August 19, 2025 • 27 mins
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.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter twelve of Xerxes by Jacob Abbott. This LibriVox recording
is in the public domain recording by Dion jins Cetlaic City, Utah,
The Return of Xerxes to Persia b c. Four eighty. Mardonius,
it will be recollected, was the commander in chief of
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the forces of Xerxes, and thus, next to Xerxes himself,
he was the officer highest in rank of all those
who attended the expedition. He was, in fact a sort
of prime minister, on whom the responsibility for almost all
(00:44):
the measures for the government and conduct of the expedition
had been thrown. Men in such positions, while they may
expect the highest rewards and honors from their sovereign in
case of success, us, have always reason to apprehend the
worst of consequences to themselves in case of failure. The
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night after the Battle of Solemnus, accordingly, Mardonius was in
great fear. He did not distrust the future success of
the expedition if it were allowed to go on, But
knowing the character of such despots as those who ruled
great nations in that age of the world, he was
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well aware that he might reasonably expect at any moment
the appearance of officers sent from Xerxes to cut off
his head. His anxiety was increased by observing that Xerxes
seemed very much depressed and very restless and uneasy after
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the battle, as if he were revolving in his mind
some extraordinary designs. Thought that he perceived indications that the
king was planning a retreat. Mardonius, after much hesitation, concluded
to speak to him and endeavor to dispel his anxieties
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and fears and lead him to take a more favorable
view of the prospects of the expedition. He accordingly accosted
him on the subject somewhat as follows. It is true,
said he, that we were not as successful in the
combat yesterday as we desire to be. But this reverse,
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as well as all the preceding disasters that we have
met with, is after all of comparatively little moment, your
Majesty has gone steadily on accomplishing most triumphantly, all the
substantial objects aimed at in undertaking the expedition. Your troops
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have advanced success fully by land against all opposition. With them,
you have traversed Thrace, Macedon, and Thessaly. You have fought
your way against the most desperate resistance through the pass
of Thermopylae. You have overrun all northern Greece. You have
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burned Athens. Thus, far from there being any uncertainty or
doubt in respect to the success of the expedition, we
see that all the great objects which you proposed by
it are already accomplished. The fleet, it is true, has
now suffered extensive damage. But we must remember that it
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is upon the army, not upon the fleet, that our
hopes and expectations mainly depend. The army is safe, and
it cannot be possible that the Greeks can hereafter bring
any force into the field by which it can be
seriously endangered. By these and similar sentiments, Mardonius endeavored to
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revive and restore the failing courage and resolution of the king.
He found, however, that he met with very partial success.
Cerxes was silent, thoughtful, and oppressed, apparently with a sense
of anxious concern. Mardonius finally proposed that even if the
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king should think it best to return himself to Susa,
he should not abandon the enterprise of subduing Greece, but
that he should leave a portion of the army under
his Mardonius's charge, and he would undertake, he said, to
complete the work which had been so successfully begun, three
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hundred thousand men, he was convinced would be sufficient for
the purpose. This suggestion seems to have made a favorable
impression on the mind of Xerxes. He was disposed, in fact,
to be pleased with any plan, provided it opened the
way for his own escape from the dangers in which
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he imagined that he was entangled. He said that he
would consult some of the other commanders upon the subject.
He did so, and then, before coming to a final decision,
he determined to confer with Artemisia. He remembered that she
had counseled him not to attack the Greeks at Solmus,
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and as the result had proved that council to be
eminently wise, he felt the greater confidence in asking her
judgment again. He accordingly sent for Artemisia, and directing all
the officers, as well as his own attendants, to retire,
he held a private consultation with her in respect to
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his plans. Mardonius proposes, said he that the expedition should
on no account be abandoned. In consequence of this disaster,
for he says that the fleet is a very unimportant
part of our force, and that the army still remains unharmed.
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He proposes that if I should decide myself to return
to Persia, I should leave three hundred thousand men with him,
and he undertakes, if I will do so, to complete
with them the subjugation of Greece. Tell me what you
think of this plan. You evinced so much sagacity in
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foreseeing the result of this engagement at Solmus, that I
particularly wish to know your opinion. Artemisia, after pausing a
little to reflect upon the subject, saying as she hesitated,
that it was rather difficult to decide, under the extraordinary
circumstances in which they were placed, what it really was
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best to do, came at length to the conclusion that
it would be wisest for the king to accede to
Mardonius's proposal. Since he offers of his own accord to
remain and undertake to complete the subjugation of Greece, you
can very safely to yourself allow him to make the experiment.
