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Ancient History Sourcebook

Herodotus:

The History

                                    ~440 BC
                            THE HISTORY OF HERODOTUS
                                  by Herodotus
                         translated by George Rawlinson
                       The First Book, Entitled
                                CLIO

    THESE are the researches of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, which he
publishes, in the hope of thereby preserving from decay the
remembrance of what men have done, and of preventing the great and
wonderful actions of the Greeks and the Barbarians from losing their
due meed of glory; and withal to put on record what were their grounds
of feuds.
    According to the Persians best informed in history, the
Phoenicians began to quarrel. This people, who had formerly dwelt on
the shores of the Erythraean Sea, having migrated to the Mediterranean
and settled in the parts which they now inhabit, began at once, they
say, to adventure on long voyages, freighting their vessels with the
wares of Egypt and Assyria. They landed at many places on the coast,
and among the rest at Argos, which was then preeminent above all the
states included now under the common name of Hellas. Here they exposed
their merchandise, and traded with the natives for five or six days;
at the end of which time, when almost everything was sold, there
came down to the beach a number of women, and among them the
daughter of the king, who was, they say, agreeing in this with the
Greeks, Io, the child of Inachus. The women were standing by the stern
of the ship intent upon their purchases, when the Phoenicians, with
a general shout, rushed upon them. The greater part made their escape,
but some were seized and carried off. Io herself was among the
captives. The Phoenicians put the women on board their vessel, and set
sail for Egypt. Thus did Io pass into Egypt, according to the
Persian story, which differs widely from the Phoenician: and thus
commenced, according to their authors, the series of outrages.
    At a later period, certain Greeks, with whose name they are
unacquainted, but who would probably be Cretans, made a landing at
Tyre, on the Phoenician coast, and bore off the king's daughter,
Europe. In this they only retaliated; but afterwards the Greeks,
they say, were guilty of a second violence. They manned a ship of war,
and sailed to Aea, a city of Colchis, on the river Phasis; from
whence, after despatching the rest of the business on which they had
come, they carried off Medea, the daughter of the king of the land.
The monarch sent a herald into Greece to demand reparation of the
wrong, and the restitution of his child; but the Greeks made answer
that, having received no reparation of the wrong done them in the
seizure of Io the Argive, they should give none in this instance.
    In the next generation afterwards, according to the same
authorities, Alexander the son of Priam, bearing these events in mind,
resolved to procure himself a wife out of Greece by violence, fully
persuaded, that as the Greeks had not given satisfaction for their
outrages, so neither would he be forced to make any for his.
Accordingly he made prize of Helen; upon which the Greeks decided
that, before resorting to other measures, they would send envoys to
reclaim the princess and require reparation of the wrong. Their
demands were met by a reference to the violence which had been offered
to Medea, and they were asked with what face they could now require
satisfaction, when they had formerly rejected all demands for either
reparation or restitution addressed to them.
    Hitherto the injuries on either side had been mere acts of
common violence; but in what followed the Persians consider that the
Greeks were greatly to blame, since before any attack had been made on
Europe, they led an army into Asia. Now as for the carrying off of
women, it is the deed, they say, of a rogue: but to make a stir
about such as are carried off, argues a man a fool. Men of sense
care nothing for such women, since it is plain that without their
own consent they would never be forced away. The Asiatics, when the
Greeks ran off with their women, never troubled themselves about the
matter; but the Greeks, for the sake of a single Lacedaemonian girl,
collected a vast armament, invaded Asia, and destroyed the kingdom
of Priam. Henceforth they ever looked upon the Greeks as their open
enemies. For Asia, with all the various tribes of barbarians that
inhabit it, is regarded by the Persians as their own; but Europe and
the Greek race they look on as distinct and separate.
    Such is the account which the Persians give of these matters. They
trace to the attack upon Troy their ancient enmity towards the Greeks.
The Phoenicians, however, as regards Io, vary from the Persian
statements. They deny that they used any violence to remove her into
Egypt; she herself, they say, having formed an intimacy with the
captain, while his vessel lay at Argos, and perceiving herself to be
with child, of her own free will accompanied the Phoenicians on
their leaving the shore, to escape the shame of detection and the
reproaches of her parents. Whether this latter account be true, or
whether the matter happened otherwise, I shall not discuss further.
