The Good Book

by A. C. Grayling

  8. The Phocians did so, and forthwith the entire Persian cavalry drew near them: whereupon there went a rumour through the Greek force encamped with the Persian that Mardonius was about to destroy the Phocians.

  9. The same conviction ran through the Phocian troops themselves; and Harmocydes, their leader, addressed them with words of encouragement:

  10. ‘Phocians,’ said he, ‘it is plain that the Persians have resolved to take our lives,

  11. ‘Perhaps because of the accusations of the Thessalians, or for some other treachery.

  12. ‘Now, then, is the time for you to show yourselves brave men. It is better to die fighting and defending ourselves, than tamely to allow them to slay us in this shameful fashion.

  13. ‘Let them learn that they are barbarians, and that the men whose death they have plotted are Greeks!’

  14. So spoke Harmocydes; and the Persian horse, having encircled the Phocians, charged them, as if about to deal out death, with bows bent, and arrows ready to fly;

  15. Here and there some did indeed discharge their weapons.

  16. But the Phocians stood firm, keeping close to one another, and serrying their ranks as much as possible:

  17. Whereupon the horse suddenly wheeled round and rode off. It is not known with certainty whether the Persians came, at the behest of the Thessalians, to destroy the Phocians,

  18. But seeing them prepared to stand on their defence, and fearing to suffer damage at their hands, they retreated, having orders from Mardonius to do so.

  19. Perhaps Mardonius’ intent was to try the temper of the Phocians and see whether they had courage.

  20. Whatever the reason, when the horsemen retired Mardonius sent a herald to the Phocians, saying,

  21. ‘Fear not, Phocians; you have shown yourselves valiant men, much unlike the report I had heard of you.

  22. ‘Now therefore be forward in the coming battle. You will not readily outdo either the king or myself in services.’ Thus ended the affair of the Phocians.

  Chapter 97

  1. The Lacedaemonians, when they reached the Isthmus, pitched their camp there;

  2. And the other Peloponnesians, hearing or seeing that they were on the march, joined them.

  3. All went out in one body from the Isthmus and marched as far as Eleusis.

  4. There they were joined by the Athenians, who had come across from Salamis.

  5. On reaching Erythrae in Boeotia they learned that the barbarians were encamped on the Asopus;

  6. Wherefore they themselves, after considering how they should act, disposed their forces opposite the enemy on the slopes of Mount Cithaeron.

  7. When Mardonius saw that the Greeks would not come down into the plain, he sent his cavalry under Masistius to attack them.

  8. Now Masistius was a man of much repute among the Persians, and rode a Nisaean charger magnificently caparisoned, complete with a golden bit.

  9. So the cavalry advanced against the Greeks, and made attacks on them in divisions, doing them great damage at each charge, and shouting insults at them.

  10. It happened that the Megarians occupied the position most open to attack, where the ground offered the best approach to the cavalry.

  11. Finding themselves hard pressed, they sent a herald to the Greek leaders, saying,

  12. ‘We cannot, brothers-in-arms, continue to resist the Persian horse in the post we have occupied from the first, if we are left without help.

  13. ‘So far, although hard pressed, we have held out against them.

  14. ‘Now, however, unless you send others to take our place, we shall have to quit our post.’

  15. Pausanias, when he received this message, enquired among his troops if there were any who would volunteer to relieve the Megarians.

  16. None were willing to go, so the Athenians offered themselves;

  17. And a body of picked men, three hundred in number, commanded by Olympiodorus, the son of Lampo, undertook the service.

  18. Selecting the whole body of archers to accompany them, these men relieved the Megarians.

  19. After the struggle had continued for a while, it ended in the following way.

  20. As the barbarians continued charging in divisions, the horse of Masistius, which was in front of the others, received an arrow in his flank, the pain of which caused him to rear and throw his rider.

  21. Immediately the Athenians rushed upon Masistius as he lay, caught his horse, and when he himself resisted, slew him.

  22. At first, however, they were not able to kill him, for his armour hindered them. He had on a breastplate formed of golden scales, with a scarlet tunic covering it.

