THE GREAT PERSIAN WAR. To MY WINTER-FRIEND HENRY FRANCIS PELHAM. THE GREAT PERSIAN WAR AND ITS PRELIMINARIES; A STUDY OF THE EVIDENCE, LITERARY AND TOPOGRAPHICAL. BY G. B. GRUNDY, M.A., LECTURER AT BRASENOSE COLLEGE, AND UNIVERSITY LECTURER IN CLASSICAL GEOGRAPHY, OXFORD. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1901. PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES. PREFACE. The publication of a version of an old old story which has been retold in modern times by famous writers, demands an apology even at this day of the making of many books. It can only be justified in case the writer has become possessed of new evidence on the history of the period with which the story is concerned, or has cause to think that the treatment of pre-existing evidence is not altogether satisfactory from a historical point of view. I think I can justify my work on the first of these grounds; and I hope I shall be able to do so on the second. Within the last half-century modern criticism of great ability has been brought to bear on the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides. Much of it has been of a destructive nature, and has tended to raise serious doubts as to the credibility of large and important parts of the narratives of those authors. I venture to think that, while some of this criticism must be accepted as sound by every careful student, much of it demands reconsideration. A large part of it has been based upon topographical evidence. Of the nature of that evidence I should like to say a few words. Until ten years ago the only military site of first-rate importance in Greek history which had been surveyed was the Strait of Salamis, which the Hydrographic Department of the English Admiralty had included in the field of its world-wide activity. A chart of Pylos made by the same department was also available, but was quite inadequate for the historical purpose. Since that time Marathon has been included in the survey of Attica made by the German Staff Officers for the German Archæological Institute. The surveys of Thermopylæ, Platæa, and Pylos, I have myself made at different times between 1892 and 1899. Pylos does not come within the scope of the present volume.