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, they came to a firm resolution to defend themselves against the Persians to the last extremity. Artaphernes and Otanes, with A. M. 3507. the rest of the Persian generals, Ant. J. C. 497. 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 battie, till by their emissaries they had secretly corrupted the greatest part of the confederates, and engaged them to desert: so that when the two flects 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 All the other cities, as well on Aristagoras's revolt. the continent as on the sea coast and in the isles, returned to their duty soon after, either voluntary 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 these two had his share also in the general calamity:2 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 these irreligious politicians, who sacrifice every thing to their ambition, and ac 205 knowledge no other rule of their actions, and hardly A. M. 3510. DARIUS,3 in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, having recalled all his other generals, sent Mardonius the Ant. J. C. 494. 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 the success of favourite, to all his oldest and most experienced generals; especially in so difficult a war, 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 His land army met at the a storm, that upwards of 300 ships, with above 20,000 men, perished in the sea. 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 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. I. The State of Athens. The characters of Miltiades, Themistocles, and 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 o 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 men Herod, 1. vi. c. 43. 45, 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 complaisance to every body, always ready to do service to the citizens, every one of whom he knew by name; nor was he very nice about the means he used to oblige them. Somebody talking with him once on this subject,5 told him he would make an excellent magistrate, if his behaviour towards the citizens was more impartial, and if he was not biassed in favour of one more than another: "God forbid," replied Themistocles, "I should ever sit upon a tribunal, where my friends should find no more credit or favour than strangers." Cleon, who appeared some time after at Athens, observed a quite different conduct, but yet such as was not wholly exempt from blame. When he came into the administration of public affairs, he assembled all his friends, and declared to them that from that moment he renounced their friendship, lest it should prove an obstacle to him in the discharge of his duty, and cause him to act with partiality and injustice. This was doing them very little honour, and entertaining no very high opinion of them. But, as Plutarch says, it was not his friends but his passions, that he ought to have renounced. tioned, 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 Egina, 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 colony 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 Aristides had the discretion to observe a just mediof his brother Cimon; and Stesagoras dying also with- um between these two vicious extremes. Being a out issue, the sons of Pisistratus, who then ruled the favourer of aristocracy in imitation of Lycurgus, whom city of Athens, sent his brother Miltiades, the person he greatly admired, he in a manner struck out a new we are now speaking of, into that country to be his path of his own; not endeavouring to oblige his friends successor. He arrived there, and established himself at the expense of justice, and yet always ready to do in the government in the same year that Darius un-them service when consistent with it. He carefully dertook his expedition against the Scythians. He avoided making use of his friends' recommendations attended that prince with some ships as far as the for obtaining employments, lest it should prove a danDanube; and it was he who advised the Ionians to gerous obligation upon him, as well as a plausible destroy the bridge, and to return home without wait- pretext for them to require the same favour from him ing for Darius. During his residence in the Chersone- on the like occasion. He used to say, that the true sus, he married Hegesipyla,2 daughter of Olorus, a citizen, or the honest man, ought to make no other Thracian king in the neighbourhood, by whom he had use of his credit and power, than upon all occasions to Cimon, the famous Athenian general, of whom a great practise what was honest and just, and engage others deal will be said in the sequel. Miltiades, having for to do the same. 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. 3 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 Pisistratida 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 service to i-iii. 1 Herod, l. vi, c. 34. 