Herodotus Tweets - Book 7

7.239 Demaratus had sent a secret text to Sparta pre-war to tell them Xerxes was invading. Leonidas' wife Gorgo figured out how to read it.

7.238 Xerxes walked around among the Greek corpses. When he found Leonidas', he ordered that its head be cut off and impaled on a stake.

7.237 Xerxes said that he trusted his guest-friend Demaratus, but in this case he was going to take Achaemenes' advice.

7.236 Xerxes' brother Achaemenes, however, advised him not to follow Demaratus' advice as it would mean separating his fleet and land army.

7.235 Demaratus suggested he distract the Spartans by harrying the Peloponnese by sea. Otherwise he'd face terrible fighting at the Isthmus.

7.234 After the battle was won Xerxes asked Demaratus how many men like the Spartans were left (answer: 8000) and how he could defeat them.

7.233 When the other Greeks retreated to the hill, the Thebans surrendered. They told the Persians they'd been forced to fight.

7.232 Another Spartan, Pantites, went as a messenger to Thessaly & thus survived Thermopylae. When he got back to Sparta he hanged himself.

7.231 Back in Sparta he was labeled a coward. No one would speak to him or give him fire. But he restored his honor fighting at Plataea.

7.230 Others say Aristodemus was serving as a messenger: he dallied on the way back to the army & in that way avoided dying at Thermopylae.

7.229 There's a story that Leonidas released two injured men from service. Eurytus chose to stay & died fighting, and Aristodemus went home.

7.228 Epitaphs later commemorated the Greek dead, e.g.: Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie.

7.227 Dieneces said other cool stuff too. After him, 2 Spartan brothers were bravest, Alpheus & Maron. The bravest Thespian was Dithyrambus.

7.226 They say Dieneces was the bravest Greek. Told the Persians' arrows would darken the sky, he rejoiced that they'd fight in the shade.

7.225 When the Persians from the path arrived, the Greeks retreated to a hill. Surrounded, they fought w/daggers & with their hands & teeth.

7.224 Leonidas fell in the fight & other famous Spartans: I've learned the names of the 300 who died with him. Two sons of Darius also died.

7.223 Xerxes attacked again on the 3rd day and the Greeks, knowing they would die, fought in a frenzy, with no regard for their lives.

7.222 The rest of the allies went home, but Leonidas made the Thebans stay, against their will, and the Thespians volunteered to do so.

7.221 A proof of this is that Leonidas ordered the prophet Megistias to leave. Megistias refused to go, but he did send his son home.

7.220 But some say--and I believe this--that Leonidas sent the allies away. Meanwhile, he and his Spartiates refused to quit their post.

7.219 The Greeks in the pass heard from lookouts that the Persians were coming along the path. Some of them fled. Others prepared to fight.

7.218 The Phocians fled to the mtn top, thinking the Persians would pursue them, but the Persians bypassed them and continued on the path.

7.217 The Persians marched along the path all night. At dawn they reached the summit, where 1000 Phocians had been stationed to keep watch.

7.216 The path is called the Anopaea. It begins at the Asopus River and extends along the mountain, ending at the city of Alpenus.

7.215 Xerxes was pleased with Ephialtes' information. He immediately sent Hydarnes and his men off along the path.

7.214 Some say it was Onetes & Corydallus who told Xerxes, but I don't agree. The Greeks later put a price on Ephialtes' head, not theirs.

7.213 Xerxes didn't know what to do, but a local named Ephialtes, wanting $$$, told him about a path that led over the mtn to Thermopylae.

7.212 The Persians did no better on day 2 and withdrew. The Greeks--except the Phocians--fought by nation, in turns, & were still fresh.

7.211 Next Xerxes sent his Immortals against the Greeks, but they fared no better than the Medes. The Spartans fought especially well.

7.210 Xerxes waited 4 days, thinking the Greeks would run. On the 5th, his Medes & Cissians attacked the Greeks but failed to defeat them.

