e that he might reasonably expect, at any moment, the
appearance of officers sent from Xerxes to cut off his head.

His anxiety was increased by observing that Xerxes seemed very much
depressed, and very restless and uneasy, after the battle, as if he were
revolving in his mind some extraordinary design. He presently thought
that he perceived indications that the king was planning a retreat.
Mardonius, after much hesitation, concluded to speak to him, and
endeavor to dispel his anxieties and fears, and lead him to take a more
favorable view of the prospects of the expedition. He accordingly
accosted him on the subject somewhat as follows:

"It is true," said he, "that we were not as successful in the combat
yesterday as we desired to be; but this reverse, as well as all the
preceding disasters that we have met with, is, after all, of
comparatively little moment. Your majesty has gone steadily on,
accomplishing most triumphantly all the substantial objects aimed at in
undertaking the expedition. Your troops have advanced successfully by
land against all opposition. With them you have traversed Thrace,
Macedon, and Thessaly. You have fought your way, against the most
desperate resistance, through the Pass of Thermopylae. You have overrun
all Northern Greece. You have burned Athens. Thus, far from there being
any uncertainty or doubt in respect to the success of the expedition, we
see that all the great objects which you proposed by it are already
accomplished. The fleet, it is true, has now suffered extensive damage;
but we must remember that it is upon the army, not upon the fleet, that
our hopes and expectations mainly depend. The army is safe; and it can
not be possible that the Greeks can hereafter bring any force into the
field by which it can be seriously endangered."

By these and similar sentiments, Mardonius endeavored to revive and
restore the failing courage and resolution of the king. He found,
however, that he met with very partial success. Xerxes was silent,
thoughtful, and oppressed apparently with a sense of anxious concern.
Mardonius finally proposed that, even if the king should think it best
to return himself to Susa, he should not abandon the enterprise of
subduing Greece, but that he should leave a portion of the army under
his (Mardonius's) charge, and he would undertake, he said, to complete
the work which had been so successfully begun. Three hundred thousand
men, he was convinced, would be suffi