  23. Thus the blows, all falling upon his breastplate, took no effect, till one of the soldiers, perceiving the reason, drove his weapon into his eye and so slew him.

  24. All this took place without any of the other horsemen seeing it: they had neither observed their leader fall from his horse, nor beheld him slain;

  25. For he fell as they wheeled round and prepared for another charge, so that they were quite ignorant of what had happened.

  26. However when they halted, and found that there was no one to marshal their line, Masistius was missed;

  27. And instantly his soldiers, understanding what must have befallen him, with loud yells charged the Athenians in one mass, hoping to recover the body.

  28. When the Athenians saw that, instead of coming up in squadrons, the whole body of horse was charging them at once, they called out to the other troops to hasten to their aid.

  29. As the infantry was moving to their assistance, the fighting raged fiercely around the corpse of Masistius.

  30. The three hundred, so long as they fought by themselves, had greatly the worse of the encounter, and were forced to retire and yield the corpse to the enemy;

  31. But when the reinforcements arrived, the Persian horse could no longer hold their ground and fled without carrying off the corpse, having incurred in the attempt further losses.

  32. They retired about two furlongs, and discussed what was best to do. Being without a leader, it seemed to them fittest to return to Mardonius.

  33. There Mardonius and all the Persian army made great lamentation for Masistius.

  34. They shaved the hair from their heads, and cut the manes from their warhorses and their sumpter beasts,

  35. While they vented their grief in such loud cries that all Boeotia resounded with the clamour,

  36. Because they had lost the man who, next to Mardonius, was held in the greatest esteem, both by the king and by the Persians generally.

  37. So the barbarians, after their own fashion, paid honours to the dead Masistius.

  Chapter 98

  1. The Greeks, on the other hand, were greatly emboldened by what had happened,

  2. Seeing that they had not only stood their ground against the attacks of the cavalry, but had compelled them to retreat.

  3. They placed the corpse of Masistius on a cart, and paraded it along the ranks of the army.

  4. Now the body was a sight which well deserved to be gazed upon, being remarkable both for stature and for beauty;

  5. And it was to stop the soldiers from leaving their ranks to look at it, that they resolved to carry it round.

  6. After this the Greeks determined to quit the high ground and go nearer Plataea,

  7. As the land there seemed far more suitable for an encampment than the country about Erythrae, being better supplied with water.

  8. At this place, and more especially to a spring-head called Gargaphia, they encamped once more in their order.

  9. Here, in the marshalling of the nations, a fierce argument arose between the Athenians and the Tegeans, both of whom claimed to have one of the wings assigned to them.

  10. On each side were brought forward the deeds which they had done, whether in earlier or in later times;

  11. But at length the deeds of the Athenians at Marathon and Salamis carried the argument in their favour, over the a
ncient claims of the Tegeans from long-ago wars.

  12. When the disposition of the army had been settled, it was drawn up in the following order:

  13. Ten thousand Lacedaemonian troops held the right wing, five thousand of whom were Spartans;

  14. And these five thousand were attended by a body of thirty-five thousand Helots, who were only lightly armed; seven Helots to each Spartan.

  15. The place next to themselves the Spartans gave to the Tegeans, on account of their courage and of the esteem in which they held them.

  16. They were all fully armed, and numbered fifteen hundred men.

  17. Next came the Corinthians, five thousand strong; and with them Pausanias had placed, at their request, the band of three hundred who had come from Potidaea in Palline.

  18. Six hundred Arcadians of Orchomenus came next; then the Sicyonians, three thousand; then the Epidaurians, eight hundred;

  19. Then the Troezenians, one thousand; then the Lepreats, two hundred; the Mycenaeans and Tirynthians, four hundred;

  20. The Phliasians, one thousand; the Hermionians, three hundred; the Eretrians and Styreans, six hundred; the Chalcideans, four hundred; and the Ambraciots, five hundred.

