CHAPTER I.
DEATH OF DARIUS AND REIGN OF XERXES.
When the news of the battle fought at Marathon reached Darius, who was before much exasperated with the Athenians on account of the attack upon Sardis, he grew still more eager to prosecute the war against Greece. He therefore immediately sent messengers to the several cities, and bade them prepare an army much greater than they had furnished before, and ships, horses, corn, and transports. Asia was thrown into agitation during the space of three years, the bravest men being enrolled and prepared for the purpose of invading Greece. In the fourth year the Egyptians, who had been subdued by Cambyses, revolted from the Persians; whereupon Darius only became the more eager to march against both. Just then a violent dissension arose between the sons of Darius concerning the sovereignty; for by the customs of the Persians he was obliged to nominate his successor before he marched out on any expedition. Before Darius became king, he had three sons born to him by his former wife, the daughter of Gobryas; and after his accession to the throne, four others by Atossa, daughter of Cyrus. Of the former, Artabazanes was the eldest; of those born after, Xerxes: and these two, not being of the same mother, were at variance. Artabazanes urged that he was the eldest of all the sons, and that it was the established usage among all men that the eldest son should succeed to the sovereignty: on the other hand, Xerxes alleged that he was son of Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, and that it was Cyrus who had acquired freedom for the Persians. At this very juncture, when Darius had not yet declared his opinion, Demaratus, son of Ariston, happened to come up to Susa, deprived of his kingly office at Sparta, and having imposed on himself a voluntary exile from Lacedæmon. This man went to Xerxes, as report has it, and advised him to say in addition to what he had already said, that "he was born after his father Darius had become king, and was possessed of the empire of the Persians; whereas Artabazanes was born while he was yet a private person; wherefore it was not reasonable or just that any other should possess that dignity in preference to himself." "Since in Sparta also," Demaratus continued to suggest, "this custom prevailed, that if some children were born before their father became king, and one was born subsequently, when he had come to the throne, this last-born son should succeed to the kingdom." Darius acknowledged this point, and declared Xerxes king. But it appears to me that even without this suggestion Xerxes would have been made king, for Atossa had unbounded influence. So Darius appointed Xerxes to be king over the Persians, and prepared to march. But just at this juncture, and in the year after the revolt of Egypt, Darius himself, while making preparations, died, having reigned thirty-six years in all; nor was he able to avenge himself either on the Egyptians, who had revolted, or on the Athenians; and when Darius was dead, the kingdom devolved on his son Xerxes.
Xerxes was at first by no means inclined to make war against Greece, but he levied forces for the reduction of Egypt. Mardonius, son of Gobryas, who was cousin to Xerxes, and son of Darius' sister, and who had the greatest influence with him of all the Persians, constantly held the following language: "Sire, it is not right that the Athenians, who have already done so much mischief to the Persians, should go unpunished? However, for the present, finish the enterprise you have in hand; and when you have quelled the insolence of Egypt, lead your army against Athens; that you may acquire a good reputation among men, and any one for the future may be cautious of marching against your territory." This language was used by him for the purpose of revenge, but he frequently made the following addition to it, that "Europe was a very beautiful country, and produced all kinds of cultivated trees,—and was very fertile, and worthy to be possessed by the king alone of all mortals." Mardonius was desirous of new enterprises, and wished to be himself governor of Greece, and in time he persuaded Xerxes to do as he advised. Xerxes, in the second year after the death of Darius, reduced all Egypt to a worse state of servitude than ever under Darius, and committed the government to Achæmenes, his brother.
He then convoked an assembly of the principal Persians, that he might hear their opinions, and make known his intentions to them all. "Men of Persia," said Xerxes, "I learn from older men that we have never remained inactive since we wrested the sovereign power from the Medes, and Cyrus overthrew Astyages; but the deity has led the way, and we have followed his guidance to our advantage. What deeds Cyrus and Cambyses and my father Darius have achieved, and what nations they have added to our empire, no one need mention to you who know them well. But since I have succeeded to the throne, I have carefully considered how I may not fall short of my predecessors in honor, nor acquire less additional power to the Persians."
"I have now called you together, that I may communicate to you what I purpose to do. I intend to throw a bridge over the Hellespont, and to march an army through Europe against Greece, that I may punish the Athenians for the injuries they have done to the Persians and to my father. You have already seen Darius preparing to make war against those people; but he died, and had it not in his power to avenge himself. But I, in his cause and that of the other Persians, will not rest till I have taken and burnt Athens; for they began by doing acts of injustice against my father and me. First they came to Sardis, with Aristagoras the Milesian, our servant, and burnt down the groves and the temples. You all know well enough how they treated us on our making a descent on their territory, when Datis and Artaphernes led our forces. For these reasons, therefore, I have resolved to make war upon them. And I am sure that if we subdue them, and their neighbors, who inhabit the country of Pelops the Phrygian, we shall make the Persian territory co-extensive with the air of heaven, for the sun will not look down upon any land that borders on ours. When I shall have informed you of the time, it will be the duty of each of you to come promptly. And whosoever shall appear with the best-appointed troops, to him I will give such presents as are accounted most honorable in our country."
