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A strange coincidence too it was, that both the battles should have
been fought near a precinct of Eleusinian Ceres. The fight at
Plataea took place, as I said before, quite close to one of Ceres'
temples; and now the battle at Mycale was to be fought hard by
another. Rightly, too, did the rumour run, that the Greeks with
Pausanias had gained their victory; for the fight at Plataea fell
early in the day, whereas that at Mycale was towards evening. That
the two battles were really fought on the same day of the same month
became apparent when inquiries were made a short time afterwards.
Before the rumour reached them, the Greeks were full of fear, not so
much on their own account, as for their countrymen, and for Greece
herself, lest she should be worsted in her struggle with Mardonius.
But when the voice fell on them, their fear vanished, and they
charged more vigorously and at a quicker pace. So the Greeks and the
barbarians rushed with like eagerness to the fray; for the Hellespont
and the Islands formed the prize for which they were about to fight.
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