other considerations. Some messengers came from Thessaly on the part of the Aleuada, imploring the king to invade Greece; to accomplish which they used the most earnest endeavours. These Aleuada were the princes of Thessaly; their solicitations were strengthened by the Pisistratida, who had taken refuge at Susa, and who to the arguments before adduced added others. They had among them Onomacritus, an Athenian, a famous priest, who sold the oracles of Musaus; with him they had been reconciled previous to their arrival at Susa. This man had been formerly banished from Athens by the son of Pisistratus; for Lasus of Hermione had detected him in the fact of introducing a pretended oracle among the verses of Musaeus, intimating that the islands contiguous to Lemnos should be overwhelmed in the ocean. Hipparchus for this expelled him, though he had been very intimate with him before. He accompanied the Pisistratida to Susa, who always spoke of him in terms highly honourable, upon which account, whenever he appeared in the royal presence, he recited certain oracular verses. He omitted whatever predicted any thing unfortunate to the Barbarians, selecting only what promised them auspiciously; among other things he said the Fates decreed that a Persian should throw a bridge over the Hellespont.

reduced than it had been by Darius, the government of it he confided to Achæmenes his own brother, son of Darius. Achæmenes was afterwards slain by Inarus, a Libyan, the son of Psammetichus.

VIII. After the subjection of Egypt, Xerxes prepared to lead an army against Athens, but first of all he called an assembly of the principal Persians, to hear their sentiments, and to deliver without reserve his own. He addressed them to the following purport: "You will remember, O Persians, that I am not about to execute any new project of my own; I only pursue the path which has been previously marked out for me. I have learned from my ancestors, that ever since we recovered this empire from the Medes, after the depression of Astyages by Cyrus, we have never been in a state of inactivity. A deity is our guide, and auspiciously conducts us to prosperity. It must be unnecessary for me to relate the exploits of Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius, and the nations they added to our empire. For my own part, ever since my accession to the throne, it has been my careful endeavour not to reflect any disgrace upon my forefathers, by suffering the Persian power to diminish. My deliberations on this matter have presented me with a prospect full of glory: they have pointed out to me a region not inferior to our own in VII. Thus was the mind of Xerxes assail- extent, and far exceeding it in fertility, which ed by the predictions of the priest, and the incitements are farther promoted by the exopinions of the Pisistratida. In the year pectation of honourable revenge; I have therewhich followed the death of Darius, he deter- fore assembled you to explain what I intend: mined on an expedition against Greece, but I have resolved, by throwing a bridge over the commenced hostilities with those who had re- Hellespont," to lead my forces through Europe volted from the Persians. These being sub-into Greece, and to inflict vengeance on the dued, and the whole of Egypt more effectually

6 Lasus was a musician, poet, and according to some, one of the seven sages of Greece. He was the inventor of the dithyrambic verses and of the circular dances. Aristophanes, in the Aves, calls him xuxes didacnados. He was fond of gaming: and, according to Plutarch, when Xenophanes refused once to play with him, he reproached him with cowardice: "Yes," answered Xenophanes, "in every thing which is base and dishonest, I confess myself a coward."-T.

7 In the year.]-Herodotus was born this year at Halicarnassus in Caria. See Aulus Gellius book xv. c.

23.

"Hellanicus, Herodotus, and Thucydides flourished in the same time, and were nearly of the same age; Hellanicus, in the commencement of the Peloponnesian war, was sixty-five years old, Herodotus fifty-three, and Thucydides forty."-T.

8 Whole of Egypt.]-Xerxes having ascended the throne, employed the first year of his reign in carrying

on the preparations for the reduction of Egypt, which his father had begun. He confirmed to the Jews at Jerusalem all the privileges granted them by his father, especially that of having the tribute of Samaria for the furnishing them with sacrifices for the carrying on of divine worship in the temple of God at that place.Prideaux.