7.209 Xerxes couldn’t believe they were really going to fight him. Demaratus assured him they were preparing for war.

7.208 Meanwhile, Xerxes sent a spy to see what the Greeks in the pass were up to. He saw the Spartans exercising and combing their hair.

7.207 When the Greeks at Thermopylae saw the enemy, many wanted to retreat to the Isthmus. Leo refused & sent requests for reinforcements.

7.206 More Spartans were due to go to Thermopylae after the Carnean Festival. Other Greeks intended to show up after the Olympics.

7.205 Leo's two older bros had died w/o sons. L. picked his 300 Spartans & urged Thebes to join as well as they were suspected of medism.

7.204 Leonidas of Sparta, the son of Anaxandrides, was in overall command of these various contingents. He had become king unexpectedly.

7.203 The Opuntian Locrians were there as well, in full force, as well as a thousand Phocians.

7.202 There were 300 Spartiates at Thermopylae & 2800 other Peloponnesians. Another 700 came from Thespis in Boeotia and 400 from Thebes.

7.201 Xerxes camped in the Trachinian part of Malis while the Greeks camped in the Thermopylae Pass itself, which locals call the Gates.

7.200 South of the Asopus is the Phoenix, which empties into the Asopus. From there it's about 1.75 miles to Thermopylae.

7.199 The city of Trachis is about a half mile from the Black River. South of Trachis there's a ravine through which the Asopus River flows.

7.198 Xerxes marched into Malis along the gulf. The land is flat, bounded inland by mtns & crossed by the Spercheus, Dyras, & Black Rivers.

7.197 In Achaea X was told the story of why the Achaeans, in accordance w/an oracle, punish the 1st-born descendants of a guy named Phrixus.

7.196 Xerxes, meanwhile, marched south with the land army through Thessaly and Achaea. He arrived in Malis three days after the fleet.

7.195 The Greeks interrogated their prisoners, then sent them in bonds to the Isthmus of Corinth.

7.194 15 Persian ships, lagging behind the rest, accidentally sailed toward Artemisium rather than Aphetae. The Greeks easily captured them.

7.193 The Persians, meanwhile, sailed from Sepias, rounded the Cape of Magnesia, and anchored at Aphetae.

7.192 After the storm the Greeks at Chalcis heard about the damage the Persian fleet had sustained. They hurried back to Artemisium.

7.191 Many provision boats were lost too. By sacrificing, etc., the Magi got the wind to stop on the 4th day--unless it stopped on its own.

7.190 No fewer than 400 Persian ships were destroyed, they say, and a vast number of lives and much property lost.

7.189 They say that the Athenians at Chalcis had called upon Boreas, the North Wind, to help them by destroying the Persians' ships.

7.188 The Persians sailed to Sepias & anchored 8 deep offshore. In the A.M. a great wind came up & wrecked many of the ships against rocks.

7.187 Plus, an untold number of women, eunuchs, and animals accompanied the army. It's a wonder there was enough food for all of them.

7.186 Add to that the servants and the guys in the provision boats, and Xerxes was prob. commanding 5,283,220 men when he got to Sepias.

7.185 By my estimate, another 2,461,610 men were recruited to his forces from Europe.

7.184 The Persians had 1207 ships & 3000 boats. There were some 2,317,610 men serving in the fleet and army who’d come w/Xerxes from Asia.

7.183 The Greek fleet learned of this by signal fire and withdrew to Chalcis in the Euripus. The Persians sailed from Therme to Cape Sepias.

7.182 The third ship escaped. The Athenians on board beached the ship at the mouth of the Peneus and made their way overland back to Athens.

7.181 They captured a 2nd ship. One of the crewmen, Pytheas, fought so bravely that the Persians treated his wounds afterward & honored him.

7.180 The Persians immediately captured one of the ships. They took the handsomest man on board, a certain Leon, and slit his throat.

