|
Explorers, Scientists &
Inventors
Musicians, Painters &
Artists
Poets, Writers &
Philosophers
Native Americans & The Wild
West
First Ladies
Popes
Troublemakers
Historians
Archaeologists
Royal
Families
Tribes & Peoples
Assassinations in History
Who
got slain, almost slain, when, how,
why, and by whom?
Go to the
Assassination Archive
Online History Dictionary A - Z
Voyages in History
When did what
vessel arrive with whom onboard and where
did it sink if it didn't?
Go to the
Passage-Chart
The Divine Almanac
Who all roamed the heavens in
olden times? The Who's Who of
ancient gods.
Check out
the Divine Almanac
|
|
The History of Herodotus: Page 40
Volume Two - Book VII
|
|
179. The Delphians then according to the oracle even to this day make
propitiary offerings to the Winds: and meanwhile the fleet of Xerxes
setting forth from the city of Therma had passed over with ten of its
ships, which were those that sailed best, straight towards Skiathos,
where three Hellenic ships, a Troizenian, an Eginetan and an Athenian,
were keeping watch in advance. When the crews of these caught sight of
the ships of the Barbarians, they set off to make their escape: 180,
and the ship of Troizen, of which Prexinos was in command, was pursued
and captured at once by the Barbarians; who upon that took the man who
was most distinguished by beauty among the fighting-men on board of
her,[169] and cut his throat at the prow of the ship, making a good
omen for themselves of the first of the Hellenes whom they had
captured who was pre-eminent for beauty. The name of this man who was
sacrificed was Leon, and perhaps he had also his name to thank in some
degree for what befell him.
181. The ship of Egina however, of which
Asonides was master, even gave them some trouble to capture it, seeing
that Pytheas the son of Ischenoös served as a fighting-man on board of
her, who proved himself a most valiant man on this day; for when the
ship was being taken, he held out fighting until he was hacked all to
pieces: and as when he had fallen he did not die, but had still breath
in him, the Persians who served as fighting-men on board the ships,
because of his valour used all diligence to save his life, both
applying unguents of myrrh to heal his wounds and also wrapping him up
in bands of the finest linen; and when they came back to their own
main body, they showed him to all the army, making a marvel of him and
giving him good treatment; but the rest whom they had taken in this
ship they treated as slaves.
|
182. Two of the three ships, I say, were
captured thus; but the third, of which Phormos an Athenian was master,
ran ashore in its flight at the mouth of the river Peneios; and the
Barbarians got possession of the vessel but not of the crew; for so
soon as the Athenians had run the ship ashore, they leapt out of her,
and passing through Thessaly made their way to Athens.
183. Of these things the Hellenes who were stationed at Artemision
were informed by fire-signals from Skiathos; and being informed of
them and being struck with fear, they removed their place of anchorage
from Atermision to Chalkis, intending to guard the Euripos, but
leaving at the same time watchers by day[170] on the heights of Eubœa.
Of the ten ships of the Barbarians three sailed up to the reef called
Myrmex,[171] which lies between Skiathos and Magnesia; and when the
Barbarians had there erected a stone pillar, which for that purpose
they brought to the reef, they set forth with their main body[172]
from Therma, the difficulties of the passage having now been cleared
away, and sailed thither with all their ships, having let eleven days
go by since the king set forth on his march from Therma. Now of this
reef lying exactly in the middle of the fairway they were informed by
Pammon of Skyros. Sailing then throughout the day the Barbarians
accomplished the voyage to Sepias in Magnesia and to the sea-beach
which is between the city of Casthanaia and the headland of Sepias.
