islanders and many Greeks of the continent gave what was asked; but Athens and Sparta threw the heralds, the former into a pit, the latter into a well, and told them to take their earth and water thence. So Darius sent against them an army and a navy; and with them came Hippias, the Pisistratid. He it was who advised the Persians to land at Marathon, where the ground was good for the Persian cavalry. "The Athenians... also sent their forces to Marathon; and ten generals led them, of whom Miltiades was the tenth. . . . But first, while the generals were yet in the city, they despatched a herald to Sparta. ... On coming into the presence of the magistrates, he said, 'Lacedæmonians, the Athenians entreat you to assist them, and not to suffer... [them] to fall into bondage to barbarians."" The Spartans, however, though willing to help Athens, "were unwilling to violate their law; for it was the ninth day of the month; and they said they could not march out" until the full of the moon.

Meanwhile the Persians had landed, and the Athenians. and their allies were arrayed against them in a place sacred to Hercules; but the generals were divided about giving battle, half counselling surrender; but the wararchon had the casting vote; him, therefore, Miltiades addressed: "If the Athenians succumb to the Medes [Persians], it has been determined what they are to suffer when delivered up to Hippias; but if the city survive, it will become the first of Grecian cities. . . . All these things ... depend on you.'. . . Miltiades, by these words, gained over the war-archon, and... it was determined to engage.' On the motion of Aristides, also one of the ten strategi, the other generals resigned their right of command to Miltiades alone. "The Athenians being drawn up in battle array, and the sacrifices offered being pleasing to the gods, they advanced against the barbarians in

double-quick time." The battle was long and hard-fought, but the Persians, although at least 100,000 strong, while the Athenians were but 10,000 men, were driven back to their ships; embarking, they wished "to anticipate the Athenians in reaching the city. . . . But the Athenians... were... beforehand"; so the barbarians "sailed away Asia," and the first Persian war was ended.

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STUDY ON I.

Who or what decides on what shall be done in the Persian Empire? What sort of a government will you name that of Persia? What is the aim of Persian conquest? Prove it. Who or what decides on what shall be done in the various Grecian states? What are the aims of the war on the Greek side? What is the political unit on the Greek side; that is, how much of the Greek territory and population act together in the matters of war, of peace, of alliance? What is the unit on the Persian side? What forms of government appear in the Greek cities at this time, and by whom is each supported? Instances. Why does the Tyrant of Miletus fear he will lose his power or life? How will "establishing equality" help him? What city ranks first in Greece? Proof. What next? Proof. What spirit in the Athenians makes them hostile to Persia? What party in Athens will favor Persia? What city has the most sympathy with other Greek cities? Proof. What part of the new Athenian constitution do we see tested in this war? To what does it owe its success? What good characteristic does Sparta show when Athens asks her for help? What is your opinion of it in this particular case? If Persia had conquered, who would have governed Athens? What advantage would Persia probably have gained in this event? What qualities are displayed by the Athenians in the Battle of Marathon? by the Athenian generals? Comparing Athens and Persia, why should Athens beat? Write a comparison between Persia and Hellas at 490 B.C.

II. Account of Interval of Preparation. (Abridged from Herodotus.)

From the day of Marathon to the invasion of Xerxes, the two men most prominent in Attica were Aristides

and Themistocles. The former represented the aristocratic, the latter, the democratic elements at Athens; the rivalry of their partisans so threatened the prosperity of the city, that they appealed to the ostracism, by which Aristides was sent into exile.

It was during this time that the Athenians had a surplus in the treasury, and the Ecclesia was about to vote its equal division among all the citizens; but Themistocles persuaded them instead to add two hundred ships to their navy, arguing that thus they might better prosecute the war then going on with Ægina, and also be better prepared for any new contest with Persia. He also indicated a better harbor for Athens, which might be well defended by the use of some of the extra funds.

