum, the other half with red ochre. The Arabians and the Ethiopians settled above Egypt were commanded by Arsames son of Darius and of Artystone, daughter of Cyrus, whom Darius loved most of all his wives and for whom he had a golden statue made, hammered out of solid gold. These

Ethiopians and Arabians above Egypt, then, were commanded by Arsames, while the Ethiopians from the sunrise side—for two contingents of Ethiopians took part in the campaign—were attached to the Indians, differing from the others in no way in appearance, but only in speech and in hair: for the Ethiopians from the east have straight hair, while those from Libya have the woolliest hair of all mankind. These Ethiopians from

Asia were, for the most part, equipped like the Indians, though on their heads they wore horses' scalped foreheads, ears and mane included; the mane served in place of a crest, while the horses' ears were kept standing stiffly upright. As shields they used the hides of cranes. The Libyans wore leather gear, and used javelins

hardened by fire. Their commander was Massages son of Oarizus. The Paphlagonians took the field wearing woven helmets on their heads, small shields, spears that were not large, and in addition javelins and daggers; on their feet they wore native boots reaching to mid-calf. The Ligyans, the Matienians, the Mariandynians, and the Syrians took the field equipped the same way as the Paphlagonians. These

Syrians are called Cappadocians by the Persians. Dotus son of Megasidrus commanded the Paphlagonians and Matienians, while Gobryas, son of Darius and Artystone, commanded the Mariandynians, the Ligyans, and the Syrians. The Phrygians were equipped very much like the Paphlagonians, with only slight differences. The Phrygians, as the Macedonians say, were called Briges as long as they lived in Europe as neighbors of the Macedonians, but when they moved into

Asia, along with the land they changed their name too, to Phrygians. The Armenians were equipped just like the Phrygians, being colonists of the Phrygians. Both these peoples together were commanded by Artochmes, who had a daughter of Darius as his wife. The Lydians carried arms very close to the Greek style. The Lydians were called Maeonians in ancient times, and took their present name from Lydus son of Atys, when they changed their name. The Mysians wore

native helmets on their heads, small shields, and used fire-hardened javelins. These are colonists of the Lydians, and are called Olympieni after Mount Olympus. Artaphrenes son of Artaphrenes, who invaded at Marathon together with Datis, commanded the Lydians and Mysians. The Thracians took the field wearing fox-skin caps on their heads, tunics on their bodies, and over these cloaks

of many colors, and on their feet and shins boots of fawn-skin; besides this they had javelins, light shields, and small daggers. Once they crossed over into Asia they were called Bithynians, though before that, as they themselves say, they were called Strymonians, since they dwelt on the Strymon; they say they were driven from their homes by the Teucrians and Mysians. Bassaces son of Artabanus commanded the Thracians

in Asia. They carried small shields of raw oxhide, and each man carried two Lycian-made hunting spears; on their heads they wore bronze helmets, and on the helmets were fixed bronze ox-ears and horns, along with crests; their shins were bound with strips of red cloth. It is among these men that an oracle of Ares is found. The Cabelees, who are Maeonians, called Lasonians,

wore the same equipment as the Cilicians, which I will describe when in going through the list I come to the position of the Cilicians. The Milyans carried short spears and had their garments fastened with brooches; some of them carried Lycian bows, and on their heads wore caps made of hide. Badres son of Hystanes commanded all of these. The Moschi wore caps of wood

on their heads, and carried small shields and spears; but their spearheads were large. The Tibarenians, the Macrones, and the Mossynoeci took the field equipped just like the Moschi. These were arranged under the following commanders: Ariomardus, son of Darius and of Parmys daughter of Smerdis son of Cyrus, commanded the Moschi and Tibarenians; Artayctes, Cherasmis's son, governor of Sestos on the Hellespont, commanded the Macrones and Mossynoeci. The Mares

wore native plaited helmets on their heads, small leather shields, and javelins. The Colchians wore wooden helmets on their heads, small shields of raw oxhide, short spears, and in addition carried knives. Pharandates son of Teaspis commanded the Mares and Colchians. The Alarodians and Saspires took the field armed just like the Colchians. Masistius son of

Siromitres commanded these. The island peoples coming from the Red Sea, from the islands where the king settles the people called the deportees, wore clothing and arms very close to the Median style. Mardontes son of Bagaeus commanded these islanders; he served as a general at Mycale and died there in battle in the second year after these events. These were the peoples

who campaigned by land and were mustered into the infantry. This army, then, was commanded by those named above; they were the ones who organized and numbered the men and appointed the commanders of thousands and of ten thousands, while the commanders of ten thousands appointed the commanders of hundreds and of tens. There were other officers over the units and the nations as well. These, then, were the commanders named above, but the generals over these and over the

whole infantry army were Mardonius son of Gobryas, and Tritantaechmes son of Artabanus—the Artabanus who had advised against campaigning against Greece—and Smerdomenes son of Otanes, both of these being sons of brothers of Darius and thus cousins to Xerxes, and Masistes son of Darius and Atossa, and Gergis son of Ariazus, and Megabyzus son of Zopyrus. These were the generals of the whole infantry apart from

the ten thousand. Of these ten thousand chosen Persians, Hydarnes son of Hydarnes was the general; these Persians were called the Immortals, for this reason: if any one of them was removed from the number, whether by death or by sickness, another man was chosen to replace him, and so they were never more nor fewer than ten thousand. Of all the troops the Persians displayed the finest array, and they themselves were the best soldiers;

they had the equipment already described, and besides that they stood out for the abundance of gold they wore, plain to see; they were accompanied by covered wagons, in which rode their concubines and a large, well-equipped retinue of servants; camels and pack animals carried food for them separately from the rest of the soldiers. All these nations use cavalry, except that not all of them provided horses, but only the following did,

the Persians equipped the same way as their infantry, except that some of them wore on their heads beaten pieces of bronze and iron. There are certain nomadic people called the Sagartians, Persian by race and by language, but with equipment made partway between the Persian and the Pactyan styles; they provided eight thousand horsemen, and they are not accustomed to carry weapons of bronze or iron except daggers,

but they use ropes plaited from leather thongs, and trusting in these they go to war. Their manner of fighting is this: when they engage the enemy, they throw out the ropes, which have nooses at the end; whatever they catch, whether horse or man, they drag toward themselves; and the victims, entangled in the coils, are destroyed. This

is their manner of fighting, and they were posted beside the Persians. The Medes wore the same gear they had in the infantry, and so did the Cissians. The Indians were equipped the same as in the infantry, but rode both mounted horses and chariots; under the chariots ran horses and wild asses. The Bactrians were equipped just as in the infantry, as were

the Caspians, similarly equipped. As for the Libyans, they too carried the same gear as their infantry, and all of them likewise drove chariots. In the same way the Caspians and Paricanians were equipped just as in the infantry. The Arabians had the same equipment as in the infantry, but all of them rode camels, which are not inferior to horses in speed. These are the only peoples that supplied cavalry. The number

The cavalry totaled eighty thousand, not counting the camels and chariots. The other horsemen, meanwhile, were arranged by units, while the Arabians were stationed last; for since the horses could not endure the presence of the camels, they were placed at the rear, so that the cavalry would not be frightened. The cavalry commanders were Harmamithres and Tithaeus, sons of Datis. Their third co-commander, Pharnuches, had been left behind at

Sardis, ill. For as they were setting out from Sardis he had met with an unwanted misfortune: as he rode along, a dog darted beneath his horse's legs, and the horse, caught off guard, panicked, reared upright, and threw Pharnuches off, who fell and vomited blood, and his illness turned into consumption. As for the horse, they did just as he had ordered at the outset: leading it away

The servants, at the spot where he had thrown down his master, cut off his legs at the knees. That was how Pharnuches was relieved of his command. The number of the triremes came to one thousand two hundred and seven, and they were furnished by the following peoples. The Phoenicians, together with the Syrians of Palestine, furnished three hundred, equipped as follows: on their heads they had helmets

made very close to the Greek style, and they wore linen breastplates and carried shields without rims, and javelins. These Phoenicians in ancient times dwelt, as they themselves say, on the Red Sea, and from there, having crossed over, they now dwell along Syria's coastline; this portion of Syria, together with the entire stretch reaching to Egypt, bears the name Palestine. The Egyptians

furnished two hundred ships. These men had on their heads woven helmets, and hollow shields with large rims, and spears suited to fighting at sea, and great battle-axes. Most of them wore breastplates, and carried great swords. That was how they were equipped. The Cypriots furnished a hundred and fifty ships, equipped as follows: their kings

had their heads bound with turbans, while the rest wore tunics, but otherwise were dressed like the Greeks. Among them are the following peoples: some from Salamis and Athens, some from Arcadia, some from Cythnus, some from Phoenicia, some from Ethiopia, as the Cypriots themselves say. The Cilicians furnished a hundred ships. These in turn, on their

heads, had helmets of their own country's style, and instead of shields carried light wicker shields made of raw oxhide, and wore woolen tunics; each man carried two javelins and a sword made very close to the Egyptian knives. These people were in ancient times called Hypachaeans, but took their present name from Cilix son of Agenor, a Phoenician man. The Pamphylians furnished thirty ships, equipped with Greek arms. These Pamphylians are

descendants of those scattered from Troy together with Amphilochus and Calchas. The Lycians furnished fifty ships, wearing breastplates and greaves; they carried bows of cornel wood and unfeathered reed arrows, and javelins, and had a goatskin slung about their shoulders, and on their heads felt caps crowned round with feathers; they also carried daggers and sickles. The Lycians were called Termilae, being originally from Crete,

but took their present name from Lycus son of Pandion, an Athenian man. The Dorians from Asia furnished thirty ships, carrying Greek arms and being originally from the Peloponnese. The Carians furnished seventy ships, equipped in all other respects like the Greeks, but they also carried sickles and daggers. What these people were called before has been told earlier in my account.

The Ionians furnished a hundred ships, equipped as Greeks. Now the Ionians, during the period when they lived in the region of the Peloponnese now called Achaea, and before Danaus and Xuthus arrived in the Peloponnese, were called, as the Greeks say, Pelasgian Aegialeans, but after Ion son of Xuthus, Ionians. The islanders furnished seventeen ships, armed as Greeks, and this too is a Pelasgian people,

which was later called Ionian, by the same reasoning as the twelve-city Ionians from Athens. The Aeolians furnished sixty ships, equipped as Greeks and formerly called Pelasgians, as the Greek account has it. The Hellespontines, except the people of Abydos (for the Abydenes had been assigned by the king to remain in their own territory as guards of the bridges), the rest of those from the Pontus who

took part in the campaign furnished a hundred ships, and were equipped as Greeks. These were colonists of the Ionians and Dorians. On board all the ships as marines were Persians, Medes, and Sacae. Of these, the best-sailing ships were furnished by the Phoenicians, and among the Phoenicians, by the Sidonians. Over all of these, and over the units assigned to the infantry, each people had its own native commanders, whom I,

since I am not compelled by the demands of my inquiry to do so, do not mention. For neither were the commanders of each people particularly worthy of note, and in each nation there were as many commanders as there were cities, and they followed not as generals but, like the rest on campaign, as slaves; but the generals who held full command and ruled over each of the nations, as many of them as were Persians, I have already named.

Of the naval force the generals were Ariabignes son of Darius, Prexaspes son of Aspathines, Megabazus son of Megabates, and Achaemenes son of Darius; of the Ionian and Carian forces Ariabignes, son of Darius and of the daughter of Gobryas, was general; of the Egyptians Achaemenes, full brother of Xerxes on both sides, was general; and of the rest of the force the other two were generals. The triaconters and

penteconters and light boats and the long horse-transport vessels, when gathered together, came to a total of three thousand. Of those who sailed on board, the most notable after the generals were these: Tetramnestus of Sidon, son of Anysus; Matten of Tyre, son of Sirom; Merbalus of Aradus, son of Agbalus; Syennesis of Cilicia, son of Oromedon; Cyberniscus of Lycia, son of Sicas; and of the Cypriots, Gorgus, whose father was Chersis, and Timonax, whose father was Timagoras; and of the Carians, Histiaeus

son of Tymnes, and Pigres son of Hysseldomus, and Damasithymus son of Candaules. Of the other unit commanders I make no mention, since nothing compels me to; but of Artemisia I make particular note of my wonder, since she was a woman who campaigned against Greece. After her husband's death, holding the sovereignty herself, and though she had a son who was still a young man, she took the field out of spirit and courage, no necessity compelling her to do so.