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The great object which was announced as the one which
you had chiefly in view in the invasion of Greece
was the burning of Athens. This is already accomplished. You
have done therefore what you undertook to do, and can
consequently now return yourself without dishonor. If Mardonius succeeds in
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his attempt, the glory of it will redound to you.
His victories will be considered as only the successful completion
of what you began. On the other hand, if he fails,
the disgrace of failure will be his alone, and the
injury will be confined to his destruction. In any event,
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your person, your interests, and your honor are safe. And
if Mardonius is willing to take the responsibility and incur
the danger involved in the plan that he proposes, I
would give him the opportunity. Xerxes adopted the view of
the subject which Artemisia thus presented with the utmost readiness
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and pleasure. That advice is always very welcome, which makes
the course that we have previously decided upon as the
most agreeable, see the most Wise. Serxes immediately determined on
returning to Persia himself and leaving Mardonius to complete the conquest.
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In carrying out this design, he concluded to march to
the northward by land, accompanied by the large portion of
his army and by all his principal officers, until he
reached the health Pont. Then he was to give up
to Mardonius the command of such troops as should be
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selected to remain in Greece, and, crossing the Hellspont, return
himself to Persia with the remainder. If, as is generally
the case, it is a panic that causes a flight,
a flight, in its turn, always increases a panic. It happened,
in accordance with this general law, that as soon as
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the thoughts of Xerxes were once turned toward an escape
from Greece, his fears increased, and his mind became more
and more the prey of a restless uneasiness and anxiety.
Lest he should not be able to affect his escape.
He feared that the bridge of boats would have been
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broken down, and then how would he be able to
cross the Hellspont. To prevent the Greek fleet from proceeding
to the northward and thus intercepting his passage by destroying
the bridge, he determined to conceal as long as possible
his own departure. Accordingly, while he was making the most
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efficient and rapid arrangements on the land for abandoning the
whole region. He brought up his fleet by sea and
began to build, by means of the ships a floating
bridge from the mainland to the island of Solmus, as
if he were intent only on advancing. Continued this work
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all day, postponing his intended retreat until the night should come.
In order to conceal his movements. In the course of
the day, he placed all his family and family relatives
on board of Artemisia's ship under the charge of a
tried and faithful domestic. Artemisia was to convey them as
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rapidly as possible to Ephesus, a strong city in Asia Minor,
where Xerxes supposed that they would be safe. In the night,
the fleet, in obedience to the orders which Xerxes had
given them, abandoned their bridge and all their other undertakings,
and set sail. They were to make the best of
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their way to the hellspont and post themselves there to
defend the bridge of boats until Xerxes should arrive on
the following morning. Accordingly, when the sun rose, the Greeks found,
to their utter astonishment that their enemies were gone. A
scene of the greatest animation and excitement on board the
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Greek fleet at once ensued. The commanders resolved on an
immediate pursuit. The seamen hoisted their sails, raised their anchors,
and manned their oars, and the whole squadron was soon
in rapid motion. The fleet went as far as to
the island of Andros, looking eagerly all around the horizon
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in every direction as they advanced, but no signs of
the fugitives were to be seen. The ships then drew
up to the shore, and the commanders were convened in
an assembly summoned by Eurybides on the land for consultation.
A debate ensued, in which the eternal enmity and dissension
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between the Athenian and Polyponneseans broke out anew. There was, however,
now some reason for the disagreement. The Athenian cause was
already ruined. Their capital had been burned, their country ravaged,
and their wives and children driven forth to exile and misery.
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Nothing remained now for them but hopes of revenge. They
were eager therefore to press on and overtake the Persian
galleys in their flight, or if this could not be done,
to reach the hellspont before Xerxes should arrive there and
intercept his passage by destroying the bridge. This was the
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policy which the Mysticles advocated. Eurybiades, on the other hand,
and the Peloponnesian commanders, urged the expediency of not driving
the Persians to desperation by harassing them too closely on
their retreat. They were formidable and nasmies, after all, and
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if they were now disposed to retire and leave the country,
it was the true policy of the Greeks to allow
them to do so. To destroy the bridge of boats
would only be to take effectual measures for keeping the past.
