In this section, Herodotus relates the invasion of the Greek mainland by the
Persian king Xerxes in 480 B.C. According to this account, what are the differences
between the Greeks and the Persians?
After Egypt was subdued, Xerxes, being about to take in hand the expedition against
Athens, called together an assembly of the noblest Persians to learn their opinions, and
to lay before them his own designs. So, when the men were met, the king spake thus to
them:-
"Persians, I shall not be the first to bring in among you a new custom- I shall
but follow one which has come down to us from our forefathers. Never yet, as our old men
assure me, has our race reposed itself, since the time when Cyrus overcame Astyages, and
so we Persians wrested the sceptre from the Medes. Now in all this God guides us; and we,
obeying his guidance, prosper greatly. What need have I to tell you of the deeds of Cyrus
and Cambyses, and my own father Darius, how many nations they conquered, and added to our
dominions? Ye know right well what great things they achieved. But for myself, I will say
that, from the day on which I mounted the throne, I have not ceased to consider by what
means I may rival those who have preceded me in this post of honour, and increase the
power of Persia as much as any of them. And truly I have pondered upon this, until at last
I have found out a way whereby we may at once win glory, and likewise get possession of a
land which is as large and as rich as our own nay, which is even more varied in the fruits
it bears- while at the same time we obtain satisfaction and revenge. For this cause I have
now called you together, that I may make known to you what I design to do.
My intent is to throw a bridge over the Hellespont and march an army through Europe
against Greece, that thereby I may obtain vengeance from the Athenians for the wrongs
committed by them against the Persians and against my father. Your own eyes saw the
preparations of Darius against these men; but death came upon him, and balked his hopes of
revenge. In his behalf, therefore, and in behalf of all the Persians, I undertake the war,
and pledge myself not to rest till I have taken and burnt Athens, which has dared,
unprovoked, to injure me and my father. Long since they came to Asia with Aristagoras of
Miletus, who was one of our slaves, and, entering Sardis, burnt its temples and its sacred
groves; again, more lately, when we made a landing upon their coast under Datis and
Artaphernes, how roughly they handled us ye do not need to be told. For these reasons,
therefore, I am bent upon this war; and I see likewise therewith united no few advantages.
Once let us subdue this people, and those neighbours of theirs who hold the land of Pelops
the Phrygian, and we shall extend the Persian territory as far as God's heaven reaches.
The sun will then shine on no land beyond our borders; for I will pass through Europe from
one end to the other, and with your aid make of all the lands which it contains one
country.
For thus, if what I hear be true, affairs stand:
the nations whereof I have spoken, once swept away, there is no city, no country left in
all the world, which will venture so much as to withstand us in arms. By this course then
we shall bring all mankind under our yoke, alike those who are guilty and those who are
innocent of doing us wrong. For yourselves, if you wish to please me, do as follows: when
I announce the time for the army to meet together, hasten to the muster with a good will,
every one of you; and know that to the man who brings with him the most gallant array I
will give the gifts which our people consider the most honourable. This then is what ye
have to do. But to show that I am not self-willed in this matter, I lay the business
before you, and give you full leave to speak your minds upon it openly."
Xerxes, having so spoken, held his peace.
Whereupon Mardonius took the word, and said: "Of a truth, my lord, thou dost
surpass, not only all living Persians, but likewise those yet unborn. Most true and right
is each word that thou hast now uttered; but best of all thy resolve not to let the
Ionians who live in Europe- a worthless crew- mock us any more. It were indeed a monstrous
thing if, after conquering and enslaving the Sacae, the Indians, the Ethiopians, the
Assyrians, and many other mighty nations, not for any wrong that they had done us, but
only to increase our empire, we should then allow the Greeks, who have done us such wanton
injury, to escape our vengeance. What is it that we fear in them?- not surely their
numbers?- not the greatness of their wealth? We know the manner of their battle- we know
how weak their power is; already have we subdued their children who dwell in our country,
the Ionians, Aeolians, and Dorians. I myself have had experience of these men when I
marched against them by the orders of thy father; and though I went as far as Macedonia,
and came but a little short of reaching Athens itself, yet not a soul ventured to come out
against me to battle.