Her name was Artemisia; Lygdamis was her father, and her lineage traced to Halicarnassus on her father's side and to Crete on her mother's. She commanded the men of Halicarnassus, Cos, Nisyros, and Calydna, furnishing five ships. Of the whole fleet, after the ships of the Sidonians, hers were the most renowned, and among all the allies she gave the king the best counsel. Of the

cities I have listed as under her command, I declare the whole people to be Dorian: the Halicarnassians being of Troezenian stock, the rest of Epidaurian. So much has been told of the naval force. As for Xerxes, once the army had been counted and arranged, he wished to drive through it himself and review it. Afterward he did so, and driving along in a chariot past each nation in turn, he made inquiries, and the scribes wrote it all down,

until he had gone from one end to the other, of both the cavalry and the infantry. When this had been done, and the ships had been drawn down into the sea, Xerxes then changed from his chariot into a Sidonian ship and sat beneath a golden canopy, and sailed along past the prows of the ships, questioning each of them just as he had the infantry, and having it recorded. The

ships the admirals had drawn out to about four plethra from the shore and kept them at anchor there, with their prows turned toward the land, all lined up abreast, and had armed the marines as if for war. And he, sailing within the line of prows, surveyed them, and the shore as well. And when he had sailed through these too and disembarked from the ship, he sent for Demaratus son of Ariston, who was accompanying him on the campaign against Greece,

and having summoned him, asked him this: 'Demaratus, it is now a pleasure for me to ask you what I wish to know. You are a Greek, and, as I learn from you and from the other Greeks who come to converse with me, you are from a city neither the smallest nor the weakest. Now tell me this: will the Greeks stand their ground and raise their hands against me? For I do not think,

even if all the Greeks and the rest of the peoples who dwell toward the west were gathered together, that they would be a match for me, able to withstand my advance, if they are not united. Still, I wish to learn from you as well what you say about them.' So he asked, and Demaratus, taking up the question, said: 'O king, shall I deal with you in truth, or in pleasing words?' And he

bade him deal in truth, saying that he would find it no less pleasing than before. Hearing this, Demaratus answered in these words: 'O king, since you command me above all to speak truthfully, speaking words which no one will later be caught by you having falsified, poverty has always been Greece's foster-companion, but excellence is something acquired, wrought out of wisdom and strong law; by making use of this, Greece

wards off both poverty and despotism. Now I praise all the Greeks who dwell in those Dorian lands, but I am going to speak these words not about all of them but about the Lacedaemonians alone: first, that there is no way they will ever accept terms from you that bring slavery upon Greece; and next, that they will meet you in battle even if

all the other Greeks side with you. As for their number, do not ask how many there are who are capable of doing this: for whether it happens that a thousand are in the field, these will fight you, or whether fewer than that, or more.' Hearing this, Xerxes laughed and said: 'Demaratus, what a thing to say, that a thousand men will fight against an army as great as this! Come, tell me: you

say that you yourself once became king of these men; are you then willing to fight right now against ten men? And yet if your whole civic order is entirely such as you describe, it would be fitting for you, as their king, to be arrayed against double that number, according to your own laws. For if each of your men is worth ten of my soldiers in combat, then you

I expect to be a match for twenty, and in that case the account you have given would be proved right. But if, being such as you are, and of the stature that you and those Greeks who come to converse with me boast so greatly about, take care that this claim not prove an empty boast. Come, let me look at it in every reasonable way: how could

a thousand or even ten thousand or even fifty thousand of them, if they are all equally free and not ruled by one man, stand up against so great an army? Since if they number a thousand, we amount to more than a thousand for each one of them, given that they are five thousand. If they were ruled by one man in our fashion, they might, out of fear of him, become better than their own nature, and go forward, driven by the lash,

against greater numbers though they are fewer; but once released into freedom they would do neither one. I myself believe that even if their numbers were made equal, the Greeks would have a hard time fighting the Persians alone. But among us alone is found what you speak of, and even that not often but rarely; for there are among my Persian spearmen those who would be willing to fight three Greek men

at once — of which you, having no experience, talk a great deal of nonsense." To this Demaratus replies, "O king, from the start I knew that if I spoke the truth I would not be saying what pleases you. But since you compelled me to speak the truest of words, I told you what belongs to the Spartans. And yet how much I myself now happen to love them, you yourself know especially well — they who, taking from me my honor and my ancestral

privileges, made me cityless and an exile, while your father took me in and gave me both a livelihood and a house. It is not reasonable for a sensible man to reject goodwill when it is shown, but rather to cherish it above all. As for myself, I do not claim to be able to fight ten men, nor even two, and if it were up to me I would not even fight one man alone in single combat. But if there were necessity, or some great contest

driving me to it, I would fight most gladly of all against one of these men who each claim to be worth three Greeks. So too the Lacedaemonians, fighting one against one, are inferior to no men, but massed together they are the best of all men. For though they are free, they are not free in everything: over them is set a master, Law, which they fear much more than your men fear you. They do

at any rate whatever it commands; and it commands the same thing always, not allowing them to flee from battle whatever the number of the enemy, but to remain in their rank and either prevail or perish. If in saying this I seem to you to be talking nonsense, I am willing to be silent about the rest from now on; I have spoken now only because I was compelled to. May it turn out according to your wish, O king." So he answered, and Xerxes

turned it into laughter and felt no anger, but sent him away gently. After conversing with him, and appointing Maskames son of Megadostes as governor there in Doriskos, removing the one whom Darius had installed, Xerxes marched the army out through Thrace toward Greece. He had left this Maskames as a man such that Xerxes alone sent him gifts as

to the best of all the governors he himself or Darius had appointed, sending them every year; and so too Artaxerxes son of Xerxes did for the descendants of Maskames. For governors had already been established, even before this expedition, throughout Thrace and the Hellespont. All these, both those from Thrace and those from the Hellespont, except the one at Doriskos, were later removed by the Greeks after

this expedition; but Maskames at Doriskos no one has yet been able to remove, though many have tried. For this reason gifts are sent to him always by whoever is king among the Persians. Of those removed by the Greeks, King Xerxes considered none of them to be a good man except Boges alone, the one from Eion; this man he never ceased praising, and he honored greatly the children of his

who survived in Persia, since Boges indeed became worthy of great praise. When he was besieged by the Athenians and Cimon son of Miltiades, though it was open to him to depart under truce and return to Asia, he was unwilling to do so, lest he seem to survive out of cowardice in the king's eyes, but held out to the very end. And when there was no longer any food left within the wall, he heaped up a great pyre and slaughtered

his children and his wife and his concubines and his household servants, and then cast them into the fire; then he flung every bit of the city's gold and silver from the wall down into the Strymon, and having done this he cast himself into the fire. So it is that this man is justly praised even to this day

by the Persians. Xerxes marched on from Doriskos toward Greece, forcing all whom he encountered along the way to join the expedition; for, as I have shown before, the whole region as far as Thessaly had been enslaved and was tribute-paying to the king, conquered first by Megabazus and later by Mardonius. As he marched on from Doriskos he passed by first the Samothracian fortified towns, the westernmost of which is founded as a city

called Mesambria. Bordering this is the Thasian city of Stryme, and between the two runs the river Lisos, which on that occasion did not hold out in supplying water to Xerxes' army but ran dry. This land was formerly called Gallaic, but now Briantic; yet by the most accurate account it too belongs to the Cicones. Having crossed the Lisos river,

whose bed had dried up, he passed by these Greek cities: Maroneia, Dicaea, Abdera. He passed close by these, and by these notable lakes near them: the Ismaris lying between Maroneia and Stryme, and near Dicaea the Bistonis, into which two rivers pour their water, the Travos and the Compsantus. Near Abdera Xerxes passed by no notable lake, but the river Nestos

flowing into the sea. After these regions, going on he passed by the inland cities, among which is one situated on a lake about thirty stadia in circumference, full of fish and very briny; this lake the pack animals alone, by drinking from it, dried up. This city's name is Pistyros. These, then, are the coastal Greek cities he passed by, keeping them on his

left hand; and the Thracian tribes through whose land he made his way were these: Paitoi, Cicones, Bistones, Sapaeans, Dersaeans, Edonians, Satrae. Of these, those settled along the sea followed with the ships; but those of them dwelling inland, listed by me, all followed on foot under compulsion, except the Satrae. The Satrae have never yet, as far as we know, been subject

to any man, but continue even down to my own time to be, alone among the Thracians, always free; for they dwell in high mountains covered with forests of every kind and with snow, and they are supreme in war. These are the ones who possess the oracle of Dionysus; this oracle is situated on the highest of the mountains, and the Bessi, a tribe of the Satrae, are the ones who serve as prophets

of the shrine, and there is a priestess who delivers oracles, just as at Delphi, and nothing more elaborate than that. Having passed by the region just named, Xerxes next passed by the fortified towns of the Pierians, one of which is named Phagres and the other Pergamos. Along this stretch he made his way right past these very walls, keeping Mount Pangaeum on his right hand — a great and high mountain

in which there are mines of gold and silver, worked by the Pierians and the Odomanti and especially the Satrae. Passing by those dwelling above Pangaeum toward the north wind, the Paeonians, Doberes, and Paeoplae, he went on westward until he arrived at the river Strymon and the city of Eion, which, while still alive, was ruled by Boges, of whom I made mention

a little earlier. This land around Mount Pangaeum is called Phyllis, extending westward to the river Angites, a tributary of the Strymon, and reaching southward to the Strymon itself; into this river the Magi made sacrifices of good omen, slaughtering white horses. Having performed these rites of sorcery upon the river, and many others besides, at the Nine Ways

in the territory of the Edonians, they proceeded over the bridges, finding the Strymon already bridged. Learning that this place was called Nine Ways, they buried alive that many boys and girls, children of the local inhabitants, in it. It is a Persian custom to bury people alive, since I learn that Amestris too, the wife of Xerxes, when she grew old, buried alive twice seven children of eminent Persian men, as a gift in return, on her own behalf, to the god

who is said to dwell beneath the earth. When the army marched on from the Strymon, there in the direction of the setting sun is a shore on which stands the Greek city of Argilos, which he passed by; this city and the region above it are called Bisaltia. From there, keeping on his left hand the gulf by Posideium, he went through the plain called Syleus, passing by the Greek city of Stageiros, and arrived

at Acanthus, bringing along with him each of these tribes and those dwelling around Mount Pangaeum, in the same way as those I listed before, keeping those settled along the sea campaigning with the ships, and those above the sea following on foot. This road, by which King Xerxes marched the army, the Thracians neither disturb nor sow over, but hold it in great reverence even down to

my own time. When he arrived at Acanthus, Xerxes proclaimed friendship toward the Acanthians and gave them gifts of Median clothing, and praised them, seeing that they too were eager for the war and hearing about the canal. While Xerxes was at Acanthus, it happened that Artachaies, who was in charge of the canal, died of illness — a man held in high regard by Xerxes and of the Achaemenid clan,

and the tallest in stature of all the Persians (for he fell short of five royal cubits by only four fingers), and the loudest-voiced of all men, so that Xerxes, treating it as a great misfortune, had him carried out most splendidly and buried; and the whole army heaped up his burial mound. To this Artachaies the Acanthians sacrifice as to a hero, in accordance with an oracle, invoking his name. King Xerxes, then, took the death of Artachaies as a misfortune. The

and those Greeks who received his army and gave dinners for Xerxes were reduced to utter ruin, so that they were driven from their very houses. For example, the Thasians, on behalf of their cities on the mainland, received Xerxes' army and gave the dinner; Antipater son of Orges, chosen for the task, a man of the highest standing among the citizens, reported that the single dinner had cost four hundred silver talents. So

in much the same way the officials appointed in the other cities rendered their account. For the dinner turned out something like this, since it had been announced long in advance and was taken very seriously: as soon as the citizens learned of it from the heralds who went around proclaiming it, they distributed grain in the cities and everyone spent many months making wheat-flour and barley-meal. And besides that, they fattened

livestock, seeking out the best at any price, and raised land birds and waterfowl in pens and ponds, to have ready for the army's reception. Besides that, they had gold and silver cups and mixing-bowls made, and everything else that is set upon a table. These things were made ready for the king and his dining companions, while for the rest of the army only

provisions were assigned. Whenever the army arrived, a tent stood ready pitched, in which Xerxes himself would take lodging, while the rest of the army stayed in the open. When the hour for dinner came, the hosts had their labor to bear, while the guests, once they had eaten their fill and spent the night there, would on the next day pull up the tent, take all its furnishings, and march off in this way,

leaving nothing behind but carrying everything off with them. It was on this occasion that Megacreon of Abdera made a remark well worth recording: he advised the people of Abdera to go, all of them together, men and women, to their temples and sit there as suppliants of the gods, begging them that in future they would ward off half of the evils still to come, and to give great thanks for what was past, because King Xerxes was not in the habit of taking

a meal twice each day. For if a breakfast on the same scale as the dinner had also been ordered in advance, the people of Abdera would have had to choose between not waiting for Xerxes' arrival at all, or, if they stayed, being worn down more wretchedly than any people on earth. So, though hard-pressed, they nonetheless carried out what was imposed on them. Xerxes, meanwhile, from Acanthus, having instructed the generals of the naval force to wait at Therma, dismissed the ships to proceed on their own from him, while he himself made for Therma,

the city situated on the Thermaic Gulf, from which that gulf indeed takes its name; for he learned that this was the shortest way. Up to Acanthus the army had made its march from Doriscus arranged as follows: Xerxes divided the whole infantry into three divisions, one of which he ordered to go along the coast together with the fleet; this division

was commanded by Mardonius and Masistes, while another division, a third of the army, marched inland, commanded by Tritantaechmes and Gergis; and the third division, with which Xerxes himself traveled, marched through the middle between them, and its commanders were Smerdomenes and Megabyzus. Now the naval force, once it had been dismissed by Xerxes and had sailed through the canal

cut through Athos, which opens into the gulf on which lie the cities of Assa, Pilorus, Singus, and Sarte — from there, once it had also taken on troops from these cities, it sailed on toward the Thermaic Gulf, and rounding Ampelus, the headland of Torone, it passed by these Greek cities, from which it took on ships and troops: Torone, Galepsus,

Sermyle, Mecyberna, and Olynthus. This region is called Sithonia. The naval force of Xerxes, cutting a straight course from the headland of Ampelus to the headland of Canastraeum, which projects furthest of all of Pallene, from there took on ships and troops from Potidaea, Aphytis, Neapolis, Aegae, Therambos, Scione, Mende, and Sane, for these

are the cities that occupy what is now called Pallene, but was formerly called Phlegra. Sailing along this land too, the fleet proceeded to its appointed destination, taking on troops also from the cities bordering Pallene and adjoining the Thermaic Gulf, whose names are these: Lipaxus, Combreia, Aesa, Gigonus, Campsa, Smila, Aenea; the region of these is still called Crossaea to this day.

