<h2><SPAN name="Chapter_IX" id="Chapter_IX"></SPAN><span class="smcap">Chapter IX.</span></h2>
<h2><span class="smcap">The Battle of Thermopylæ.</span></h2>
<h3>B.C. 480</h3>
<div class="sidenote">The pass of Thermopylæ.</div>
<p class="n"><span style="float:left;font-size:50px;line-height:32px;padding-top:2px;padding-bottom:1px;">T</span><span style="margin-left:0%;">he</span>
pass of Thermopylæ was not a ravine among mountains, but a narrow
space between mountains and the sea. The mountains landward were steep
and inaccessible; the sea was shoal. The passage between them was narrow
for many miles along the shore, being narrowest at the ingress and
egress. In the middle the space was broader. The place was celebrated
for certain warm springs which here issued from the rocks, and which had
been used in former times for baths.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Its situation.</div>
<p>The position had been considered, long before Xerxes's day, a very
important one in a military point of view, as it was upon the frontier
between two Greek states that were frequently at war. One of these
states, of course, was Thessaly. The other was Phocis, which lay south
of Thessaly. The general boundary between these two states was
mountainous, and impassable for troops, so that each could invade the
territories of the other only by passing round between <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</SPAN></span>the mountains
and the shore at Thermopylæ.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Ancient intrenchments.<br/>View at Thermopylæ.</div>
<p>The Phocæans, in order to keep the Thessalians out, had, in former
times, built a wall across the way, and put up gates there, which they
strongly fortified. In order still further to increase the difficulty of
forcing a passage, they conducted the water of the warm springs over the
ground without the wall, in such a way as to make the surface
continually wet and miry. The old wall had now fallen to ruins, but the
miry ground remained. The place was solitary and desolate, and overgrown
with a confused and wild vegetation. On one side the view extended far
and wide over the sea, with the highlands of Eubœa in the distance,
and on the other dark and inaccessible mountains rose, covered with
forests, indented with mysterious and unexplored ravines, and frowning
in a wild and gloomy majesty over the narrow passway which crept along
the shore below.</p>
<div class="sidenote">The allied forces.<br/>Leonidas the Spartan.</div>
<p>The Greeks, when they retired from Thessaly, fell back upon Thermopylæ,
and established themselves there. They had a force variously estimated,
from three to four thousand men. These were from the different states of
Greece, some within and some without the Peloponnesus—a <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</SPAN></span>few hundred
men only being furnished, in general, from each state or kingdom. Each
of these bodies of troops had its own officers, though there was one
general-in-chief, who commanded the whole. This was Leonidas the
Spartan. He had brought with him three hundred Spartans, as the quota
furnished by that city. These men he had specially selected himself, one
by one, from among the troops of the city, as men on whom he could rely.</p>
<p>It will be seen from the map that Thermopylæ is at some distance from
the Isthmus of Corinth, and that of the states which would be protected
by making a stand at the pass, some were without the isthmus and some
within. These states, in sending each a few hundred men only to
Thermopylæ, did not consider that they were making their full
contribution to the army, but only sending forward for the emergency
those that could be dispatched at once; and they were all making
arrangements to supply more troops as soon as they could be raised and
equipped for the service. In the mean time, however, Xerxes and his
immense hordes came on faster than they had expected, and the news at
length came to Leonidas, in the pass, that the Persians, with one or two
millions of men, were at hand, while <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</SPAN></span>he had only three or four thousand
at Thermopylæ to oppose them. The question arose, What was to be done?</p>
<div class="sidenote">Debate in regard to defending Thermopylæ.<br/>The decision.</div>
<p>Those of the Greeks who came from the Peloponnesus were in favor of
abandoning Thermopylæ, and falling back to the isthmus. The isthmus,
they maintained, was as strong and as favorable a position as the place
where they were; and, by the time they had reached it, they would have
received great re-enforcements; whereas, with so small a force as they
had then at command, it was madness to attempt to resist the Persian
millions. This plan, however, was strongly opposed by all those Greeks
who represented countries <i>without</i> the Peloponnesus; for, by abandoning
Thermopylæ, and falling back to the isthmus, their states would be left
wholly at the mercy of the enemy. After some consultation and debate, it
was decided to remain at Thermopylæ. The troops accordingly took up
their positions in a deliberate and formal manner, and, intrenching
themselves as strongly as possible, began to await the onset of the
enemy. Leonidas and his three hundred were foremost in the defile, so as
to be the first exposed to the attack. The rest occupied various
positions along the passage, except one corps, <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</SPAN></span>which was stationed on
the mountains above, to guard the pass in that direction. This corps was
from Phocis, which, being the state nearest to the scene of conflict,
had furnished a larger number of soldiers than any other. Their division
numbered a thousand men. These being stationed on the declivity of the
mountain, left only two or three thousand in the defile below.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Character of the Spartans.<br/>Their pride.</div>
<p>From what has been said of the stern and savage character of the
Spartans, one would scarcely expect in them any indications or displays
of personal vanity. There was one particular, it seems, however, in
regard to which they were vain, and that was in respect to their hair.
