CXCVI. Except the above fifteen vessels, commanded by Sandoces, the whole of the Barbarian fleet arrived at Aphetæ. Xerxes with his land forces, marching through Thessaly and Achaia, came on the third day to the territories of the Melians. Whilst he was in Thessaly he made a trial of his cavalry against those of the Thessalians, which he had heard were the best in Greece; but in this contest the inferiority of the Greeks was evidently conspicuous. The Onochonus was the only river in Thessaly which did not afford sufficient water for the army. Of those of Achaia, the Apidanus, the greatest of them all, hardly sufficed. CXCVII. Whilst Xerxes was proceeding to Alos, an Achaian city, his guides, anxious to tell him every thing, related what was reported by the natives concerning the temple of Jupiter Laphystius." It was said that Atha 1 The inferiority of the Greeks.]—The best cavalry in the world attended Xerxes on this expedition, namely those of Cappadocia and Paphlagonia. Hecatonymus tells Xenophon, in the fifth book of the Anabasis, that the cavalry of the Cappadocians and Paphlagonians was better and more expert in martial exercises than any other which the king of Persia had. That part of Cappadocia which Herodotus calls Cilicia paid as a tribute to the kings of Persia a horse for every day in the year. Strabo says, that Cappadocia sent 1500 hundred horses annually. The boast of Hecatonymus to Xenophon was by no means vain; the same preference was given them by others, and excellent commanders. Plutarch informs us, that on these Crassus the Roman general chiefly relied; and with these surprising feats of gallantry were performed in the Parthian war. Lucullus also had these in his army at the siege of Tigranocerta; and in the battle with Tigranes made choice of them and the Thracian horse to attack the Cataphracts, the choicest of the enemy's cavalry, and to drive them from the ground. Tigranes is said to have opposed Lucullus with an army of 55,000 horse; and many other instances may be adduced to show that the chief strength of these northern powers consisted in their cavalry. The curious reader may compare Plutarch's account of the army of Tigranes with that which Ezekiel gives of the army of Magog. Claudian, in Laud. Serena, tells us it was customary to have a breed from a Phrygian mare by a Cappadocian horse: Delectus equorum Quos Phrygiæ matres Agræaque gramina pastre 2 Jupiter Laphystius.]-It was to this deity that Phrixus sacrificed the ram upon which he was saved; and even to this day, says the Scholiast to Apollonius Rhodius, one of the descendants of Phrixus enters the prytaneum according to the established law, and offers sacrifices to this god. At twenty stadia from Ceronens was mount Laphystius, where was a mound consecrated to Jupiter Laphystius; there is still seen in this place a marble statue of this god. Phrixus and Helle being on the point of being sacrificed in this place by Athanas, | mas, the son of Æolus, in concert with Ino, contrived the death of Phrixus. The Achaians, following the command of the oracle, forbade the eldest of the descendants of Athamas ever to enter their prytaneum, called by them Leitus. They were very vigilant in seeing this restriction observed, and whoever was detected within the proscribed limits could only leave them to be sacrificed. There were several who in terror escaped into another country, when they were on the point of being sacrificed. If they ever afterwards returned, they were, if discovered, instantly sent to the prytaneum. To the above, the guides of Xerxes added the description of the sacrifice, the ceremony of binding the victim with ribands, with all other circumstances. The posterity of Cytissorus, the son of Phrixus, are subject to the above, because Cytissorus himself, in his way from Æa of Colchis, delivered Athamas from the hands of the Achaians, who by the direction of the oracle were about to offer him as an expiatory sacrifice. On this account, the anger of the divinity fell upon the posterity of Cytissorus. In consequence of hearing the above narrative, Xerxes, when he approached the precincts of the grove, cautiously avoided it himself, and commanded all his army to do the same. He showed the same veneration for the residence of the posterity of Athamas. 3 CXCVIII. Such were the incidents which occurred in Thessaly and Achaia. From hence Xerxes advanced to Melis, near a bay of the sea, where the ebbing and flowing of the tide may be seen every day. Near this bay is an extensive plain, wide in one part, and contracted in another: round this plain are certain lofty and inaccessible mountains, called the Trachinian rocks, and enclosing the whole region of Melis. Leaving Achaia, the first city near this they say that Jupiter sent them a ram whose fleece was gold, upon which they saved themselves. nius, the protector of fugitives.-Larcher. Jupiter surnamed Laphystius was, according to Kuh 3 All his army.]-See on this subject Bryant, vol. ii. 40, 41, &c.