Among them, Themistocles was outvoted. It was determined best to
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allow the Persian forces to retire Themistocles, when he found
that his councils were overruled, resorted to another of the
audacious stratagems that marked his career, which was to send
a second pretended message of friendship to the Persian king.
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He employed this same Cicinus on this occasion that he
had sent before into the Persian fleet on the eve
of the Battle of solmus A galley was given to
Sicinus with a select crew of fa faithful men. They
were all put under the most solemn oaths never to
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divulge to any person under any circumstances the nature and
object of their commission. With this company, Sicinus left the
fleet secretly in the night and went to the coast
of Attica. Landing here, he left the galley with the
crew in charge of it upon the shore, and with
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one or two select attendants, he made his way to
the Persian camp and desired an interview with the king.
On being admitted to an audience, he sent to Xerxes
that he had been sent to him by Themistocles, whom
he represented as altogether the most prominent man among the
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Greek commanders, to say that the Greeks had resolved on
pressing forward to the hellspont to intercept him on his return,
but that he the Mystocles, had dissuaded them from it
under the influence of the same friendship for Xerxes, which
had led him to send a friendly communication to the
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Persians before the late battle, that in consequence of the
arguments and persuasions of Themistocles, the Greek squadrons would remain
where they then were on the southern coasts, leaving Xerxes
to retire without molestation. All this was false, but Themistocles
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thought it would serve his purpose well to make the statement,
for in case he should, at any future time, in
following the ordinary fate of the bravest and most successful
Greek generals, be obliged to fly in exile from his
country to save his life, it might be important for
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him to have a good understanding beforehand with the King
of Persia, though a good unders standing founded on pretensions
so hypocritical and empty as these, would seem to be
worthy of very little reliance. In fact, for a Greek
general discomfited in the councils of his own nation, to
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turn to the Persian king with such prompt and cool
assurance for the purpose of gaining his friendship by tendering
falsehoods so bare and professions so hollow, was an instance
of audacious treachery, so original and lofty as to be
almost sublime. Serxes pressed on with the utmost diligence toward
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the north. The country had been ravaged and exhausted by
his march through it in coming down, and now In returning,
he found infinite difficulty in obtaining supplies of food and
water for his army. Forty five days were consumed in
getting back to the hellspont During all this time, the
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privations and sufferings of the troops increased every day. The
soldiers were spent with fatigue, exhausted with hunger, and harassed
with incessant apprehensions of attacks from their enemies. Thousands of
the sick and wounded that attempted at first to follow
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the army gave out by degrees as the columns moved on.
Some were left at the encampments. Others lay down by
the roadsides in the midst of the day's march, wherever
their wanting strength finally failed them, And everywhere broken chariots,
dead and dying, beasts of burden, and the bodies of
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soldiers that lay neglected where they fell, encumbered and choked
the way. In a word, all the roads leading toward
the northern provinces exhibited in full perfection those awful scenes
which usually mark the track of a great army retreating
from an invasion. The men were at length reduced to
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extreme distress. For food, they ate the roots and stems
of the herbage, and finally stripped the very bark from
the trees and devoured it in the vain hope that
it might afford some nutriment to reinforce the vital principle
for a little time, at least in the dreadful struggle
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which it was waging within them. There are certain forms
of pestilential disease which, in cases like this always set
in to hasten the work which famine alone would be
too slow in performing accordingly, as was to have been expected,
camp fevers, choleras, and other corrupt and infectious melodies broke
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out with great violence as the army advanced along the
northern shore of the Aegean Sea, and as every victim
to these dreadful and hopeless disorders, helped by his own
dissolution to taint the air for all the rest the
wretched crowd was in the end reduced to the last
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extreme of misery and terror. At length, Xerxes, with a
miserable remnant of his troops, arrived at Abydos, on the
shores of the hellspont He found the bridge broken down.
The winds and storms had demolished what the Greeks had
determined to spare. The immense structure, which it had cost
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so much toil and time to rear, had wholly disappeared,
leaving no traces of its existence except the wrecks which
lay here and there, half buried in the sand. Along
the shore, there were some small boats at hand, and Xerxes,
embarking in one of them, with a few attendants in
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the others, and leaving the exhausted and wretched remnant of
his army behind, was rowed across the strait and landed
at last safely again on the Asiatic shores. The place
of his landing was Cestos. From Cestos he went to Sardes,
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and from Sardes he proceeded in a short time to Susa.
