us that the total loss in the battle was
thirteen hundred and sixty men.

The spoil found in the Persian camp was rich and varied. It included
money and ornaments of gold and silver, carpets, splendid arms and
clothing, horses, camels, and other valuable materials. This was divided
among the victors, a tenth of the golden spoil being reserved for the
Delphian shrine, and wrought into a golden tripod, which was placed on a
column formed of three twisted bronze serpents. This defeat was the
salvation of Greece. No Persian army ever again set foot on European
soil. And, by a striking coincidence, on the same day that the battle
of Plataea was fought, the Grecian fleet won a brilliant victory at
Mycale, in Asia Minor, and freed the Ionian cities from Persian rule. In
Greece, Thebes was punished for aiding the Persians. Byzantium (now
Constantinople) was captured by Pausanias, and the great cables of the
bridge of Xerxes were brought home in triumph by the Greeks.

We have but one more incident to tell. The war tent of Xerxes had been
left to Mardonius, and on taking the Persian camp Pausanias saw it with
its colored hangings and its gold and silver adornments, and gave orders
to the cooks that they should prepare him such a feast as they were used
to do for their lord. On seeing the splendid banquet, he ordered that a
Spartan supper should be prepared. With a hearty laugh at the contrast
he said to the Greek leaders, for whom he had sent, "Behold, O Greeks,
the folly of this Median captain, who, when he enjoyed such fare as
this, must needs come here to rob us of our penury."

_FOUR FAMOUS MEN OF ATHENS._

In the days of Croesus, the wealthiest of ancient kings, a citizen of
Athens, Alkmaeon by name, kindly lent his aid to the messengers sent by
the Lydian monarch to consult the Delphian oracle, before his war with
King Cyrus of Persia, This generous aid was richly rewarded by
Croesus, who sent for Alkmaeon to visit him at Sardis, richly
entertained him, and when ready to depart made him a present of as much
gold as he could carry from the treasury.

This offer the visitor, who seemed to possess his fair share of the
perennial thirst for gold, determined to make the most of. He went to
the treasure-chamber dressed in his loosest tunic and wearing on his
feet wide-legged buskins, both of which he filled bursting full with
gold. Not yet satisfied, he powdered his hair thickly with gold-dust,
and filled his mouth