05 - Xerxes, Makers of History by Jacob Abbott

Dive into the fascinating history of Xerxes, the formidable ruler of the Persian Empire, as he leads his forces in the dramatic invasion of Greece. Join Deon Gines as he unravels the intricate tapestry of power, conflict, and legacy during this pivotal era.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter five of Xerxes by Jacob Abbot. This LibriVox recording
is in the public domain recording by Dionngine's Salt Lake City,
Utah Crossing the hellspont b. C. Four eighty. Although the
ancient Asia Minor was in the same latitude as New York,

(00:23):
there was yet very little winter there. Snows fell indeed
upon the summits of the mountains, and ice formed occasionally
upon quiet streams. And yet in general the imaginations of
the inhabitants, in forming mental images of frost and snow,

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sought them not in their own winters, but in the
cold and icy regions of the north, of which, however,
scarcely anything was known to them except what was disclosed
by wild and exaggerate, raided rumors and legends. There was, however,
a period of blustering winds and chili rains, which was

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called winter, and Xerxes was compelled to wait before commencing
his invasion until the inclement season had passed. As it was,
he did not wholly escape the disastrous effects of the
wintry gales. A violent storm arose while he was at

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Sardis and broke up the bridge which he had built
across the hellspond. When the tidings of this disaster were
brought to Xerxes at his winter quarters, he was very
much enraged. He was angry both with the sea for
having destroyed the structure, and with the architects who had

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built it for not having made it strong enough to
stand against its fury. He determined to punish both the
waves and the workmen. He ordered the sea to be
scorged with a monstrous whip, and directed that heavy chains
should be thrown into it, as symbols of his defiance

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of its power and of his determination to subject it
to his control. The men who administered this senseless discipline
cried out to the sea as they did it, in
the following words which Xerxes had dictated to them, miserable monster,
this is the punishment which Xerxes, your master, inflicts upon

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you on account of the unprovoked and wanton injury you
have done him. Be assured that he will pass over you,
whether you will or no. He hates and defies you,
object as you are through your insatiable cruelty and the

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nauseous bitterness of your waters, of the common abomination of mankind.
As for the men who had built the bridge, which
had been found thus inadequate to withstand the force of
a wintry tempest. He ordered every one of them to
be beheaded, the vengeance of the king being thus satisfied,

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a new set of engineers and workmen were designated and
ordered to build another bridge. Knowing, as of course they
now did, that their lives depended upon the stability of
their structure, they omitted no possible precaution which could tend
to secure it. They selected the strongest ships and arranged

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them in positions which would best enable them to withstand
the pressure of the current. Each vessel was secured in
its place by strong anchors, placed scientifically in such a
manner as to resist, to the best advantage the force
of the strain to which they would be exposed. There

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were two ranges of these vessels, extending from shore to shore,
containing over three hundred in each. In each range, one
or two vessels were omitted on the asiatic side to
allow boats and galleys to pass through in order to
keep the communication open. These omissions did not interfere with

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the use of the bridge, as the superstructure and the
roadway above was continued over them. The vessels which were
to serve for the foundation of the bridge, being thus
arranged and secured in their places. Two immense cables were
made and stretched from shore to shore, each being fastened

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at the ends securely to the banks, and resting in
the middle on the decks of the vessels. The fastenings
of these cables on the shore there were immense piles
driven into the ground, and huge rings attached to the piles.
The cables, as they passed along the decks of the

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vessels over the water, were secured to them all by
strong cordage, so that each vessel was firmly and indissolubly
bound to all the rest. Over these cables, a platform
was made of trunks of trees, with branches placed upon
them to fill the interstices and level the surface. The

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whole was then covered with a thick stratum of earth,
which made a firm and substantial road like that of
a public highway. A high and close fence was also
erected on each side, so as to shut off the
view of the water, which might otherwise alarm the horses

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and the beasts of burden that were to cross with
the army. When the news was brought to Xerxes at
Sardis that the bridge was completed, and that all things
were ready for the passage. He made arrangements for commencing
his march. A circumstance, however, here occurred that at first

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alarmed him. It was no less a phenomenon than an
eclipse of the sun. Eclipses were considered in those days
as extraordinary and supernatural omens, and Xerxes was naturally anxious
to know what this sudden darkness was meant to portend.

