 Chapter 7 of Xerxes by Jacob Abbott. This liprivox recording is in the public domain, recording by Dion Giants, Salt Lake City, Utah. The Preparations of the Greeks for Defense, BC 480. We must now leave for a time the operations of Xerxes and his army and turn our attention to the Greeks and to the preparations which they were making to meet the emergency. The two states of Greece which were most prominent in the transactions connected with the invasion of Xerxes were Athens and Sparta. By referring to the map, Athens will be found to have been situated upon a promontory just without the Peloponnesus. While Sparta on the other hand was in the center of a valley which lay in the southern part of the peninsula, each of these cities was the center and stronghold of a small but very energetic and powerful Commonwealth. The two states were entirely independent of each other and each had its own peculiar system of government of usages and of laws. These systems and in fact the characters of the two communities in all respects were extremely dissimilar. Both these states though in name republics had certain magistrates called commonly in history kings. These kings were however in fact only military chieftains commanders of the armies rather than sovereign rulers of the state. The name by which such a chieftain was actually called by the people themselves in those days was Tyranus. The name from which our word tyrant is derived. As however the word tyranus had none of that appropriate import which is associated with its English derivative, the latter is not now a suitable substitute for the former. Historians therefore commonly use the word king instead though the word does not properly express the idea they were commanders, chieftains hereditary generals but not strictly kings. We shall however often call them kings in these narratives in conformity with the general usage. Demoratus who had fled from Sparta to seek refuge with Darius and who was now accompanying Xerxes on his march to Greece was one of these kings. It was a peculiarity in the constitution of Sparta that from a very early period of its history there had been always two kings who had each other like the Roman consuls in later times. This custom was sustained partly by the idea that by this division of the executive power of the state the exercise of the power was less likely to become despotic or tyrannical. It had its origin however according to the ancient legends in the following singular occurrences. At a very early period in the history of Sparta when the people had always been accustomed like other states to have one prince or chieftain a certain prince died leaving his wife whose name was Argia and two infant children as his survivors. The children were twins and the father had died almost immediately after they were born. Now the office of king was in a certain sense hereditary and yet not absolutely so for the people were accustomed to assemble on the death of the king and determine who should be his successor always choosing however the oldest son of the former monarch unless there was some very extraordinary and imperious reason for not doing so. In this case they decided as usual that the oldest son should be king but here a very serious difficulty arose which was to determine which of the twins was the oldest son. They resembled each other so closely that no stranger could distinguish one from the other at all. The mother said that she could not distinguish them and that she did not know which was the firstborn. This was not strictly true for she did in fact know and only denied her power to decide the question because she wished to have both of her children kings. In this perplexity the Spartans sent to the Oracle at Delphi to know what they were to do. The Oracle gave as usual an ambiguous and unsatisfactory response. It directed the people to make both the children kings but to render the highest honors to the firstborn. When this answer was reported at Sparta it only increased the difficulty for how were they to render peculiar honors to the firstborn unless they could ascertain which was the firstborn. In this dilemma some person suggested to the magistrates that perhaps Argia really knew which was the eldest child and that if so by watching her to see whether she washed and fed one uniformly before the other or gave it precedence in any other way by which her latent maternal instinct or partiality might appear the question might possibly be determined. This plan was accordingly adopted. The magistrates contrived means to place a servant maid in the house to watch the mother in the way proposed and the result was that the true order of birth was revealed. From that time forward while they were both considered as princes the one now supposed to be the firstborn took precedence of the other. When however the children arrived at an age to assume the exercise of the governmental power as there was no perceptible difference between them in age or strength or accomplishments the one who had been decided to be the younger was little disposed to submit to the other each had his friends and adherents parties were formed and a long and angry civil dissension ensued. In the end the question was compromised the command was divided and the system of having two chief magistrates became gradually established the power descending in two lines from father to son through many generations of course there was perpetual jealousy and dissension and often open and terrible conflicts between these two rival lines the Spartans were an agricultural people cultivating the valley in the southwestern part of the Peloponnesus the waters of which were collected and conveyed to the sea by the river Eurotus and its branches they lived in the plainest possible manner and prided themselves on the stern and stoical resolution with which they rejected all the refinements and luxuries of society courage hardy hood indifference to life and the power to endure without a murmur the most severe and protracted sufferings were the qualities which they valued they despised wealth just as other nations despise a feminacy and robbery their laws discouraged commerce lest it should make some of the people rich their clothes were scanty and plain their houses were comfortless their food was of course bread hard and brown and their money was of iron with all this however they were the most ferocious and terrible soldiers in the world they were moreover with all their plainness of manners and of life of a very proud and lofty spirit all agricultural toil and every other species of manual labor in their state were performed by a servile peasantry while the free citizens whose profession was exclusively that of arms were as aristocratic and exalted in soul as any nobles on earth people are sometimes in our day when money is so much valued proud notwithstanding their poverty the Spartans were proud of their poverty itself they could be rich if they chose but they despised riches they looked down on all the refinements and delicacies of dress and of living from an elevation far above them they looked down on labor too with the same contempt they were yet very nice and particular about their dress and military appearance though everything pertaining to both was course and simple and they had slaves to wait upon them even in their campaigns the Athenians were a totally different people the leading classes in their commonwealth were cultivated intellectual and refined the city of Athens was renowned for the splendor of its architecture its temples its citadels its statues and its various public institutions which in subsequent times made it the great intellectual center of europe it was populous and wealthy it had a great commerce and a powerful fleet the spartan character in a word was stern gloomy indomitable and holy unadorned the Athenians were rich intellectual and refined the two nations were nearly equal in power and were engaged in a perpetual and incessant rivalry there were various other states and cities in Greece but Athens and sparta were at this time the most considerable and they were altogether the most resolute and determined in their refusal to submit