G R E 
this meafuve, believed the vefTel of Artemifia to be one 
of thofe which had deferred the Perfian intereft. The 
Phoenician and Ionian fquadrons formed the main ftrengtit 
of the Perfian armament ; after thefe were defeated, 
tlie flvips at a diftance haftily changing fail, meafnred 
back, their coiirfe to the neighbouring harbours. The 
vigors, difdaining to piirfne them, dragged the mod va¬ 
luable part of the wreck to tlie coads of Pfyttalea and 
Salamis. The narrow feas were covered with the float¬ 
ing carcafes of the dead, among wliom were few Greeks, 
as even thofe who lod their diips in the engagement, 
faved their lives by fwimming to otliers. 
Xerxes had fcarcely time to confider and deplore the 
dedrindion of his fleet, when a new fcene of didrefs 
otFered itfelf to his view. The flower of the Perflan 
infantry had taken pod on the rocky idand of Pfyttalea, 
in order to receive the fliattered remains of the Grecian 
armament, which, after its ex petted defeat, would na¬ 
turally take refuge on that barren coad. But equally 
fallacious and fatal was their conjetlure concerning the 
event of the battle. The Greeks, difembarking from 
their fliips, attacked in the enthufiafm of vitfory thofe 
adonidied troops, who, unable to redd, and finding it 
impoflible to fly, were cut down to a man. As Xerxes 
beheld this dreadful havoc, he darted in wild agitation 
from his filver throne, rent his royal robes, and com¬ 
manded the main body of his forces, poded along the 
Athenian coad, to return to their rel’peclive camps. 
From that moment he refolved to return with all pof- 
fible expedition into Afia. Yet did his fears and his 
policy conceal, for a few days, thedefign, not only from 
the Grecian but from the Perfian generals. Mardonius 
alone was too well acquainted with the temper of his 
mader, to believe that his concern for the fafety of his 
illudrious perfon would allow him to remain longer 
than neceflTary in a country which had been the fcene of 
fo many calamities. The artful courtier availed him- 
felf of the important fecret, to divert the dorm of royal 
refentment which threatened the principal author of 
this inglorious undertaking. In his fird interview with 
Xerxes, he exhorted him “ not to be too deeply affedled 
by the defeat of his fleet: that he had come to fight 
againd the Greeks, not with rafts of wood, but with 
foldiers and horfes ; that the valour of the Perfians had 
oppofed all refidance, and their invincible fovereign 
was now mader of Athens, the main objeft of his am¬ 
bition : that having accomplilhed the principal end of 
the enterprife, it was time for the great king to return 
from the fatigues of war to the cares of government ; 
for with three hundred thoufand chofen men, he would 
undertake to prol'ecute his defigns, and to complete his 
vidtory.” Such is the language of adulation, too often 
held to princes. The other courtiers confirmed, by 
their approbation, the advice of Mardonius ; and the 
Perfian monarch, while he obeyed the didfates of his 
own pufillanimity, feemed to leave Greece in reludlant 
compliance with the anxious folicitude of his fubjedts. 
The remains of tlie Perfian fleet, frightened from the 
coads of Greece, returned to the Irarbours of Afia Mi¬ 
nor, and afterwards alTembled and rendezvoufed, during 
the enfuing winter, in the port of Cyme. The tranf- 
ports were ordered to the hellefpont, on the banks of 
which Xerxes arrived with his troops in forty-five days, 
after intolerable hardlhips and fatigue. Famine and 
peftilence filled up the meafure of their calamities ; 
and, excepting the three hundred thoufand cholen men 
committed to Mardonius, a detachment of whom guard¬ 
ed the royal perfon to the coafl, fcarcely a remnant was 
left of lo many millions. 1 he bridge odentatioufly 
erected on the HelleXpont would have prelented, had it 
remained entire, a mortifying monument of pad great- 
nefs. But this v/onderful fabric had been dellroyed by 
a temped : and (uch is the obfeurity with which Xerxes 
returned from Greece, compared with the blaze of 
grandeur in which he arrived there, that it is uncertain 
4 
E C E, S 63 
whether he croffed the channel in a Phoenician fhip of 
war, or only in a ddiing veffcl. 