-This writer supposes, and his opinion is confirmed by Suidas, that the prytaneion is derived from Tug, fire: the words of Suidas are these: TRYSJOV, SUDAS ταμειον ένθα την ασβεστον πυρ. The Scholiast upon Thu cydides talks to the same purpose: añλa di caci óri ra πρυτανείον πυρος ην ταμείον ένθα την ασβεστον πυς Others tell us that the prutaneion was of old called puros ta meion, from pur, because it was the repository of a perpetual fire. These places were temples, and at the same time courts of justice; hence we find that in the prytaneion of Athens the laws of Solon were engraved. These laws were inscribed upon wooden cylinders, some of which remained to the time of Plutarch, &c.-Bryant. returned to Artemisium, hoping to find but few of the enemy's vessels. Thus a second time they fixed their station at Artemisium, near the temple of Neptune surnamed Servator, which appellation, given on the above occasion, is still retained. CXC. In this storm, according to the lowest calculation, four hundred vessels were totally lost, with an infinite number of men, and a prodigious treasure. Aminocles, son of Cratinus, a Magnesian, who had an estate near Sepias, reaped afterwards very considerable advantage from this tempest; many vessels of gold and CXCIII. The Barbarians, as soon as they silver were thrown by the tides upon his lands; perceived the wind subside and the sea calm, he became master also of various Persian again ventured from the shore. Coasting along, treasures, and an immense quantity of gold. they doubled the Magnesian promontory, and Although this incident rendered him affluent, made their way directly to the gulf leading to he was in other respects unfortunate; he had Pagasa. It was in this gulf of Magnesia that by some calamity been deprived of his children.* | Hercules, going on shore from the Argo' to CXCI. The loss of the provision-trans- procure water, was deserted by Jason and his ports, and of the other smaller vessels, was too companions, who were bound to Ea of Colgreat to be ascertained. The naval command-chis to obtain the golden fleece. Having ers, apprehending that the Thessalians would avail themselves of this opportunity to attack them, intrenched themselves within a buttress made of the wrecks of the vessels. For three days the storm was unabated; on the fourth the magi appeased its violence by human victims, and incantations to the wind, as well as by sacrificing to Thetis and the Nereids, unless perhaps the tempest ceased of itself. They sacrificed to Thetis, having learned from the Ionians, that it was from this coast she had been carried away by Peleus, and that all the district of Sepias was sacred to her in common with the other Nereids. It is certain that on the fourth day the tempest & ceased. 5 CXCII. Their sentinels, who every day were stationed on the heights of Euboea, did not fail to acquaint the Greeks with all the circumstances of the storm on the morning which followed. As soon as they received this intelligence, after paying their vows, and offering libations to Neptune Servator, they hastily 4 Of his children.]—This passage has occasioned great perplexity; but Palmerius, in his Exercitationes, has removed every difficulty, and satisfactorily done away the effects of Plutarch's perverse misconception. Plutarch abuses Herodotus for introducing this circumstance of the affluence of Aminocles, and the means by which he obtained it, merely for an opportunity of saying that he had killed his son.-T. 5 Sepias.-This coast was sacred to Thetis, because that goddess, desirous of eluding the pursuit of Peleus, changed herself in this place into a kind of sea-fish, which the Greeks call Ena (Sepia.) This story gave the name of Sepias to this coast and promontory.-Larcher. 6 The tempest.]-Twenty-four miles to the south-east of Larissa is Volo, said to be Pagasa, where the poets say the ship Argo was built. Near it is Aphetæ, from which place they say the Argonauts sailed. The southeast corner of this land is the old promontory Sepias, where five hundred sail of Xerxes' fleet were shipwrecked in a storm.-Pococke. taken in water, they sailed from hence; in commemoration of which incident, the place afterwards took the name of the Aphetæ. CXCIV. Here also it was that the fleet of Xerxes came to an anchor. Fifteen of these being at a considerable distance from their companions, discovered the vessels of the Greeks at Artemisium, and mistaking them for friends, sailed into the midst of them. The leader of these ships was Sardoces, son of Thamasias, the governor of Cyma, in Æolia. This man Darius had formerly condemned to the punishment of the cross; he had been one of the royal judges, and convicted of corruption in his office. He was already on the cross, when the king, reflecting that his services to the royal family exceeded his offences, and that he himself had in the present instance acted with more impetuosity than prudence, commanded him to be taken down. Thus he escaped the punishment to which Darius had condemned him; his escape now from the Greeks was altogether impossible; they saw him sailing towards them, and perceiving his error attacked and took him and his vessels. CXCV. In one of these vessels was Ari dolis, prince of the Alabandians of Caria; in another, Penthylus, son of Demonous, a Paphian general. This latter left Paphos with twelve vessels, eleven of which were lost in the storm off Sepias; he himself, with the twelfth, fell into the enemy's hands, at Artemisium. The Greeks, having obtained such information as they wished concerning the forces of Xerxes, sent their prisoners bound to the isthmus of Corinth. 