CHAPTER XX
THERMOPYLAE
A rugged mountain, an inaccessible morass, and beyond that morass the sea:the mountain thrusting so close upon the morass as barely to leave spacefor a narrow wagon road. This was the western gate of Thermopylae. Behindthe narrow defile the mountain and swamp-land drew asunder; in the stillscanty opening hot springs gushed forth, sacred to Heracles, then again onthe eastern side Mt. OEta and the impenetrable swamp drew together, formingthe second of the "Hot Gates,"--the gates which Xerxes must unlock if hewould continue his march to Athens.
The Great King's couriers reported that the stubborn Hellenes had cast awall across the entrance, and that so far from showing terror at theadvent of majesty, were carelessly diverting themselves by athletic games,and by combing and adorning their hair, a fact which the "Lord Prexaspes"at least comprehended to mean that Leonidas and his Spartans werepreparing for desperate battle. Nevertheless, it was hard to persuade theking that at last he confronted men who would resist him to his face.Glaucon said it. Demaratus, the outlawed Spartan, said it. Xerxes,however, remained angry and incredulous. Four long days he and his armysat before the pass, "because," announced his couriers, "he wishes in hisbenignity to give these madmen a chance to flee away and shundestruction;" "because," spoke those nearest to Mardonius, the brain ofthe army, "there is hot fighting ahead, and the general is resolved tobring up the picked troops in the rear before risking a battle."
Then on the fifth day either Xerxes's patience was exhausted or Mardoniusfelt ready. Strong regiments of Median infantry were ordered to chargeLeonidas's position, Xerxes not failing to command that they slay as fewof the wretches as possible, but drag them prisoners before his outragedpresence.
A noble charge. A terrible repulse. For the first time those Asiatics whohad forgotten Marathon discovered the overwhelming superiority that thesheathing of heavy armour gave the Greek hoplites over the lighter armedMedian spearmen. The short lances and wooden targets of the attackers werepitifully futile against the long spears and brazen shields of theHellenes. In the narrow pass the vast numbers of Barbarians went fornothing. They could not use their archers, they could not charge withtheir magnificent cavalry. The dead lay in heaps. The Medes attacked againand again. At last an end came to their courage. The captains laid thelash over their mutinous troops. The men bore the whips in sullen silence.They would not charge again upon those devouring spears.
White with anger, Xerxes turned to Hydarnes and his "Immortals," theinfantry of the Life Guard. The general needed no second bidding. Thecharge was driven home with magnificent spirit. But what the vassal Medescould not accomplish, neither could the lordly Persians. The repulse wasbloody. If once Leonidas's line broke and the Persians rushed on withhowls of triumph, it was only to see the Hellenes' files close in atwinkling and return to the onset with their foes in confusion. Hydarnesled back his men at last. The king sat on the ivory throne just out ofarrow shot, watching the ebb and flow of the battle. Hydarnes approachedand prostrated himself.
"Omnipotence, I the least of your slaves put my life at your bidding.Command that I forfeit my head, but my men can do no more. I have losthundreds. The pass is not to be stormed."
Only the murmur of assent from all the well-tried generals about thethrone saved Hydarnes from paying the last penalty. The king's rage wasfearful; men trembled to look on him. His words came so thick, the restcould never follow all his curses and commands. Only Mardonius was boldenough to stand up before his face.
"Your Eternity, this is an unlucky day. Is it not sacred to Angra-Mainyuthe Evil? The arch-Magian says the holy fire gives forth sparks ofill-omen. Wait, then, till to-morrow. Verethraghna, the Angel of Victory,will then return to your servants."
The bow-bearer led his trembling master to the royal tent, and naught moreof Xerxes was seen till the morning. All that night Mardonius never slept,but went unceasingly the round of the host preparing for battle. Glauconsaw little of him. The Athenian himself had been posted among the guard ofnobles directly about the person of the king, and he was glad he was setnowhere else, otherwise he might have been ordered to join in the attack.Like every other in the host, he slept under arms, and never returned toMardonius's pavilion. His heart had been in his eyes all that day. He hadbelieved Leonidas would be swept from the pass at the first onset. Even hehad underrated the Spartan prowess. The repulse of the Medes hadastonished him. When Hydarnes reeled back, he could hardly conceal hisjoy. The Hellenes were fighting! The Hellenes were conquering! He forgothe stood almost at Xerxes's side when the last charge failed; and barelyin time did he save himself from joining in the shout of triumph raised bythe defenders when the decimated Immortals slunk away. He had grownintensely proud of his countrymen, and when he heard the startled Persianlords muttering dark forbodings of the morrow, he all but laughed hisgladness in their faces.
