Meanwhile Eretria had heard of the coming expedition, and had sent to Athens begging help. Athens did not turn a deaf ear to the appeal; and, though she could not spare men from Attica, she ordered the 4000 Athenian settlers (Kleruchs), who held the lands of that Chalkis which had been conquered sixteen years before, to go to the help of Eretria. The tale of what followed, as told by Herodotus, is not wholly consistent; and it may be suspected that part of it was intended by its creators to cloke the cowardice of these Kleruchs.[64] Opinions in Eretria, so the story runs, were divided. One party wished to leave the city and take refuge in the heights of Eubœa; the other planned treason and surrender to the Persian. A prominent citizen of Eretria, Æschines, the son of Nothos, warned the Kleruchs of this unsound state of things, and advised them to go home. They did more than this, for they crossed over to the mainland, and took refuge at Oropos. Then the tale becomes inconsistent; for, on the Persians landing and disembarking their cavalry, the Eretrians elect to stand a siege, and for six days make a brave defence against every attack, losing many men themselves, but also inflicting severe losses on the enemy. After that treachery did its work. Two prominent citizens admitted the Persians into the town. The temples were burnt “in retaliation for the burning of the temples at Sardes,” and the population was enslaved “according to the commands of Darius.” ◆H. vi. 102.◆ After reducing Eretria, and waiting for a few days, the Persians sailed to Attica in hot haste,[65] thinking to treat the Athenians in the same way as they had treated the Eretrians. #TOPOGRAPHY OF MARATHON.# Hippias, the son of Peisistratos, led them to Marathon, as being the most suitable ground in Attica for cavalry, and nearest to Eretria. [Illustration: MARATHON: FROM THE “SOROS,” LOOKING TOWARDS LITTLE MARSH. 1. Euripus. 2. Little Marsh. 3. Slope of Mount Agrieliki. [_To face page_ 163. ] It may be well, before seeking to account for the choice of Marathon as a landing-place, to describe briefly the plain and its surroundings, as well as its lines of communication with Athens. _The Topography of Marathon._