Early European History Part 21

[26] See the map facing page 50.

[27] See page 49.

[28] Cicero, _De republica_, ii, 4.

[29] Greek _barbaroi_, "men of confused speech."

CHAPTER V

THE GREAT AGE OF THE GREEK REPUBLICS TO 362 B.C. [1]

31. THE PERILS OF h.e.l.lAS

ASIATIC GREEKS CONQUERED BY CROESUS

The history of the Greeks for many centuries had been uneventful--a history of their uninterrupted expansion over barbarian lands. But now the time was approaching when the independent and isolated Greek communities must meet the attack of the great despotic empires of Asia. The Greek cities of Asia Minor were the first part of the h.e.l.lenic world to be involved. Their conquest by the Lydian king, Croesus, about the middle of the sixth century B.C., showed how grave was the danger to Greek independence from the ambitious designs of Oriental monarchs.

CONQUESTS OF CYRUS AND CAMBYSES

As we have already learned, Croesus himself soon had to submit to a foreign overlord, in the person of Cyrus the Great. The subjugation of Lydia and the Greek seaboard by Cyrus extended the Persian Empire to the Mediterranean. The conquest of Phoenicia and Cyprus by Cambyses added the Phoenician navy to the resources of the mighty empire. Persia had now become a sea power, able to cope with the Greeks on their own element. The subjection of Egypt by the same king led naturally to the annexation of the Greek colonies on the north African sh.o.r.e. The entire coast of the eastern Mediterranean had now come under the control of a new, powerful, and hostile state.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CROESUS ON THE PYRE Painting on an Athenian vase of about 490 B.C. According to the legend Cyrus the Great, having made Croesus prisoner, intended to burn him on a pyre. But the G.o.d Apollo, to whose oracle at Delphi Croesus had sent rich gifts, put out the blaze by a sudden shower of rain. The vase painting represents the Lydian king sitting enthroned upon the pyre, with a laurel wreath on his head and a scepter in one hand. With the other hand he pours a libation. He seems to be performing a religious rite, not to be suffering an ignominious death.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PERSIAN ARCHERS (Louvre, Paris) A frieze of enameled brick from the royal palace at Susa. It is a masterpiece of Persian art and shows the influence of both a.s.syrian and Greek design. Each archer carries a spear, in addition to the bow over the left shoulder and the quiver on the back. These soldiers probably served as palace guards, hence the fine robes worn by them.]

CONQUESTS OF DARIUS

The accession of Darius to the Persian throne only increased the dangers that overshadowed h.e.l.las. He aimed to complete the work of Cyrus and Cambyses by extending the empire wherever a natural frontier had not been reached. Accordingly, about 512 B.C., Darius invaded Europe with a large army, annexed the Greek colonies on the h.e.l.lespont (the modern Dardanelles), and subdued the wild tribes of Thrace and Macedonia. The Persian dominions now touched those of the Greeks. [2]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Map, GREECE at opening of the PERSIAN WARS 400 B.C.]

THE IONIAN REVOLT, 499-493 B.C.

Not long after this European expedition of Darius, the Ionian cities of Asia Minor revolted against the Persians. Unable to face their foes single-handed, they sought aid from Sparta, then the chief military power of Greece. The Spartans refused to take part in the war, but the Athenians, who realized the menace to Greece in the Persian advance, sent ships and men to fight for the Ionians. Even with this help the Ionian cities could not hold out against the vast resources of the Persians. One by one they fell again into the hands of the Great King.

32. EXPEDITIONS OF DARIUS AGAINST GREECE

FIRST EXPEDITION, 492 B.C.

No sooner was quiet restored in Asia Minor than Darius began preparations to punish Athens for her part in the Ionian Revolt. The first expedition under the command of Mardonius, the son-in-law of the Persian monarch, was a failure. Mardonius never reached Greece, because the Persian fleet, on which his army depended for provisions, was wrecked off the promontory of Mount Athos.

SECOND EXPEDITION, 490 B.C.

Darius did not abandon his designs, in consequence of the disaster. Two years later a second fleet, bearing a force of perhaps sixty thousand men, set out from Ionia for Greece. Datis and Artaphernes, the Persian leaders, sailed straight across the Aegean and landed on the plain of Marathon, twenty-six miles from Athens.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GRAVESTONE OF ARISTON (National Museum, Athens) Found near Marathon in 1838 A.D. Belongs to the late sixth century B.C.

Incorrectly called the "Warrior of Marathon"]

BATTLE OF MARATHON, 490 B.C.

The situation of the Athenians seemed desperate. They had scarcely ten thousand men with whom to face an army far larger and hitherto invincible.

The Spartans promised support, but delayed sending troops at the critical moment. Better, perhaps, than a Spartan army was the genius of Miltiades, one of the Athenian generals. Relying on Greek discipline and Greek valor to win the day, he decided to take the offensive. His heavy armed soldiers made a smashing charge on the Persians and drove them in confusion to their ships. Datis and Artaphernes then sailed back to Asia with their errand of vengeance unfulfilled.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GREEK SOLDIERS IN ARMS Painting on a Greek vase]

POLICIES OF ARISTIDES AND THEMISTOCLES

After the battle of Marathon the Athenians began to make preparations to resist another Persian invasion. One of their leaders, the eminent Aristides, thought that they should increase their army and meet the enemy on land. His rival, Themistocles, urged a different policy. He would sacrifice the army to the navy and make Athens the strongest sea power in Greece. The safety of Athens, he argued, lay in her ships. In order to settle the question the opposing statesmen were put to the test of ostracism. [3] The vote went against Aristides, who was obliged to withdraw into exile. Themistocles, now master of the situation, persuaded the citizens to use the revenues from some silver mines in Attica for the upbuilding of a fleet. When the Persians came, the Athenians were able to oppose them with nearly two hundred triremes [4]--the largest navy in Greece.