41. Corn. Nep, in Mil. сар. After the death of Miltiades, this princess had by a second husband a son, who was called Olorus, after the name of his grandfather, and who was the father of Thucydides the historian, Herod. Plut. in Arist. p. 319, 320; and in Them. p. 112, 113. An seni sit ger. Resp. 790, 791. * Discere â peritis, sequi optimos. Tacit in Agric. Considering this contrariety of principles and humours, we are not to wonder, if, during the administration of these great men, there was a continual opposition between them. Themistocles, who was bold and enterprising, was sure almost always to find Aristides against him, who thought himself obliged to thwart the other's designs, even sometimes when they were just and beneficial to the public, lest he should gain too great an ascendant and authority, which might become pernicious to the commonwealth. One day, having got the better of Themistocles, who had made some proposal really advantageous to the state, he could not contain himself, but cried aloud as he went out of the assembly, that the Athenians would never prosper, till they threw them both into the Barathrum; the Barathrum was a pit, into which malefactors condemned to die were thrown. But notwithstanding this mutual opposition, when the common interest was at stake, they were no longer enemies; and whenever they were to take the field, or engage in any expedition, they agreed together to lay aside all differences on leaving the city, and to be at liberty to resume them on their return, if they thought fit. The predominant passion of Themistocles was ambition and the love of glory, which discovered itself from his childhood. After the battle of Marathon, of which we shall speak presently, when the people were every where extolling the valour and conduct of Miltiades, who had won it, Themistocles generally appeared very thoughtful and melancholy: he spent whole nights without sleep, and was never seen at public feasts and entertainments as usual. When his friends, astonished at this change, asked him the rea son of it, he made answer, that Miltiades's trophies | Athenians, who began to display the extent of their would not let him sleep. These were a kind of spur, merit, when Darius turned his arms against Greece. which never ceased to goad and animate his ambition. From this time Themistocles addicted himself wholly to arms; and the love of martial glory wholly engrossed him. As for Aristides, the love of the public good was the great spring of all his actions. What he was most particularly admired for, was his constancy and steadiness under the unforeseen changes to which those who have the administration of public affairs are exposed: for he was neither elevated with the honours conferred upon him, nor cast down at the contempt and disappointments he sometimes experienced. On all occasions he preserved his usual calmness and temper, being persuaded that a man ought to give himself up entirely to his country, and to serve it with a perfect disinterestedness, as well with regard to glory as to riches. The general esteem in which he was held for the uprightness of his intentions, the purity of his zeal for the interests of the state, and the sincerity of his virtue, appeared one day in the theatre, when one of Eschylus's plays was acting. For when the actor had repeated that verse which describes the character of Amphiaraus, He does not desire to seem an honest and virtuous man, but really to be so, the whole audience cast their eyes upon Aristides, and applied the eulogium to him. Another thing related of him, with respect to public employment, is very remarkable. He was no sooner made treasurer-general of the republic, than he made it appear that his predecessors in that office had cheated the state of vast sums of money, and, among the rest, Themistocles in particular; for this great man, with all his merit, was not irreproachable on that head. For which reason, when Aristides came to pass his accounts, Themistocles raised a powerful face tion against him, accused him of having embezzled the public treasure, and prevailed so far as to have him condemned and fined. But the principal inhabitants, and the most virtuous part of the citizens, rising up against so unjust a sentence, not only the judgment was reversed, and the fine remitted, but he was elected treasurer again for the year ensuing. He then seemed to repent of his former administration; and, by showing himself more tractable and indulgent towards others, he found out the secret of pleasing all that plundered the commonwealth. For, as he neither reproved them, nor narrowly inspected their accounts, all those plunderers, grown fat with spoil and rapine, now extolled Aristides to the skies. It would have been easy for him, as we perceive, to have enriched himself in a post of that nature, which seems, as it were, to invite a man to it by the many favourable opportunities it lays in his way; especially as he had to do with officers, who, for their part, were intent upon nothing but robbing the public, and would have been ready to conceal the frauds of the treasurer their master, upon condition he did them the same favour. These very officers now made interest with the people to have him continued a third year in the same employment. But when the time of election was come, just as they were upon the point of electing Aristides unanimously, he rose up, and warmly reproved the Athenian people: "What," says he, "when I managed your treasure with all the fidelity and diligence an honest man is capable of, I met with the most cruel treatment, and the most mortifying return; and now that I have abandoned it to the mercy of all these robbers of the public, I am an admirable man and the best of citizens! I cannot help declaring to you that I am more ashamed of the honour you do me this day, than I was of the condemnation you passed against me this time twelvemonth; and with grief I find that it is more glorious with us to be complaisant to knaves, than to save the treasures of the republic." By this declaration he silenced the public plunderers, and gained the esteem of all good men. Such were the characters of these two illustrious A. M. 3511. II. Darius sends heralds into Greece, in order to sound The Persian heralds that went to Sparta and 1 Herod. l. vi. c. 49-86. 