or in the _Persae_ of Eschylus the shade of Darius, when
coming out of his tomb, cries to the old men, "Remember
Athens and Greece!"

As a matter of fact, the intermeddling of these strangers between
the sovereign and his subjects was at once a serious insult to the
Achaemenids and a cause of anxiety to the empire; to leave it unpunished
would have been an avowal of weakness or timidity, which would not fail
to be quickly punished in Syria, Egypt, Babylon, and on the Scythian
frontiers, and would ere long give rise to similar acts of revolt and
interference. Darius, therefore, resumed his projects, but with greater
activity than before, and with a resolute purpose to make a final
reckoning with the Greeks, whatever it might cost him. The influence of
his nephew Mardonius at first inclined him to adopt the overland route,
and he sent him into Thrace with a force of men and a fleet of galleys
sufficient to overcome all obstacles. Mardonius marched against the
Greek colonies and native tribes which had throw off the yoke during the
Ionian war, and reduced those who had still managed to preserve their
independence. The Bryges opposed him with such determination, that
summer was drawing to its close before he was able to continue his
march. He succeeded, however, in laying hands on Macedonia, and obliged
its king, Alexander, to submit to the conditions accepted by his father
Amyntas; but at this juncture half of his fleet was destroyed by a
tempest in the vicinity of Mount Athos, and the disaster, which
took place just as winter was approaching, caused him to suspend his
operations (492). He was recalled on account of his failure, and
the command was transferred to Datis the Mede and to the Persian
Artaphernes. Darius, however, while tentatively using the land routes
through Greece for his expeditions, had left no stone unturned to secure
for himself that much-coveted sea-way which would carry him straight
into the heart of the enemy's position, and he had opened negotiations
with the republics of Greece proper. Several of them had consented to
tender him earth and water, among them being AEgina,* and besides this,
the state of the various factions in Athens was such, that he had every
reason to believe that he could count on the support of a large section
of the population when the day came for him to disembark his force on
the shores of Attica.

* Herodotus states that _all_ the island-dwelling Greeks