33. XERXES AND THE GREAT PERSIAN WAR

PREPARATIONS OF PERSIA

"Ten years after Marathon," says a Greek historian, "the 'barbarians'

returned with the vast armament which was to enslave h.e.l.las." [5] Darius was now dead, but his son Xerxes had determined to complete his task. Vast quant.i.ties of provisions were collected; the h.e.l.lespont was bridged with boats; and the rocky promontory of Mount Athos, where a previous fleet had suffered shipwreck, was pierced with a ca.n.a.l. An army of several hundred thousand men was brought together from all parts of the Great King's domain. He evidently intended to crush the Greeks by sheer weight of numbers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A THEMISTOCLES OSTRAKON (British Museum, London) A fragment of a potsherd found in 1897 A.D., near the Acropolis of Athens.

This ostrakon was used to vote for the ostracism of Themistocles, either in 483 B.C. when he was victorious against Aristides, or some ten years later, when Themistocles was himself defeated and forced into exile.]

GREEK PREPARATIONS

Xerxes did not have to attack a united Greece. His mighty preparations frightened many of the Greek states into yielding, when Persian heralds came to demand "earth and water," the customary symbols of submission.

Some of the other states, such as Thebes, which was jealous of Athens, and Argos, equally jealous of Sparta, did nothing to help the loyal Greeks throughout the struggle. But Athens and Sparta with their allies remained joined for resistance to the end. Upon the suggestion of Themistocles a congress of representatives from the patriotic states a.s.sembled at the isthmus of Corinth in 481 B.C. Measures of defense were taken, and Sparta was put in command of the allied fleet and army.

BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE, 480 B.C.

The campaigns of the Great Persian War have been described, once for all, in the glowing pages of the Greek historian, Herodotus. [6] Early in the year 480 B.C. the Persian host moved out of Sardis, crossed the h.e.l.lespont, and advanced to the pa.s.s of Thermopylae, commanding the entrance to central Greece. This position, one of great natural strength, was held by a few thousand Greeks under the Spartan king, Leonidas. For two days Xerxes hurled his best soldiers against the defenders of Thermopylae, only to find that numbers did not count in that narrow defile. There is no telling how long the handful of Greeks might have kept back the Persian hordes, had not treachery come to the aid of the enemy. A traitor Greek revealed to Xerxes the existence of an unfrequented path, leading over the mountain in the rear of the pa.s.s. A Persian detachment marched over the trail by night and took up a position behind the Greeks.

The latter still had time to escape, but three hundred Spartans and perhaps two thousand allies refused to desert their post. While Persian officers provided with whips lashed their unwilling troops to battle, Leonidas and his men fought till spears and swords were broken, and hands and teeth alone remained as weapons. Xerxes at length gained the pa.s.s--but only over the bodies of its heroic defenders. Years later a monument to their memory was raised on the field of battle. It bore the simple inscription: "Stranger, go tell the Spartans that we lie here in obedience to their commands." [7]

AFTER THERMOPYLAE

After the disaster at Thermopylae nearly all the states of central Greece submitted to the Persians. They marched rapidly through Boeotia and Attica to Athens, but found a deserted city. Upon the advice of Themistocles the non-combatants had withdrawn to places of safety, and the entire fighting force of Athens had embarked on the ships. The Athenian fleet took up a position in the strait separating the island of Salamis from Attica and awaited the enemy. [8]

BATTLE OF SALAMIS, 480 B.C.

The battle of Salamis affords an interesting example of naval tactics in antiquity. The trireme was regarded as a missile to be hurled with sudden violence against the opposing ship, in order to disable or sink it. A sea fight became a series of maneuvers; and victory depended as much on the skill of the rowers and steersmen as on the bravery of the soldiers. The Persians at Salamis had many more ships than the Greeks, but Themistocles rightly believed that in the narrow strait their numbers would be a real disadvantage to them. Such proved to be the case. The Persians fought well, but their vessels, crowded together, could not navigate properly and even wrecked one another by collision. After an all-day contest what remained of their fleet withdrew from the strait.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AN ATHENIAN TRIREME (Reconstruction) A trireme is supposed to have had three tiers or banks of oars, placed one above the other. Each tier thus required an oar about a yard longer than the one immediately beneath it. There were about two hundred rowers on a trireme.]

AFTER SALAMIS

The victory at Salamis had important results. It so crippled the Persians that henceforth they lost command of the sea. Xerxes found it difficult to keep his men supplied with provisions and at once withdrew with the larger part of his force to Asia. The Great King himself had no heart for further fighting, but he left Mardonius, with a strong body of picked troops, to subjugate the Greeks on land. So the real crisis of the war was yet to come.