They wore it very long. In fact, the length of the hair was, in their
commonwealth, a mark of distinction between freemen and slaves. All the
agricultural and mechanical labors were performed, as has already been
stated, by the slaves, a body which constituted, in fact, the mass of
the population; and the Spartan freemen, though very stern in their
manners, and extremely simple and plain in their habits of life, were,
it must be remembered, as proud and lofty in spirit as they were plain
and poor. They constituted a military aristocracy, and a military
aristocracy <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</SPAN></span>is always more proud and overbearing than any other.</p>
<div class="sidenote">The Spartans adorn themselves for the battle.</div>
<p>It must be understood, therefore, that these Spartan soldiers were
entirely above the performance of any useful labors; and while they
prized, in character, the savage ferocity of the tiger, they had a
taste, in person, for something like his savage beauty too. They were
never, moreover, more particular and careful in respect to their
personal appearance than when they were going into battle. The field of
battle was their particular theater of display, not only of the
substantial qualities of strength, fortitude, and valor, but also of
such personal adornments as were consistent with the plainness and
severity of their attire, and could be appreciated by a taste as rude
and savage as theirs. They proceeded, therefore, when established at
their post in the throat of the pass, to adorn themselves for the
approaching battle.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Approach of Xerxes.<br/>The Persian horseman.<br/>His observation.</div>
<p>In the mean time the armies of Xerxes were approaching. Xerxes himself,
though he did not think it possible that the Greeks could have a
sufficient force to offer him any effectual resistance, thought it
probable that they would attempt to make a stand at the pass, and, when
he began to draw near to it, he sent forward a <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</SPAN></span>horseman to reconnoiter
the ground. The horseman rode into the pass a little way, until he came
in sight of the enemy. He stopped upon an eminence to survey the scene,
being all ready to turn in an instant, and fly at the top of his speed,
in case he should be pursued. The Spartans looked upon him as he stood
there, but seemed to consider his appearance as a circumstance of no
moment, and then went on with their avocations. The horseman found, as
he leisurely observed them, that there was an intrenchment thrown across
the straits, and that the Spartans were in front of it. There were other
forces behind, but these the horseman could not see. The Spartans were
engaged, some of them in athletic sports and gymnastic exercises, and
the rest in nicely arranging their dress, which was red and showy in
color, though simple and plain in form, and in smoothing, adjusting, and
curling their hair. In fact, they seemed to be, one and all, preparing
for an entertainment.</p>
<p>And yet these men were actually preparing themselves to be slaughtered,
to be butchered, one by one, by slow degrees, and in the most horrible
and cruel manner; and they knew perfectly well that it was so. The
adorning of themselves was for this express and particular end.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Report of the horseman.</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>The horseman, when he had attentively noticed all that was to be seen,
rode slowly back to Xerxes, and reported the result. The king was much
amused at hearing such an account from his messenger. He sent for
Demaratus, the Spartan refugee, with whom, the reader will recollect, he
held a long conversation in respect to the Greeks at the close of the
great review at Doriscus. When Demaratus came, Xerxes related to him
what the messenger had reported. "The Spartans in the pass," said he,
"present, in their encampment, the appearance of being out on a party of
pleasure. What does it mean? You will admit now, I suppose, that they do
not intend to resist us."</p>
<div class="sidenote">Conversation with Demaratus.</div>
<p>Demaratus shook his head. "Your majesty does not know the Greeks," said
he, "and I am very much afraid that, if I state what I know respecting
them, I shall offend you. These appearances which your messenger
observed indicate to me that the men he saw were a body of Spartans, and
that they supposed themselves on the eve of a desperate conflict. Those
are the men, practicing athletic feats, and smoothing and adorning their
hair, that are the most to be feared of all the soldiers of Greece. If
you can conquer them, you will have nothing beyond to fear."</p>