to the persian sway in fact so well known and understood was the spirit of defiance with which these two powers were disposed to regard the persian invasion that when Xerxes sent his summons demanding submission to the other states of Greece he did not send any to these when Darius invaded Greece some years before he had summoned Athens and sparta as well as the others but his demands were indignantly rejected it seems that the custom was for a government or a prince when acknowledging the dominion of a superior power to send as a token of territorial submission a little earth and water which was a sort of legal form of giving up possession of their country to the sovereign who claimed it accordingly when Darius sent his ambassadors into Greece to summon the country to surrender the ambassadors according to the usual form called upon the governments of the several states to send earth and water to the king the Athenians as has been already said indignantly refused to comply with this demand the Spartans not content with a simple refusal seized the ambassadors and threw them into a well telling them as they went down that if they wanted earth and water for the king of Persia they might get it there the Greeks had obtained some information of Xerxes designs against them before they received his summons the first intelligence was communicated to the Spartans by Demoratus himself while he was at Sousa in the following singular manner it was the custom in those days to write with a steel point on a smooth surface of wax the wax was spread for this purpose on a board or tablet of metal in a very thin stratum forming a ground upon which the letters traced with the point were easily legible Demoratus took two writing tablets such as these and removing the wax from them he wrote a brief account of the proposed Persian invasion by tracing the characters upon the surface of the wood or metal itself beneath then restoring the wax so as to conceal the letters he sent the two tablets seemingly blank to Leonidas king of Sparta the messengers who bore them had other pretexts for their journey and they had various other articles to carry the Persian guards who stopped and examined the messengers from time to time along the route thought nothing of the blank tablets and so they reached Leonidas in safety Leonidas being a blunt rough soldier and not much accustomed to cunning contrivances himself was not usually much upon the watch for them from others and when he saw no obvious communication upon the tablets he threw them aside not knowing what the sending of them could mean and not feeling any strong interest in ascertaining his wife however her name was Gorgos had more curiosity there was something mysterious about the affair and she wished to solve it she examined the tablets attentively in every part and at length removed cautiously a little of the wax the letters began to appear full of excitement and pleasure she proceeded with the work until the whole serious coating was removed the result was that the communication was revealed and Greece received the warning when the Greeks heard that Xerxes was at Sardis they sent three messengers in disguise to ascertain the facts in respect to the Persian army assembled there and so far as possible to learn the plans and designs of the king notwithstanding all the efforts of these men to preserve their concealment and disguise they were discovered seized and tortured by the Persian officers who took them until they confessed that they were spies the officer was about to put them to death when Xerxes himself received information of the circumstances he forbade the execution and directed on the other hand that the men should be conducted through all his encampments and to be allowed to view and examine everything he then dismissed them with orders to return to Greece and report what they had seen he thought he said that the Greeks would be more likely to surrender if they knew how immense his preparations were for effectually vanquishing them if they attempted resistance the city of Athens being farther north than Sparta would be the one first exposed to danger from the invasion and when the people heard of Xerxes approach the whole city was filled with anxiety and alarm some of the inhabitants were panic stricken and wished to submit others were enraged and uttered nothing but threats and defiance a thousand different plans of defense were proposed and eagerly discussed at length the government sent messengers to the oracle at Delphi to learn what their destiny was to be and to obtain if possible divine direction in respect to the best mode of averting the danger the messengers received an awful response pretending in wild and solemn though dark and mysterious language the most dreadful calamities to the ill-fated city the messengers were filled with alarm at hearing this reply one of the inhabitants of Delphi the city in which the oracle was situated proposed to them to make a second application in the character of the most humble supplicants and to implore that the oracle would give them some directions in respect to the best course for them to pursue in order to avoid or at least to mitigate the impending danger they did so and after a time they received an answer vague mysterious and almost unintelligible but which seemed to denote that the safety of the city was connected in some manner with solemnus and with certain wooden walls to which the inspired discharge of the response obscurely alluded the messengers returned to Athens and reported the answer which they had received the people were puzzled and perplexed in their attempts to understand it it seems that the citadel of Athens had been formerly surrounded by a wooden palisade some thought that this was what was referred to by the wooden walls and that the meaning of the oracle was that they must rebuild the palisade and then retreat to the citadel when the persians should approach and defend themselves there others conceived that the phrase referred to ships and that the oracle meant to direct them to meet their enemies with a fleet upon the sea solemnus which was also mentioned by the oracle was an island not far from Athens being west of the city between it and the itthmus of Corinth those who supposed that by the wooden walls was denoted the fleet thought that solemnus might have been alluded to as the place near which the great naval battle was to be fought this was the interpretation which seemed finally to prevail the Athenians had a fleet of about 200 galleys these vessels had been purchased and built some time before this for the Athenian government through the influence of a certain public officer of high rank and influence named Themistocles it seems that a large sum had accumulated in the public treasury the produce of certain mines belonging to the city and a proposal was made to divide it among the citizens which would have given a small sum to each man Themistocles opposed this proposition and urged instead that the government should build and equip a fleet with the money this plan was finally adopted the fleet was built and it was now determined to call it into active service to meet and repel the Persians though the naval armament of Xerxes was six times as large the next measure was to establish a confederation if possible of the grecian states or at least of all those who were willing to combine and thus to form an allied army to resist the invader the smaller states were very generally panic stricken and had either already signified their submission to the persian rule or were timidly hesitating in doubt whether it would be safer for them to submit to the overwhelming force which was advancing against them or to join the Athenians and the Spartans in their almost desperate attempts to resist it the Athenians and Spartans settled for the time their own quarrels and held a council to take the necessary measures for forming a more extended confederation all this took place while Xerxes was slowly advancing from Sardis to the hell's pond and from the hell's pond to Doriscus as described in the preceding chapter the council resolved on dispatching an embassy at once to all the states