arbarians began their march, after having stayed there one month while
they crossed over into Europe, they had reached Attica, in the year when
Calliades was archon of the Athenians. And they took the lower city,
which was deserted, and then they found that there were still a few
Athenians left in the temple, either stewards of the temple or needy
persons, who had barred the entrance to the Acropolis with doors and
with a palisade of timber and endeavoured to defend themselves against
the attacks of the enemy, being men who had not gone out to Salamis
partly because of their poverty, and also because they thought that
they alone had discovered the meaning of the oracle which the Pythian
prophetess had uttered to them, namely that the "bulwark of wood" should
be impregnable, and supposed that this was in fact the safe refuge
according to the oracle, and not the ships.

52. So the Persians taking their post upon the rising ground opposite
the Acropolis, which the Athenians call the Hill of Ares, 32 proceeded
to besiege them in this fashion, that is they put tow round about their
arrows and lighted it, and then shot them against the palisade. The
Athenians who were besieged continued to defend themselves nevertheless,
although they had come to the extremity of distress and their palisade
had played them false; nor would they accept proposals for surrender,
when the sons of Peisistratos brought them forward: but endeavouring to
defend themselves they contrived several contrivances against the enemy,
and among the rest they rolled down large stones when the Barbarians
approached the gates; so that for a long time Xerxes was in a
difficulty, not being able to capture them.

53. In time however there appeared for the Barbarians a way of approach
after their difficulties, since by the oracle it was destined that all
of Attica which is on the mainland should come to be under the Persians.
Thus then it happened that on the front side 33 of the Acropolis behind
the gates and the way up to the entrance, in a place where no one was
keeping guard, nor would one have supposed that any man could ascend by
this way, here men ascended by the temple of Aglauros the daughter
of Kecrops, although indeed the place is precipitous: and when the
Athenians saw that they had ascended up to the Acropolis, some of them
threw themselves down from the wall and perished, while others took
refuge in the sanctuary 34 of the temple. Then those of the Per