CHAPTER I.

THE INVASION OF ATTICA AND THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS.

The Greek fleet from Artemisium put in at Salamis at the request of the Athenians, who wished to remove their children and wives out of Attica, and consult what measures were to be taken. The Athenians caused proclamation to be made, "that every one should save his children and family by the best means he could." Thereupon the greatest part sent away their families to Trœzen, some to Ægina, and others to Salamis. They used all diligence to remove them to a place of safety, from a desire to obey the oracle, but more particularly for the following reason. The Athenians say that a large serpent used to live in the temple as a guard to the Acropolis; they used to do it honor by placing before it its monthly food, consisting of a honey-cake: this honey-cake in former time had always been consumed, but now it remained untouched. When the priestess made this known, the Athenians, with more readiness, abandoned the city, since even the goddess had forsaken the Acropolis. As soon as every thing had been deposited in a place of safety, they sailed to the encampment. Many more ships were assembled together than had fought at Artemisium, and from a greater number of cities. The same admiral commanded them as at Artemisium, Eurybiades, son of Euryclides, a Spartan, though he was not of the royal family. The Athenians, however, furnished by far the most and the best sailing ships. The whole number of ships besides the penteconters, amounted to three hundred and seventy-eight.

When the leaders from the various cities met together at Salamis, they held a council, in which Eurybiades proposed that any one who chose should deliver his opinion, where he thought it would be most advantageous to come to an engagement by sea, of all the places of which they were still in possession: for Attica was already given up. Most of the opinions of those who spoke coincided, that they should sail to the Isthmus, and fight before Peloponnesus; alleging this reason, that if they should be conquered by sea while they were at Salamis, they would be besieged in the island, where no succor could reach them; but if at the Isthmus, they might escape to their own cities.

While the commanders from Peloponnesus were debating these matters, an Athenian arrived with intelligence, that the barbarian had entered Attica, and was devastating the whole of it by fire. The army with Xerxes were thus three months en route from the passage over the Hellespont, till they arrived at Athens. They took the city, deserted of inhabitants, but found a few of the Athenians in the temple, with the treasurers of the temple and some poor people; who, having fortified the Acropolis with planks and stakes, tried to keep off the invaders: they had not withdrawn to Salamis, partly through want of means, and moreover they thought they had found out the meaning of the oracle which the Pythian delivered to them, that the wooden wall "should be impregnable"; imagining, that this was the refuge according to the oracle, and not the ships. The Persians, posting themselves on the hill opposite the Acropolis, which the Athenians call the Areopagus, wrapped tow round their arrows, and setting fire to it, shot them at the fence. But those Athenians who were besieged, still defended themselves, though driven to the last extremity, and the fence had failed them; nor, when the Pisistratidæ proposed them, would they listen to terms of capitulation; but still defending themselves, they contrived other means of defence, and when the barbarians approached the gates, they hurled down large round stones; so that Xerxes was for a long time kept in perplexity, not being able to capture them. At length, in the midst of these difficulties, an entrance was discovered by the barbarians; for it was necessary, according to the oracle, that all Attica, on the continent, should be subdued by the Persians. In front of the Acropolis, but behind the gates and where no one kept guard, nor would ever have expected that any man would ascend, there some of them ascended near the temple of Cecrops' daughter Aglauros. When the Athenians saw that the enemy were in the Acropolis, some threw themselves down from the wall and perished, and others took refuge in the recess of the temple. But the Persians who had ascended first turned to the gates, opened them, and put the suppliants to death: and when all were thrown prostrate, they pillaged the temple and set fire to the whole Acropolis.

The Greeks at Salamis, when intelligence was brought them how matters stood in Athens, were thrown into such consternation, that some of the generals would not wait until the subject before them was decided on, but rushed to their ships and hoisted sail, as about to hurry away; by such of them as remained it was determined to come to an engagement before the Isthmus. Night came on, and they, being dismissed from the council, went on board their ships. Thereupon Mnesiphilus, an Athenian, inquired of Themistocles, on his return to his ship, what had been determined on by them. And being informed by him that it was resolved to conduct the ships to the Isthmus, and to come to an engagement before the Peloponnesus, he said, "If they remove the ships from Salamis, you will no longer fight for any country; for they will each betake themselves to their cities; and neither will Eurybiades nor any one else be able to detain them, so that the fleet should not be dispersed; and Greece will perish through want of counsel. But, if there is any possible contrivance, go and endeavor to annul the decree, if by any means you can induce Eurybiades to alter his determination, so as to remain here." The suggestion pleased Themistocles exceedingly; and without answer he went to the ship of Eurybiades, and said that he wished to confer with him on public business. He desired him to come on board his ship, and say what he wished. Thereupon Themistocles, seating himself by him, repeated all that he had heard from Mnesiphilus, making it his own, and adding much more, until he prevailed on him, by entreaty, to leave his ship, and assemble the commanders in council. The upshot of the matter was that Themistocles persuaded the generals in council to remain and fight at Salamis. Day came, and at sunrise an earthquake took place on land and at sea. They determined to pray to the gods, and to invoke the Æacidæ as allies. For having prayed to all the gods, they forthwith, from Salamis, invoked Ajax and Telamon; and sent a ship to Ægina for Æacus, and the Æacidae. In the mean time, all the admirals and captains of Xerxes' fleet advised engaging in a sea-fight, except Artemisia, who spoke as follows: "Tell the king from me, Mardonius, that I say this. It is right that I, sire, who proved myself by no means a coward in the sea-fight off Eubœa, and performed achievements not inferior to others, should declare my real opinion, and state what I think best for your interest. Therefore I say this, abstain from using your ships, nor risk a sea-fight; for these men are as much superior to your men by sea, as men are to women. And why must you run a risk by a naval engagement? Have you not possession of Athens, for the sake of which you undertook this expedition, and have you not the rest of Greece? They will not be able to hold out long against you; but will soon disperse, and fly to their cities."

