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the Athenians having the command of the rear, the place of honour and danger, and much elated by what had been done. As Themistocles sailed along the coast, he took notice of the harbours and sure places for the enemies' ships to come to land at, and engraved large letters in such stones as he found there by chance, as also in others which he set up on purpose near to the landing-places, or where they were to water; in which inscriptions he called upon the Ionians to forsake the Medes, if it were possible, and come over to the Greeks, who were their proper founders and fathers, and were now hazarding all for their liberties; but, if this could not be done, at any rate to impede and disturb the Persians in all engagements. He hoped that these writings would prevail with the Ionians to revolt, or raise some trouble by making their fidelity doubtful to the Persians. Now, though Xerxes had already passed through Doris, and invaded the country of Phocis, and was burning and destroying the towns of the Phocians, yet the Greeks sent them no relief; and though the Athenians earnestly desired them to meet the Persians in Boeotia, before they could come into Attica, as they themselves had come forward by sea at Artemisium, they gave no ear to their request, being wholly intent upon Peloponnesus and resolved to gather all their forces together within the Isthmus, and to build a wall from sea to sea in that narrow neck of land. So that the Athenians were enraged to see themselves betrayed, and at the same time afflicted and dejected at their own destitution. For to fight alone against such a numerous army was to no purpose, and the only expedient now left them was to leave their city, and cling to their

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ships; which the people were very unwilling to submit to, imagining that it would signify little now to gain a victory, and not understanding how there could be deliverance any longer, after they had once forsaken the temples of their gods, and left the tombs and monuments of their ancestors to the fury of their enemies.

sea.

Themistocles, being at a loss, and not able to draw the people over to his opinion by any human reasons, set his machines to work, as in a theatre, and employed prodigies and oracles. The serpent of Minerva, kept in the inner part of her temple, disappeared; the priests gave it out to the people, that the offerings which were set for it were found untouched; and declared, by the suggestion of Themistocles, that the goddess had left the city, and taken her way before them towards the And he often urged them with the oracle* which bade them trust to walls of wood, showing them that walls of wood could signify nothing else but ships; and that the island of Salamis was termed in it not miserable or unhappy, but had the epithet of divine, for that it should one day be associated with a great good fortune of the Greeks. At length his opinion prevailed, and he obtained a decree, that the city should be committed to the protection of Minerva queen of Athens; that they who were of age to bear arms should

"While all things else are taken," said the oracle, "within the boundary of Cecrops, and the covert of divine Citharon, Zeus grants to Athena that the wall of wood alone shall remain uncaptured; that shall help thee and thy children. Stay not for horsemen and an host of men on foot coming from the mainland; retire turning thy back; one day yet thou shalt show thy face, O divine Salamis, but thou shalt slay children of women, either at the scattering of Demeter or at the gathering."

embark, and that each should see to sending away his children, women, and slaves where he could. This decree being confirmed, most of the Athenians removed their parents, wives, and children to Trozen, where they were received with eager good-will by the Trazenians, who passed a vote that they should be maintained at the public charge, by a daily payment of two obols to every one, and leave be given to the children to gather fruit where they pleased, and schoolmasters paid to instruct them. The proposer of this vote was Nicagoras.* There was no public treasure at that time in Athens; but the council of Areopagus, Aristotle tells us, distributed eight drachmas to every one that served, which was a great help to the manning of the fleet. But Clidemus ascribes this also to the art of Themistocles; for when the Athenians were on their way down to the haven of Piræus, the shield of Minerva, with the head of Medusa was missing; and he, under the pretext of searching for it, ransacked all places, and found among their goods considerable sums of money concealed, which he applied to the public use; and with this the soldiers and seamen were well provided for their voyage. When the whole city of Athens was thus going on board ship, it afforded a spectacle worthy of pity alike and admiration, to see them thus send away their fathers and children before them, and unmoved with their cries, and tears, and embraces pass over into the

* The guides in the time of Pausanias (a generation later than Plutarch) showed some figures in a colonnade in the marketplace of Trozen, which, they said, were representations of these Athenian women and children, erected in remembrance of their staying in the town.

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island. But that which stirred compassion most of all was, that many old men, by reason of their great age, remained behind; and even the tame domestic animals could not be seen without some pity, running along the shore and howling, as desirous to be carried along with their masters that had kept them; among which it is reported that Xanthippus, the father of Pericles, had a dog that would not endure to stay behind, but leaped into the sea, and swam along by the galley's side till he came to the island of Salamis, where he fainted away and died, and that spot in the island, which is still called the Dog's Grave, is said to be his.

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11 Among the great actions of Themistocles at this crisis, the recall of Aristides was not the least. For before the war he had been ostracised by the party which Themistocles headed, and was in banishment; but now, perceiving that the people regretted his absence, and were fearful that he might go over to the Persians to revenge himself, and thereby ruin the affairs of Greece, Themistocles proposed a decree, that those who were banished

for a fixed time might return again, to give assistance by word and deed to the cause of Greece with the rest of their fellow-citizens. Eurybiades, on account of the greatness of Sparta, was admiral of the Greek fleet, but yet was faint-hearted in time of danger, and willing to weigh anchor and set sail for the Isthmus of Corinth, near which the land army lay encamped; which Themistocles resisted; and this was the occasion of the wellknown words, when Eurybiades, to check his impatience, told him that at the Olympic games they that start off before the rest are lashed; "and they," replied Themistocles, "that lag behind are not crowned." Again, Eurybiades lifting up his staff as if he were going to strike, Themistocles said, "Strike if you will, but hear." Eurybiades, wondering much at his moderation, desired him to speak, and Themistocles now brought him to a better understanding. And when one who stood by him told him that it did not become those who had neither city nor house to lose, to persuade others to relinquish their habitations and forsake their countries, Themistocles gave a sharp reply: "We have indeed left our houses and our walls, base fellow, not thinking it fit to become slaves for the sake of things that have no life nor soul; and yet our city is the greatest of all Greece, consisting of two hundred galleys, which are here to defend you, if you please to let them; but if you run away and betray us, as you did once before, the Greeks shall soon hear news of the Athenians possessing as fair a country, and as large and free a city, as that they have lost." This expression made Eurybiades suspect, that if he retreated the Athenians would leave him. And when one of Eretria began to oppose him,

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