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He directed the magi to consider the subject and to
give him their opinion. Their answer was that, as the
sun was the guardian divinity of the Greeks and the
moon that of the Persians, the meaning of the sudden
withdrawal of the light of day, doubtless was that Heaven

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was about to withhold its protection from the Greeks in
the approaching struggle. Xerxes was satisfied with this explanation, and
the preparations for the march went on. The movement of
the grand procession from the city of Sardis was inconceivably splendid.
First came the long trains of baggage on mules and camels,

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and horses and other beasts of burden, attended by the
drivers and the men who had the baggage in charge.
Next came an immense body of troops of all nations,
marching irregularly but under the command of the proper officers. Then,
after a considerable interval, came a body of a thousand horse,

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splendidly caparisoned, and followed by a thousand spearmen, who marched
trailing their spears upon the ground in token of respect
and submission to the King, who was coming behind them.
Next to these troops, and immediately in advance of the King,
were certain religious and sacred objects and personages on which

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the people who gazed upon this gorgeous spectacle looked with
the utmost awe and veneration. There were first ten sacred horses,
splendidly comparisoned, each led by his groom, who was clothed
in appropriate robes, as a sort of priest officiating in

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the service of a god. Behind these came the sacred
car of Jupiter. This car was very large and elaborately worked,
and was profusely ornamented with gold. It was drawn by
eight white horses. No human being was allowed to set
his foot upon any part of it, and consequently the

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reins of the horses were carried back under the to
the charioteer, who walked behind. Xerxes's own chariot came next,
drawn by very splendid horses, selected especially for their size
and beauty. His charioteer, a young Persian noble, sat by

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his side. Then came great bodies of troops. There was
one corps of two thousand men, the lifeguards of the king,
who were armed in a very splendid and costly manner
to designate their high rank in the army and the
exalted nature of their duty as personal attendants on the sovereign.

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One thousand of these lifeguards were foot soldiers, and the
other thousand horsemen. After the lifeguards came a body of
ten thousand infantry, and after them ten thousand cavalry. This
completed what was strictly the Persian part of the army.
There was an interval of a about a quarter of

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a mile in the rear of these bodies of troops,
and then came a vast and countless multitude of servants, attendants, adventurers,
and camp followers of every description. A confused promiscuous, disorderly
and noisy throng. The immediate destination of this vast horde

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was Abydos, for it was between Sestos on the European
shore and Abydos on the Asiatic that the bridge had
been built. To reach Abydos. The route was north through
the province of Missia. In their progress, the guides of
the army kept well inland so as to avoid the

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indentations of the coast and the various small rivers which
here flow westward toward the sea. Thus advancing, the army
passed to the right of Mount Ida and arrived at
last us on the bank of this scamander. Here they encamped.
They were upon the plane of Troy. The world was

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filled in those days with the glory of the military
exploits which had been performed some ages before in the
siege and capture of Troy, and it was the custom
for every military hero who passed the site of the
city to pause in his march and spend some time

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amid the scenes of those ancient conflicts, that he might
in spirit and invigorate his own ambition by the association
of the spot, and also render suitable honors to the
memories of those that fell there. Xerxes did this, Alexander
subsequently did it. Xerxes examined the various localities, ascended the

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ruins of the citadel of Priam, walked over the ancient battlefield,
and at length, when his curiosity had thus been satisfied,
he ordered a grand sacrifice of a thousand oxen to
be made, and a libation of corresponding magnitude to be offered,

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in honor of the shades of the dead heroes whose
deeds had consecrated the spot. Whatever excitement and exhilaration, however,
Xerxes himself may have felt, in approaching, under these circumstances
the transit of the stream, where the real labors and
dangers of his expedition were to commence. His miserable and

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helpless soldiers did not share them. Their condition and prospects
were wretched in the extreme. In the first place, none
of them went willingly. In modern times, at least in
England and America, armies are recruited by enticing the depraved
and the miserable to enlist, by tendering them a bounty,