7.179 The Delphians still sacrifice to the winds. 10 Persian ships sailed from Therme & chased off 3 Greek ships on guard duty off Sciathus.

7.178 Meanwhile, the Delphians consulted Apollo and were told to pray to the winds, as they would be great allies for the Greeks.

7.177 The Greeks chose Thermopylae because the Persians would be unable to take advantage of their cavalry & overwhelming nos. in the pass.

7.176 Artemisium's on the n. coast of Euboea. The Therm. pass is narrow, bounded by a mtn [to south] & the sea [north] & bisected by a wall.

7.175 Meeting at the Isthmus, the Greeks next decided they'd defend the pass at Thermopylae while their fleet sailed to nearby Artemisium.

7.174 So the Thessalians, having been abandoned by the Greeks, were forced to side with Xerxes.

7.173 The Greeks sent an army to the Tempe Pass, between Macedon & Thessaly, but they left after Alexander of Macedon urged them 2 withdraw.

7.172 The Thessalians medized of necessity. They asked the Greeks for help against Xerxes, as their country would be the 1st to be overrun.

7.171 Crete was then repopulated by new peeps. These fought at Troy, came home, & (mostly) died. Crete is now occupied by a 3rd population.

7.170 The Cretans once besieged Camicus in Sicily unsuccessfully. On the way home they were shipwrecked off Italy and founded Hyria there.

7.169 The Cretans asked Delphi for advice and were reminded that the Greeks hadn't helped them at Camicus. They decided not to send help.

7.168 The Corcyraeans promised help and in fact sent 60 ships, but they never showed: they claimed bad weather kept them in the Peloponnese.

7.167 The Carthaginians say Hamilcar threw himself on a pyre when he saw that his troops would be routed, and his body was consumed by fire.

7.166 Gelon allegedly defeated Hamilcar of Carthage on the same day the Greeks won at Salamis. Oddly, Hamilcar was never found afterwards.

7.165 Some say Gelon would have helped the Greeks, even w/o being given command, if the Carthaginians weren't attacking Sicily at the time.

7.164 This Cadmus had once voluntarily surrendered his hereditary tyranny over Cos and moved to Sicily--one proof of his just character.

7.163 Later, after Xerxes crossed to Europe, Gelon sent a man, Cadmus, to Delphi w/3 ships: if Xerxes won, C. was to give him earth & water.

7.162 And so Gelon dismissed the envoys and bid them tell the Greeks that spring had been taken from the year (as they'd forgone his help).

7.161 An Athenian answered that his people were next in line to command at sea: they wouldn't yield the position to anyone but the Spartans.

7.160 Gelon suggested in turn that he and the Spartans share in the leadership, one to command the fleet, and the other the land army.

7.159 One of the envoys, a Spartan, rejected Gelon's terms: the Spartans, he said, would not surrender leadership of the league to Gelon.

7.158 Gelon rebuked them for not helping him in the past, then offered to send 200 ships & 28,000 men--but only if he could lead the Greeks.

7.157 The Greek envoys asked this Gelon for help against Persia, arguing that, if Greece fell, Xerxes would surely advance against Sicily.

7.156 Gelon then gave Gela to his brother to govern and concentrated on strengthening Syracuse (by, for example, increasing its population).

7.155 After Hippocrates died, Gelon managed to wrest control of Gela from H.'s sons. He then won possession of Syracuse & became its tyrant.

7.154 When Hippocrates was tyrant of Gela, Gelon was in command of his cavalry and proved himself brilliant.

7.153 Other envoys visited Gelon in Sicily. His effeminate ancestor Telines won 4 his descendants the priesthood of the infernal goddesses.

7.152 I don't know what's true. I'm obliged to record what I've heard (e.g. that Argos summoned Xerxes to Greece), but I needn't believe it.

7.151 That may be: years later some Argives allegedly went to Susa to confirm their friendship w/Persia, which they'd 1st made with Xerxes.