And yet, I am told, these very Greeks are wont to wage wars against one another in the
most foolish way, through sheer perversity and doltishness. For no sooner is war
proclaimed than they search out the smoothest and fairest plain that is to be found in all
the land, and there they assemble and fight; whence it comes to pass that even the
conquerors depart with great loss: I say nothing of the conquered, for they are destroyed
altogether. Now surely, as they are all of one speech, they ought to interchange heralds
and messengers, and make up their differences by any means rather than battle; or, at the
worst, if they must needs fight one against another, they ought to post themselves as
strongly as possible, and so try their quarrels. But, notwithstanding that they have so
foolish a manner of warfare, yet these Greeks, when I led my army against them to the very
borders of Macedonia, did not so much as think of offering me battle. Who then will dare,
O king! to meet thee in arms, when thou comest with all Asia's warriors at thy back, and
with all her ships? For my part I do not believe the Greek people will be so foolhardy.
Grant, however, that I am mistaken herein, and that they are foolish enough to meet us in
open fight; in that case they will learn that there are no such soldiers in the whole
world as we. Nevertheless let us spare no pains; for nothing comes without trouble; but
all that men acquire is got by painstaking."
When Mardonius had in this way softened the harsh speech of Xerxes, he too held his
peace.
The other Persians were silent; all feared to raise their voice against the plan
proposed to them. But Artabanus, the son of Hystaspes, and uncle of Xerxes, trusting to
his relationship, was bold to speak:- "O king!" he said, "it is impossible,
if no more than one opinion is uttered, to make choice of the best: a man is forced then
to follow whatever advice may have been given him; but if opposite speeches are delivered,
then choice can be exercised. In like manner pure gold is not recognised by itself; but
when we test it along with baser ore, we perceive which is the better. I counselled thy
father, Darius, who was my own brother, not to attack the Scyths, a race of people who had
no town in their whole land. He thought however to subdue those wandering tribes, and
would not listen to me, but marched an army against them, and ere he returned home lost
many of his bravest warriors. Thou art about, O king! to attack a people far superior to
the Scyths, a people distinguished above others both by land and sea. 'Tis fit therefore
that I should tell thee what danger thou incurrest hereby.
Thou sayest that thou wilt bridge the Hellespont, and lead thy troops through Europe
against Greece. Now suppose some disaster befall thee by land or sea, or by both. It may
be even so; for the men are reputed valiant. Indeed one may measure their prowess from
what they have already done; for when Datis and Artaphernes led their huge army against
Attica, the Athenians singly defeated them. But grant they are not successful on both
elements. Still, if they man their ships, and, defeating us by sea, sail to the
Hellespont, and there destroy our bridge- that, sire, were a fearful hazard.
And here 'tis not by my own mother wit alone that I conjecture what will happen; but I
remember how narrowly we escaped disaster once, when thy father, after throwing bridges
over the Thracian Bosphorus and the Ister, marched against the Scythians, and they tried
every sort of prayer to induce the Ionians, who had charge of the bridge over the Ister,
to break the passage. On that day, if Histiaeus, the king of Miletus, had sided with the
other princes, and not set himself to oppose their views, the empire of the Persians would
have come to nought. Surely a dreadful thing is this even to hear said, that the king's
fortunes depended wholly on one man.
"Think then no more of incurring so great a danger when no need presses, but
follow the advice I tender. Break up this meeting, and when thou hast well considered the
matter with thyself, and settled what thou wilt do, declare to us thy resolve. I know not
of aught in the world that so profits a man as taking good counsel with himself; for even
if things fall out against one's hopes, still one has counselled well, though fortune has
made the counsel of none effect: whereas if a man counsels ill and luck follows, he has
gotten a windfall, but his counsel is none the less silly.
Seest thou how God with his lightning smites always the bigger animals, and will not
suffer them to wax insolent, while those of a lesser bulk chafe him not? How likewise his
bolts fall ever on the highest houses and the tallest trees? So plainly does He love to
bring down everything that exalts itself. Thus ofttimes a mighty host is discomfited by a
few men, when God in his jealousy sends fear or storm from heaven, and they perish in a
way unworthy of them. For God allows no one to have high thoughts but Himself. Again,
hurry always brings about disasters, from which huge sufferings are wont to arise; but in
delay lie many advantages, not apparent (it may be) at first sight, but such as in course
of time are seen of all. Such then is my counsel to thee, O king!
Artabanus loses the argument, and Xerxes prepares to invade Greece.
