The Good Book_ A Secular Bible - A. C. Grayling [163]
18. The Persians who served as men-at-arms in the squadron, finding that he was not dead, but still breathed,
19. And being anxious to save his life because he had behaved so valiantly, dressed his wounds with myrrh, and bound them with cotton bandages.
20. Then, when they had returned to their own station, they displayed their prisoner admiringly to the whole host,
21. And behaved towards him with much kindness; but all the rest of the Eginetan ship’s crew were treated merely as slaves.
22. The third, a trireme commanded by Phormus of Athens, took to flight and ran aground at the mouth of the River Peneus.
23. The barbarians got possession of the ship but not of the men. For the Athenians had no sooner run their vessel aground than they leapt out, and made their way through Thessaly back to Athens.
24. When the Greeks stationed at Artemisium learnt what had happened by fire-signals from Sciathus,
25. So terrified were they that, quitting their anchorage-ground at Artemisium, and leaving scouts to watch the foe on the highlands of Euboea,
26. They removed to Chalcis, intending to guard the Euripus.
27. Meantime three of the ten vessels sent by the Persians advanced as far as the sunken rock called ‘The Ant’ between Sciathus and Magnesia, and there set up a stone pillar brought for that purpose.
28. After this, the course now being clear, the main Persian fleet set sail from Therma, eleven days from the time that the king left it with the army.
29. A day’s voyage without a stop brought them to Sepias in Magnesia, and to the strip of coast which lies between the town of Casthanaea and the promontory of Sepias.
Chapter 66
1. As far as this point then, and on land as far as Thermopylae, the armament of Xerxes had been free from mischance;
2. And its numbers were still very great. First there was the original complement of twelve hundred and seven ships which came with the king from Asia,
3. The contingents of the nations severally amounting, if we allow to each ship a crew of two hundred men, to two hundred and forty-one thousand, four hundred.
4. Each of these vessels had on board, besides native soldiers, thirty fighting men, who were either Persians, Medes or Sacans; which gives an addition of thirty-six thousand, two hundred and ten.
5. To these numbers can be added the crews of the penteconters; which may be reckoned, one with another, at eighty men each.
6. There were three thousand such vessels, the men on board accordingly numbering two hundred and forty thousand. This was the sea force brought by the king from Asia; and it amounted in all to five hundred and seventeen thousand, six hundred and ten men.
7. The number of foot soldiers was one million, seven hundred thousand; that of the horsemen eighty thousand;
8. To which must be added the Arabs who rode on camels, and the Libyans who fought in chariots, about twenty thousand.
9. The whole number of the land and sea forces added together amounts to two million, three hundred and seventeen thousand, six hundred and ten men.
10. Such was the force brought from Asia, without including the camp followers, or taking any account of the provision-ships and their crews.
11. To the amount thus reached we have still to add the forces gathered in Europe.
12. The Greeks dwelling in Thrace and in the islands off its coast gave to Xerxes’ fleet one hundred and twenty ships; the crews of which amounted to twenty-four thousand men.
13. Besides these, footmen were provided by the Thracians, the Paeonians, the Eordians, the Bottiaeans, by the Chalcidean tribes,
14. By the Brygians, the Pierians, the Macedonians, the Perrhaebians, the Enianians, the Dolopians, the Magnesians, the Achaeans and by all the dwellers upon the Thracian seaboard;
15. And the forces of these nations amounted to three hundred thousand men. Adding these numbers to the force out of Asia brings the sum of Xerxes’ fighting men to two million, six hundred and forty-one thousand, six hundred and