9 Hellespont.]-Bochart thinks it very probable, what other learned men have also conjectured, that the Hellespont was originally called Elis-pont, from Elisha, the eldest of Javan's sons; and it may be added, that one of the 120 provinces, as they stood in the rolls of the Persian empire, was named Provincia Alysionensis, for so Herodotus informs us; and it is placed between the provinces of Ionia and Phrygia,comprehending Æolia. From the authority above cited, upon the change of language Elisha the son of Javan was called Æolus. The Jewish rabbins explain the name Elisha, ad insulam; and Varro as cited by Servius, on the 1st Æneid, gives the same title to Eolus Hippotades, styling him Dominus insalurum (lord of the islands.)—T.

Athenians for the injuries offered to my father | securely defy the competition of posterity.

and Persia. You well know that this war was
intended by Darius, though death deprived him
of the means of vengeance. Considering what
is due to him and to Persia, it is my determi-
nation not to remit my exertions, till Athens
shall be taken and burned.1 The Athenians,
unprovoked, first insulted me and my father:
under the conduct of Aristagoras of Miletus,
our dependant and slave, they attacked Sardis,
and consumed with fire our groves and temples.
What they perpetrated against you, when, led
by Datis and Artaphernes, you penetrated their
country, you know by fatal experience. Such
are my inducements to proceed against them:
but I have also additional motives. If we re-
duce these and their neighbours who inhabit
the country of Pelops the Phrygian, to our
power, the Persian empire will be limited by
the heavens alone; the sun will illuminate no
country contiguous to ours: I shall over-run
all Europe, and with your assistance possess
unlimited dominion. For if I am properly
informed, there exists no race of men, nor can
any city or nation be found, which if these be❘
reduced, can possibly resist our arms: we shall
thus subject, as well those who have, as those
who have not injured us. I call therefore for
your assistance, which I shall thankfully accept
and acknowledge; I trust that with cheerful-
ness and activity you will all assemble at the
place I shall appoint. To him who shall ap-
pear with the greatest number of well-provided
troops, I will present those gifts which in our
country are thought to confer the highest
honour. That I may not appear to dictate my
own wishes in an arbitrary manner, I commit
the matter to your reflection, permitting every
one to deliver his sentiments with freedom."

IX. When Xerxes had finished, Mardonius made the following reply: "Sir, you are not only the most illustrious of all the Persians who have hitherto appeared, but you may

1 Taken and burned.]-Mr Glover had probably this speech of Xerxes in his mind, when he wrote the following lines, which he makes Mardonius utter on entering

Athens:

Is this the city whose presumption dared
Invade the lord of Asia ? sternly said
Mardonius, entering.-Whither now are fled
Th' audacious train, whose firebrands Sardis felt?
Where'er you lurk, Athenians, if in sight,
Soon shall you view your citadel in flames
Or, if retreated to a distant land,

No distant land of refuge shall you find
Against avenging Xerxes.

Athenaid.

Among other things which you have advanced, alike excellent and just, you are entitled to our particular admiration for not suffering the people of Ionia, contemptible as they are, to insult us with impunity. It would indeed be preposterous, if after reducing to our power the Sacæ, the Indians, the Ethiopians, and the Assyrians, with many other great and illustrious nations, not in revenge of injuries received, but solely from the honourable desire of dominion, we should not inflict vengeance on these Greeks who, without provocation, have molested us. There can be nothing to excite our alarm; no multitude of troops, no extraordinary wealth; we have tried their mode of fighting, and know their weakness. Their descendants, who under the names of Ionians, Folians, and Dorians, reside within our dominions, we first subdued, and now govern. Their prowess I myself have known, when at the command of your father I prosecuted a war against them. J penetrated Macedonia, advanced almost to Athens, and found no enemy to encounter. Besides this, I am informed that in all their military undertakings the Greeks betray the extremest ignorance and folly. As soon as they commence hostilities among themselves, their first care is to find a large and beautiful plain," where they appear and give battle: the consequence is, that even the victors suffer severe loss; of the vanquished I say nothing, for they are totally destroyed. As they use one common language, they ought in policy to terminate all disputes by the mediation of ambas sadors, and above all things to avoid a war among themselves: or, if this should prove unavoidable, they should mutually endeavour to find a place of great natural strength, and then try the issue of a battle. By pursuing as absurd a conduct as I have described, the Greeks suffered me to advance as far as Macedonia without resistance. But who, Sir, shall oppose you, at the head of the forces and fleet of Asia? The Greeks, I think, never can be so audacious. If however I should be deceived, and they shall be so mad as to engage us, they will soon find

