the human race which continue to attract, from age to age, the
admiration of mankind. They who look upon war, in all its forms, as
only the perpetration of an unnatural and atrocious crime, which rises
to dignity and grandeur only by the very enormity of its guilt, can
not but respect the courage, the energy, and the cool and determined
resolution with which the little band of Greeks went forth to stop the
torrent of foes which all the nations of a whole continent had
combined to pour upon them. The field has been visited in every age by
thousands of travelers, who have upon the spot offered their tribute
of admiration to the ancient heroes that triumphed there. The plain is
found now, as of old, overlooking the sea, and the mountains inland,
towering above the plain. The mound, too, still remains, which was
reared to consecrate the memory of the Greeks who fell. They who visit
it stand and survey the now silent and solitary scene, and derive from
the influence and spirit of the spot new strength and energy to meet
the great difficulties and dangers of life which they themselves have
to encounter. The Greeks themselves, of the present day,
notwithstanding the many sources of discouragement and depression with
which they have to contend, must feel at Marathon some rising spirit
of emulation in contemplating the lofty mental powers and the
undaunted spirit of their sires. Byron makes one of them sing,

"The mountains look on Marathon,
And Marathon looks on the sea;
And musing there an hour alone,
I dreamed that Greece might still be free;
For, standing on the Persians' grave,
I could not deem myself a slave."

CHAPTER XII.

THE DEATH OF DARIUS.

B.C. 490-485

The Persian fleet sails southward.--Fate of Hippias.--Omens.--The
dream and the sneeze.--Hippias falls in battle.--Movements of the
Persian fleet.--The Persian fleet returns to Asia.--Anxiety of
Datis.--Datis finds a stolen statue.--Island of Delos.--Account of
the sacred island.--Its present condition.--Disposition of the
army.--Darius's reception of Datis.--Subsequent history of
Miltiades.--His great popularity.--Miltiades's influence
at Athens.--His ambitious designs.--Island and city of
Paros.--Appearance of the modern town.--Miltiades's proposition to
the Athenians.--They accept it.--Miltiades marches against
Paros.--Its resistance.--Miltiades is discouraged.--The captive
priestess.--M