ld have remained for the men of Abdera either not
to await the coming of Xerxes, or if they stayed, to be crushed by
misfortune more than any other men upon the Earth.

121. They then, I say, though hard put to it, yet were performing that
which was appointed to them; and from Acanthos Xerxes, after having
commanded the generals to wait for the fleet at Therma, let the ships
take their course apart from himself, (now this Therma is that which is
situated on the Thermaic gulf, from which also this gulf has its name);
and thus he did because he was informed that this was the shortest way:
for from Doriscos as far as Acanthos the army had been making its march
thus:--Xerxes had divided the whole land-army into three divisions, and
one of them he had set to go along the sea accompanying the fleet, of
which division Mardonios and Masistes were commanders; another third
of the army had been appointed to go by the inland way, and of this the
generals in command were Tritantaichmes and Gergis; and meanwhile the
third of the subdivisions, with which Xerxes himself went, marched in
the middle between them, and acknowledged as its commanders Smerdomenes
and Megabyzos.

122. The fleet, when it was let go by Xerxes and had sailed right
through the channel made in Athos (which went across to the gulf on
which are situated the cities of Assa, Piloros, Singos and Sarte),
having taken up a contingent from these cities also, sailed thence
with a free course to the Thermaic gulf, and turning round Ampelos the
headland of Torone, it left on one side the following Hellenic cities,
from which it took up contingents of ships and men, namely Torone,
Galepsos, Sermyle, Mekyberna, Olynthos: this region is called Sithonia.

123. And the fleet of Xerxes, cutting across from the headland of
Ampelos to that of Canastron, which runs out furthest to sea of all
Pallene, took up there contingents of ships and men from Potidaia,
Aphytis, Neapolis, Aige, Therambo, Skione, Mende and Sane, for these are
the cities which occupy the region which now is called Pallene, but was
formerly called Phlegra. Then sailing along the coast of this country
also the fleet continued its course towards the place which has been
mentioned before, taking up contingents also from the cities which come
next after Pallene and border upon the Thermaic gulf; and the names
of them are these,--Lipaxos, Combreia, Lisai, Gigonos, Campsa, Smila,
Aineia; and the region in which these c