of Greece as well as to some of the remote neighboring powers asking them to join the alliance the first Greek city to which these ambassadors came was Argos which was the capital of a kingdom or state lying between Athens and Sparta though within the Peloponnesus the states of Argos and of Sparta being neighbors had been constantly at war Argos had recently lost six thousand men in a battle with the Spartans and were consequently not likely to be in a very favorable mood for a treaty of friendship and alliance when the ambassadors had delivered their message the Argolians replied that they had anticipated such a proposal from the time that they had heard that Xerxes had commenced his march toward Greece and that they had applied accordingly to the oracle at Delphi to know what it would be best for them to do in case the proposal were made the answer of the oracle had been they said unfavorable to their entering into an alliance with the Greeks they were willing however they added notwithstanding this to enter into an alliance offensive and defensive with the Spartans for 30 years on condition that they should themselves have the command of half the Peloponnesian troops they were entitled to the command of the whole being as they contended the superior nation in rank but that they would waive their just claim and be satisfied with half if the Spartans would agree to that arrangement the Spartans replied that they could not agree to those conditions they were themselves they said the superior nation in rank and entitled to the whole command and as they had two kings and Argos but one there was a double difficulty in complying with the Argyve demand they could not surrender one half of the command without depriving one of their kings of his rightful power thus the proposed alliance failed entirely the people of Argos saying that they would as willingly submit to the dominion of Xerxes as to the insolent demands and assumptions of superiority made by the government of Sparta the ambassadors among other countries which they visited in their attempts to obtain alliance and aid went to Sicily Gellon was the king of Sicily and Syracuse was his capital here the same difficulty occurred which had broken up the negotiations at Argos the ambassadors when they arrived at Syracuse represented to Gellon that if the Persians subdued Greece they would come to Sicily next and that it was better for him and his countrymen that they should meet the enemy while he was still at a distance rather than to wait until he came near Gellon admitted the justice of this reasoning and said that he would furnish a large force both of ships and men for carrying on the war provided that he might have the command of the combined army to this of course the Spartans would not agree he then asked that he might command the fleet on condition of giving up his claim to the land forces this proposition the Athenian ambassadors rejected saying to Gellon that what they were in need of and came to him to obtain was a supply of troops not of leaders the Athenians they said were to command the fleet being not only the most ancient nation of Greece but also the most immediately exposed to the invasion so that they were doubly entitled to be considered as the principles and leaders in the war Gellon then told the ambassadors that since they wished to obtain everything and to concede nothing they had better leave his dominions without delay and report to their countrymen that they had nothing to expect from Sicily the ambassadors then went to Coursera a large island on the western coast of Greece in the Adriatic sea it is now called Corfu here they seemed to meet with their first success the people of Coursera acceded to the proposals made to them and promised at once to equip and man their fleet and send it round into the Aegean sea they immediately engaged in the work and seemed to be honestly intent on fulfilling their promises they were however in fact only pretending they were really undecided which caused to espouse the Greek or the Persian and kept their promised squadron back by means of various delays until its aid was no longer needed but the most important of all these negotiations of the Athenians and Spartans with the neighboring states were those opened with Thessaly Thessaly was a kingdom in the northern part of Greece it was therefore the territory which the Persian armies would first enter on turning the northwestern corner of the Aegean sea there were moreover certain points in its geographical position and in the physical confirmation of the country that gave it a peculiar importance in respect to the approaching conflict by referring to the map placed at the commencement of the fifth chapter it will be seen that Thessaly was a vast valley surrounded on all sides by mountainous land and drained by the river Peneus and its branches the Peneus flows eastwardly to the Aegean sea and escapes from the great valley through a narrow and romantic pass lying between the mountains Olympus and Osa this pass was called in ancient times the Olympic Straits and a part of it formed a romantic and beautiful glen called the Vale of Tempe there was a road through this pass which was the only access by which Thessaly could be entered from the eastward to the south of the Vale of Tempe the mountains as will appear from the map crowded so hard upon the sea as not to allow any passage to the eastward of them the natural route of Xerxes therefore in descending into Greece would be to come down along the coast until he reached the mouth of the Peneus and then following the river up through the Vale of Tempe into Thessaly to pass down toward the Peloponnesus on the western side of Osa and Pelion and of the other mountains near the sea if he could get through the Olympic Straits and the Vale of Tempe the way would be open and unobstructed until he should reach the southern frontier of Thessaly where there was another narrow pass leading from Thessaly into Greece this last defile was close to the sea and what's called the Straits of Thermopylae the Xerxes and his hosts in continuing their march to the southward must necessarily traverse Thessaly and in doing so they would have two narrow and dangerous defiles to pass one at Mount Olympus to get into the country and the other at Thermopylae to get out of it it consequently became a point of great importance to the Greeks to determine at which of these two passes they should make their stand against the torrent which was coming down upon them this question would of course depend very much upon the disposition of Thessaly herself the government of that country understanding the critical situation in which they were placed had not waited for the Athenians and Spartans to send ambassadors to them but at a very early period of the war before in fact Xerxes had yet crossed the helspot had sent messengers to Athens to concert some plan of action these messengers were to say to the Athenians that the government of Thessaly were expecting every day to receive a summons from Xerxes and that they must speedily decide what they were to do that they themselves were very unwilling to submit to him but that they could not undertake to make a stand against his immense host alone that the southern Greeks might include Thessaly in their plan of defense or exclude it just as they thought best if they decided to include it then they must make a stand at the olympic straits that is at the pass between Olympus and Osa and to do that it would be necessary to send a strong force immediately to take possession of the pass if on the contrary they decided not to defend Thessaly then the pass of Thermopylae would be the point at which they must make their stand and in that case Thessaly must be at liberty to submit on the first Persian summons the Greeks after consultation on the subject decided that it would be best for them to defend Thessaly and to take their stand accordingly at the straits of Olympus they immediately put a large force on board their fleet armed and equipped for the expedition this was at the time when Xerxes was just about crossing the hell's pond the fleet sailed from the port of Athens passed up