The Good Book (54 page)

  7. ‘Indeed, which is even more varied in the fruits it bears; while at the same time we obtain satisfaction and revenge.

  8. ‘My intent is to throw a bridge over the Hellespont and march an army through Europe against Greece,

  9. ‘That thereby I may obtain vengeance from the Athenians for the wrongs committed by them against the Persians and my father.

10. ‘Your own eyes saw the preparations of Darius against these men; but death came upon him, and foiled his hopes of revenge.

11. ‘On his behalf, therefore, and that of all Persians, I   undertake the war,

12. ‘And pledge myself not to rest till I have burned Athens, which has dared to injure me and my father.

13. ‘I see many advantages added to this war. Once we have subdued Athens, and those neighbours of theirs in Sparta,

14. ‘We shall extend the Persian territory as far as the sky reaches. The sun will then shine on no land beyond our borders;

15. ‘For I will pass through Europe from one end to the other, and with your aid make all the lands it contains into one country.

16. ‘For thus there will be no city, no country left in all the world, which will withstand our arms.

17. ‘By this course we shall bring all mankind under our rule, alike those who are guilty and those who are innocent of doing us wrong.

18. ‘For yourselves, if you wish to please me, do as follows: when I announce the time for the army to meet, hasten to the muster with good will.

19. ‘To the man who brings with him the most gallant array I will give the gifts which our people consider most honourable.

20. ‘But to show that I am not self-willed in this matter, I lay the business before you, and give you full leave to speak your minds openly.'

21. Then Mardonius spoke. ‘You have spoken truly; and best of all is your resolve.

22. ‘It were indeed a monstrous thing if, after conquering and enslaving the Sacae, the Indians, the Ethiopians, the Assyrians, the Egyptians and many other mighty nations,

23. ‘Not for any wrong that they had done us, but only to increase our empire, we should then allow the Greeks, who have done us such injury, escape our vengeance.

24. ‘What is it that we fear in them? Not surely their numbers, not the greatness of their wealth? They have neither!

25. ‘We know their way of fighting; we know how weak their power is; already we have subdued their children who dwell in our country, the Ionians, Aeolians and Dorians.

26. ‘I myself have had experience of these men when I marched against them by order of your father;

27. ‘And though I went as far as Macedonia, and came not far short of reaching Athens itself, yet not a single person ventured to come out against me to battle.

28. ‘And yet, I am told, these same Greeks wage wars against one another in the most foolish way.

29. ‘For no sooner is war proclaimed than they search out the smoothest and fairest plain, and there assemble and fight;

30. ‘Whence it comes that even the conquerors depart with great loss: I say nothing of the conquered, for they are destroyed altogether.

31. ‘Now surely, as they are all of one speech, they ought to interchange heralds, and make up their differences by any means rather than battle;

32. ‘Or, at the worst, if they must fight, they ought to post themselves as strongly as possible.

33. ‘But, notwithstanding that they are so foolish in warfare, yet these Greeks, when I led my army against them to the very borders of Macedonia, did not so much as think of offering me battle.

34. ‘Who then will dare, O king! to meet you in arms, when you come with all Asia's warriors at your back, and all her ships?

35. ‘For my part I do not believe the Greek people will be so unwise.

36. ‘Grant, however, that I am mistaken, and that they are foolish enough to fight us;

37. ‘In that case they will learn that there are no such soldiers in the whole world as we.

38. ‘Nevertheless let us spare no pains; for nothing comes without trouble; but all that men acquire is got by taking pains.'

Chapter 58

  1. The other Persians were silent; all feared to raise their voice against Xerxes' plan.

  2. But Artabanus, the son of Hystaspes and uncle of Xerxes, trusting to his relationship, was bold to speak.

  3. ‘O king!' he said, ‘it is impossible, if no more than one opinion is uttered, to make choice of the best: a man is forced then to follow whatever advice may have been given him;

  4. ‘But if opposite speeches are delivered, then choice can be exercised.

  5. ‘I counselled your father, Darius, who was my own brother, not to attack the Scythians, a race of people who had no town in their whole land.

  6. ‘He thought however to subdue those wandering tribes, and would not listen to me, but marched an army against them, and before he returned home lost many of his bravest warriors.

  7. ‘You, O king! are about to attack a people far superior to the Scythians, a people distinguished above others both by land and sea. It is fit therefore that I tell you what danger you incur hereby.

  8. ‘You say you will bridge the Hellespont, and lead your troops through Europe against Greece.

  9. ‘Now suppose some disaster befall you by land or sea, or by both. It could happen; for the men are reputed valiant.

10. ‘Indeed one may measure their prowess from what they have already done;

11. ‘For when Datis and Artaphernes led their huge army against Attica, the Athenians by themselves defeated them.

12. ‘But grant they are not successful on both elements. Still, if they man their ships, and, defeating us by sea, sail to the Hellespont, and there destroy our bridge: that, sire, were a fearful hazard.

13. ‘I remember how narrowly we escaped disaster once, when your father, after throwing bridges over the Thracian Bosphorus and the Ister,

14. ‘Marched against the Scythians, and they tried every means to induce the Ionians, who had charge of the bridge over the Ister, to break the passage.

15. ‘On that day, if Histiaeus, king of Miletus, had sided with the other princes, and not set himself to oppose their views, the empire of the Persians would have come to an end.

16. ‘Surely it were a dreadful thing even to hear this said, that the king's fortunes depended wholly on one man.

