The great Persian War and its preliminaries

by G. B. Grundy

The historian treats the Artemisium story as an episode in itself, though he supplies means by which it may be chronologically connected with the Thermopylæ narrative. This treatment is justified by the fact that, though there was so intimate a connection between the two positions from a strategical point of view, the actual fighting which occurred at them was of a quite independent character in so far as he could judge of it. But there is also another reason which probably had still greater weight in determining the method which he employed. SPARTAN AND ATHENIAN SOURCES. The story of Thermopylæ is plainly of Spartan origin from beginning to end; that of Artemisium is drawn from Athenian sources. There is a further difference between them. The story of Thermopylæ is, in respect to motive, a popularized tale of official origin, for which the authorities at Sparta were responsible. That of Artemisium is derived mainly, like some other parts of Herodotus’ military history, from some one who was present at the engagements, but was not in a position to know the designs of those in command. The tale is too confused for it to be possible to suppose that it is founded largely on official documents or on official information of any kind. The reasons given for important movements are such as would be current in the gossip of the fleet, coloured by the evident intention to bring into high relief the greatness of the service which Athens did to the Greek cause at this time by saving the situation on the Euripus. The impression which is so intentionally given was not indeed a false one. The Athenians did save the situation at Artemisium in so far as it could be saved. By so doing they contributed not a little to the solidarity of the Greek resistance.

The method which Herodotus employed to bring the two series of events into connection with one another is natural; but the result is curious. His narrative of this part of the war is in the form of a twofold diary of the incidents at Thermopylæ and at Artemisium respectively. There are two points of contact between the two diaries—at their beginning, the departure from Therma, and at their end, the disaster at Thermopylæ. It is notable, however, that there is a discrepancy of two days between them. It is probable that two days have somehow been omitted from the Artemisium diary. A close examination of its narrative makes it evident that the historian, either owing to his own miscalculation, or to some error in his source of information, has attributed to one period of twenty-four hours events which could not conceivably have happened within so brief a space of time. That it is a case of pure miscalculation, either on his own part or on that of his authority, H. viii. 15. is further evident from his own statement that the naval battles at Artemisium took place on the same days as the battles in the pass at Thermopylæ; in other words, that the events of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth days of the Thermopylæ narrative were synchronous with those of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth days in the record of the Artemisium journal as it stands in his work.[129]

H. viii. 1.

The fleet which the Greeks despatched to Artemisium was a large one, composed of the following contingents:⁠—

Athenians, 127 triremes, part of the crews of which were Platæans; Corinthians, 40 triremes; Megareans, 20 triremes; Chalkidians, (probably Athenian kleruchs from Chalkis,) manned 20 triremes provided by Athens; Æginetans, 18 triremes; Sikyonians, 12 triremes; Lacedæmonians, 10 triremes; Epidaurians, 8 triremes; Eretrians, 7 triremes; Trœzenians, 5 triremes; Styreans, 2 triremes; Keians, 2 triremes and 2 pentekonters: Opuntian Locrians, 7 pentekonters.

The total number Herodotus gives correctly as 271. The commander of the fleet was the Spartan Eurybiades. ATHENS AND ATHENIAN SOURCES. The story goes that, before the embassy was sent to Sicily, it had been arranged that Athens should have the supreme command at sea, but that the Peloponnesian allies opposed this arrangement even to the extent that they threatened to withdraw their contingent altogether if it were allowed to stand. And so, says Herodotus, the Athenians, unwilling to sacrifice the national cause, with a laudable patriotism waived their claim. The refusal of the Peloponnesians was not unnatural. It was one thing to submit to the hegemony of the ancient and respectable Sparta; it was another thing to place themselves under the leadership of this pushing parvenu state, whose rise to importance had been so extremely rapid. On the other hand, the magnanimous attitude of Athens was based, no doubt, on the simple arithmetical calculation that 270 ships were better than 150. Herodotus implies that there had been a change in the attitude of the allies. The profound dissatisfaction which they felt with the Northern policy may easily account for this. At the time of the embassy to Sicily the question of the locality of the defence had probably not been raised in a highly controversial form.

From Sketch by E. Lear.]

PLAIN OF EUBŒA.

1. Mount Dirphys (Delph).