From Aenea, at which I end my list of the cities, the fleet's voyage from there on went directly into the Thermaic Gulf itself and the land of Mygdonia, and sailing on it reached the aforementioned Therma, and also the city of Sindus and Chalestra, on the river Axius, the border separating Mygdonia from Bottiaea, of which

the cities of Ichnae and Pella hold the narrow strip along the sea. So the naval force encamped there around the river Axius and the city of Therma and the cities between them, waiting for the King, while Xerxes and the infantry marched from Acanthus cutting across the interior, wishing to reach Therma; and they marched through

Paeonia and Crestonia to the river Cheidorus, which rises among the Crestonians and flows through the land of Mygdonia and empties out beside the marsh on the river Axius. As they marched this way, lions attacked the camels that carried the grain supplies. For the lions, coming down at night and leaving their own haunts, touched nothing else, neither pack animal nor man, but ravaged

the camels alone. I marvel at what the cause could have been, what it was that compelled the lions, while leaving everything else untouched, to attack the camels — an animal they had never before seen nor had any experience of. Now there are in these regions many lions and also wild oxen, whose horns, of enormous size, are the ones that come to Greece. And the boundary for the lions is the

river Nestus, which flows through Abdera, and the Achelous, which flows through Acarnania; for east of the Nestus one would nowhere see a lion in all the Europe that lies before it, nor west of the Achelous in the rest of the continent, but they occur only in the region between these two rivers. When Xerxes arrived at Therma, he stationed

his army there. The army, in encamping, occupied this much of the coastal land, beginning from the city of Therma and Mygdonia as far as the rivers Lydias and Haliacmon, which form the boundary between the land of Bottiaea and Macedonia, mingling their waters into the same stream. It was in these regions, then, that the barbarians set up camp, and among the rivers just named

the Cheidorus, flowing from the Crestonians, was the only one that did not suffice for the army's drinking but ran dry. When Xerxes, looking from Therma at the Thessalian mountains, Olympus and Ossa, saw that they were of enormous height, and learned that between them there was a narrow gorge through which the Peneus flows, and heard that there was a road there leading into Thessaly, he conceived a desire to sail there and view

the mouth of the Peneus, because he intended to lead his army by the upper road through the country of the Macedonians who live further inland, as far as the Perrhaebians, past the city of Gonnus; for he learned that this was the safest way. And as he had desired, so he did: he boarded a Sidonian ship, the one he always boarded whenever he wished to do something of this kind, and gave the signal for the others to put to sea as well, leaving his infantry

there behind. When Xerxes had arrived and viewed the mouth of the Peneus, he was seized with great wonder, and calling the guides of the road he asked whether it was possible to divert the river and lead it out to the sea by another course. It is said that in ancient times Thessaly was a lake, hemmed in on every side by exceedingly tall mountains. For its eastern side,

Mount Pelion and Ossa, meeting and joining their lower slopes together, shut it in; on the north, Olympus; on the west, Pindus; and on the south and the south wind's quarter, Othrys. In the middle of these mountains just named lies Thessaly, forming a hollow. So then, since many rivers, among others, flow into it, five of which

are the most notable, namely the Peneus, the Apidanus, the Onochonus, the Enipeus, and the Pamisus — these rivers, gathering into this plain from the mountains that enclose Thessaly, each bearing its own name, have their outflow to the sea through a single gorge, and that a narrow one, all their waters mingling together into one; and as soon as they have mingled, from that point on the Peneus, by its name,

prevails and makes the others nameless. It is said that long ago, before this gorge and channel came into being, these rivers—along with, in addition to them, the lake Boebeis—bore no names such as they carry now, yet flowed just as much as they do today, and their flowing turned the whole of Thessaly into a sea. The Thessalians themselves claim that Poseidon made the

gorge through which the Peneus flows, and they speak reasonably; for whoever believes that Poseidon shakes the earth and that the rifts made by an earthquake are the works of this god would, upon seeing that gorge, say that Poseidon had made it; for that separation of the mountains is, as it seems to me, the work of an earthquake. The guides, questioned by Xerxes as to whether some other passage to the sea existed for the

Peneus, knowing the truth precisely, said, "O king, this river has no other outlet reaching the sea, but this alone; for the whole of Thessaly is crowned round about by mountains." And Xerxes is said to have replied to this, "The Thessalians are wise men. This, then, is why they took precaution long before, reckoning among other things that they held a country easy to seize and quick to conquer. For it would have been a simple matter

"only their land is left to them, once the water is led out of the gorge by a dam and diverted so that it flows through channels other than the ones through which it now runs, so that all of Thessaly outside the mountains would be submerged." He said this with the sons of Aleuas in mind, because the Thessalians, being the first Greeks to give themselves over to the king, Xerxes supposed that on behalf of their whole nation they were offering him friendship. Having said this

and having viewed the river, he sailed back to Therme. He himself spent many days around Pieria, for a third of the army was cutting through the Macedonian mountain, so that by that route the whole army might pass through to the Perrhaebians. Meanwhile the heralds who had been sent out to Greece to demand earth and water arrived back, some empty-handed, others bringing earth and water.

Those who gave these were the following: the Thessalians, the Dolopians, the Enienians, the Perrhaebians, the Locrians, the Magnesians, the Malians, the Achaeans of Phthiotis, and the Thebans, and the rest of the Boeotians except the Thespians and the Plataeans. Against these the Greeks who had taken up war against the barbarian swore an oath, and the oath ran thus: whichever Greeks had given themselves over to the Persian without being compelled, once their affairs

were set right, these they would tithe to the god at Delphi. Such was the oath sworn by the Greeks. To Athens and Sparta, however, Xerxes did not send heralds to demand earth, for this reason: earlier, when Darius had sent men for this very purpose, some of those making the demand were thrown into the pit and others into a well, and they were told to take earth and water

from there to carry to the king. That is why Xerxes sent no one to demand satisfaction. I cannot say what calamity befell the Athenians on account of what they did to the heralds, beyond noting that their city and countryside were ravaged—though I doubt that was the true cause. But upon the Lacedaemonians the wrath of Talthybius,

the herald of Agamemnon, descended. For in Sparta there is a shrine of Talthybius, and there are also descendants called Talthybiadae, to whom all heraldic missions from Sparta are given as a privilege. After this the Spartans, when sacrificing, could not obtain favorable omens, and this went on for a long time. The Lacedaemonians, being troubled and afflicted by this misfortune, held assembly after assembly and made this proclamation, asking if any

of the Lacedaemonians would be willing to die on behalf of Sparta. Then Sperthias son of Aneristus and Bulis son of Nicolaus, Spartan men of good birth and among the foremost in wealth, volunteered to pay Xerxes the penalty for the heralds of Darius who had perished in Sparta. Thus the Spartans sent these men off to the Medes as men going to their deaths. This daring act of these men deserves admiration,

as do these words besides. For as they journeyed to Susa they came to Hydarnes; and Hydarnes was Persian by birth, general of the peoples along the coast of Asia. He set out hospitality for them, and while entertaining them he asked them this: "Men of Lacedaemon, why do you flee becoming friends to the king? For you see how the king knows how to honor good men, looking at

me and my own affairs. So too if you were to give yourselves to the king—since you have been judged by him to be good men—each of you would rule over a portion of Greece, were the king to grant it." To this they replied as follows: "Hydarnes, the advice you give us is not evenly balanced. For you counsel us about one thing you have experience of, but of the other you are without experience:

slavery is something you know well, but freedom you have never tasted, so you cannot say whether it is sweet. Were you to taste it, you would urge us to fight for it using not just spears, but axes as well." Such was their answer to Hydarnes. From there, when they went up to Susa and came into the king's presence, first, when the spearmen ordered them and tried to force them

to fall down and prostrate themselves before the king, they refused, saying they would never do such a thing, even if forced down bodily; bowing before a mortal was against their custom, and that was not why they had come. Having argued their way past this, they went on to say, in substance: 'King of the Medes, we were dispatched by the Lacedaemonians as replacements for the heralds who died in Sparta, to render payment for that loss.' To this

Xerxes replied, out of magnanimity, that he would not be like the Lacedaemonians; for they, by killing heralds, had overturned the customs observed by all mankind, but he himself would not do the very things for which he rebuked them, nor by killing these men in return would he release the Lacedaemonians from their guilt. Thus the wrath of Talthybius, even though the Spartans had done this, ceased for the time being, although Sperthias and Bulis had returned safe to Sparta. But

much later it flared up once more, in the course of the conflict between the Athenians and Peloponnesians, according to the Lacedaemonians. This strikes me as among the most god-driven events on record. That Talthybius's wrath struck down envoys and persisted until it had run its full course was simple justice; but that it should also strike the sons of these very men who had gone up to the king on account of that wrath, upon

Nicolas son of Bulis and upon Aneristus son of Sperthias, who captured the men of Halieis from Tiryns by sailing down upon them with a merchant ship full of men, this makes it clear to me that the affair was of divine origin, arising from the wrath. For these men, sent as messengers by the Lacedaemonians to Asia, were betrayed by Sitalces, king of the Thracians and son of Teres, along with Nymphodorus son of Pytheas, a man of Abdera, and were seized while

Bisanthe on the Hellespont; and they were taken to Attica, where the Athenians executed them, along with Aristeas son of Adeimantus, a Corinthian. But all this happened many years after the king's expedition, and I now return to my earlier narrative. The king's march bore the name of an expedition against Athens, but in fact it was aimed at the whole of Greece.

The Greeks had learned of this long in advance, but they did not all take it the same way. Those of them who had given earth and water to the Persian were confident that they would suffer nothing unpleasant at the barbarian's hands; but those who had refused fell into great fear, since there were not enough ships in Greece to be a match for the invader, and most of the Greeks had no wish

to take up the war, but were eagerly going over to the Medes. Necessity forces me here to state an opinion that will provoke resentment in most people; still, since it seems to me to be true, I will not hold it back. If the Athenians, terrified by the approaching danger, had abandoned their country, or if without abandoning it they had stayed and surrendered themselves to Xerxes, no one would have attempted to oppose the king at sea. And if

no one had opposed Xerxes at sea, this is what would have happened on land: even if the Peloponnesians had built themselves many tunics of walls across the Isthmus, the Lacedaemonians would have been betrayed by their allies — not willingly, but of necessity, as city after city was captured by the barbarian's fleet — until they stood alone; and standing alone, they would have performed great deeds and died nobly.

Either they would have suffered that fate, or, seeing beforehand the rest of the Greeks going over to the Medes, they would have come to terms with Xerxes. And so in either case Greece would have come under the Persians. For I cannot discover what use the walls built across the Isthmus would have been while the king was master of the sea. As it is, if anyone were to say that the Athenians

were the saviors of Greece, he would not miss the truth. For whichever way they turned, that way the scale was bound to tip; and by choosing that Greece should survive free, it was they who stirred into action the rest of the Greek world, those who had not sided with the Medes, and who — after the gods — drove back the king. Not even the terrifying oracles that came from Delphi and threw them into

dread persuaded them to abandon Greece; they stood their ground and braced themselves to meet the invader on their own soil. For the Athenians had sent envoys to Delphi and were ready to consult the oracle; and when they had performed the customary rites around the sanctuary and had entered the inner hall and taken their seats, the Pythia, whose name was Aristonice, gave this response: Wretches, why do you sit there? Leave your homes and the topmost heights of your wheel-round city, and flee to the ends of the earth.

