Chapter I: The Persian Wars

THE IONIAN REVOLT.--Hardly were the Greeks in possession of liberty when they were compelled to measure their strength with the mighty Persian Empire. The cities of Asia Minor groaned under the tyranny of their Persian rulers, and sighed for freedom. At length, under propitious circumstances, _Miletus_ rose in revolt under the lead of _Aristagoras_. Alone of the Grecian cities, Athens, and Eretria on the island of Euboea, sent help. The insurrection was extinguished in blood: its leaders perished. Miletus was destroyed by the enemy 495 B.C.; and the Ionian towns were again brought under the Persian yoke, which was made heavier than before. The Persian monarch, _Darius_, swore vengeance upon those who had aided the rebellion.

THE BATTLE OF MARATHON.--_Mardonius_, the son-in-law of Darius, moved with a fleet and an army along the Ægean coast. A storm shattered the fleet upon the rocky promontory of Athos, and the land force was partly destroyed by the Thracians. Mardonius retreated homeward. The heralds who came to demand, according to the Persian custom, "water and earth" of Athens and Sparta, were put to death. Enraged at these events, Darius sent a stronger fleet under _Datis_ and _Artaphernes_. They forced _Naxos_ and the other _Cyclades_ to submission, captured and destroyed _Eretria_, and sent off its inhabitants as slaves to the interior of Asia. Guided on their path of destruction by the Athenian refugee, _Hippias_, the Persians landed on the coast of Attica, and encamped on the shore adjacent to the plain of _Marathon_. The Athenians sent _Philippides_, one of the swiftest of couriers, to Sparta for assistance, who reached that city, a hundred and thirty-five or a hundred and forty miles distant, the next day after he started. He brought back for answer that the Spartans were deterred by religious scruples from marching to war before the full moon, which would be ten days later. There was a Greek, as well as a Judaic, Pharisaism. Left to themselves, the Athenians were fortunate in having for their leader _Miltiades_, an able and experienced soldier, who had been with the Persians in the Scythian campaign. At the head of the Athenian infantry, ten thousand in number, whose hearts were cheered before the onset by the arrival of a re-inforcement of one thousand men, comprising the whole fighting population of the little town of _Platæa_, Miltiades attacked the Persian army, ten times as large as his own. The Athenians ran down the gentle slope at Marathon, shouting their war-cry, or pæan, and, after a fierce conflict, drove the Persians back to their ships, capturing their camp with all its treasures (Sept. 12, 490 B.C.). This brilliant victory was not the end of danger. The Greek watchmen saw a treacherous signal, a glistening shield, on _Mount Pentelicus_, put there to signify to the Persians that Athens was open to their attack. In that direction, round Cape Sunium, the Persian fleet sailed. But _Miltiades_, by a rapid march of twenty-three miles, reached the city in season to prevent the landing. _Datis_ and _Artaphernes_ sailed away. The traitor, _Hippias_, died on the return voyage. The patriotic exultation of the Athenians was well warranted. Never did they look back upon that victory without a thrill of joyful pride. It proved what a united free people were capable of achieving. More than that, MARATHON was one of the decisive battles which form turning-points in the world's history. It was a mortal conflict between the East and the West, between Asia and Europe,--the coarse despotism under which individual energy is stifled, and the dawning liberty which was to furnish the atmosphere required for the full development and culture of the human mind.

ARISTIDES AND THEMISTOCLES.--_Miltiades_ subsequently failed in an attempt against _Paros_, one of the Ægean islands which had submitted to the Persians, and which he sought to conquer. Accused of making false promises to the people, he was fined fifty talents, but died before the sum could be collected (489 B.C.). His son _Cimon_ paid the fine. The two leading men in Athens at that time were _Aristides_ and _Themistocles_. The former, from his uprightness, was styled "the just." _Themistocles_ was a man of genius, of an ambitious spirit, whom the laurels of _Miltiades_ robbed of sleep. Devoted to Athens, he was not scrupulous in regard to the means of advancing her prosperity and glory. Duplicity and intrigue were weapons in the use of which he was not less willing than expert. He aspired to make Athens a great naval and maritime power. _Aristides_ believed that the strength of the country lay in the landholders and in the land forces. In the attainment of public ends, he would not deviate from a straightforward course. Themistocles was by far the more captivating of the two men; and, in 484 B.C., Aristides was ostracised. Themistocles was thus left free to build up a powerful fleet.