184. So far as this place and so far as Thermopylai the army was
exempt from calamity; and the number was then still, as I find by
computation, this:--Of the ships which came from Asia, which were one
thousand two hundred and seven, the original number of the crews
supplied by the several nations I find to have been twenty-four
myriads and also in addition to them one thousand four hundred,[173]
if one reckons at the rate of two hundred men to each ship: and on
board of each of these ships there served as fighting-men,[174]
besides the fighting-men belonging to its own nation in each case,
thirty men who were Persians, Medes, or Sacans; and this amounts to
three myriads six thousand two hundred and ten[175] in addition to the
others. I will add also to this and to the former number the crews of
the fifty-oared galleys, assuming that there were eighty men, more or
less,[176] in each one. Of these vessels there were gathered together,
as was before said, three thousand: it would follow therefore that
there were in them four-and-twenty myriads[177] of men. This was the
naval force which came from Asia, amounting in all to fifty-one
myriads and also seven thousand six hundred and ten in addition.[178]
Then of the footmen there had been found to be a hundred and seventy
myriads,[179] and of the horsemen eight myriads:[180] and I will add
also to these the Arabian camel-drivers and the Libyan drivers of
chariots, assuming them to amount to twenty thousand men. The result
is then that the number of the ships' crews combined with that of the
land-army amounts to two hundred and thirty-one myriads and also in
addition seven thousand six hundred and ten.[181] This is the
statement of the Army which was brought up out of Asia itself, without
counting the attendants which accompanied it or the corn-transports
and the men who sailed in these.
185. There is still to be reckoned,
in addition to all this which has been summed up, the force which was
being led from Europe; and of this we must give a probable
estimate.[182] The Hellenes of Thrace and of the islands which lie off
the coast of Thrace supplied a hundred and twenty ships; from which
ships there results a sum of twenty-four thousand men: and as regards
the land-force which was supplied by the Thracians, Paionians,
Eordians, Bottiaians, the race which inhabits Chalkidike, the
Brygians, Pierians, Macedonians, Perraibians, Enianians,[183]
Dolopians, Magnesians, Achaians, and all those who dwell in the coast-
region of Thrace, of these various nations I estimate that there were
thirty myriads.[184] These myriads then added to those from Asia make
a total sum of two hundred and sixty-four myriads of fighting men and
in addition to these sixteen hundred and ten.[185]
186. Such being the
number of this body of fighting-men,[186] the attendants who went with
these and the men who were in the small vessels[187] which carried
corn, and again in the other vessels which sailed with the army, these
I suppose were not less in number but more than the fighting men. I
assume them to be equal in number with these, and neither at all more
nor less; and so, being supposed equal in number with the fighting
body, they make up the same number of myriads as they. Thus five
hundred and twenty-eight myriads three thousand two hundred and
twenty[188] was the number of men whom Xerxes son of Dareios led as
far as Sepias and Thermopylai.
187. This is the number of the whole
army of Xerxes; but of the women who made bread for it, and of the
concubines and eunuchs no man can state any exact number, nor again of
the draught-animals and other beasts of burden or of the Indian
hounds, which accompanied it, could any one state the number by reason
of their multitude: so that it does not occur to me to wonder that the
streams of some rivers should have failed them, but I wonder rather
how the provisions were sufficient to feed so many myriads; for I find
on computation that if each man received a quart[189] of wheat every
day and nothing more, there would be expended every day eleven myriads
of /medimnoi/[190] and three hundred and forty /medimnoi/ besides: and
here I am not reckoning anything for the women, eunuchs, baggage-
animals, or dogs. Of all these men, amounting to so many myriads, not
one was for beauty and stature more worthy than Xerxes himself to
possess this power.
188. The fleet, I say, set forth and sailed: and when it had put in to
land in the region of Magnesia at the beach which is between the city
of Casthanaia and the headland of Sepias, the first of the ships which
came lay moored by the land and the others rode at anchor behind them;
for, as the beach was not large in extent, they lay at anchor with
prows projecting[191] towards the sea in an order which was eight
ships deep. For that night they lay thus; but at early dawn, after
clear sky and windless calm, the sea began to be violently agitated
and a great storm fell upon them with a strong East[192] Wind, that
wind which they who dwell about those parts call Hellespontias. Now as
many of them as perceived that the wind was rising and who were so
moored that it was possible for them to do so, drew up their ships on
land before the storm came, and both they and their ships escaped; but
as for those of the ships which it caught out at sea, some it cast
away at the place called Ipnoi[193] in Pelion and others on the beach,
while some were wrecked on the headland of Sepias itself, others at
the city of Meliboia, and others were thrown up on shore[194] at
Casthanaia: and the violence of the storm could not be resisted.
189.
