Page:History of Greece Vol IV.djvu/346

 828 HISTORY OF GREECE. him in the island of Zakynthus. But the Zakynthians would not consent to surrender him, so that he passed unobstructed into Asia, where he presented himself to Darius, and was received with abundant favors and presents. 1 "VVe shall hereafter find him the companion of Xerxes, giving to that monarch advice such as, if it had been acted upon, would have proved the ruin cf Grecian independence ; to which, however, he would have been e'en more dangerous, if he had remained at home as king of Sparta. Meanwhile Kleomenes, having obtained a consentient colleague in Leotychides, went with him over to JEgina. eager to revenge himself for the affront which had been put upon him. To the requisition and presence of the two kings jointly, the JEginetans did not dare to oppose any resistance. Kleomenes made choice of ten citizen?, eminent for wealth, station, and influence, among whom were Krius and another person named Kasambus, the two most powerful men in the island. Conveying them away to Athens, he deposited them as hostages in the hands of the Athenians. 2 It was in this state that the affairs of Athens and of Greece generally were found by the Persian armament which landed at Marathon, the progress of which we are now about to follow. And the events just recounted were of material importance, con- sidered in their indirect bearing upon the success of that arma- ment. Sparta had now, on the invitation of Athens, assumed to herself for the first time a formal Pan-Hellenic primacy, her an- cient rival Argos being too much broken to contest it, her two kings, at this juncture unanimous, employ their presiding inter- ference in coercing .ZEgina, and placing JEginetan hostages in the hands of Athens. The JEginetans would not have been unwill- ing to purchase victory over a neighbor and rival at the cost of submission to Persia, and it was the Spartan interference only which restrained them from assailing Athens conjointly with the Persian invaders ; thus leaving the hands of the latter free, and her courage undiminished, for the coming trial. Meanwhile, a vast Persian force, brought together in conse- quence of the preparation made during the last two years ia 1 Herodot. vi, 70. * Ueodct vi, 7^