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When last we left off, the Greeks had won a mighty sea battle (off-screen), the Persians were retreating, and the Greeks were chasing them. But, having failed to catch up, the Greeks were setting up YET ANOTHER COUNCIL--this time at Andros--to discuss what to do next. Themistocles wants everyone to sail after the Persian fleet, and hit the Hellespont to break up the bridges that Xerxes built there. Eurybiades thinks that Xerxes and his troops ought to be allowed to flee back across the bridges, so that fighting occurs on Persian territory, not Greek territory.
We pick up with Themistocles responding to this. As usual.
Herodotus, VIII.109
But when Themistocles learned that he would not persuade the majority to sail to the Hellespont, he turned to the Athenians (for they were especially angry at the escape [of the Persians], and they eagerly wished to sail to the Hellespont even relying only on themselves, if the rest weren’t willing), and said the following:
“Well, I myself already supported this many times and I have heard much more that the following things happen: men who have been forced back, defeated, renew the fight and make up for their previous failure. But we--for I find the opinion [among people here] that both we ourselves and Greece repelled such a great mass of men--should not chase the fleeing men. For we did not do these things, but the gods and the heroes, who begrudged one man to rule Asia and Europe, who was unholy and and presumptuous; and he did the same things to holy things and privately owned ones, since he both cast down and set on fire the statues of the gods, and he whipped the sea and threw fetters into it.*
“But now it’s going well for us at the present moment, for staying here in Greece to attend to ourselves and our households; and each man should rebuild his house, and give good attention to his crops, since we have driven away the barbarians completely; and in spring we’ll sail to the Hellespont and Ionia.”
He said these things to make a better refuge [for himself] in Persia, in case some misfortune should affect him among the Athenians, he would have some escape there: and these very things occurred.
Herodotus, VIII.110
When he had said these things, Themistocles deceived them, and the Athenians were convinced; for since he had seemed wise earlier, he also appeared to be honestly wise and planning well, and they were thoroughly prepared to obey his words.
So when they had been convinced, after these things Themistocles swiftly sent men in a boat, and he himself commanded those whom he trusted to stay quiet even under any torture to show these things to the king upon arrival; and again his slave Sikinnos** was one of these men. When they arrived in Attica, the men stayed in the boat, and Sikinnos, when he had approached Xerxes, said the following things:
“Themistocles the son of Neokleos, general of the Athenians, and the best and wisest of all the allies, sent me to point out to you that Themistocles the Athenian, wishing to render service to you, holds back the Greeks, who wished to chase your ships and break the bridges at the Hellespont. And now take care of your own great solitude.”
[Then some other stuff happens, but I’m not sure what it is, because my study text doesn’t cover it. Whatever it is, I guess it doesn’t involve Themistocles very directly, or at least not by name.]
Herodotus, VIII.123
And after the division of the plunder, the Greeks sailed to the Isthmus to give prizes for valor to those of the Greeks who had become the most worthy during this war. When the generals had arrived and cast their votes on the altar of Poseidon, determining who was the first and second best of all, then each one of them cast the vote for himself, each one thinking he had been the best, but the majority happened to agree on giving the second place in their judgment to Themistocles. So while they all got one [vote], Themistocles surpassed everyone by far in second place.
Herodotus, VIII.124
And the Greeks didn’t want to resolve these things because of their jealousy, but they each sailed away to their own homes without making a decision; all the same, Themistocles was both proclaimed and thought to be the wisest man in all of Greece, by far. But since he was not honored for the victory in the sea battle of Salamis, he promptly went to Sparta, wishing to be honored on account of these things; and the Spartans welcomed him beautifully, and honored him greatly.
And then they gave Eurybiades a crown of olive as a prize for valor, and also they gave a crown of olive to Themistocles as a prize for cunning cleverness; and they gifted him with the most beautiful carriage in Sparta. They sent him away as he was leaving with three hundred men picked from the Spartans, those who were called knights,*** as far as the borders of Tegea.
We know of only this man who the Spartans [ever] sent out [in this way].
Herodotus, VIII.125
And when he had arrived in Athens from Sparta, then Timodemus of Aphidnae (who was an enemy of Themistocles, and otherwise wasn’t a well-known man) started up a quarrel, attacking Themistocles out of jealousy, bringing up his arrival in Sparta, [saying that] the gifts of honor from the Spartans were for the sake of Athens, not for Themistocles’ sake.
But [Themistocles], when Timodeus would not stop speaking of these things, said: “Yes, it’s just like that; if I were a Belbinan^ I would not have been honored by the Spartans this way, and neither would you, sir, being an Athenian.”
---
* A probably apocryphal story about Xerxes has him responding to some military setback caused by the sea by sending soldiers down to whip it and throw chains into it, to show it who’s boss. I don’t know what the official word on it is, but I would guess it was either made up entirely, or some sort of symbolic/religious act that the Greeks found hilarious. Because it’s just too darn silly to think that someone as effective as Xerxes would be that goofy otherwise.
** He was the one who got to run around earlier convincing the Persians it was a great chance to surround the Greeks, so that the Greeks would actually be forced to fight a sea battle in the most advantageous (to them, not the Persians) location.