2 Plain.]—The Romans in attacking an enemy, so dis posed their army, as to be able to rally three different times. This has been thought by many as the great secret of the Roman discipline; because fortune must have foiled their efforts three different times before they could be possibly defeated. The Greeks drew up their forces in one extended line, and therefore depended upon the effect of the first charge.-T.

truction, when your father, throwing bridges over the Thracian Bosphorus and the Ister, passed into Scythia. The guard of this pass was intrusted to the Ionians, whom the Scy

to their cost that in the art of war we are the first of mankind. Let us however adopt various modes of proceeding, for perfection and success can only be the result of frequent experiment.”—In this manner Mardonius second-thians urged to break it down, by the most

ed the speech of Xerxes.

earnest importunity. If at this period His.. tiæus of Miletus had not opposed the sentiments of the rest, there would have been an end of the Persian name. It is painful to repeat, and afflicting to remember, that the safe

a single man. Listen therefore to my advice, and where no necessity demands it, do not involve yourself in danger. For the present dis

X. A total silence prevailed in the assembly, no one daring to oppose3 what had been said; till at length Artabanus, son of Hystaspes, and uncle to Xerxes, deriving confidence from his relationship, thus delivered his sentiments:ty of our prince and his dominions depended on "Unless, O king, different sentiments be submitted to the judgment, no alternative of choice remains, the one introduced is of necessity adopted. The purity of gold cannot be ascer-miss this meeting; revolve the matter more tained by a single specimen; it is known and approved by comparing it with others. It was my advice to Darius, your father and my brother, that he should by no means undertake an expedition against the Scythians, a people without towns and cities. Allured by his hopes of subduing them, he disregarded my admonitions; and proceeding to execute his purpose was obliged to return, having lost numbers of his best troops. The men, O king, whom you are preparing to attack, are far superior to the Scythians, and alike formidable by land and sea. I deem it therefore my duty to forewarn you of the dangers you will have to encounter. You say that, throwing a bridge over the Hellespont, you will lead your forces through Europe into Greece: but it may possibly happen, that either on land or by sea, or perhaps by both, you may sustain a defeat, for our enemies are reported to be valiant. Of this indeed we have had sufficient testimony; for if the Athenians by themselves routed the numerous armies of Datis and Artaphernes, it proves that we are not either by land or sea, perfectly invincible. If, preparing their fleet, they shall be victorious by sea, and afterwards sailing to the Hellespont, shall destroy your bridge, we may dread all that is bad. I do not argue in this respect from my own private conjecture; we can all of us remember how very narrowly we escaped des

3 Daring to oppose.]-The following is from Ælian's Various History, book xii. c. 62.

"This was one of the Persian laws; if any one thought proper to give advice to the king about any thing which was forbidden, or ambiguous, he did so standing on a golden tile; if his advice appeared to be salutary, the gold tile was given him as a reward; he was nevertheless beaten for presuming to contradict the king. "But in my opinion," says Elian, "a man of an ingenuous mind would never have submitted to the disgrace for the sake of the reward.' -T.

seriously in your mind, and at a future and seasonable time make known your determination. For my own part, I have found from experience that deliberation produces the happiest effects. In such a case, if the event does not answer our wishes, we still merit the praise of discretion, and fortune is alone to be blamed. He who is rash and inconsiderate, although fortune may be kind, and anticipate his desires, is not the less to be censured for temerity. You may have observed how the thunder-bolt of Heaven chastises the insolence of the more enormous animals, whilst it passes over without injury the weak and insignificant: before these weapons of the gods you must have seen how the proudest palaces' and the loftiest trees fall and perish. The most conspicuous things are those which are chiefly singled out as objects of the divine displeasure. From the same principle it is that a mighty army is sometimes overthrown by one that is contemptible; for the deity in his anger sends his terrors among them, and makes them perish in a manner unworthy of their former glory. Perfect wisdom is the prerogative of Heaven alone, and

4 Proudest palaces.]—

Auream quisquis mediocritatem
Diligit, tutus caret obsoleti
Sordibus tecti, caret invidenda

Sobrius aula.

