Page:History of Greece Vol IV.djvu/361

 ABOUT FIGHTING AT MARATHON. 343 the five mistrustful generals would take their stand. And prob- ably indeed Miltiades himself, if debarred from immediate ac- tion, would have preferred to hold possession of Athens, and prevent any treacherous movement from breaking out there, rather than to remain inactive on the hills, watching the Persians at Marathon, with the chance of a detachment from their numer* ous fleet sailing round to Phalerum, and thus distracting, by a double attack, both the city and the camp. However this may be, the equal division of opinion among tho ten generals, whether manifested at Marathon or at Athens, is certain, so that Miltiades had to await the casting-vote of the polemarch Kallimachus. To him he represented emphatically the danger of delay, and the chance of some traitorous intrigue occurring to excite disunion and aggravate the alarms of the citi- zens. Nothing could prever t such treason from breaking out, with all its terrific consequences of enslavement to the Persians and to Hippias, except a bold, decisive, and immediate attack, the success of which he (Miltiades) was prepared to guarantee. Fortunately for Athens, the polemarch embraced the opinion of Miltiades, and the seditious movements which were preparing did not show themselves until after the battle had been gained. Aristeides and Themistokles are both recorded to have seconded Miltiades warmly in this proposal, while all the other generals agreed in surrendering to Miltiades their days of command, so as to make him, as much as they could, the sole leader of the army. It is said that the latter awaited the day of his own reg- ular turn before he fought the battle. 1 Yet considering the eagerness which he displayed to bring on an immediate and de- cisive action, we cannot suppose that he would have admitted any serious postponement upon such a punctilio. While the army were mustered on the ground sacred to Hera- kles near Marathon, with the Persians and their fleet occupying the plain and shore beneath, and in preparation for immediate action, they were joined by the whole force of the little town of Plataea, consisting of about one thousand hoplites, who had marched directly from their own city to the spot, along the south- ern range of Kithasron and passing through Dekeleia. We are
 * Herodot. vi, 110.