After the battle was won, Themistokles, wishing to feel Aristeides’s opinion, said to him that they had done a good work, but that a greater one remained, which was to shut up Asia in Europe by sailing as quickly as possible to the Hellespont, and destroying the bridge of boats there.  Aristeides answered that he must never propose such a plan, but must take measures to drive the Persians out of Greece as quickly as possible, for fear that so great a multitude, shut up there without the means of retreat, should turn to bay and attack them with the courage of despair.  Upon this, Themistokles again sent the eunuch Arnakes, a prisoner, on a secret errand to tell the Persian king that when all the Greeks wished to sail to the Hellespont and destroy the bridge of boats, he had dissuaded them from doing so, wishing to save the king’s life.

X. At this Xerxes became terrified, and at once hurried back to the Hellespont.  Mardonius, with about three hundred thousand of the best troops remained behind, and was a formidable enemy, trusting in his land force, and sending defiant proclamations to the Greeks.  “You,” he said, “with your ships have beaten landsmen that knew not how to handle an oar; but the land of Thessaly is wide, and the plain of Boeotia is a fair place for good horsemen and heavy armed soldiers to fight upon.”

To the Athenians he sent privately proposals from the Great King, who offered to rebuild their city, present them with a large sum of money, and make them lords over all Greece, if they would desist from the war.  The Lacedaemonians, hearing this, were much alarmed, and sent ambassadors to beg the Athenians to send their wives and children to Sparta, and offering to support their old people, as the Athenians were in great distress for food, having lost their city and their country.  However, after listening to the Lacedaemonian ambassadors, at the instance of Aristeides they returned a spirited answer, saying that they could forgive their enemies, who knew no better, for supposing that everything could be bought with money, but that they were angry with the Lacedaemonians for only regarding the present poverty and distress of the Athenians, and that forgetting how bravely they had fought, they should now offer them food to bribe them to fight for Greece.  Having passed this motion Aristeides called the ambassadors back into the assembly, and bade them tell the Lacedaemonians that there was not as much gold in the world, either above or under-ground, as the Athenians would require to tempt them to betray Greece.

In answer to the herald sent from Mardonius he pointed to the sun, and said:  “As long as yonder sun shall continue its course the Athenians will be enemies to the Persians, because of their ravaged lands and desecrated temples.”  Further, he made the priests imprecate curses on any one who had dealings with the Persians or deserted the Greek cause.