For neither the head remains firm, nor the body, nor the lowest feet, nor the hands, nor is anything of the middle left, but all is in ruin: fire brings it down, and sharp Ares, driving a Syrian chariot. Many other strongholds too he will destroy, not yours alone; many temples of the immortals he will give to ravening fire —

temples that even now stand streaming with sweat, quaking with fear, while down from the topmost roofs black blood pours, foreseeing the compulsion of evil. Go from the shrine, and steep your hearts in woe. When the Athenian envoys heard this, they treated it as the greatest of calamities. As they were giving themselves up for lost because of the evil that had been prophesied, Timon son of Androbulus, a man as respected as any

in Delphi, advised them to take suppliant boughs, return once more, and put their question to the oracle as suppliants. Following this advice, the Athenians declared: 'Lord, give us some better oracle concerning our homeland, out of respect for these suppliant boughs we have come bearing; or else we will not leave your shrine but will stay right here until we die.' When they said this, the

prophetess gave this second response: Pallas cannot appease Olympian Zeus, though she entreats him with many words and shrewd counsel. But to you I will speak this word again, making it firm as adamant: when all else is taken that the boundary of Cecrops holds within it, and the hollow of holy Cithaeron, yet far-seeing Zeus grants to the Trito-born a wooden wall, alone to remain unsacked, which shall profit you and your children. Do not wait quietly for the horsemen

and the great host of foot coming from the mainland, but withdraw, turning your back; the day will come when you will yet stand against them. O divine Salamis, you will destroy the children of women, either when Demeter is scattered or when she is gathered in. This seemed to them — as indeed it was — gentler than the earlier response, so they wrote it down and departed for Athens. And when the envoys had returned and reported

to the people, many opinions were put forward as men searched out the meaning of the oracle, and these two were most sharply opposed. Some of the older men said they thought the god had prophesied that the acropolis would survive; for in old times the acropolis of Athens had been fenced with a thorn hedge. These men, then, inferred from the fence that this was the wooden wall; but others said the god meant the ships,

and urged that these be got ready, letting everything else go. Yet those who said the ships were the wooden wall were tripped up by the last two lines spoken by the Pythia: O divine Salamis, you will destroy the children of women, either when Demeter is scattered or when she is gathered in. Those lines left the camp that took the ships for the wooden

wall foundered; for the oracle-interpreters took the words to mean that they were fated to be defeated in a sea battle after preparing to fight around Salamis. Now there was among the Athenians a man who had lately risen into the first rank, whose name was Themistocles, called the son of Neocles. This man said the interpreters had not got it entirely right, arguing as follows: if the verse had really been directed at the Athenians, it would not,

he thought, have been phrased so gently — it would have been 'O cruel Salamis' instead of 'O divine Salamis,' if the inhabitants were indeed to perish around it. No, rightly understood, the god's oracle was aimed at the enemy, not at the Athenians. He therefore advised them to prepare to fight at sea, for the ships were the wooden wall.

When Themistocles declared this view, the Athenians judged it preferable to that of the oracle-interpreters, who would not allow them to prepare for a sea battle — indeed, to put it in a word, would not let them lift a hand at all, but told them to abandon Attica and settle in some other land. Before this, another proposal of Themistocles had prevailed at just the right moment: when the Athenians had built up a large sum in their public treasury, income that had come in

from the mines at Laurium, they were about to share it out at ten drachmas a head; but Themistocles convinced the Athenians to abandon this distribution and instead build two hundred ships with the money 'for the war' — meaning the war against the Aeginetans. For it was the outbreak of that war which at that juncture saved Greece, by forcing the Athenians to become a seafaring people. The ships were not used for the purpose for which they were built,

but in this way they were there when Greece needed them. These ships, then, already built, were available to the Athenians, and others had to be constructed in addition. And in their deliberations after the oracle they resolved to obey the god and meet the barbarian invading Greece with their ships, in full force, together with those of the Greeks who were willing. Such, then, were the oracles given to the Athenians. Now when those Greeks

who had the better cause of Greece at heart gathered in one place and exchanged discussion and pledges, they resolved in council that the first thing of all was to reconcile their enmities and end the wars they had with one another. There were quarrels afoot between various states, but the greatest was that between the Athenians and the Aeginetans. Then, learning that Xerxes and his army

were at Sardis, they decided to send spies into Asia to observe the king's affairs; to send messengers to Argos to conclude an alliance against the Persian; to send others to Sicily to Gelon son of Deinomenes, and to Corcyra, calling on them to help Greece, and others to Crete — their thought being that, if possible, the Greek world might become one, and that all might bend together to the same task,

since the danger threatened all Greeks alike. Gelon's power was reported to be immense — surpassing by far that of any other Greek state. When they had so resolved, they reconciled their enmities and first sent three men as spies into Asia. These arrived at Sardis and got a full view of the king's army; but when they were discovered, they were interrogated under torture by the generals of the

land army and led off to be executed. Death had been decreed for them; but when Xerxes learned of it, he found fault with the generals' decision and sent some of his bodyguards, with orders to bring the spies before him if they found them still alive. They did find them still alive and brought them into the king's presence; whereupon, having learned what they had come for, he ordered the bodyguards

to lead them around and show them the whole land army and the cavalry, and when they had looked their fill, to send them away unharmed to whatever country they wished. In giving this order he added this reasoning: had the spies instead been executed, the Greeks would not have learned in advance that his power was beyond report, nor would the killing of three men have done the enemy any great harm;

whereas if these men returned to Greece, he thought the Greeks, on hearing of his power, would surrender their own liberty before the expedition ever set out, and so there would be no need to go to the trouble of marching against them. This judgment of his is like another of his. For when Xerxes was at Abydos, he saw boats out of the

grain-ships sailing out through the Hellespont from the Pontus, bound for Aegina and the Peloponnese. His attendants, when they learned that the vessels were enemy craft, were ready to seize them, watching the king for his signal to act. But Xerxes asked them where they were sailing. They answered, "To your enemies, master, carrying grain." He replied,

"Are we not sailing to the very same place as they are, provisioned with everything, including grain? What wrong, then, are they doing us by carrying grain there?" So the spies, having seen what they came to see, were sent off and returned to Europe. The Greeks who had sworn together against the Persian, after sending off the spies, next sent messengers to Argos. The Argives say that what concerned

them happened as follows. They say that they learned at once, at the start, of the forces being raised by the barbarian against Greece, and having learned this, and understanding that the Greeks would try to bring them in against the Persian, they sent inquirers to Delphi to ask the god what would be best for them to do; for not long before, six thousand of them had been killed by the Lacedaemonians and Cleomenes son of Anaxandrides. It was for

this reason that they sent. And to their inquiry the Pythia is said to have given this response: "Hateful to your neighbors, dear to the immortal gods, sit within, holding your spear guarded, keeping watch over your head; for the head will save the body." This the Pythia had prophesied earlier. Then, when the messengers came to Argos, they went before the council and delivered their instructions. The Argives, in reply

to what was said, answered that they were ready to do this, on condition of making a thirty-year peace with the Lacedaemonians and having command of half of the whole alliance. And yet by right the leadership should belong to them alone; still, they would be satisfied with half the command. This, they say, was the council's answer, even though the oracle had forbidden them to make

the alliance with the Greeks; but they were eager to have the thirty-year truce made, even though they feared the oracle, so that their children might grow to manhood in those years; and, if there were no truce, they reasoned that should another disaster befall them on top of what had already happened, this time at the hands of the Persian, they would be forever subject to the Lacedaemonians. Now the messengers from Sparta, in answer to

what had been said by the council, replied as follows: concerning the truce, that matter would be referred back to the larger assembly at home; but as to the leadership, they had been instructed to answer, and to say, that they had two kings, whereas the Argives had only one; there was no way to strip either of the pair of Spartan kings of command, yet nothing barred the Argive king from casting a vote equal to that of their two. In this way, then, the Argives

say, they could not bear the Spartans' greed for more, but chose rather to be ruled by the barbarians than to yield anything to the Lacedaemonians; and they told the messengers to leave the land of Argos before sunset, or else be treated as enemies. This is what the Argives themselves say about the matter. But there is another story told throughout Greece, that Xerxes sent a herald

to Argos before he set out to campaign against Greece, and that when this man arrived he is said to have spoken thus: "Men of Argos, this is what King Xerxes says to you. We consider Perses, from whom we ourselves are descended, to have been the son of Perseus son of Danae, born of the daughter of Cepheus, Andromeda. Thus we would be your descendants. Given that, it would not be fitting for us to campaign against our own forefathers,

nor that you, by aiding others, should become our opponents; rather you should stay quietly at home for yourselves. For if things go according to my wish, I will hold no one in greater honor than you." On hearing this, the Argives are said to have taken the matter seriously, and at the time made no promise and asked for nothing; but afterward, when the Greeks tried to bring them in, knowing that the Lacedaemonians would not share the command, they asked for it on that ground, so that they might have a pretext for

keeping quiet. Some of the Greeks also say that this story fits with another event that occurred many years after these events. It happened that Athenian envoys, Callias son of Hipponicus and those who went up with him, were at Susa, the city of Memnon, on other business, and that the Argives at this same time had also sent envoys to Susa, asking Artaxerxes son of Xerxes whether

the friendship they had made with Xerxes still held firm in his eyes, or whether they were considered by him to be enemies; and King Artaxerxes is said to have answered that it held very firmly indeed, and that he considered no city friendlier than Argos. Now whether Xerxes really sent a herald to Argos saying this, and whether Argive envoys went up to Susa and asked Artaxerxes about friendship, I cannot say for certain, nor do I offer any judgment about

this beyond what the Argives themselves say. I know only this much: that if all men were to bring their own troubles into one place, meaning to exchange them with their neighbors, each, after looking closely at the troubles of others, would gladly take back what he had brought. So the Argives' conduct has not been the most shameful of all. For my part I am obliged to report what is said, though I am by no

means obliged to believe it, and let this statement hold for the whole of my account: since it is also said that it was the Argives who invited the Persian against Greece, because their war with the Lacedaemonians had gone badly for them, wishing for anything at all in preference to their present distress. So much has been said about the Argives. As for Sicily,

other envoys arrived from the allies to meet with Gelon, and among them Syagrus from the Lacedaemonians. Now the ancestor of this Gelon, a settler at Gela, was from the island of Telos, which lies off Triopium; he was not left out when Gela was founded by Lindians from Rhodes and by Antiphemus. In time his descendants became hierophants of the chthonic

gods and continued to be so, one of his ancestors, Telines, having acquired this office in the following manner. Men of Gela, defeated in civil strife, fled to the city of Mactorium, which lies above Gela; from there Telines led them back down to Gela, having no force of men behind him but only the sacred objects of these gods. Where he got them, or whether he acquired them himself, I cannot say; but relying on these

he brought the men back, on condition that his descendants should be hierophants of the gods. Now this too has struck me as a marvel, in view of what I have learned, that Telines should have accomplished so great a deed; for such deeds, I have supposed, are not accomplished by any ordinary man, but by one of noble spirit and manly strength. Yet he is said by the inhabitants of Sicily to have been of the opposite nature to this,

a man rather soft and effeminate. So this man acquired that privilege. When Cleander son of Pantares, who had ruled Gela as tyrant for seven years and died at the hands of Sabyllus, a man of Gela, met his death, then Hippocrates, being Cleander's brother, took up the sole rule. While Hippocrates held the tyranny, Gelon, being a descendant of Telines the hierophant, along with many others,

including Aenesidemus son of Pataicus, served as a spearman of Hippocrates. Not long afterward, on account of his valor, he was appointed commander of the entire cavalry; for when Hippocrates was besieging the Callipolitans, the Naxians, the Zancleans, the Leontines, and moreover the Syracusans and many of the barbarians as well, Gelon proved himself the most brilliant man in these wars. Of the cities I have named,

not one, except Syracuse, escaped enslavement at the hands of Hippocrates; but the Syracusans were rescued, after being defeated in battle by the river Helorus, by the Corinthians and Corcyraeans, who rescued them by arranging a settlement on the following terms: that the Syracusans should hand over Camarina to Hippocrates. Camarina had originally belonged to Syracuse. And when it befell Hippocrates, having ruled for a span matching that of his brother Cleander, to die near the city of Hybla while campaigning

against the Sicels, then Gelon, professing to be avenging the sons of Hippocrates, Euclides and Cleander, since the citizens no longer wished to be subject to them, in fact, once he had prevailed in battle over the Gelans, ruled himself, having deprived the sons of Hippocrates of power. After this stroke of fortune, the men called the landowners among the Syracusans, who had been driven out both by the common people there and by their own

slaves, called the Cyllyrians, Gelon brought back from the city of Casmene and took possession of Syracuse as well; for when Gelon drew near, the Syracusan populace itself handed over the city and themselves to him. Once he had taken possession of Syracuse, he made less of his rule over Gela, entrusting it to his brother Hiero, while he himself strengthened his hold on Syracuse; and to him now belonged

all of Syracuse: and the city at once shot up and flourished. For one thing, he brought all the people of Camarina over to Syracuse and granted them citizenship there, razing the town of Camarina; for another, he did the same with more than half of the citizens of Gela as he had done with the Camarinaeans. As for the Megarians in Sicily, when, besieged, they came to terms of surrender, he took the well-off among them, who had raised war against him

and expected on that account to be killed, and brought them to Syracuse, giving them citizenship there; the Megarian commons, however, who bore no responsibility for that war and looked for no harm to come to them, he likewise carried to Syracuse and sold for export out of Sicily. He did this same thing also with the Euboeans of Sicily, making the same distinction. He did this to both groups because he considered the common people

a most unpleasant thing to have living alongside him. In this way Gelon had become a great tyrant. Then, when the envoys of the Greeks arrived at Syracuse, they came before him and spoke as follows: "The Lacedaemonians and their allies have sent us to win you over against the barbarian; for you surely have heard of the one advancing against Greece, that a Persian man intends, having yoked the"

the Hellespont and leading his whole army out of Asia from the rising sun, he will march against Greece, making a show of advancing against Athens, but with the intention of bringing all of Greece under his own power. You, since you have come to great power, and no small share of Greece belongs to you as ruler of Sicily, help those who are freeing Greece

