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which the river Peneus runs, and hearing that at that spot there was a road leading to Thessaly, very much wished to sail and see the mouth of the Peneus; because he designed to march by the upper road through the country of the Macedonians, who dwell higher up, to the territory of the Perrhæbi, near the city of Gonnus; for he was informed that this was the safest way. Accordingly, as he wished, so he did. Haying gone on board a Sidonian ship, in which he always embarked whenever he wished to do any thing of this kind, he made a signal for all the rest of the fleet to get under weigh, leaving the land forces where they were. When Xerxes arrived, and beheld the mouth of the Peneus, he was struck with great astonishment; and having called his guides, asked if it would be possible to turn the river and conduct it by another channel into the sea. 129. It is said that Thessaly was anciently a lake, since it is enclosed on all sides by lofty mountains. For the side next the east Mount Pelion and Ossa shut in, mingling their bases with each other; and the side towards the north Olympus shuts in; and the west, Pindus; and the side towards the mid-day and the south wind Othrys: the space in the midst of the above-mentioned mountains is Thessaly, which is hollow. Since, then, several other rivers flow into it, and these five most noted ones, the Peneus, the Apidanus, the Onochonus, the Enipeus, and the Pamisus; these that have been named, accordingly, meeting together in this plain from the mountains that enclose Thessaly, discharge themselves into the sea through one channel, and that a narrow one, having all before mingled their waters into the same stream; but as soon as they have mingled together, from that spot the names of the other rivers merge in that of the Peneus.9 It is said, that formerly, when the pass and outlet did not yet exist, these rivers, and besides them the lake Bobeis, were not called by the names they now bear, though they flowed not less than they do now; but that by their stream they made all Thessaly a lake. However, the Thessalians themselves say, that Neptune made the pass through which the Peneus flows; and their story is probable. For whoever thinks that Neptune shakes the earth, and that rents occasioned by earthquakes are the works of this god, on seeing 9 Literally, "the river Peneus gaining the victory as to the name, causes the others to be nameless."

this, would say that Neptune formed it. For it appears evident to me, that the separation of these mountains is the effect of an earthquake. 130. The guides, when Xerxes asked if there was any other exit for the Peneus to the sea, being accurately acquainted with the country, said, "O king, this river has no other outlet that extends to the sea, except this one; for all Thessaly is surrounded by mountains." Xerxes is reported to have said to this: "The Thessalians are prudent men, and therefore they long ago took precautions, and altered their minds, both on other accounts, and because they possessed a country which might be easily subdued and quickly taken. For it would only be necessary to turn the river on to their territory, by forcing it back by a mound at the pass, and diverting it from the channels through which it now flows, so that all Thessaly, except the mountains, would be inundated." Xerxes expressed himself thus in reference to the sons of Aleuas,1 because they, being Thessalians, were the first of the Greeks who gave themselves up to the king; Xerxes supposing that they promised alliance in behalf of the whole nation. Having thus spoken, and viewed the spot, he sailed back to Therma.

131. He remained several days about Pieria, for a third division of his army was employed in felling the trees on the Macedonian range, that the whole army might pass in that direction to the Perrhæbi. In the mean time the heralds,2 who had been sent to Greece to demand earth, returned to Xerxes; some empty, and others bringing earth and water. 132. Of those who gave them were the following: the Thessalians, the Dolopes, the Enienes, the Perrhæbi, the Locrians, the Magnetes, the Melians, the Achæans of Pthiotis, and the Thebans, and all the rest of the Boeotians, except the Thespians and Platæans. Against these the Greeks, who engaged in war with the barbarians, made a solemn oath. The oath ran as follows: "Whatever Greeks have given themselves up to the Persian, without compulsion, so soon as their affairs are restored to order, that these should be compelled to pay a tithe to the god at Delphi." Such was the oath taken by the Greeks. 133. To Athens and Sparta he did not send heralds to demand earth, for the following reasons: On a former occasion, when Darius sent for the same purpose, the former See chap. 6. 2 See chap. 32.

