Creeks directly in front, both fleets and armies facing one another.  Leonidas succeeded in withstanding the assault on two successive days, and then the inevitable took place.  A detachment of Persians, guided by the natives of the country, emerged by a path which had been left unguarded, and bore down upon the Greeks in the rear; a certain number managed to escape, but the bulk of the force, along with the 300 Spartans and their king, succumbed after a desperate resistance.  As for the fleet, it had borne itself bravely, and had retained the ascendency throughout, in spite of the superiority of the enemy’s numbers; on hearing the news of the glorious death of Leonidas, they believed their task ended for the time being, and retired with the Athenians in their wake, ready to sustain the attack should they come again to close quarters.  The victorious side had suffered considerable losses in men and vessels, but they had forced the passage, and Central Greece now lay at their mercy.  Xerxes received the submission of the Thebans, the Phocaeans, the Locrians, the Dorians, and of all who appealed to his clemency; then, having razed to the ground Plataea and Thespisae, the only two towns which refused to come to terms with him, he penetrated into Attica by the gorges of the Cithssron.  The population had taken refuge in Salamis, AEgina, and Troezen.  The few fanatics who refused to desist in their defence of the Acropolis, soon perished behind their ramparts; Xerxes destroyed the temple of Pallas by fire to avenge the burning of Sardes, and then entrenched his troops on the approaches to the isthmus, stationing his squadrons in the ports of Munychia, Phalerum, and the Piraeus, and suspended all hostilities while waiting to see what policy the Greeks would pursue.  It is possible that he hoped that a certain number of them would intreat for mercy, and others being encouraged by their example to submit, no further serious battle would have to be fought.  When he found that no such request was proffered, he determined to take advantage of the superiority of his numbers, and, if possible, destroy at one blow the whole of the Greek naval reserve; he therefore gave orders to his admirals to assume the offensive.  The Greek fleet lay at anchor across the bay of Salamis.  The left squadron of the Persians, leaving Munychia in the middle of the night, made for the promontory of Cynosura, landing some troops as it passed on the island of Psyttalia, on which it was proposed to fall back in case of accident, while the right division, sailing close to the coast of Attica, closed the entrance to the straits in the direction of Eleusis; this double movement was all but completed, when the Greeks were informed by fugitives of what was taking place, and the engagement was inevitable.  They accepted it fearlessly.  Xerxes, enthroned with his Immortals on the slopes of AEgialeos, could, from his exalted position, see the Athenians attack his left squadron:  the rest of the allies followed