There is a story reported that the Athenians had called upon Boreas to
aid them, by suggestion of an oracle, because there had come to them
another utterance of the god bidding them call upon their brother by
marriage to be their helper. Now according to the story of the
Hellenes Boreas has a wife who is of Attica, Oreithuia the daughter of
Erechththeus. By reason of this affinity, I say, the Athenians,
according to the tale which has gone abroad, conjectured that their
"brother by marriage" was Boreas, and when they perceived the wind
rising, as they lay with their ships at Chalkis in Eubœa, or even
before that, they offered sacrifices and called upon Boreas and
Oreithuia to assist them and to destroy the ships of the Barbarians,
as they had done before round about mount Athos. Whether it was for
this reason that the wind Boreas fell upon the Barbarians while they
lay at anchor, I am not able to say; but however that may be, the
Athenians report that Boreas had come to their help in former times,
and that at this time he accomplished those things for them of which I
speak; and when they had returned home they set up a temple dedicated
to Boreas by the river Ilissos.
190. In this disaster the number of the ships which were lost was not
less than four hundred, according to the report of those who state the
number which is lowest, with men innumerable and an immense quantity
of valuable things; insomuch that to Ameinocles the son of Cretines, a
Magnesian who held lands about Sepias, this shipwreck proved very
gainful; for he picked up many cups of gold which were thrown up
afterwards on the shore, and many also of silver, and found treasure-
chests[195] which had belonged to the Persians, and made acquisition
of other things of gold[196] more than can be described. This man
however, though he became very wealthy by the things which he found,
yet in other respects was not fortunate; for he too suffered
misfortune, being troubled by the slaying of a child.[197]
191. Of the
corn-transplants and other vessels which perished there was no
numbering made; and so great was the loss that the commanders of the
fleet, being struck with fear lest the Thessalians should attack them
now that they had been brought into an evil plight, threw round their
camp a lofty palisade built of the fragments of wreck. For the storm
continued during three days; but at last the Magians, making sacrifice
of victims and singing incantations to appease the Wind by
enchantments,[198] and in addition to this, offering to Thetis and the
Nereïds, caused it to cease on the fourth day, or else for some other
reason it abated of its own will. Now they offered sacrifice to
Thetis, being informed by the Ionians of the story that she was
carried off from the place by Peleus, and that the whole headland of
Sepias belonged to her and to the other Nereïds.
192. The storm then
had ceased on the fourth day; and meanwhile the day-watchers had run
down from the heights of Eubœa on the day after the first storm began,
and were keeping the Hellenes informed of all that had happened as
regards the shipwreck. They then, being informed of it, prayed first
to Poseidon the Saviour and poured libations, and then they hastened
to go back to Artemision, expecting that there would be but a very few
ships of the enemy left to come against them.
193. They, I say, came
for the second time and lay with their ships about Artemision: and
from that time even to this they preserve the use of the surname
"Saviour" for Poseidon. Meanwhile the Barbarians, when the wind had
ceased and the swell of the sea had calmed down, drew their ships into
the sea and sailed on along the shore of the mainland, and having
rounded the extremity of Magnesia they sailed straight into the gulf
which leads towards Pagasai. In this gulf of Magnesia there is a place
where it is said that Heracles was left behind by Jason and his
comrades, having been sent from the Argo to fetch water, at the time
when they were sailing for the fleece to Aia in the land of Colchis:
for from that place they designed, when they had taken in water, to
loose[199] their ship into the open sea; and from this the place has
come to have the name Aphetai. Here then the fleet of Xerxes took up
its moorings.
194. Now it chanced that fifteen of these ships put out to sea a good
deal later than the rest, and they happened to catch sight of the
ships of the Hellenes at Artemision. These ships the Barbarians
supposed to be their own, and they sailed thither accordingly and fell
among the enemy. Of these the commander was Sandokes the son of
Thamasios, the governor of Kyme in Aiolia, whom before this time king
Dareios had taken and crucified (he being one of the Royal Judges) for
this reason,[199a] namely that Sandokes had pronounced judgment
unjustly for money. So then after he was hung up, Dareios reckoned and
found that more good services had been done by him to the royal house
than were equal to his offences; and having found this, and perceived
that he had himself acted with more haste than wisdom, he let him go.
Thus he escaped from king Dareios, and did not perish but survived;
now, however, when he sailed in toward the Hellenes, he was destined
not to escape the second time; for when the Hellenes saw them sailing
up, perceiving the mistake which was being made they put out against
them and captured them without difficulty.