and join in freeing it. For if all of Greece is joined together, a great force is gathered, and we become a match for those attacking us. But if some of us betray the cause and others refuse to help, and the sound part of Greece is small, then it becomes a fearsome thing that all of Greece may fall. Do not hope, if the Persian subdues us by defeating us in battle,

that he will not come against you as well — guard against that before it happens. By helping us you defend yourself. A matter well planned tends, for the most part, to reach a good outcome." So they spoke, and Gelon pressed his case at length, saying the following. "Men of Greece, with a grasping argument you have dared to come and call on me as an ally against the barbarian. Yet you yourselves, when I earlier asked

you to join me with a foreign army, when I was at war with the Carthaginians, and when I urged you to exact justice from the people of Egesta for the murder of Dorieus son of Anaxandrides, and offered to help free the trading posts from which you have gained great benefits and profits — you came neither to help me nor to avenge the murder of Dorieus, and as far as it depended on you all these lands are now under barbarian rule. But things turned out

well and even better for us. Now, with the war having circled back around and reaching your shores, only now has Gelon been remembered. Yet though I have been dishonored by you, I will not make myself like you, but am ready to help, offering two hundred triremes, twenty thousand hoplites, two thousand cavalry, two thousand archers, two thousand slingers, and two thousand light cavalry skirmishers; and I undertake

to supply grain for the whole Greek army until we finish the war. I promise these things on one condition, that I be general and leader of the Greeks against the barbarian. On any other terms I would neither come myself nor send others." Hearing this, Syagros could not restrain himself and said the following. "How greatly would Agamemnon son of Pelops groan aloud

if he learned that the Spartans had been stripped of the leadership by Gelon and the Syracusans. No, speak no more of this — of how we should hand over the leadership to you. If you wish to help Greece, know that you will be commanded by the Lacedaemonians; but if you do not think it right to be commanded, then do not help at all." In response to this, when Gelon saw that Syagros' words were hostile, he

delivered to them this final speech. "Spartan stranger, insults thrown at a man tend to rouse his anger; yet though you have indulged in insolent words, you will not persuade me to be unseemly in my reply. Since you cling so tightly to the leadership, it is fitting that I cling to it even more than you, being the leader of a far greater army and of many more ships. But since

this proposal is so unwelcome to you, we will yield somewhat from our original position: if you lead the infantry, let me lead the navy; or if it pleases you to command by sea, I am willing to command the infantry. Either you must be content with these terms or depart deprived of such allies as these." Such were Gelon's offers, but the Athenian envoy spoke first,

answering the Lacedaemonian envoy with these words. "King of the Syracusans, Greece sent us to you not in need of a commander but of an army. But you show no sign of sending an army unless you lead Greece, while you are eager to command it. As long as you were asking to lead the whole Greek force, it was enough for us Athenians to remain silent, knowing that the Laconian

would be capable of answering for both of us. But since, having been rejected from leading the whole force, you now ask instead to command the fleet, here is how matters stand: even if the Laconian should allow you to command it, we would not allow it. For this command is ours, if the Lacedaemonians themselves do not want it. To those who wish to lead it we do not object, but we will yield command of the navy to no one else. For it would be pointless for us

to possess the largest naval force of the Greeks, if we Athenians were to concede the leadership to the Syracusans — we who offer the most ancient of peoples, and alone among the Greeks have never migrated; of whom even Homer the epic poet said that the best man who came to Troy was the one to marshal and array the army. Thus there is no shame for us in saying this." Gelon answered them thus. "Athenian stranger, it seems you have

those to command, but will not have those to be commanded. Since then you are unwilling to yield anything and want to have it all, you would do well to leave as quickly as possible and go tell Greece that her year has lost its spring." This is what his statement meant: it is clear that spring is the most valued season of the year,

just as he compared his own army to that of the Greek forces; so, deprived of his alliance, Greece would be left as though her year had lost its spring. So the Greek envoys, having concluded such business with Gelon, sailed away; and Gelon, fearing on account of these events that the Greeks might not be able to overcome the barbarian, yet also thinking it dreadful and unbearable

to go to the Peloponnese and be commanded by the Lacedaemonians, he being tyrant of Sicily, abandoned that course and took up another. As soon as he learned that the Persian had crossed the Hellespont, he sent Cadmus son of Scythes, a Coan by birth, aboard three fifty-oared ships to Delphi, carrying much money and friendly words, to wait and see which way the battle would tip, and if the barbarian came out on top, to give

him the money along with earth and water for the lands Gelon ruled, but if the Greeks won, to bring it back. This Cadmus had earlier received from his father a tyranny at Cos that was well established, yet of his own free will, with no danger threatening, but out of a sense of justice, he had laid down that rule before the Coan people and departed for Sicily, where with the help of the Samians he took

and settled the city of Zancle, which later changed its name to Messene. This Cadmus, then, who had come to Sicily in such a manner because of his justice, Gelon sent on this mission, knowing him to be a man of the same character; and among the other just deeds he had done on his own, he left behind this one, not the least of them. For having gained control of the large sums of money entrusted to him by Gelon, though he could have kept it,

he refused to do so, but when the Greeks had prevailed in the sea battle and Xerxes had gone off in retreat, he too then came to Sicily bringing back all the money. It is also said by those who live in Sicily that even though he was about to be commanded by the Lacedaemonians, Gelon would still have gone to help the Greeks, had it not been that Terillus son of Crinippus,

tyrant of Himera, having been driven out of that city by Theron son of Ainesidemos, ruler of Acragas, brought against him at that very time three hundred thousand Phoenicians, Libyans, Iberians, Ligurians, Elisycans, Sardinians, and Corsicans, with Hamilcar son of Hanno, king of the Carthaginians, as their general, whom Terillus had persuaded on the grounds of his own ties of hospitality, and especially through the eagerness of Anaxilas son of

Cretines, who, being tyrant of Rhegium, gave his own children as hostages to Hamilcar and brought him against Sicily to avenge his father-in-law; for Anaxilas had married the daughter of Terillus, whose name was Cydippe. Thus it was not possible for Gelon to help the Greeks, and so he sent the money to Delphi. In addition to this they say that it happened, on the very same day,

that in Sicily Gelon and Theron defeated Hamilcar the Carthaginian, and at Salamis the Greeks defeated the Persian. As for this Hamilcar the Carthaginian, Carthaginian by his father but Syracusan on his mother's side, who had become king of the Carthaginians through his valor, I have learned that when the battle joined and he was being defeated, he vanished from sight: for he was seen nowhere on earth, neither alive nor dead, though Gelon

searched everywhere for him. But the following account is given by the Carthaginians themselves, and it seems plausible: that the barbarians fought the Greeks in Sicily from dawn until late evening (for the engagement is said to have lasted that long), and that Hamilcar in that time, remaining in the camp, was sacrificing and seeking good omens, burning whole bodies on a great pyre,

but when he saw his own men being routed, just as he was pouring a libation over the offerings, he threw himself into the fire; and thus, being burned up, he vanished. Whether Hamilcar vanished in this manner as the Phoenicians say, or in some other way as the Carthaginians and Syracusans say, they both offer sacrifices to him and have made monuments to him in all the cities of their colonies, the greatest one being in Carthage itself.

So much for the events from Sicily. The Corcyraeans, in response to the envoys, gave the following answer and did as follows: since the very envoys who had traveled to Sicily came to them as well, using the identical arguments they had used before Gelon. And the Corcyraeans at once promised to send help and to defend Greece, saying that Greece must not be allowed to perish before their eyes; for if it should fall, they themselves

would have nothing else to look forward to but slavery from the very first day, so they must help to the utmost of their power. So they answered fair-seeming words; but when the time came to help, with other intentions they manned sixty ships, and with difficulty putting out to sea, they approached the Peloponnese, and anchored their ships off Pylos and Taenarum in Lacedaemonian territory, watching, as the others did, to see how the war would fall out, having no expectation that the Greeks

to outdo the rest, thinking that once the Persian had conquered he would rule all of Greece. They did this on purpose, so that they would have this to say to the Persian: "O King, when the Greeks were enlisting us for this war, though we had a force not the smallest, nor would we have supplied the fewest ships but the most after the Athenians, we were unwilling to oppose you or to do anything displeasing to you." By saying such things

they hoped to gain more than the rest, and this, I think, is just what would have happened. And toward the Greeks a pretext had been prepared for them, which indeed they used. For when the Greeks blamed them for not coming to help, they said they had manned sixty triremes, but that because of the etesian winds they had not been able to round Malea, and so had not arrived at Salamis, and

had not been left behind from the sea battle through any cowardice. In this way they put off the Greeks. As for the Cretans, when those of the Greeks appointed to this task tried to enlist them, they did the following: they sent envoys in common to Delphi to ask the god whether it would be better for them to help defend Greece. The Pythia answered: "O foolish ones, do you complain of all the tears of vengeance Minos sent you because of your help to Menelaus,

because they did not join in avenging his death that occurred at Camicus, while you helped them avenge the woman carried off from Sparta by a foreign man?" When the Cretans heard this reported to them, they held back from giving aid. For it is said that Minos, going to Sicania (now called Sicily) in search of Daedalus, died a violent death. And in time the Cretans, at a god's urging, all

except the people of Polichna and Praesus, went with a great expedition to Sicania and besieged for five years the city of Camicus, which in my time the people of Acragas inhabit. In the end, unable either to take it or to remain there, being overcome by famine, they departed. But when they came to be sailing off Iapygia, a great storm caught them and cast them onto the land; and since their ships were smashed to pieces, and

they saw no way of returning to Crete, they founded the city of Hyria there and stayed, changing from Cretans into Iapygian Messapians, and from islanders into mainlanders. From the city of Hyria they settled the other towns, which the Tarentines, much later, trying to expel them, ran into great disaster, so that this became the greatest slaughter of Greeks of any I know of, both of the Tarentines themselves and of the Rhegians,

who were compelled by Micythus son of Choerus, a citizen of theirs, to go and help the Tarentines, and died there three thousand strong in this way; of the Tarentines themselves there was no reckoning of the number. This Micythus, who had been a servant of Anaxilaus, had been left as governor of Rhegium; he it was who, being expelled from Rhegium and settling in Tegea in Arcadia, dedicated the many statues at Olympia. But this matter of the Rhegians and Tarentines

has come into my account as a digression. As for Crete, once it was left empty, as the people of Praesus say, other people settled it, especially Greeks, and in the third generation after Minos died the events at Troy took place, in which the Cretans proved to be not the least valiant avengers of Menelaus. But because of this, when they returned home from Troy, famine and plague came upon both them and their flocks,

until Crete, emptied a second time, is now inhabited, along with the remaining people, by a third population of Cretans. So the Pythia, by reminding them of this, restrained them though they were willing to help the Greeks. The Thessalians, for their part, had at first medized out of necessity, as they showed, since they did not like what the Aleuadae were contriving. For as soon as they learned that the Persian was about to cross into Europe, they sent messengers to the

Isthmus, where the representatives of Greece were gathered, chosen from the cities that had the best judgment concerning Greece. When the messengers of the Thessalians came to these men, they said: "Men of Greece, the pass at Olympus must be guarded, so that Thessaly and all of Greece may be sheltered from the war. We ourselves are ready

to help guard it, but you too must send a large army, since, if you do not send one, be assured that we will come to terms with the Persian. For it is not right that we, so far advanced ahead of the rest of Greece, should perish alone on your behalf. If you do not wish to help, you have no way to compel us; for necessity has never proved stronger than inability. We ourselves will try to devise some means of safety

on our own." So spoke the Thessalians. In response, the Greeks resolved to send by sea an infantry force to Thessaly to guard the pass. When the army had been gathered, it sailed through the Euripus; arriving at Alus in Achaea, they disembarked and marched to Thessaly, leaving their ships there, and came to Tempe, to the pass that leads

from lower Macedonia into Thessaly along the river Peneus, between Mount Olympus and Ossa. There about ten thousand hoplites of the Greeks encamped together, and the Thessalian cavalry joined them; the Lacedaemonian commander was Evaenetus son of Carenus, chosen from among the polemarchs, though not of the royal line, and the Athenian commander was Themistocles son of Neocles. They stayed there

only a few days; for messengers came from Alexander son of Amyntas, a Macedonian, advising them to withdraw and not remain in the pass to be trampled by the advancing army, pointing out the size of the force and the number of the ships. When these men gave this advice, since it seemed good advice and the Macedonian appeared well-disposed toward them, they were persuaded. I think, however,

that fear was really what persuaded them, when they learned that there was also another pass into Thessaly, through upper Macedonia by way of the Perrhaebi, near the city of Gonnus, the very pass by which Xerxes' army actually did invade. So the Greeks went down to their ships and returned to the Isthmus. This was the expedition to Thessaly, made while the king was about to cross into

Europe from Asia and was already at Abydus. The Thessalians, left without allies, therefore medized so eagerly and without any hesitation that, as matters unfolded, the king found them exceptionally useful. The Greeks, when they arrived at the Isthmus, deliberated, in light of what Alexander had told them, where they should make their stand for the war and in what places. The prevailing

opinion was to guard the pass at Thermopylae; for it seemed narrower than the one into Thessaly and at the same time closer to their own territory. As for the path by which those Greeks who were captured at Thermopylae were caught, they did not even know it existed until, arriving at Thermopylae, they learned of it from the people of Trachis. This pass, then, they resolved to guard, so as not to let the barbarian through into Greece, while the

naval force would sail along the coast of the Histiaean territory to Artemisium. These places are close enough to each other that news of events at either could be learned, given how the locations lie. As for Artemisium: from the wide Thracian sea it narrows into the strait between the island of Sciathos and the mainland of Magnesia; and from that strait

the coast of Euboea beyond receives Artemisium, where there is a temple of Artemis. As for the entrance into Greece through Trachis, it is half a plethron wide at its narrowest. This, however, is not the narrowest part of that whole region; there is a place narrower still both before Thermopylae and behind it, at Alpeni behind it, where there is only a single wagon track, and in front near the river Phoenix, close to

the city of Anthele, another single wagon track. Of Thermopylae, the mountain on the western side is impassable and sheer, high, rising up to Oeta; on the eastern side of the road the sea and marshes take over. In this pass there are hot springs, which the locals call the Pots, and an altar of Heracles has been set up beside them. A wall had been built

across this pass, and in ancient times there were gates there as well. The Phocians built the wall out of fear, when the Thessalians came from Thesprotia to settle the land of Aeolis, which they now hold. Since the Thessalians were trying to subdue them, the Phocians took this precaution beforehand, and they also let loose the hot water then upon the entrance, so that the place would be gullied out — doing everything

they could arrange matters so the Thessalians would not invade their territory. The old wall dated from long ago, and by this time most of it had crumbled with age; but those who rebuilt it resolved to defend Greece from the barbarian at that spot. The village nearest the road is called Alpeni; from this the Greeks reckoned they would get their provisions.

