Page:History of Greece Vol V.djvu/14

 n CONTENTS. upon the evidence of Herodotus and upon himself as witness and judge. — Other testimonies about the number of the Persians. — Xerxes passes in review the land-force and the fleet at Doriskus — his conversation with the Spartan king Demaratus. — March of Xerxes from Doriskus west- ward along Thrace. — Contributions levied on the Grecian towns on the coast of Thrace — particularly Thasus and Abdera. — Xerxes crosses the Stiymon — marches to Akanthus — zeal of the Akanthians in regard to the canal of Athos. — March of Xerxes to Therma — his fleet join him in the Thci-maic Gulf — Favorable prospects of the invasion — zeal of the Macedonian prince to assist Xerxes 1-44 CHAPTEE XXXIX. PEOCEEDtSGS IN GEEECE FKOM THE BATTLE OF MARATHON TO THE TIME OF THE BATTLE OF THEEMOPTLffi. Violent proceedings and death of Kleomenes king of Sparta. — Complaint of the JEginetans at Sparta against Kleomenes and Leotychides, on the subject of the hostages which those two kings had taken from ^gina. — The Spartans deliver Leotychides to the iEginetans, who require him to go with them to Athens, to get back the hostages. — Eefusal of the Athenians to give up the hostages — reprisals of the ^ginetans. — The ^ginetan Kikodromus lays a scheme for a democratical revolution in ^gina, in concert with Athens — the movement fails. — Treatment of the defeated conspirators — sacrilege. — The Athenians land a force in JEgina — war Avhich ensues. — Effect of this war in inducing the Athe- nians to enlarge their military force. — Themistokles and Aiisteides, the chief men at Athens — intense rivalry between them. — Banishment of the latter by ostracism. — Conversion of Athens from a land power into a naval power proposed and urged by Themistokles. — Views and long- sighted calculations of Themistokles — he was at this time more essen- tial to his country than Aristeides. — Fleet of Athens — the salvation of Greece as well as of herself. — Valuable fund now first available to Athens from the silver mines of Lauriiim in Attica. — Themistokles pre- vails upon the Athenian people to forego the distribution of this fund, and employ it in building an increased number of ships. — Preparations of Xerxes — known beforehand in Greece. — Heralds from Persia to de- mand earth and water from the Grecian cities — many of them comply and submit. — Pan-Hellenic congress convened jointly by Athens and Sparta at the Isthmus of Corinth. — Important effect on Grecian mind. — Efi'ects of the congress in healing fends among the different Greeks — especially between Athens and ^gina. — Alarm and mistrust prevalent throughout Greece. — TeiTor conveyed in the reply of the Delphian oracle to the Athenian envoys. — Sentence of the oracle frightful, yet obscure : efforts of the Athenians to interpret it : ingenuity and success of Themistokles. — Great and genuine Pan-Hellenic patriotism of the Athenians — strongly attested by Herodotus, as his own judgment. — Unwillingness, or inability, on the part of a large proportion of Greeks, to resist the Persians. — Ambiguous neutrality of Argog. — Different stories current in Greece about Argos — opinion of Herodotas. — Refusal or equivocation of tlie Kretans and Korkyi-ceans. — jMission to Gelon at Syracuse — hi^ i'fl''y- Grecian army sent into Thessaly, to defend