island of Sardinia tributary to him.* The best princes are often too credulous; and when they have once taken a subject into their confidence, it is with difficulty they withdraw it from him; nor do they easily undeceive themselves. Darius, imposed upon by the air of sincerity with which Hystiæus spoke on this occasion, believed him on his own word, and gave him leave to return to Ionia, on condition he came back to the Persian court as soon as he had executed what he promised.

A. M. 3506.

The revolters, in the mean time, though deserted Ant. J. C. 498. by the Athenians, and notwithstanding the considerable check they had received in Ionia, did not lose courage, but still pushed on their point with resolution. Their fleet set sail towards the Hellespont and the Propontis, and reduced Byzantium, with the greater part of the other Grecian cities, in that quarter. After which, as they were returning back again, they obliged the Carians to join with them in this war, as also the people of Cyprus. The Persian generals, having divided their forces among themselves, marched three different ways against the rebels, and defeated them in several encounters, in one of which Aristagoras was slain.

When Hystiæus was arrived at Sardis, his intriguing temper induced him to form a plot against the government, into which he drew a great number of Persians. But, perceiving by some discourse he had with Artaphernes, that the part he had in the revolt of Ionia was not unknown to that governor, he thought it not safe for him to stay any longer at Sardis, and retired secretly the night following to the isle of Chios; from thence he sent a trusty messenger to Sardis, with letters for such of the Persians as he had gained to his party. This messenger betrayed him, and delivered his letters to Artaphernes, by which means the whole plot was discovered, all his accomplices put to death, and his project utterly defeated. But still imagining, that he could bring about some enterprise of importance, if he were once at the head of the Ionian league, he made several attempts to get into Miletus, and to be admitted into the confederacy by the citizens: but none of his endeavours succeeded, and he was obliged to return to Chios.

There, being asked why he had so strongly urged Aristagoras to revolt, and by that means involved Ionia in such calamities, he made answer, that it was because the king had resolved to transport the Ionians into Phoenicia, and to plant the Phoenicians in Ionia. But all this was a mere story and fiction of his own inventing, Darius having never conceived any such design. The artifice however served his purpose extremely well, not only for justifying him to the Ionians, but also for engaging them to prosecute the war with vigour. For being alarmed at the thoughts of this transmigration,

* This island is very remote from Ionia, and could have no relation to it. I am therefore apt to believe, it must be an error that has crept into the text of Herodotus. † Herod. 1. v. c. 103, 104. 108. 122. Ibid. c. 3.

Herod. 1. vi. c. 1—5.

they came to a firm resolution to defend themselves against the Persians to the last extremity.

A. M. 3507.

Artaphernes and Otanes,* with the rest of the Per Ant. J. C. 497. sian generals, finding that Miletus was the centre of the Ionian confederacy, resolved to march thither with all their forces; concluding that, if they could carry that city, all the rest would submit of course. The Ionians, having intelligence of their design, determined in a general assembly to send no army into the field, but to fortify Miletus, and to furnish it to the utmost of their power with provisions, and all things necessary for enduring a siege; and to unite all their forces to engage the Persians at sea, their dexterity in maritime affairs inducing them to believe that they should have the advantage in a naval battle. The place of their rendezvous was Lade, a small isle over against Miletus, where they assembled a fleet of 353 vessels. At the sight of this fleet, the Persians, though stronger by one half with respect to the number of their ships, were afraid to hazard a battle, till by their emissaries they had secretly corrupted the greatest part of the confederates, and engaged them to desert: so that when the two fleets came to engage, the ships of Samos, of Lesbos, and several other places, sailed off, and returned to their own country, and the remaining fleet of the confederates did not consist of above 100 vessels, which were all quickly overpowered by numbers, and almost entirely destroyed. After this, the city of Miletus was besieged, and became a prey to the conquerors, who utterly destroyed it. This happened six years after Aristagoras's revolt. All the other cities, as well on the continent as on the sea coast and in the isles, returned to their duty soon after, either voluntarily or by force. Those persons that stood out were treated as they had been threatened beforehand. The handsomest of the young men were chosen to serve in the king's palace; and the young women were all sent into Persia; the cities and temples were reduced to ashes. These were the effects of the revolt, into which the people were drawn by the ambitious views of Aristagoras and Hystiæus.

