Salamis - Siege of Leyden-Spanish Armada. WHILE Leonidas was guarding Thermopylæ, the Grecian fleet took its station nearly opposite to him at Artemisium and the coast of Euboea. The Euripus, the narrow channel extending between that island and the continent was well calculated for defence by an inferior force; and as the voyage along the seaward side of the island was considered difficult and dangerous in the imperfection of ancient navigation, a reasonable hope was entertained that the progress of the invader might be stopt both by land and sea. His fleet originally consisted of 1208 galleys of war, besides transports and smaller vessels, and had been reinforced by 120 ships from the Thracian Greeks; but this vast armament was considerably reduced on the coast of Thessaly, by a storm, in which, according to the lowest report, not less than four hundred galleys were destroyed. Numerically, the Grecian fleet was little calculated to engage such an enemy, for it reckoned but 271 trireme galleys, with a few of the smaller vessels called penteconters. 'The penteconter, the vessel of Homer's age, had, like the modern row-boat, only one tier of oars, and its complement of rowers was from fifty to sixty. The trireme, it is generally supposed, had three tiers of oars, by which it gained that swiftness so important in the ancient mode of naval action. Its ordinary complement of rowers was, at the time of which we are treating, from 150 to 160; besides whom it commonly carried forty soldiers, and sometimes more, but on emergencies, particularly when boarded, the whole crew acted with arms. Of the triremes now in the Grecian fleet, no less than 127 were furnished by Athens, and 40 by Corinth; the rest were supplied in smaller quotas by the other Peloponnesians and islanders. With this superiority in force the Athenians were fully entitled to claim the chief command: but such was the reputation of Sparta at this time, that the Peloponnesian states refused to serve except under a Spartan leader; and the Athenians, with a rare and most laudable moderation, waived their claim rather than run the hazard of discord at so critical a moment. The credit of this forbearance is ascribed to Themistocles. "* The Grecian commanders felt their inferiority of force, and were as willing to abandon the Eubœans to their fate, as shortly after to desert the Athenians. The former petitioned Eurybiades, the Spartan admiral, to remain awhile for their protection, until VOL. XI. * Mitford, chap. viii, sect. 4. they could remove their families and portable effects. Failing in their application, they went to Themistocles, the Athenian admiral, who for thirty talents, about 7000, promised to detain the fleet; and succeeded, for Eurybiades was brought over by five, and the Corinthian commander by three talents; the rest appears to have been converted to his own use. Disinterestedness is not to be reckoned among the many brilliant qualities of Themistocles: but his interference, however corrupt in its origin, was wise and beneficial; for to retreat from Artemisium would have been equivalent to deserting the army, and most injurious to the common cause. The Persian commanders, seeing the small force opposed to them, were chiefly afraid lest it should escape, and detached two hundred galleys round Euboea to blockade the other end of the Euripus, and cut off all retreat. Meanwhile, three battles, unattended with any decisive result, were fought, in all of which the Greeks appear to have gained the advantage, and their spirits were heightened by a reinforcement of fiftythree Athenian triremes, bringing news that the detachment sent round Euboea had been overtaken by a storm and totally destroyed. But they were severely handled in the last engagement; and the news of the battle of Thermopyla determined them to retreat nearer to their homes. Previous to his departure, Themistocles engraved these words upon the rocks at the watering place of Artemisium: Men of Ionia, you do ill in making war upon your fathers, and helping to enslave Greece.* By all means therefore come over to us, or, if that cannot be, remain neuter, and persuade the Carians to do the same. * All Grecian colonies held the metropolis, or mother city, whence they were derived, in deep veneration. The Ionian states were founded by a great migration from Attica, and therefore looked up to the Athenians as the head of their tribe. But if the necessity which compels you to the part you are engaged in is such as to make a secession impracticable, yet, when we come to action, avoid exertion against us; remembering that you are descended from one blood with us, and that the enmity of the Persians was first drawn upon us in your cause.' In this he probably had a double object; if possible, to induce the Asiatic Greeks to desert; and if not, at least to render them suspected, and procure their exclusion in future from the Persian line. The fleet doubling the promontory of Sunium, the southern point of Attica, took its second station in the bay of Salamis; a situation recommended to the Athenians by its proximity to their capital; and to the Peloponnesians by the neighbourhood of the Isthmus, the key of Peloponnesus. It was here recruit-、 ed by fresh ships, so that the fleet now mustered 372 triremes, of which 180 were Athenian. The Athenians expected, with good reason, that the whole strength of Peloponnesus would assemble in Boeotia for the protection of Attica, and were thrown into great consternation on finding themselves deserted, and that their Dorian neighbours had returned to their favourite scheme of fortifying the Isthmus, and there making their final stand. No hope remained, except in unconditional submission or flight, and in this dilemma the people came to the high-minded resolution of abandoning their homes and fortunes to the invader, and seeking a temporary_refuge in the neighbouring islands of Salamis and Ægina, and the territory of Trozen on the opposite coast of the Saronic gulf. Still, when the time arrived, they were unwilling to move, until Themistocles, never at a loss for expedients, called the influence of superstition to his aid. It was believed that a sacred serpent kept watch over Pallas's temple in the Acropolis. Every month a preparation of honey was placed before the shrine, and believed to be devoured by the animal: but the last offering, the priestess said, remained untouched, and hence the inference was drawn, that the goddess had deserted her city, which availed much towards reconciling the people to depart. Proclamation was therefore made, that the city should be committed to the charge of Pallas the protectress, and that all men of age to serve should embark on board the triremes, having provided for the security of their families as best they might. All complied, except some who were too poor to support themselves in a foreign land, and a few who, putting confidence in an ambiguous oracle, believed safety to be promised to such as remained in the Acropolis. A law was passed for the recall of all exiles. Meanwhile the Persian land-force advanced from Thermopyla unopposed through Doris into Phocis, which alone, says Herodotus, among the states in that quarter, did not join the Mede, for no other cause, as far as I can find upon inquiry, but from their hatred to the Thessalians; for if the Thessalians had adhered to the cause of Greece, the Phocians, as I believe, would then have joined the Mede.' But they could not pretend to withstand such an overwhelming force, and, retiring from the level country, took refuge in the recesses of Mount Parnassus; and the invader carried fire and desolation through the rich but deserted vale of the Cephisus. Arriving at the Boeotian border, Xerxes, while he prosecuted his march towards Athens, detached a force to seize the treasure at Delphi,' with the contents of which,' says the historian, 'he was better acquainted than with what he had left at home; so general was its celebrity, especially for the offerings dedicated by Croesus, son of Alyattes. The citizens were naturally in great alarm both for themselves and their temple, and consulted the oracle |