7 Argo.]-See book iv. c. 179. Note Bryant, ii. 490, 491. CXCVI. Except the above fifteen vessels, commanded by Sandoces, the whole of the Barbarian fleet arrived at Aphetæ. Xerxes with his land forces, marching through Thessaly and Achaia, came on the third day to the territories of the Melians. Whilst he was in Thessaly he made a trial of his cavalry against those of the Thessalians, which he had heard were the best in Greece; but in this contest the inferiority of the Greeks was evidently conspicuous. The Onochonus was the only river in Thessaly which did not afford sufficient water for the army. Of those of Achaia, the Apidanus, the greatest of them all, hardly sufficed. CXCVII. Whilst Xerxes was proceeding to Alos, an Achaian city, his guides, anxious to tell him every thing, related what was reported by the natives concerning the temple of Jupiter Laphystius. It was said that Atha 1 The inferiority of the Greeks.]—The best cavalry in the world attended Xerxes on this expedition, namely those of Cappadocia and Paphlagonia. Hecatonymus tells Xenophon, in the fifth book of the Anabasis, that the cavalry of the Cappadocians and Paphlagonians was better and more expert in martial exercises than any other which the king of Persia had. That part of Cappadocia which Herodotus calls Cilicia paid as a tribute to the kings of Persia a horse for every day in the year. Strabo says, that Cappadocia sent 1500 hundred horses annually. The boast of Hecatonymus to Xenophon was by no means vain; the same preference was given them by others, and excellent commanders. Plutarch informs us, that on these Crassus the Roman general chiefly relied; and with these surprising feats of gallantry were performed in the Parthian war. Lucullus also had these in his army at the siege of Tigranocerta; and in the battle with Tigranes made choice of them and the Thracian horse to attack the Cataphracts, the choicest of the enemy's cavalry, and to drive them from the ground. Tigranes is said to have opposed Lucullus with an army of 55,000 horse; and many other instances may be adduced to show that the chief strength of these northern powers consisted in their cavalry. The curious reader may compare Plutarch's account of the army of Tigranes with that which Ezekiel gives of the army of Magog. Claudian, in Laud. Serena, tells us it was customary to have a breed from a Phrygian mare by a Cappadocian horse: Delectus equorum Quos Phrygiæ matres Agræaque gramina pastre 2 Jupiter Laphystius.]-It was to this deity that Phrixus sacrificed the ram upon which he was saved; and even to this day, says the Scholiast to Apollonius Rhodius, one of the descendants of Phrixus enters the prytaneum according to the established law, and offers sacrifices to this god. At twenty stadia from Ceroneus was mount Laphystius, where was a mound consecrated to Jupiter Laphystius; there is still seen in this place a marble statue of this god. Phrixus and Helle being on the point of being sacrificed in this place by Athamas, mas, the son of Æolus, in concert with Ino, contrived the death of Phrixus. The Achaians, following the command of the oracle, forbade the eldest of the descendants of Athamas ever to enter their prytaneum, called by them Leitus. They were very vigilant in seeing this restriction observed, and whoever was detected within the proscribed limits could only leave them to be sacrificed. There were several who in terror escaped into another country, when they were on the point of being sacrificed. If they ever afterwards returned, they were, if discovered, instantly sent to the prytaneum. To the above, the guides of Xerxes added the description of the sacrifice, the ceremony of binding the victim with ribands, with all other circumstances. The posterity of Cytissorus, the son of Phrixus, are subject to the above, because Cytissorus himself, in his way from Ea of Colchis, delivered Athamas from the hands of the Achaians, who by the direction of the oracle were about to offer him as an expiatory sacrifice. On this account, the anger of the divinity fell upon the posterity of Cytissorus. In consequence of hearing the above narrative, Xerxes, when he approached the precincts of the grove, cautiously avoided it himself, and commanded all his army3 to do the same. He showed the same veneration for the residence of the posterity of Athamas. CXCVIII. Such were the incidents which occurred in Thessaly and Achaia. From hence Xerxes advanced to Melis, near a bay of the sea, where the ebbing and flowing of the tide may be seen every day. Near this bay is an extensive plain, wide in one part, and contracted in another: round this plain are certain lofty and inaccessible mountains, called the Trachinian rocks, and enclosing the whole region of Melis. Leaving Achaia, the first city near this they say that Jupiter sent them a ram whose fleece was gold, upon which they saved themselves. nius, the protector of fugitives.