17. ‘Think then no more of incurring so great a danger when no need presses, but follow the advice I offer.

18. ‘Break up this meeting, and when you have thought the matter over by yourself, and settled what you will do, tell us your decision.

19. ‘I know nothing in the world that so profits a man as taking good counsel with himself.

20. ‘Moreover, hurry always brings disasters, from which huge sufferings arise;

21. ‘But in delay lie many advantages, not always apparent at first sight, but such as in course of time are seen of all. Such is my counsel, O king!

22. ‘And you, Mardonius, son of Gobryas, forbear to speak foolishly concerning the Greeks, who are men that ought not to be lightly esteemed by us.

23. ‘For by reviling the Greeks, you encourage the king to lead his troops against them; and it seems to me that you want this for your own benefit.

24. ‘If, however, it turns out that we must go to war with this people, at least allow the king to abide at home in Persia.

25. ‘Then let you and me stake our children on the issue. If things go well for the king, as you say they will, let me and my children be put to death;

26. ‘But if they fall out as I predict, let your children suffer, and you too, if you happen to come back alive.

27. ‘But if you refuse this wager, and still resolve to march an army against Greece,

28. ‘I am certain that some of those you leave behind here will one day receive the sad tidings that Mardonius has brought a great disaster on the Persian people,

29. ‘And himself lies a prey to dogs and birds somewhere in the land of the Athenians, or else in that of the Spartans;

30. ‘Unless indeed you perish sooner by the way, experiencing in your own person the might of those men on whom you wish to induce the king to make war.'

31. Angrily Xerxes said, ‘Artabanus, you are my father's brother; that saves you from punishment for your stupid words.

32. ‘But I will lay one shame on you: you will not come with me to conquer the Greeks, but will tarry here with the women.

33. ‘It is henceforth either the Greeks or the Persians: one must conquer; there is no middle way.'

34. So he spoke; but in the night he was troubled by what Artabanus had said, and changed his mind, and told the Persians so the next morning;

35. At which they all rejoiced, and made grateful obeisances to him.

36. Yet the second night he changed his mind yet again, and told them so; and this time, because he had been discussing long with Artabanus,

37. And had persuaded his uncle to support him in his resolve, he was able to tell the Persians that Artabanus at last agreed too; and so the expedition was decided.

Chapter 59

  1. Reckoning from the recovery of Egypt, Xerxes spent four years collecting his host and making all ready for the invasion of Greece.

  2. So many nations furnished men, ships and supplies, that no greater host had ever been assembled for war, or more careful preparations made.

  3. These included laying up stores at way stations, building bridges and digging a great channel across the isthmus of Athos.

  4. Meanwhile the satraps of the provinces of the empire had vied with each other in fitting out in brilliant array the armies they levied.

  5. When these came together, a vast host, Xerxes led them across the River Halys, and marched through Phrygia to the city of Celaenae.

  6. Here Xerxes and his army were magnificently entertained by Pythius, a citizen so wealthy that in the time of Darius he had sent the king a golden plane tree, and was reputed to be second in wealth only to Xerxes himself.

  7. So pleased was Xerxes by Pythius' generosity that he promised him lifelong friendship, and added to this store of wealth with further gifts.

  8. When the army crossed the Maeander they passed by the city of Callatebus, where the men make honey and harvest wheat and the fruit of the tamarisk.

  9. Xerxes there found a plane tree so beautiful that he presented it with golden ornaments, and put it under the care of one of his favourite guards.

10. When he reached Sardis, the capital of Lydia, Xerxes sent heralds to all Greece demanding gifts of earth and water as tokens of submission, and asking them to prepare feasts to welcome him.

11. To two cities only he did not send these demands: Athens and Sparta.

12. Then Xerxes set forward to Abydos, where the bridge across the Hellespont had just been finished by his engineers.

13. It was a double bridge, one half built by Phoenicians and the other by Egyptians.

14. The former had used cables of white flax, the latter ropes of papyrus. It is seven furlongs from Abydos to the European coast.

15. The bridge was fine to see, and ready for use; but before Xerxes could cross with his host, a violent storm arose, and the bridge was broken to pieces, all the work destroyed and submerged in the raging water.

16. Xerxes was extremely angry at this, and ordered the Hellespont to be given three hundred lashes as punishment, and a pair of fetters thrown into it.

17. It is even said that he ordered his branders to heat their branding irons and brand the Hellespont.

18. It is certain that he commanded those who scourged the waters to utter, as they lashed them, these words:

19. ‘You bitter water, your lord punishes you because you have wronged him without cause. King Xerxes will cross you, whether you will or no.

20. ‘You deserve this punishment as a treacherous and unsavoury river.'

21. When this absurd task had been completed, other master builders were brought to the Hellespont, and fashioned a new bridge.

22. They joined together triremes and penteconters, three hundred and sixty to support the bridge on the side of the Euxine Sea, and three hundred and fourteen to sustain the other;

23. And these they placed at right angles to the sea, and in the direction of the current of the Hellespont, thus relieving the tension of the shore cables.

24. Having joined the vessels, they moored them with anchors of great size,

25. So that the vessels towards the Euxine could resist the winds which blow from the straits,

26. And those of the more western bridge facing the Aegean might withstand the southerly and south-easterly winds.

27. A gap was left in the penteconters in no fewer than three places, to afford a passage for such light craft as chose to enter or leave the Euxine.