195. Sailing in one of
these ships Aridolis was captured, the despot of Alabanda in Caria,
and in another the Paphian commander Penthylos son of Demonoös, who
brought twelve ships from Paphos, but had lost eleven of them in the
storm which had come on by Sepias, and now was captured sailing in
towards Artemision with the one which had escaped. These men the
Hellenes sent away in bonds to the Isthmus of the Corinthians, after
having inquired of them that which they desired to learn of the army
of Xerxes.
196. The fleet of the Barbarians then, except the fifteen ships of
which I said that Sandokes was in command, had arrived at Aphetai; and
Xerxes meanwhile with the land-army, having marched through Thessalia
and Achaia, had already entered the land of the Malians two days
before,[200] after having held in Thessaly a contest for his own
horses, making trial also of the Thessalian cavalry, because he was
informed that it was the best of all among the Hellenes; and in this
trial the horses of Hellas were far surpassed by the others. Now of
the rivers in Thessalia the Onochonos alone failed to suffice by its
stream for the drinking of the army; but of the rivers which flow in
Achaia even that which is the largest of them, namely Epidanos, even
this, I say, held out but barely.
197. When Xerxes had reached Alos of Achaia, the guides who gave him
information of the way, wishing to inform him fully of everything,
reported to him a legend of the place, the things, namely, which have
to do with the temple of Zeus Laphystios;[201] how Athamas the son of
Aiolos contrived death for Phrixos, having taken counsel with Ino, and
after this how by command of an oracle the Achaians propose to his
descendants the following tasks to be performed:--whosoever is the
eldest of this race, on him they lay an injunction that he is
forbidden to enter the City Hall,[202] and they themselves keep watch;
now the City Hall is called by the Achaians the "Hall of the
People";[203] and if he enter it, it may not be that he shall come
forth until he is about to be sacrificed. They related moreover in
addition to this, that many of these who were about to be sacrificed
had before now run away and departed to another land, because they
were afraid; and if afterwards in course of time they returned to
their own land and were caught, they were placed[204] in the City
Hall: and they told how the man is sacrificed all thickly covered with
wreaths, and with what form of procession he is brought forth to the
sacrifice. This is done to the descendants of Kytissoros the son of
Phrixos, because, when the Achaians were making of Athamas the son of
Aiolos a victim to purge the sins of the land according to the command
of an oracle, and were just about to sacrifice him, this Kytissoros
coming from Aia of the Colchians rescued him; and having done so he
brought the wrath of the gods upon his own descendants. Having heard
these things, Xerxes, when he came to the sacred grove, both abstained
from entering it himself, and gave the command to his whole army to so
likewise; and he paid reverence both to the house and to the sacred
enclosure of the descendants of Athamas.
198. These then are the things which happened in Thessalia and in
Achaia; and from these regions he proceeded to the Malian land, going
along by a gulf of the sea, in which there is an ebb and flow of the
tide every day. Round about this gulf there is a level space, which in
parts is broad but in other parts very narrow; and mountains lofty and
inaccessible surrounding this place enclose the whole land of Malis
and are called the rocks of Trachis. The first city upon this gulf as
one goes from Achaia is Antikyra, by which the river Spercheios
flowing from the land of the Enianians[205] runs out into the sea. At
a distance of twenty furlongs[206] or thereabouts from this river
there is another, of which the name is Dyras; this is said to have
appeared that it might bring assistance to Heracles when he was
burning: then again at a distance of twenty furlongs from this there
is another river called Melas.
199. From this river Melas the city of
Trachis is distant five furlongs; and here, in the parts where Trachis
is situated, is even the widest portion of all this district, as
regards the space from the mountains to the sea; for the plain has an
extent of twenty-two thousand /plethra/.[207] In the mountain-range
which encloses the land of Trachis there is a cleft to the South of
Trachis itself; and through this cleft the river Asopos flows, and
runs along by the foot of the mountain.
200. There is also another
river called Phoinix, to the South of the Asopos, of no great size,
which flowing from these mountains runs out into the Asopos; and at
the river Phoinix is the narrowest place, for here has been
constructed a road with a single wheel-track only. Then from the river
Phoinix it is a distance of fifteen furlongs to Thermopylai; and in
the space between the river Phoinix and Thermopylai there is a village
called Anthela, by which the river Asopos flows, and so runs out into
the sea; and about this village there is a wide space in which is set
up a temple dedicated to Demeter of the Amphictyons, and there are
seats for the Amphictyonic councillors and a temple dedicated to
Amphictyon himself.
