dismay, and the preparations for a general flight opened every where
scenes of terror and distress, of which those who have never witnessed
the evacuation of a city by its inhabitants can scarcely conceive.

The immediate object of the general terror was, at this time, the
Persian fleet; for the Greek fleet, having determined to abandon the
waters on that side of Attica, left the whole coast exposed, and the
Persians might be expected at any hour to make a landing within a few
miles of the city. Scarcely, however, had the impending of this danger
been made known to the city, before the tidings of one still more
imminent reached it, in the news that the Pass of Thermopylae had been
carried, and that, in addition to the peril with which the Athenians
were threatened by the fleet on the side of the sea, the whole Persian
army was coming down upon them by land. This fresh alarm greatly
increased, of course, the general consternation. All the roads leading
from the city toward the south and west were soon covered with parties
of wretched fugitives, exhibiting as they pressed forward, weary and
wayworn, on their toilsome and almost hopeless flight, every possible
phase of misery, destitution, and despair. The army fell back to the
isthmus, intending to make a stand, if possible, there, to defend the
Peloponnesus. The fugitives made the best of their way to the sea-coast,
where they were received on board transport ships sent thither from the
fleet, and conveyed, some to AEgina, some to Salamis, and others to other
points on the coasts and islands to the south, wherever the terrified
exiles thought there was the best prospect of safety.

Some, however, remained at Athens. There was a part of the population
who believed that the phrase "wooden walls," used by the oracle,
referred, not to the ships of the fleet, but to the wooden palisade
around the citadel. They accordingly repaired and strengthened the
palisade, and established themselves in the fortress with a small
garrison which undertook to defend it.

The citadel of Athens, or the Acropolis, as it was called, was the
richest, and most splendid, and magnificent fortress in the world. It
was built upon an oblong rocky hill, the sides of which were
perpendicular cliffs, except at one end, where alone the summit was
accessible. This summit presented an area of an oval form, about a
thousand feet in length and five hundred broad, thus containing a space
of about ten acres.