through the narrow strait called Euripus lying between the island of Uboa and the mainland and finally landed at a favorable point of disembarkation south of Thessaly from this point the forces marched to the northward until they reached the Peneus and then established themselves at the narrowest part of the passage between the mountains strengthened their position there as much as possible and awaited the coming of the enemy the amount of the force was 10,000 men they had not been here many days before a messenger came to them from the king of Macedon which country it will be seen lies immediately north of Thessaly earnestly dissuading them from attempting to make a stand at the Vale of Tempe Xerxes was coming on he said with an immense and overwhelming force one against which it would be utterly impossible for them to make good their defense at such a point as that it would be far better for them to fall back to Thermopylae which being a narrower and more rugged pass could be more easily defended besides this the messenger said that it was possible for Xerxes to enter Thessaly without going through the Vale of Tempe at all the country between Thessaly and Macedon was mountainous but it was not impassable and Xerxes would very probably come by that way the only security therefore for the Greeks would be to fall back and entrench themselves at Thermopylae nor was there any time to be lost Xerxes was crossing the hell's pond and the whole country was full of excitement and terror the Greeks determined to act upon this advice they broke up their encampment at the olympic straits and retreating to the southward established themselves at Thermopylae to await their the coming of the conqueror the people of Thessaly then surrendered to Xerxes as soon as they received his summons Xerxes from his encampment at Therma where we left him at the close of the last chapter saw the peaks of Olympus and Osa in the southern horizon they were distant perhaps 50 miles from where he stood he inquired about them and was told that the river Peneus flowed between them to the sea and that through the same defile there lay the main entrance to Thessaly he had previously determined to march his army round the other way as the king of Macedon had suggested but he said that he should like to see this defile so he ordered a swift Sedonian galley to be prepared and taking with him suitable guides and a fleet of other vessels in attendance on his galley he sailed to the mouth of the Peneus and entering that river he ascended it till he came to the defile seen from any of the lower elevations which projected from the bases of the mountains at the head of this defile Thessaly lay spread out before the eye as one vast valley level verdant fertile and bounded by distant groups and ranges of mountains which formed a blue and beautiful horizon on every side through the midst of this scene of rural loveliness the Peneus with its countless branches gracefully meandered gathering the water from every part of the valley and then pouring it forth in a deep and calm current through the gap in the mountains at the observers feet Xerxes asked his guides if it would be possible to find any other place where the waters of the Peneus could be conducted to the sea they replied that it would not be for the valley was bounded on every side by ranges of mountainous land then said Xerxes the Thessalonians were wise in submitting at once to my summons for if they had not done so i would have raised a vast embankment across the valley here and thus stopped the river turned their country into a lake and drowned them all end of chapter seven chapter eight of Xerxes by Jacob Abbott this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Dion Giants Salt Lake City Utah the advance of Xerxes into Greece bc 480 from Thurma the last of the great stations at which the persian army halted before its final descent upon Greece the army commenced its march and the fleet set sail nearly at the same time which was early in the summer the army advanced slowly meeting with the usual difficulties and delays but without encountering any special or extraordinary occurrences until after having passed through Macedon into Thessaly and through Thessaly to the northern frontier of focus they began to approach the straits of Thermopylae what took place at Thermopylae will be made the subject of the next chapter the movements of the fleet are to be narrated in this in order distinctly to understand these movements it is necessary that the reader should first have a clear conception of the geographical conformation of the coasts and seas along which the path of the expedition lay by referring to the map of Greece we shall see that the course which the fleet would naturally take from Thurma to the southeastward along the coast was unobstructed and clear for about a hundred miles we then come to a group of four islands extending in a range at right angles to the coast the only one of these islands with which we have particularly to do in this history is the innermost of them which was named Cyathus opposite to these islands the line of the coast having passed around the point of a mountainous and rocky promontory called Magnesia turns suddenly to the westward and runs in that direction for about 30 miles when it again turns to the southward and eastward as before in the sort of corner thus cut off by the deflection of the coast lies the long island of Yuboa which may be considered in fact as almost a continuation of the continent as it is a part of the same conformation of country and is separated from the mainland only by submerged valleys on the north and on the east into these sunken valleys the sea of course flows forming straits or channels the one on the north was in ancient times called Artemisium and the one on the west at its narrowest point Europus all these islands and coasts were high and picturesque they were also in the days of Xerxes densely populated and adorned profusely with temples citadels and towns on passing the southern most extremity of the island of Yuboa and turning to the westward we come to a promontory of the mainland which constituted Attica and in the middle of which the city of Athens was situated beyond this is a capacious gulf called the seronian gulf it lies between Attica and the Peloponnesus in the middle of the seronian gulf lies the island of Ejena and in the northern part of it the island of Salamis the progress of the persian fleet was from Therma down the coast to Scythus fence along the shores of Yuboa to its southern point and so round into the seronian gulf to the island of Salamis the distance of this voyage was perhaps 250 miles in accomplishing it the fleet encountered many dangers and met with a variety of incidents and events which we shall now proceed to describe the country of course was everywhere in a state of the greatest excitement and terror the immense army was slowly coming down by land and the fleet scarcely less terrible since its descents upon the coast would be so fearfully sudden and overwhelming when they were made was advancing by sea the inhabitants of the country were consequently in a state of extreme agitation the sick and the infirm who were of course utterly helpless in such a danger exhibited everywhere the spectacle of silent dismay mothers wives maidens and children on the other hand were wild with excitement and terror the man too full of passion to fear or too full of pride to allow their fears to be seen were gathering in arms or hurrying to and fro with intelligence or making hasty arrangements to remove their wives and children from the scenes of cruel suffering which were to ensue they stationed watchmen on the hills to give warning of the approach of the enemy they agreed upon signals and raised piles of wood for beacon fires on every commanding elevation along the coast while all the roads leading from the threatened provinces to other regions more remote from the danger were covered with flying parties endeavoring to make their escape and carrying wearily and in sorrow whatever they valued most and were most anxious to save mothers for their children men their gold and silver and