The viddory at Salamis terminated the fecond Perfian 
expedition. The Greeks dion nndei dood that, notwith- 
danding the return of Xerxes, tliree hundred tlioufand 
men, commanded by Mardonius, were cantoned for the 
winter in Thrace, Macedon, and 'I'lielFaly, with a d«fign 
to take the deld early in the fpring, and again to try 
the fortune of war. His army confided of the Medes, 
Perfians, Scythians, and Indians; and, tliongh reduced 
from the millions which followed Xerxes to about three 
hundred thoufand men, it was thereby rather delivered 
from an ufelefs incumbrance, than deprived of any real 
drength. But, upon marching from Thelfaly, Mardo¬ 
nius determined to try the ed'edl of negociation, before 
he had recourfe to arms. He therefore lent Alexander 
king of Macedon, an Argive prince, to treat with the 
Athenians. The republic of Athens refufed to call an 
affembly, until the Spartans dioiild fend ambadadors to 
allid at the deliberation. When all parties were con¬ 
vened, Alexander opened his midion, and concluded a 
long fpeech by alking, “What madnefs, O Athenians, 
can impel you to maintain war againd a monarch, 
whom you cannot expe6l ever to conquer, nor hope af- 
zvays to refid He therefore exhorted them “ to re- 
de( 5 l on tlie advantages which would accrue to them 
from being alone, of all the Greeks, admitted into tlie 
alliance of Xerxes ; to refledt alfo on the dreadful con- 
I'equences which would attend their refiifal, dnee their 
country, placed as a prize between the contending parties, 
would thereby be expofed to inevitable dedruiStion.” 
As foon as Alexander had ended his ciifcourfe, the 
Spartan ambadadors reprefented to the affembly, “ That 
they had been fent on the part of their republic, to op- 
pofe the meafures of the barbarians, with whom, in or¬ 
der to refent the quarrel of her Athenian allies, Sparta 
^ifad engaged in a bloody and dedrii6tive war. Could 
the Athenians then, for whofe fake alone the war wliich 
now extended over all Greece was originally under¬ 
taken, abandon their friends and confederates, whofe 
fervices they might command, and whole invincible 
army was ready to take the field ?” The Athenians, 
after a fhort deliberation, anfwered both parties by the 
voice of Aridides, who, as chief magidrate, prelided 
in the alfembly. To the Macedonian he replied, “ That 
as they were fufficiently acquainted with the drength 
of Xerxes, he might have fpared them the inhilt of de- 
feribing its vad luperiority to their own. Yet, in de¬ 
fence of liberty, there was no power too great to op- 
pofe. Return then, and tell Mardonius, that tlie 
Athenians will never make peace with Xerxes, while 
the fun performs his annual courle in the heavens ; but 
that, truding to the adidance of the gods and heroes, 
whofe temples and imaj^es he has impioiidy deltroyed, 
we will refid him to the lad extremity.” I’o the La- 
cedamionian anibaffadors he faid, “ Know, that the 
riched pollellions on earth, and all the treafures of the 
great king, are not fufficient to feduce our unalterable 
attachment to Greece. We acknowledge with grati¬ 
tude your prod'ered kindnefs; and requed that your 
army march with all polfible expedition towards Boeotia, 
that our united redltance may dop the progrefs ot the 
barbarian, who, as fbon as he is appriled ot our deter¬ 
mined hodility, will not fail to proceed louxhward, to 
invade Attica a fecond time.” 
This conjecture was judided by the event. The 
Perfians within a few weeks marched into Bosotia, but 
the Athenians looked in vain for tlie expected arrival 
of their Spartan auxiliaries, liidead ot ilfuing turth 
in order to (upport their allies, tliey remained within 
the idhmus, and endeavoured to fortify the inlet into 
their territory with fttch additional walls and bulwarks 
as might render it impenetrable. 1 he work was now 
complete ; and the Peloponnelians, fecure, a^they inia- 
.gined, behind this Ibltd rampart, equally difregarded 
^ flirt 