Here his first care was to send off heralds into Greece, who were to prefer a demand
for earth and water, and to require that preparations should be made everywhere to feast
the king. To Athens indeed and to Sparta he sent no such demand; but these cities
excepted, his messengers went everywhere. Now the reason why he sent for earth and water
to states which had already refused was this: he thought that although they had refused
when Darius made the demand, they would now be too frightened to venture to say him nay.
So he sent his heralds, wishing to know for certain how it would be.
Xerxes, after this, made preparations to advance to Abydos, where the bridge across the
Hellespont from Asia to Europe was lately finished. Midway between Sestos and Madytus in
the Hellespontine Chersonese, and right over against Abydos, there is a rocky tongue of
land which runs out for some distance into the sea. This is the place where no long time
afterwards the Greeks under Xanthippus, the son of Ariphron, took Artayctes the Persian,
who was at that time governor of Sestos, and nailed him living to a plank. He was the
Artayctes who brought women into the temple of Protesilaus at Elaeus, and there was guilty
of most unholy deeds.
Towards this tongue of land then, the men to whom the business was assigned carried out
a double bridge from Abydos; and while the Phoenicians constructed one line with cables of
white flax, the Egyptians in the other used ropes made of papyrus. Now it is seven
furlongs across from Abydos to the opposite coast. When, therefore, the channel had been
bridged successfully, it happened that a great storm arising broke the whole work to
pieces, and destroyed all that had been done.
So when Xerxes heard of it he was full of wrath, and straightway gave orders that the
Hellespont should receive three hundred lashes, and that a pair of fetters should be cast
into it. Nay, I have even heard it said that he bade the branders take their irons and
therewith brand the Hellespont. It is certain that he commanded those who scourged the
waters to utter, as they lashed them, these barbarian and wicked words: "Thou bitter
water, thy lord lays on thee this punishment because thou hast wronged him without a
cause, having suffered no evil at his hands. Verily King Xerxes will cross thee, whether
thou wilt or no. Well dost thou deserve that no man should honour thee with sacrifice; for
thou art of a truth a treacherous and unsavoury river." While the sea was thus
punished by his orders, he likewise commanded that the overseers of the work should lose
their heads.
Then they, whose business it was, executed the unpleasing task laid upon them; and
other master-builders were set over the work. . .
And now when all was prepared- the bridges, and the works at Athos, the breakwaters
about the mouths of the cutting, which were made to hinder the surf from blocking up the
entrances, and the cutting itself; and when the news came to Xerxes that this last was
completely finished- then at length the host, having first wintered at Sardis, began its
march towards Abydos, fully equipped, on the first approach of spring. At the moment of
departure, the sun suddenly quitted his seat in the heavens, and disappeared, though there
were no clouds in sight, but the sky was clear and serene. Day was thus turned into night;
whereupon Xerxes, who saw and remarked the prodigy, was seized with alarm, and sending at
once for the Magians, inquired of them the meaning of the portent. They replied- "God
is foreshowing to the Greeks the destruction of their cities; for the sun foretells for
them, and the moon for us." So Xerxes, thus instructed, proceeded on his way with
great gladness of heart.
The army had begun its march, when Pythius the Lydian, affrighted at the heavenly
portent, and emboldened by his gifts, came to Xerxes and said- "Grant me, O my lord!
a favour which is to thee a light matter, but to me of vast account." Then Xerxes'
who looked for nothing less than such a prayer as Pythius in fact preferred, engaged to
grant him whatever he wished, and commanded him to tell his wish freely. So Pythius, full
of boldness, went on to say:-
"O my lord! thy servant has five sons; and it chances that all are called upon to
join thee in this march against Greece. I beseech thee, have compassion upon my years; and
let one of my sons, the eldest, remain behind, to be my prop and stay, and the guardian of
my wealth. Take with thee the other four; and when thou hast done all that is in thy
heart, mayest thou come back in safety."
But Xerxes was greatly angered, and replied to him: "Thou wretch! darest thou
speak to me of thy son, when I am myself on the march against Greece, with sons, and
brothers, and kinsfolk, and friends? Thou, who art my bond-slave, and art in duty bound to
follow me with all thy household, not excepting thy wife! Know that man's spirit dwelleth
in his ears, and when it hears good things, straightway it fills all his body with
delight; but no sooner does it hear the contrary than it heaves and swells with passion.