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having thrown those who made the demand into the barathrum,3 and the latter into a well, bade them carry earth and water to the king from those places. For that reason, Xerxes did not send persons to make the demand. What calamity befel the Athenians, in consequence of their having treated the heralds in this manner, I cannot say, except that their territory and city were ravaged; but I do not think that happened in consequence of that crime. 134. On the Lacedæmonians, however, the anger of Talthybius, Agamemnon's herald, alighted. For Talthybius has a temple in Sparta; and there are descendants of Talthybius, called Talthybiadæ, to whom all embassies from Sparta are given as a privilege. After these events, the Spartans were unable, when they sacrificed, to get favourable omens; and this continued for a long time. Lacedæmonians being grieved, and considering it a great calamity, and having frequently held assemblies, and at length made inquiry by public proclamation, whether any Lacedæmonian was willing to die for Sparta, Sperthies, son of Aneristus, and Bulis, son of Nicolaus, both Spartans of distinguished birth, and eminent for their wealth, voluntarily offered to give satisfaction to Xerxes for the heralds of Darius who had perished at Sparta. Accordingly, the Spartans sent them to the Medes, for the purpose of being put to death. 135. And both the courage of these men deserves admiration, and also the following words on this occasion. For on their way to Susa, they came to Hydarnes; but Hydarnes was a Persian by birth, and governor of the maritime people in Asia; he having offered them hospitality, entertained them, and while he was entertaining them, he questioned them as follows, saying, "Men of Lacedæmon, why do you refuse to be friendly with the king? For you may see how well the king knows how to honour brave men, by looking at me and my condition. So also, if you would surrender yourselves to the king, for you are deemed by him to be brave men, each of you would obtain a government in some part of Greece, at the hands of the king." To this they answered as follows: "Hydarnes, the advice you hold out to us is not impartial; for you advise us, having tried the one state, but being inexperienced in the other: what it is to be a slave you know perfectly well, but

3 The barathrum was a deep pit at Athens, into which certain criminals who were sentenced to death, were thrown.

you have never tried liberty, whether it is sweet or not. For if you had tried it, you would advise us to fight for it, not with spears, but even with hatchets." Thus they answered Hydarnes. 136. Afterwards, when they went up to Susa, and were come into the king's presence, in the first place, when the guards commanded and endeavoured to compel them to prostrate themselves and worship the king, they said, they would by no means do so, although they were thrust by them on their heads; for that it was not their custom to worship a man, nor had they come for that purpose. When they had fought off this, and on their addressing Xerxes in words to the following effect, "King of the Medes, the Lacedæmonians have sent us in return for the heralds who were killed at Sparta, to make satisfaction for them;" on their saying this, Xerxes answered with magnanimity, "that he would not be like the Lacedæmonians, for that they had violated the law of all nations, by murdering his heralds; but he would not do the very thing which he blamed in them; nor by killing them in return, would relieve the Lacedæmonians from guilt." 137. Thus the wrath of Talthybius, when the Spartans acted in this manner, ceased for the time, although Sperthies and Bulis returned to Sparta. But some time afterwards it was again aroused, during the war between the Peloponnesians and Athenians, as the Lacedæmonians say; and this appears to me to have happened in a most extraordinary manner: for that the wrath of Talthybius alighted on the messengers, and did not cease until it was satisfied, justice allowed; but that it should fall on the sons of the men who went up to the king on account of that wrath, on Nicolaus, son of Bulis, and on Aneristus, son of Sperthies, who, sailing in a merchant vessel fully manned, captured some fishermen from Tiryns, makes it clear to me that the occurrence was extraordinary in consequence of that wrath. For they, being sent by the Lacedæmonians as ambassadors to Asia, and being betrayed by Sitalces, son of Teres, king of the Thracians, and by Nymphodorus, son of Pytheas of Abdera, were taken near Bisanthe on the Hellespont, and being carried to Attica, were put to death by the Athenians; and with them Aristeas, son of Adimantus, a Corinthian. These things, however, happened many years after the expedition of the king.

138. But I return to my former subject. This expedition

of the king was nominally directed against Athens, but was really sent against all Greece. The Greeks, however, though they had heard of it long beforehand, were not all affected alike. For those who had given earth and water to the Persian, felt confident that they should suffer no harm from the barbarian; but those who had refused to give them, were in great consternation, since the ships in Greece were not sufficient in number to resist the invader, and many were unwilling to engage in the war, and were much inclined to side with the Medes. 139. And here I feel constrained by necessity to declare my opinion, although it may excite the envy of most men; however, I will not refrain from expressing how the truth appears to me to be. If the Athenians, terrified with the impending danger, had abandoned their country; or not having abandoned it, but remaining in it, had given themselves up to Xerxes, no other people would have attempted to resist the king at sea. If, then, no one had opposed Xerxes by sea, the following things must have occurred on land. Although many lines of walls had been built by the Peloponnesians across the Isthmus, yet the Lacedæmonians, being abandoned by the allies, (not willingly, but by necessity, they being taken by the barbarian city by city,) would have been left alone; and being left alone, after having displayed noble deeds, would have died nobly. They would either have suffered thus, or before that, seeing the rest of the Greeks siding with the Medes, would have made terms with Xerxes; and so, in either case, Greece would have become subject to the Persians; for I am unable to discover what would have been the advantage of the walls built across the Isthmus, if the king had been master of the sea. Any one, therefore, who should say that the Athenians were the saviours of Greece, would not deviate from the truth; for to whichever side they turned, that must have preponderated. But having chosen that Greece should continue free, they were the people who roused the rest of the Greeks who did not side with the Medes, and who, next to the gods, repulsed the king. Neither did alarming oracles, that came from Delphi, and inspired them with terror, induce them to abandon Greece; but, standing their ground, they had courage to await the invader of their country.

140. For the Athenians, having sent deputies to Delphi, were

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