sians
who had ascended went first to the gates, and after opening these they
proceeded to kill the suppliants; and when all had been slain by them,
they plundered the temple and set fire to the whole of the Acropolis.

54. Then Xerxes, having fully taken possession of Athens, sent to Susa
a mounted messenger to report to Artabanos the good success which they
had. And on the next day after sending the herald he called together the
exiles of the Athenians who were accompanying him, and bade them go
up to the Acropolis and sacrifice the victims after their own manner;
whether it was that he had seen some vision of a dream which caused him
to give this command, or whether perchance he had a scruple in his
mind because he had set fire to the temple. The Athenian exiles did
accordingly that which was commanded them:

55, and the reason why I made mention of this I will here declare:--there
is in this Acropolis a temple 35 of Erechtheus, who is said to have been
born of the Earth, and in this there is an olive-tree and a sea, which
(according to the story told by the Athenians) Poseidon and Athene,
when they contended for the land, set as witnesses of themselves. Now
it happened to this olive-tree to be set on fire with the rest of the
temple by the Barbarians; and on the next day after the conflagration
those of the Athenians who were commanded by the king to offer
sacrifice, saw when they had gone up to the temple that a shoot had run
up from the stock of the tree about a cubit in length. These then made
report of this.

56. The Hellenes meanwhile at Salamis, when it was announced to them how
it had been as regards the Acropolis of the Athenians, were disturbed so
greatly that some of the commanders did not even wait for the question
to be decided which had been proposed, but began to go hastily to their
ships and to put up their sails, meaning to make off with speed; and by
those of them who remained behind it was finally decided to fight at
sea in defence of the Isthmus. So night came on, and they having been
dismissed from the council were going to their ships:

57, and when Themistocles had come to his ship, Mnesiphilos an Athenian
asked him what they had resolved; and being informed by him that it had
been determined to take out the ships to the Isthmus and fight a battle
by sea in defence of the Peloponnese, he said: "Then, if they set sail
with the ships from Salamis, thou wilt not fight any more sea-battles
at al