Sykes' History of Persia - Heritage Institute

XVII REPULSE OF PERSIA BY HELLAS 211
to accept. In view of the reliance the Persians placed on
numbers and the size of the
empire, we are perhaps justified
in assuming that the land and sea forces combined, inclusive
of followers, aggregated perhaps two millions. In any
case, no invasion on such a scale had ever before been
attempted, and its immensity constituted the highest compliment
to the valour of Hellas. But in its very numbers
lay its weakness ; for such an army could not be used for
any lengthy turning movement, owing to the ever-present
from the
difficulty of supplies, nor could it be separated
fleet for more than a few days at a time.
— The Military Position in Greece.—As in the case of
the former invasion, Athens was the objective, and upon
Athens the brunt of the attack was intended to fall. On
the other hand, the Persians, unless opposed at sea, could
with the utmost ease turn the flank of the defence of the
Corinthian Isthmus or any other line ; consequently,
in the
last resort, Sparta's fate was wrapped up in that of Athens,
although this was not Spartans
generally grasped by the obtuse
and their confederates, who were committed to
the defence of the Isthmus. Through the exertions of
Themistocles, the Athenians during the last decade had
developed their sea-power to a remarkable degree, not
only by building triremes, but also by the creation of the
fortified base of the Piraeus. They were thus able, when
the invaders came, to remove the population to the
neighbouring islands, and in the last resort they could
have sailed away to found a new Attica in
Italy,
as indeed
Themistocles at one time threatened to do.
An attempt had been made to heal all internal feuds
and to form a grand league of the entire Hellenic world
against the invader. In the first
place, Argos was
approached, but the negotiations failed owing to the claim
of the
Argives that their state should be placed on an
so far as the command was
equal footing with Sparta
concerned. Argos, however, did not declare openly in
favour of Persia, although her attitude caused grave
anxiety. Gelon, tyrant of Syracuse, was also approached,
invasion of
but it
appears that, owing to an impending
Sicily by the Carthaginians, he was unable to give any aid.