are not worth the trouble of subduing. These
vast conquests have been made by the courage, the energy, and the
military power of Cyrus, Darius, and Cambyses, my renowned
predecessors. They, on their part, have subdued Asia and Africa; Europe
remains. It devolves on me to finish what they have begun. Had my father
lived, he would, himself, have completed the work. He had already made
great preparations for the undertaking; but he died, leaving the task to
me, and it is plain that I can not hesitate to undertake it without a
manifest dereliction of duty.

"You all remember the unprovoked and wanton aggressions which the
Athenians committed against us in the time of the Ionian rebellion,
taking part against us with rebels and enemies. They crossed the AEgean
Sea on that occasion, invaded our territories, and at last captured and
burned the city of Sardis, the principal capital of our Western empire.
I will never rest until I have had my revenge by burning Athens. Many of
you, too, who are here present, remember the fate of the expedition
under Datis. Those of you who were attached to that expedition will have
no need that I should urge you to seek revenge for your own wrongs. I am
sure that you will all second my undertaking with the utmost fidelity
and zeal.

"My plan for gaining access to the Grecian territories is not, as
before, to convey the troops by a fleet of galleys over the AEgean Sea,
but to build a bridge across the Hellespont, and march the army to
Greece by land. This course, which I am well convinced is practicable,
will be more safe than the other, and the bridging of the Hellespont
will be of itself a glorious deed. The Greeks will be utterly unable to
resist the enormous force which we shall be able to pour upon them. We
can not but conquer; and inasmuch as beyond the Greek territories there
is, as I am informed, no other power at all able to cope with us, we
shall easily extend our empire on every side to the sea, and thus the
Persian dominion will cover the whole habitable world.

"I am sure that I can rely on your cordial and faithful co-operation in
these plans, and that each one of you will bring me, from his own
province or territories, as large a quota of men, and of supplies for
the war, as is in his power. They who contribute thus most liberally I
shall consider as entitled to the highest honors and rewards."

Such was, in substance, the address of Xerxes to his council. He
concluded by sayin