As when thou didst good deeds and madest good offers to me, thou wert not able to boast of
having outdone the king in bountifulness, so now when thou art changed and grown impudent,
thou shalt not receive all thy deserts, but less. For thyself and four of thy five sons,
the entertainment which I had of thee shall gain protection; but as for him to whom thou
clingest above the rest, the forfeit of his life shall be thy punishment." Having
thus spoken, forthwith he commanded those to whom such tasks were assigned to seek out the
eldest of the sons of Pythius, and having cut his body asunder, to place the two halves.
one on the right, the other on the left, of the great road, so that the army might march
out between them.
Then the king's orders were obeyed; and the army marched out between the two halves of
the carcase.
As Xerxes leads his troops in Greece, he asks a native Greek if the Greeks will put
up a fight.
Now after Xerxes had sailed down the whole line and was gone ashore, he sent for
Demaratus the son of Ariston, who had accompanied him in his march upon Greece, and
bespake him thus:-
"Demaratus, it is my pleasure at this time to ask thee certain things which I wish
to know. Thou art a Greek, and, as I hear from the other Greeks with whom I converse, no
less than from thine own lips, thou art a native of a city which is not the meanest or the
weakest in their land. Tell me, therefore, what thinkest thou? Will the Greeks lift a hand
against us? Mine own judgment is, that even if all the Greeks and all the barbarians of
the West were gathered together in one place, they would not be able to abide my onset,
not being really of one mind. But I would fain know what thou thinkest hereon."
Thus Xerxes questioned; and the other replied in his turn,- "O king! is it thy
will that I give thee a true answer, or dost thou wish for a pleasant one?"
Then the king bade him speak the plain truth, and promised that he would not on that
account hold him in less favour than heretofore.
So Demaratus, when he heard the promise, spake as follows:-
"O king! since thou biddest me at all risks speak the truth, and not say what will
one day prove me to have lied to thee, thus I answer. Want has at all times been a
fellow-dweller with us in our land, while Valour is an ally whom we have gained by dint of
wisdom and strict laws. Her aid enables us to drive out want and escape thraldom. Brave
are all the Greeks who dwell in any Dorian land; but what I am about to say does not
concern all, but only the Lacedaemonians. First then, come what may, they will never
accept thy terms, which would reduce Greece to slavery; and further, they are sure to join
battle with thee, though all the rest of the Greeks should submit to thy will. As for
their numbers, do not ask how many they are, that their resistance should be a possible
thing; for if a thousand of them should take the field, they will meet thee in battle, and
so will any number, be it less than this, or be it more."
When Xerxes heard this answer of Demaratus, he laughed and answered:-
"What wild words, Demaratus! A thousand men join battle with such an army as this!
Come then, wilt thou- who wert once, as thou sayest, their king- engage to fight this very
day with ten men? I trow not. And yet, if all thy fellow-citizens be indeed such as thou
sayest they are, thou oughtest, as their king, by thine own country's usages, to be ready
to fight with twice the number. If then each one of them be a match for ten of my
soldiers, I may well call upon thee to be a match for twenty. So wouldest thou assure the
truth of what thou hast now said. If, however, you Greeks, who vaunt yourselves so much,
are of a truth men like those whom I have seen about my court, as thyself, Demaratus, and
the others with whom I am wont to converse- if, I say, you are really men of this sort and
size, how is the speech that thou hast uttered more than a mere empty boast? For, to go to
the very verge of likelihood- how could a thousand men, or ten thousand, or even fifty
thousand, particularly if they were all alike free, and not under one lord- how could such
a force, I say, stand against an army like mine? Let them be five thousand, and we shall
have more than a thousand men to each one of theirs. If, indeed, like our troops, they had
a single master, their fear of him might make them courageous beyond their natural bent;
or they might be urged by lashes against an enemy which far outnumbered them. But left to
their own free choice, assuredly they will act differently. For mine own part, I believe,
that if the Greeks had to contend with the Persians only, and the numbers were equal on
both sides, the Greeks would find it hard to stand their ground. We too have among us such
men as those of whom thou spakest- not many indeed, but still we possess a few. For
instance, some of my bodyguard would be willing to engage singly with three Greeks. But
this thou didst not know; and therefore it was thou talkedst so foolishly."