<div class="sidenote">Xerxes encamps at the pass.</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>Xerxes thought this opinion of Demaratus extremely absurd. He was
convinced that the party in the pass was some small detachment that
could not possibly be thinking of serious resistance. They would, he was
satisfied, now that they found that the Persians were at hand,
immediately retire down the pass, and leave the way clear. He advanced,
therefore, up to the entrance of the pass, encamped there, and waited
several days for the Greeks to clear the way. The Greeks remained
quietly in their places, paying apparently no attention whatever to the
impending and threatening presence of their formidable foes.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Troops sent into the pass.</div>
<p>At length Xerxes concluded that it was time for him to act. On the
morning, therefore, of the fifth day, he called out a detachment of his
troops, sufficient, as he thought, for the purpose, and sent them down
the pass, with orders to seize all the Greeks that were there, and bring
them, <i>alive</i>, to him. The detachment that he sent was a body of Medes,
who were considered as the best troops in the army, excepting always the
Immortals, who, as has been before stated, were entirely superior to the
rest. The Medes, however, Xerxes supposed, would find no difficulty in
executing his orders.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Defeat of the Persian detachment.</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>The detachment marched, accordingly, into the pass. In a few hours a
spent and breathless messenger came from them, asking for
re-enforcements. The re-enforcements were sent. Toward night a remnant
of the whole body came back, faint and exhausted with a long and
fruitless combat, and bringing many of their wounded and bleeding
comrades with them. The rest they had left dead in the defile.</p>
<div class="sidenote">The Immortals called out.</div>
<p>Xerxes was both astonished and enraged at these results. He determined
that this trifling should continue no longer. He ordered the Immortals
themselves to be called out on the following morning, and then, placing
himself at the head of them, he advanced to the vicinity of the Greek
intrenchments. Here he ordered a seat or throne to be placed for him
upon an eminence, and, taking his seat upon it, prepared to witness the
conflict. The Greeks, in the mean time, calmly arranged themselves on
the line which they had undertaken to defend, and awaited the charge.
Upon the ground, on every side, were lying the mangled bodies of the
Persians slain the day before, some exposed fully to view, ghastly and
horrid spectacles, others trampled down and half buried in the mire.</p>
<div class="sidenote">The Immortals advance to the charge.<br/>Valor of the Greeks.</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>The Immortals advanced to the attack, but they made no impression.
Their superior numbers gave them no advantage, on account of the
narrowness of the defile. The Greeks stood, each corps at its own
assigned station on the line, forming a mass so firm and immovable that
the charge of the Persians was arrested on encountering it as by a wall.
In fact, as the spears of the Greeks were longer than those of the
Persians, and their muscular and athletic strength and skill were
greater, it was found that in the desperate conflict which raged, hour
after hour, along the line, the Persians were continually falling, while
the Greek ranks continued entire. Sometimes the Greeks would retire for
a space, falling back with the utmost coolness, regularity, and order;
and then, when the Persians pressed on in pursuit, supposing that they
were gaining the victory, the Greeks would turn so soon as they found
that the ardor of pursuit had thrown the enemies' lines somewhat into
confusion, and, presenting the same firm and terrible front as before,
would press again upon the offensive, and cut down their enemies with
redoubled slaughter. Xerxes, who witnessed all these things from among
the group of officers around him upon the eminence, was kept continually
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</SPAN></span>in a state of excitement and irritation. Three times he leaped from his
throne, with loud exclamations of vexation and rage.</p>
<div class="sidenote">The Immortals repulsed.</div>
<p>All, however, was of no avail. When night came the Immortals were
compelled to withdraw, and leave the Greeks in possession of their
intrenchments.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Treachery of Ephialtes.</div>
<p>Things continued substantially in this state for one or two days longer,
when one morning a Greek countryman appeared at the tent of Xerxes, and
asked an audience of the king. He had something, he said, of great
importance to communicate to him. The king ordered him to be admitted.