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as it is called, that is a sum of ready money,
which as a means of temporary and often vicious pleasure
presents a temptation they cannot resist. The act of enlistment is, however,
in a sense, voluntary, so that those who have homes
and friends and useful pursuits in which they are peacefully

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engaged are not disturbed. It was not so with the
soldiers of Xerxes. They were slaves and had been torn
from their rural homes all over the empire by a
merciless conscription from which there was no possible escape. Their
life in camp, too, was comfortless and riched. At the

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present day, when it is so much more difficult than
it then was to obtain soldiers, and when so much
more time and attention are required to train them to
their work. In the modern art of war, soldiers must
be taken care of when obtained. But in Xerxes's day

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it was much easier to get new supplies of recruits
than to incur any great expense in providing for the
health and comfort of those already in the service. The
arms and trappings, it is true of such troops as
were in immediate attendance on the king were very splendid

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and gay, though this was only decoration after all, and
the king's decoration too, not theirs. In respect, however, to
everything like personal comfort, whether of food and of clothing,
or the means of shelter and repose. The common soldiers
were utterly destitute and wretched. They felt no interest in

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the campaign. They had nothing to hope for from its success,
a continuance if their lives were spared of the same
miserable bondage which they had always endured. There was, however,
little probability even of this, for whether in the case
of such an invasion, the aggressor was to succeed or

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to fail, the destiny of the soldiers personally was almost
inevitable destruction. The mass of Xerxes's army was thus a
mere herd of slaves, driven along by the whips of
their officers. Reluctant, wretched, and despairing. This helpless mass was
overtaken one night among the gloomy and rugged defiles and

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passes of Mount Ida by a dreadful storm of wind
and rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Unprovided as they
were with the means of protection against such tempests, they
were thrown into confusion and spent the night in terror.
Great numbers perished struck by the lightning or exhausted by

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the cold and exposure. And afterward, when they encamped on
the plains of Troy near the Scamander, the whole of
the water of the stream was not enough to supply
the wants of the soldiers, and the immense herds of
beasts of burden, so that many thousands suffered severely from thirst.

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All these things conspired greatly to depress the spirits of
the men, so that at last, when they arrived in
the vicinity of Abydos, the whole army was in a
state of extreme dejection and despair. This, however, was of
little consequence. The repose of a master so despotic and

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lofty as Xerxes is very little disturbed by the mental
sorrows of his slaves. Xerxes reached Abydos and prepared to
make the passage of the Strait in a manner worthy
of the grandeur of the occasion. The first thing was
to make arrangements for a great parade of his forces,

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not apparently for the purpose of accomplishing any useful and
of military organization in the arrangement of the troops, but
to gratify the pride and pleasure of the sovereign, with
an opportunity of surveying them. A great white throne of
marble was accordingly erected on an imminence not far from

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the shore of the Health Pond, from which Xerxes looked
down with great complacency and pleasure, on the one hand,
upon the long lines of troops, the countless squadrons of horsemen,
the ranges of tents, and the vast herds of beasts
of burden, which were assembled on the land, And on

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the other hand, upon the fleets of ships and boats
and galleys at anchor upon the sea, while the shores
of Europe were smiling in the distance, and the long
and magnificent roadway which he had made lay floating upon
the water, all ready to take his enormous armament across

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whenever he should issue the command. Any deep emotion of
the human soul in persons of a sensitive physical organization
tends to tears, and Xerxes's heart, being filled with exultation
and pride and with a sense of inexpressible grandeur and sublimity,

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as he looked upon this scene, was softened by the
pleasurable excitements of the hour, and though at first his
countenance was beaming with satisfaction and pleasure. His uncle Ardebanis,
who stood by his side, soon perceived that tears were
standing in his eyes. Ardebanis asked him what this meant.

