em was added the cavalry of the Thessalians; and the
commander of the Lacedemonians was Euainetos the son of Carenos, who had
been chosen from the polemarchs, 165 not being of the royal house, and
of the Athenians Themistocles the son of Neocles. They remained however
but few days here, for envoys came from Alexander the son of Amyntas the
Macedonian, who advised them to depart thence and not to remain in the
pass and be trodden under foot by the invading host, signifying to them
at the same time both the great numbers of the army and the ships which
they had. When these gave them this counsel, they followed the advice,
for they thought that the counsel was good, and the Macedonian was
evidently well-disposed towards them. Also, as I think, it was fear that
persuaded them to it, when they were informed that there was another
pass besides this to the Thessalian land by upper Macedonia through
the Perraibians and by the city of Gonnos, the way by which the army of
Xerxes did in fact make its entrance. So the Hellenes went down to their
ships again and made their way back to the Isthmus.

174. Such was the expedition to Thessaly, which took place when the king
was about to cross over from Asia to Europe and was already at Abydos.
So the Thessalians, being stripped of allies, upon this took the side of
the Medes with a good will and no longer half-heartedly, so that in the
course of events they proved very serviceable to the king.

175. When the Hellenes had returned to the Isthmus, they deliberated,
having regard to that which had been said by Alexander, where and in
what regions they should set the war on foot: and the opinion which
prevailed was to guard the pass at Thermopylai; for it was seen to be
narrower than that leading into Thessaly, and at the same time it was
single, 166 and nearer also to their own land; and as for the path by
means of which were taken those of the Hellenes who were taken by the
enemy at Thermopylai, they did not even know of its existence until
they were informed by the people of Trachis after they had come to
Thermopylai. This pass then they resolved to guard, and not permit the
Barbarian to go by into Hellas; and they resolved that the fleet should
sail to Artemision in the territory of Histiaia: for these points are
near to one another, so that each division of their forces could have
information of what was happening to the other. And the places are so
situated as I shall describe.

176