it now stands, probably few Spartans ever heard the tale; and as it left untouched the fact which was of most importance to them, they would not much care to notice it. Thus, to avoid offending them, it became necessary to represent the change of arrangement as begun before daybreak; as it was ascribed to the tidings that Mardonios intended to fight on the morrow, it became necessary to provide a bearer of this news; and the fictions of the conference and the change made it necessary to invent lastly the night-ride of Alexandros.

On the morning of the eleventh day the battle of Plataia may be said practically to have begun. During the whole of the day preceding this final conflict, the Greek army was terribly pressed by constant charges of the Persian cavalry; and at length it became clear to the confederate generals that a change of position was indispensably necessary. The Asopos in front of the Greeks had all along been useless for watering, as it was within range of the Persian bowmen. The whole army was forced, therefore, to obtain its supplies from the fountain or stream of Gargaphia, which was now completely fouled and choked up by the trampling of the Persian horses. But about half-way between Gargaphia and Plataia was a spot of ground called the Island, as lying between two channels into which for a short space the little stream of Oëroê is divided in its descent from Kithairon. Here they would have not only an abundant supply of water, for the Persian cavalry could not reach the channel in their rear, but they would be protected from their attacks by the stream in front. To this spot therefore the generals resolved that the army should be transferred on the coming night: but when the time for retreat came, the Peloponnesian allies fell back not on this so-called island, but on Plataia itself, and thus made it necessary that the Spartans should follow them. To the execution of this plan an unexpected hindrance was offered by the obstinacy of the Spartan captain Amompharetos, who, taking up a huge stone with both hands, placed it at the feet of Pausanias and said that thus he gave his vote against the dastardly proposal to turn their backs upon the enemy. Amidst these disputes the night had passed away; and the sky was already lit with the dawn, when Pausanias, wearied out with his folly, gave the order for retreat. The Spartans fell back,

keeping as near as they could to the heights of Kithairon in order to avoid the attacks of the Persian horsemen; the Athenians moved along the plain. Amompharetos soon followed with his company; but their retreat had now become known in the Persian camp, and the Persian cavalry at once advanced to harass them. Hurriedly crossing the Asopos, Mardonios hastened with his Persians towards the higher ground where the Spartan troops might be seen winding along under the hill-side. Without order or discipline, the hordes of

the Persian subject tribes rushed after him, as though nothing more remained for them to do beyond the butchering of unresisting fugitives. Sorely pressed, Pausanias sent to beg instant succour from the Athenians on the lower ground. But the attack of the Greeks in the Persian army, who now flung themselves on the Athenians, rendered this impossible. To the Spartans and Tegeans it was a moment of extreme distress,

since even now the sacrifices forbade any action except in the way of self-defence. This merely passive resistance enabled the Persians to make a rampart of their wickerwork shields, from behind which they shot their arrows with deadly effect. At last Pausanias, looking in agony towards the temple of Hêrê, besought the queen of heaven not to abandon them utterly. Scarcely had his prayer been offered, when the sacrifices were reported to be favourable; and the charge of the Tegeans was followed by the onset of the Spartans. After a fierce fight the hedge of shields was thrown down, and the defeat of the barbarian host virtually insured. The Persians fought with heroism. Coming to close quarters, they seized the spears of their enemies, and broke off their heads; but they wore no body-armour, and they had no discipline. Rushing forward singly or in small groups, they were borne down in the crush and killed on the spot. At length Mardonios was slain,

and the issue was no longer doubtful. The linen tunics of the Persian soldiers were of no avail in a conflict with brazen-coated hoplites. Hurrying back to their fortified camp, the barbarians took refuge behind its wooden walls.

Artabazos had awaited the battle with very definite resolutions. His troops-the forty thousand still remaining to him of the six myriads who guarded Xerxes on his retreat to the Hellespont, received strict orders to look only to him and to follow his movements with the utmost promptness; and no sooner had the battle begun, it is said, than, inviting his men verbally to follow him into it, he led them from the field. The flight of the Persians soon showed him that the day was lost; and putting spurs to his horse he hurried away with all speed into Phokis. Without pausing to answer the questions of the people, he rode on into Thessaly, and telling the chiefs that he had been despatched on an urgent errand into Thrace, and that he would soon be followed by Mardonios and his army, begged them to welcome him with their usual hospitality. In his onward march through Macedonia and Thrace he lost many men, but he brought the bulk of his troops safely to Byzantion, and thence crossed over with them into Asia; and so well did he justify his acts to his master as to obtain from him the satrapy of Daskyleion.

