‘To that end …! To that end, I have prepared landing spots on Salamis, with supplies of food and water. We did the best we could once, with no warning. We will do better if we have to decamp again. I pray it will not happen, but you would call me remiss if I did not consider every possibility.’

He pursed his lips as he stood there, glaring at the Assembly as if they had offended him. Themistocles cleared his throat. He had waited for his moment and saw that it had come. Xanthippus glanced over as he stood up, looking relieved as much as anything.

‘Speaker here,’ Xanthippus murmured.

Others in the crowd called out support, so that the name of Themistocles sounded amongst them like a breeze. It was not quite the shout of acclaim Themistocles would have liked, but good enough. He mounted the steps and stood with Xanthippus and Aristides. He felt the lift in his own spirits, the quickening of his heart that came whenever he had to speak to a crowd. He loved it, or he loved them, it was hard to say which was most true in that moment.

‘Step by step, gentlemen,’ Themistocles said. ‘Step by step, we walk the path before us. Temples on the Acropolis are rising again; homes spring from the ground! Children laugh and play in the ashes, black as wolves or Ethiops. I see the spirit of Athena in them – and in us, as we gather here. Food? It is coming in, distributed fairly so that everyone may eat. Shelter? We sleep under the roofs of neighbours, or they under ours. We are Athens! When I told Eurybiades of Sparta that we would not abandon you, that it was possible to use the fleet to save a city, he was so angry he challenged me to dispute with him over sword and shield! When the war is over, I will have to meet him on the field, to show him Athenian cunning.’ He chuckled. ‘I wonder if I should pray he dies first. A Spartan is a fearsome opponent.’

Laughter swirled through the crowd, his words repeated for those who had not heard.

‘You and I have learned of the Persian forces from Aristides and Xanthippus. I don’t think they will move before spring, but if they do, we’ll meet them.’

Heads nodded at that, while eyes gleamed. Themistocles decided not to repeat the possibility of evacuating a second time. It was just too painful to consider.