sisters aided their sick or feeble brothers to sustain the toil and terror of the flight all this time xerxes was sitting in his war chariot in the midst of his advancing army full of exultation happiness and pride at the thoughts of the vast harvest of glory which all this panic and suffering were bringing him in the fleet at length which was under the command of xerxes brothers and cousins whom he had appointed the admirals of it began to move down the coast from therma with the intention of first sweeping the seas clear of any naval force which the Greeks might have sent forward there to act against them and then of landing upon some point on the coast wherever they could do so most advantageously for cooperation with the army on the land the advance of the ships was necessarily slow so immense a flotilla could not have been otherwise kept together the admirals however selected ten of the swiftest of the galleys and after manning and arming them in the most perfect manner sent them forward to reconnoiter the ten galleys were ordered to advance rapidly but with the greatest circumspection they were not to incur any needless danger but if they met with any detached ships of the enemy they were to capture them if possible they were moreover to be constantly on the alert to observe everything and to send back to the fleet all important intelligence which they could obtain the ten galleys went on without observing anything remarkable until they reached the island of sciathus here they came in sight of three Greek ships a sort of advanced guard which had been stationed there to watch the movements of the enemy the Greek galleys immediately hoisted their anchors and fled the Persian galleys manned their oars and pressed on after them they overtook one of the guard ships very soon and after a short conflict they succeeded in capturing it the persians made prisoners of the officers and crew and then selecting from among them the fairest and most noble looking man just as they would have selected a bullock from a herd they sacrificed him to one of their deities on the prow of the captured ship this was a religious ceremony intended to signalize and sanctify their victory the second vessel they also overtook and captured the crew of this ship were easily subdued as the overwhelming superiority of their enemies appeared to convince them that all resistance was hopeless and to plunge them into despair there was one man however who it seems could not be conquered he fought like a tiger to the last and only ceased to deal his furious thrusts and blows at the enemies that surrounded him when after being entirely covered with wounds he fell faint and nearly lifeless upon the bloody deck when the conflict with him was thus ended the murderous hostility of his enemies seemed suddenly to be changed into pity for his sufferings and admiration of his valor they gathered around him bathed and bound up his wounds gave him cordials and at length restored him to life finally when the detachment returned to the fleet some days afterward they carried this man with them and presented him to their commanders as a hero worthy of the highest admiration and honor the rest of the crew were made slaves the third of the greek guard ships contrived to escape or rather the crew escaped while the vessel itself was taken this ship in its flight had gone toward the north and the crew at last succeeded in running it on shore on the coast of thessaly so as to escape themselves by abandoning the vessel to the enemy the officers and crew thus escaping to the shore went through thessaly into greece spreading the tidings everywhere that the persians were at hand this intelligence was communicated also along the coast by beacon fires which the people of syathus built upon the heights of the island as a signal to give the alarm to the country southward of them according to the preconcerted plan the alarm was communicated by other fires built on other heights and sentinels were stationed on every commanding eminence on the highlands of yubawa toward the south to watch for the first appearance of the enemy the persian galleys that had been sent forward having taken the three greek guard ships and finding the sea before them now clear of all appearances of an enemy concluded to return to the fleet with their prizes and their report they had been directed when they were dispatched from the fleet to lay up a monument of stones at the furthest point which they should reach in their crews a measure often resorted to in similar cases by way of furnishing proof that a party thus sent forward have really advanced as far as they pretend on their return the persian detachment had actually brought the stones for the erection of their landmark with them in one of their galleys the galley containing the stones and two others to aid it pushed on beyond syathus to a small rocky islet standing in a conspicuous position in the sea and there they built their monument or cairn the detachment then returned to meet the fleet the time occupied by this whole expedition was 11 days the fleet was in the meantime coming down along the coast of magnesium the whole company of ships had advanced safely and prosperously thus far but now a great calamity was about to befall them the first of the series of disasters by which the expedition was ultimately ruined it was a storm at sea the fleet had drawn up for the night in a long and shallow bay on the coast there was a rocky promontory at one end of this bay and a cape on the other with a long beach between them it was a very good place of refuge and rest for the night in calm weather but such a bay afforded very little shelter against a tempestuous wind or even against the surf and swell of the sea which were sometimes produced by a distant storm when the fleet entered this bay in the evening the sea was calm and the sky serene the commanders expected to remain there for the night and to proceed on the voyage on the following day the bay was not sufficiently extensive to allow of the drying up of so large a fleet in a single line along the shore the ships were accordingly arranged in several lines eight in all the innermost of these lines was close to the shore the others were at different distances from it and every separate ship was held to the place assigned it by its anchors in this position the fleet passed the night in safety but before morning there were indications of a storm the sky looked wild and lured a heavy swell came rolling in from the offing the wind began to rise and to blow in fitful gusts its direction was from the eastward so that its tendency was to drive the fleet upon the shore the seaman were anxious and afraid and the commanders of the several ships began to devise each for his own vessel the best means of safety some whose vessels were small drew them up upon the sand above the reach of the swell others strengthened the anchoring tackle or added new anchors to those already down others raised their anchors altogether and attempted to row their galleys away up or down the coast in hope of finding some better place of shelter thus all was excitement and confusion in the fleet through the eager efforts made by every separate crew to escape the impending danger in the meantime the storm came on a pace the rising and roughening sea made the oars useless and the wind howled frightfully through the cordage and the rigging the galleys soon began to be forced away from their moorings some were driven upon the beach and dashed to pieces by the waves some were wrecked on the rocks at one or the other of the projecting points which bounded the bay on either hand some foundered at their place of anchorage vast numbers of men were drowned those who escaped to the shore were in hourly dread of an attack from the inhabitants of the country to save themselves if possible from this danger they dragged up the fragments of the wrecked vessels upon the beach and built a fort with them on the shore here they entrenched themselves and then prepared to defend their lives armed with the weapons which like the materials for their fort were washed up from time to time by the sea the storm continued for three days it