The Greek said that his name was Ephialtes, and that he came to inform
the king that there was a secret path leading along a wild and hidden
chasm in the mountains, by which he could guide a body of Persians to
the summit of the hills overhanging the pass at a point below the Greek
intrenchment. This point being once attained, it would be easy,
Ephialtes said, for the Persian forces to descend into the pass below
the Greeks, and thus to surround them and shut them in, and that the
conquest of them would then be easy. The path was a secret one, and
known to very few. He knew it, however, and was willing to conduct a
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</SPAN></span>detachment of troops through it, on condition of receiving a suitable
reward.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Joy of Xerxes.</div>
<p>The king was greatly surprised and delighted at this intelligence. He
immediately acceded to Ephialtes's proposals, and organized a strong
force to be sent up the path that very night.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Course of the path.</div>
<p>On the north of Thermopylæ there was a small stream, which came down
through a chasm in the mountains to the sea. The path which Ephialtes
was to show commenced here, and following the bed of this stream up the
chasm, it at length turned to the southward through a succession of wild
and trackless ravines, till it came out at last on the declivities of
the mountains near the lower part of the pass, at a place where it was
possible to descend to the defile below. This was the point which the
thousand Phocæans had been ordered to take possession of and guard, when
the plan for the defense of the pass was first organized. They were
posted here, not with the idea of repelling any attack from the
mountains behind them—for the existence of the path was wholly unknown
to them—but only that they might command the defile below, and aid in
preventing the Persians from going through, even if those who were in
the defile were defeated or slain.</p>
<div class="sidenote">A Persian detachment sent up the path.</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>The Persian detachment toiled all night up the steep and dangerous
pathway, among rocks, chasms, and precipices, frightful by day, and now
made still more frightful by the gloom of the night. They came out at
last, in the dawn of the morning, into valleys and glens high up the
declivity of the mountain, and in the immediate vicinity of the Phocæan
encampment. The Persians were concealed, as they advanced, by the groves
and thickets of stunted oaks which grew here, but the morning air was so
calm and still, that the Phocæan sentinels heard the noise made by their
trampling upon the leaves as they came up the glen. The Phocæans
immediately gave the alarm. Both parties were completely surprised. The
Persians had not expected to find a foe at this elevation, and the
Greeks who had ascended there had supposed that all beyond and above
them was an impassable and trackless desolation.</p>
<div class="sidenote">The Phocæans retreat.</div>
<p>There was a short conflict, The Phocæans were driven off their ground.
They retreated up the mountain, and toward the southward. The Persians
decided not to pursue them. On the other hand, they descended toward the
defile, and took up a position on the lower declivities of the mountain,
which enabled them to <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</SPAN></span>command the pass below; there they paused, and
awaited Xerxes's orders.</p>
<div class="sidenote">The Greeks surrounded.</div>
<p>The Greeks in the defile perceived at once that they were now wholly at
the mercy of their enemies. They might yet retreat, it is true, for the
Persian detachment had not yet descended to intercept them; but, if they
remained where they were, they would, in a few hours, be hemmed in by
their foes; and even if they could resist, for a little time, the double
onset which would then be made upon them, their supplies would be cut
off, and there would be nothing before them but immediate starvation.