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Meanwhile, Darius had died; but his general, Mardonius, was constantly urging his son and successor, Xerxes, to lead an army against Athens, and the Pisistratids urged him no less. So his satraps gathered troops diligently for three years from all parts of the Empire, and in the tenth year from Marathon, Xerxes marched towards the Hellespont with more than 1,000,000 men of Asia and Africa. "On his arrival at Sardis, he sent heralds to Greece to demand earth and water. . . but he sent neither to Athens nor Lacedæmon." The Athenians at this juncture asked the advice of Delphi, and were told that they must "inspire their minds with courage to meet misfortunes." Deeply dejected, they sent once more to the oracle, and received the answer that Zeus could not be propitiated, that the Athenians must withdraw from the forces advancing against them, but that Zeus gave a "wooden wall" as an impregnable defence, and that "divine Salamis" should cause many men to perish. Themistocles interpreted this to mean that the Athenians

should make no defence on land, but should carry their gods, their families, and their goods to Salamis, while they themselves should retreat to the "wooden walls" of their ships and meet the Persians by sea. He further said that Salamis was called "divine" because there the Persian hosts would meet destruction. This interpretation was accepted, and it was decided to abandon Attica for the straits and the island of Salamis. (See map, p. 66.)

Themistocles also proposed, and the Ecclesia voted, to revoke all decrees of banishment or ostracism, especially that against Aristides. It was now thought best to call a general Hellenic congress, and while the king was yet at Sardis, "the Greeks who were better affected towards Greece met together [at the Isthmus] . . . and determined all existing enmities and quarrels with each other." Thus gina and Athens made peace; but Argos, being hostile to Sparta, took no part in the council. Ambassadors were sent even to Sicily to ask the Sicilian Greeks to join the Lacedæmonians, the Athenians, and their allies; but the Tyrant of Syracuse would only consent on condition of having the command of the war, which neither Athens nor Sparta would allow, and so they missed the help of Sicily. The Corcyræans were also asked, and promised help; and preparing their sixty ships, they drew near to the Peloponnesus, but there anchored and watched how events would turn, thinking, if the Persians won, they should get good terms, as not having opposed them; while to the Greeks they excused themselves on account of contrary winds, which, they said, delayed them.

As to the leadership by sea, "from the first there had been a talk . . . that it would be proper to trust the navy to the Athenians. But as the allies opposed, the Athenians gave way, deeming it of high importance that Greece should be saved."

It was also decided at this congress that Greece should make her first stand against Xerxes at Thermopylæ.

Meanwhile Xerxes advanced to the Hellespont, which had been bridged by the Phoenicians and Egyptians; but a storm had broken the bridges up; whereupon Xerxes had the engineers beheaded, and the Hellespont scourged with 300 lashes, while it was thus addressed: "Thy master inflicts this punishment upon thee, because thou hast injured him . . . and King Xerxes will cross over thee whether thou wilt or not." New bridges were then built and the army crossed them "under the lash": the passage occupied seven continuous days and nights. In Thrace, the army was numbered, and Herodotus tells us that the land forces alone amounted to more than 1,500,000; there were in this army Medes and Persians, armed with spears, bows, and daggers; Assyrians, with spears, daggers, and clubs knotted with iron; Scythians, with bows, daggers, and battle-axes; Arabians and Hindoos with bows and arrows; Ethiopians, painted for battle, half in red and half in white, who had arrowheads of stone. Herodotus names more than forty different nations or tribes in the army, and more than twelve on the 1200 ships of the fleet.

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Provisions had been ordered long beforehand for this host; heralds had been sent along the route, and everybody "made flour and meal for many months . . . fatted cattle... fed land and water fowl in coops and ponds"; even then, it does not seem that the army was fed more than once a day. As Xerxes marched through Thrace and Macedonia, the tribes submitted without attempting resistance. In Macedonia he received the heralds who had been sent out to demand earth and water from the Greek cities. Many had submitted, and "against these the Greeks who had engaged in war with the barbarians