The latter of those two had his share also in the general calamity for that same year he was taken by the Persians, and carried to Sardis, where Artaphernes caused him to be immediately hanged, without consulting Darius, lest that prince's affection for Hystiæus should incline him to pardon him, and by that means a dangerous enemy should be left alive, who might create the Persians new troubles. It appeared by the sequel, that Artaphernes's conjecture was well grounded: for when Hystiæus's head was brought to Darius, he expressed great dissatisfaction at the authors of his death, and caused the head to be honourably interred, as being the remains of a person to whom he had infinite obligations, the remembrance whereof was too deeply engraven on his mind, ever to be effaced by

the greatness of any crimes he had afterwards committed. Hystiæus was one of those restless, bold, and enterprising spirits, in whom many good qualities are joined with still greater vices; with whom all means are lawful and good, that promote the end they have in view; who look upon justice, probity, and sincerity, as mere empty names: who make no scruple to employ lying or fraud, treachery or even perjury, when it is to serve their turn; and who reckon the ruin of nations, or even their own country, as nothing, if necessary to their own elevation. His end was worthy his sentiments, and such as is common enough to those irreligious politicians, who sacrifice every thing to their ambition, and acknowledge no other rule of their actions, and hardly any other God, than their interest and fortune.

A. M. 3510.

SECTION VII.

The expedition of Darius's army against Greece.

Darius, in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, Ant. J. C. 494. having recalled all his other generals, sent Mardonius the son of Gobryas, a young lord of an illustrious Persian family, who had lately married one of the king's daughters, to command in chief throughout all the maritime parts of Asia, with a particular order to invade Greece, and to revenge the burning of Sardis upon the Athenians and Eretrians. The king did not show much wisdom in this choice, by which he preferred a young man, because he was a favourite, to all his oldest and most experienced generals; especially in so difficult a war, the success of which he had very much at heart, and wherein the glory of his reign was infinitely concerned. His being son-in-law to the king was a quality, indeed, that might augment his influence, but added nothing to his real merit, or his capacity as a general.

Upon his arrival in Macedonia, into which he had marched with his land forces after having passed through Thrace, the whole country, terrified by his power, submitted. But his fleet attempting to double mount Athos (now called Capo Santo,) in order to gain the coasts of Macedonia, was attacked by so violent a storm, that upwards of 300 ships, with above 20,000 men, perished in the sea. His land army met at the same time with no less fatal a blow. For, being encamped in a place of no security, the Thracians attacked the Persian camp by night, made a great slaughter, and wounded Mardonius himself. All this ill success obliged him shortly after to return into Asia, with grief and confusion at his having miscarried both by sea and land in this expedition.

Darius perceiving, too late, that Mardonius's youth and inexperience had occasioned the defeat of his troops, recalled him, and put two other generals in his place, Datis, a Mede, and Artaphernes, son of his brother Artaphernes, who had been governor of Sardis. The

*Herod. 1. vi. c. 43, 45,

king's thoughts were earnestly bent upon putting in execution the great design he had long had in his mind, which was, to attack Greece with all his forces, and particularly to take a signal vengeance on the people of Athens and Eretria, whose enterprise against Sardis was perpetually in his thoughts.

1. The State of Athens. The characters of Miltiades, Themistocles, ánd Aristides.

Before we enter upon this war, it will be proper to refresh our memories with a view of the state of Athens at this time, which alone sustained the first shock of the Persians at Marathon; as also to form some idea beforehand of the great men who shared in that celebrated victory.