These places, then, seemed suitable to the Greeks; for having considered everything and reckoned that the barbarians would be unable to use either their numbers or their cavalry there, they decided to make their stand there against the invader of Greece. Once word reached them that the Persian king was in Pieria, they left the Isthmus and departed, some marching by land to Thermopylae, others going

by sea to Artemisium. So the Greeks hastened to help, divided into these two groups. Meanwhile the Delphians, in fear for themselves and for Greece, consulted the god's oracle, and were told to pray to the winds; for these would prove great allies to Greece. Having received this oracle, the Delphians first announced what had been prophesied to them to those Greeks who wished to be free, and

by announcing it to men terribly afraid of the barbarian, they earned undying gratitude. After this the Delphians set up an altar to the winds at Thyia, where the precinct of Thyia, daughter of Cephisus, is (from whom this place also takes its name), and they propitiated them with sacrifices. And to this day the Delphians, in accordance with that oracle, still propitiate the winds.

Xerxes' naval force, setting out from the city of Therma, sent ten of its best-sailing ships straight for Skiathos, where three Greek ships were keeping watch—one from Troezen, one from Aegina, and one from Athens. When these caught sight of the barbarians' ships they fled. The Troezenian ship, commanded by Prexinus, was overtaken and captured at once by the barbarians, and then, of the marines aboard her,

they took the handsomest man, led him to the prow of the ship, and cut his throat, taking it as a good omen that the first and finest of the Greeks they had captured should be sacrificed this way. The name of the man sacrificed was Leon, and perhaps the name itself had something to do with it. The Aeginetan ship, whose captain was Asonides, gave them some trouble, because of Pytheas son of Ischenous, a marine aboard her who proved himself the finest man that day.

For when the ship was being captured he held out fighting until he had been hacked entirely to pieces. Since he fell but did not die, and still breathed, the Persians who served as marines on the ships, on account of his valor, took the greatest pains to save him, treating his wounds with myrrh and binding them with strips of fine linen. And when they got back to

their own camp, they displayed him to the whole army with admiration, treating him well; but the rest of the men they had taken from that ship they treated as slaves. So two of the three ships were captured in this way; the third, commanded by Phormus, an Athenian, ran aground fleeing at the mouth of the Peneius, and the barbarians got possession of the hull, but not of the men,

for as soon as the Athenians had beached the ship, they leapt out and made their way through Thessaly back to Athens. The Greeks stationed at Artemisium learned of this from fire signals sent from Skiathos; and on learning it, in fear, they moved their anchorage from Artemisium to Chalcis, meaning to guard the Euripus, but leaving day-watchers on the high places of Euboea. Of the ten barbarian ships,

three ran up onto the reef lying between Skiathos and Magnesia, called the Ant. There the barbarians, once they had brought a stone pillar and set it up on the reef, set out themselves from Therma, now that the obstacle in their path had been marked clear, and sailed on with all their ships, eleven days after the king's departure from Therma. The reef in the channel was pointed out to them

chiefly by Pammon of Scyros. Sailing the whole day, the barbarians reached the region of Magnesia at Sepias and the stretch of shore between the city of Casthanaea and the headland of Sepias. Up to this point, and as far as Thermopylae, the army had suffered no misfortune, and its numbers at that time were still, as I reckon by calculation,

such as follows: of the ships from Asia — twelve hundred and seven in total — the complement originally drawn from each nation totaled two hundred forty-one thousand four hundred men, figuring two hundred men per ship. Aboard these ships, apart from each contingent's own local marines, there also served, of Persians, Medes, and

Sacae, thirty men each. This other body comes to thirty-six thousand two hundred and ten. I will add further to this and to the previous number the men from the fifty-oared ships, reckoning, whether more or fewer served on them, an average of eighty men each. These vessels, as was said before, numbered three thousand. So the men aboard them would be

two hundred and forty thousand. This, then, was the naval force from Asia, amounting in total to five hundred and seventeen thousand six hundred and ten. The infantry came to one million seven hundred thousand, and the cavalry to eighty thousand. I will add further to these the camel-riding Arabians

and the Libyans who drove chariots, putting their number at twenty thousand. And so the total from the ships and the infantry together comes to two million three hundred seventeen thousand six hundred and ten. This is the count of the force brought out from Asia itself, apart from the attendants following it and

the supply vessels and all who sailed in them. But the force brought from Europe still has to be added to this whole sum already reckoned—though here one must speak by estimate. The Greeks from Thrace and from the islands lying off Thrace supplied one hundred and twenty ships; from these ships the men come to

twenty-four thousand. As for infantry, the Thracians, Paeonians, Eordians, Bottiaeans, the Chalcidian people, Brygians, Pierians, Macedonians, Perrhaebians, Enienians, Dolopians, Magnesians, Achaeans, and all who inhabit the coast of Thrace supplied, I reckon, three hundred thousand men from these nations. These, added to those from

Asia, make in all two million six hundred and forty-one thousand six hundred and sixty fighting men. Given that the fighting force amounted to this number, I do not suppose that the attendants following them, and those aboard the supply boats and the other vessels sailing along with the army, were

fewer than the fighting men, but rather more. Still, I will reckon them as equal to that number, neither more nor fewer. Made equal to the fighting force in this way, they fill out the same number again. Thus Xerxes son of Darius led five million two hundred eighty-three thousand two hundred twenty men as far as Sepias and Thermopylae. This

then is the number of Xerxes' entire force; but of the women who baked the bread, the concubines, and the eunuchs, no one could give an accurate count, nor again of the pack animals and other beasts of burden and the Indian dogs that followed—no one could give a number for these either, owing to their multitude. So it is no wonder to me that the streams of certain rivers

failed, but rather it is a wonder to me how the provisions held out for so vast a multitude. For I find by calculation that if each man received one choenix of wheat a day and no more, one hundred and ten thousand medimni would be used up each day, plus another three hundred and forty medimni; and I am not even reckoning for the women, eunuchs, pack animals, and dogs. Of men there being so many tens of thousands, in beauty

and stature none among them was more deserving to hold that power than Xerxes himself. As for the fleet, after setting out and sailing until it reached the Magnesian coast, in the stretch lying between Casthanaea and Cape Sepias, the leading vessels anchored nearest the shore, while others lay at anchor farther out behind them; for

since the shore was not large, they lay anchored in rows out to sea, eight ships deep. So they spent that night; but at dawn, out of a clear and windless sky, the sea began to seethe, and a great storm fell on them along with a strong east wind, which the people living in those parts call the Hellespontian. Those of them who noticed the wind rising

and where their ships lay anchored got ahead of the storm by hauling their ships up onto land, and both they and their ships survived; but as for those ships the storm caught out at sea, it carried some to the place called the Ovens on Pelion, others onto the shore; some were wrecked around Sepias itself, others driven onto the city of Meliboea,

and others cast up at Casthanaea. The violence of the storm was unbearable. It is said that the Athenians had invoked Boreas by an oracle, after another oracle had come to them telling them to call on their son-in-law for help. Boreas, according to the Greek account, has an Attic wife, Oreithyia daughter of Erechtheus. On account of this marriage connection, the Athenians, as the story goes,

reckoning Boreas to be their son-in-law, when they were stationed with their fleet at Chalcis in Euboea and saw the storm rising, or even before that, offered sacrifices and invoked Boreas and Oreithyia to help them and wreck the barbarian ships, as had occurred earlier near Athos. I cannot say whether this was actually why Boreas struck the barbarians while they were anchored; but

the Athenians themselves say that Boreas had helped them before and accomplished this too, and on returning home they founded a shrine to Boreas beside the river Ilissus. In this disaster it is said that no fewer than four hundred ships were destroyed, along with countless men and an abundance of wealth beyond counting. As a result this shipwreck proved a great boon to Ameinocles son of Cretines, a Magnesian who owned land around Sepias, for he

picked up many gold cups washed ashore later, and many silver ones, found treasures belonging to the Persians, and acquired other untold wealth besides. Yet though he grew very rich from these finds, he was not fortunate in everything else, for a bitter misfortune, the loss of a child, also grieved him. As for the destruction of the grain-carrying merchant vessels and the other ships, there was no counting them. So fearing that the Thessalians would attack them while they were in this crippled state, the commanders of

the naval force built a high barrier out of the wreckage, for the storm raged for three days. At last, by performing sacrifices and having the Magi chant incantations to the wind, and by sacrificing further to Thetis and the Nereids besides, they brought it to an end on the fourth day—or else it simply died down of its own accord. They sacrificed to Thetis because they had learned

the story from the Ionians: that Peleus had seized her from this very spot, and that the entire headland called Sepias was hers, shared with the rest of the Nereids. The storm ceased on the fourth day. As for the Greeks, their lookouts, hurrying down from the Euboean heights on the second day since the storm began, brought word of everything that

had happened concerning the shipwreck. When the Greeks learned of it, they prayed to Poseidon the Savior and poured libations, then hurried back as fast as they could to Artemisium, expecting to find only a few enemy ships left to face. They came a second time to Artemisium and anchored there, and from that time to this they have honored Poseidon under the title Savior. As for the barbarians, once the

wind died down and the swell had settled, they hauled down their ships and sailed along the mainland, and after passing the Magnesian cape, they sailed directly toward the gulf leading to Pagasae. Within this gulf, in Magnesia, lies a spot where, according to tradition, Jason and his fellow voyagers on the Argo abandoned Heracles after sending him to fetch water, when

they were sailing for the fleece to Aea in Colchis; for it was from there that they intended to draw water before setting out onto the open sea. From this the place has taken the name Aphetae. It was here, then, that Xerxes's fleet made anchorage. Fifteen of these ships happened to put out very much later than the rest and somehow caught sight of the Greek ships at Artemisium. The barbarians thought these

were their own ships and, sailing on, fell in among the enemy. In command of them was Sandoces son of Thamasius, the governor from Cyme in Aeolis, whom King Darius had earlier arrested on the following charge and had impaled, he being one of the royal judges. Sandoces had given an unjust verdict for money. After he had been hung up on the stake, Darius, reckoning it over, found that he had done more good than harm for

the royal house; and having found this, and recognizing that he himself had acted more hastily than wisely, Darius released him. So it was that he had escaped death at the hands of King Darius and survived; but now, having sailed against the Greeks, he was not going to escape a second time. For when the Greeks spotted them approaching, they recognized the enemy's blunder, sailed out to meet them, and seized them with ease.

