Gates of Fire

by Steven Pressfield

He unrolled the papyrus eastward. Beneath the lamplight arose the islands of the Aegean, Macedonia, Illyria, Thrace and Scythia, the Hellespont, Lydia, Karia, Cilicia, Phoenicia and the Ionic cities of Asia Minor. “All these nations the Great King controls. All these he has compelled into his service. All these are coming against you. But is this Persia? Have we reached yet the seat of Empire…” Out rolled more leagues of landmass. The Egyptian’s hand swept over the outlines of Ethiopia, Libya, Arabia, Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Sumeria, Cappadocia, Armenia and the trans-Caucasus. The fame of each of these kingdoms he recited, quoting the numbers of their warriors and the arms and armaments they carried. “A man traveling fast may traverse all the Peloponnese in four days. Look here, my friends. Merely to get from Tyre to Susa, the Great King’s capital, is three months’ march. And all that land, all its men and wealth, belong to Xerxes. Nor do his nations contend one against the other as you Hellenes love so to do, nor disunite into squabbling alliances. When the King says assemble, his armies assemble. When he says march, they march. And still,” he said, “we have not reached Persepolis and the heart of Persia.”