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No sooner had these words been uttered, than it became difficult to
get a boat, so great was the number of those who desired to see the
sight. Such as went crossed the strait, and passing among the heaps
of dead, in this way viewed the spectacle. Many helots were included
in the slain, but every one imagined that the bodies were all either
Lacedaemonians or Thespians. However, no one was deceived by what
Xerxes had done with his own dead. It was indeed most truly a
laughable device - on the one side a thousand men were seen lying about
the field, on the other four thousand crowded together into one spot.
This day then was given up to sight-seeing; on the next the seamen
embarked on board their ships and sailed back to Histiaea, while
Xerxes and his army proceeded upon their march.
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