d spoke yet more
urgently: "If thou wilt remain here, and remaining here wilt show
thyself a good man, well; but if not, thou wilt bring about the
overthrow of Hellas, for upon the ships depends all our power in the
war. Nay, but do as I advise. If, however, thou shalt not do so, we
shall forthwith take up our households and voyage to Siris in Italy,
which is ours already of old and the oracles say that it is destined
to be colonised by us; and ye, when ye are left alone and deprived of
allies such as we are, will remember my words."

63. When Themistocles thus spoke, Eurybiades was persuaded to change his
mind; and, as I think, he changed his mind chiefly from fear lest the
Athenians should depart and leave them, if he should take the ships to
the Isthmus; for if the Athenians left them and departed, the rest would
be no longer able to fight with the enemy. He chose then this counsel,
to stay in that place and decide matters there by a sea-fight.

64. Thus those at Salamis, after having skirmished with one another in
speech, were making preparations for a sea-fight there, since Eurybiades
had so determined: and as day was coming on, at the same time when the
sun rose there was an earthquake felt both on the land and on the sea:
and they determined to pray to the gods and to call upon the sons of
Aiacos to be their helpers. And as they had determined, so also they
did; for when they had prayed to all the gods, they called Ajax and
Telamon to their help from Salamis, where the fleet was, 38 and sent
a ship to Egina to bring Aiacos himself and the rest of the sons of
Aiacos.

65. Moreover Dicaios the son of Theokydes, an Athenian, who was an exile
and had become of great repute among the Medes at this time, declared
that when the Attic land was being ravaged by the land-army of Xerxes,
having been deserted by the Athenians, he happened then to be in company
with Demaratos the Lacedemonian in the Thriasian plain; and he saw a
cloud of dust going up from Eleusis, as if made by a company of about
thirty thousand men, and they wondered at the cloud of dust, by what men
it was caused. Then forthwith they heard a sound of voices, and Dicaios
perceived that the sound was the mystic cry Iacchos; but Demaratos,
having no knowledge of the sacred rites which are done at Eleusis, asked
him what this was that uttered the sound, and he said: "Demaratos, it
cannot be but that some great destruction is about to come to the army
of the