HERODOTUS

INTRODUCTIONrecord of Boeotia or Arcadia ;it seems fair to say,without appealing to Herodotus' testimony, thatthey were more gifted, and more enterprising, thanmost. The spirit of the Hellenic world is general,intense local patriotism, intense fear and hatred ofOriental absolutism and strange worships, was morealive among the Athenians, probably, than in anyother Greek state. Sparta also had her share ofthese qualities she too would make no terms with;the Persian ;only her methods of resistance weredifferent. Primarily, each state was interested inits own safety.To Spartans disinclined to methodsother than traditional, and as yet unaccustomed tonaval warfare it seemed that Sparta could bebest defended by blocking the land access to thePeloponnese ; they would defend the Isthmus successfully,as they had tried and failed to defendThermopylae. This meant, of course, the sacrificeof Attica ;and naturally that was a sacrifice notto be made willingly by Athenians. Their onlychance of saving or recovering Attica lay in fightinga naval action close to its coasts ; nay, the abandonmentof Salamis meant the exposure of their dependentsto fresh dangers; therefore, they pressedfor the policy of meeting and defeating the Persianwhere he lay by the Attic coast. This policy wasto prove successful and; thereby, the Atheniansincidentally accomplished what was undoubtedlyalso their object, the salvation of Hellas ;but theprimary purpose of both Sparta and Athens, bothbefore Salamis and before Plataea (when theAthenians were naturally displeased by a planwhich left Attica a prey to the enemy) was undoubtedlyto do the best they could for themselves.xv