Mardonius was left in Greece. Mardonius was a general of
great military experience and skill, and when left to himself,
he found no great difficulty in reorganizing the army and
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in putting it again in an efficient condition. He was
not able, however, to accomplish the undertaking which he had
engaged to perform. After various adventures prosperous and adverse, which
it would be foreign to our purpose here to detail,
he was at last defeated in a great battle and
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killed on the field. The Persian army was now obliged
to give up the contest and was expelled from Greece
finally and forever. When Xerxes reached Susa, he felt overjoyed
to find himself once more safe, as he thought in
his own palaces. He looked back upon the hardships, exposures,
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and perils through which he had passed, and thankful for
having so narrowly escaped from them, he determined to encounter
no such hazards again. He had had enough of ambition
and glory. He was now going to devote himself to
ease and pleasure. Such a man would not naturally be
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expected to be very scrupulous in respect to the means
of enjoyment, or to the character of the companions whom
he would select to share his pleasures, and the life
of the king soon presented one continual scene of dissipation, revelry,
and vice. He gave himself up to such prolonged carousals
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that one night was sometimes protracted through the following day
into another. The administration of his government was left wholly
to his ministers, and every personal duty was neglected. That
he might give himself to the most abandoned and profligate
indulgence of his appetites and passions. He had three sons
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who might be considered as errors to his throne, Darius
Hystospis and Urtexerxes Hystospice was absent in a neighboring province.
The others were at home. He had also a very
prominent officer in his court, whose name, Ardebanus, was the
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same with that of the uncle who had so strongly
attempted to dissuade him from undertaking the conquest of Greece.
Ardebanus the uncle, disappears finally from view at the time
when Xerxes dismissed him to return to Susa at the
first crossing of the hellspont This second Ardebonus was the
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captain of the king's bodyguard and consequently the common executioner
of the despot's decrees. Being thus established in his palace,
surrounded by his family and protected by Ardebanus and his guard,
the monarch felt that all his toils and dangers were over,
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and that there was nothing now before him but a
life of ease, of pleasure, and of safety. Instead of this,
he was in fact in the most imminent danger. Ardebanus
was already plotting his destruction. One day, in the midst
of one of his carousals, he became angry with his
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oldest son Darius for some cause and gave Ardebonus an
order to kill him. Ardebonus neglected to obey this order.
The king had been excited with wine when he gave it,
and Ardebonus supposed that all recollection of the command would
pass away from his mind with the excitement that occasioned it.
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The king did, not, however, so readily forget. The next day,
he demanded why his order had not been obeyed. Ardebonus
now began to fear for his own safety, and he
determined to proceed at once to the execution of a
plan which he had long been revolving of destroying the
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whole of xerxes family and placing himself on the throne
in Theirtad. He contrived to bring the king's chamberlain into
his schemes, and with the connivance and aid of this officer,
he went at night into the king's bedchamber and murdered
the monarch in his sleep, leaving the bloody weapon with
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which the deed had been perpetrated by the side of
the victim. Ardebanus went immediately into the bed chamber of
our de Xerxes, the youngest son, and waking him suddenly,
he told him, with tones of voice and looks expressive
of great excitement and alarm, that his father had been killed,
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and that it was his brother Darius that had killed him.
His motive is, continued Ardebanus, to obtain the throne and
to make the more sure of an undisturbed possession of it.
