the life of an ambassador is sacred. In their rage,
they seized the Persians, flung one into a pit and the other into a
well, and told them to take all the earth and water they wanted.

This conduct made Darius all the more angry, and he hastened his
preparations as much as he could. He was so active that in a short time
he was able to start out again, with an army of a hundred and twenty
thousand men.

The generals of this force were Da'tis and Ar-ta-pher'-nes, who were
guided and advised by the traitor Hippias. The fleet was to land the
army on the plain of Mar'a-thon, close by the sea, and only one day's
journey from Athens.

When the Athenians heard that the Persians were coming, they immediately
decided to ask the Spartans, who were now their allies, to come to their
aid, and help them drive back the enemy. As there was no time to lose,
they chose as their messenger a fleet-footed Athenian, who made the
journey of a hundred and fifty miles in a few hours, running every step
of the way, and only seldom pausing to rest.

The Spartans listened breathlessly to his tidings, and promised that
they would help the Athenians; but they added, that they would not be
able to start until the moon was full, for they thought that they would
be beaten unless they set out at a certain time.

The Persians in the mean while were advancing rapidly, so the Athenians
started out to meet them with no other help than that of their neighbors
the Pla-tae'ans. The whole Greek force numbered only ten thousand men,
and was under the command of the ten Athenian generals who were each
entitled to the leadership for a day in turn.

Among these ten Athenian generals were three remarkable
men,--Mil-ti'a-des, Ar-is-ti'des, and The-mis'to-cles. They consulted
together, hoping to find a plan by which their small army could
successfully oppose the Persian host, which was twelve times greater.

At last Miltiades proposed a plan which might succeed, provided there
was but one chief, and all obeyed him well. Aristides, who was not only
a good man, but also remarkably just and wise, at once saw the
importance of such a plan, and offered to give up his day's command, and
to carry out his friend's orders just as if he were nothing but a common
soldier.

[Illustration: Themistocles.]

The other generals, not wishing to appear less generous than he, also
gave up their command to Miltiades, who thus found himself general in
chief of the Athenian and