y ruined; but as it was won,
the result of the transaction was that he was raised to the highest
pinnacle of glory and renown.

And yet in this, as in all similar cases, the question of success or
of failure depended upon causes wholly beyond the reach of human
foresight or control. The military commander who acts in such
contingencies is compelled to stake every thing dear to him on results
which are often as purely hazardous as the casting of a die.

The influence of Miltiades in Athens after the Persian troops were
withdrawn was paramount and supreme. Finding himself in possession of
this ascendency, he began to form plans for other military
undertakings. It proved, in the end, that it would have been far
better for him to have been satisfied with the fame which he had
already acquired.

Some of the islands in the AEgean Sea he considered as having taken
part with the Persians in the invasion, to such an extent, at least,
as to furnish him with a pretext for making war upon them. The one
which he had specially in view, in the first instance, was Paros.
Paros is a large and important island situated near the center of the
southern portion of the AEgean Sea. It is of an oval form, and is about
twelve miles long. The surface of the land is beautifully diversified
and very picturesque, while, at the same time, the soil is very
fertile. In the days of Miltiades, it was very wealthy and populous,
and there was a large city, called also Paros, on the western coast of
the island, near the sea. There is a modern town built upon the site
of the former city, which presents a very extraordinary appearance, as
the dwellings are formed, in a great measure, of materials obtained
from the ancient ruins. Marble columns, sculptured capitals, and
fragments of what were once magnificent entablatures, have been used
to construct plain walls, or laid in obscure and neglected
pavements--all, however, still retaining, notwithstanding their
present degradation, unequivocal marks of the nobleness of their
origin. The quarries where the ancient Parian marble was obtained were
situated on this island, not very far from the town. They remain to
the present day in the same state in which the ancient workmen left
them.

In the time of Miltiades the island and the city of Paros were both
very wealthy and very powerful. Miltiades conceived the design of
making a descent upon the island, and levying an immense contribution
upon the people, in t