He is intending to murder you next rise therefore and
defend your life. Our Dexerxes was aroused to a sudden
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and uncontrollable paroxysm of anger at this intelligence. He seized
his weapon and rushed into the apartment of his innocent
brother and slew him on the spot. Other summary assassinations
of a similar kind followed in this complicated tragedy. Among
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the victims, Ardebanis and all his adherents were slain, and
at length our de Xerxes took quiet possession of the
throne and reigned in his father's stead. End of Chapter
twelve and of Xerxes. The Makers of History by Jacob Abbott,
Chapter twelve of Xerxes by Jacob Abbott. This LibriVox recording
is in the public domain recording by Dion jins Cetlaic City, Utah,
The Return of Xerxes to Persia b c. Four eighty. Mardonius,
it will be recollected, was the commander in chief of
(00:24):
the forces of Xerxes, and thus, next to Xerxes himself,
he was the officer highest in rank of all those
who attended the expedition. He was, in fact a sort
of prime minister, on whom the responsibility for almost all
(00:44):
the measures for the government and conduct of the expedition
had been thrown. Men in such positions, while they may
expect the highest rewards and honors from their sovereign in
case of success, us, have always reason to apprehend the
worst of consequences to themselves in case of failure. The
(01:09):
night after the Battle of Solemnus, accordingly, Mardonius was in
great fear. He did not distrust the future success of
the expedition if it were allowed to go on, But
knowing the character of such despots as those who ruled
great nations in that age of the world, he was
(01:31):
well aware that he might reasonably expect at any moment
the appearance of officers sent from Xerxes to cut off
his head. His anxiety was increased by observing that Xerxes
seemed very much depressed and very restless and uneasy after
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the battle, as if he were revolving in his mind
some extraordinary designs. Thought that he perceived indications that the
king was planning a retreat. Mardonius, after much hesitation, concluded
to speak to him and endeavor to dispel his anxieties
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and fears and lead him to take a more favorable
view of the prospects of the expedition. He accordingly accosted
him on the subject somewhat as follows. It is true,
said he, that we were not as successful in the
combat yesterday as we desire to be. But this reverse,
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as well as all the preceding disasters that we have
met with, is after all of comparatively little moment, your
Majesty has gone steadily on accomplishing most triumphantly, all the
substantial objects aimed at in undertaking the expedition. Your troops
(02:58):
have advanced success fully by land against all opposition. With them,
you have traversed Thrace, Macedon, and Thessaly. You have fought
your way against the most desperate resistance through the pass
of Thermopylae. You have overrun all northern Greece. You have
(03:19):
burned Athens. Thus, far from there being any uncertainty or
doubt in respect to the success of the expedition, we
see that all the great objects which you proposed by
it are already accomplished. The fleet, it is true, has
now suffered extensive damage. But we must remember that it
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is upon the army, not upon the fleet, that our
hopes and expectations mainly depend. The army is safe, and
it cannot be possible that the Greeks can hereafter bring
any force into the field by which it can be
seriously endangered. By these and similar sentiments, Mardonius endeavored to
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revive and restore the failing courage and resolution of the king.
He found, however, that he met with very partial success.
Cerxes was silent, thoughtful, and oppressed, apparently with a sense
of anxious concern. Mardonius finally proposed that even if the
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king should think it best to return himself to Susa,
he should not abandon the enterprise of subduing Greece, but
that he should leave a portion of the army under
his Mardonius's charge, and he would undertake, he said, to
complete the work which had been so successfully begun, three
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hundred thousand men, he was convinced would be sufficient for
the purpose. This suggestion seems to have made a favorable
impression on the mind of Xerxes. He was disposed, in fact,
to be pleased with any plan, provided it opened the
way for his own escape from the dangers in which
(05:16):
he imagined that he was entangled. He said that he
would consult some of the other commanders upon the subject.
He did so, and then, before coming to a final decision,
he determined to confer with Artemisia. He remembered that she
had counseled him not to attack the Greeks at Solmus,
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and as the result had proved that council to be
eminently wise, he felt the greater confidence in asking her
judgment again. He accordingly sent for Artemisia, and directing all
the officers, as well as his own attendants, to retire,
he held a private consultation with her in respect to
(06:04):
his plans. Mardonius proposes, said he that the expedition should
on no account be abandoned. In consequence of this disaster,
for he says that the fleet is a very unimportant
part of our force, and that the army still remains unharmed.
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He proposes that if I should decide myself to return
to Persia, I should leave three hundred thousand men with him,
and he undertakes, if I will do so, to complete
with them the subjugation of Greece. Tell me what you
think of this plan. You evinced so much sagacity in
(06:48):
foreseeing the result of this engagement at Solmus, that I
particularly wish to know your opinion. Artemisia, after pausing a
little to reflect upon the subject, saying as she hesitated,
that it was rather difficult to decide, under the extraordinary
circumstances in which they were placed, what it really was
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best to do, came at length to the conclusion that
it would be wisest for the king to accede to
Mardonius's proposal. Since he offers of his own accord to
remain and undertake to complete the subjugation of Greece, you
can very safely to yourself allow him to make the experiment.