201. King Xerxes, I say, was encamped within the region of Trachis in
the land of the Malians, and the Hellenes within the pass. This place
is called by the Hellenes in general Thermopylai, but by the natives
of the place and those who dwell in the country round it is called
Pylai. Both sides then were encamped hereabout, and the one had
command of all that lies beyond Trachis[208] in the direction of the
North Wind, and the others of that which tends towards the South Wind
and the mid-day on this side of the continent.[209]
202. These were the Hellenes who awaited the attack of the Persian in
this place:--of the Spartans three hundred hoplites; of the men of Tegea and Mantineia a thousand, half from each place, from Orchomenos
in Arcadia a hundred and twenty, and from the rest of Arcadia a
thousand,--of the Arcadians so many; from Corinth four hundred, from
Phlius two hundred, and of the men of Mykene eighty: these were they
who came from the Peloponnese; and from the Bœotians seven hundred of
the Thespians, and of the Thebans four hundred.
203. In addition to
these the Locrians of Opus had been summoned to come in their full
force, and of the Phokians a thousand: for the Hellenes had of
themselves sent a summons to them, saying by messengers that they had
come as forerunners of the others, that the rest of the allies were to
be expected every day, that their sea was safely guarded, being
watched by the Athenians and the Eginetans and by those who had been
appointed to serve in the fleet, and that they need fear nothing: for
he was not a god, they said, who was coming to attack Hellas, but a
man; and there was no mortal, nor would be any, with those fortunes
evil had not been mingled at his very birth, and the greatest evils
for the greatest men; therefore he also who was marching against them,
being mortal, would be destined to fail of his expectation. They
accordingly, hearing this, came to the assistance of the others at
Trachis.
204. Of these troops, although there were other commanders also
according to the State to which each belonged, yet he who was most
held in regard and who was leader of the whole army was the Lacedemonian Leonidas son of Anaxandrides, son of Leon, son of
Eurycratides, son of Anaxander, son of Eurycrates, son of Polydoros,
son of Alcamenes, son of Teleclos, son of Archelaos, son of
Hegesilaos, son of Doryssos, son of Leobotes, son of Echestratos, son
of Agis, son of Eurysthenes, son of Aristodemos, son of Aristomachos,
son of Cleodaios, son of Hyllos, son of Heracles; who had obtained the
kingdom of Sparta contrary to expectation.
205. For as he had two
brothers each older than himself, namely Cleomenes and Dorieos, he had
been far removed from the thought of becoming king. Since however
Cleomenes had died without male child, and Dorieos was then no longer
alive, but he also had brought his life to an end in Sicily,[210] thus
the kingdom came to Leonidas, both because was of elder birth than
Cleombrotos (for Cleombrotos was the youngest of the sons of
Anaxandrides) and also because he had in marriage the daughter of
Cleomenes. He then at this time went to Thermopylai, having chosen the
three hundred who were appointed by law[211] and men who chanced to
have sons; and he took with him besides, before he arrived, those
Thebans whom I mentioned when I reckoned them in the number of the
troops, of whom the commander was Leontiades the son of Eurymachos:
and for this reason Leonidas was anxious to take up these with him of
all the Hellenes, namely because accusations had been strongly brought
against them that they were taking the side of the Medes; therefore he
summoned them to the war, desiring to know whether they would send
troops with them or whether they would openly renounce the alliance of
the Hellenes; and they sent men, having other thoughts in their mind
the while.
206. These with Leonidas the Spartans had sent out first, in order
that seeing them the other allies might join in the campaign, and for
fear that they also might take the side of the Medes, if they heard
that the Spartans were putting off their action. Afterwards, however,
when they had kept the festival, (for the festival of the Carneia
stood in their way), they intended then to leave a garrison in Sparta
and to come to help in full force with speed: and just so also the
rest of the allies had thought of doing themselves; for it chanced
that the Olympic festival fell at the same time as these events.
Accordingly, since they did not suppose that the fighting in
Thermopylai would so soon be decided, they sent only the forerunners
of their force.
207. These, I say, had intended to do thus: and
meanwhile the Hellenes at Thermopylai, when the Persian had come near
to the pass, were in dread, and deliberated about making retreat from
their position. To the rest of the Peloponnesians then it seemed best
that they should go to the Peloponnese and hold the Isthmus in guard;
but Leonidas, when the Phokians and Locrians were indignant at this
opinion, gave his vote for remaining there, and for sending at the
same time messengers to the several States bidding them to come up to
help them, since they were but few to repel the army of the Medes.