On one of these ships was captured Aridolis, tyrant of Alabanda in Caria, who was sailing in it; on another was the Paphian commander Penthylus son of Demonous, who had brought twelve ships from Paphos, only to lose eleven when the storm struck near Sepias, and was captured while sailing the sole survivor toward Artemisium. The Greeks questioned these men, learning from them what they wished to know about Xerxes's

army, and then sent them off in bonds to the isthmus of Corinth. So the barbarians' naval force, apart from the fifteen ships whose commander I said was Sandoces, arrived at Aphetae. Xerxes and the land army, meanwhile, had marched through Thessaly and Achaea and had already, on the third day, invaded the country of the Malians, having held in Thessaly a horse race in which he tested both his own horses and

the Thessalian horses, having learned that these were the best in Greece; and there the Greek horses were left far behind. Of the rivers in Thessaly, only the Onochonus did not suffice with its flow to supply the army's drinking; and of the rivers flowing in Achaea, not even the Epidanus, the largest of them, held out except barely. When Xerxes had come to Alus in Achaea,

his guides, wishing to explain everything, told him a local story concerning the sanctuary of Laphystian Zeus: how Athamas son of Aeolus, together with Ino, plotted death for Phrixus, and how afterward, by an oracle's command, the Achaeans impose these ordeals on his descendants — whoever is the eldest of that family is barred by the others, who set a watch on him, from entering the

town hall. The Achaeans call the town hall the "leiton." If he enters, there is no way he can leave again except when he is about to be sacrificed; and indeed many of those who were about to be sacrificed have already fled in fear to another country, and, when time has passed, if they return and are caught, they are led to the town hall; there they describe how the man is sacrificed, wreathed all over with garlands,

and led out in a procession. This is what happens to the descendants of Cytissorus, son of Phrixus, because when the Achaeans, following an oracle, were purifying the land and were about to sacrifice Athamas son of Aeolus, this Cytissorus arrived from Aea in Colchis and rescued him — and by doing this he brought down the god's wrath upon his own descendants. When Xerxes heard this, as he came

near the sacred grove, he himself kept away from it and gave the same order to his whole army, and he showed the same reverence to the house and precinct of Athamas's descendants. Such were the events in Thessaly and in Achaea. From these regions he went on into Malis, along a gulf of the sea where an ebb and flow occurs every day. Around

this gulf there is a flat area, in places broad, in others quite narrow; and around this area lie high, impassable mountains that enclose the whole land of Malis, called the Trachinian Rocks. The first city one comes to in this gulf, coming from Achaea, is Anticyra, beside which the river Spercheius flows down from the Enienes and empties into the sea. From there,

about twenty stades on, is another river called the Dyras, which legend says appeared to aid Heracles as he was burning. From there, another twenty stades on, is another river called the Melas. The city of Trachis is five stades from this river Melas. It is here, where Trachis is built, that this whole region is widest from the mountains

to the sea; for the plain measures twenty-two thousand plethra. The mountain range enclosing Trachinian territory has a gorge south of the town of Trachis, and the Asopus river runs through this gorge, following the base of the mountain. There is also another river, the Phoenix, not large, to the south of the Asopus, which flows down from

these mountains and empties into the Asopus. At the Phoenix river the pass is at its narrowest — a single wagon-track has been built there. From the river Phoenix it is fifteen stades to Thermopylae. Between the river Phoenix and Thermopylae there is a village called Anthele, past which the Asopus flows on its way to empty into the sea, and there is a broad space around

it, in which a temple to Demeter Amphictyonis is located, along with council seats for the Amphictyons and a shrine to Amphictyon himself. King Xerxes made his camp in the Trachinian part of Malis, while the Greeks made theirs in the pass. This place is called Thermopylae by most Greeks, but Pylae by the local people and their neighbors. Each side, then,

made camp in these places, and each controlled the ground on its own side: Xerxes everything to the north as far as Trachis, the Greeks everything to the south and toward the mainland on this side. The Greeks who awaited the Persian in this place were the following: three hundred Spartan hoplites, and a thousand from Tegea and Mantinea, half from each, and from

Orchomenus in Arcadia sent a hundred and twenty men, while the remainder of Arcadia supplied a thousand more — that was the Arcadian total; Corinth contributed four hundred, Phlius two hundred, and Mycenae eighty. These came from the Peloponnese; from Boeotia came seven hundred Thespians and four hundred Thebans. In addition to these, the Opuntian Locrians came in full force when summoned, along with a thousand Phocians. For

the Greeks themselves had called on them, sending word by messengers that they themselves had come ahead as a vanguard of the rest, that the remaining allies were expected any day, that the sea was under guard, watched over by the Athenians, the Aeginetans, and those assigned to the fleet, and that there was nothing to fear: for it was not a god who was advancing upon

Greece but merely a man, and no mortal had ever lived, nor ever would, entirely free of misfortune from birth onward — indeed the greatest men bore the greatest share of it. So the one now advancing, being mortal himself, was bound to fall from his high repute. Hearing this, the Greeks went to the aid of Trachis. Now among them there were commanders from each city individually, but the man

most admired, and who commanded the entire force, was the Lacedaemonian Leonidas — descended, father to son, from Anaxandrides, Leon, Eurycratides, Anaxander, Eurycrates, Polydorus, Alcamenes, Teleclus, Archelaus, Hegesilaus, Doryssus, Leobotes, Echestratus, Agis, Eurysthenes, Aristodemus, Aristomachus, Cleodaeus, Hyllus, and Heracles — who had come to hold the kingship at Sparta

quite unexpectedly. For since he had two elder brothers, Cleomenes and Dorieus, he had put the thought of the kingship out of his mind. But when Cleomenes died leaving no male child, and Dorieus was no longer living either, having also died in Sicily, the kingship passed in this way to Leonidas — and because he was older than Cleombrotus, since Cleombrotus was the youngest son of Anaxandrides, and moreover

he was married to the daughter of Cleomenes. He it was who then went to Thermopylae, having chosen the men enrolled as the standing three hundred and those among them who happened to have sons; and on his way he took along also the Thebans I mentioned in reckoning the number, whose commander was Leontiades son of Eurymachus. Leonidas was eager to bring these men, of all the Greeks, along with him for this reason: that they were strongly accused of favoring the Medes. He therefore summoned them to the war,

wanting to know whether they would openly send reinforcements or openly refuse the Greek alliance. The Spartans, their minds elsewhere, kept sending men anyway. They sent the men with Leonidas out first, so that the rest of the allies, seeing them, would take the field and not, on hearing that the Spartans were putting things off, also go over to the Medes. Later on, once they had kept the festival of the Carneia, which stood in their way, and had left garrisons behind in Sparta, they intended

to come to help with the whole army, and with all speed. So too the rest of the allies had decided to act likewise, since it happened that the Olympic festival coincided with these events; and since they did not expect the conflict at Thermopylae to be settled so fast, they sent only advance troops. These, then, had resolved to act in this way. As for the Greeks at Thermopylae, when the Persian drew near the pass,

they grew afraid and took counsel about withdrawing. It was the view of the rest of the Peloponnesians that they should go back into the Peloponnese and hold the Isthmus under guard; but Leonidas, since the Phocians and Locrians were indignant at this plan, voted to stay there himself and to send messengers to the cities urging them to send help, on the ground that they were too few to ward off the army of the Medes. While they were debating this, Xerxes sent

a horseman as a scout, to see how many they were and what they were doing. He had heard, while still in Thessaly, that a small force had gathered there, and that its leaders were the Lacedaemonians together with Leonidas, who was of the line of Heracles. When the horseman rode up to the camp, he looked and observed it, though not the whole camp; for those posted inside the wall—

the wall which they had restored and were guarding—he could not make out; but he took note of those outside, whose arms lay in front of the wall. At that time it happened that the Lacedaemonians were posted outside. Some of the men he saw exercising, others combing their hair. Watching this, he was amazed, and took note of their number as well. Having learned everything precisely,

he rode back at his leisure; for no one pursued him, and he met with a great deal of indifference. When he came back he told Xerxes everything he had seen. Hearing this, Xerxes could not grasp the truth of it—that they were preparing to die and to kill as best they could—but since what they were doing seemed absurd to him, he sent for Demaratus son of Ariston, who was in the camp. When he arrived,

Xerxes questioned him closely about all this, wanting to understand what the Lacedaemonians were doing. Demaratus said, "You heard me before, when we were setting out for Greece, speaking about these men; and when you heard me, you made me a laughingstock for saying how I saw these matters turning out. Yet for me, striving to speak the truth before you, O king, is the greatest of contests. Hear me now as well.

These men have come to fight us for the passage, and that is what they are preparing for. It is their custom, when they are about to risk their lives, to groom their heads. Know this: if you subdue these men and the force remaining behind in Sparta, there is no other nation of men on earth that will withstand you, O king, and raise its hands against you; for now you are approaching the kingdom and

the finest city among the Greeks, and the best men." To Xerxes what was said seemed utterly incredible, and he asked further how, being so few, they would fight against his army. Demaratus said, "O king, treat me as a liar if this does not turn out for you just as I say." Saying this he did not persuade Xerxes. For four

days he let them be, still expecting that they would run off at any moment. But on the fifth day, when they had not withdrawn but seemed to him to be persisting out of sheer insolence and folly, he grew angry and sent the Medes and Cissians against them, ordering them to take them alive and bring them into his presence. When the Medes fell upon the Greeks and charged, many of them fell, but others came on in their place, and they were not driven back,

even though they were suffering great losses. They made it plain to everyone, and not least to the king himself, that there were many men there but few real fighters. The engagement went on all day. When the Medes were being roughly handled, they then withdrew, and the Persians took their place and came on—those the king called the Immortals, whom Hydarnes commanded—thinking that they at least would easily finish the task.

But when these too closed with the Greeks, they gained nothing more than the Median force had, but the same result, since they were fighting in a narrow place and using shorter spears than the Greeks, and could not make use of their numbers. The Lacedaemonians fought in a manner worth recounting, showing themselves skilled in fighting against men unskilled in it, in various ways—and whenever they turned their backs, closing ranks

they would pretend to flee, and the barbarians, seeing them flee, would come on with shouting and clatter; but the Greeks, once overtaken, would wheel about to face the barbarians, and turning back on them would cut down countless numbers of the Persians. A few of the Spartans themselves fell there as well. Since the Persians, trying by companies and in every way to force their way through the entrance, could gain nothing, they withdrew. During

these approaches in the battle it is said that the king, watching, leapt up three times from his throne in fear for his army. So they fought that day, and on the next the barbarians did no better. For since they were few, expecting them to be wounded already and no longer able to raise their hands against them, they joined battle. But the Greeks were arranged in ranks and by nations,

and each contingent fought in its turn, except the Phocians; these had been posted on the mountain to guard the path. When the Persians found nothing different from what they had seen the day before, they withdrew. While the king was at a loss what to do about the situation before him, Ephialtes son of Eurydemus, a man of Malis, came to speak with him; thinking to win a great reward from the king,

he told him of the path leading over the mountain to Thermopylae, and thereby brought about the destruction of the Greeks who had held out there. Later, fearing the Lacedaemonians, he fled to Thessaly; and while he was in exile a price was put on his head by the Pylagorai of the Amphictyons when they had gathered at the Pylaea. Some time afterward, when he had come down to Anticyra, he was killed by Athenades, a man of Trachis. This Athenades killed

Ephialtes for another reason, which I shall explain later in my account, yet he was honored by the Lacedaemonians no less for it. Ephialtes, then, died later in this way. But there is another account given, that Onetes son of Phanagoras, a Carystian, and Corydallus of Anticyra were the ones who told the king these things and guided the Persians around the mountain—an account which to me

is in no way credible. For one must reckon this: that the leaders of the Greeks, the Pylagorai, put a price not on Onetes and Corydallus but on Ephialtes of Trachis, having surely learned the truth of the matter as exactly as possible; and this too, that we know Ephialtes fled on this very charge. Onetes might indeed have known this path even without being a Malian, if he had had much dealing with the region;

but since it was Ephialtes who guided them around the mountain by the path, it is he whom I name as responsible. Xerxes, since what Ephialtes promised to accomplish pleased him, was overjoyed at once and sent Hydarnes, and Hydarnes led the force he commanded; they set out from the camp about the time the lamps are lit. This path had been discovered by the local people of Malis, who upon discovering it had guided the Thessalians against

the Phocians, at the time when the Phocians had walled off the pass and were under shelter from the war; and from that time it had been known, being of no use to the Malians. This path runs as follows: it begins at the river Asopus, which flows through the ravine, and the mountain and the path bear the same name, Anopaea; this Anopaea

runs along the ridge of the mountain, and ends at the city of Alpenus, the first of the Locrian towns as one comes from Malis, and by the rock called Melampygus and the seats of the Cercopes, where the path is narrowest. Along this path, being such as it is, the Persians, having crossed the Asopus, marched the whole night, with the mountains

of the Oetaeans on their right and those of Trachis on their left. Dawn was just breaking when they reached the summit of the mountain. At this point of the mountain there kept guard, as I have said before, a thousand Phocian hoplites, defending their own territory and guarding the path. The lower pass was guarded by those already mentioned, but the path over the mountain

was guarded, at their own request, by the Phocians, who had undertaken this for Leonidas. The Phocians became aware of them coming up in this way: the Persians, in climbing, went unnoticed, the whole mountain being covered with oak trees. There was no wind, but as was natural a great deal of noise arose from the leaves scattered underfoot, so the Phocians sprang up and put on their arms, and at once the barbarians were upon them. When

they saw men putting on armor, they were struck with astonishment; for expecting no one to appear opposed to them, they had run into an army. At this Hydarnes, fearing that the Phocians might be Lacedaemonians, asked Ephialtes what people the force was; and learning the truth precisely, he drew up the Persians for battle. The Phocians, as they were struck by the arrows, many and thick, fled to the top

of the mountain, thinking that they had been the original target of the attack, and prepared themselves to be destroyed. This was their thinking; but the Persians under Ephialtes and Hydarnes paid the Phocians no further attention, and instead went down the mountain with all speed. As for the Greeks at Thermopylae, first the seer Megistias, looking into the sacred offerings, declared what was about to happen at

of their death at dawn, and in addition there were deserters from among the Persians who reported the going-around march. These men brought their report while night still held; third came the day-watchers, hurrying down from the heights as daylight began to break. At this point the Greeks took counsel, and their opinions were divided: some said they should not abandon their position, while others argued against this. After this, once they had split apart, some