I shall proceed at once to point out the person who first within my
own knowledge inflicted injury on the Greeks, after which I shall go
forward with my history, describing equally the greater and the lesser
cities. For the cities which were formerly great have most of them
become insignificant; and such as are at present powerful, were weak
in the olden time. I shall therefore discourse equally of both,
convinced that human happiness never continues long in one stay.
    Croesus, son of Alyattes, by birth a Lydian, was lord of all the
nations to the west of the river Halys. This stream, which separates
Syria from Paphlagonia, runs with a course from south to north, and
finally falls into the Euxine. So far as our knowledge goes, he was
the first of the barbarians who had dealings with the Greeks,
forcing some of them to become his tributaries, and entering into
alliance with others. He conquered the Aeolians, Ionians, and
Dorians of Asia, and made a treaty with the Lacedaemonians. Up to that
time all Greeks had been free. For the Cimmerian attack upon Ionia,
which was earlier than Croesus, was not a conquest of the cities,
but only an inroad for plundering.
    The sovereignty of Lydia, which had belonged to the Heraclides,
passed into the family of Croesus, who were called the Mermnadae, in
the manner which I will now relate. There was a certain king of
Sardis, Candaules by name, whom the Greeks called Myrsilus. He was a
descendant of Alcaeus, son of Hercules. The first king of this dynasty
was Agron, son of Ninus, grandson of Belus, and great-grandson of
Alcaeus; Candaules, son of Myrsus, was the last. The kings who reigned
before Agron sprang from Lydus, son of Atys, from whom the people of
the land, called previously Meonians, received the name of Lydians.
The Heraclides, descended from Hercules and the slave-girl of
Jardanus, having been entrusted by these princes with the management
of affairs, obtained the kingdom by an oracle. Their rule endured
for two and twenty generations of men, a space of five hundred and
five years; during the whole of which period, from Agron to Candaules,
the crown descended in the direct line from father to son.
    Now it happened that this Candaules was in love with his own wife;
and not only so, but thought her the fairest woman in the whole world.
This fancy had strange consequences. There was in his bodyguard a
man whom he specially favoured, Gyges, the son of Dascylus. All
affairs of greatest moment were entrusted by Candaules to this person,
and to him he was wont to extol the surpassing beauty of his wife.
So matters went on for a while. At length, one day, Candaules, who was
fated to end ill, thus addressed his follower: "I see thou dost not
credit what I tell thee of my lady's loveliness; but come now, since
men's ears are less credulous than their eyes, contrive some means
whereby thou mayst behold her naked." At this the other loudly
exclaimed, saying, "What most unwise speech is this, master, which
thou hast uttered? Wouldst thou have me behold my mistress when she is
naked? Bethink thee that a woman, with her clothes, puts off her
bashfulness. Our fathers, in time past, distinguished right and
wrong plainly enough, and it is our wisdom to submit to be taught by
them. There is an old saying, 'Let each look on his own.' I hold thy
wife for the fairest of all womankind. Only, I beseech thee, ask me
not to do wickedly."
    Gyges thus endeavoured to decline the king's proposal, trembling
lest some dreadful evil should befall him through it. But the king
replied to him, "Courage, friend; suspect me not of the design to
prove thee by this discourse; nor dread thy mistress, lest mischief
be. thee at her hands. Be sure I will so manage that she shall not
even know that thou hast looked upon her. I will place thee behind the
open door of the chamber in which we sleep. When I enter to go to rest
she will follow me. There stands a chair close to the entrance, on
which she will lay her clothes one by one as she takes them off.
Thou wilt be able thus at thy leisure to peruse her person. Then, when
she is moving from the chair toward the bed, and her back is turned on
thee, be it thy care that she see thee not as thou passest through the
doorway."
