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Herodotus
describes how it was that the king of Persia, Xerxes ("ruler of heroes",
son of Darius, grandson of Cyrus), decided to march upon Greece to 'bring
all mankind under our yoke, alike those who are guilty and those who are
innocent of doing us wrong.' The bitterness of Darius' defeat in the
battle of Marathon in 490 BCE was still fresh. When Xerxes presented his
case to an assembly of the noblest Persians, his deputy, Mardonius, who
'longed for adventures and hoped to become satrap of Greece under the
king,' exhorted him to action. Another confidante, Artabanus, his father's
brother, advocated caution and restraint. Torn as he was between the two
paths, Xerxes was haunted by a vision in his sleep of a tall handsome man
urging him to war. He ignored this at first and leaned towards Artabanus'
advice. However, the vision kept haunting him, growing more menacing with
each appearance. Greatly frightened, he summoned Artabanus and made him
don his regal attire, sit on his throne and sleep in his bed hoping that
the same vision would strike him. And it did. Artabanus woke up screaming
and adopted the majority opinion. Xerxes laid it all out before the
Persians—war it was to be. |
In 480 BCE, the Persian army bridges and crosses the Hellespont, the fleet follows along the coast. Heralds are sent to towns ahead with a demand for 'earth and water', and agreements secured to feast the king's entourage. Razing all opposition, Xerxes proceeds across Macedonia, and skirting Mt. Olympus enters Thessaly (the legendary home of Achilles). The logistics of provisions each night for his troops is nothing short of a Herculean task. Those who submit to his mammoth advance include the 'Thessalians, Dolopians, Enianians, Perrhaebians, Locrians, Magnetians, Malians, Acheans of Phthiotis, Thebans, and Boetians'. Further south, Greeks in Athens and the Peloponnese wrap up the Olympic games, postpone their quarrels, hold hasty meetings, and contemplate the future course of action. Envoys are sent to Syracuse to solicit support but the effort falls to pieces—the Sicilian tyrant Gelon wants the command of the combined defense forces, else he wouldn't help. |
Panic
strikes the Peloponnesian fleet as it prepares to withdraw further away
from Athens. Through some clever diplomacy and blackmail Themistocles gets
the Peloponnesians to stay at Salamis to meet the Persian advance ('either
you stay or we go and found a new city in the west',♣ while simultaneously sending a signal to dupe Xerxes into coming).
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A tough battle ensues in the narrow straits of Salamis. The smaller, nimbler Greek triremes soon gain an upper hand over the Persian fleet. Fighting aboard a Persian ship is Artemesia, the consort of Xerxes. Artemesia distinguishes herself even when the Greeks win a decisive victory and rout the Persians. Xerxes, watching from afar, returns to Persia in disgust, leaving behind Mardonius to complete the task—'my men have behaved like women, my women like men!' |
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