destroyed about 300 galleys besides an immense number of provision transports and other smaller vessels great numbers of seaman also were drowned the inhabitants of the country along the coast enriched themselves with the plunder which they obtained from the wrecks and from the treasures and the gold and silver vessels which continued for some time to be driven up upon the beach by the waves the persians themselves recovered it was said a great deal of valuable treasure by employing a certain greek diver whom they had in their fleet to dive for it after the storm was over this diver whose name was filius was famed far and wide for his power of remaining underwater as an instance of what they believed him capable of performing they said that when at a certain period subsequent to these transactions he determined to desert to the greeks he accomplished his design by diving into the sea from the deck of a persian galley and coming up again in the midst of the greek fleet 10 miles distant after three days the storm subsided the persians then repaired the damages which had been sustained so far as it was now possible to repair them collected what remained of the fleet took the shipwrecked mariners from their rude fortification on the beach and set sail again on their voyage to the southward in the meantime the greek fleet had assembled in the arm of the sea lying north of uboa and between uboa and the mainland it was an allied fleet made up of contributions from various states that had finally agreed to come into the confederacy as is usually the case however with allied or confederate forces they were not well agreed among themselves the athenians had furnished far the greater number of ships and they considered themselves therefore entitled to the command but the other allies were envious and jealous of them on account of that very superiority of wealth and power which enabled them to supply a greater portion of the naval force than the rest they were willing that one of the spartans should command but they would not consent to put themselves under an athenian if an athenian leader were chosen they would disperse they said and the various portions of the fleet returned to their respective homes the athenians though burning with resentment at this unjust declaration were compelled to submit to the necessity of the case they could not take the confederates at their word and allow the fleet to be broken up for the defense of athens was the great object for which it was assembled the other states might make their peace with the conqueror by submission but the athenians could not do so in respect to the rest of Greece xerxes wished only for dominion in respect to athens he wished for vengeance the athenians had burned the persian city of sardis and he had determined to give himself no rest until he had burned athens in return it was well understood therefore that the assembling of the fleet and giving battle to the persians where they now were was a plan adopted mainly for the defense and benefit of the athenians the athenians accordingly waived their claim to command secretly resolving that when the war was over they would have their revenge for the insult and injury as spartan was accordingly appointed commander of the fleet his name was uribiadas things were in this state when the two fleets came in sight of each other in the strait between the northern end of uboa and the mainland fifteen of the persian galleys advancing unconsciously some miles in front of the rest came suddenly upon the greek fleet and all were captured the crews were made prisoners and sent into greece the remainder of the fleet entered the strait and anchored at the eastern extremity of it sheltered by the promontory of magnesia which now lay to the north of them the greeks were amazed at the immense magnitude of the persian fleet and the first opinion of the commanders was that it was wholly useless for them to attempt to engage them a council was convened and after a long and anxious debate they decided that it was best to retire to the southward the inhabitants of uboa who had been already in a state of great excitement and terror at the near approach of so formidable an enemy were thrown by this decision of the allies into a state of absolute dismay it was abandoning them to irremediable and hopeless destruction the government of the island immediately raised a very large sum of money and went with it to the mystic lease one of the most influential of the athenian leaders and offered it to him if he would contrive anyway to persuade the commanders of the fleet to remain and give the persians battle where they were the mystic lease took the money and agreed to the condition he went with a small part of it though this part was a very considerable sum to uribiades the commander in chief and offered it to him if he would retain the fleet in its present position there were some other similar offerings made to other influential men judiciously selected all this was done in a very private manner and of course the mystic lease took care to reserve to himself the lion's share of the uboaian contribution the effect of this money in altering the opinions of the naval officers was marvelous a new council was called the former decision was annulled and the greeks determined to give their enemies battle where they were the persians had not been unmindful of the danger that the greeks might retreat by retiring through the europeus and so escape them in order to prevent this they secretly sent off a fleet of 200 of their strongest and fleet as galleys with orders to sail round uboa and enter the europeus from the south so as to cut off the retreat of the greeks in that quarter they thought that by this plan the greek fleet would be surrounded and could have no possible mode of escape they remained therefore with the principal fleet at the outer entrance of the northern straight for some days before attacking the greeks in order to give time for the detachment to pass round the island the persians sent off the 200 galleys with great secrecy not desiring that the greeks should discover their design of thus intercepting their retreat they did discover it however for this was the occasion on which the great diver cilius made his escape from one fleet to the other by swimming under water 10 miles and he brought the greeks the tidings the greeks dispatched a small squadron of ships with orders to proceed southward into the europeus to meet this detachment which the persians sent round and in the meantime they determined themselves to attack the main persian fleet without any delay notwithstanding their absurd dissensions and jealousies and the extent to which the leaders were influenced by intrigues and bribes the greeks always events and undaunted and indomitable spirit when the day of battle came it was moreover in this case exceedingly important to defend the position which they had taken by referring to the map once more it will be seen that the europeus was the great highway to athens by sea as the pass of thermopylae was by land thermopylae was west of artemisium where the fleet was now stationed and not many miles from it the greek army had made its great stand at thermopylae and xerxes was fast coming down the country with all his forces to endeavor to force a passage there the persian fleet in entering artemisium was making the same attempt by sea in respect to the narrow passage of europeus and for either of the two forces the fleet or the army to fail of making good the defense of its position without a desperate effort to do so would justly be considered a base betrayal and abandonment of the other the greeks therefore advanced one morning to the attack of the persians to the utter astonishment of the latter who believed that their enemies were insane when they thus saw them coming into the jaws as they thought of certain destruction before night however they were to change their opinions in respect to the insanity of their foes the greeks pushed boldly on into the myths of the persian fleet where they were soon surrounded they then formed themselves into a circle with the prowls of the vessels outward and the sterns toward