Demaratus answered him- "I knew, O king! at the outset, that if I told thee the
truth, my speech would displease thine ears. But as thou didst require me to answer thee
with all possible truthfulness, I informed thee what the Spartans will do. And in this I
spake not from any love that I bear them- for none knows better than thou what my love
towards them is likely to be at the present time, when they have robbed me of my rank and
my ancestral honours, and made me a homeless exile, whom thy father did receive, bestowing
on me both shelter and sustenance. What likelihood is there that a man of understanding
should be unthankful for kindness shown him, and not cherish it in his heart? For mine own
self, I pretend not to cope with ten men, nor with two- nay, had I the choice, I would
rather not fight even with one. But, if need appeared, or if there were any great cause
urging me on, I would contend with right good will against one of those persons who boast
themselves a match for any three Greeks. So likewise the Lacedaemonians, when they fight
singly, are as good men as any in the world, and when they fight in a body, are the
bravest of all. For though they be free-men, they are not in all respects free; Law is the
master whom they own; and this master they fear more than thy subjects fear thee. Whatever
he commands they do; and his commandment is always the same: it forbids them to flee in
battle, whatever the number of their foes, and requires them to stand firm, and either to
conquer or die. If in these words, O king! I seem to thee to speak foolishly, I am content
from this time forward evermore to hold my peace. I had not now spoken unless compelled by
thee. Certes, I pray that all may turn out according to thy wishes." Such was the
answer of Demaratus; and Xerxes was not angry with him at all, but only laughed, and sent
him away with words of kindness.
Of course, Demaratus was correct, and the Greeks did put up a fight. In one of the
famous battles of ancient history, the Persian force met a much smaller Greek army at a
narrow mountain pass called Thermopylae.
King Xerxes pitched his camp in the region of Malis called Trachinia, while on their
side the Greeks occupied the straits. These straits the Greeks in general call Thermopylae
(the Hot Gates); but the natives, and those who dwell in the neighbourhood, call them
Pylae (the Gates). Here then the two armies took their stand; the one master of all the
region lying north of Trachis, the other of the country extending southward of that place
to the verge of the continent.
The Greeks who at this spot awaited the coming of Xerxes were the following:- From
Sparta, three hundred men-at-arms; from Arcadia, a thousand Tegeans and Mantineans, five
hundred of each people; a hundred and twenty Orchomenians, from the Arcadian Orchomenus;
and a thousand from other cities: from Corinth, four hundred men; from Phlius, two
hundred; and from Mycenae eighty. Such was the number from the Peloponnese. There were
also present, from Boeotia, seven hundred Thespians and four hundred Thebans.
Besides these troops, the Locrians of Opus and the Phocians had obeyed the call of
their countrymen, and sent, the former all the force they had, the latter a thousand men.
For envoys had gone from the Greeks at Thermopylae among the Locrians and Phocians, to
call on them for assistance, and to say- "They were themselves but the vanguard of
the host, sent to precede the main body, which might every day be expected to follow them.
The sea was in good keeping, watched by the Athenians, the Eginetans, and the rest of the
fleet. There was no cause why they should fear; for after all the invader was not a god
but a man; and there never had been, and never would be, a man who was not liable to
misfortunes from the very day of his birth, and those misfortunes greater in proportion to
his own greatness. The assailant therefore, being only a mortal, must needs fall from his
glory." Thus urged, the Locrians and the Phocians had come with their troops to
Trachis.
The various nations had each captains of their own under whom they served; but the one
to whom all especially looked up, and who had the command of the entire force, was the
Lacedaemonian, Leonidas. Now Leonidas was the son of Anaxandridas, who was the son of Leo,
who was the son of Eurycratidas, who was the son of Anaxander, who was the son of
Eurycrates, who was the son of Polydorus, who was the son of Alcamenes, who was the son of
Telecles, who was the son of Archelaus, who was the son of Agesilaus, who was the son of
Doryssus, who was the son of Labotas, who was the son of Echestratus, who was the son of
Agis, who was the son of Eurysthenes, who was the son of Aristodemus, who was the son of
Aristomachus, who was the son of Cleodaeus, who was the son of Hyllus, who was the son of
Hercules.
Leonidas had come to be king of Sparta quite unexpectedly.
