ATHENS. 



21 



Xerxes 



succeeds 



Darius, 



And in- 

 vades 

 Greece. 



Athens. Greece. This became the safety, both of herself and 



v ' of all the other states, in the mighty storm which was 



now impending. 



Darius, after the disastrous result of his expedition 

 to Greece, was withheld from farther attempts by an 

 insurrection in Egypt, as well as by domestic dissen- 

 A. C. 485. sion. About five years after, however, he died, and 

 was succeeded by Xerxes, a rash and ambitious young 

 prince, who, persuaded by his flatterers that nothing 

 was impossible to the master of such an empire, de- 

 termined to col' >ct all his forces for this arduous en- 

 terprise. Darius had been three years occupied in 

 preparations, which Xerxes devoted four to complete. 

 All the ports of the Asiatic colonies, as well as of 

 Egypt and Phoenicia, were employed in the construc- 

 tion of an innumerable multitude of vessels, surpassing 

 in magnitude any that had yet appeared in those seas. 

 Twelve hundred ships of war, and three thousand of 

 burden, were at length completed. All the subjects and 

 vassals of Persia were called upon to furnish their quo- 

 tas of troops, and an armament was thus collected, to 

 which the world has seen nothing equal, either before 

 or since. Herodotus has given an elaborate enumer- 

 ation, which makes them amount to upwards of two 

 millions, besides women and eunuchs ; which, added 

 to five hundred thousand who manned the fleet, raises 

 the whole number employed to nearly three millions. 

 Wishing to avoid the unfortunate example of Darius, 

 as well as the inconveniences of a long navigation 

 with so many troops on board, he determined to trans- 

 port his army over the Hellespont. After some diffi- 

 culty, a bridge of boats was extended from one side 

 to the other, over which the army continued passing 

 for seven days and seven nights without interruption, 

 until the whole arrived on the Thracian territory. 

 Then, separating into three divisions, they advanced, 

 covering the plains of Thrace, Macedonia, and Thes- 

 saly. Most of" the inhabitants of these countries, over- 

 awed by this immense force, joined their standard. 

 A fter a memorable encounter, they penetrated through 

 the pass of Thermopylx, and being joined by the 

 Thtbans, poured down with their whole force upon 

 Attica and Peloponnesus. The Peloponnesian states, 

 conceiving themselves unequal to cope in the open 

 field with so mighty a force, determined to withdraw 

 within the peninsula, and to fortify the isthmus of 

 Corinth.^ The consequence of this arrangement was, 

 to have exposed the territory of Attica. Themisto- 

 cles then saw, that the land for:e of that state alone 

 could never cope with the whole power of the Per- 

 sians, seconded, as it was, by a strong body of Gre- 

 cian auxiliaries. Instantly, therefore, with equal wis- 

 dom and decision, he formed his plan, which was to 

 abandon the city, and embark on board the fleet all 

 the hopes and fortunes of Athens. To persuade the 

 people, however, to the adoption of such a measure, 

 was no easy task. No where, perhaps, was local at- 

 tachment so strongly rooted as among the Grecian 

 states. It- was interwoven with all the feelings of re- 

 ligion, of patriotism, and of parental veneration. To 

 abandon, to a barbarous foe, their city, the temples of 

 their gods, the tombs of their ancestors, appeared ab- 

 &olute profanation. Themistocles, on this occasion, 

 exerted all his address. He represented to his coun- 

 trymen the necessity and advantage of this measure ; 



2 



Athens. 



A. C. 480. 



but his chief dependence was on a dexterous manage- 

 ment of that superstition, which at present formed a 

 powerful obstacle to his scheme. He contrived to 

 get an oracle from Delphi, which advised them to 

 defend themselves with wooden walls; which he inter- 

 preted to be their ships. He procured from the same 

 quarter a high panegyric on Salamis, where he wished 

 the fleet to station itself. He accompanied the eva- 

 cuation of the city with a variety of ceremonies, 



which gave it the appearance of a religious act. The . At ? e ~ 



j i-ij n? i-i mans take 



women and children were sent to I roezene, which s h c [ lel on 



generously received them, although Argos, to whose board their 

 territory it belonged, had basely espoused the Persian fleet, 

 interest. When the time of departure, however, ar- 

 rived, the scene which ensued was affecting beyond 

 expression. Besides separating from all those objects 

 and places, which from infancy they had been accus- 

 tomed to regard with affection, they were obliged to 

 leave behind a number of old citizens, whom they had 

 not time to remove. Some emotions of tenderness 

 were even inspired by those domestic animals, who, 

 by dismal bowlings, expressed their affection and re- 

 gret for their departing masters. 



We have now to look back to the operations of 

 the two fleets. Xerxes, recollecting the disaster 

 which that of Darius had sustained, in doubling the 

 promontory of Mount Athos, determined to cut a 

 canal through the neck of the peninsula, sufficient to 

 allow two gallies to sail abreast. The fleet passing 

 through this canal, followed the army along the 

 coasts of Greece, till it arrived and anchored in the 

 bay of Sepias. No harbour could contain so immense 

 an armament ; it was therefore necessary to station 

 itself in the road, which extends from the city of 

 Castanea to the promontory of Sepias. The Gre- 

 cians meanwhile had stationed theirs at Artemisium, 

 the northern promontory of Euboea. The Lacede- 

 monians still retained such a pre-eminence among the 

 other states, as procured for their admiral the com- 

 mand of the whole fleet, although of 3S0 triremes, 

 they sent only ten. 



The Athenians, who had already sent 120, and En a e " 



j. j / , . mentsnear 



were preparing more, were disposed to murmur ; but Artera ;_ 



Themistocles, with consummate prudence, prevailed s ium. 

 on them to acquiesce, rather than cause dissension at 

 so critical a period. Most of the Peloponnesian states 

 urged the necessity of an immediate retreat, in order 

 to assume a station, where they might defend their 

 own coasts. This proposal was strenuously opposed 

 by Themistocles, who looked upon it as equally dis- 

 honourable and pernicious to Greece. By his argu- 

 ments, and by threatening that the Athenians would 

 withdraw, and found a colony elsewhere, he prevailed 

 on the allies to relinquish this design. Meanwhile 

 the Persians, unable to find secure anchorage for 

 their immense fleet, had suffered extremely from a 

 violent storm. Before they had recovered from this 

 disaster, the Greeks made a nocturnal attack, took 

 thirty of their vessels, and destroyed as many more. 

 Next day they again attacked them, and cut off the 

 Cilician squadron. The same storm which had shat- 

 tered the grand Persian fleet, completely destroyed a 

 division of them which had sailed round Euboea, in 

 order to take the Greeks in the rear. These favour- 

 able circumstances animated the hope6 of the confe- 



