32 the major part of the other Grecian cities in that quarter: after which, as they were returning, they obliged the Carians and the people of Cyprus to join with them in this war. 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 came to Sardis, his intriguing spirit formed 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 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 was 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.t Being there 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, they came to a firm resolution to defend themselves against the Persians to the last extremity. Artaphernes and Otanes, with the rest of the Persian 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, to furnish it as well as possible with provisions, and all things necessary for enduring a siege; and to unite all their forces to engage the Persians at sea, their skill 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 opposite to Miletus, where they assembled a fleet of three hundred and fifty-three 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 action, 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, consisting of not more than a hundred vessels, 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 the revolt of Aristagoras. 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 who 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 to 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.§ Herod. 1. v. c. 103, 104, 103, and 122. Herod. 1. vi. c. 1-5. Hystiæus suffered 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 the conjecture of Artaphernes 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 owed infinite obligations, the remembrance of which 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 seem to 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 account it nothing to ruin nations, or even their own country, if necessary to their own elevation. His end was worthy his sentiments, and what is common enough to these 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.* SECTION VII.—the expedition of DARIUS'S ARMY AGAINST GREECE. DARIUS, in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, 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 as it was in so difficult a war, the success of which he had very much at heart, and wherein the glory of his reign was intimately 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 landforces, 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 with so violent a storm of wind, that upwards of three hundred ships, with above twenty thousand men, perished in the sea. His land army at the same time met with an equally fatal overthrow. For, being encamped in a place of no security, the Thracians attacked the Persian camp by night, made a great slaughter of the men, 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 the youth and inexperience of Mardonius had occasioned the defeat of his troops, recalled him and gave the command to two generals, Datis, a Mede, and Artaphernes, son of his brother Artaphernes, who had been governor of Sardis. The king was earnestly bent upon putting in execution the great design he had long had in 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. †A. M. 3510. *Herod. 1. vi. c. 29, 30, VOL. II. 3 34 1. 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: 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; 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 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 Athenian citizens. He was a person of great reputation even in the time of Pisistratus; but being unwilling to bear the yoke of a despotic government, he joyfully embraced the offer made him, of going to settle with a colony in the Thracian Chersonesus, where ne 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, who was his phew, and eldest son of his brother Cimon; and Stesagoras also dying 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, the same year that Darius undertook his expedition against the Scythians. He attended that prince with some ships as far as the Danube and was the person who advised the Ionians to destroy the bridge, and 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 with all his effects on board five ships, and set sail for Athens. There he settled a second time, and acquired great reputation.t 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 *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. Herod. 1. vi. c. 34, 41. Corn. Nep. in Mil. cap. i-ii. 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 of it at Athens, by expelling the Pisistratida out of that city. It was an excellent custom among the ancients, and it is to be wished that the same might prevail among us, that the young men, ambitious of public employments, particularly attached themselves to such aged and experienced persons as had distinguished themselves most eminently in business, 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 mentions several others, 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 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 scrupulous about the means he used to oblige them. Somebody talking with him once on this subject, told him he would make an excellent magistrate, if his behaviour towards the citizens was more equal, and if he was not biassed in favour of one more than another. "God forbid," replied Themistocles, 1 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 exempted 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 judging harshly of their integrity. But, as Plutarch says, it was not his friends, but his passions, that he ought to have renounced. Aristides had the discretion to observe a just medium between these two vicious extremes. Being a favourer of aristocracy in imitation of Lycurgus, whom he greatly admired, he in a manner struck out a new path of his own; not endeavouring to oblige his friends at the expense of justice, and yet always ready to do them service when consistent with it. He carefully avoided making use of his friends' recommendations for obtaining employments, lest it should prove a dangerous obligation upon him, as well as a plausible pretext for them, to expect the same favour on the like occasion. He used to say, that the true citizen, or the honest man, ought to make no other use of his credit and power, than upon all occasions to practise what was honest and just, and engage others to do the same. Considering this contrariety of principles and humours among these great men, we are not to wonder, if, during their administration, there was a continual opposition between them. Themistocles, who was bold and enterprising, was still 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 get 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 out aloud as he went out of the assembly, "That the Athenians would never prosper, till they threw *Discere a peritis, sequi optimos. Tacit. in Agric. + Plnt. in Arist. p. 319, 320. et in Them. 112, 113. An seni sit in ger. Resp. p: 790, 791. 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 mutually agreed 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, which we shall speak of presently, when the people were every where extolling the valour and conduct of Miltiades, who had won it, Themistocles never appeared but in a thoughtful and melancholy humour; 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 reason of it, he made answer, "that the trophies of Miltiades would not let him sleep." These were a kind of incentive, which never ceased to prompt 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 affairs are exposed; for he was neither elevated with the honour 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 he had gained 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 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 on Aristides, and applied the eulogy to him. Another thing related of him, with respect to a public employment, is very remarkable. He was no sooner made treasurer-general of the republic, than he made it appear that his predecessors in office had defrauded 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 mighty faction 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 for the ensuing year. He then seemed to repent of his former administration; and by showing himself tractable and indulgent 'owards 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 these plunderers, grown fat with spoil and rapine, now extolled Aristides to the skies. It would have been easy for him, as we perceive, to enrich himself in a post of that nature, which seems, as it were, to invite a man to do so by the many favourable opportunities presented to him; especially as he had to deal 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 arrived, just as they were upon the point of electing Aristides unanimously, he rose up, *Plut. Apophthegm. p. 186. |