One body of men alone held their ground after the death of Mardonios and the defeat of his Persians. These were the

Theban oligarchs, of whom three hundred fell fighting on the field, while the rest made their way as best they could to Thebes.

If the Persians on finding themselves within their fortified camp hoped that its wooden walls would keep out the enemy, they were soon to be disappointed. Athenian skill and resolution effected a breach after a terrible struggle. Headed by the Tegeans, the allies burst like a deluge into the incampment; and the Persians, losing all heart, sought wildly to hide themselves like deer flying from lions. Then followed a carnage so fearful that of 262,000 men not 3,000, it is said, remained alive, while the Greeks altogether lost little more than 150.

The next task of the Greeks was that of burying their dead. For the Lakedaimonian dead there were three graves, while the Tegeans, the Athenians, and the Megarians with the Phliasians, had severally one. These, the historian adds, were real graves: but empty tombs bore the names of towns whose citizens were not present at the battle. The fact speaks volumes on the value of public monuments for which we cannot adduce further evidence from contemporary writings. To the Plataians the gratitude of the allies was sincerely felt and largely manifested. They were declared autonomous, or, in other words, were freed from all connexion with the Boiotian confederacy, while the allies bound themselves to regard the Plataian territory as inviolable.

Eleven days after the battle the allied forces appeared before the walls of Thebes, and demanded the surrender of the citizens who were responsible for the Medism of the country, and more especially of Timagenidas and Attaginos. The refusal of the Thebans was followed not only by a blockade but by the systematic devastation of the land. On the ninth day the men demanded by Pausanias offered to surrender themselves, if the Spartans could not be prevailed on to accept money as the atonement for a policy which had received the sanction of all the citizens. The proposal was rejected. Attaginos (p. 112), one of the inculpated Thebans, made his escape; and Pausanias refused to punish his innocent children. The rest of the surrendered citizens he took with him to the Corinthian isthmus, and there put them all to death.

The knowledge that the Persian fleet had been seriously crippled at Salamis had led Themistokles, it is said, to urge on his

countrymen the duty of immediate pursuit to the Hellespont. The Asiatic Ionians were still praying for help against the barbarians, and the Western Greeks were now free to send their ships to help them. At Delos the commander in chief, Leotychides, received some Ionian envoys, who assured him that the spirit of the Persian troops was broken and that the mere sight of their western kinsfolk would rouse the Asiatic Greeks; that the Persian fleet was scarcely seaworthy, and at best was no match for that of the Greeks; and finally that they would surrender themselves as hostages for the truth of their report. Turning round to the speaker, Leotychides asked his name. 'I am called Hegesistratos (the leader of armies),' was the reply. I accept the omen of your name,' cried the Spartan, ' and I ask only for your pledge that the Samians will deal truly by us.' The promise was eagerly given, and the allied fleet, sailing to Samos, took up its position in battle array off Kalamoi, the southern point of the island. Declining the challenge thus given, the Persian admiral determined to disembark his men and join Tigranes for operations on land. Sailing therefore to the mainland barely ten miles distant, he drew up his ships on the shore beneath the heights of Mykalê, and behind a rampart of stones, strengthened by stout stakes, made ready to sustain a siege and, as he felt sure, to win a victory. This retreat naturally raised the hopes and courage of the Greeks, who with their gangways ready for landing their men sailed towards Mykalê. As he approached the shore, which was lined with Persian troops, Leotychides, it is said, ordered a loud-voiced herald to pray the Ionians in the coming fight to strike boldly not for their oppressors but for their own freedom. Probably the suspicions of the Persian leaders had already been fully excited. By their orders the Samians were accordingly disarmed, while, to get them out of the way, the Milesians were sent to guard the paths leading up to the heights of Mykalê. Thus having taken precautions against dangers on their own side, they awaited the attack of the Greeks behind the hedge of wicker shields on which Mardonios and his men relied at Plataia. The Athenians were now advancing along the more level ground near the sea; the Spartans were making their way with more difficulty on the rugged slopes of the mountain. Here, as at Plataia, the Persians fought as they had fought in the days of Cyrus. But in both places they had