  21. After these came the Leucadians and Anactorians, who numbered eight hundred; the Paleans of Cephallenia, two hundred;

  22. The Eginetans, five hundred; the Megarians, three thousand; and the Plataeans, six hundred.

  23. Last of all, but first at their extremity of the line, were the Athenians, who, to the number of eight thousand, occupied the left wing, under the command of Aristides, son of Lysimachus.

  24. All these, except the Helots, were heavy-armed troops, or Hoplites; and they amounted to thirty-eight thousand seven hundred men.

  25. The light-armed troops consisted of the thirty-five thousand Helots, who were all well equipped for war;

  26. And of thirty-four thousand five hundred other slaves belonging to the Lacedaemonians and the rest of the Greeks, nearly at the rate of one light to one heavy armed.

  27. Thus the entire number of the light-armed was sixty-nine thousand five hundred.

  28. The Greek army, therefore, which mustered at Plataea, was only eighteen hundred men short of one hundred and ten thousand;

  29. And this amount was exactly made up by the Thespians who were present in the camp;

  30. For eighteen hundred Thespians, being the whole number left, were likewise with the army; but these men were without arms.

  31. Such was the array of the Greek troops when they took post on the Asopus.

  Chapter 99

  1. The barbarians under Mardonius, when the mourning for Masistius was at an end, and they had learnt that the Greeks were in Plataea, moved likewise towards the River Asopus.

  2. On their arrival Mardonius marshalled them against the Greeks in the following order.

  3. Against the Lacedaemonians he posted his Persians; and as the Persians were far more numerous he drew them up with their ranks deeper than common,

  4. And extended their front so that part faced the Tegeans; and here he took care to choose out the best troops to face the Spartans,

  5. While against the Tegeans he arrayed those on whom he could not so much depend.

  6. This was done on the advice of the Thebans. Next to the Persians he placed the Medes, facing the Corinthians, Potidaeans, Orchomenians and Sicyonians;

  7. Then the Bactrians, facing the Epidaurians, Troezenians, Lepreats, Tirynthians, Mycenaeans and Phliasians;

  8. After them the Indians, facing the Hermionians, Eretrians, Styreans and Chalcidians; then the Sacans, facing the Ambraciots, Anactorians, Leucadians, Paleans and Eginetans;

  9. And last of all, facing the Athenians, the Plataeans and the Megarians, he placed the troops of the Boeotians, Locrians, Malians and Thessalians, and also the thousand Phocians.

  10. The whole nation of the Phocians had not joined the Medes;

  11. On the contrary, there were some who had gathered themselves into bands about Parnassus, and made expeditions from thence,

  12. Whereby they distressed Mardonius and the Greeks who sided with him, and so did good service to the Grecian cause.

  13. Besides those mentioned above, Mardonius likewise arrayed against the Athenians the Macedonians and the tribes dwelling about Thessaly.

  14. Here have been named the greatest of the nations marshalled by Mardonius on this occasion, all those of most renown.

  15. Mixed with these were men of divers other peoples, as Phrygians, Thracians, Mysians, Paeonians and the like;

  16. Ethiopians again, and Egyptians, both of the Hermotybian and Calascirian races, whose weapon is the sword, and who are the only fighting men in that country.

  17. The number of the barbarians was three hundred thousand; that of the Greeks who had made alliance with Mardonius is not known, but guessed to be near fifty thousand strong.

  18. The troops thus marshalled were all foot soldiers. As for the horse, it was drawn up by itself.

  Chapter 100

  1. Each side now waited for what it thought would be its best opportunity to begin the battle.

  2. Since neither side felt quite ready, the two armies remained in camp opposite each other for ten days;

  3. But the Persian horse harassed the Greeks, and captured some of their supply trains as they approached from the direction of the Peloponnese.

  4. At last Mardonius, fearing to run out of supplies, and urged by some of his advisers that more men were joining the Greek army each day, resolved to give battle.

