lized that any force that now
could be put in the field would be overwhelmed by this human tide of a
million fighting men. But there was one soldier-statesman who saw the way
to safety, and grasped the central fact of the situation. This was
Themistocles the Athenian, the chief man of that city, against which the
first fury of the attack would be directed. No doubt it was he who inspired
the prophetess of Delphi with her mysterious message that "the Athenians
must make for themselves wooden walls," and he supplied the explanation of
the enigma.

The Persian must be met not on the land, but in "wooden walls" upon the
sea. Victory upon that element would mean the destruction of the huge army
on land. The greater its numbers the more helpless would be its position.
It could not live upon "the country"; there must be a continual stream of
sea-borne supplies arriving from Asia, and this would be interrupted and
cease altogether once the Greeks were masters of the sea.

The Athens of the time was not the wonderful city that arose in later
years, embellished by the masterpieces of some of the greatest architects
and artists the world has ever known. The houses huddled round the foot of
the citadel hill--the Acropolis--which was crowned with rudely built
primitive temples. But the people whose home it was were startled by the
proposal of Themistocles that their city should be abandoned to the enemy
without one blow struck in its defence. Not Athens only, but every village
and farm in the surrounding country was to be deserted. Men, women, and
children, horses and cattle, were all to be conveyed across the narrow
strait to the island of Salamis, which was to be the temporary refuge of
the citizens of Athens and of the country-folk of Attica.

Would they ever return to their ruined homes and devastated lands, where
they would find houses burned, and vines and olives cut down? Could they
even hope to maintain themselves in Salamis? Would it not be better to
fight in defence of their homes even against desperate odds and meet their
fate at once, instead of only deferring the evil day? It was no easy task
for the man of the moment to persuade his fellow-countrymen to adopt his
own far-sighted plans. Even when most of them had accepted his leadership
and were obeying his orders, a handful of desperate men refused to go. They
took refuge on the hill of the Acropolis, and acting upon the literal
meaning of the oracle toiled with axe a