Xerxes: Preparing for the Greek War

(History of Xerxes the Great)
*Two of Xerxes primary counselors was his uncle Artabanus, and Mardonius. Mardonius spoke in favor of conquering Greece, but Artabanus advised against it.

*At first, Xerxes was furious with his uncle and spoke harshly to him at court. That night, however, he began to change his mind and decided his uncle might be right and was going to reverse his decree in the morning.

*That night Xerxes saw a ghost that told him not to abandon his plans to attack Greece, he still went ahead and canceled his plans, but then that next night he saw the ghost again. (72-73) The next morning he talked it over with Artabanus, who told him dreams were not from heaven but a "vague and disordered reproduction of the waking thoughts, while the regular action of the reason and the judgment by which they were ordinarily controlled was suspended or disturbed by the influence of slumber."(74) Xerxes thought that the repeat of the occurrence showed that it was supernatural, and had Artabanus dress in his clothes, put on his crown, sit on the throne for awhile, and retire to his royal couch for the night. That night the vision appeared to Artabanus and chased him with a red-hot iron trying to bore out his eyes. Both were convinced that Xerxes should go to war.

*some think that Mardonius was really the ghost

*(76-77)"It is proper here to repeat, once for all in this volume, a remark which has elsewhere often been made in the various works of this series, that in studying ancient history at the present day, it is less important now to know, in regard to transactions so remote, what the facts actually were which really occurred, than it is to know the story respecting them, which, for the last two thousand years, has been in circulation among mankind. It is now, for example, of very little consequence whether there ever was or never was such a personage as Hercules; but it is essential that every educated(start of 77) man should know the story which ancient writers tell in relating his doings."

*it took Xerxes a long time to prepare for war, as he had to raise all his funds by actual taxation, and to have his arms, and his ships and chariots of war, manufactured express, and to raise the food and build store houses in which to place the food (80)

*the Persians already had dominion over Thrace and a part of Macedon, so the Gr. dominions lay further south, and Xerxes didn't think there would be any opposition until after they had crossed the strait and drew near Athens. All of the northern country along his route he had, so he only anticipated problems from the elements and physical obstacles, such as the Hellespont.

*another most formidable thing = promontory of Mount Athos (now called Monte Santo), a very celebrated mount in ancient history; it is said that it extended for several miles and that it was so high that its shadow at sunset was thrown as far as twenty leagues [an obsolete unit of distance of variable length, usually 3 miles]; it was also believed to be the haunt of sea monsters that devoured seamen

*Xerxes plan = army cross bridge at Hellespont and advance by land through Macedonia and Thessaly, and be accompanied by squadron of ships, transports, and galleys, which would house the supplies.

*Mardonius was cautious of Mount Athos, as in the past (under Darius) he had several ships and men destroyed along the rocky coast there during a bad storm. Xerxes planned to cut a canal through this isthmus to avoid the stormy navigation passage. Surprisingly, the Greeks did not interfere with this process. It took the engineers along time to build the canal, and the work was often interrupted by the caving in of the banks on account of digging perpendicularly down. The Phoenicians were the only ones not to struggle with this on their section, for they had made the breadth at the top twice as great as it was below.

*Xerxes next plan was to bridge the Strymon, a river not far from the boundary btwn. Macedon and Thrace. He also had many store-houses built at various points along the route on the Persian dominated side, and watched by a guard.

*After all these preparations had finished, Xerxes left Susa and joined his forces as they headed to Sardis, a great capital on the western part of his dominion. He crossed the Halys (the western boundary line in former times) and advanced into Phrygia.

*In Phrygia, there was a town built at the source of the Meander River(one of the streams that flowed into the Aegean Sea) named Celaenae. Pythius "made great entertainment" for the officers at great expense, and sent word to the king letting him know that if he was in need of any funds for his campaign that he would delight in helping to fund him. Xerxes' attendants told him that Pythius was the second richest man in the world, and very generous. By birth he was a Lydian, and he had given Darius a model of a fruit tree and a vine made of solid gold.

*Xerxes summoned Pythius to ask the extent of his riches, which normally was a preliminary to the seizure and confiscation of them and most people concealed the extent of their wealth. Pythius, however, did not hesitate to reply to the king. He suggested that he could give him 2,000 talents of silver and 4 millions, wanting seven thousand, of staters of gold. It is hard to determine the worth of the money, but some have speculated that it was about 30 millions of dollars. Xerxes was so touched that he did not take any money, and instead gave him the 7,000 staters which had been necessary to make his 4 millions complete. (93-94)

*Pythius was "one of the most merciless tyrants that ever lived" (94). (95) He forced all the people on his vast to "toil continuously in his mines, in destitution and wretchedness, in order to add more and more to his treasures." The people complained to his wife, but she could do little to help. One day she put on a show for her husband in which there was much riches but no food.

*Pythius had 5 sons which were all in Xerxes army, and a short time after these transactions with Xerxes occurred, Pythius requested that he could have one of his sons to stay behind. Xerxes was enraged. "How dare you come to me with such a demand? You and all that pertain to you are my slaves, and are bound to do my bidding without a murmur. You deserve the severest punishment for such an insolent request. In consideration, however, of your past good behavior, I will not inflict upon you what you deserve. I will only kill one of your sons - the one that you seem to cling to so fondly. I will spare the rest." He then killed the son, had his body cut into two pieces, and then had the pieces thrown on either side of the road for his army to march between. (96)

*Xerxes continued on his way towards Sardis, where he planned to remain until spring. They passed many interesting geographical points, including a species of tree called the "plane-tree." "Xerxes found one of these trees so large and beautiful that it attracted his special admiration. He took possession of it in his own name, and adorned it with golden chains, and set a guard over it. This idolization of a tree was a striking instance of the childish caprice and folly by which the actions of the ancient despots were so often governed." (98)

*He finally arrived in Sardis. He also sent heralds into Greece to summon the country to surrender to him, a common formality when an army is about to attack. The Greeks Refused, and both parties made ready for war. (99)