*** Well, they were called “ἱππέες”, which just means “some dude who fights from horseback,” but “knights” is a sufficiently fancy term for what was probably meant to be impressive. (After all, horses are expensive, and it’s more expensive still to be able to support horses used for fighting and trained for that, and to spend time training to fight that way.) Like the Roman equites.
^ Belbina in this case is a tiny, lightly settled, rocky island just about in the middle of nowhere.
We pick up with Themistocles responding to this. As usual.
Herodotus, VIII.109
But when Themistocles learned that he would not persuade the majority to sail to the Hellespont, he turned to the Athenians (for they were especially angry at the escape [of the Persians], and they eagerly wished to sail to the Hellespont even relying only on themselves, if the rest weren’t willing), and said the following:
“Well, I myself already supported this many times and I have heard much more that the following things happen: men who have been forced back, defeated, renew the fight and make up for their previous failure. But we--for I find the opinion [among people here] that both we ourselves and Greece repelled such a great mass of men--should not chase the fleeing men. For we did not do these things, but the gods and the heroes, who begrudged one man to rule Asia and Europe, who was unholy and and presumptuous; and he did the same things to holy things and privately owned ones, since he both cast down and set on fire the statues of the gods, and he whipped the sea and threw fetters into it.*
“But now it’s going well for us at the present moment, for staying here in Greece to attend to ourselves and our households; and each man should rebuild his house, and give good attention to his crops, since we have driven away the barbarians completely; and in spring we’ll sail to the Hellespont and Ionia.”
He said these things to make a better refuge [for himself] in Persia, in case some misfortune should affect him among the Athenians, he would have some escape there: and these very things occurred.
Herodotus, VIII.110
When he had said these things, Themistocles deceived them, and the Athenians were convinced; for since he had seemed wise earlier, he also appeared to be honestly wise and planning well, and they were thoroughly prepared to obey his words.
So when they had been convinced, after these things Themistocles swiftly sent men in a boat, and he himself commanded those whom he trusted to stay quiet even under any torture to show these things to the king upon arrival; and again his slave Sikinnos** was one of these men. When they arrived in Attica, the men stayed in the boat, and Sikinnos, when he had approached Xerxes, said the following things:
“Themistocles the son of Neokleos, general of the Athenians, and the best and wisest of all the allies, sent me to point out to you that Themistocles the Athenian, wishing to render service to you, holds back the Greeks, who wished to chase your ships and break the bridges at the Hellespont. And now take care of your own great solitude.”
[Then some other stuff happens, but I’m not sure what it is, because my study text doesn’t cover it. Whatever it is, I guess it doesn’t involve Themistocles very directly, or at least not by name.]
Herodotus, VIII.123
And after the division of the plunder, the Greeks sailed to the Isthmus to give prizes for valor to those of the Greeks who had become the most worthy during this war. When the generals had arrived and cast their votes on the altar of Poseidon, determining who was the first and second best of all, then each one of them cast the vote for himself, each one thinking he had been the best, but the majority happened to agree on giving the second place in their judgment to Themistocles. So while they all got one [vote], Themistocles surpassed everyone by far in second place.
Herodotus, VIII.124
And the Greeks didn’t want to resolve these things because of their jealousy, but they each sailed away to their own homes without making a decision; all the same, Themistocles was both proclaimed and thought to be the wisest man in all of Greece, by far. But since he was not honored for the victory in the sea battle of Salamis, he promptly went to Sparta, wishing to be honored on account of these things; and the Spartans welcomed him beautifully, and honored him greatly.
And then they gave Eurybiades a crown of olive as a prize for valor, and also they gave a crown of olive to Themistocles as a prize for cunning cleverness; and they gifted him with the most beautiful carriage in Sparta. They sent him away as he was leaving with three hundred men picked from the Spartans, those who were called knights,*** as far as the borders of Tegea.
We know of only this man who the Spartans [ever] sent out [in this way].
Herodotus, VIII.125
And when he had arrived in Athens from Sparta, then Timodemus of Aphidnae (who was an enemy of Themistocles, and otherwise wasn’t a well-known man) started up a quarrel, attacking Themistocles out of jealousy, bringing up his arrival in Sparta, [saying that] the gifts of honor from the Spartans were for the sake of Athens, not for Themistocles’ sake.
But [Themistocles], when Timodeus would not stop speaking of these things, said: “Yes, it’s just like that; if I were a Belbinan^ I would not have been honored by the Spartans this way, and neither would you, sir, being an Athenian.”
---
* A probably apocryphal story about Xerxes has him responding to some military setback caused by the sea by sending soldiers down to whip it and throw chains into it, to show it who’s boss. I don’t know what the official word on it is, but I would guess it was either made up entirely, or some sort of symbolic/religious act that the Greeks found hilarious. Because it’s just too darn silly to think that someone as effective as Xerxes would be that goofy otherwise.
** He was the one who got to run around earlier convincing the Persians it was a great chance to surround the Greeks, so that the Greeks would actually be forced to fight a sea battle in the most advantageous (to them, not the Persians) location.
*** Well, they were called “ἱππέες”, which just means “some dude who fights from horseback,” but “knights” is a sufficiently fancy term for what was probably meant to be impressive. (After all, horses are expensive, and it’s more expensive still to be able to support horses used for fighting and trained for that, and to spend time training to fight that way.) Like the Roman equites.
^ Belbina in this case is a tiny, lightly settled, rocky island just about in the middle of nowhere.