Xanthippus closed his eyes for a time as he rode out after Pausanias, depending on his horse to keep him on the path. He was tired and sore and starving, accompanying a regent already furious with Athenians. Cimon seemed not to care how the Spartans felt about seeing one of their own getting knocked down. Perhaps he was right! They were said to appreciate courage and skill, above all else. They made no pots in Sparta, nor carved wood and stone. Their helots did all that sort of work, for the honour of serving. Xanthippus opened his eyes once more, though he had to squint against the sun’s light. Relas and Onesimos rode on either side of him, with Cimon a little way ahead. They did not look exhausted, but sat their mounts well, straight-backed. No, that was not it, Xanthippus realised. They had been cowed before, intimidated by the Spartans. Now they rode as men, as Athenians.

Spartans only made war, or trained to make war. They were mad dogs in comparison to normal men, unstoppable and savage. Xanthippus found watching one of them knocked out by an Athenian had raised his spirits considerably.

15

It was impossible for armed horsemen to approach Athens without being spotted. With the city alert to the danger of Persian forces, even the small group from Sparta were tracked and reported as soon as they left the isthmus. Galloping scouts went flat out over the hills before them to give the city as much warning as possible. Xanthippus was proud of the reaction.

As Pausanias led them east, the track swung close to the coast at Eleusis. Fleet galleys patrolled ceaselessly at sea there, watching for enemies and protecting the food supplies that had suddenly become so vital. With more than a little satisfaction, Xanthippus knew signals he had created would be calling ships in from all points. That was part of a plan to stage an immediate evacuation, but it also brought crews home to be part of the Assembly. There were no ‘rulers and ruled’ in Athens, at least not any longer. The city ordered itself and if it was true men like Themistocles and Aristides could command respect on the Pnyx, so could a hundred others, if they spoke well. The epistates himself held the post only from sunset to sunset, each appointment chosen by lot from those over the age of thirty who put their names forward. It was said anyone could rule in Athens if they wanted, at least for a day.

Towards those broken walls, the Spartan party came, riders covered in dust and sweat. Under moonlight, Aristides himself went out to meet them, close by what had been the Thriasian gate. A hundred and twenty hoplites blocked the road behind him. If anyone saw the ludicrousness of manning a place of entry while walls lay as rubble, the Spartans chose not to comment on it.