The Histories by Herodotus - 10 - The Wily Themistocles
Book Eight
Quote
Themistocles: "I should explain that this move on the part of the Persians was instigated by me. The Greeks didn't want to join battle, so I had to force them into it."
Notes
- Simultaneous with the Battle of Thermypolae are the battles between the Greeks and the Persians at sea. Athens in particular has a strong navy and they make up about half all of Greece's ships.
- The Greek alliance, however, is fraying. Many are afraid of fighting the Persians and want to run away. A people called the Euboeans live near the coast where the Greek ships are stationed and they're desperate for more time to get their children and families away to safety. They bribe the Athenian commander, Themistocles, to entice the Greeks to stay united. Themistocles uses small amounts to persuade the others and keeps the largest share for himself.
- The first few battles go well for the Greeks. The gods seem to be on their side as well, as many Persian ships moving to surround the Greeks from behind are stopped by a storm. Herodotus adds: "This all happened by divine will, to reduce the Persians' numerical advantage."
- Despite these victories, the Greeks still see no hope in the situation. They hear the Persians have broken through Thermypolae and are moving into the cities. The commanders meet to discuss what to do next.
- Many want to retreat to the Peleponnese and pick up their defense there. Themistocles is persuaded by another officer that if they leave there position now the alliance will break apart and everyone will split off to defend their own city. He gives a speech arguing that if they retreat to the Peloponnese they'll only draw the whole Persian army there, and the sea there is more open which gives the Persians an advantage with their larger numbers. The area here is more confined.
- A few commanders protest Themistocles and say he doesn't represent a state anymore since Athens has fallen and been captured. He replies and says the Athenians still have the largest navy and larger than anyone else's in Greece.
- The arguing continues and Themistocles hatches a plan to solve it. He sends one of his men with a message to the Persians pretending to be a defector and saying the Persians should attack now because the Greeks are busy arguing. The Persians move in to attack and the Greeks see they have no choice now but to fight.
- Amazingly, the Greeks win again. The Persians are terrified of incurring Xerxes' wrath having lost another battle. Mardonius, a Persian commander persuades Xerxes to retreat back home while he stays with 300,000 men to defeat the Greeks on land. Xerxes agrees.
- The Greeks discuss again what they should do. Some want to chase the Persians in their retreat. Themistocles argues they should let the Persians go. And he sends a personal messenger to Xerxes to say that Themistocles personally prevented the Greeks from attacking them and cutting off their retreat. In case the Persians end up winning this war, Themistocles wants to set himself up to be on their good side.
- Back home, Themistocles gets huge honours for his role in the war so far. But he immediately exploits his position of power, taking his ships to surrounding Greek states to extort money from them.
- Mardonius gathers his army together. He wants to make an alliance with Athens and he sends an envoy to make them the offer. Sparta hears about it and they send a messenger, too, to keep Athens from joining the Persians. Athens refuses the offer and assures the Spartans that they will always fight on the side of the Greeks.
Key Takeaways
Themistocles is a complicated character. Themistocles is looking out for himself more than he is looking out for Greece. He's giving himself an option to side with the Persians should things go that direction. And he's not afraid of using tricks or deception to get his way. Still he's very popular with his fellow men and he's one of the most memorable characters in The Histories. Though Herodotus doesn't give us his own opinion of him. He seems open to reporting both the good and the bad, and the things in between.
The gods are on the Greeks' side? Herodotus mentions that it was "divine will" that caused the storm to wreck the Persians ships. When the Persians approach the Oracle at Delphi, lightning strikes and rocks are hurled at them and they run away. And there is an event reported of a cloud and mysterious voices rising from Eleusis (where sacred rites are performed), which signaled favour for the Greeks and a warning against the Persians.
These are the kinds of things the winners of history might say to show that "God is on their side." How should we be reading this in Herodotus? He says he wants to give an objective account of what happened, and that he's not writing propaganda for the Greeks. But it seems to be a little bit more complicated than that.