So the night passed for him: the hard earth for a bed, a water crusewrapped in a cloak for a pillow. And just as the first red blush stoleover the green Malian bay and the mist-hung hills of Euboea beyond, he wokewith all the army. Mardonius had used the night well. Chosen contingentsfrom every corps were ready. Cavalrymen had been dismounted. Heavy massesof Assyrian archers and Arabian slingers were advanced to prepare for theattack by overwhelming volleys. The Persian noblemen, stung to madness bytheir king's reproaches and their own sense of shame, bound themselves byfearful oaths never to draw from the onset until victorious or dead. Theattack itself was led by princes of the blood, royal half-brothers of theking. Xerxes sat again on the ivory throne, assured by every obsequioustongue that the sacred fire gave fair omens, that to-day was the day ofvictory.
The attack was magnificent. For an instant its fury seemed to carry theHellenes back. Where a Persian fell two stepped over him. The defenderswere swept against their wall. The Barbarians appeared to be storming it.Then like the tide the battle turned. The hoplites, locking shields,presented an impenetrable spear hedge. The charge spent itself in emptypromise. Mardonius, who had been in the thickest, nevertheless drew offhis men skilfully and prepared to renew the combat.
In the interval Glaucon, standing by the king, could see a short, firmfigure in black armour going in and out among the Hellenes, ordering theirarray--Leonidas--he needed no bird to tell him. And as the Athenian stoodand watched, saw the Persians mass their files for another batteringcharge, saw the Great King twist his beard whilst his gleaming eyesfollowed the fate of his army, an impulse nigh irresistible came over himto run one short bow-shot to that opposite array, and cry in his own Greektongue:--
"I am a Hellene, too! Look on me come to join you, to live and die withyou, with my face against the Barbarian!"
Cruel the fate that set him here, impotent, when on that band ofcountrymen Queen Nike was shedding bright glory!
But he was "Glaucon the Traitor" still, to be awarded the traitor's doomby Leonidas. Therefore the "Lord Prexaspes" must stand at his post,guarding the king of the Aryans.
The second charge was as the first, the third was as the second. Mardoniuswas full of recourses. By repeated attacks he strove to wear the stubbornHellenes down. The Persians proved their courage seven times. Ten of themdied gladly, if their deaths bought that of a single foe. But few as wereLeonidas's numbers, they were not so few as to fail to relieve one anotherat the front of the press,--which front was fearfully narrow. And threetimes, as his men drifted back in defeat, Xerxes the king "leaped from thethrone whereon he sat, in anguish for his army."
At noon new contingents from the rear took the place of the exhaustedattackers. The sun beat down with unpitying heat. The wounded laysweltering in their agony whilst the battle roared over them. Mardoniusnever stopped to count his dead. Then at last came nightfall. Man could dono more. As the shadows from OEta grew long over the close scene of combat,even the proudest Persians turned away. They had lost thousands. Theirdefeat was absolute. Before them and to westward and far away ranged thejagged m
ountains, report had it, unthreaded by a single pass. To theeastward was only the sea,--the sea closed to them by the Greek fleet atthe unseen haven of Artemisium. Was the triumph march of the Lord of theWorld to end in this?
Xerxes spoke no word when they took him to his tent that night, a sign ofindescribable anger. Fear, humiliation, rage--all these seemed driving himmad. His chamberlains and eunuchs feared to approach to take off hisgolden armour. Mardonius came to the royal tent; the king, with curses hehad never hurled against the bow-bearer before, refused to see him. Thebattle was ended. No one was hardy enough to talk of a fresh attack on themorrow. Every captain had to report the loss of scores of his best. AsGlaucon rode back to Mardonius's tents, he overheard two infantryofficers:--
"A fearful day--the bow-bearer is likely to pay for it. I hope his Majestyconfines his anger only to him."