Athens, just delivered from that yoke of servitude which she had been forced to bear for above thirty years, under the tyranny of Pisistratus and his children, now peaceably enjoyed the advantages of liberty, the sweetness and value of which were only heightened and improved by that short privation. Lacedæmon, which was at this time the mistress of Greece, and had contributed at first to this happy change in Athens, seemed afterwards to repent of her good offices; and growing jealous of the tranquillity she herself had procured for her neighbours, she attempted to disturb it, by endeavouring to reinstate Hippias, the son of Pisistratus, in the government of Athens. But all her attempts were fruitless, and served only to manifest her ill-will, and her grief to see Athens determined to maintain its independence even of Sparta itself. Hippias hereupon had recourse to the Persians. Artaphernes, governor of Sardis, sent the Athenians word, as we have already mentioned, that they must re-establish Hippias in his authority, unless they chose rather to draw the whole power of Darius upon them. This second attempt succeeded no better than the first, and Hippias was obliged to wait for a more favourable juncture. We shall see presently that he served as a conductor or guide to the Persian generals sent by Darius against Greece.

Athens, from the time of the recovery of her liberty, was quite another city than under her tyrants, and displayed a very different kind of spirit. Among the citizens,* Miltiades distinguished himself most in the war with the Persians, which we are going to relate. He was the son of Cimon, an illustrious Athenian. This Cimon had a half-brother by the mother's side, whose name was likewise Miltiades, of a very ancient and noble family in Ægina, who had lately been received into the number of the Athenian citizens. He was a person of great credit even in the time of Pisistratus; but, as he could not endure the yoke of a despotic government, he joyfully embraced the offer made him, of going to settle with a co

*Herod. 1. vi. c. 34. 41. Corn. Nep. in Mil. cap. i.-iii.

lony in the Thracian Chersonesus, whither he was invited by the Dolonci, the inhabitants of that country, to be their king, or, according to the language of those times, their tyrant. He, dying without children, left the sovereignty to Stesagoras, his nephew, the eldest son of his brother Cimon; and Stesagoras dying also without issue, the sons of Pisistratus, who then ruled the city of Athens, sent his brother Miltiades, the person we are now speaking of, into that country to be his successor. He arrived there, and established himself in the government in the same year that Darius undertook his expedition against the Scythians. He attended that prince with some ships as far as the Danube; and it was he who advised the Ionians to destroy the bridge, and to return home without waiting for Darius. During his residence in the Chersonesus, he married Hegesipyla,* daughter of Olorus, a Thracian king in the neighbourhood, by whom he had Cimon, the famous Athenian general, of whom a great deal will be said in the sequel. Miltiades, having for several reasons abdicated his government in Thrace, embarked, and took all that he had on board five ships, and set sail for Athens. There he settled a second time, and acquired great reputation.

At the same time two other citizens,† younger than Miltiades, began to distinguish themselves at Athens, namely, Aristides and Themistocles. Plutarch observes, that the former of these two had endeavoured to form himself upon the model of Clisthenes, one of the greatest men of his time, and a zealous defender of liberty, who had greatly contributed to the restoring it at Athens, by expelling the Pisistratidæ out of that city. It was an excellent custom among the ancients, and which it were to be wished might prevail amongst us, that the young men, ambitious of public employments, particularly attached themselves to such aged and experienced persons, as had distinguished themselves most eminently therein; and who, both by their conversation and example, could teach them the art of conducting themselves, and governing others with wisdom and discretion. Thus, says Plutarch, did Aristides attach himself to Clisthenes, and Cimon to Aristides; and he enumerates several others, and among the rest Polybius, whom we have mentioned so often, and who in his youth was the constant disciple, and faithful imitator, of the celebrated Philopomen.

Themistocles and Aristides were of very different dispositions; but they both rendered great services to the commonwealth. Themistocles who, naturally inclined to popular government, omitted nothing that could contribute to render him agreeable to the people, and to gain him friends; behaving himself with great affability and

After the death of Miltiades, this princess had by a second husband a sen, who was called Qlorus, after the name of his grandfather, and who was the father of Thucydides the historian. Herod.

† Plut. in Arist. p. 319, 320; & in Them. p. 112, 113. An seni sit ger. Resp. p. 790, 791 Dicere à peritis, sequí optimos. Tacit. in Agric,