. The eastern nations and Greece. o the hands of the barbarians. Furthermore, the Delphian oracle was wanting in courage, — tothe managers of the shrine the situation doubtless looked desperate,— and by its timid responses disheartened the patriot party. Butunder the inspiration of Themistocles the patriots in convention atCorinth determined upon stout resistance to the barbarians. Itwas at first decided to concentrate a strong force in the Vale ofTempe, and at that point to dispute the advance of the enemy; but 200 THE PERSIAN WARS [§223 this place having been found untenable, the first stand
. The eastern nations and Greece. o the hands of the barbarians. Furthermore, the Delphian oracle was wanting in courage, — tothe managers of the shrine the situation doubtless looked desperate,— and by its timid responses disheartened the patriot party. Butunder the inspiration of Themistocles the patriots in convention atCorinth determined upon stout resistance to the barbarians. Itwas at first decided to concentrate a strong force in the Vale ofTempe, and at that point to dispute the advance of the enemy; but 200 THE PERSIAN WARS [§223 this place having been found untenable, the first stand against theinvaders was made at the Pass of Thermopylae. The Spartans were given the chief command of both the landand the naval forces. The Athenians might fairly have insisted upontheir right to the command of the allied fleet, but they patrioticallywaived their claim for the sake of harmony. 223. The Passage of the Hellespont. With the first indicationsof the opening spring of 480 , just ten years after the defeat at. Map Illustrating the Invasion of Greece by Xerxes Marathon, the vast Persian army was astir and concentrating fromall points upon the Hellespont. The passage of this strait, as picturedto us in the inimitable narration of Herodotus, is one of the mostdramatic of all the spectacles afforded by history. Herodotus affirms,with exaggeration doubtless, that for seven days and seven nights thebridges groaned beneath the living tide that Asia was pouring intoEurope. Upon an extended plain called Doriscus, on the European shore,Xerxes drew up his vast army for review and census. The count §224] THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYL^ 201 completed/ the immense army, attended along the shore by the fleet,marched forward through Thrace, and so on toward Greece. 224. The Battle of Thermopylae (480 ). Leading from Thessalyinto Central Greece is a narrow pass, pressed on one side by the seaand on the other by rugged mountain ridges. At the foot of thecliffs break forth seve
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