"Yes--Mardonius will walk the Chinvat bridge to-morrow. The king is turningagainst him. Megabyzus is the bow-bearer's enemy, and already is gone tohis Majesty to say that it is Mardonius's blunders that have brought thearmy to such a plight. The king will catch at that readily."
At the tents Glaucon found Artazostra and Roxana. They were both pale. Thenews of the great defeat had been brought by a dozen messengers. Mardoniushad not arrived. He was not slain, that was certain, but Artazostra fearedthe worst. The proud daughter of Darius found it hard to bear up.
"My husband has many enemies. Hitherto the king's favour has allowed himto mock them. But if my brother deserts him, his ruin is speedy. Ah!Ahura-Mazda, why hast Thou suffered us to see this day?"
Glaucon said what he could of comfort, which was little. Roxana weptpiteously; he was fain to soothe her by his caress,--something he had neverventured before. Artazostra was on the point of calling her eunuchs andsetting forth for Xerxes's tent to plead for the life of her husband, whensuddenly Pharnuches, Mardonius's body-servant, came with news thatdispelled at least the fears of the women.
"I am bidden to tell your Ladyships that my master has silenced thetongues of his enemies and is restored to the king's good favor. And I ambidden also to command the Lord Prexaspes to come to the royal tent. HisMajesty has need of him."
Glaucon went, questioning much as to the service to be required. He didnot soon forget the scene that followed. The great pavilion was lit by ascore of resinous flambeaux. The red light shook over the green and purplehangings, the silver plating of the tent-poles. At one end rose the goldenthrone of the king; before it in a semicircle the stools of a dozen ormore princes and commanders. In the centre stood Mardonius questioning acoarse-featured, ill-favoured fellow, who by his sheepskin dress andleggings Glaucon instantly recognized as a peasant of this Malian country.The king beckoned the Athenian into the midst and was clearly too eager tostand on ceremony.
"Your Greek is better than Mardonius's, good Prexaspes. In a matter likethis we dare not trust too many interpreters. This man speaks the roughdialect of his country, and few can understand him. Can you interpret?"
"I am passing familiar with the Locrian and Malian dialect, your Majesty."
"Question this man further as to what he will do for us. We haveunderstood him but lamely."
Glaucon proceeded to comply. The man, who was exceeding awkward and ill atease in such august company, spoke an outrageous shepherd's jargon whicheven the Athenian understood with effort. But his business came outspeedily. He was Ephialtes, the son of one Eurydemus, a Malian, adull-witted grazier of the country, brought to Mardonius by hope ofreward. The general, partly understanding his purpose, had brought him tothe king. In brief, he was prepared, for due compensation, to lead thePersians by an almost unknown mountain path over the ridge of OEta and tothe rear of Leonidas's position at Thermopylae, where the Hellenes,assailed front and rear, would inevitably be destroyed.
As Glaucon interpreted, the shout of relieved gladness from the Persiangrandees made the tent-cloths shake. Xerxes's eyes kindled. He clapped hishands.
"Reward? He shall have ten talents! But where? How?"
The man asserted that the path was easy and practicable for a large bodyof troops. He had often been over it with his sheep and goats. If thePersians would start a force at once--it was already quite dark--they couldfall upon Leonidas at dawn. The Spartan would be completely trapped, orforced to open the defile without another spear thrust.
"A care, fellow," warned Mardonius, regarding the man sharply; "you speakglibly, but if this is a trick to lead a band of the king's servants todestruction, understand you play with deadly dice. If the troops march,you shall have your hands knotted together and a soldier walking behind tocut your throat at the first sign of treachery."
Glaucon interpreted the threat. The man did not wince.
"There is no trap. I will guide you."
That was all they could get him to say.
"And do not the Hellenes know of this mountain path and guard it?"persisted the bow-bearer.
Ephialtes thought not; at least if they had, they had not told off anyefficient detachment to guard it. Hydarnes cut the matter short by risingfrom his stool and casting himself before the king.
"A boon, your Eternity, a boon!"
"What is it?" asked the monarch.
