he divine, thou shalt cause sons of women to perish,
Or when the grain is scattered or when it is gathered together."

In reference to these verses the opinions of those who said that the
ships were the bulwark of wood were disturbed; for the interpreters of
oracles took these to mean that it was fated for them, having got ready
for a sea-fight, to suffer defeat round about Salamis.

143. Now there was one man of the Athenians who had lately been coming
forward to take a place among the first, whose name was Themistocles,
called son of Neocles. This man said that the interpreters of oracles
did not make right conjecture of the whole, and he spoke as follows,
saying that if these words that had been uttered referred really to the
Athenians, he did not think it would have been so mildly expressed in
the oracle, but rather thus, "Salamis, thou the merciless," instead of
"Salamis, thou the divine," at least if its settlers were destined to
perish round about it: but in truth the oracle had been spoken by the
god with reference to the enemy, if one understood it rightly, and not
to the Athenians: therefore he counselled them to get ready to fight a
battle by sea, for in this was their bulwark of wood. When Themistocles
declared his opinion thus, the Athenians judged that this was to be
preferred by them rather than the advice of the interpreters of oracles,
who bade them not make ready for a sea-fight, nor in short raise their
hands at all in opposition, but leave the land of Attica and settle in
some other.

144. Another opinion too of Themistocles before this one proved the best
at the right moment, when the Athenians, having got large sums of money
in the public treasury, which had come in to them from the mines which
are at Laureion, were intending to share it among themselves, taking
each in turn the sum of ten drachmas. Then Themistocles persuaded the
Athenians to give up this plan of division and to make for themselves
with this money two hundred ships for the war, meaning by that the war
with the Eginetans: for this war having arisen 130 proved in fact the
salvation of Hellas at that time, by compelling the Athenians to become
a naval power. And the ships, not having been used for the purpose for
which they had been made, thus proved of service at need to Hellas.
These ships then, I say, the Athenians had already, having built them
beforehand, and it was necessary in addition to these to construct
others. They re