the center within and fought in this manner with the utmost desperation all the day with the night a storm came on or rather a series of thundershowers and gusts of wind so severe that both fleets were glad to retire from the scene of contest the persians went back toward the east the greeks to the westward toward thermopylae each party busy in repairing their wrecks taking care of their wounded and saving their vessels from the tempest it was a dreadful night the persians particularly spent it in the myths of scenes of horror the wind and the current it seems set outward toward the sea and carried the masses and fragments of the wrecked vessels and the swollen and ghastly bodies of the dead in among the persian fleet and so choked up the surface of the water that the oars became entangled and useless the whole mass of semen in the persian fleet during this terrible night were panic stricken and filled with horror the wind the perpetual thunder the concussions of the vessels with the wrecks and with one another and the heavy shocks of the seas kept them in continual alarm and the black and inscrutable darkness was rendered the more dreadful while it prevailed by the hideous spectacle which at every flash of lightning glared brilliantly upon every eye from the wide surface of the sea the shouts and cries of officers vociferating orders of wounded men writhing in agony of watchmen and sentinels in fear of collisions mingled with the howling wind and roaring seas created a scene of indescribable terror and confusion the violence of the sudden gale was still greater further out at sea and the detachment of ships which had been sent around was wholly dispersed and destroyed by it the storm was however after all only a series of summer evening showers such as to the inhabitants of peaceful dwellings on the land have no terror but only come to clear the sultry atmosphere in the night and in the morning are gone when the sun rose accordingly upon the greeks and persians on the morning after their conflict the air was calm the sky serene and the sea as blue and pure as ever the bodies and the wrecks had been floated away into the offing the courage or the ferocity whichever we choose to call it of the combatants returned and they renewed the conflict it continued with varying success for two more days during all this time the inhabitants of the island of yuboa were in the greatest distress and terror they watched these dreadful conflicts from the heights uncertain how the struggle would end but fearing lest their defenders should be beaten in which case the whole force of the persian fleet would be landed on their island to sweep it with pillage and destruction they soon began to anticipate the worst and in preparation for it they removed their goods all that could be removed and drove their cattle down to the southern part of the island so as to be ready to escape to the mainland the greek commanders finding that the fleet would probably be compelled to retreat in the end sent to them here recommending that they should kill their cattle and eat them roasting the flesh at fires which they should kindle on the plane the cattle could not be transported they said across the channel and it was better that the flying population should be fed than that the food should fall into persian hands if they would dispose of their cattle in this manner uribiades would endeavor he said to transport the people themselves and their valuable goods across into adica how many thousand peaceful and happy homes were broken up and destroyed forever by this ruthless invasion in the meantime the persians irritated by the obstinate resistance of the greeks were on the fourth day preparing for some more vigorous measures when they saw a small boat coming toward the fleet from down the channel it proved to contain a countryman who came to tell them that the greeks had gone away the whole fleet he said had sailed off to the southward and abandoned those seas altogether the persians did not at first believe this intelligence they suspected some ambuscade or stratagem they advanced slowly and cautiously down the channel when they had gone half down to thermopylae they stopped at a place called histiae where upon the rocks on the shore they found an inscription addressed to the ionians who it will be recollected had been brought by xerxes as auxiliaries contrary to the advice of artibanus in treating them not to fight against their countrymen this inscription was written in large and conspicuous characters on the face of the cliff so that it could be read by the ionian seamen as they passed in their galleys the fleet anchored at histiae the commanders being somewhat uncertain in respect to what it was best to do their suspense was very soon relieved by a messenger from xerxes who came in a galley up the channel from thermopylae with the news that xerxes had arrived at thermopylae had fought a great battle there defeated the greeks and obtained possession of the pass and that any of the officers of the fleet who chose to do so might come and view the battleground this intelligence and invitation produced throughout the fleet a scene of the wildest excitement enthusiasm and joy all the boats and smaller vessels of the fleet were put into requisition to carry the officers down when they arrived at thermopylae the tidings all proved true xerxes was in possession of the pass and the greek fleet was gone end of chapter eight chapter nine of xerxes by jacob abbot this libravox recording is in the public domain recording by dion giants salt lake city utah the battle of thermopylae bc 480 the pass of thermopylae 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 the position had been considered long before xerxes 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 focus 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 the mountains and the shore at thermopylae the focians 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 myery the old wall had now fallen to ruins but the myery 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 yuboa 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 pathway which crept along the shore below the greeks when they retired from thessaly fell back upon thermopylae 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 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 300 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 it will be seen from the map that thermopylae is at some distance from the itthmus of corinth and that of the states which would be protected by making a stand at the pass some were without the itthmus and some within these states in sending each a few hundred men only to thermopylae 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 meantime however cirxies and his immense hordes came on faster than they had expected and the news at length came to leonidas in the past that the persians with one or two millions of men were at hand while he had only three or four thousand at thermopylae to oppose them the question arose what was to be done those of the greeks who came from the peloponnesus were in favor of abandoning thermopylae and falling back to the itthmus the itthmus 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 reinforcements 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 without the peloponnesus for by abandoning thermopylae and falling back to the itthmus their states would be left wholly at the mercy of the enemy after some consultation and debate it was decided to remain at thermopylae the troops accordingly took up their positions in a deliberate and formal manner and entrenching themselves as strongly as possible began to await the onset of the enemy leonidas and his 300 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 core which was stationed on the mountains above to guard the pass in that direction this core was from focus 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 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 common wealth a mark of distinction between free men and slaves all the agricultural and mechanical labors were performed as has been already stated by the slaves a body which constituted in fact the mass