Having two elder brothers, Cleomenes and Dorieus, he had no thought of ever mounting
the throne. However, when Cleomenes died without male offspring, as Dorieus was likewise
deceased, having perished in Sicily, the crown fell to Leonidas, who was older than
Cleombrotus, the youngest of the sons of Anaxandridas, and, moreover, was married to the
daughter of Cleomenes. He had now come to Thermopylae, accompanied by the three hundred
men which the law assigned him, whom he had himself chosen from among the citizens, and
who were all of them fathers with sons living. On his way he had taken the troops from
Thebes, whose number I have already mentioned, and who were under the command of
Leontiades the son of Eurymachus. The reason why he made a point of taking troops from
Thebes, and Thebes only, was that the Thebans were strongly suspected of being well
inclined to the Medes. Leonidas therefore called on them to come with him to the war,
wishing to see whether they would comply with his demand, or openly refuse, and disclaim
the Greek alliance. They, however, though their wishes leant the other way, nevertheless
sent the men.
The force with Leonidas was sent forward by the Spartans in advance of their main body,
that the sight of them might encourage the allies to fight, and hinder them from going
over to the Medes, as it was likely they might have done had they seen that Sparta was
backward. They intended presently, when they had celebrated the Carneian festival, which
was what now kept them at home, to leave a garrison in Sparta, and hasten in full force to
join the army. The rest of the allies also intended to act similarly; for it happened that
the Olympic festival fell exactly at this same period. None of them looked to see the
contest at Thermopylae decided so speedily; wherefore they were content to send forward a
mere advanced guard. Such accordingly were the intentions of the allies.
The Greek forces at Thermopylae, when the Persian army drew near to the entrance of the
pass, were seized with fear; and a council was held to consider about a retreat. It was
the wish of the Peloponnesians generally that the army should fall back upon the
Peloponnese, and there guard the Isthmus. But Leonidas, who saw with what indignation the
Phocians and Locrians heard of this plan, gave his voice for remaining where they were,
while they sent envoys to the several cities to ask for help, since they were too few to
make a stand against an army like that of the Medes.
While this debate was going on, Xerxes sent a mounted spy to observe the Greeks, and
note how many they were, and see what they were doing. He had heard, before he came out of
Thessaly, that a few men were assembled at this place, and that at their head were certain
Lacedaemonians, under Leonidas, a descendant of Hercules. The horseman rode up to the
camp, and looked about him, but did not see the whole army; for such as were on the
further side of the wall (which had been rebuilt and was now carefully guarded) it was not
possible for him to behold; but he observed those on the outside, who were encamped in
front of the rampart. It chanced that at this time the Lacedaemonians held the outer
guard, and were seen by the spy, some of them engaged in gymnastic exercises, others
combing their long hair. At this the spy greatly marvelled, but he counted their number,
and when he had taken accurate note of everything, he rode back quietly; for no one
pursued after him, nor paid any heed to his visit. So he returned, and told Xerxes all
that he had seen.
Upon this, Xerxes, who had no means of surmising the truth- namely, that the Spartans
were preparing to do or die manfully- but thought it laughable that they should be engaged
in such employments, sent and called to his presence Demaratus the son of Ariston, who
still remained with the army. When he appeared, Xerxes told him all that he had heard, and
questioned him concerning the news, since he was anxious to understand the meaning of such
behaviour on the part of the Spartans. Then Demaratus said-
"I spake to thee, O king! concerning these men long since, when we had but just
begun our march upon Greece; thou, however, didst only laugh at my words, when I told thee
of all this, which I saw would come to pass. Earnestly do I struggle at all times to speak
truth to thee, sire; and now listen to it once more. These men have come to dispute the
pass with us; and it is for this that they are now making ready. 'Tis their custom, when
they are about to hazard their lives, to adorn their heads with care. Be assured, however,
that if thou canst subdue the men who are here and the Lacedaemonians who remain in
Sparta, there is no other nation in all the world which will venture to lift a hand in
their defence. Thou hast now to deal with the first kingdom and town in Greece, and with
the bravest men."
Then Xerxes, to whom what Demaratus said seemed altogether to surpass belief, asked
further "how it was possible for so small an army to contend with his?"
"O king!" Demaratus answered, "let me be treated as a liar, if matters
fall not out as I say."