  5. In the night before the eleventh day Alexander of Macedon, whose troops were in the Persian’s host,

  6. Secretly rode to the Greek lines and sent a message to the generals, telling them that the attack was imminent.

  7. When they heard this, the generals conferred; and Pausanias said to the Athenians,

  8. ‘You have fought the Persians at Marathon, and know their style of fighting; I suggest you take the right wing opposite them,

  9. ‘And we Spartans will exchange to your current place on the left wing, for we have fought the Boeotians and Thessalians before, and know how they fight.’

  10. To this the Athenians readily agreed, having themselves thought that this would be a good idea.

  11. But when Mardonius saw the changeover occurring, he likewise exchanged his wings; and when the Greeks changed back, he followed suit.

  12. And then he sent a mocking message to the Spartans, saying, ‘Lacedaemonians, men say that you are the bravest of mankind,

  13. ‘And admire you because you never turn your backs in flight nor quit your ranks, but always stand firm, and either die at your posts or else destroy your adversaries.

  14. ‘But in all this which they say concerning you there is not one word of truth; for now have we seen you, before battle was joined or our two hosts had come to blows, flying and leaving your posts,

  15. ‘Wishing the Athenians to make the first trial of our arms, and taking your own station against our slaves.’

  16. Then Mardonius offered a fight in equal between the pick of the Persian guards and the Spartans; but receiving no reply to his challenge, ordered the cavalry to attack.

  17. Now the Persian cavalry fired arrows from horseback as they attacked, and sorely distressed the Greek troops, who could not bring them to close combat.

  18. Moreover the Persians at this time choked up and spoiled the fountain of Gargaphia, from which the whole Greek army drew its water.

  19. Accordingly the Greek generals met together and laid a new plan.

  20. If the Persians did not attack in full force that day, they resolved to move the army to a new position at a place called ‘The Island’,

  21. Formed by the divided arms of the River Oeroe on a tract of land before Plataea, about ten furlongs from the River Asopus and the fountain of Gargaphia.

  22. In this place they would have abundant water and would be less vulnerable to the Persian cavalry, which could not so e
asily harass them there.

  23. Having resolved to move their ground during the second watch of night so as to be less visible, the Greeks continued to suffer through the rest of the day from the attrition of the Persian cavalry.

  24. When night fell and the attacks ceased, the army began to get ready for its move.

  25. But the greater number of the men were not minded to take the new ground, but wanted to flee into the city of Plataea and hide behind its walls.

  Chapter 101

  1. Meanwhile one of the generals who had not been at the meeting earlier, Amompharetus, now refused to retreat;

  2. And while the Spartan leaders Pausanias and Euryanax were arguing with him, the Athenians, who had kept their station, sent a horseman to find out what was happening,

  3. For they distrusted the Lacedaemonians, who often said one thing and did another.

  4. Just at the moment when the Athenian herald arrived, Amompharetus, still disputing, took up a vast rock with both hands, and placed it at the feet of Pausanias, saying,

  5. ‘With this pebble I give my vote not to run away from the barbarians.’

  6. Pausanias, in reply, called him a fool and a madman, and, turning to the Athenian herald, instructed him to tell his countrymen how he was occupied,

  7. And ask them to approach nearer, and retreat or not according to the movements of the Spartans.

  8. The herald returned to the Athenians; and the Spartans continued to dispute till morning began to dawn.

  9. Then Pausanias, who as yet had not moved, gave the signal for retreat, expecting that Amompharetus, when he saw the rest of the Lacedaemonians in motion, would be unwilling to be left.

  10. No sooner was the signal given, than all the army except the Pitanates began their march, and retreated along the line of the hills, the Tegeans accompanying them.

  11. The Athenians likewise set off in good order, but proceeded by a different way from the Lacedaemonians.

  12. For while the latter clung to the hilly ground and the skirts of Mount Cithaeron, on account of their fear of the enemy Persian cavalry, the former took themselves to the low country and marched through the plain.