Xerxes was very much pleased with the opinion of Artemisia; he had before thought her an admirable woman, but now he praised her much more. However, he gave orders to follow the advice of the majority in this matter, thinking that they had behaved ill at Eubœa on purpose, because he was not present. He now prepared in person to behold them engaging by sea.[29]

Meanwhile, those at Salamis were growing alarmed, and wondered at the imprudence of Eurybiades; till at last their discontent broke out openly, and a council was called, and much was said on the subject. Some said that they ought to sail for the Peloponnesus, and hazard a battle for that, and not stay and fight for a place already taken by the enemy; but the Athenians, Æginetæ, and Megareans, declared that they should stay there and defend themselves. Thereupon, Themistocles, when he saw his opinion was overruled by the Peloponnesians, went secretly out of the council, and despatched a man in a boat to the encampment of the Medes instructing him what to say: his name was Sicinnus, and he was a domestic, and preceptor to the children of Themistocles. After these events, Themistocles got him made a Thespian, when the Thespians augmented the number of their citizens, and gave him a competent fortune. He, arriving in the boat, spoke as follows to the generals of the barbarians: "The general of the Athenians has sent me, unknown to the rest of the Greeks, (for he is in the interest of the king, and wishes that your affairs may prosper, rather than those of the Greeks,) to inform you that the Greeks, in great consternation, are deliberating on flight; and you have now an opportunity of achieving the most glorious of all enterprises, if you do not suffer them to escape. For they do not agree among themselves, nor will they oppose you; but you will see those who are in your interest, and those who are not, fighting with one another." Having delivered this message to them, he immediately departed. As these tidings appeared to them worthy of credit, they immediately landed a considerable number of Persians on the little island of Psyttalea, lying between Salamis and the continent; and, when it was midnight, they got their western wing under way, drawing it in a circle toward Salamis, and those who were stationed about Ceos and Cynosura got under way and occupied the whole passage as far as Munychia with their ships, so that the Greeks might have no way to escape, but, being shut up in Salamis, might suffer punishment for the conflicts at Artemisium; and they landed the Persians at the little island of Psyttalea for this reason: that, when an engagement should take place, as they expected the greater part of the men and wrecks would be driven there, they might save the one and destroy the other. These things they did in silence, that the enemy might not know what was going on.

I am unable to speak against the truth of oracles, when I think of the remarkable oracle of Bacis: "When they shall bridge with ships the sacred shore of "Diana with the golden sword," and sea-girt Cynosura, having with mad hope destroyed beautiful Athens, then divine Vengeance shall quench strong Presumption, son of Insolence, when thinking to subvert all things. For bronze shall engage with bronze, and Mars shall redden the sea with blood. Then the far-thundering son of Saturn and benign victory shall bring a day of freedom to Greece." After such a prediction and its fulfilment, I neither dare myself say any thing in contradiction to oracles, nor allow others to do so.

All this night there was a great altercation between the generals at Salamis. They did not yet know that the barbarians had surrounded them with their ships. They supposed that they were in the same place where they had seen them stationed during the day. While the generals were disputing, Aristides, son of Lysimachus, crossed over from the Ægina. He was an Athenian, but had been banished by ostracism. From what I have heard of his manner of life, I consider him to have been the best and most upright man in Athens. He, standing at the entrance of the council, called Themistocles out, who was not indeed his friend, but his most bitter enemy; yet from the greatness of the impending danger, he forgot that, and called him, for he had already heard that those from Peloponnesus were anxious to get the ships under way for the Isthmus. When Themistocles came out, Aristides spoke as follows: "It is right that we should strive, both on other occasions, and particularly on this, which of us shall do the greatest service to our country. I assure you, that to say little or much to the Peloponnesians about sailing from here is a waste of breath; for I, an eye-witness, tell you, now, even if they would, neither the Corinthians, nor Eurybiades himself, will be able to sail away; for we are on all sides enclosed by the enemy. Go in, and acquaint them with this." But Themistocles bade Aristides go in himself and convey the tidings. This he did, but the generals would not even then give credence to his report until there arrived a trireme of Tenians that had deserted, which Panætius, son of Socimenes, commanded, and which brought an account of the whole truth. For that action the name of the Tenians was engraved on the tripod at Delphi, among those who had defeated the barbarian. With this ship that came over at Salamis, and with the Lemnian before, off Artemisium, the Grecian fleet was made up to the full number of three hundred and eighty ships; for before it wanted two of that number.