(07:38):
The great object which was announced as the one which
you had chiefly in view in the invasion of Greece
was the burning of Athens. This is already accomplished. You
have done therefore what you undertook to do, and can
consequently now return yourself without dishonor. If Mardonius succeeds in
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his attempt, the glory of it will redound to you.
His victories will be considered as only the successful completion
of what you began. On the other hand, if he fails,
the disgrace of failure will be his alone, and the
injury will be confined to his destruction. In any event,
(08:25):
your person, your interests, and your honor are safe. And
if Mardonius is willing to take the responsibility and incur
the danger involved in the plan that he proposes, I
would give him the opportunity. Xerxes adopted the view of
the subject which Artemisia thus presented with the utmost readiness
(08:48):
and pleasure. That advice is always very welcome, which makes
the course that we have previously decided upon as the
most agreeable, see the most Wise. Serxes immediately determined on
returning to Persia himself and leaving Mardonius to complete the conquest.
(09:10):
In carrying out this design, he concluded to march to
the northward by land, accompanied by the large portion of
his army and by all his principal officers, until he
reached the health Pont. Then he was to give up
to Mardonius the command of such troops as should be
(09:31):
selected to remain in Greece, and, crossing the Hellspont, return
himself to Persia with the remainder. If, as is generally
the case, it is a panic that causes a flight,
a flight, in its turn, always increases a panic. It happened,
in accordance with this general law, that as soon as
(09:54):
the thoughts of Xerxes were once turned toward an escape
from Greece, his fears increased, and his mind became more
and more the prey of a restless uneasiness and anxiety.
Lest he should not be able to affect his escape.
He feared that the bridge of boats would have been
(10:16):
broken down, and then how would he be able to
cross the Hellspont. To prevent the Greek fleet from proceeding
to the northward and thus intercepting his passage by destroying
the bridge, he determined to conceal as long as possible
his own departure. Accordingly, while he was making the most
(10:38):
efficient and rapid arrangements on the land for abandoning the
whole region. He brought up his fleet by sea and
began to build, by means of the ships a floating
bridge from the mainland to the island of Solmus, as
if he were intent only on advancing. Continued this work
(11:01):
all day, postponing his intended retreat until the night should come.
In order to conceal his movements. In the course of
the day, he placed all his family and family relatives
on board of Artemisia's ship under the charge of a
tried and faithful domestic. Artemisia was to convey them as
(11:24):
rapidly as possible to Ephesus, a strong city in Asia Minor,
where Xerxes supposed that they would be safe. In the night,
the fleet, in obedience to the orders which Xerxes had
given them, abandoned their bridge and all their other undertakings,
and set sail. They were to make the best of
(11:46):
their way to the hellspont and post themselves there to
defend the bridge of boats until Xerxes should arrive on
the following morning. Accordingly, when the sun rose, the Greeks found,
to their utter astonishment that their enemies were gone. A
scene of the greatest animation and excitement on board the
(12:09):
Greek fleet at once ensued. The commanders resolved on an
immediate pursuit. The seamen hoisted their sails, raised their anchors,
and manned their oars, and the whole squadron was soon
in rapid motion. The fleet went as far as to
the island of Andros, looking eagerly all around the horizon
(12:33):
in every direction as they advanced, but no signs of
the fugitives were to be seen. The ships then drew
up to the shore, and the commanders were convened in
an assembly summoned by Eurybides on the land for consultation.
A debate ensued, in which the eternal enmity and dissension
(12:56):
between the Athenian and Polyponneseans broke out anew. There was, however,
now some reason for the disagreement. The Athenian cause was
already ruined. Their capital had been burned, their country ravaged,
and their wives and children driven forth to exile and misery.
(13:18):
Nothing remained now for them but hopes of revenge. They
were eager therefore to press on and overtake the Persian
galleys in their flight, or if this could not be done,
to reach the hellspont before Xerxes should arrive there and
intercept his passage by destroying the bridge. This was the
(13:40):
policy which the Mysticles advocated. Eurybiades, on the other hand,
and the Peloponnesian commanders, urged the expediency of not driving
the Persians to desperation by harassing them too closely on
their retreat. They were formidable and nasmies, after all, and
(14:01):
if they were now disposed to retire and leave the country,
it was the true policy of the Greeks to allow
them to do so. To destroy the bridge of boats
would only be to take effectual measures for keeping the past.
