The Good Book (57 page)

15. And the forces of these nations amounted to three hundred thousand men. Adding these numbers to the force out of Asia brings the sum of Xerxes' fighting men to two million, six hundred and forty-one thousand, six hundred and ten.

16. Estimating very conservatively the camp attendants and the corn-bark and other freight-ship crews at an equal number, yields a figure of five million, two hundred and eighty-three thousand, two hundred and twenty as the total number of men brought by Xerxes, the son of Darius, as far as Sepias and Thermopylae.

17. And to this still must be added the vast number of women who followed the camp to grind the corn, and also the many concubines, and the eunuchs;

18. Nor can the baggage horses and other sumpter beasts, nor the Indian hounds which followed the army, be calculated, by reason of their multitude.

19. It is no surprise that the water of the rivers was found too scant for the army in some instances;

20. Rather it is a marvel how the provisions did not fail, when the numbers were so great.

21. For if each man consumed no more than a choenix of corn a day, there must have been used daily by the army one hundred and ten thousand, three hundred and forty medimni,

22. And this without counting what was eaten by the women, the eunuchs, the sumpter beasts and the hounds.

23. Among all this multitude of men there was not one who deserved more than Xerxes himself to wield so vast a power.

 

Chapter 67

  1. When Xerxes' fleet reached the strip of coast between the city of Casthanaea and Cape Sepias, the ships of the first row were moored to the land, while the remainder swung at anchor further off.

  2. The beach extended only a little way, so that the majority of ships had to anchor offshore, row upon row, eight deep.

  3. In this manner they passed the night. But at dawn calm and stillness gave place to a raging sea,

  4. And a violent storm, driven by a strong gale from the east – a wind which the people in those parts call Hellespontias.

  5. Those who perceived the wind rising, and were so moored as to allow of it, forestalled the tempest by dragging their ships up the beach, thereby saving themselves and their vessels.

  6. But the ships which the storm caught out at sea were driven ashore, some near the place called Ipni, at the foot of Pelion; others on the beach itself;

  7. Others again on the rocks about Cape Sepias; while a portion were dashed to pieces near the cities of Meliboea and Casthanaea. There was no resisting the tempest.

  8. Those who put the loss of the Persian fleet in this storm at its lowest say that four hundred ships were destroyed, a countless multitude of men died, and a vast treasure was engulfed.

  9. Ameinocles, the son of Cretines, a Magnesian, who farmed land near Cape Sepias, found the wreck of these vessels a source of great gain to him;

10. Many gold and silver drinking-cups were cast up long afterwards by the surf, which he gathered;

11. While treasure-boxes too, and golden articles of all kinds and beyond count, came into his possession.

12. Ameinocles grew to be a man of great wealth in this way; but in other respects things did not go over-well with him:

13. He too, like other men, had his own grief – the calamity of losing his offspring.

14. As for the number of the provision craft and other merchant ships which perished, it was beyond count.

15. Such was the loss that the commanders of the sea force, fearing lest in their shattered condition the Thessalians would attack,

16. Raised a high barricade around their station out of the wreck of the vessels cast ashore.

17. The storm lasted three days, and at last ceased on the fourth day.

18. The scouts left by the Greeks about the highlands of Euboea hastened down from their stations on the second day of the storm,

19. And acquainted their countrymen with what had befallen the Persian fleet.

20. These no sooner heard what had happened than they sailed back with all speed to Artemisium, expecting to find very few ships left to oppose them.

21. Meanwhile the Persians, when the wind lulled and the sea grew smooth, drew their ships down to the water, and proceeded to coast along the mainland.

22. Having rounded the extreme point of Magnesia, they sailed straight into the bay that runs up to Pagasae.

23. Fifteen of the Persian ships which had lagged behind the rest, happening to catch sight of the Greek fleet at Artemisium, mistook it for their own,

24. And sailing down into the midst of it, fell into their hands. The commander of this unlucky squadron was Sandoces, the son of Thamasius, governor of Cyme, in Aeolis.

25. This Sandoces was one of the royal judges, and had been crucified by Darius some time before, on the charge of taking a bribe to determine a cause wrongly;

26. But while he yet hung on the cross, Darius remembered that the good deeds of Sandoces towards the king's house were more numerous than his evil deeds;

27. And so, realising that he had acted with more haste than wisdom, he ordered Sandoces to be taken down from the cross and set at large.

28. Thus Sandoces escaped destruction at the hands of Darius, and was alive at this time;

29. But he was not fated to come off so cheaply from his second peril; for as soon as the Greeks saw the ships making towards them, they guessed their mistake, and putting to sea, took them without difficulty.

30. Aridolis, tyrant of Alabanda in Caria, was on board one of the ships, and was made prisoner;

31. As also was the Paphian general, Penthylus, the son of Domonous, who was on board another.

32. This person had brought with him twelve ships from Paphos, and, after losing eleven in the storm off Sepias, was taken in the remaining one as he sailed towards Artemisium.

33. The Greeks, after questioning their prisoners as much as they wished concerning the forces of Xerxes, sent them away in chains to the Isthmus of Corinth.

 

Chapter 68

  1. Xerxes meanwhile, with the land army, had proceeded through Thessaly and Achaea, and three days earlier had entered the territory of the Malians.

  2. In Thessaly he matched his own horses against the Thessalian, which he heard were the best in Greece, but the Greek coursers were left far behind in the race.