2 Herod. 1. vii, c. 133. 138. Paus. in Lacon. p. 182, 183. III. The Persians defeated at Marathon by Miltiades. | slaved; and that he had it in his power by one word The melancholy end of that general. Darius immediately sent away DaA. M. 3514. tis and Artaphernes, whom he had Ant. J. C. 490. appointed generals in the room of Mardonius. Their instructions were to give up Eretria and Athens to be plundered, to burn all the houses and temples therein, to make all the inhabitants of both places prisoners, and to send them to Darius; for which purpose they went provided with a great number of chains and fetters. They set sail with a fleet of 5, or 600 ships, and an army of 500,000 men. After having made themselves masters of the isles in the Ægean sea, which they did without difficulty, they turned their course towards Eretria, a city of Euboea, which they took after a siege of seven days by the treachery of some of the principal inhabitants: they reduced it entirely to ashes, put all the inhabitants in chains, and sent them to Persia. Darius,2 contrary to their expectation, treated them kindly, and gave them a village in the country of Cissia for their habitation, which was but a day's journey from Susa, where Apollonius Tyanæus found some of their descendants 600 years afterwards. After this success at Eretria, the Persians advanced towards Attica. Hippias conducted them to Marathon, a little town by the sea-side. They took care to acquaint the Athenians with the fate of Eretria; and to let them know, that not an inhabitant of that place had escaped their vengeance, in hopes that this news would induce them to surrender immediately. The Athenians had sent to Lacedæmon, to desire succours against the common enemy, which the Spartans granted them instantly, and without deliberation; but which could not set out till some days after, on account of an ancient custom and a superstitious maxim amongst them, that did not admit them to begin their march before the full of the moon. Not one of their other allies prepared to succour them, so great terror had the formidable army of the Persians spread on every side. The inhabitants of Platea alone furnished them with 1000 soldiers. In this extremity the Athenians were obliged to arm their slaves, which had never been done there before this occasion. It was The Persian army commanded by Datis consisted of 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse: that of the Athenians amounted in all but to 10,000 men. headed by ten generals, of whom Miltiades was the chief; and these ten were to have the command of the whole army, each for a day, one after another. There was a great dispute among these generals whether they should hazard a battle, or expect the enemy within their walls. The latter opinion had a great majority, and appeared very reasonable. For, what appearance of success could there be in facing with a handful of soldiers so numerous and formidable an army as that of the Persians? Miltiades, however declared for the contrary opinion, and showed that the only means to exalt the courage of their own troops, and to strike a terror into those of the enemy, was to advance boldly towards them with an air of confidence and intrepidity. Aristides strenuously defended this opinion, and brought some of the other commanders into it; so when the suffrages came to be taken, they were equal on both sides of the question. Hereupon Miltiades addressed himself to Callimachus, who was then polemarch, and had a right of voting as well as the ten commanders. He very warmly represented to him, that the fate of their country was then in his hands; and that his single vote was to determine whether Athens should preserve her liberty, or be en to become as famous as Harmodius and Aristogiton, the authors of that liberty which the Athenians enjoyed. Callimachus pronounced that word in favour of Miltiades's opinion; and accordingly a battle was resolved upon. Aristides, reflecting that a command which changes every day must necessarily be feeble, unequal, not of a piece, often contrary to itself, and incapable either of projecting or executing any uniform design, was of opinion, that their danger was both too great and too pressing for them to expose their affairs to such inconveniences. In order to prevent them, he judged it necessary to vest the whole power in one single person; and to induce his colleagues to act conformably, he himself set the first example of resignation. When the day came on which it was his turn to take upon him the command, he resigned it to Miltiades, as the more able and experienced general. The other commanders did the same, all sentiments of jealousy giving way to the love of the public good; and by this day's behaviour we may learn, that it is almost as glorious to acknowledge merit in other