Among them, Themistocles was outvoted. It was determined best to
(14:24):
allow the Persian forces to retire Themistocles, when he found
that his councils were overruled, resorted to another of the
audacious stratagems that marked his career, which was to send
a second pretended message of friendship to the Persian king.
(14:45):
He employed this same Cicinus on this occasion that he
had sent before into the Persian fleet on the eve
of the Battle of solmus A galley was given to
Sicinus with a select crew of fa faithful men. They
were all put under the most solemn oaths never to
(15:05):
divulge to any person under any circumstances the nature and
object of their commission. With this company, Sicinus left the
fleet secretly in the night and went to the coast
of Attica. Landing here, he left the galley with the
crew in charge of it upon the shore, and with
(15:27):
one or two select attendants, he made his way to
the Persian camp and desired an interview with the king.
On being admitted to an audience, he sent to Xerxes
that he had been sent to him by Themistocles, whom
he represented as altogether the most prominent man among the
(15:49):
Greek commanders, to say that the Greeks had resolved on
pressing forward to the hellspont to intercept him on his return,
but that he the Mystocles, had dissuaded them from it
under the influence of the same friendship for Xerxes, which
had led him to send a friendly communication to the
(16:11):
Persians before the late battle, that in consequence of the
arguments and persuasions of Themistocles, the Greek squadrons would remain
where they then were on the southern coasts, leaving Xerxes
to retire without molestation. All this was false, but Themistocles
(16:32):
thought it would serve his purpose well to make the statement,
for in case he should, at any future time, in
following the ordinary fate of the bravest and most successful
Greek generals, be obliged to fly in exile from his
country to save his life, it might be important for
(16:53):
him to have a good understanding beforehand with the King
of Persia, though a good unders standing founded on pretensions
so hypocritical and empty as these, would seem to be
worthy of very little reliance. In fact, for a Greek
general discomfited in the councils of his own nation, to
(17:15):
turn to the Persian king with such prompt and cool
assurance for the purpose of gaining his friendship by tendering
falsehoods so bare and professions so hollow, was an instance
of audacious treachery, so original and lofty as to be
almost sublime. Serxes pressed on with the utmost diligence toward
(17:41):
the north. The country had been ravaged and exhausted by
his march through it in coming down, and now In returning,
he found infinite difficulty in obtaining supplies of food and
water for his army. Forty five days were consumed in
getting back to the hellspont During all this time, the
(18:03):
privations and sufferings of the troops increased every day. The
soldiers were spent with fatigue, exhausted with hunger, and harassed
with incessant apprehensions of attacks from their enemies. Thousands of
the sick and wounded that attempted at first to follow
(18:23):
the army gave out by degrees as the columns moved on.
Some were left at the encampments. Others lay down by
the roadsides in the midst of the day's march, wherever
their wanting strength finally failed them, And everywhere broken chariots,
dead and dying, beasts of burden, and the bodies of
(18:45):
soldiers that lay neglected where they fell, encumbered and choked
the way. In a word, all the roads leading toward
the northern provinces exhibited in full perfection those awful scenes
which usually mark the track of a great army retreating
from an invasion. The men were at length reduced to
(19:09):
extreme distress. For food, they ate the roots and stems
of the herbage, and finally stripped the very bark from
the trees and devoured it in the vain hope that
it might afford some nutriment to reinforce the vital principle
for a little time, at least in the dreadful struggle
(19:30):
which it was waging within them. There are certain forms
of pestilential disease which, in cases like this always set
in to hasten the work which famine alone would be
too slow in performing accordingly, as was to have been expected,
camp fevers, choleras, and other corrupt and infectious melodies broke
(19:55):
out with great violence as the army advanced along the
northern shore of the Aegean Sea, and as every victim
to these dreadful and hopeless disorders, helped by his own
dissolution to taint the air for all the rest the
wretched crowd was in the end reduced to the last
(20:16):
extreme of misery and terror. At length, Xerxes, with a
miserable remnant of his troops, arrived at Abydos, on the
shores of the hellspont He found the bridge broken down.
The winds and storms had demolished what the Greeks had
determined to spare. The immense structure, which it had cost
(20:40):
so much toil and time to rear, had wholly disappeared,
leaving no traces of its existence except the wrecks which
lay here and there, half buried in the sand. Along
the shore, there were some small boats at hand, and Xerxes,
embarking in one of them, with a few attendants in
(21:02):
the others, and leaving the exhausted and wretched remnant of
his army behind, was rowed across the strait and landed
at last safely again on the Asiatic shores. The place
of his landing was Cestos. From Cestos he went to Sardes,
(21:22):
and from Sardes he proceeded in a short time to Susa.