But Xerxes was not persuaded any the more. Four whole days he suffered to go by,
expecting that the Greeks would run away. When, however, he found on the fifth that they
were not gone, thinking that their firm stand was mere impudence and recklessness, he grew
wroth, and sent against them the Medes and Cissians, with orders to take them alive and
bring them into his presence. Then the Medes rushed forward and charged the Greeks, but
fell in vast numbers: others however took the places of the slain, and would not be beaten
off, though they suffered terrible losses. In this way it became clear to all, and
especially to the king, that though he had plenty of combatants, he had but very few
warriors. The struggle, however, continued during the whole day.
Then the Medes, having met so rough a reception, withdrew from the fight; and their
place was taken by the band of Persians under Hydarnes, whom the king called his
"Immortals": they, it was thought, would soon finish the business. But when they
joined battle with the Greeks, 'twas with no better success than the Median detachment-
things went much as before- the two armies fighting in a narrow space, and the barbarians
using shorter spears than the Greeks, and having no advantage from their numbers. The
Lacedaemonians fought in a way worthy of note, and showed themselves far more skilful in
fight than their adversaries, often turning their backs, and making as though they were
all flying away, on which the barbarians would rush after them with much noise and
shouting, when the Spartans at their approach would wheel round and face their pursuers,
in this way destroying vast numbers of the enemy. Some Spartans likewise fell in these
encounters, but only a very few. At last the Persians, finding that all their efforts to
gain the pass availed nothing, and that, whether they attacked by divisions or in any
other way, it was to no purpose, withdrew to their own quarters.
During these assaults, it is said that Xerxes, who was watching the battle, thrice
leaped from the throne on which he sate, in terror for his army.
Next day the combat was renewed, but with no better success on the part of the
barbarians. The Greeks were so few that the barbarians hoped to find them disabled, by
reason of their wounds, from offering any further resistance; and so they once more
attacked them. But the Greeks were drawn up in detachments according to their cities, and
bore the brunt of the battle in turns- all except the Phocians, who had been stationed on
the mountain to guard the pathway. So, when the Persians found no difference between that
day and the preceding, they again retired to their quarters.
Now, as the king was in great strait, and knew not how he should deal with the
emergency, Ephialtes, the son of Eurydemus, a man of Malis, came to him and was admitted
to a conference. Stirred by the hope of receiving a rich reward at the king's hands, he
had come to tell him of the pathway which led across the mountain to Thermopylae; by which
disclosure he brought destruction on the band of Greeks who had there withstood the
barbarians. . .
The Greeks at Thermopylae received the first warning of the destruction which the dawn
would bring on them from the seer Megistias, who read their fate in the victims as he was
sacrificing. After this deserters came in, and brought the news that the Persians were
marching round by the hills: it was still night when these men arrived. Last of all, the
scouts came running down from the heights, and brought in the same accounts, when the day
was just beginning to break. Then the Greeks held a council to consider what they should
do, and here opinions were divided: some were strong against quitting their post, while
others contended to the contrary. So when the council had broken up, part of the troops
departed and went their ways homeward to their several states; part however resolved to
remain, and to stand by Leonidas to the last.
It is said that Leonidas himself sent away the troops who departed, because he tendered
their safety, but thought it unseemly that either he or his Spartans should quit the post
which they had been especially sent to guard. For my own part, I incline to think that
Leonidas gave the order, because he perceived the allies to be out of heart and unwilling
to encounter the danger to which his own mind was made up. He therefore commanded them to
retreat, but said that he himself could not draw back with honour; knowing that, if he
stayed, glory awaited him, and that Sparta in that case would not lose her prosperity. For
when the Spartans, at the very beginning of the war, sent to consult the oracle concerning
it, the answer which they received from the Pythoness was "that either Sparta must be
overthrown by the barbarians, or one of her kings must perish."
The remembrance of this answer, I think, and the wish to secure the whole glory for the
Spartans, caused Leonidas to send the allies away. This is more likely than that they
quarrelled with him, and took their departure in such unruly fashion.
To me it seems no small argument in favour of this view, that the seer also who
accompanied the army, Megistias, the Acarnanian- said to have been of the blood of
Melampus, and the same who was led by the appearance of the victims to warn the Greeks of
the danger which threatened them- received orders to retire (as it is certain he did) from
Leonidas, that he might escape the coming destruction. Megistias, however, though bidden
to depart, refused, and stayed with the army; but he had an only son present with the
expedition, whom he now sent away.
