_A TALE OF THE DAYS OF XERXES, LEONIDAS AND THEMISTOCLES_
BY
WILLIAM STEARNS DAVIS
AUTHOR OF "A FRIEND OF CAESAR," "GOD WILLS IT," "BELSHAZZAR," ETC.
"... On the AEgean shore a city stands, Built nobly, pure the air and light the soil, Athens, the eye of Greece."
*New York*THE MACMILLAN COMPANYLONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.1907_All rights reserved_
COPYRIGHT, 1907, BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
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Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1907.
*Norwood Press* J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
The invasion of Greece by Xerxes, with its battles of Thermopylae, Salamis,and Plataea, forms one of the most dramatic events in history. Had Athensand Sparta succumbed to this attack of Oriental superstition anddespotism, the Parthenon, the Attic Theatre, the Dialogues of Plato, wouldhave been almost as impossible as if Phidias, Sophocles, and thephilosophers had never lived. Because this contest and its heroes--Leonidasand Themistocles--cast their abiding shadows across our world of to-day, Ihave attempted this piece of historical fiction.
Many of the scenes were conceived on the fields of action themselvesduring a recent visit to Greece, and I have tried to give some glimpse ofthe natural beauty of "The Land of the Hellene,"--a beauty that will remainwhen Themistocles and his peers fade away still further into thebackgrounds of history.
W. S. D.
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE THE ISTHMIAN GAMES NEAR CORINTH
CHAPTER PAGE I. GLAUCON THE BEAUTIFUL 3 II. THE ATHLETE 10 III. THE HAND OF PERSIA 21 IV. THE PENTATHLON 31
BOOK I THE SHADOW OF THE PERSIAN
V. HERMIONE OF ELEUSIS 51 VI. ATHENS 62 VII. DEMOCRATES AND THE TEMPTER 74 VIII. ON THE ACROPOLIS 84 IX. THE CYPRIAN TRIUMPHS 95 X. DEMOCRATES RESOLVES 106 XI. THE PANATHENAEA 116 XII. A TRAITOR TO HELLAS 128 XIII. THE DISLOYALTY OF PHORMIO 141 XIV. MARDONIUS THE PERSIAN 152
BOOK II THE COMING OF THE PERSIAN
XV. THE LOTUS-EATING AT SARDIS 165 XVI. THE COMING OF XERXES THE GOD-KING 174 XVII. THE CHARMING BY ROXANA 186 XVIII. DEMOCRATES'S TROUBLES RETURN 197 XIX. THE COMMANDMENT OF XERXES 209 XX. THERMOPYLAE 219 XXI. THE THREE HUNDRED--AND ONE 230 XXII. MARDONIUS GIVES A PROMISE 243 XXIII. THE DARKEST HOUR 253 XXIV. THE EVACUATION OF ATHENS 264 XXV. THE ACROPOLIS FLAMES 268 XXVI. THEMISTOCLES IS THINKING 279 XXVII. THE CRAFT OF ODYSSEUS 287 XXVIII. BEFORE THE DEATH GRAPPLE 300 XXIX. SALAMIS 311 XXX. THEMISTOCLES GIVES A PROMISE 329
BOOK III THE PASSING OF THE PERSIAN
XXXI. DEMOCRATES SURRENDERS 333 XXXII. THE STRANGER IN TROEZENE 343 XXXIII. WHAT BEFELL ON THE HILLSIDE 350 XXXIV. THE LOYALTY OF LAMPAXO 360 XXXV. MOLOCH BETRAYS THE PHOENICIAN 372 XXXVI. THE READING OF THE RIDDLE 388 XXXVII. THE RACE TO SAVE HELLAS 399 XXXVIII. THE COUNCIL OF MARDONIUS 418 XXXIX. THE AVENGING OF LEONIDAS 426 XL. THE SONG OF THE FURIES 438 XLI. THE BRIGHTNESS OF HELIOS 445