Sæpius ventis agitatur ingens
Pinus et cela graviore casu
Decidunt turres, feriuntque summos
Fulgura montes.
Hor. l. ii. 10.

5 Perfect wisdom.]-The English reader may perhaps thank me for taking this opportunity of relating an anecdote of the celebrated Buffon, not generally known. That perfect wisdom is the attribute of Heaven only, no human being, we should suppose, would be inclined to controvert: yet Buffon, during his life time, suffered a statue to be erected to him with this remarkable inscription, MAJESTATI NATURE PAR INGENIUM, which can surely be applicable to the Deity alone. -T.

adhere to you-as you are so dastardly and mean, you shall not accompany me to Greece, but remain at home, the companion of our women. Without your assistance, I shall pro

for I should ill deserve to be esteemed the son of Darius, who was the son of Hystaspes, and reckoned among his ancestors, Arsamis, Arinnis, Teispeus, Cyrus, Cambyses, Teispeus, and Achæmenes, if I did not gratify my revenge upon the Athenians. I am well assured, that if we on our parts were tranquil, they would not, but would invade and ravage our country. This we may reasonably conclude from their burning of Sardis, and their incursions into Asia. Neither party can therefore recede; we must advance to the attack of the Greeks, or we must prepare to sustain theirs ; we must either submit to them, or they to us; in enmities like these there can be no medium. Injured as we have been, it becomes us to seek for revenge: for I am determined to know what evil is to be dreaded from those whom Pelops the Phrygian, the slave of my ancestors, so effectually subdued, that even to this day they, as well as their country, are distinguished by his name."

every measure undertaken with temerity is liable to be perplexed with error, and punished by misfortune. Discreet caution on the contrary has many and peculiar advantages, which if not apparent at the moment, reveal them-ceed in the accomplishment of my designs; selves in time. Such, O king, is my advice; and little does it become you, O son of Gobryas, to speak of the Greeks in a language foolish as well as false. By calumniating Greece, you excite your sovereign to war, the great object of all your zeal : but I entreat you to forbear: calumny is a restless vice, where it is indulged there are always two who offer injury. The calumniator himself is injurious, because he traduces an absent person; he is also injurious who suffers himself to be persuaded without investigating the truth. The person traduced is doubly injured, first by him who propagates, and secondly by him who receives the calumny. If this war be a measure of necessity, let it be prosecuted; but let the king remain at home' with his subjects. Suffer the children of us two to remain in his power, as the test of our different opinions; and do you, Mardonius, conduct the war with whatever forces you shall think expedient. If, agreeably to your representations, the designs of the king shall be successful, let me and my children perish; but if what I predict shall be accomplished, let your children die, and yourself too, in case you shall return. If you refuse these conditions, and are still resolved to lead an army into Greece, I do not hesitate to declare, that all those who shall be left behind will hear that Mardonius, after having involved the Persians in some conspicuous calamity, became a prey to dogs and ravenous birds, in the territories either of Athens or Lacedæmon, or probably during his march thither. Thus you will know, by fatal experience, what those men are against whom you endeavour to persuade the king to prosecute a war."

XI. When Artabanus had finished, Xerxes thus angrily replied; " Artabanus, you are my father's brother, which alone prevents your receiving the chastisement due to your foolish speech. This mark of ignominy shall however

1 Let the king remain at home.]-See 2 Sam. xxi. 17. "Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel."

In our country, soon after the revolution, when William narrowly escaped destruction by the falling of his horse, it was determined by parliament, that the sovereign should never again expose his person in battle.

XII. On the approach of evening the sentiments of Artabanus gave great disquietude to Xerxes, and after more serious deliberation with himself in the night, he found himself still less inclined to the Grecian war. Having decided on the subject, he fell asleep, when, as the Persians relate, the following vision appeared to him :- He dreamed that he saw before him a man of unusual size and beauty, who thus addressed him: "Are you then determined, O Persian, contrary to your former resolutions, not to lead an army against Greece, although you have ordered your subjects to This change in your prepare their forces?