Cord Byrd: “Herodotus, the Father of History, instructs us that on his way to Salamis, Xerxes the Great, the Persian monarch…”

“Herodotus, the Father of History, instructs us that on his way to Salamis, Xerxes the Great, the Persian monarch, ascended a hill because he had a longing to behold his mighty army, which was probably the largest army that was ever assembled in the history of the world. And arriving there, he paused to look upon all of his mighty hosts. As there was a throne of white marble, which had been prepared beforehand at his bidding, Xerxes the Great, son of Darius and grandson of Cyrus the Great, took his seat upon it, and he gazed thence upon the shore below, beheld at one view, all of his mighty land forces and all of his ships, which he had assembled for this great battle, which would soon occur in the Sea of Aegina, and which is recalled to us as the battle of Salamis in 480 B.C. As he looked and saw the whole Hellespont covered with the vessels of his fleet, all the shores and every plain about him as full as possible of men, Xerxes congratulated himself on his great power and his great fortune, but after a little while, he wept. Then, Artabanus, the King's uncle, when he saw Xerxes in tears, said to Xerxes: "How different, Sire, is what thou art now doing from what thou didst a little while ago?…”