They held hurried councils to determine what to do.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Resolution of Leonidas.<br/>Leonidas dismisses the other Greeks.</div>
<p>There is some doubt as to what took place at these councils, though the
prevailing testimony is, that Leonidas recommended that they should
retire—that is, that all except himself and the three hundred Spartans
should do so. "You," said he, addressing the other Greeks, "are at
liberty, by your laws, to consider, in such cases as this, the question
of expediency, and to withdraw from a position which you have taken, or
stand and maintain it, according as you judge best. But by our laws,
such a question, in such a case, is not to be entertained. Wherever we
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</SPAN></span>are posted, there we stand, come life or death, to the end. We have
been sent here from Sparta to defend the pass of Thermopylæ. We have
received no orders to withdraw. Here, therefore, we must remain; and the
Persians, if they go through the pass at all, must go through it over
our graves. It is, therefore, your duty to retire. Our duty is here, and
we will remain and do it."</p>
<div class="sidenote">His noble generosity.</div>
<p>After all that may be said of the absurdity and folly of throwing away
the lives of three hundred men in a case like this, so utterly and
hopelessly desperate, there is still something in the noble generosity
with which Leonidas dismissed the other Greeks, and in the undaunted
resolution with which he determined himself to maintain his ground,
which has always strongly excited the admiration of mankind. It was
undoubtedly carrying the point of honor to a wholly unjustifiable
extreme, and yet all the world, for the twenty centuries which have
intervened since these transactions occurred, while they have
unanimously disapproved, in theory, of the course which Leonidas
pursued, have none the less unanimously admired and applauded it.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Leonidas retains the Thebans.</div>
<p>In dismissing the other Greeks, Leonidas retained with him a body of
Thebans, whom he <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</SPAN></span>suspected of a design of revolting to the enemy.
Whether he considered his decision to keep them in the pass equivalent
to a sentence of death, and intended it as a punishment for their
supposed treason, or only that he wished to secure their continued
fidelity by keeping them closely to their duty, does not appear. At all
events, he retained them, and dismissed the other allies. Those
dismissed retreated to the open country below. The Spartans and the
Thebans remained in the pass. There were also, it was said, some other
troops, who, not willing to leave the Spartans alone in this danger,
chose to remain with them and share their fate. The Thebans remained
very unwillingly.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Xerxes attacks him.<br/>Terrible combat.<br/>Death of Leonidas.</div>
<p>The next morning Xerxes prepared for his final effort. He began by
solemn religious services, in the presence of his army, at an early
hour; and then, after breakfasting quietly, as usual, and waiting, in
fact, until the business part of the day had arrived, he gave orders to
advance. His troops found Leonidas and his party not at their
intrenchments, as before, but far in advance of them. They had come out
and forward into a more open part of the defile, as if to court and
anticipate their inevitable and dreaded fate. Here a most terrible
combat ensued; <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</SPAN></span>one which, for a time, seemed to have no other object
than mutual destruction, until at length Leonidas himself fell, and then
the contest for the possession of his body superseded the unthinking and
desperate struggles of mere hatred and rage. Four times the body, having
been taken by the Persians, was retaken by the Greeks: at last the
latter retreated, bearing the dead body with them past their
intrenchment, until they gained a small eminence in the rear of it, at a
point where the pass was wider. Here the few that were still left
gathered together. The detachment which Ephialtes had guided were coming
up from below. The Spartans were faint and exhausted with their
desperate efforts, and were bleeding from the wounds they had received;
their swords and spears were broken to pieces, their leader and nearly
all their company were slain. But the savage and tiger-like ferocity
which animated them continued unabated till the last. They fought with
tooth and nail when all other weapons failed them, and bit the dust at
last, as they fell, in convulsive and unyielding despair. The struggle
did not cease till they were all slain, and every limb of every man
ceased to quiver.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Stories of the battle.<br/>The two invalids.</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>There were stories in circulation among mankind after this battle,
importing that one or two of the corps escaped the fate of the rest.
