CHAPTER XLIV
THE DREAM OF XERXES
Xerxes, the new ruler of Persia, looked every inch a king.
He was tall and handsome, standing head and shoulders
above the great warriors he led to battle. But although he
looked a king among men, in character he was most unkingly,
for he was both weak and foolish. It is true that he was
sometimes good-natured, but it was not wise for his people
to trust his temper, for he was often seized by sudden fits
of rage, when he would do deeds of terrible cruelty.
In 483 B.C. Xerxes put down a revolt in Egypt. Then his captain and kinsman, Mardonius, begged the king to go to Greece to avenge the Persian defeat at Marathon.
'O king,' said Mardonius, 'it is not seemly that the Athenians, who have done much wrong to the Persians, should not suffer for their doings. . . . And now, will any one dare to face thee, O king, with thy great army from Asia and all thy ships? Sure I am that the Greeks are not so desperate. But if I am wrong and in their rash folly they come out to battle, they will find that of all men we are the bravest.'
To tempt Xerxes yet farther to do as he wished, Mardonius told him how fair a country Europe was, how rich in fruit and trees. 'Such a country,' said the subtle flatterer, 'should belong to none save to thee, O king.' Mardonius hoped that if Greece was made a province of Persia, he himself would become her ruler.
But while Mardonius urged one thing, Artabanus the king's uncle urged another.