    Gyges, unable to escape, could but declare his readiness. Then
Candaules, when bedtime came, led Gyges into his sleeping-chamber, and
a moment after the queen followed. She entered, and laid her
garments on the chair, and Gyges gazed on her. After a while she moved
toward the bed, and her back being then turned, he glided stealthily
from the apartment. As he was passing out, however, she saw him, and
instantly divining what had happened, she neither screamed as her
shame impelled her, nor even appeared to have noticed aught, purposing
to take vengeance upon the husband who had so affronted her. For among
the Lydians, and indeed among the barbarians generally, it is reckoned
a deep disgrace, even to a man, to be seen naked.
    No sound or sign of intelligence escaped her at the time. But in
the morning, as soon as day broke, she hastened to choose from among
her retinue such as she knew to be most faithful to her, and preparing
them for what was to ensue, summoned Gyges into her presence. Now it
had often happened before that the queen had desired to confer with
him, and he was accustomed to come to her at her call. He therefore
obeyed the summons, not suspecting that she knew aught of what had
occurred. Then she addressed these words to him: "Take thy choice,
Gyges, of two courses which are open to thee. Slay Candaules, and
thereby become my lord, and obtain the Lydian throne, or die this
moment in his room. So wilt thou not again, obeying all behests of thy
master, behold what is not lawful for thee. It must needs be that
either he perish by whose counsel this thing was done, or thou, who
sawest me naked, and so didst break our usages." At these words
Gyges stood awhile in mute astonishment; recovering after a time, he
earnestly besought the queen that she would not compel him to so
hard a choice. But finding he implored in vain, and that necessity was
indeed laid on him to kill or to be killed, he made choice of life for
himself, and replied by this inquiry: "If it must be so, and thou
compellest me against my will to put my lord to death, come, let me
hear how thou wilt have me set on him." "Let him be attacked," she
answered, "on the spot where I was by him shown naked to you, and
let the assault be made when he is asleep."
    All was then prepared for the attack, and when night fell,
Gyges, seeing that he had no retreat or escape, but must absolutely
either slay Candaules, or himself be slain, followed his mistress into
the sleeping-room. She placed a dagger in his hand and hid him
carefully behind the self-same door. Then Gyges, when the king was
fallen asleep, entered privily into the chamber and struck him dead.
Thus did the wife and kingdom of Candaules pass into the possession of
Gyges, of whom Archilochus the Parian, who lived about the same
time, made mention in a poem written in iambic trimeter verse.
    Gyges was afterwards confirmed in the possession of the throne
by an answer of the Delphic oracle. Enraged at the murder of their
king, the people flew to arms, but after a while the partisans of
Gyges came to terms with them, and it was agreed that if the Delphic
oracle declared him king of the Lydians, he should reign; if
otherwise, he should yield the throne to the Heraclides. As the oracle
was given in his favour he became king. The Pythoness, however,
added that, in the fifth generation from Gyges, vengeance should
come for the Heraclides; a prophecy of which neither the Lydians nor
their princes took any account till it was fulfilled. Such was the way
in which the Mermnadae deposed the Heraclides, and themselves obtained
the sovereignty.
    When Gyges was established on the throne, he sent no small
presents to Delphi, as his many silver offerings at the Delphic shrine
testify. Besides this silver he gave a vast number of vessels of gold,
among which the most worthy of mention are the goblets, six in number,
and weighing altogether thirty talents, which stand in the
Corinthian treasury, dedicated by him. I call it the Corinthian
treasury, though in strictness of speech it is the treasury not of the
whole Corinthian people, but of Cypselus, son of Eetion. Excepting
Midas, son of Gordias, king of Phrygia, Gyges was the first of the
barbarians whom we know to have sent offerings to Delphi. Midas
dedicated the royal throne whereon he was accustomed to sit and
administer justice, an object well worth looking at. It lies in the
same place as the goblets presented by Gyges. The Delphians call the
whole of the silver and the gold which Gyges dedicated, after the name
of the donor, Gygian.
    As soon as Gyges was king he made an in-road on Miletus and
Smyrna, and took the city of Colophon. Afterwards, however, though
he reigned eight and thirty years, he did not perform a single noble
exploit. I shall therefore make no further mention of him, but pass on
to his son and successor in the kingdom, Ardys.
