THE ATHENIANS AT MARATHON, 127

proceed with our tale, No sooner had the Ionian re-
volt been brought to an end, and the Ionians punished
for their daring, than the angry Oriental despot pre-
pared to visit upon Athens the vengeance he had
vowed. His preparations for this enterprise were
great. His experience in Scythia had taught him
that the Western barbarians—as he doubtless consid-
ered them—were not to be despised. For two years,
in every part of his vast empire, the note of war was
sounded, and men and munitions of war were actively
gathered. On the coast of Asia Minor a great fleet,
numbering six hundred armed triremes and many
transports for men and horses, was prepared. The
Ionian and /Molian Greeks largely manned this fleet,
and were forced to aid their late foe in the effort to
destroy their kinsmen beyond the archipelago of the
Migean Sea.

An Athenian traitor accompanied the Persians,
and guided their leader in the advance against his
native city. We have elsewhere spoken of Pisistra-
tus, the tyrant of Athens, whose treason Solon had
in vain endeavored to prevent. After his death, his
sons Hipparchus and Hippias succeeded him in the
tyranny. Hipparchus was killed in 514 3.c., and in
511 Hippias, who had shown himself a cruel despot,
was banished from Athens. He repaired to the
court of King Darius, where he dwelt many years.
Now he came back, as guide and counsellor to the
Persians, hoping, perhaps, to become again a despot
of Athens; but only, as the fates decreed, to find a
grave on the fatal field of Marathon.

The assault on Greece was a twofold one. The