went their separate ways and, scattering, each turned toward their own city, while others of them made ready to stay there with Leonidas. It is said, too, that Leonidas himself sent them away, out of concern that they not perish; but that for himself and the Spartans present it was not fitting to abandon the post they had come to guard from the start. To this view I myself most incline, that Leonidas, when he perceived that the

allies were without enthusiasm and unwilling to share the danger, ordered them to withdraw, but that for himself to leave was not honorable; for if he stayed, great glory would be his, and Sparta's prosperity would remain intact. The Pythia had in fact prophesied to the Spartans, when they first sought her counsel about this war at its outset, that either the barbarians would lay Lacedaemon waste, or their king

would perish. This she declared to them in hexameter verses, speaking as follows: 'For you, dwellers in wide-wayed Sparta, either your great and glorious city will be sacked by men of Perseus's line, or, if not that, then the borderland of Lacedaemon will mourn a king dead, one from the stock of Heracles. For the might of bulls nor of lions will not hold him back in resistance; for he has the might of Zeus, and I say he will not be held back until

he has utterly torn apart one or the other of these two.' Reflecting on this, and wishing to lay up fame for the Spartans alone, Leonidas sent away the allies rather than have those who went depart in such disorder because of a difference of opinion. And no small proof of this, in my view, has come to me in this: that even the seer who accompanied this army, Megistias the Acarnanian, said to be descended in his lineage from Melampus,

this man, after declaring from the sacrificial signs what was going to befall them, is plainly seen to have been sent away by Leonidas, so that he might not perish along with them. But he, though sent away, did not himself leave; instead he sent away his son, who was serving in the campaign with him and was his only child. So then the allies who were sent away departed and obeyed Leonidas, but the Thespians and the Thebans alone remained behind with the Lacedaemonians. Of these the Thebans

remained unwillingly and against their will, for Leonidas held them back, treating them as hostages; but the Thespians remained willingly, to the highest degree, for they refused to abandon Leonidas and those with him and depart, but stayed and died together with them. Their general was Demophilus son of Diadromes. Xerxes, after making libations at sunrise, waited a while, until about the time the marketplace fills up, and then began his advance; for it had been so instructed

by Ephialtes: for the descent from the mountain is more direct and the distance much shorter than the circuit and the ascent. So the barbarians around Xerxes advanced, and the Greeks around Leonidas, since they were now making their sortie as men going out to death, advanced much further than before into the wider part of the pass.

For the defensive wall had been guarded on the earlier days, and they had gone out into the narrow passage to fight; but this time, fighting in the open ground beyond the narrows, vast numbers of the barbarians died; behind the ranks, their officers gripped whips and lashed every man, constantly forcing them onward. Many of them fell into the sea and perished,

and far more still were trampled alive by one another; there was no accounting for the dying. For since they knew the death that was coming to them from those going around the mountain, they displayed as much strength as they had against the barbarians, as men reckless of their lives and driven to desperation. By this time most of their spears happened to be broken, and they were dispatching the

Persians with their swords. And in this struggle Leonidas fell, having proven himself a man of the greatest excellence, and with him other Spartans of note, whose names I have learned, being men worthy of it, and I have learned the names of all three hundred as well. And there too fell many notable Persians, among them two sons of Darius, Abrocomes and Hyperanthes,

born to Darius by Phratagune, daughter of Artanes. This Artanes was brother of King Darius, being the son of Hystaspes son of Arsames; and when he gave his daughter in marriage to Darius he bestowed his entire estate upon him as well, since she was his only child. So it was that two of Xerxes's brothers died in the fighting, and a fierce struggle broke out over Leonidas's body between the Persians and

the Lacedaemonians, until the Greeks by their valor dragged it away and turned back their opponents four times. This went on until those with Ephialtes arrived. When the Greeks learned that these had come, from that point the character of the fight changed: they withdrew back into the narrow part of the road, and passing beyond the wall they went and took their stand on the

hillock, all of them gathered together except the Thebans. This hillock is at the entrance, where the stone lion now stands in honor of Leonidas. In this spot, defending themselves with daggers, those of them who still had any left, and with hands and teeth, they were buried under missiles by the barbarians pelting them, some coming on from the front and having demolished the defensive wall, and others

having come around and surrounded them on every side. Though the Lacedaemonians and Thespians were in such straits, it is nevertheless said that the bravest man was a Spartan, Dienekes; and he is said to have spoken these words before engaging the Medes, after a man from Trachis told him that when the barbarians loosed their arrows, the sheer mass of shafts blotted out the sun: so vast was their number. But he, not

at all dismayed by this, unfazed by this news, dismissed the size of the Median host and said the Trachinian stranger's report was all good news, since if the Medes blocked out the sun, the fight would take place in shade rather than under the blazing sun. This remark, along with other similar ones, is said to be what Dienekes the Lacedaemonian left behind as his memorial; following him, two Lacedaemonian brothers are said to have excelled, Alpheus

and Maron, sons of Orsiphantus. Of the Thespians the one who won the greatest fame was a man named Dithyrambus, son of Harmatides. They were buried there where they fell, and for them, along with those who had died earlier, before those sent away by Leonidas had departed, there is inscribed this writing: 'Here once against three hundred myriads fought four thousand men from the Peloponnese.' This inscription is for all of them together, and there is a separate one for the Spartans in particular. O

stranger, tell the Lacedaemonians that here we lie, obedient to their words. This is for the Lacedaemonians, and this other for the seer: 'This is the monument of famous Megistias, whom once the Medes slew after crossing the river Spercheius, a seer who, though he knew clearly the fates coming upon him, could not bear to abandon the leader of Sparta.' Now with these inscriptions and pillars, apart from the inscription for the seer, it was the Amphictyons

who honored them with these adornments; but the inscription for the seer Megistias was written by Simonides son of Leoprepes, out of guest-friendship. Of these three hundred it is said that two, Eurytus and Aristodemus, though it was possible for them, having agreed together, either to make their way back safely together to Sparta—since Leonidas had in fact released them from the camp, and they lay at Alpeni with an eye disease at its worst stage—or, if

they did not wish to return home, to die together with the others, chose not to act in agreement with either of these courses, but instead, differing in judgment, Eurytus, upon learning of the Persians' flanking march, called for his weapons, armed himself, and instructed his helot to guide him to the combatants; once the helot had brought him there, the helot fled, while Eurytus himself plunged into the

throng and was killed, while Aristodemus, being faint of spirit, was left behind. Now if either Aristodemus alone had returned home to Sparta suffering from his ailment, or if both of them together had made their way back, it seems to me that the Spartans would not have laid up any resentment against them; but as it was, since one of them had perished, and the other, clinging to the same excuse, was unwilling to die, it was inevitable that they should feel great resentment

toward Aristodemus. Some, then, say that Aristodemus was saved and returned to Sparta by this excuse; others say that a message had brought him from the camp on this errand, and that although it was possible for him to arrive back in time to catch the battle taking place, he was unwilling to do so, but stayed behind on the road and so survived, while his fellow messenger, who did arrive at the battle, was killed. When Aristodemus returned home to Lacedaemon he had reproach and dishonor;

and he suffered dishonor of this kind: no Spartan would kindle fire for him nor speak with him. He bore the reproach of being called Aristodemus the Trembler. But he, in the battle at Plataea, redeemed entirely the blame that had been laid upon him. It is also said that another man, sent as messenger to Thessaly, survived from these three hundred, whose name was Pantites; and when he returned to Sparta, since he had been dishonored,

he hanged himself. The Thebans, whom Leontiades commanded, for a time fought alongside the Greeks against the king's army, being held to it by necessity; yet once it became clear the Persian cause was winning out, then, while the Greeks with Leonidas were hurrying to the hillock, they broke away from them and, stretching out their hands, went closer to the barbarians, telling the truest of the

accounts, that they had indeed medized and had among the first given earth and water to the king, and that it was under compulsion that they had come to Thermopylae, and were blameless for the harm that had come to the king. So by saying this they survived; for they had the Thessalians as witnesses to these claims. Not everything, however, went well for them; for as the barbarians took them when they arrived, some of them

They killed some as they approached, but the greater part of them, at Xerxes' command, they branded with the royal marks, beginning with their general Leontiades, whose son Eurymachus was killed years afterward by the Plataeans, after he had led four hundred Thebans as general and taken the city of Plataea. So the Greeks at Thermopylae fought their fight, and Xerxes, summoning Demaratus, began questioning him thus: "Demaratus, you are a good man.

I judge this from the truth of it, for everything you told me has turned out just so. Now tell me, how many Lacedaemonians are left, and how many of them are of this quality in war, or are they all such?" He said, "O king, the whole body of Lacedaemonians numbers a great many, spread across many cities; but as for what you wish to learn, you shall know it. There is in Lacedaemon a city, Sparta, of men

about eight thousand, and all these are equal to those who fought here; the rest of the Lacedaemonians are not their equal, though they too are good men." To this Xerxes said, "Demaratus, by what means might we most easily overcome these men? Come, explain, for you know the outcome of their plans, having been their king yourself." He answered, "O king, if indeed

you are earnestly asking my counsel, it is right that I tell you the best course: that you send three hundred ships of your naval force against the Laconian land. There lies off it an island called Cythera, which Chilon, a man among us of the greatest wisdom, said would be a greater gain for the Spartiates if it were sunk beneath the sea than if it stood above it, always expecting from it

something such as I am now explaining to you—not that he foresaw your expedition, but fearing every expedition of men alike. Setting out from this island, let your forces terrify the Lacedaemonians; with a war of their own so close at hand, they will have no fear of coming to the aid of the rest of Greece when it is being conquered by your land forces. And once the rest of Greece has been enslaved, the Laconian power will be left

weak and alone. But if you do not do this, expect the following to happen: there is a narrow isthmus of the Peloponnese; in that place, with all the Peloponnesians sworn together against you, expect other battles stronger than those that have already occurred. But if you do as I say, that isthmus and the cities will come over to you without a fight." After him spoke Achaemenes, who was Xerxes' brother and

general of the naval force, who happened to be present at this speech and, fearing that Xerxes might be persuaded to do this, said, "O king, I see you listening to the words of a man who envies your good fortune, or else is even betraying your affairs. For indeed the Greeks delight in behaving in such ways: they envy good fortune and hate what is stronger than themselves. If, in the present circumstances,

in which four hundred ships have been wrecked, you send off another three hundred from the camp to sail around the Peloponnese, your opponents become a match for you; but while the naval force remains together as a whole, it is difficult for the enemy to handle, and to begin with they will be no match for you at all, and the whole navy will support the army and the army the navy as they proceed together. But if you split them apart, neither will you be of use to them

nor they to you. My opinion is that, if you manage your own affairs well, you need not concern yourself with what your opponents will do, where they will make their stand in war, what they will do, or how many they are; for they themselves are capable enough of looking after their own affairs, and we likewise of ours. As for the Lacedaemonians, if they come out against the Persians to battle, they will not heal the wound already inflicted on them."

Xerxes answered him thus: "Achaemenes, you seem to me to speak well, and I will do as you say. Demaratus speaks what he believes to be best for me, yet in judgment he is bested by you. For I will not accept this—that he is not well disposed toward my affairs—judging both by what he has said before and weighing it against the facts, that a citizen envies a fellow citizen who is prospering

and is hostile to him even in silence, and a citizen would not, even if consulted by a fellow citizen, advise him of what seems to him the best course, unless he has attained to a high degree of virtue—and such men are rare. But a guest-friend is most well disposed of all toward a guest-friend who is prospering, and if consulted would give the best advice. So then, I bid everyone hereafter refrain from speaking ill

of Demaratus, since he is my guest-friend." Having said this, Xerxes passed through the dead, and having heard that Leonidas had been king and general of the Lacedaemonians, he ordered that his head be cut off and set on a stake. To me it is clear from many other pieces of evidence, and not least from this one, that King Xerxes was more enraged at Leonidas while he lived than at any other man; for he would never have committed

such an outrage against a corpse, since the Persians, more than any other people I know, are accustomed to honor men who are brave in war. Those who had been ordered to do this did so. I now return to that point in my account where I earlier left off. The Lacedaemonians learned that the king was setting out against Greece before anyone else, and so they dispatched envoys to the Delphic oracle, where indeed

the response was given to them which I mentioned a little earlier; and they learned it in a remarkable way. Demaratus son of Ariston, who had fled to the Medes, was not, as I believe and as probability also supports me, well disposed toward the Lacedaemonians, and one may guess whether he did what he did out of good will or out of malicious pleasure. For when Xerxes had resolved to march against Greece, Demaratus, who was in Susa and had learned of this,

wished to send word of it to the Lacedaemonians. He had no other way to signal it, since there was danger that he would be caught; so he devised the following scheme. Taking a folding writing tablet, he scraped off its wax, and then wrote the king's plan on the wood of the tablet itself; having done this, he covered the writing again with a fresh coat of wax, so that the blank-looking tablet, once carried off, would cause no trouble

from the guards of the road. When it arrived at Lacedaemon, the Lacedaemonians could not make sense of it, until, as I learn, Gorgo, daughter of Cleomenes and wife of Leonidas, worked it out herself and suggested to them, telling them to scrape off the wax, and that they would find writing on the wood. Following her advice they found it and read it, and then sent it on to the rest of the Greeks. This

is how, it is said, these things happened.

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