persons, as to have it in one's self. Miltiades, however, thought fit to wait till his own day came. Then, like an able captain, he endeavoured by the advantage of the ground to gain what he wanted in strength and number. He drew up his army at the foot of a mountain, that the enemy should not be able either to surround him, or charge him in the rear. On the two sides of the army he caused large trees to be thrown, which were cut down on purpose, in order to cover his flanks, and render the Persian cavalry useless. Datis, their commander, was very sensible that the place was not advantageous for him; but, relying upon the number of his troops, which was infinitely superior to that of the Athenians, and, besides, not being willing to stay till the reinforcement of the Spartans arrived, he determined to engage. The Athenians did not wait for the enemy's charging them. As soon as the signal of battle was given, they ran against the enemy with all the fury imaginable. The Persians looked upon this first step of the Athenians as a piece of madness, considering their army was so small, and utterly destitute both of cavalry and archers: but they were quickly undeceived. Herodotus observes, that this was the first time the Grecians began an engagement by running in this manner; which may seem somewhat astonishing. And, indeed, was there not reason to appre hend, that their running would in some measure weaken the troops, and blunt the edge of their first impetuosity? and that the soldiers, having quitted their ranks, might be out of breath, exhausted, and in disorder, when they came up to the enemy, who, waiting to receive them in good order, and without stirring, ought, one would think, to be in a condition to sustain their charge advantageously? This consideration engaged Pompey, at the battle of Pharsalia, to keep his troops steady, and to forbid them making any movement till the enemy made the first attack; but Cæsars blames Pompey's conduct in this respect, and gives this reason for it: that the impetuosity of an army's motion in running to engage, inspires the soldiers with a certain enthusiasm and martial fury, gives an additional force to their blows, and increases and inflames their courage, which, by the rapid movement of so many thousand men together, is blown up and kindled, if I may use that expression like flames by Cæs. in, Bell. Civil, 1. iii. Plut. in Pomp. p. 656. in Cæs. p. 719. Quod nobis quidem nulla ratione factum à Pompeio videtur: propterea quòd est quædam incitatio atque alacritas naturaliter innata omnibus, quæ studio pugnæ incenditur. Hanc non reprimere, sed augere imperatores debent. Cas. Καῖσαρ περὶ τοῦτο διαμαρτεῖν φησὶ τὸν Πομπήϊον, ἀγνοί σαντα, την μετὰ δρόμου καὶ φοβερὰν ἐν ἀρχῇ γινομένην σύβο ῥαξιν, ὡς ἔντε ταῖς πληγαῖς βίαν προστίθησι, καὶ συνεκκαίει τὸν θύμον ἐκ πάντων ἀναῤῥιπιζόμενον. Plut. in Cas. the wind. I leave it to military men to decide the point between these two great captains, and return to my subject. The battle was very fierce and obstinate. Miltiades had made the wings of his army exceeding strong, but had left the main body more weak, and not so deep; the reason of which seems manifest enough. Having but 10,000 men to oppose to such a multitude of the enemy, it was impossible for him either to make an extensive front, or to give an equal depth to his battalions. He was obliged therefore to take his choice; and he imagined that he could gain the victory no otherwise than by the efforts he should make with his two wings, to break and disperse those of the Persians; not doubting but, when his wings were once victorious, they would be able to attack the enemy's main body in flank, and complete the victory without much difficulty. This was the same plan as Hannibal followed afterwards at the battle of Cannæ, which succeeded so well with him, and which indeed can scarce ever fail of succeeding. The Persians then attacked the main body of the Grecian army, and made their greatest effort particularly upon their front. This was led by Aristides and Themistocles, who supported the attack a long time with an intrepid courage and bravery, but were at length obliged to give ground. At that very instant came up their two victorious wings, which had defeated those of the enemy, and put them to flight. Nothing could be more seasonable for the main body of the Grecian army, which began to be broken, being quite borne down by the number of the Persians. The scale was quickly turned, and the Barbarians were entirely routed. They all betook themselves to flight, not towards their camp, but to their ships, that they might make their escape. The Athenians pursued them thither, and set many of their vessels on fire. It was on this occasion that Cynægirus, the brother of the poet Eschylus, who had laid hold of one of the ships, in order to get into it with those that fled, had his right hand cut off, and fell into the sea and was drowned. The Athenians took seven ships. They had not above 200 men killed on their side in this engagement; whereas on the side of the Persians about 6000 were slain, without reckoning those who fell into the sea as they endeavoured to escape, or those that were consumed with the ships set on fire. Hippias was killed in the battle. That ungrateful and perfidious citizen, in order to recover the unjust dominion usurped by