6. Breaks all the other's oars; with skill disposed, In fierce assault; and, rushing from its height, The sea no more Ply every oar inglorious: onward rush II. THE FLIGHT OF XERXES. 1. I saw him on the battle-eve, When, like a king, he bore him— On earth-and saw, from east to west, While rock, and glen, and cave, and coast, The thunder of their feet! He heard the imperial echoes ring- 3. I saw him next alone: nor camp Nor chief his steps attended; So lately seemed to deify; He, who with heaven contended, 4. He stood-fleet, army, treasure, gone— But wave and wind swept ruthless on, For they were monarchs there; And Xerxes, in a single bark, Where late his thousand ships were dark, Must all their fury dare. What a revenge-a trophy, this— For thee, immortal Sal'amis!-MRS. JEWSBURY. LESSON VIII.-BATTLE OF PLATÆ'A, 479 B.C.:-END OF THE PERSIAN WARS. BULWER'S Athens. 1. AFTER the defeat of the Persians in the naval battle of Sal'amis, their army, which remained in Greece under the command of Mardonius, experienced a final overthrow in the battle of Platæ'a. In this famous battle the Spartan general Pausanias had the chief command of the Grecian forces. We give the leading incidents of the battle as graphically described by Bulwer: 2. "As the troops of Mardonius advanced, the rest of the Persian armament, deeming the task was not now to fight, but to pursue, raised their standards and poured forward tumultuously, without discipline or order. Pausanias, pressed by the Persian line, lost no time in sending to the Athenians for succor. But when the latter were on their march with the required aid, they were suddenly intercepted by the Greeks in the Persian service, and cut off from the rescue of the Spartans. 66 3. The Spartans beheld themselves thus unsupported with considerable alarm. Committing himself to the gods, Pausanias ordained a solemn sacrifice, his whole army awaiting the result, while the shafts of the Persian bowmen poured on them near and fast. But the entrails presented discouraging omens, and the sacrifice was again renewed. Meanwhile the Spartans evinced their characteristic fortitude and discipline -not one man stirring from his ranks until the auguries should assume a more favoring aspect; all harassed, and some wounded by the Persian arrows, they yet, seeking protection only beneath their broad bucklers, waited with a stern patience the time of their leader and of Heaven. Then fell Callic'rates, the stateliest and strongest soldier in the whole army, lamenting, not death, but that his sword was as yet undrawn against the invader. 4. "And still sacrifice after sacrifice seemed to forbid the battle, when Pausanias, lifting his eyes, that streamed with tears, to the temple of Juno that stood hard by, supplicated Y the goddess that if the fates forbade the Greeks to conquer, they might at least fall like warriors. And while uttering this prayer the tokens waited for became suddenly visible in the victims, and the augurs announced the promise of coming victory. Therewith the order of battle ran instantly through the army, and, to use the poetical comparison of Plutarch, the Spartan phalanx suddenly stood forth in its strength, like some fierce animal-erecting its bristles, and preparing its vengeance for the foe. The ground, broken in many steep and precipitous ridges, and intersected by the Aso'pus, whose sluggish stream winds over a broad and rushy bed, was unfavorable to the movements of cavalry, and the Persian foot ad-. vanced therefore on the Greeks. 5. "Drawn up in their massive phalanx, the Lacedæmonians presented an almost impenetrable body-sweeping slowly on, compact and serried-while the hot and undisciplined valor of the Persians, more fortunate in the skirmish than the battle, broke itself in a thousand waves upon that moving rock. Pouring on in small numbers at a time, they fell fast round the progress of the Greeks-their armor slight against the strong pikes of Sparta-their courage without skill-their numbers without discipline; still they fought gallantly, even when on the ground seizing the pikes with their naked hands, and with the wonderful agility which still characterizes the Oriental swordsmen, springing to their feet and regaining their arms when seemingly overcome, wresting away their enemies' shields, and grappling with them desperately hand to hand. 6. "Foremost of a band of a thousand chosen Persians, conspicuous by his white charger, and still more by his daring valor, rode Mardonius, directing the attack-fiercer wherever his armor blazed. Inspired by his presence, the Persians fought worthily of their warlike fame, and, even in falling, thinned the Spartan ranks. At length the rash but gallant leader of the Asiatic armies received a mortal wound-his skull was crushed in by a stone from the hand of a Spartan. His chosen band, the boast of the army, fell fighting around him, but his death was the general signal of defeat and flight. Encumbered by their long robes, and pressed by the relentless conquerors, the Persians fled in disorder toward their camp, which was secured by wooden intrenchments, by gates, and towers, and walls. Here, fortifying themselves as they best might, they contended with advantage against the Lacedæmonians, who were ill skilled in assault and siege. 