THE WAR WITH XERXES: THERMOPYLÆ.--_Darius_ died while he was preparing another grand expedition against Greece. He left his successor, _Xerxes_ (485 B.C.), to complete and carry out the plan. This proud monarch drew together from his immense dominions an army which tradition, as given in Herodotus, made to number one million seven hundred thousand men and a fleet of twelve hundred large vessels. He had for a counselor, _Demaratus_, a fugitive king of Sparta. The vast array of troops was assembled near _Sardes_, and thence marched to the _Hellespont_. Seven days were spent by this mighty gathering of nations in passing over the two bridges of boats. They marched through Thrace, Macedonia, and Thessaly, the Persian fleet proceeding along the coast. _Bæotia_ and several smaller states yielded without resistance. The most of the other Greek states, inspired by Themistocles, joined hands for defense under the hegemony of Sparta. In July, 480, the Persian army arrived at the narrow pass of _Thermopylæ_. There the Lacedæemonian king, _Leonidas_, with his three hundred Spartans and some thousands of allies, had taken his stand, to stem the vast current that was pouring down to overwhelm Greece. To the Persian command to give up their weapons, the "laconic" reply was given by Leonidas, "Come and get them." For several days the band of Spartans defended the pass, beating back the Persians, thousands of whom were slain, and repulsing, even, the ten thousand "immortals," who constituted the royal guard. At length a treacherous Greek showed the enemy a by-path, which enabled them to fall on the rear of the gallant troops, every one of whom fell, bravely fighting, with his weapon in his hand. A lion made of iron was afterwards placed on the spot where the heroes had died, "obedient to the commands of Sparta." The Persians pushed forward to _Athens_, and burned the city. All citizens capable of bearing arms were on board the fleet: the women, children, and movable property had been conveyed to _Salamis_, _Ægina_, and _Træzcne_.

SALAMIS.--The Greek fleet, under the Spartan _Eurybiades_, had come from victory at Artemisium into the Gulf of Salamis. By means of a device of Themistocles, the Spartans were prevented from withdrawing their forces to the Corinthian isthmus, where they had built a wall for their own protection; and a sea-fight was brought on, of which the Athenians in Salamis, and Xerxes himself from a hill on the mainland, were anxious spectators (Sept. 27, 480). Once more the cause of civilization was staked on the issue of a conflict. The Greeks were completely victorious, and their land was saved. Xerxes hastily marched towards home, thousands of his army perishing on the way from hunger, cold, and fatigue. The _Spartiatæ_ gave to _Eurybiades_ the prize of valor, to _Themistocles_ an olive crown for his wisdom and sagacity.

PLATÆA: MYCALE: EURYMEDON.--Xerxes left three hundred thousand men behind in Thessaly, under the command of _Mardonius_. In the spring, incensed at the proud rejection of his overtures, he marched to Athens, whose people again took refuge in Salamis. In the great battle of _Platæa_ (479 B.C.), the Greeks, led by the Spartan _Pausanias_, inflicted on him such a defeat that only forty thousand Persians escaped to the Hellespont. On the same day at _Mycale_, the Persian fleet was vanquished in a sharp encounter where a Spartan commanded, but where the Athenians were the most efficient combatants. Sestos, Lemnos, Imbros, and Byzantium were taken by the Greeks; and a double victory of _Cimon_, the son of Miltiades, at the Pamphylian river, _Eurymedon_, over both the land and naval forces of the Persians, brought the war to an end (467 B.C.).