7.150 That's the Argives' story. But some say they had an agreement with Xerxes & used the leadership issue as a pretext to remain neutral.

7.149 The Spartans offered instead to give Argos' king a vote equal to 1 of their kings, but the Argives refused & kicked them out of Argos.

7.148 The envoys sent to Argos were told the Argives would join in fighting Persia if they were given leadership of half the Greek league.

7.147 Xerxes wanted the spies to return home and report on the size of his forces. That way many of the Greeks would surrender w/o a fight.

7.146 The 3 men sent to Asia as spies were caught. They would have been executed, but Xerxes put a stop to it and had them shown everything.

7.145 The Greeks met & resolved to: 1. end their in-fighting, 2. send spies to Persia, & 3. send envoys to Argos, Sicily, Corcyra, & Crete.

7.144 It was Themistocles who'd persuaded the Athenians to use surplus $ from the mines to build ships--w/which they'd now confront Xerxes.

7.143 Themistocles suggested that Salamis would prove baneful to *enemy* children of women, not to the Athenians. Plus, wooden wall = fleet.

7.142 Two readings of the oracle prevailed: the wooden wall was the Acropolis or the fleet. But if the fleet, why the warning re. Salamis?

7.141 A 2nd oracle told them that only a wall of wood would help them, and that the island of Salamis would destroy many children of women.

7.140 The Athenians had received a terrifying oracle from Delphi urging them to flee to the ends of the earth before the Persians invaded.

7.139 My opinion is this: the Athenians saved Greece. The Greeks could not have won w/o their fleet. They would have medized or been killed.

7.138 Xerxes' expedition was nominally against Athens, but in fact against all the Greeks. Some capitulated; those who didn't were scared.

7.137 So S & B went home. Much later their sons were killed while serving as heralds--divine punishment, finally, for the Spartans' offense.

7.136 The two arrived at Susa and offered themselves to Xerxes to be killed, but he refused to repay the Spartans' offense with his own.

7.135 S & B met en route w/Hydarnes, who asked why they resisted Persia. If he knew what freedom was, they said, he'd bid them fight for it.

7.134 The Spartans, punished for the offense w/bad omens, decided to atone by sending Sperthias & Bulis, volunteers, to Persia to be killed.

7.133 Xerxes hadn't sent heralds to Sparta or Athens, however, as the last heralds sent had been thrown respectively into a well and pit.

7.132 All the Boeotians had medized but the Thespians & Plataeans. The Greek allies swore an oath against them & the other medizing Greeks.

7.131 Xerxes lingered in Pieria while his men cleared trees to facilitate the army's march. The heralds he'd sent to Greece had returned.

7.130 When told the Peneus couldn't change course, Xerxes knew why Thessaly had capitulated: one could easily flood it by damming the river.

7.129 People say that Thessaly was once a lake, hemmed in by mountains before Poseidon made the channel through which the Peneus now flows.

7.128 Xerxes sailed off to see the mouth of the Peneus River. He asked his peeps if its course could be altered so it met the sea elsewhere.

7.127 When Xerxes arrived at Therme his army encamped there. They occupied all the land from Therme to the Lydias and Haliacmon Rivers.

7.126 There are lots of lions and wild oxen in these parts. The lions are found only west of the Nestus River and east of the Achelous.

7.125 On the way, lions continually attacked Xerxes' camels at night. Strangely, the camels were the only creatures that the lions attacked.

7.124 The fleet arrived at Therme and waited for the king. Xerxes, meanwhile, was marching west from Acanthus through Paeonia and Crestonia.

7.123 They added ships and forces from Potidaea and Aphytis, for example, and from Mende, Scione, Sane, Lipaxus, and many others.

7.122 The fleet sailed through the canal at Athos, then sailed directly toward Therme, adding forces from the places they passed en route.

7.121 Xerxes sent his ships ahead to wait for him at Therme, then he and the army marched on from Acanthus.

7.120 Someone remarked at the time that the people of Abdera, who had hosted Xerxes, should be thankful the king only ate once a day.

