Page:History of Greece Vol IV.djvu/318

 800 HISTORY OF GREECE. defend their own fortifications, while the entire force of the con- federate cities should be mustered on board the ships. At sea they had as yet no reason to despair, having been victorious over the Phenicians near Cyprus, and having sustained no defeat. The combined Ionic fleet, including the .ZEolic Les- bians, amounting in all to the number of three hundred and fifty-three ships, was accordingly mustered at Lade, then 8 little island near Miletus, but now joined on to the coast, by the gradual accumulation of land in the bay at the mouth of the Mseander. Eighty Milesian ships formed the right wing, one hundred Chian ships the centre, and sixty Samian ships the left wing ; while the space between the Milesians and the Chians was occupied by twelve ships from Priene, three from Myus, and seventeen from Teos, the space between the Chians and Samians was filled by eight ships from Erythrae, three from Phokeea, and seventy from Lesbos. 1 The total armament thus made up was hardly inferior in number to that which, fifteen years afterwards, gained the battle of Salamis against a far larger Persian fleet than the present. Moreover, the courage of the lonians, on ship-board, was equal to that of their contemporaries on the other side of the JEgean ; while in respect of disagreement among the allies, we shall hereafter find the circumstances preceding the battle of Salamis still more menacing, than those before the coming battle of Lade. The chances of success, therefore, were at least equal between the two ; and indeed the anticipations of the Persians and Phe- nicians on the present occasion were full of doubt, so that they thought it necessary to set on foot express means for disuniting the lonians, it was fortunate for the Greeks that Xerxes at Salamis could not be made to conceive the prudence of aiming at the same object. There were now in the Persian camp all those various despots whom Aristagoras, at the beginning of the revolt, had driven out of their respective cities. At the instiga- tion of Artaphernes, each of these men despatched secret com- munications to their citizens in the allied fleet, endeavoring to detach them severally from the general body, by promises of gentle treatment in the event of compliance, and by tlireats of 1 Herodot. vi. 8.