If the causes of alarm were great for the Peloponnesians, yet more
desperate did the position of the Athenians appear. Expecting,
according to agreement, to find a Peloponnesian army in Bœotia ready
to sustain Leonidas, or at any rate to coöperate in the defence
of Attica, they had taken no measures to remove their families or
property: but they saw with indignant disappointment as well as
dismay, on retreating from Artemisium, that the conqueror was in full
march from Thermopylæ, that the road to Attica was open to him, and
that the Peloponnesians were absorbed exclusively in the defence of
their own isthmus and their own separate existence.[211] The fleet
from Artemisium had been directed to muster at the harbor of Trœzen,
there to await such reinforcements as could be got together: but the
Athenians entreated Eurybiadês to halt at Salamis, so as to allow
them a short time for consultation in the critical state of their
affairs, and to aid them in the transport of their families. While
Eurybiadês was thus staying at Salamis, several new ships which had
reached Trœzen came over to join him; and in this way Salamis became
for a time the naval station of the Greeks, without any deliberate
intention beforehand.[212]
[211] Plutarch, Themistoklês, c. 9. ἅμα μὲν ὀργὴ τῆς προδοσίας
εἶχε τοὺς Ἀθηναίους, ἅμα δὲ δυσθυμία καὶ κατήφεια μεμονωμένους.
Herodot. viii, 40. δοκέοντες γὰρ εὑρήσειν Πελοποννησίους πανδημεὶ
ἐν τῇ Βοιωτίῃ ὑποκατημένους τὸν βάρβαρον, τῶν μὲν εὗρον οὐδὲν
ἐὸν, οἱ δὲ ἐπυνθάνοντο τὸν Ἰσθμὸν αὐτοὺς τειχέοντας ἐς τὴν
Πελοπόννησον, περὶ πλείστου δὲ ποιουμένους περιεῖναι, καὶ ταύτην
ἔχοντας ἐν φυλακῇ, τὰ τε ἄλλα ἀπιέναι.
Thucyd. i, 74. ὅτε γοῦν ἦμεν (we Athenians) ἔτι σῶοι, οὐ
παρεγένεσθε (Spartans).
Both Lysias (Oratio Funebr. c. 8) and Isokratês take pride in
the fact that the Athenians, in spite of being thus betrayed,
never thought of making separate terms for themselves with
Xerxes (Panegyric, Or. iv. p. 60). But there is no reason to
believe that Xerxes would have granted them separate terms: his
particular vengeance was directed against them. Isokratês has
confounded in his mind the conduct of the Athenians when they
refused the offers of Mardonius in the year following the battle
of Salamis, with their conduct before the battle of Salamis
against Xerxes.
[212] Herodot. viii, 40-42.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account