t us and ask the Carians to
do the same as ye. If however neither of these two things is possible
to be done, and ye are bound down by too strong compulsion to be able
to make revolt, then in the action, when we engage battle, be purposely
slack, remember that ye are descended from us and that our quarrel with
the Barbarian took its rise at the first from you." Themistocles wrote
thus, having, as I suppose, two things together in his mind, namely that
either the inscriptions might elude the notice of the king and cause
the Ionians to change and come over to the side on which he was, or
that having been reported and denounced to Xerxes they might cause the
Ionians to be distrusted by him, and so he might keep them apart from
the sea-fights.

23. Themistocles then had set these inscriptions: and to the Barbarians
there came immediately after these things a man of Histaia in a boat
bringing word of the retreat of the Hellenes from Artemision. They
however, not believing it, kept the messenger under guard and sent
swift-sailing ships to look on before. Then these having reported
the facts, at last as daylight was spreading over the sky, the whole
armament sailed in a body to Artemision; and having stayed at this place
till mid-day, after this they sailed to Histaia, and there arrived they
took possession of the city of Histaia and overran all the villages
which lie along the coast in the region of Ellopia, which is the land of
Histaia.

24. While they were there, Xerxes, after he had made his dispositions
with regard to the bodies of the dead, sent a herald to the fleet: and
the dispositions which he made beforehand were as follows:--for all those
of his army who were lying dead at Thermopylai, (and there were as many
as twenty thousand in all), with the exception of about a thousand whom
he left, he dug trenches and buried them, laying over them leaves and
heaping earth upon them, that they might not be seen by the men of the
fleet. Then when the herald had gone over to Histaia, he gathered an
assembly of the whole force and spoke these words: "Allies, king Xerxes
grants permission to any one of you who desires it, to leave his post
and to come and see how he fights against those most senseless men who
looked to overcome the power of the king."

25. When the herald had proclaimed this, then boats were of all things
most in request, so many were they who desired to see this sight; and
when they had passed over they went