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Such was the advice of the Thebans: but Mardonius did not follow
it. A strong desire of taking Athens a second time possessed him, in
part arising from his inborn stubbornness, in part from a wish to
inform the king at Sardis, by fire-signals along the islands, that
he was master of the place. However, he did not on his arrival in
Attica find the Athenians in their country - they had again
withdrawn, some to their ships, but the greater part to Salamis -
and he only gained possession of a deserted town. It was ten months
after the taking of the city by the king that Mardonius came against it
for the second time.
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