There were two soldiers, it was said, that had been left in a town near
the pass, as invalids, being afflicted with a severe inflammation of the
eyes. One of them, when he heard that the Spartans were to be left in
the pass, went in, of his own accord, and joined them, choosing to share
the fate of his comrades. It was said that he ordered his servant to
conduct him to the place. The servant did so, and then fled himself, in
great terror. The sick soldier remained and fought with the rest. The
other of the invalids was saved, but, on his return to Sparta, he was
considered as stained with indelible disgrace for what his countrymen
regarded a base dereliction from duty in not sharing his comrade's fate.</p>
<p>There was also a story of another man, who had been sent away on some
mission into Thessaly, and who did not return until all was over; and
also of two others who had been sent to Sparta, and were returning when
they heard of the approaching conflict. One of them hastened into the
pass, and was killed with his companions. The other delayed, and was
saved. Whether any or all of these rumors were true,
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</SPAN></span>is not now certain; there is, however, no doubt that, with at most a few
exceptions such as these, the whole three hundred were slain.</p>
<p>The Thebans, early in the conflict, went over in a body to the enemy.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Xerxes views the ground.<br/>His treatment of the body of Leonidas.</div>
<p>Xerxes came after the battle to view the ground. It was covered with
many thousands of dead bodies, nearly all of whom, of course, were
Persians. The wall of the intrenchment was broken down, and the breaches
in it choked up by the bodies. The morasses made by the water of the
springs were trampled into deep mire, and were full of the mutilated
forms of men and of broken weapons. When Xerxes came at last to the body
of Leonidas, and was told that that was the man who had been the leader
of the band, he gloried over it in great exaltation and triumph. At
length he ordered the body to be decapitated, and the headless trunk to
be nailed to a cross.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Message to the fleet.</div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</SPAN></span></p>
<p>Xerxes then commanded that a great hole should be dug, and ordered all
the bodies of the Persians that had been killed to be buried in it,
except only about a thousand, which he left upon the ground. The object
of this was to conceal the extent of the loss which his army had
sustained. The more perfectly to accomplish this
end, he caused the great grave, when it was filled up, to be strewed
over with leaves, so as to cover and conceal all indications of what had
been done. This having been carefully effected, he sent the message to
the fleet, which was alluded to at the close of the last chapter,
inviting the officers to come and view the ground.</p>
<p>The operations of the fleet described in the last chapter, and those of
the army narrated in this, took place, it will be remembered, at the
same time, and in the same vicinity too; for, by referring to the map,
it will appear that Thermopylæ was upon the coast, exactly opposite to
the channel or arm of the sea lying north of Eubœa, where the naval
contests had been waged; so that, while Xerxes had been making his
desperate efforts to get through the pass, his fleet had been engaged in
a similar conflict with the squadrons of the Greeks, directly opposite
to him, twenty or thirty miles in the offing.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Xerxes sends for Demaratus.<br/>Conversation with Demaratus.</div>
<p>After the battle of Thermopylæ was over, Xerxes sent for Demaratus, and
inquired of him how many more such soldiers there were in Greece as
Leonidas and his three hundred Spartans. Demaratus replied that he could
not say how many precisely there were in Greece, but that there were
eight thousand such in Sparta <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</SPAN></span>alone. Xerxes then asked the opinion of
Demaratus as to the course best to be pursued for making the conquest of
the country. This conversation was held in the presence of various
nobles and officers, among whom was the admiral of the fleet, who had
come, with the various other naval commanders, as was stated in the last
chapter, to view the battle-field.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Plans proposed by him.</div>
<p>Demaratus said that he did not think that the king could easily get
possession of the Peloponnesus by marching to it directly, so formidable
would be the opposition that he would encounter at the isthmus. There
was, however, he said, an island called Cythera, opposite to the
territories of Sparta, and not far from the shore, of which he thought
that the king could easily get possession, and which, once fully in his
power, might be made the base of future operations for the reduction of
the whole peninsula, as bodies of troops could be dispatched from it to
the main land in any numbers and at any time. He recommended, therefore,
that three hundred ships, with a proper complement of men, should be
detached from the fleet, and sent round at once to take possession of
that island.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Opposition of the admiral.</div>
<p>To this plan the admiral of the fleet was totally opposed. It was
natural that he should <span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</SPAN></span>be so, since the detaching of three hundred
ships for this enterprise would greatly weaken the force under his
command. It would leave the fleet, he told the king, a miserable
remnant, not superior to that of the enemy, for they had already lost
four hundred ships by storms. He thought it infinitely preferable that
the fleet and the army should advance together, the one by sea and the
other on the land, and complete their conquests as they went along. He
advised the king, too, to beware of Demaratus's advice. He was a Greek,
and, as such, his object was, the admiral believed, to betray and ruin
the expedition.</p>
<div class="sidenote">Decision of Xerxes.</div>
<p>After hearing these conflicting opinions, the king decided to follow the
admiral's advice. "I will adopt your counsel," said he, "but I will not
hear any thing said against Demaratus, for I am convinced that he is a
true and faithful friend to me." Saying this, he dismissed the council.</p>
<hr class="large" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</SPAN></span></p>
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />
1 of 2
2 of 2
Previous
Next
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.