I always thought it rather one-sided how history teachers always present the Persian Wars as freedom's war against oppression and cruelty.

From Plutarch's Lives of Themistocles, as translated by John Dryden:

When Themistocles was about to sacrifice, close to the admiral's galley, there were three prisoners brought to him, fine looking men, and richly dressed in ornamented clothing and gold, said to be the children of Artayctes and Sandauce, sister to Xerxes. As soon as the prophet Euphrantides saw them, and observed that at the same time the fire blazed out from the offerings with a more than ordinary flame, and a man sneezed on the right, which was an intimation of a fortunate event, he took Themistocles by the hand, and bade him consecrate the three young men for sacrifice, and offer them up with prayers for victory to Bacchus the Devourer; so should the Greeks not only save themselves, but also obtain victory. Themistocles was much disturbed at this strange and terrible prophecy, but the common people, who in any difficult crisis and great exigency ever look for relief rather to strange and extravagant than to reasonable means, calling upon Bacchus with one voice, led the captives to the altar, and compelled the execution of the sacrifice as the prophet had commanded. This is reported by Phanias the Lesbian, a philosopher well read in history.

DOG EATS COMATOSE WOMAN'S FOOT

By Jeff Wilson
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, November 18, 1997; 6:47 a.m. EST

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A dog slipped through a pet
door and chewed off the foot of a woman who has been
in a coma for several years, prompting a police search
for the animal amid concern over rabies.

Doctors amputated what was left of the woman's right
foot Monday as police hunted for the large black dog,
possibly a Rottweiler. The woman's mother chased it
away Sunday morning after seeing it gnawing on her
daughter.

"The mother just happened to walk in the bedroom
and saw this and screamed," Lt. Joe Hiltner said. The
victim has been in a deep coma since a horse-riding
accident several years ago.

Police did not release the name of the woman, who is
in her 30s. She was in stable condition after the
amputation just above her ankle, said Jennifer Bruce,
spokeswoman for Providence Holy Cross Medical
Center.

It was unclear whether the victim was aware of the
attack.

"Her eyes are open, she's just not very responsive," Ms.
Bruce said. "At times she grimaces like she is in pain."

Authorities say it will be difficult to find the dog
because there are many strays and pets running loose in
the rural neighborhood 15 miles north of downtown
Los Angeles.

"We want to find it and quarantine it to make sure it
doesn't have rabies," Animal Control spokesman Peter
Persic said. "We also want to find out if it had
aggressive behavior and could attack someone else or
even a child."

Animal control officers suggested the dog entered the
home because it was attracted by another dog inside.

It Sounded Like a Good Idea at the Time

Well, for my midterm assignment for Archaeology of Ancient Trade, I had to write a paper from the perspective of one person involved in ancient trade. Being that I had gotten three hours of sleep the night before (thanks a lot, daylight savings time! grrr.. and World of Warcraft) I thought it a great idea at the time to write this paper from the perspective of a pirate. An ancient Greek pirate.

"O Muses sing in me o' how I plundered th' Athenian galleon! Yar, matey!! Shiver me timbers! Thar be scurvy hoplites on yon trireme, sailin' th' wine dark sea! Avast! Thar be Persian silver buried here! Zeus give me strength from Olympus!!"

I think I have written the first academic paper ever completely in "pirate-speak."