-Larcher. Jupiter surnamed Laphystius was, according to Kuh 3 All his army.]-See on this subject Bryant, vol. ii. 40, 41, &c.-This writer supposes, and his opinion is cenfirmed by Suidas, that the prytaneion is derived from Tug, fire: the words of Suidas are these: guTZDLICE, S'ULIS ταμείον ενθα την ασβεστον πυρ. The Scholiast upon Th cydides talks to the same purpose: aλà di caci öri re πρυτανείον πυρος ην ταμείον ενθα την ασβεστον πυρ Others tell us that the prutaneion was of old called puros ta meion, from pur, because it was the repository of a perpe tual fire. These places were temples, and at the same time courts of justice; hence we find that in the prytaneion of Athens the laws of Solon were engraved. These laws were inscribed upon wooden cylinders, some of which remained to the time of Plutarch, &c-Bryant. hay is Anticyra. This is washed by the river | waited the approach of the Persian, was com Sperchius, which, rising in the country of the posed of three hundred Spartans in complete Enienes, here empties itself into the sea. At armour; five hundred Tegeatæ, and as many the distance of twenty furlongs is another river, Mantineans; one hundred and twenty men called Dyras, which is said to have risen spon- from Orchomenus of Arcadia, a thousand men taneously from the earth, to succour Hercules from the rest of Arcadia, four hundred Corinwhen he was burning. A third river, called thians, two hundred from Phlius, and eighty Melas, flows at the distance of twenty furlongs from Mycena. The above came from the Peloponnese: from Boeotia there were seven hundred Thespians and four hundred Thebans. more. CXCIX. Within five furlongs of this last river stands the town of Trachis. In this part the country is the widest, extending from the mountains to the sea, and comprehending a space of twenty-two thousand plethra. In the mountainous tract which incloses Trachinia there is an opening to the west of Trachis, through which the Asopus winds round the base of the mountain. CC. To the west of this another small stream is found, named the Phoenix; it rises in these mountains, and empties itself into the Asopus. The most contracted part of the country is that which lies nearest the Phoenix, where the road will only admit one carriage to pass. From the Phoenix to Thermopylæ are fifteen furlongs: betwixt the Phoenix and Thermopylæ is a village named Anthela, passing which the Asopus meets the sea. The country contiguous to Anthela is spacious; here may be seen a temple of Ceres Amphictyonis, the seats of the Amphictyons, and a shrine of Amphictyon himself. 4 Amphictyons.]-See book v. c. 62, note. What I have there omitted concerning the Amphictyons, their office, and character, may be found amply discussed in Gillies's History of Greece, and faithfully represented in Rees's edition of Chambers's Dictionary, as well as by Larcher.-T. 5 The Grecian army.]-Beneath is the number of Greeks who appeared on this occasion, according to the different representations of Herodotus, Pausanias, and Diodorus Sicuius: CCIII. In addition to the above, the aid of all the Opuntian Locrians had been solicited, together with a thousand Phoceans. To obtain the assistance of these, the Greeks had previously sent emissaries among them, saying, that they were the forerunners only of another and more numerous body, whose arrival was every day expected. They added, that the defence of the sea was confided to the people of Athens and Ægina, in conjunction with the rest of the fleet; that there was no occasion for alarm, as the invader of Greece was not a god, but a mere human being; that there never was nor could be any mortal superior to the vicissitudes of fortune; that the most exalted characters were exposed to the greatest evils; he therefore, a mortal, now advancing to attack them, would suffer for his temerity. These arguments proved effectual, and they The above came from the Peloponnese; those who came from the other parts of Greece, according to the authors above-mentionedThespians 700 Thebans Phoceans Opuntian Locrians 700 Milesians . 1,000 400 400 400 1,000 1,000 1,000 6,000 1,000 6 Would suffer.]—The expedition of Xerxes to Greece, and his calamitous return, as described by Herodotus, may be well expressed by the words with which Ezekiel describes Gog's army and its destruction.