208. As they were thus deliberating, Xerxes sent a scout on horseback
to see how many they were in number and what they were doing; for he
had heard while he was yet in Thessaly that there had been assembled
in this place a small force, and that the leaders of it were Lacedemonians together with Leonidas, who was of the race of Heracles.
And when the horseman had ridden up towards their camp, he looked upon
them and had a view not indeed of the whole of their army, for of
those which were posted within the wall, which they had repaired and
were keeping a guard, it was not possible to have a view, but he
observed those who were outside, whose station was in front of the
wall; and it chanced at that time that the Lacedemonians were they who
were posted outside. So then he saw some of the men practising
athletic exercises and some combing their long hair: and as he looked
upon these things he marvelled, and at the same time he observed their
number: and when he had observed all exactly, he rode back unmolested,
for no one attempted to pursue him and he found himself treated with
much indifference. And when he returned he reported to Xerxes all that
which he had seen.
209. Hearing this Xerxes was not able to conjecture
the truth about the matter, namely that they were preparing themselves
to die and to deal death to the enemy so far as they might; but it
seemed to him that they were acting in a manner merely ridiculous; and
therefore he sent for Demaratos the son of Ariston, who was in his
camp, and when he came, Xerxes asked him of these things severally,
desiring to discover what this was which the Lacedemonians were doing:
and he said: "Thou didst hear from my mouth at a former time, when we
were setting forth to go against Hellas, the things concerning these
men; and having heard them thou madest me an object of laughter,
because I told thee of these things which I perceived would come to
pass; for to me it is the greatest of all ends to speak the truth
continually before thee, O king. Hear then now also: these men have
come to fight with us for the passage, and this is it that they are
preparing to do; for they have a custom which is as follows;--whenever
they are about to put their lives in peril, then they attend to the
arrangement of their hair. Be assured however, that if thou shalt
subdue these and the rest of them which remain behind in Sparta, there
is no other race of men which will await thy onset, O king, or will
raise hands against thee: for now thou art about to fight against the
noblest kingdom and city of those which are among the Hellenes, and
the best men." To Xerxes that which was said seemed to be utterly
incredible, and he asked again a second time in what manner being so
few they would fight with his host. He said; "O king, deal with me as
with a liar, if thou find not that these things come to pass as I
say."
210. Thus saying he did not convince Xerxes, who let four days go by,
expecting always that they would take to flight; but on the fifth day,
when they did not depart but remained, being obstinate, as he thought,
in impudence and folly, he was enraged and sent against them the Medes
and the Kissians, charging them to take the men alive and bring them
into his presence. Then when the Medes moved forward and attacked the
Hellenes, there fell many of them, and others kept coming up
continually, and they were not driven back, though suffering great
loss: and they made it evident to every man, and to the king himself
not least of all, that human beings are many but men are few. This
combat went on throughout the day: 211, and when the Medes were being
roughly handled, then these retired from the battle, and the Persians,
those namely whom the king called "Immortals," of whom Hydarnes was
commander, took their place and came to the attack, supposing that
they at least would easily overcome the enemy. When however these also
engaged in combat with the Hellenes, they gained no more success than
the Median troops but the same as they, seeing that they were fighting
in a place with a narrow passage, using shorter spears than the
Hellenes, and not being able to take advantage of their superior
numbers. The Lacedemonians meanwhile were fighting in a memorable
fashion, and besides other things of which they made display, being
men perfectly skilled in fighting opposed to men who were unskilled,
they would turn their backs to the enemy and make a pretence of taking
to flight; and the Barbarians, seeing them thus taking a flight, would
follow after them with shouting and clashing of arms: then the
Lacedemonians, when they were being caught up, turned and faced the
Barbarians; and thus turning round they would slay innumerable
multitudes of the Persians; and there fell also at these times a few
of the Spartans themselves. So, as the Persians were not able to
obtain any success by making trial of the entrance and attacking it by
divisions and every way, they retired back.