Day dawned, and when they had mustered the marines, Themistocles, above all the others, harangued them most eloquently. His speech was entirely taken up in contrasting better things with worse, exhorting them to choose the best of all those things which depended on the nature and condition of man. As soon as the trireme from Ægina, which had gone to fetch the Æacidæ returned the Greeks got all their ships under way. The barbarians immediately fell upon them. Now all the other Greeks began to back water and make for the shore; but Aminias of Pallene, an Athenian, being carried onward, attacked a ship; and his ship becoming entangled with the other, and the crew not being able to clear, the rest thereupon came to the assistance of Aminias and engaged. Thus the Athenians say the battle commenced; but the Æginetæ affirm that the ship which went to Ægina to fetch the Æacidæ, was the first to begin. It is also said, that a phantom of a woman appeared to them, that she cheered them on, so that the whole fleet of Greeks heard her, after she had first reproached them in these words: "Dastards, how long will you back water?" Opposite the Athenians the Phœnicians were drawn up, for they occupied the wing toward Eleusis and westward; opposite the Lacedæmonians, the Ionians occupied the wing toward the east and the Piræus. Of these some few behaved ill on purpose, in compliance with the injunctions of Themistocles. The greater part of the ships were run down at Salamis; some being destroyed by the Athenians, others by the Æginetæ. For the Greeks fought in good order, in line, but the barbarians were neither properly formed nor did any thing with judgment. However they proved themselves to be far braver on this day than off Eubœa, every one exerting himself vigorously, and dreading Xerxes; for each thought that he himself was observed by the king.

I am unable to say with certainty how each of the barbarians or Greeks fought; but with respect to Artemisia, the following incident occurred, by which she obtained still greater credit with the king. For when the king's forces were in great confusion, the ship of Artemisia was chased by an Attic ship, and not being able to escape, she resolved upon a stratagem. For being pursued by the Athenian, she bore down upon a friendly ship, manned by Calyndians, and with Damasithymus himself, king of the Calyndians, on board; whether she had any quarrel with him while they were at the Hellespont, I am unable to say, or whether she did it on purpose, or whether the ship of the Calyndians happened by chance to be in her way; however, she ran it down, and sunk it, and by good fortune gained a double advantage to herself. For when the captain of the Attic ship saw her bearing down on a ship of the barbarians, he concluded Artemisia's ship to be either a Greek or one that had deserted from the enemy and was assisting them, and so turned aside and attacked others. Thus she escaped, and in consequence of it became still more in favor with Xerxes. For it is said that Xerxes, looking on, observed her ship making the attack, and that some near him said: "Sire, do you see how well Artemisia fights; she has sunk one of the enemy's ships?" Whereupon he asked if it was in truth the exploit of Artemisia; they answered "that they knew the ensign of her ship perfectly well." But they thought that it was an enemy that was sunk; for no one of the crew of the Calyndian ship lived to tell the tale and accuse her. And it is related that Xerxes exclaimed: "My men have become women, and my women men."

In this battle perished the admiral, Ariabignes, son of Darius, and brother of Xerxes, and many other illustrious men of the Persians and Medes, and the other allies; but only a very few of the Greeks: for as they knew how to swim, they whose ships were destroyed, and who did not perish in actual conflict, swam safe to Salamis; whereas, many of the barbarians, not knowing how to swim, perished in the sea. When the foremost ships were put to flight, then the greatest number were destroyed; for those who were stationed behind, endeavoring to pass on with their ships to the front, that they, too, might give the king some proof of their courage, fell foul of their own flying ships. The following event also occurred in this confusion. Some Phœnicians, whose ships were destroyed, went to the king and accused the Ionians of destroying their ships and betraying him. It, however, turned out that the Ionian captains were not put to death, but that those Phœnicians who accused them, received the following reward. For while they were yet speaking, a Samothracian ship bore down on an Athenian ship and sunk it. Just then an Æginetan ship, coming up, sunk the ship of the Samothracians. But the Samothracians being javelin-men, by hurling their javelins, drove the marines from the ship that had sunk them, and boarded and got possession of it. This action saved the Ionians: for when Xerxes saw them perform so great an exploit, he turned round upon the Phœnicians, and ordered their heads to be struck off, that they who had proved themselves cowards, might no more accuse those who were braver.

The barbarians turned to flight, and sailing away towards Phalerus, the Æginetæ waylaid them in the strait, and performed actions worthy of record. For the Athenians in the rout ran down both those ships that resisted and those that fled; and the Æginetæ, those that sailed away from the battle: so that when any escaped the Athenians they fell into the hands of the Æginetæ.

In this engagement the Æginetæ obtained the greatest renown; and next, the Athenians. Aristides, of whom I made mention a little before as a most upright man, in this confusion that took place about Salamis, took with him a considerable number of heavy-armed men, who were stationed along the shore of the Salaminian territory and were Athenians by race, landed them on the island of Psyttalea, and put to the sword all the Persians who were on that little island.