Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-04-08

lxes, that he might omit nothing
which could contribute to the success
of his undertaking., entered into
lconfederacy with the Carthagenians.
The Cartnagenians made Amilcar
their general, who did not content
himself with raising as many troops
as he could in Africa, but engaged
great number Of soldiers out Of Spain,
Gaul and Italy, in his service: SO thai
he collected an army Of three hundred
/ thousand men, and proportionate
number of ships, in order to execute
the projects and stimulations OF the
4! league. Xerxes, in the mean time,
was not idle; 50 far from 1t, that one
would imagine he had assembled all
| the men in his kingdom that were nj
| to bear arms; for when he arrived at
] Thermopylae, his and and sea forces
Together made up the number OF TWO
millions, six hundred and forty-one
thousand, six hundred and ten men.
without including servants, women,
suffers, and other people OF that SORT
which usually follow an army. and
whose number, according to Herod-
otus, Plutarch and Isocrates, was
equal to that Of the forces. This pro-
/ digious armament struck such panic
into almost all the cities and nations
Of Greece, and their allies, that they
submitted to the Persian heralds. the
Lacedemonians and Athenians were
the only people that had courage
enough to venture their lives In de-
fence of their liberty. In this situa-
ton Of affairs, the only thing to be
discussed was to know In what place
| they should resolve to meet the Per-
slams, in order to dispute their en-
| without the utmost astonishment
| with what q handful OF troops the
| Grecians determined to oppose the
innumerable army Of xerxes. All
their forces joined together, says
Pausanias, amounted only to eleven
thousand two hundred men. g
Thermopylae Is a strait or narrow
pass Of Mount Oeta, between Thessaly
and Phocis, not more than twenty
five feet broad; which, therefore,
/ might be defended by a small number
of forces, and which was the only way
through which the Persian land army
could enter Achaia, and advance to
beseige Athens. This was the place
where the Grecian army thought fit
to wait for the enemy: the person who
commanded II was Leonidas, one Of
the two kings of Sparta. I
Xerxes continued his march through
Thrace. Macedonia, and Thessaly, ev-
erything giving way before him, till
| u6 CdllC " SlC SialS VI hSA AASfSE
lac. Here he was strangely surpris-
ed to find that Leonidas, with only
four thousand men, attempted to dis
pute his passage. He had always
| f1attered himself that, on the first
hearing OF siis arrival. the Grecians
would betake themselves to flight;
nor could he be persuaded to believe,
what had been told him at the be-
ginning of this project, that, at the
! first pass he came to-, he would fnd
his whole ar ~ stopped by handful
Of men. He sent out spy before
him, to- take q view of the enemy.
The spy brought him word that he
found the Lacedemonians out Of their
entertainments, and that they were
diverting themselves with military ex-
ercises, and combing their hair. This
was the Spartan manner OF preparing
| for battle. Xerxes, still entertaining
| some hopes Of their fight, waited four
days, on purpose to give them time
to retreat. In this interval OF time,
he used his utmost endeavors to gain
Leonidas by making him magnihcent
promises, and assuring him that he
would make him master Of Greece,
| IL he would come over to his party.
Leonidas rejected his proposal with
scorn and indignation. Xerxes having
afterwards written to him to deliver
up his arms, Leonidas, In style and
spirit truly laconical. answered him In
these words, Come and take them" :"
Nothing now remained but to prepare
themselves to engage the Lacede-
monians. 20 -, 4
Xerxes first commanded his Median
forces to march against them. These
Medes were mot able to stand the
charge of the Grecians; and. being
shamefully put to flight. they showed,
says Herodotus, that Xerxes had q
1 great many men, and but few sol
| diers. The next that were sent to
face the Spartans were those Persians
| called the Immortal Band, which
| consisted Of ten thousand men, and
were the best troops Of the whole
army; but these had no better sue
cess than the former. Xerxes, out Of
all hopes Of being able to force his
way through troops so determined to
| conquer or die, was extremely per-
picked, and could not tell what reso-
luton to take, when an inhabitant Of
the country came to him. and dis
covered a secret path at the top Of an
eminence, which overlooked and COM
manded the Spartan army. He quickly
| dispatched detachment thither,
which, marching all night. arrived at
the break Of day. and possessed them
selves of that advantageous post. The
Greeks were soon apprized OF this
misfortune. They now saw 1t was
impossible to repulse the enemy, or es-
| cape with life II they engaged them.
Leonidas (knowing they deserved a
better fate) sent away all his allies;
but for the honor of his country, de-
termined to stay himself, with only
three hundred Lacedemonians, all
resolved to die with their leader.
Looking now upon Thermopylae as
their burying place, the king desired
his men to take some refreshment;
and telling them, at the same time,
| that they should sup together with
Pluto, they set up shout OF JOY, as
If they had been invited to banquet,
and, full of ardour, advanced with
their king to battle. The shock was
exceedingly violent and bloody. Leon
idas himself was the first that fell.
Their endeavors to defend the body
were incredible. At length. not van
quished. but oppressed by numbers,
| they all fell, except one man, whose
escape to Sparta, where he was treated
i as a coward and traitor to his coun-
| try, and nobody would keep company
or converse with him; but soon after,
he made glorious amends for his fault
at the battle Of Plataea.
| InuS enQeQ the CelepIdleu SOlitCSS
Of Thermopylae; where, though the
| Persians had the honor Of killing
j three hundred Spartans on the spot;
yet this was not obtained till they had
lost above twenty thousand Of their
best troops, who were all slain on the
spot, and among whom were two OF
| the kings own brothers.
This action of Leonidas. and his
| three hundred men, may possibly be
looked upon as the effect Of rashness
and despair. and not Of wise and
noble conduct. But Diodorus Siculus
has taken care to inform US other
wise for Leonidas. says he, knowing
that xerxes marched at the head OF
all the forces of the east, in order to
overwhelm and crush a little country
by dint Of his numbers, rightly con-
ceived, by the superiority Of his genius
and understanding, that II they
pretended to make the success Of that
war consist in opposing force to force,
and numbers to numbers. all the Gre
clan nations together would never be
| equal to the Persians, or able to dis
mute the victory with them; that it was
"