    Ardys took Priene and made war upon Miletus. In his reign the
Cimmerians, driven from their homes by the nomads of Scythia,
entered Asia and captured Sardis, all but the citadel. He reigned
forty-nine years, and was succeeded by his son, Sadyattes, who reigned
twelve years. At his death his son Alyattes mounted the throne.
    This prince waged war with the Medes under Cyaxares, the
grandson of Deioces, drove the Cimmerians out of Asia, conquered
Smyrna, the Colophonian colony, and invaded Clazomenae. From this last
contest he did not come off as he could have wished, but met with a
sore defeat; still, however, in the course of his reign, he
performed other actions very worthy of note, of which I will now
proceed to give an account.
    Inheriting from his father a war with the Milesians, he pressed
the siege against the city by attacking it in the following manner.
When the harvest was ripe on the ground he marched his army into
Milesia to the sound of pipes and harps, and flutes masculine and
feminine. The buildings that were scattered over the country he
neither pulled down nor burnt, nor did he even tear away the doors,
but left them standing as they were. He cut down, however, and utterly
destroyed all the trees and all the corn throughout the land, and then
returned to his own dominions. It was idle for his army to sit down
before the place, as the Milesians were masters of the sea. The reason
that he did not demolish their buildings was that the inhabitants
might be tempted to use them as homesteads from which to go forth to
sow and till their lands; and so each time that he invaded the country
he might find something to plunder.
    In this way he carried on the war with the Milesians for eleven
years, in the course of which he inflicted on them two terrible blows;
one in their own country in the district of Limeneium, the other in
the plain of the Maeander. During six of these eleven years,
Sadyattes, the son of Ardys who first lighted the flames of this
war, was king of Lydia, and made the incursions. Only the five
following years belong to the reign of Alyattes, son of Sadyattes, who
(as I said before) inheriting the war from his father, applied himself
to it unremittingly. The Milesians throughout the contest received
no help at all from any of the Ionians, excepting those of Chios,
who lent them troops in requital of a like service rendered them in
former times, the Milesians having fought on the side of the Chians
during the whole of the war between them and the people of Erythrae.
    It was in the twelfth year of the war that the following mischance
occurred from the firing of the harvest-fields. Scarcely had the
corn been set alight by the soldiers when a violent wind carried the
flames against the temple of Minerva Assesia, which caught fire and
was burnt to the ground. At the time no one made any account of the
circumstance; but afterwards, on the return of the army to Sardis,
Alyattes fell sick. His illness continued, whereupon, either advised
thereto by some friend, or perchance himself conceiving the idea, he
sent messengers to Delphi to inquire of the god concerning his malady.
On their arrival the Pythoness declared that no answer should be given
them until they had rebuilt the temple of Minerva, burnt by the
Lydians at Assesus in Milesia.
    Thus much I know from information given me by the Delphians; the
remainder of the story the Milesians add.
    The answer made by the oracle came to the ears of Periander, son
of Cypselus, who was a very close friend to Thrasybulus, tyrant of
Miletus at that period. He instantly despatched a messenger to
report the oracle to him, in order that Thrasybulus, forewarned of its
tenor, might the better adapt his measures to the posture of affairs.
    Alyattes, the moment that the words of the oracle were reported to
him, sent a herald to Miletus in hopes of concluding a truce with
Thrasybulus and the Milesians for such a time as was needed to rebuild
the temple. The herald went upon his way; but meantime Thrasybulus had
been apprised of everything; and conjecturing what Alyattes would
do, he contrived this artifice. He had all the corn that was in the
city, whether belonging to himself or to private persons, brought into
the market-place, and issued an order that the Milesians should hold
themselves in readiness, and, when he gave the signal, should, one and
all, fall to drinking and revelry.
