herodotus

Isthmus, which remained there still up to my time, another at Sunion,and the third to Ajax in Salamis where they were. After this theydivided the spoil among themselves and sent the first-fruits[86] toDelphi, of which was made a statue holding in its hand the beak of aship and in height measuring twelve cubits. This statue stood in thesame place with the golden statue of Alexander the Macedonian. 122.Then when the Hellenes had sent first-fruits to Delphi, they asked thegod on behalf of all whether the first-fruits which he had receivedwere fully sufficient and acceptable to him. He said that from theHellenes he had received enough, but not from the Eginetans, and fromthem he demanded the offering of their prize of valour for the seafightat Salamis. Hearing this the Eginetans dedicated golden stars,three in number, upon a ship's mast of bronze, which are placed in thecorner[87] close to the mixing-bowl of Crœsus. 123. After the divisionof the spoil the Hellenes sailed to the Isthmus, to give the prize ofvalour to him who of all the Hellenes had proved himself the mostworthy during this war: and when they had come thither and thecommanders distributed[88] their votes at the altar of Poseidon,selecting from the whole number the first and the second in merit,then every one of them gave in his vote for himself, each man thinkingthat he himself had been the best; but for the second place thegreater number of votes came out in agreement, assigning that toThemistocles. They then were left alone in their votes, whileThemistocles in regard to the second place surpassed the rest by far:124, and although the Hellenes would not give decision of this byreason of envy, but sailed away each to their own city withoutdeciding, yet Themistocles was loudly reported of and was esteemedthroughout Hellas to be the man who was the ablest[89] by far of theHellenes: and since he had not received honour from those who hadfought at Salamis, although he was the first in the voting, he wentforthwith after this to Lacedemon, desiring to receive honour there;and the Lacedemonians received him well and gave him great honours. Asa prize of valour they gave to Eurybiades a wreath of olive; and forability and skill they gave to Themistocles also a wreath of olive,and presented him besides with the chariot which was judged to be thebest in Sparta. So having much commended him, they escorted him on hisdeparture with three hundred picked men of the Spartans, the same whoare called the "horsemen,"[90] as far as the boundaries of Tegea: andhe is the only man of all we know to whom the Spartans ever gaveescort on his way. 125. When however he had come to Athens fromLacedemon, Timodemos of Aphidnai, one of the opponents ofThemistocles, but in other respects not among the men of distinction,maddened by envy attacked him, bringing forward against him his goingto Lacedemon, and saying that it was on account of Athens that he hadthose marks of honour which he had from the Lacedemonians, and not onhis own account. Then, as Timodemos continued ceaselessly to repeat