f his army by bridging the Strymon.

The king also ordered a great number of granaries and store-houses to be
built at various points along the route which it was intended that his
army should pursue. Some of these were on the coasts of Macedonia and
Thrace, and some on the banks of the Strymon. To these magazines the
corn raised in Asia for the use of the expedition was conveyed, from
time to time, in transport ships, as fast as it was ready, and, being
safely deposited, was protected by a guard. No very extraordinary means
of defense seems to have been thought necessary at these points, for,
although the scene of all these preliminary arrangements was on the
European side of the line, and in what was called Greek territory, still
this part of the country had been long under Persian dominion. The
independent states and cities of Greece were all further south, and the
people who inhabited them did not seem disposed to interrupt these
preparations. Perhaps they were not aware to what object and end all
these formidable movements on their northern frontier were tending.

Xerxes, during all this time, had remained in Persia. The period at
length arrived when, his preparations on the frontiers being far
advanced toward completion, he concluded to move forward at the head of
his forces to Sardis. Sardis was the great capital of the western part
of his dominions, and was situated not far from the frontier. He
accordingly assembled his forces, and, taking leave of his capital of
Susa with much parade and many ceremonies, he advanced toward Asia
Minor. Entering and traversing Asia Minor, he crossed the Halys, which
had been, in former times, the western boundary of the empire, though
its limits had now been extended very far beyond. Having crossed the
Halys, the immense procession advanced into Phrygia.

A very romantic tale is told of an interview between Xerxes and a
certain nobleman named Pythius, who resided in one of the Phrygian
towns. The circumstances were these: After crossing the Halys, which
river flows north into the Euxine Sea, the army went on to the westward
through nearly the whole extent of Phrygia, until at length they came to
the sources of the streams which flowed west into the AEgean Sea. One of
the most remarkable of these rivers was the Meander. There was a town
built exactly at the source of the Meander--so exactly, in fact, that
the fountain from which the stream took its rise was situated in the
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