7.119 Corn had to be prepared months in advance, cattle fattened, & gold & silver bowls prepared. And the army took everything when it left.

7.118 The cities that hosted Xerxes' army on his march were devastated by the experience due to the enormous expense of feeding so many men.

7.117 While Xerxes was there, the canal's chief architect died, Artachaees. He was about 8 feet tall and had the loudest voice in the world.

7.116 When he got to Acanthus, Xerxes named the Acanthians his guest-friends. This was due to their having built the canal through Athos.

7.115 Xerxes continued west from the Strymon, making the people in those parts join his army or navy, as appropriate.

7.114 The Persians crossed the river at Nine Roads. Because of the name, they buried alive 9 local boys & girls--a Persian custom of sorts.

7.113 He arrived at Eïon & the Strymon River, where the Magi cut the throats of some white horses by way of seeking a favorable omen.

7.112 Xerxes passed through the land of the Satrae. Then he passed Mount Pangaeus and its gold and silver mines, keeping it to his right.

7.111 The Satrae have never been subject to anyone, so far as we know. An oracle of Dionysus is in their territory, high in the mountains.

7.110 He passed through various Thracian tribes, all of whom joined his forces under compulsion, except for the Satrae.

7.109 He passed various cities and lakes and rivers on the way. His pack animals drank dry a lake that was 3 1/3 miles in circumference.

7.108 Xerxes marched from Doriscus toward Greece, forcing those en route--who had been conquered in previous invasions--to serve with him.

7.107 Of the other satraps Xerxes honored only Boges, who killed his wife and kids and himself rather than surrender Eïon to the Athenians.

7.106 Later, Xerxes regularly sent Mascames gifts. He was the only satrap the Greeks would fail to drive out of the area after the invasion.

7.105 Xerxes dismissed Demaratus with a laugh. He made Mascames satrap in Doriscus. Then he and the rest marched off for Greece via Thrace.

7.104 The Spartans are free, Demaratus said, but they do what the law bids, which is never to flee but to stand in line and conquer or die.

7.103 That's crazy, Xerxes said. How could they possibly fight against such numbers, and WHY would they, being free men and not compelled?

7.102 Demaratus said that the Spartans would fight Xerxes alone if they had to, even if they had only 1000 men against his entire army.

7.101 Then X. asked Demaratus (the former Spartan king) if the Greeks wd dare face his host: X didn’t think they stood a chance against him.

7.100 With his forces counted, Xerxes went among the men, from nation to nation & ship to ship, asking them about themselves & taking notes.

7.99 Notably, Artemisia of Halicarnassus served in place of her husband, who was dead. She commanded 5 ships & was the king's best advisor.

7.98 Among the most famous aboard, apart from the generals, were Tetramnestus of Sidon and Syennesis of Cilicia.

7.97 Ariabignes, Prexaspes, Megabyzus & Achaemenes led the navy. There were 3000 triaconters, penteconters, light ships & horse transports.

7.96 The Phoenician ships were fastest. Each people had native leaders, but these were of no account. Persian generals held supreme command.

7.95 The Ionian islanders furnished 17 ships, the Aeolians 60, & the people from the Hellespont a hundred.

7.94 The Ionians had 100 ships. They take their name from Ion, the son of Xuthus.

7.93 The Dorians of Asia, who were originally from the Peloponnese, furnished 30 ships, and the Carians 70.

7.92 The Lycians furnished 50 ships. Their caps were feathered but their arrows were not. The Lycians came originally from Crete.

7.91 The Cilicians furnished 100 ships and wore woolly tunics. The Pamphylians had 30 ships. They're descended from Trojans.

7.90 The Cyprians furnished 150 ships. Their kings wore turbans on their heads.

7.89 The Persians had 1207 triremes. Those who furnished them were as follows. The Phoenicians and Palestinian Syrians: 300. Egyptians: 200.

