Meanwhile the Persian land–force advanced from Thermopylæ unopposed through Doris into Phocis, which alone, says Herodotus, “among the states in that quarter, did not join the Mede, for no other cause, as far as I can find upon inquiry, but from their hatred to the Thessalians; for if the Thessalians had adhered to the cause of Greece, the Phocians, as I believe, would then have joined the Mede.” But they could not pretend to withstand such an overwhelming force, and, retiring from the level country, took refuge in the recesses of Mount Parnassus; and the invader carried fire and desolation through the rich but deserted vale of the Cephisus. Arriving at the Bœotian border, Xerxes, while he prosecuted his march towards Athens, detached a force to seize the treasure at Delphi, “with the contents of which,” says the historian, “he was better acquainted than with what he had left at home; so general was its celebrity, especially for the offerings dedicated by Crœsus, son of Alyattes. The citizens were naturally in great alarm both for themselves and their temple, and consulted the oracle whether they should conceal or remove the sacred deposits. The god forbad their interference, saying that he was able to defend his own: but their confidence in their patron seems not to have been unmixed with scepticism, for they transported their families across the Corinthian Gulf into Achaia, and betook themselves to the wilds of Parnassus and other strongholds, leaving in the place only Aceratus, the expounder of oracles, together with sixty men. “When the barbarians were near at hand, and beheld the temple, at that moment the prophet observed that the sacred arms which it was unlawful for any man to touch had been brought forth from the shrine and laid in front of the building;[47] and he went to tell the Delphians, who were there, this wonder. But greater marvels occurred when the Persians came opposite to the temple of Athene Pronaia; though it is no small wonder that armour should spontaneously change its place; but that which next happened, among all manner of prodigies is most worthy of admiration: for then thunderbolts fell from heaven among them, and two crags, broken from Parnassus, were borne amongst them with a dreadful crash, and slew many; while a noise of shouting was heard from the temple of the goddess. “From these things combined a panic seized the barbarians; and the Delphians, observing that they retreated, issued down and slew a considerable number; the rest fled straight to Bœotia. And those who returned said, as I hear, that they saw other prodigies besides, for that two warriors of more than mortal stature followed their retreat, slaying them. These the Delphians affirm to have been two heroes, natives of the country, Phylacus and Antinous, to whom ground is consecrated in the neighbourhood of the temple.”[48]