away each to their own city without deciding, yet Themistocles was loudly reported of and was esteemed throughout Hellas to be the man who was the ablest by far of the Hellenes: and since he had not received honour from those who had fought at Salamis, although he was the first in the voting, he went forthwith after this to Lacedaemon, desiring to receive honour there; and the Lacedaemonians received him well and gave him great honours. As a prize of valour they gave to Eurybiades a wreath of olive; and for ability and skill they gave to Themistocles also a wreath of olive, and presented him besides with the chariot which was judged to be the best in Sparta. So having much commended him, they escorted him on his departure with three hundred picked men of the Spartans, the same who are called the “horsemen,” as far as the boundaries of Tegea: and he is the only man of all we know to whom the Spartans ever gave escort on his way. 125. When however he had come to Athens from Lacedaemon, Timodemos of Aphidnai, one of the opponents of Themistocles, but in other respects not among the men of distinction, maddened by envy attacked him, bringing forward against him his going to Lacedaemon, and saying that it was on account of Athens that he had those marks of honour which he had from the Lacedaemonians, and not on his own account. Then, as Timodemos continued ceaselessly to repeat this, Themistocles said: “I tell thee thus it is:—if I had been a native of Belbina I should never have been thus honoured by the Spartans; but neither wouldest thou, my friend, for all that thou art an Athenian.” So far then went these
- Artabazos meanwhile the son of Pharnakes, a man who was held in esteem among the Persians even before this and came to be so yet more after the events about Plataia, was escorting the king as far as the passage with six myriads of that army which Mardonios had selected for himself; and when the king was in Asia