Histories

Such was Themistocles' writing. Immediately after this there came to the barbarians a man of Histiaea in a boat, telling them of the flight of the Greeks from +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium. Not believing this, they kept the bringer of the news in confinement and sent swift ships to spy out the matter. When the crews of these brought word of the truth, the whole armada sailed all together to +Artemisium [23.2417,39.0083] (Perseus) Artemisium at the crack of dawn. Here they waited till midday and then sailed to Histiaea. Upon their arrival they took possession of the Histiaeans' city and overran all the villages on the seaboard of the Ellopian region, which is a district belonging to Histiaea.

While they were there, Xerxes sent a herald to the fleet. Before sending him, Xerxes had made the following preparations: of all his own soldiers who had fallen at +Thermopylae [22.5583,38.8] (Perseus) Thermopylae (that is, as many as twenty thousand) he left about a thousand, and the rest he buried in trenches, which he covered with leaves and heaped earth so that the men of the fleet might not see them.

When the herald had crossed over to Histiaea, he assembled all the men of the fleet and said: “Men of our allies, King Xerxes permits any one of you who should so desire to leave his place and come to see how he fights against those foolish men who thought they could overcome the king's power.”