7.88 Harmamithres & Tithaeus led the cavalry. Pharnuches was to lead as well, but his horse threw him: his men later sawed off its legs.

7.87 There were 80,000 horse, not counting the chariots and camels: the Arabians were always in the rear because horses can't stand camels.

7.86 These also furnished cavalry: the Medians, Cissians, Indians, Bactrians, Caspians, Libyans, & Paricanians. The Arabians rode on camels.

7.85 The Sagartians supplied 8000 horse. They carry daggers and lasso the enemy to kill them.

7.84 I'll name below those who furnished horses for Xerxes' army. (Some of the cavalry wore helmets of hammered bronze and iron.)

7.83 Hydarnes, tho, commanded the so-called Immortals, who always numbered 10,000. The Persians wore gold & brought servants & concubines.

7.82 The 6 supreme commanders of the land army were Xerxes' cousin Mardonius, two other cousins, his brother Masistes, Gergis, & Megabyzus.

7.81 So, the aforementioned served in Xerxes' infantry. Over them were appointed captains of units of 10, 100, 1000, and 10,000 troops.

7.80 Mardontes commanded those who served from the islands of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. He would die in the following year at Mycale.

7.79 The Mares and Colchians were commanded by Pharandates. The Alarodians and Saspires served under Masistius.

7.78 The Moschi, Tibareni, Macrones, and Mossynoeci all had wooden helmets and little spears with long spearpoints.

7.77 The Cabalees were equipped like the Cilicians. The Milyae fastened their clothes with brooches and wore leather caps.

7.76 Another people [I forget who] carried wolf hunter’s spears & wore horned bronze helmets. They wrapped red cloth around their shins.

7.75 The Thracians wore fox skins on their heads and doeskin boots. They were commanded by Bassaces, the son of Artabanus.

7.74 The Lydians and Mysians were commanded by Artaphrenes, son of the Artaphrenes who, with Datis, led the Persians at Marathon.

7.73 The Phrygians (who used to be called Briges) & Armenians were commanded by Artochmes, Darius’ son-in-law.

7.72 The Paphlagonians, Ligyans, Matieni, Mariandyni & Syrians wore boots & had woven helmets, small shields & spears, javelins, & daggers.

7.71 The Libyans wore leather and carried stakes of charred wood.

7.70 The eastern Ethiopians wore horse skins (w/ears & mane) on their heads. They have straight hair. The western Ethiopians' hair is wooly.

7.69 The Arabians wore girded mantles, the Ethiopians leopard skins. They smeared themselves w/vermilion & gypsum and carried studded clubs.

7.68 The Utians and Mycians were commanded by Arsamenes, son of Darius, and the Paricanians by Siromitres, son of Oeobazus.

7.67 The Caspians and Pactyes had cloaks and native bows, and the Sarangae wore brilliantly dyed clothes and knee-high boots.

7.66 The Arians served under Sisamnes, and the Parthians & Chorasmians w/Artabazus, Sogdians w/Azanes, and Gandarians & Dadicae w/Artyphius.

7.65 The Indians wore cotton and carried iron-tipped reed arrows. They were under the command of Pharnazathres.

7.64 The Bactrians and Sacae (who are Scythians) fought under Darius' son Hystaspes. The Sacae wore high, pointed caps and trousers.

7.63 The Assyrians had twisted bronze helmets and iron-studded wooden clubs. The Chaldaeans were with them. They served under Otaspes.

7.62 The Medes served under Tigranes. The Cissians wore turbans and were commanded by Anaphes. The Hyrcanians served under Megapanus.

7.61 This is who marched with the army. The Persians, in tunics & tiaras & with wicker bucklers, served under Otanes, Xerxes' father-in-law.

7.60 There were 1,700,000 in the land army. They counted them by herding men into a walled area they built that could hold 10,000 at a time.

7.59 They met at Doriscus in Thrace. The ships were hauled ashore to dry, and Xerxes decided it was a good place to number his army.