212. And during these
onsets it is said that the king, looking on, three times leapt up from
his seat, struck with fear for his army. Thus they contended then: and
on the following day the Barbarians strove with no better success; for
because the men opposed to them were few in number, they engaged in
battle with the expectation that they would be found to be disabled
and would not be capable any longer of raising their hands against
them in fight. The Hellenes however were ordered by companies as well
as by nations, and they fought successively each in turn, excepting
the Phokians, for these were posted upon the mountain to guard the
path. So the Persians, finding nothing different from that which they
had seen on the former day, retired back from the fight.
213. Then when the king was in a strait as to what he should do in the
matter before him, Epialtes the son of Eurydemos, a Malian, came to
speech with him, supposing that he would win a very great reward from
the king; and this man told him of the path which leads over the
mountain to Thermopylai, and brought about the destruction of those
Hellenes who remained in that place. Afterwards from fear of the
Lacedemonians he fled to Thessaly, and when he had fled, a price was
proclaimed for his life by the Deputies,[212] when the Amphictyons met
for their assembly at Pylai.[213] Then some time afterwards having
returned to Antikyra he was slain by Athenades a man of Trachis. Now
this Athenades killed Epialtes for another cause, which I shall set
forth in the following part of the history,[214] but he was honoured
for it none the less by the Lacedemonians.
214. Thus Epialtes after
these events was slain: there is however another tale told, that
Onetes the son of Phanagoras, a man of Carystos, and Corydallos of
Antikyra were those who showed the Persians the way round the
mountain; but this I can by no means accept: for first we must judge
by this fact, namely that the Deputies of the Hellenes did not
proclaim a price for the lives of Onetes and Corydallos, but for that
of Epialtes the Trachinian, having surely obtained the most exact
information of the matter; and secondly we know that Epialtes was an
exile from his country to avoid this charge. True it is indeed that
Onetes might know of this path, even though he were not a Malian, if
he had had much intercourse with the country; but Epialtes it was who
led them round the mountain by the path, and him therefore I write
down as the guilty man.
215. Xerxes accordingly, being pleased by that which Epialtes engaged
to accomplish, at once with great joy proceeded to send Hydarnes and
the men of whom Hydarnes was commander;[215] and they set forth from
the camp about the time when the lamps are lit. This path of which we
speak had been discovered by the Malians who dwell in that land, and
having discovered it they led the Thessalians by it against the
Phokians, at the time when the Phokians had fenced the pass with a
wall and thus were sheltered from the attacks upon them: so long ago
as this had the pass been proved by the Malians to be of no
value.[216] And this path lies as follows:--it begins from the river
Asopos, which flows through the cleft, and the name of this mountain
and of the path is the same, namely Anopaia; and this Anopaia
stretches over the ridge of the mountain and ends by the town of
Alpenos, which is the first town of the Locrians towards Malis, and by
the stone called Black Buttocks[217] and the seats of the Kercopes,
where is the very narrowest part.
217. By this path thus situated the
Persians after crossing over the Asopos proceeded all through the
night, having on their right hand the mountains of the Oitaians and on
the left those of the Trachinians: and when dawn appeared, they had
reached the summit of the mountain. In this part of the mountain there
were, as I have before shown, a thousand hoplites of the Phokians
keeping guard, to protect their own country and to keep the path: for
while the pass below was guarded by those whom I have mentioned, the
path over the mountain was guarded by the Phokians, who had undertaken
the business for Leonidas by their own offer.
218. While the Persians
were ascending they were concealed from these, since all the mountain
was covered with oak-trees; and the Phokians became aware of them
after they had made the ascent as follows:--the day was calm, and not
a little noise was made by the Persians, as was likely when leaves
were lying spread upon the ground under their feet; upon which the
Phokians started up and began to put on their arms, and by this time
the Barbarians were close upon them. These, when they saw men arming
themselves, fell into wonder, for they were expecting that no one
would appear to oppose them, and instead of that they had met with an
armed force. Then Hydarnes, seized with fear lest the Phokians should
be Lacedemonians, asked Epialtes of what people the force was; and
being accurately informed he set the Persians in order for battle. The
Phokians however, when they were hit by the arrows of the enemy, which
flew thickly, fled and got away at once to the topmost peak of the
mountain, fully assured that it was against them that the enemy had
designed to come,[218] and here they were ready to meet death. These,
I say, were in this mind; but the Persians meanwhile with Epialtes and
Hydarnes made no account of the Phokians, but descended the mountain
with all speed.
More History
|
