he Athenians were enraged to see themselves betrayed, and
at the same time afflicted and dejected at their own destitution. For to
fight alone against such a numerous army was to no purpose, and the
only expedient now left them was to leave their city and cling to their
ships; which the people were very unwilling to submit to, imagining that
it would signify little now to gain a victory, and not understanding how
there could be deliverance any longer after they had once forsaken
the temples of their gods and exposed the tombs and monuments of their
ancestors to the fury of their enemies.

Themistocles, being at a loss, and not able to draw the people over
to his opinion by any human reason, set his machines to work, as in a
theatre, and employed prodigies and oracles. The serpent of Athena, kept
in the inner part of her temple, disappeared; the priests gave it out
to the people and declared, by the suggestion of Themistocles, that the
goddess had left the city, and taken her flight before them towards the
sea. And he often urged them with the oracle which bade them "trust to
walls of wood," showing them that walls of wood could signify nothing
else but ships; and that the island of Salamis was termed in it not
miserable or unhappy, but had the epithet of divine, for that it should
one day be associated with a great good fortune of the Greeks. At length
his opinion prevailed, and he obtained a decree that the city should be
committed to the protection of Athena, "queen of Athens"; that they
who were of age to bear arms should embark, and that each should see to
sending away his children, women, and slaves where he could. This decree
being confirmed, most of the Athenians removed their parents, wives, and
children to Troezen, where they were received with eager good-will by
the Troezenians, who passed a vote that they should be maintained at the
public charge.

Among the great actions of Themistocles at this crisis, the recall of
Aristides was not the least, for, before the war, he had been ostracized
by the party which Themistocles headed, and was in banishment; but now,
perceiving that the people regretted his absence, and were fearful that
he might go over to the Persians to revenge himself, and thereby ruin
the affairs of Greece, Themistocles proposed a decree that those who
were banished for a time might return again, to give assistance by word
and deed to the cause of Greece with the rest of their fellow citizens.