  3. All the rivers in this region had water enough to supply his army, except only the Onochonus;

  4. But in Achaea, the largest of the streams, the Apidanus, barely held out.

  5. From hence Xerxes passed into Malis, along the shores of a bay in which there is an ebb and flow of the tide daily.

  6. By the side of this bay lies a piece of flat land, in one part broad, but in another very narrow indeed,

  7. Around which runs a range of lofty hills, enclosing all Malis within them, and called the Trachinian cliffs after the nearby city of Trachis. Here in the Trachinia Xerxes pitched his camp.

  8. On their side the Greeks occupied the narrow pass that they call Thermopylae, meaning ‘The Hot Gates';

  9. But the natives, and those who dwell in the neighbourhood, merely call them Pylae, that is, ‘The Gates'.

10. Here then the two armies took their stand; the one master of all the region lying north of Trachis,

11. The other of the country extending southward of that place to the edge of the continent.

12. The Greeks who at this spot awaited the coming of Xerxes were the following:

13. From Sparta, three hundred men-at-arms; from Arcadia, a thousand Tegeans and Mantineans, five hundred of each people;

14. A hundred and twenty Orchomenians, from the Arcadian Orchomenus; and a thousand from other cities;

15. From Corinth, four hundred men; from Phlius, two hundred; and from Mycenae eighty.

16. Such was the number from the Peloponnese. There were also present, from Boeotia, seven hundred Thespians and four hundred Thebans.

17. Besides these troops, the Locrians of Opus and the Phocians had obeyed the call of their countrymen,

18. And sent the former all the force they had, the latter a thousand men.

19. For envoys had gone from the Greeks at Thermopylae among the Locrians and Phocians, to call on them for assistance, and to say,

20. They were themselves but the vanguard of the host, sent to precede the main body, which might every day be expected to follow them.

21. The sea was in good keeping, watched by the Athenians, the Eginetans, and the rest of the fleet.

22. There was no cause why they should fear; for after all the invader was merely a man;

23. And there never had been, and never would be, a man who was not liable to misfortunes from the very day of his birth,

24. And those misfortunes greater in proportion to his own greatness. The assailant therefore, being only a mortal, must needs fall from his glory.

25. Thus urged, the Locrians and the Phocians had come with their troops to Trachis.

Chapter 69

  1. The various states each had captains of their own under whom they served;

  2. But the one to whom all especially looked up, and who had the command of the entire force, was the Spartan, Leonidas.

  3. Now Leonidas was the son of Anaxandridas, who was the son of Leo, who was the son of Eurycratidas, who was the son of Anaxander, who was the son of Eurycrates, who was the son of Polydorus, who was the son of Alcamenes, who was the son of Telecles, who was the son of Archelaus, who was the son of Agesilaus, who was the son of Doryssus, who was the son of Labotas, who was the son of Echestratus, who was the son of Agis, who was the son of Eurysthenes, who was the son of Aristodemus, who was the son of Aristomachus, who was the son of Cleodaeus, who was the son of Hyllus, who was the son of Hercules.

  4. The force with Leonidas was sent forward by the Spartans in advance of the main body, that the sight of them might encourage the allies to fight,

  5. And hinder them from going over to the Persians, as it was likely they might have done had they seen that Sparta was backward.

  6. They intended presently to leave a garrison in Sparta, and hasten in full force to join the army.

  7. The rest of the allies intended to act similarly; for it happened that the Olympic festival fell exactly at this same period.

  8. None of them looked to see the contest at Thermopylae decided so speedily;

  9. Wherefore they were content to send forward a mere advance guard. Such accordingly were the intentions of the allies.

10. The Greek forces at Thermopylae, when the Persian army drew near to the entrance of the pass, were seized with fear;

11. And a council was held to discuss a retreat. It was the wish of the Peloponnesians generally that the army should fall back to the Peloponnese, and there guard the Isthmus.

12. But Leonidas, who saw with what indignation the Phocians and Locrians heard of this plan, gave his voice for remaining where they were,

13. While they sent envoys to the several cities to ask for help, since they were too few to make a stand against Xerxes' army.

14. While this debate was going on, Xerxes sent a mounted spy to observe the Greeks, and note how many they were, and see what they were doing.

15. He had heard, before he came out of Thessaly, that a few men were assembled at this place, and that at their head were certain Lacedaemonians under Leonidas.

16. The horseman rode up to the camp, and looked about him, but did not see the whole army;

17. For such as were on the further side of the wall, which had been rebuilt and was now carefully guarded, it was not possible for him to behold;

18. But he observed those on the outside, who were encamped in front of the rampart.

19. It chanced that at this time the Spartans held the outer guard, and were seen by the spy,

20. Some of them engaged in gymnastic exercises, others combing their long hair.

21. At this the spy greatly marvelled, but he counted their number, and when he had taken accurate note of everything, he rode back quietly;

22. For no one pursued him, or paid any heed to his visit.

23. On hearing his report Xerxes, who had no means of surmising the truth – namely, that the Spartans were preparing to do or die manfully – thought it laughable that they should be engaged in such employments.

24. He sent for the Spartan Demaratus, and told him what he had heard, and questioned him about it, for he wished to understand the meaning of the Spartans' behaviour.  

25. Demaratus said, ‘I told you before, O king! about these men, when we had just begun our march upon Greece;

26. ‘You only laughed at my words, but I tried to tell you the truth.

27. ‘These men have come to dispute the pass with us; and it is for this that they are now making ready.

28. ‘It is their custom, when they are about to hazard their lives, to adorn their heads with care.