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It made him sad. Xerxes replied to reflect that immensely
vast as the countless multitude before him was, in one
hundred years from that time, not one of them all
would be alive. The tender heartedness which Xerxes manifested on
this occasion, taken in connection with the stern and unrelenting

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tyranny which he was exercising over the mighty mass of
humanity whose mortality he mourned, has drawn forth a great
variety of comments from writers of every age who have
repeated the story. Ardebanis replied to it on the spot
by saying that he did not think that the king

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ought to give himself too much uneasiness on the subject
of human liability to death, for it happened in a
vast number of cases that the privations and sufferings of
men were so good that often, in the course of
their lives, they rather wished to die than to live,

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and that death was consequently in some respects to be
regarded not as in itself a woe, but rather as
the relief and remedy for woe. There is no doubt
that this theory of Ardebonis, so far as it applied
to the unhappy soldiers of Xerxes, all marshaled before him

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when he uttered it was eminently true. Xerxes admitted that
what his uncle said was just. But it was, he said,
a melancholy subject, and so he changed the conversation. He
asked his uncle whether he still entertained the same doubts
and fears in respect to the expedition that he had

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expressed at Susa when the plan was first proposed in
the council. Ardebonis replied that he most saidcerely hoped that
the prognostications of the vision would prove true, but that
he still had great apprehensions of the result. I have
been reflecting, continued he, with great care on the whole subject.

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And it seems to me that there are two dangers
of very serious character to which your expedition will be
imminently exposed. Xerxes wished to know what they were. They
both arise, said Ardebanis. From the immense magnitude of your operations.

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In the first place, you have so large a number
of ships, galleys and transports in your fleet that I
do not see how when you have gone down upon
the Greek coast, if a storm should arise, you are
going to find shelter for them. There are no harbors
there large enough to afford anchorage ground for such an

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mense number of vessels. And what is the other danger,
asked Xerxes. The other is the difficulty of finding food
for such a vast multitude of men as you have
brought together in your armies. The quantity of food necessary
to supply such countless numbers is almost incalculable. Your grainaries

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and magazines will soon be exhausted. And then, as no
country whatever that you can pass through, will have resources
of food adequate for such a multitude of mouths, it
seems to me that your march must inevitably end in
a famine. The less resistance you meet with, and the

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further you consequently advance, the worse it will be for you.
I do not see how this fatal result can possibly
be avoided, And so an easy and anxious am I
on the subject that I have no rest or peace.
I admit, said Xerxes in reply, that what you say

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is not wholly unreasonable, but in great undertakings, it will
never do to take counsel wholly of our fears. I
am willing to submit to a very large portion of
the evils to which I expose myself on this expedition,
rather than not accomplish the end which I have in view. Besides,

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the most prudent and cautious counsels are not always the best.
He who hazards nothing gains nothing. I have always observed
that in all the affairs of human life, those who
exhibit some enterprise and courage in what they undertake are
far more likely to be successful than those who weigh

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everything and consider everything, and will not advance where they
can see any remote prospect of danger. If my predecessors
had acted on the principles which you recommend, the Persian
Empire would never have acquired the greatness to which it
has now attained. In continuing to act on the same

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principles which governed them, I confidently expect the same success.
We shall conquer Europe and then return in peace. I
feel assured without encountering the famine which you dread so
much or any other great calamity. On hearing these words

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and observing how fixed and settled the determinations of Xerxes were,
Ardabanis said no more on the general subject, but on
one point he ventured to offer his counsel to his nephew,
and that was on the subject of employing the Ionians
in the war. The Ionians were Greeks by descent. Their

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ancestors had crossed the Aegean Sea and settled at various
places along the coast of Asia Minor in the western
part of the provinces of Caria, Lydia, and Missia. Ardebonus
thought it was dangerous to take these men to fight
against their countrymen. However faithfully disposed they might be in

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commencing the enterprise, a thousand circumstances might occur to shake
their fidelity and lead them to revolt when they found
themselves in the land of their forefathers and heard the
enemies against whom they had been brought to contend speaking
their own mother tongue. Cerxes, however, was not convinced by

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Ardebonus's arguments. He thought that the employment of the Ionians
was perfectly safe. They had been eminently faithful and firm,
he said, under Hystiais in the time of Darius's invasion
of Scythia, when Darius had left them to guard his
bridge over the Danube. They had proved themselves trustworthy then,