Mardonius was left in Greece. Mardonius was a general of
great military experience and skill, and when left to himself,
he found no great difficulty in reorganizing the army and
(21:42):
in putting it again in an efficient condition. He was
not able, however, to accomplish the undertaking which he had
engaged to perform. After various adventures prosperous and adverse, which
it would be foreign to our purpose here to detail,
he was at last defeated in a great battle and
(22:06):
killed on the field. The Persian army was now obliged
to give up the contest and was expelled from Greece
finally and forever. When Xerxes reached Susa, he felt overjoyed
to find himself once more safe, as he thought in
his own palaces. He looked back upon the hardships, exposures,
(22:30):
and perils through which he had passed, and thankful for
having so narrowly escaped from them, he determined to encounter
no such hazards again. He had had enough of ambition
and glory. He was now going to devote himself to
ease and pleasure. Such a man would not naturally be
(22:53):
expected to be very scrupulous in respect to the means
of enjoyment, or to the character of the companions whom
he would select to share his pleasures, and the life
of the king soon presented one continual scene of dissipation, revelry,
and vice. He gave himself up to such prolonged carousals
(23:18):
that one night was sometimes protracted through the following day
into another. The administration of his government was left wholly
to his ministers, and every personal duty was neglected. That
he might give himself to the most abandoned and profligate
indulgence of his appetites and passions. He had three sons
(23:42):
who might be considered as errors to his throne, Darius
Hystospis and Urtexerxes Hystospice was absent in a neighboring province.
The others were at home. He had also a very
prominent officer in his court, whose name, Ardebanus, was the
(24:02):
same with that of the uncle who had so strongly
attempted to dissuade him from undertaking the conquest of Greece.
Ardebanus the uncle, disappears finally from view at the time
when Xerxes dismissed him to return to Susa at the
first crossing of the hellspont This second Ardebonus was the
(24:26):
captain of the king's bodyguard and consequently the common executioner
of the despot's decrees. Being thus established in his palace,
surrounded by his family and protected by Ardebanus and his guard,
the monarch felt that all his toils and dangers were over,
(24:46):
and that there was nothing now before him but a
life of ease, of pleasure, and of safety. Instead of this,
he was in fact in the most imminent danger. Ardebanus
was already plotting his destruction. One day, in the midst
of one of his carousals, he became angry with his
(25:08):
oldest son Darius for some cause and gave Ardebonus an
order to kill him. Ardebonus neglected to obey this order.
The king had been excited with wine when he gave it,
and Ardebonus supposed that all recollection of the command would
pass away from his mind with the excitement that occasioned it.
(25:32):
The king did, not, however, so readily forget. The next day,
he demanded why his order had not been obeyed. Ardebonus
now began to fear for his own safety, and he
determined to proceed at once to the execution of a
plan which he had long been revolving of destroying the
(25:54):
whole of xerxes family and placing himself on the throne
in Theirtad. He contrived to bring the king's chamberlain into
his schemes, and with the connivance and aid of this officer,
he went at night into the king's bedchamber and murdered
the monarch in his sleep, leaving the bloody weapon with
(26:18):
which the deed had been perpetrated by the side of
the victim. Ardebanus went immediately into the bed chamber of
our de Xerxes, the youngest son, and waking him suddenly,
he told him, with tones of voice and looks expressive
of great excitement and alarm, that his father had been killed,
(26:40):
and that it was his brother Darius that had killed him.
His motive is, continued Ardebanus, to obtain the throne and
to make the more sure of an undisturbed possession of it.
He is intending to murder you next rise therefore and
defend your life. Our Dexerxes was aroused to a sudden
(27:05):
and uncontrollable paroxysm of anger at this intelligence. He seized
his weapon and rushed into the apartment of his innocent
brother and slew him on the spot. Other summary assassinations
of a similar kind followed in this complicated tragedy. Among
(27:26):
the victims, Ardebanis and all his adherents were slain, and
at length our de Xerxes took quiet possession of the
throne and reigned in his father's stead. End of Chapter
twelve and of Xerxes. The Makers of History by Jacob Abbott,
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