So the allies, when Leonidas ordered them to retire, obeyed him and forthwith departed.
Only the Thespians and the Thebans remained with the Spartans; and of these the Thebans
were kept back by Leonidas as hostages, very much against their will. The Thespians, on
the contrary, stayed entirely of their own accord, refusing to retreat, and declaring that
they would not forsake Leonidas and his followers. So they abode with the Spartans, and
died with them. Their leader was Demophilus, the son of Diadromes.
At sunrise Xerxes made libations, after which he waited until the time when the forum
is wont to fill, and then began his advance. Ephialtes had instructed him thus, as the
descent of the mountain is much quicker, and the distance much shorter, than the way round
the hills, and the ascent. So the barbarians under Xerxes began to draw nigh; and the
Greeks under Leonidas, as they now went forth determined to die, advanced much further
than on previous days, until they reached the more open portion of the pass. Hitherto they
had held their station within the wall, and from this had gone forth to fight at the point
where the pass was the narrowest. Now they joined battle beyond the defile, and carried
slaughter among the barbarians, who fell in heaps. Behind them the captains of the
squadrons, armed with whips, urged their men forward with continual blows. Many were
thrust into the sea, and there perished; a still greater number were trampled to death by
their own soldiers; no one heeded the dying. For the Greeks, reckless of their own safety
and desperate, since they knew that, as the mountain had been crossed, their destruction
was nigh at hand, exerted themselves with the most furious valour against the barbarians.
By this time the spears of the greater number were all shivered, and with their swords
they hewed down the ranks of the Persians; and here, as they strove, Leonidas fell
fighting bravely, together with many other famous Spartans, whose names I have taken care
to learn on account of their great worthiness, as indeed I have those of all the three
hundred. There fell too at the same time very many famous Persians: among them, two sons
of Darius, Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, his children by Phratagune, the daughter of Artanes.
Artanes was brother of King Darius, being a son of Hystaspes, the son of Arsames; and when
he gave his daughter to the king, he made him heir likewise of all his substance; for she
was his only child.
Thus two brothers of Xerxes here fought and fell. And now there arose a fierce struggle
between the Persians and the Lacedaemonians over the body of Leonidas, in which the Greeks
four times drove back the enemy, and at last by their great bravery succeeded in bearing
off the body. This combat was scarcely ended when the Persians with Ephialtes approached;
and the Greeks, informed that they drew nigh, made a change in the manner of their
fighting. Drawing back into the narrowest part of the pass, and retreating even behind the
cross wall, they posted themselves upon a hillock, where they stood all drawn up together
in one close body, except only the Thebans. The hillock whereof I speak is at the entrance
of the straits, where the stone lion stands which was set up in honour of Leonidas. Here
they defended themselves to the last, such as still had swords using them, and the others
resisting with their hands and teeth; till the barbarians, who in part had pulled down the
wall and attacked them in front, in part had gone round and now encircled them upon every
side, overwhelmed and buried the remnant which was left beneath showers of missile
weapons.
Thus nobly did the whole body of Lacedaemonians and Thespians behave; but nevertheless
one man is said to have distinguished himself above all the rest, to wit, Dieneces the
Spartan. A speech which he made before the Greeks engaged the Medes, remains on record.
One of the Trachinians told him, "Such was the number of the barbarians, that when
they shot forth their arrows the sun would be darkened by their multitude." Dieneces,
not at all frightened at these words, but making light of the Median numbers, answered
"Our Trachinian friend brings us excellent tidings. If the Medes darken the sun, we
shall have our fight in the shade." Other sayings too of a like nature are reported
to have been left on record by this same person.
Next to him two brothers, Lacedaemonians, are reputed to have made themselves
conspicuous: they were named Alpheus and Maro, and were the sons of Orsiphantus. There was
also a Thespian who gained greater glory than any of his countrymen: he was a man called
Dithyrambus, the son of Harmatidas.
The slain were buried where they fell; and in their honour, nor less in honour of those
who died before Leonidas sent the allies away, an inscription was set up, which said:-
Here did four
thousand men from Pelops' land
Against three
hundred myriads bravely stand.
This was in honour of all. Another was for the Spartans alone:-
Go, stranger,
and to Lacedaemon tell
That here,
obeying her behests, we fell.