"The Immortals have been disgraced. Twice they have been repulsed withignominy. The shame burns hot in their breasts. Suffer them to redeemtheir honour. Suffer me to take this man and all the infantry of the LifeGuard, and at dawn the Lord of the World shall see his desire over hismiserable enemies."
"The words of Hydarnes are good," added Mardonius, incisively, and Xerxesbeamed and nodded assent.
"Go, scale the mountain with the Immortals and tell this Ephialtes thereawait him ten talents and a girdle of honour if the thing goes well; ifill, let him be flayed alive and his skin be made the head of akettledrum."
The stolid peasant did not blench even at this. Glaucon remained in thetent, translating and hearing all the details: how Hydarnes was to pressthe attack from the rear at early dawn, how Mardonius was to conductanother onset from the front. At last the general of the guard kneltbefore the king for the last time.
"Thus I go forth, Omnipotence, and to-morrow, behold your will upon yourenemies, or behold me never more."
"I have faithful slaves," said Xerxes, rising and smiling benignantly uponthe general and the bow-bearer. "Let us disperse, but first let command begiven the Magians to cry all night to Mithra and Tishtrya, and tosacrifice to them a white horse."
"Your Majesty always enlists the blessings of heaven for your servants,"bowed Mardonius, as the company broke up and the king went away to hisinner tent and his concubines. Glaucon lingered until most of the grandeeshad gone forth, then the bow-bearer went to him.
"Go back to my tents," ordered Mardonius; "tell Artazostra and Roxana thatall is well, that Ahura has delivered me from a great strait and restoredme to the king's favour, and that to-morrow the gate of Hellas will beopened."
"You are still bloody and dusty. You have watched all last night and beenin the thick all day," expostulated the Athenian; "come to the tents withme and rest."
The bow-bearer shook his head.
"No rest until to-morrow, and then the rest of victory or a longer one.Now go; the women are consuming with their care."
Glaucon wandered back through the long avenues of pavilions. The lights ofinnumerable camp-fires, the hum of thousands of voices, the snorting ofhorses, the grumbling of camels, the groans of men wounded--all these andall other sights and sounds from the countless host were lost to him. Hewalked on by a kind of animal instinct that took him to Mardonius'sencampment through the mazes of the canvas city. It was dawning on himwith a terrible clearness that he was become a traitor to Hellas in verydeed. It was one thing to be a passive onlooker of a battle, another to bea participant in a plot for the ruin of Leonidas. Unless warned betimesthe Spartan king and all who followed him infallibly would be captured orslaughtered to a man. And he had heard all--the traitor, the discussion,the design--had even, if without his
choice, been partner and helper in thesame. The blood of Leonidas and his men would be on his head. Every cursethe Athenians had heaped on him once unjustly, he would deserve. Now trulyhe would be, even in his own mind's eyes, "Glaucon the Traitor, partner tothe betrayal of Thermopylae." The doltish peasant, lured by the greatreward, he might forgive,--himself, the high-born Alcmaeonid, never.
From this revery he was shaken by finding himself at the entrance to thetents of Mardonius. Artazostra and Roxana came to meet him. When he toldof the deliverance of the bow-bearer, he had joy by the light in theireyes. Roxana had never shone in greater beauty. He spoke of the heat ofthe sun, of his throbbing head. The women bathed his forehead withlavender-water, touching him with their own soft hands. Roxana sang againto him, a low, crooning song of the fragrant Nile, the lotus bells, thenodding palms, the perfumed breeze from the desert. Whilst he watched herthrough half-closed eyes, the visions of that day of battles left him. Hesat wrapped in a dream world, far from stern realities of men and arms. Sofor a while, as he lounged on the divans, following the play of thetorch-light on the face of Roxana as her long fingers plied the strings.What was it to him if Leonidas fought a losing battle? Was not hishappiness secure--be it in Hellas, or Egypt, or Bactria? He tried topersuade himself thus. At the end, when he and Roxana stood face to facefor the parting, he violated all Oriental custom, yet he knew her brotherwould not be angry. He took her in his arms and gave her kiss for kiss.
Then he went to his own tent to seek rest. But Hypnos did not come for along time with his poppies. Once out of the Egyptian's presence thehaunting terror had returned, "Glaucon the Traitor!" Those three wordswere always uppermost. At last, indeed, sleep came and as he slept hedreamed.