herodotus

suppliants of the gods, entreating them that for the future also theywould ward off from them the half of the evils which threatened; andhe bade them feel great thankfulness to the gods for the past events,because king Xerxes had not thought good to take food twice in eachday; for if it had been ordered to them beforehand to preparebreakfast also in like manner as the dinner, it would have remainedfor the men of Abdera either not to await the coming of Xerxes, or ifthey stayed, to be crushed by misfortune more than any other men uponthe Earth.121. They then, I say, though hard put to it, yet were performing thatwhich was appointed to them; and from Acanthos Xerxes, after havingcommanded the generals to wait for the fleet at Therma, let the shipstake their course apart from himself, (now this Therma is that whichis situated on the Thermaic gulf, from which also this gulf has itsname); and thus he did because he was informed that this was theshortest way: for from Doriscos as far as Acanthos the army had beenmaking its march thus:--Xerxes had divided the whole land-army intothree divisions, and one of them he had set to go along the seaaccompanying the fleet, of which division Mardonios and Masistes werecommanders; another third of the army had been appointed to go by theinland way, and of this the generals in command were Tritantaichmesand Gergis; and meanwhile the third of the subdivisions, with whichXerxes himself went, marched in the middle between them, andacknowledged as its commanders Smerdomenes and Megabyzos.122. The fleet, when it was let go by Xerxes and had sailed rightthrough the channel made in Athos (which went across to the gulf onwhich are situated the cities of Assa, Piloros, Singos and Sarte),having taken up a contingent from these cities also, sailed thencewith a free course to the Thermaïc gulf, and turning round Ampelos theheadland of Torone, it left on one side the following Hellenic cities,from which it took up contingents of ships and men, namely Torone,Galepsos, Sermyle, Mekyberna, Olynthos: this region is calledSithonia. 123. And the fleet of Xerxes, cutting across from theheadland of Ampelos to that of Canastron,[108a] which runs outfurthest to sea of all Pallene, took up there contingents of ships andmen from Potidaia, Aphytis, Neapolis, Aige, Therambo, Skione, Mendeand Sane, for these are the cities which occupy the region which nowis called Pallene, but was formerly called Phlegra. Then sailing alongthe coast of this country also the fleet continued its course towardsthe place which has been mentioned before, taking up contingents alsofrom the cities which come next after Pallene and border upon theThermaïc gulf; and the names of them are these,--Lipaxos, Combreia,Lisai, Gigonos, Campsa, Smila, Aineia; and the region in which thesecities are is called even to the present day Crossaia. Then sailing