his father Pisistratus over the Athenians, had the baseness to become a servile courtier to a Barbarian prince, and to implore his aid against his native country. Urged on by hatred and revenge, he suggested all the means he could invent to load his country with chains; and even put himself at the head of its enemies, to reduce that city to ashes to which he owed his birth, and against which he had no other ground of complaint, than that she would not acknowledge him for her tyrant. An ignominious death, together with everlasting infamy entailed upon his name, was the just reward of so black a treachery. Immediately after the battle,2 an Athenian soldier, still reeking with the blood of the enemy, quitted the army and ran to Athens to carry his fellow-citizens the happy news of the victory. When he arrived at the magistrates' house, he only uttered two words, Rejoice, the victory is ours,3 and fell down dead at their feet. The Persians had thought themselves so sure of Justin adds, that Cynægirus, having first had his right and then his left hand cut off with an axe, laid hold of the vessel with his teeth, and would not let go, so violent was his rage against the enemy. This account is utterly fabulous, and has not the least appearance of truth. 'Plut, de glor. Athen. P. 347. victory, that they had brought marble to Marathon, in order to erect a trophy there. The Grecians took this marble, and caused a statue to be made of it by Phidias in honour of the goddess Nemesis,5 who had a temple near the place where the battle was fought. The Persian fleet, instead of sailing by the islands, in order to re-enter Asia, doubled the cape of Sunium, with the design of surprising Athens before the Athe nian forces should arrive there to defend the city. But the latter had the precaution to march thither with nine tribes to secure their country, and performed the march with so much expedition, that they arrived there the same day. The distance from Marathon to Athens is about forty miles, or fifteen French leagues. This was a great exertion for an army that had just undergone a long and severe battle. By this means the design of the Persians miscarried. Aristides, the only general that stayed at Marathon with his tribe, to take care of the spoil and prisoners, acted suitably to the good opinion that was entertained of him. For though gold and silver were scattered about in abundance in the enemy's camp, and though all the tents as well as galleys that were taken, were full of rich clothes and costly furniture, and treasure of all kinds, to an immense value, he not only was not tempted to touch any of it himself, but hindered every body else from touching it. As soon as the day of the full moon was over, the Lacedæmonians began their march with 2000 men; and having travelled with all imaginable expedition, arrived in Attica after three days' forced march; the distance from Sparta to Attica being no less than 1200 stadia, or 150 English miles. The battle was fought the day before they arrived:7 however, they proceeded to Marathon, where they found the fields covered with dead bodies and riches. After having congratulated the Athenians on the happy success of the battle, they returned to their own country. They were hindered by a foolish and ridiculous superstition from having a share in the most glorious action recorded in history. For it is almost without example, that such a handful of men, as the Athenians were, should not only make head against so numerous an army as that of the Persians, but should entirely route and defeat them. One is astonished to see so formidable a power attack so small a city and miscarry; and we are almost tempted to question the truth of an event that appears so improbable, which nevertheless is very certain. This battle alone shows what wonderful things may be performed by an able general, who knows how to take his advantages; by the intrepidity of soldiers that are not afraid of death: by a zeal for one's country; the love of liberty; a hatred and detestation of slavery and tyranny; which were sentiments natural to the Athenians, but undoubtedly very much augmented and inflamed by the very presence of Hippias, whom they dreaded to have again for their master, after all that had passed between them. Paus. 1. i. p. 62. This was the goddess whose business it was to punish injustice and oppression. [Plain of Marathon.-This plain, so highly celebrated in classical history, is so denominated from the village of that name, which is situate at the N. W. extremity of a which is quite flat, and extends along the sea shore from valley, which opens towards the S. E. into the great plain, N. E. to S. W. The distance of the village from Athens is 8 hours or 24 miles, allowing 3 miles to each hour; but as the road is through a rocky and uneven country, the distance does not, perhaps, exceed 24 miles per hour, or 20 miles. From the village to the sea, the plain extends 3 miles. Beyond the village, at the end of the plain, towards the sea, is seen the conspicuous Tomb (called Taphos by Pausanias, and Tepe in modern times; an appellation bestowed on every ancient tomb of this sort throughout Greece and Asia Minor,) raised over the bodies of the XaloɛTE, Xalpoμev. I could not render the liveliness of Athenians who fell in this battle.] VOL. I.-27 Isocr. in Panegyr. p. 113. |