7.58 The fleet sailed west out of the Hellespont, and the army marched east out of the Chersonese, then west to meet up with the ships.

7.57 Afterwards X ignored an omen--a horse birthed a hare. It seemed to mean the Persians would run like rabbits on their way out of Greece.

7.56 After Xerxes crossed, he watched the rest of his army do so. The crossing took seven days and seven nights, without a break.

7.55 Then the crossing started--baggage animals, the 10,000, the cavalry, Xerxes, and everybody else. The fleet crossed over to Europe too.

7.54 A couple days later they were ready to start crossing the Hellespont. Xerxes poured a libation and prayed to the sun.

7.53 So Xerxes sent his uncle off to Susa to run things in his absence. Then he called his nobles in and gave them a pep talk.

7.52 No way, Xerxes said: their families back home are hostages to their good behavior. BTW, you're in charge of Persia while I'm gone.

7.51 Artabanus advised Xerxes to at least leave the Ionians home: if they went on the campaign they might elect to help their fellow Greeks.

7.50 You worry too much, X said. You've got to take chances in life. No pain no gain. Plus, we've got food with us & the Greeks are farmers.

7.49 Your foes are the land & sea, A said. The harbors are too small to protect your fleet, & you'll have less food the more land you take.

7.48 What? Xerxes asked. You think our army's not big enough? Or our fleet isn't up to snuff? Both? If so, let's call up more men.

7.47 X asked A. if he'd still be anti-campaign if he hadn't seen the dream. I still have misgivings, A. said, as you face 2 formidable foes.

7.46 He told Artabanus he was crying bc they'd all be dead in 100 yrs. Worse yet, said A, is that all men wish themselves dead b4 they die.

7.45 Seeing the Hellespont and its shores filled with his ships and men, Xerxes declared himself happy, then burst into tears.

7.44 At Abydus Xerxes surveyed his entire host from a platform on the side of a hill and watched his ships race one another.

7.43 When the army reached Troy, Xerxes climbed the Trojan citadel and sacrificed a thousand cattle to Athena.

7.42 The army advanced from Lydia to Mysia, then north up the coast toward Troy. A storm killed many of them as they camped near Mt. Ida.

7.41 Xerxes, while they marched, sat now in his chariot, now in a covered carriage. Thousands followed him, including the 10,000 Immortals.

7.40 That done, Xerxes’ vast host, and the baggage train and pack animals, marched out of Sardis between the halved remains of Pythius’ boy.

7.39 Xerxes was furious at Pythius' effrontery. He ordered his men to cut the oldest son in 2 & set the halves on either side of the road.

7.38 Pythius the Lydian now came to Xerxes. He had 5 sons, all going to fight in Greece. He asked that X. allow the oldest to remain behind.

7.37 In the following spring Xerxes left Sardis for Abydus. An eclipse occurred, which was troubling, but the Magi said it was a good omen.

7.36 Other builders then constructed new bridges out of more than 300 ships apiece, across which they stretched cables and built roadways.

7.35 Xerxes was furious & ordered the Hellespont be whipped and insulted. He also had the supervisors of the construction project beheaded.

7.34 Xerxes' men built two bridges from Abydus across to this headland, a distance of 1350 yards, but a storm came up & destroyed them both.

7.33 Meanwhile his men were building a bridge over the Hellespont. There's a headland there where the Athenians would later kill Artaÿctes.

7.32 When he got to Sardis he sent messengers to the various Greek cities--all but Sparta and Athens--to demand earth and water.

7.31 Xerxes entered Lydia w/his army & took a right where the road forks, headed to Sardis, Lydia's chief city. (Left is the way to Caria.)

7.30 Having given Pythius money, Xerxes & his men left Celaenae & marched to Cydrara, which marks the boundary between Phrygia and Lydia.

7.29 Xerxes was delighted with Pythius' generosity, but he declined his offer. Instead, he rewarded Pythius and made him his guest-friend.

