submitted to the great king. But Herodotus himself says
later on that the people of Naxos, at all events, proved
refractory.

[Illustration: 212a.jpg ALEXANDER I. OF MACEDON]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a coin in the _Cabinet des
Medailles_.

[Illustration: 212b.jpg A PHOENICIAN GALLEY]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a coin of Byblos in the
_Cabinet des Medailles_.

He therefore decided to direct his next expedition against Athens
itself, and he employed the year 491 in concentrating his troops and
triremes in Cilicia, at a sufficient distance from the European coast
to ensure their safety from any sudden attack. In the spring of 490 the
army recruited from among the most warlike nations of the empire--the
Persians, Medes, and Sakse--went aboard the Phoenician fleet, while
galleys built on a special model were used as transports for the
cavalry. The entire convoy sailed safely out of the mouth of the Pyramos
to the port of Samos, coasting the shores of Asia Minor, and then
passing through the Cyclades, from Samos to Naxos, where they met
with no opposition from the inhabitants, headed for Delos, where Datis
offered a sacrifice to Apollo, whom he confounded with his god
Mithra; finally they reached Eubaea, where Eretria and Carystos vainly
endeavoured to hold their own against them. Eretria was reduced to
ashes, as Sardes had been, and such of its citizens as had not fled into
the mountains at the enemy's approach were sent into exile among the
Kissians in the township of Arderikka. Hippias meanwhile had joined the
Persians and had been taken into their confidence. While awaiting the
result of the intrigues of his partisans in Athens, he had advised
Datis to land on the eastern coast of Attica, in the neighbourhood of
Marathon, at the very place from whence his father Pisistratus had set
out forty years before to return to his country after his first exile.
The position was well chosen for the expected engagement.

[Illustration: 214.jpg MAP OF MARATHON]

The bay and the strand which bordered it afforded an excellent station
for the fleet, and the plain, in spite of its marshes and brushwood, was
one of those rare spots where cavalry might be called into play without
serious drawbacks. A few hours on foot would bring the bulk of the
infantry up to the Acropolis by a fairly good road, while by the same
time the fleet would be able to reach the roadstead of Phalerum. All had
been ar