7. "Meanwhile the Athenians obtained the victory on the plains over the Greeks of Mardonius, and now joined the Spartans at the camp. The Athenians are said to have been better skilled in the art of siege than the Spartans; yet at that time their experience could scarcely have been greater. The Athenians were at all times, however, of a more impetuous temper; and the men who had 'run to the charge' at Marathon were not to be baffled by the desperate remnant of their ancient foe. They scaled the walls-they effected a breach through which the Tegeans were the first to rushthe Greeks poured fast and fierce into the camp. Appalled, dismayed, stupefied by the suddenness and greatness of their loss, the Persians no longer sustained their fame-they dispersed in all directions, falling, as they fled, with a prodigious slaughter, so that out of that mighty armament scarce three thousand effected an escape." 8. Another writer remarks that "the treasure found in the camp of the Persians on this occasion was immense: the furniture of the tents glittered with gold and silver; and vessels of the same metals were seen scattered about for ordinary use, and piled up in wagons." "Pausanias, when he entered the tent of Mardonius, and saw the rich hangings, the soft carpets, the couches and tables shining with gold and silver, ordered the Persian slaves to prepare a banquet, such as they were used to set out for their master. When it was spread he bade his helots set by its side the simple fare of his own ordinary meal, and then invited the Greek officers to mark the folly of the barbarian who, with such instruments of luxury at his command, had come to rob the Greeks of their scanty store." 9. When the deluge of the Persian wars rolled back to its Eastern bed, and the world was once more comparatively at rest, the continent of Greece rose visibly and majestically above the rest of the civilized earth. Then began what has been called the "Age of Pericles," the era of Athenian greatness, which has been briefly described in a previous article,* but to which we again refer for the purpose of giving the following beautiful extract descriptive of the glories and greatness of Athens during that period: 10. "Nowhere else," remarks Alison, "is to be found a state so small in its origin, and yet so great in its progress; so contracted in its territory, and yet so gigantic in its achievements; so limited in numbers, and yet so immortal in genius. * See the Part on Architecture, page 285. Its dominions on the continent of Greece did not exceed an English county; its free inhabitants never amounted to thirty thousand citizens, and yet these inconsiderable numbers have filled the world with their renown: poetry, philosophy, architecture, sculpture, tragedy, comedy, geometry, physics, history, politics, almost date their origin from Athenian genius; and the monuments of art with which they have overspread the world still form the standard of taste in every civilized nation on earth." LESSON IX. THE ERA OF GRECIAN ELOQUENCE AND LITERATURE. 1. THE golden age of Grecian eloquence and literature is embodied in a period of a hundred and thirty years, reckoning from the time of Pericles; and during this period Athens bore the palm alone. Of the many eminent Athenian orators, the most distinguished were Ly'sias, Isoc'ratēs, s'chines, and Demos'thenēs. Among historians whose works are still venerated may be mentioned, as most conspicuous, the names of Herod'otus, Thucyd'idēs, Xen'ophon, and Polyb'ius; among poets and dramatists, Es'chylus,* Soph'ocles, Eurip'ides, and Aristoph'anes; and among philosophers, Soc'rates, Pla'to, and Aristot'le. Volumes would be requisite to describe the character and works of these writers, and to convey a just idea of the indebtedness of the moderns to the lights which they kindled. 2. The Greeks were exceedingly fond of the drama, which we may now look back upon as one of the best expositors of the Athenian mind in the departments of politics, religion, and philosophy. In the time of Pericles a large number of dramas was presented on the Athenian stage every year; the whole population of Athens flocked to the theatres to witness them; and when we reflect that these representations embraced not only, as at first, the religious notions of the Greeks, but that they were finally extended to every subject of political and private life, we shall be satisfied that so powerful poetic influences were never brought to act upon any other people. 3. Of the very great degree of license which was given to Es'chylus fought in the battle of Marathon, and also in that of Sal'amis. From one of his tragedies, entitled "The Persians," we have given an extract descriptive of the naval battle of Sal'amis See page 502 |