After this, when Xerxes had resolved to undertake the expedition, a vision appeared to him in his sleep, which the magi interpreted to signify that all mankind should serve him. Xerxes imagined that he was crowned with the sprig of an olive tree, whose branches covered the whole earth; and that afterward the crown that was placed on his head disappeared. After the magi had given this interpretation, all the Persians who were assembled departed immediately to their own governments, and used all diligence to execute what had been ordered, every man hoping to obtain the proposed reward; Xerxes thus levied his army, searching out every region of the continent. He was employed four whole years in assembling his forces and providing things necessary for the expedition. In the fifth he began his march with a vast multitude of men. For this was by far the greatest of all the expeditions with which we are acquainted. What nation did not Xerxes lead out of Asia against Greece? what stream, except that of great rivers, did not his army drink dry? Some supplied ships; others were ordered to furnish men for the infantry, others cavalry, some transports for horses, together with men to serve in the army; others had to furnish long ships for the bridges, and others provisions and vessels.
And first of all, as those who had first attempted to double Mount Athos had met with disaster, preparations were made for nearly three years to cut Athos off by a canal. Triremes were stationed at Eleus in the Chersonese, and from there men of every nation from the army dug under the lash. They went in succession; and the people who dwelt round Athos dug also. Bubares, son of Megabazus, and Artachæus, son of Artæus, both Persians, presided over the work. Athos is a vast and celebrated mountain, stretching into the sea, and inhabited by men. Where the mountain terminates toward the continent, it is in the form of a peninsula connected with the continent by an isthmus of about twelve stades; this is a plain with hills of no great height from the sea of the Acanthians to the sea which is opposite Torone. On this isthmus stands Sana, a Grecian city; and on Athos itself are the cities of Dion, Olophyxus, Acrothoon, Thyssus, and Cleonæ. To make the excavation the barbarians divided the ground among the several nations, having drawn a straight line near the city of Sana. When the trench was deep, some stood at the bottom and continued to dig, and others handed the soil that was dug out to men who stood above on ladders; they again in turn handed it to others, until they reached those that were at the top; the last carried it off and threw it away. In the case of all, except the Phœnicians, the brink of the excavation fell in and gave double labor, for as they made the upper and the lower opening of equal dimensions, this must necessarily happen. But the Phœnicians, who show their skill in other works, did so especially in this; for they dug the portion that fell to their share, making the upper opening of the trench twice as large as it was necessary for the trench itself to be; and as the work proceeded they contracted it gradually, so that when they came to the bottom the work was equal in width to the rest; near adjoining is a meadow, where they had a market and bazaar, and great abundance of meal was brought to them from Asia. According to my deliberate opinion, Xerxes ordered this excavation to be made from motives of ostentation, wishing to display his power, and to leave a memorial of himself. For though it was possible, without any great labor, to have drawn the ships over the isthmus, he commanded them to dig a channel for the sea of such a width that two triremes might pass through rowed abreast. And the same persons, to whom the excavation was committed, were ordered also to throw a bridge over the river Strymon. He also caused cables of papyrus and of white flax to be prepared for the bridges, and ordered the Phœnicians and Egyptians to lay up provisions for the army, that neither the men nor the beasts of burden might suffer from famine on their march toward Greece, conveying them to various quarters in merchant-ships and transports from all parts of Asia.
While these men were employed in their appointed task, the whole land-forces marched with Xerxes to Sardis, setting out from Critalla in Cappadocia, where it had been ordered that all the troops throughout the continent should assemble. They crossed the river Halys, entered Phrygia, and arrived at Celænæ, where rise the springs of the Mæander, and of another river not less than the Mæander, which is called the Catarractes, which, springing up in the very forum of the Celænians, discharges itself into the Mæander; in this city the skin of Silenus Marsyas is suspended, which, as the Phrygians report, was stripped off and suspended by Apollo. In this city Pythius, son of Atys, a Lydian, being in waiting, entertained the whole army of the king, and Xerxes himself, with most sumptuous feasts; and he offered to contribute money toward the expense of the war. Xerxes asked the Persians near him who this Pythius was, and what riches he possessed, that he made such an offer. They answered: "O king, this is the person who presented your father Darius with the golden plane tree and the vine; and he is now the richest man we know of in the world, next to yourself." Xerxes in surprise next asked Pythius what was the amount of his wealth. He said: "O king, as soon as I heard you were coming down to the Grecian sea, wishing to present you with money for the war, I made inquiry, and found by computation that I had two thousand talents of silver, and of gold four millions of Doric staters, lacking seven thousand. These I freely give you; for myself I have sufficient subsistence from my slaves and lands." Xerxes, delighted with his offer, replied: "My Lydian friend, since I left the Persian country I have met with no man to the present moment who was willing to entertain my army, or who, having come into my presence, has voluntarily offered to contribute money toward the war. But you have entertained my army magnificently, and have offered me vast sums; in return for this, I make you my friend. Keep what you have acquired, and I will myself make up to you the seven thousand staters which you lack of four millions. Be careful always to continue such as you are, and you shall never repent hereafter."