of the population and the spartan free men 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 is always more proud and overbearing than any other it must be understood therefore that these spartan soldiers were entirely above the performance of any useful labours 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 past to adorn themselves for the approaching battle in the meantime 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 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 they went on with their avocations the horseman found as he leisurely observed them that there was an entrenchment thrown across the straits and that the spartans were in front of it there were other forces behind but these the horsemen 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 seem to be one and all preparing for an entertainment and yet these men were actually preparing themselves to be slaughtered to be butchered and 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 and 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 Demoratus 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 Demoratus came Xerxes related to him what the messenger had reported the Spartans in the past 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 Demoratus 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 Xerxes thought this opinion of Demoratus extremely absurd he was convinced that the party in the past 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 past 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 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 alive to him the detachment that he sent was a body of Meads who were considered as the best troops in the army accepting always the immortals who as has been before stated were entirely superior to the rest the Meads however Xerxes supposed would find no difficulty in executing his orders the detachment marched accordingly into the pass in a few hours a spent and breathless messenger came from them asking for reinforcements the reinforcements 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 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 entrenchments 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 meantime calmly arranged themselves on the line which they had undertaken to defend and awaited the charge upon the ground on every side relying 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 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 core 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 in a state of excitement and irritation three times he leaped from his throne with loud exclamations of excitation and rage all however was of no avail when night came the immortals were compelled to withdraw and leave the Greeks in possession of their entrenchments 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 a fealtus 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 entrenchment this point being once attained it would be easy a fealtus 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 detachment of troops through it on condition of receiving a suitable reward the king was greatly surprised and delighted at this intelligence he immediately acceded to fealti's proposals and organized a strong force to be sent up the path that very night on the north of thermopylae there was a small stream which came down through a chasm in the mountains to the sea the path which a fealtus 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 focians 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 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 focian 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 focian sentinels heard the noise made by their tramping upon the leaves as they came up the glen the focians 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 tractless desolation there was a short conflict the focians 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 command the pass below here they paused and awaited xerxes's orders the greeks in the defile perceived at once that they were now holy 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 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 are posted there we stand come life or death to the end we have been sent here from sparta to defend the pass of thermopylae we have received no orders to withdraw here therefore we must remain and the persians if they go through the path 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 after all that may be said of the absurdity and folly of throwing away the lives of 300 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 20th centuries which have intervened since these transactions occurred while they have unanimously disapproved in theory of the course which leonidas pursued have nonetheless unanimously admired and applauded it in dismissing the other greeks leonidas retained with him a body of the bans whom he suspected of a design of revolting to the enemy whether he considered his decision to keep them in the past 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 past 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 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 entrenchments 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 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 entrenchment 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 effie altis 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 fell 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 there were stories in circulation among mankind after this battle importing that one or two of the core 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 six 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 comrades fate there was also a story of another man who had been sent away on submission 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 of these rumors were true it 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 the thebans early in the conflict went over in a body to the enemy cirxies 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 entrenchment 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 cirxies 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 exultation and triumph at length he ordered the body to be decapitated and the headless trunk to be nailed to a cross cirxies then commanded that a great whole 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 affected 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 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 thermopylae was upon the coast exactly opposite to the channel or arm of the sea lying north of uboa where the naval contests had been waged so that while cirxies had been making his desperate efforts to get through the past his fleet had been engaged in a similar conflict with the squadrons of the greeks directly opposite to him 20 or 30 miles in the offing after the battle of thermopylae was over cirxies sent for demiratus and inquired of him how many more soldiers there were in greece as leonidas and his 300 spartans demiratus replied that he could not say how many precisely there were in greece but that there were 8 000 such in sparta alone cirxies then asked the opinion of demiratus 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 battlefield demiratus 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 ifsmas there was however he said an island called sithera 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 mainland in any numbers and at any time he recommended therefore that 300 ships with a proper complement of men should be detached from the fleet and sent round at once to take possession of that island to this plan the admiral of the fleet was totally opposed it was natural that he should be so since the detaching of 300 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 400 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 to to beware of demiratus's advice he was a greek and as such his object was the admiral believed to betray and ruin the expedition 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 anything said against demiratus for i am convinced that he is a true and faithful friend to me saying this he dismissed the council end of chapter nine