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and he would, he said, accordingly, trust them now. Besides,
he added, they have left their property, their wives, and
their children, and all else that they hold dear in
our hands in Asia, and they will not dare while
we retain such hostages to do anything against us. Xerxes said, however,

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that since Ardabanis was so much concerned in respect to
the result of the expedition, he should not be compelled
to accompany it any further, but that he might return
to Susa instead and take charge of the government there
until Xerxes should return. A part of the celebration on

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the Great Day of Pera Raid, on which this conversation
between the king and his uncle was held, consisted of
a naval sea fight waged on the health Pont between
two of the nations of his army for the king's amusement.
The Phoenicians were the victors in this combat. Xerxes was

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greatly delighted with the combat, and in fact, with the
whole of the magnificent spectacle which the day had displayed.
Soon after this, Xerxes dismissed Ardebanis, ordering him to return
to Susa and to assume the regency of the empire.
He convened also another general council of the nobles of

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his court and the officers of the army, to announce
to them that the time had arrived for crossing the bridge,
and to make his farewell address to them before they
should take their final departure from Asia. Exhorted them to
enter upon the great work before them with a determined

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and resolute spirit, saying that if the Greeks were once subdued,
no other enemies able at all to cope with the
Persians would be left on the habitable globe. On the
dismissal of the council, orders were given to commence the
crossing of the bridge the next day at sunrise. The

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preparations were made accordingly in the morning, as soon as
it was light, and while waiting for the rising of
the sun, they burned upon the bridge all manner of perfumes,
and strewed the way with branches of myrtle, the emblem
of triumph and joy. As the time for the rising

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of the sun drew nigh, Serxes stood with a golden
vessel full of wine, which he was to pour out
as a libation as soon as the first rustling beams
should appear above the horizon. When at length the moment arrived,
he poured out the wine into the sea, throwing the

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vessel in which it had been contained after it. As
an offering. He also threw in at the same time
a golden goblet of great value and a Persian scimitar.
The ancient historian who records these facts was uncertain whether
these offerings were intended as acts of adoration addressed to

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the Sun, or as oblations presented to the sea, a
sort of peace offering, perhaps to soothe the feelings of
the mighty monster, irritated and chafed by the chastisement which
it had previously received. One circumstance indicated that the offering

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was intended for the Sun, for at the time of
making it, Cerxes address to the Great Luminary a sort
of petition which might be considered either an apostrophe or
a prayer. Employing its protection. He called upon the son
to accompany and defend the expedition and to preserve it

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from every calamity until it should have accomplished its mission
of subjecting all Europe to the Persian sway. The army
then commenced its march. The order of march was very
much the same as that which had been observed in
the departure from Sartus. The beasts of burden and the

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baggage were preceded and followed by immense bodies of troops
of all nations. The whole of the first day was
occupied by the passing of this part of the army.
Serxes himself and the sacred portion of the train were
to follow them on the second day. Accordingly, there came

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on the second day first and immense squadron of horse
with garlands on the heads of the horsemen. Next the
sacred horses and the sacred car of Jupiter. Then came
Xerxes himself in his war chariot, with trumpets sounding and
banners waving in the air. At the moment when xerk

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seizes chariot entered upon the bridge, the fleet of galleys,
which had been drawn up in preparation near the Asiatic shore,
were set in motion and moved in a long and
majestic line across the strait to the European side, accompanying
and keeping pace with their mighty master in his progress.

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Thus was spent the second day. Five more days were
consumed in getting over the remainder of the army and
the immense trains of beasts and of baggage which followed.
The officers urged the work forward as rapidly as possible
and toward the end. As is always the case in

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the movement of such enormous masses, it became a scene
of inconceivable noise, terror, and confusion. The officers drove forward,
men and beasts alike by the lashes of their whips,
everyone struggling under the influence of such stimulants to get forward,

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while fallen animals, broken wagons, and the bodies of those
exhausted and dying with excitement and fatigue choked the way.
The mighty mass was, however, at last transferred to the
European continent, full of anxious fears in respect to what
awaited them, but yet having very faint and feeble conceptions

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of the awful scenes in which the enterprise of their
reckless leader was to end. End of Chapter five,