-See chapter xxxviii. and xxxix. "Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee: "Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them, all of them with shield and helmet. "But I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy Diodorus. jaws, I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee: and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand; and will cause thy arrows to fall out of thy right hand. 300 . 700 500 The other nations of 120 1,000 "Thou shalt fall upon the mountains, thou and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee. I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field, to be devoured."-T. accordingly marched to Trachis to join their the march of their main body; but it was their allies. intention to follow with all imaginable expedi tion, leaving only a small detachment for the defence of Sparta. The rest of the allies were actuated by similar motives, for the Olympic games happened to recur at this period; and as they did not expect an engagement would im mediately take place at Thermopylæ, they sent only a detachment before them. CCIV. These troops were commanded by different officers of their respective countries; but the man most regarded, and who was intrusted with the chief command, was Leonidas of Sparta. His ancestors were, Anaxandrides, Leon, Eurycratides, Anaxander, Eurycrates, Polydorus, Alcamenes, Teleclus, Archelaus, Agesilaus, Doryssus, Leobotes, Echestratus, Agis, Eurysthenes, Aristodemus, Aristomachus, Cleodæus, Hyllus, and Hercules. CCV. An accident had placed him on the throne of Sparta; for, as he had two brothers older than himself, Cleomenes and Dorieus, he had entertained no thoughts of the government: but Cleomenes dying without male issue, and Dorieus not surviving (for he ended his days in Sicily) the crown came to Leonidas, who was older than Cleombrotus, the youngest of the sons of Anaxandrides, and who had married the daughter of Cleomenes. On the present occasion he took with him to Thermopyla a body of three hundred chosen men, all of whom had children. To these he added those Theban troops whose number I have before mentioned, and who were conducted by Leontiades, son of Eurymachus. Leonidas had selected the Thebans to accompany him, because a suspicion generally prevailed that they were secretly attached to the Medes. These therefore he summoned to attend him, to ascertain whether they would actually contribute their aid, or openly withdraw themselves from the Grecian league. With sentiments perfectly hostile, they nevertheless sent the assistance required. CCVII. Such were the motives of the confederate body. The Greeks who were already assembled at Thermopyla were seized with so much terror on the approach of the Persian, that they consulted about a retreat. Those of the Peloponnese were in general of opinion that they should return and guard the isthmus ; but as the Phoceans and Locrians were exceedingly averse to this measure, Leonidas prevailed on them to continue on their post. He resolved however to send messengers round to all the states, requiring supplies, stating that their number was much too small to oppose the Medes with any effect. CCVIII. Whilst they thus deliberated, Xerxes sent a horseman to examine their num ber and their motions. He had before heard in Thessaly, that a small band was collected at this passage, that they were led by Lacedæmonians, and by Leonidas of the race of Hercules. The person employed performed his duty: all those who were without the intrenchment be was able to reconnoitre: those who were with in for the purpose of defending it eluded his observation. The Lacedæmonians were at that period stationed without; of these some were peforming gymnastic exercises, whilst others were employed in combing their hair. He was greatly astonished, but he leisurely surveyed their number and employments, and returned without molestation, for they despised CCVI. The march of this body under Leonidas was accelerated by the Spartans, that their example might stimulate their allies to action, and that they might not make their delay a pre-him too much to pursue him.—He related to tence for going over to the Medes. The celebration of the Carnian festival protracted 1 All of whom had children.]— 3 Three hundred more complete th' intrepid band, The future guardians of Laconia's state.-Leonidas. 2 Theban troops.]-Plutarch upbraids Herodotus for thus slandering the Thebans: and Diodorus says, that Thebes was divided into two parties, one of which sent four hundred men to Thermopylæ.-T. 3 Carnian festival.]-This was continued for seven days at Sparta in honour of Apollo. Various reasons are assigned for its institution; the most plausible is that found in the Scholiast to Theocritus, which tells us that they were celebrated by the people of the Peloponnese, to commemorate the cessation of some pestilence.--T. Xerxes all that he had seen. CCIX. Xerxes, on hearing the above, was little aware of what was really the case, that this people were preparing themselves either to conquer or to die. The thing appeared to him 4 Stationed without, &c.] By chance The Spartans then composed th' external guard; |