7.28 Xerxes asked Pythius how much $$$ he had and Pythius told him, to the penny. He offered X. everything except what he needed to live on.

7.27 A Lydian named Pythius met Xerxes there. He entertained the army & offered funding. He was, after Xerxes, the richest man in the world.

7.26 Meanwhile, the land army was marching to Sardis w/Xerxes, having gathered in Cappadocia. On the way they came to Celaenae in Phrygia.

7.25 Xerxes had ropes prepared and corn stored. The provisions were stored around the Persian world, wherever was suitable.

7.24 I think X. dug the canal out of arrogance: he could've drawn his ships across the isthmus instead. He also ordered the Strymon bridged.

7.23 They dug the canal by passing buckets of dirt up, one man to another. Most of the crews had trouble w/the sides of the canal caving in.

7.22 By way of preparation, Xerxes had a canal dug through the peninsula at Athos--fearing the wreck of another fleet off the coast.

7.21 Nations throughout Xerxes' empire contributed men & equipment--ships from here, horsemen from there. The vast host drank rivers dry.

7.20 Xerxes prepared for 4 years, and in the 5th he began his campaign. His forces were greater even than those sent by the Greeks to Troy.

7.19 Xerxes began preparing in earnest. He had a 3rd dream that was interpreted by the Magi to mean he'd take over the world.

7.18 Artabanus leapt up when the dream was about to burn out his eyes. He told Xerxes they should attack Greece: the expedition was back on.

7.17 Artabanus slept in the king's bed and the dream came to him: it said he wouldn't escape punishment for trying to change what was fated.

7.16 Artabanus wasn't keen on the idea but agreed to it. Still, he didn't think a god had sent the dream: X. simply had Greece on his mind.

7.15 Terrified, Xerxes told Artabanus about the dream. He bid A. use his throne & bed: if a god had sent the dream it would come to him too.

7.14 That night, the same man appeared to Xerxes in a 2nd dream and warned him: if he didn't attack Greece, he would quickly be brought low.

7.13 Despite the dream, X. told his peeps the next day that he would not be attacking Greece: he'd been wrong to reject Artabanus' counsel.

7.12 But X changed his mind before bed: the expedition was off. That nite he dreamt a man said he'd have cause to regret his change of plan.

7.11 Xerxes, furious, called Artabanus a coward. He said either Persia must fall to Greece, or Greece to Persia. There was no middle ground.

7.10 Xerxes' uncle Artabanus (who'd also opposed Darius' Scythian venture) rebuked Mardonius & pointed out the dangers of a Grk expedition.

7.9 Mardonius spoke 1st. The way the Greeks fight is stupid, he said. They prob. won't dare to meet us in battle. If they do, they'll lose.

7.8 Xerxes summoned his nobles & told them of his plans to subdue Greece &, while he was at it, the rest of Europe. He asked their opinions.

7.7 Xerxes was persuaded. First, however, he put down the rebellion in Egypt, and he made his brother Achaemenes satrap there.

7.6 Mardonius was motivated by his desire to be made satrap of Greece. Some Thessalian Aleuadae and the exiled Pisistratids also wanted war.

7.5 Xerxes, now king, wasn't interested in invading Greece, but his cousin Mardonius argued that he needed to punish the Athenians.

7.4 The year after he'd named Xerxes his successor, Darius died. He'd ruled for 36 yrs. It was not his lot to punish either Egypt or Athens.

7.3 Demaratus of Sparta came to Susa. He told Xerxes to argue that he (unlike bro) was born when Darius was king. X. did & was named heir.CONVERT BREAKS: __default__

7.2 Darius’ sons Artobazanes & Xerxes debated which shd be chosen heir. A. was eldest, by D.’s 1st wife, but X was the grandson of Cyrus.

7.1 When Darius heard about Marathon, he began preparing a 2nd expedition to Greece. Work went on for 3 yrs. In the 4th yr. Egypt revolted.