is uncle as ruler of the
Chersonese country, in Thrace. Here he fell under the dominion of
Persia, and here, when Darius was in Scythia, he advised that the bridge
over the Danube should be destroyed. When Darius returned Miltiades had
to fly for his life. He afterwards took part in the Ionic revolt, and
captured from the Persians the islands of Lemnos and Imbros. But when
the Ionians were once more conquered Miltiades had again to fly for his
life. Darius hated him bitterly, and had given special orders for his
capture. He fled with five ships, and was pursued so closely that one of
them was taken. He reached Athens in safety with the rest.

Not long afterwards Miltiades revenged himself on Darius for this
pursuit by his great victory at Marathon, which for the time made him
the idol of the state and the most admired man in all Greece.

But the glory of Miltiades was quickly followed by disgrace, and the end
of his career was near at hand. He was of the true soldierly
temperament, stirring, ambitious, not content to rest and rust, and as a
result his credit with the fickle Athenians quickly disappeared. His
head seems to have been turned by his success, and he soon after asked
for a fleet of seventy ships of war, to be placed under his command. He
did not say where he proposed to go, but stated only that whoever should
come with him would be rewarded plentifully with gold.

The victor at Marathon had but to ask to obtain. The people put
boundless confidence in him, and gave him the fleet without a question.
And the golden prize promised brought him numbers of eager volunteers,
not one of whom knew where he was going or what he was expected to do.
Miltiades was in command, and where Miltiades chose to lead who could
hesitate to follow?

The purpose of the admiral of the fleet was soon revealed. He sailed to
the island of Paros, besieged the capital, and demanded a tribute of one
hundred talents. He based this claim on the pretence that the Parians
had furnished a ship to the Persian fleet, but it is known that his real
motive was hatred of a citizen of Paros.

As it happened, the Parians were not the sort of people to submit easily
to a piratical demand. They kept their foe amused by cunning diplomacy
till they had repaired the city walls, then openly defied him to do his
worst. Miltiades at once began the assault, and kept it up for
twenty-six days in vain. The island was ravaged, but the town stood
intact. Despai