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The Greeks were in high spirits —
how could they not be, after the miraculous victory at Salamis,
and then the daring strike against Cyprus?
And so for their next target, they chose Byzantium:
no mere city, but a gateway between continents,
its harbors crowded with merchants from a hundred different lands.
But trouble loomed over the Greek fleet.
The Spartan leader Pausanias began to treat the allies as a despot treats his slaves:
using threats in place of persuasion, issuing demands rather than seeking counsel.
The allies, enraged by the arrogance of Pausanias,
whispered their protests to that most incorruptible of statesmen — the Athenian Aristides.
And Aristides —
whether irked by injustice, or sensing an opportunity for Athens,
or perhaps imbibing some of Themistocles’ talent for scheming —
began to wonder whether Athens, not Sparta, should lead the Greek alliance.