    The purpose for which he gave these orders was the following. He
hoped that the Sardian herald, seeing so great store of corn upon
the ground, and all the city given up to festivity, would inform
Alyattes of it, which fell out as he anticipated. The herald
observed the whole, and when he had delivered his message, went back
to Sardis. This circumstance alone, as I gather, brought about the
peace which ensued. Alyattes, who had hoped that there was now a great
scarcity of corn in Miletus, and that the people were worn down to the
last pitch of suffering, when he heard from the herald on his return
from Miletus tidings so contrary to those he had expected, made a
treaty with the enemy by which the two nations became close friends
and allies. He then built at Assesus two temples to Minerva instead of
one, and shortly after recovered from his malady. Such were the
chief circumstances of the war which Alyattes waged with Thrasybulus
and the Milesians.
    This Periander, who apprised Thrasybulus of the oracle, was son of
Cypselus, and tyrant of Corinth. In his time a very wonderful thing is
said to have happened. The Corinthians and the Lesbians agree in their
account of the matter. They relate that Arion of Methymna, who as a
player on the harp, was second to no man living at that time, and
who was, so far as we know, the first to invent the dithyrambic
measure, to give it its name, and to recite in it at Corinth, was
carried to Taenarum on the back of a dolphin.
    He had lived for many years at the court of Periander, when a
longing came upon him to sail across to Italy and Sicily. Having
made rich profits in those parts, he wanted to recross the seas to
Corinth. He therefore hired a vessel, the crew of which were
Corinthians, thinking that there was no people in whom he could more
safely confide; and, going on board, he set sail from Tarentum. The
sailors, however, when they reached the open sea, formed a plot to
throw him overboard and seize upon his riches. Discovering their
design, he fell on his knees, beseeching them to spare his life, and
making them welcome to his money. But they refused; and required him
either to kill himself outright, if he wished for a grave on the dry
land, or without loss of time to leap overboard into the sea. In
this strait Arion begged them, since such was their pleasure, to allow
him to mount upon the quarter-deck, dressed in his full costume, and
there to play and sing, and promising that, as soon as his song was
ended, he would destroy himself. Delighted at the prospect of
hearing the very best harper in the world, they consented, and
withdrew from the stern to the middle of the vessel: while Arion
dressed himself in the full costume of his calling, took his harp, and
standing on the quarter-deck, chanted the Orthian. His strain ended,
he flung himself, fully attired as he was, headlong into the sea.
The Corinthians then sailed on to Corinth. As for Arion, a dolphin,
they say, took him upon his back and carried him to Taenarum, where he
went ashore, and thence proceeded to Corinth in his musician's
dress, and told all that had happened to him. Periander, however,
disbelieved the story, and put Arion in ward, to prevent his leaving
Corinth, while he watched anxiously for the return of the mariners. On
their arrival he summoned them before him and asked them if they could
give him any tiding of Arion. They returned for answer that he was
alive and in good health in Italy, and that they had left him at
Tarentum, where he was doing well. Thereupon Arion appeared before
them, just as he was when he jumped from the vessel: the men,
astonished and detected in falsehood, could no longer deny their
guilt. Such is the account which the Corinthians and Lesbians give;
and there is to this day at Taenarum, an offering of Arion's at the
shrine, which is a small figure in bronze, representing a man seated
upon a dolphin.
    Having brought the war with the Milesians to a close, and
reigned over the land of Lydia for fifty-seven years, Alyattes died.
He was the second prince of his house who made offerings at Delphi.
His gifts, which he sent on recovering from his sickness, were a great
bowl of pure silver, with a salver in steel curiously inlaid, a work
among all the offerings at Delphi the best worth looking at.
Glaucus, the Chian, made it, the man who first invented the art of
inlaying steel.
    On the death of Alyattes, Croesus, his son, who was thirty-five
years old, succeeded to the throne. Of the Greek cities, Ephesus was
the first that he attacked. The Ephesians, when he laid siege to the
place, made an offering of their city to Diana, by stretching a rope
from the town wall to the temple of the goddess, which was distant
from the ancient city, then besieged by Croesus, a space of seven
furlongs. They were, as I said, the first Greeks whom he attacked.
Afterwards, on some pretext or other, he made war in turn upon every
Ionian and Aeolian state, bringing forward, where he could, a
substantial ground of complaint; where such failed him, advancing some
poor excuse.
    In this way he made himself master of all the Greek cities in
Asia, and forced them to become his tributaries; after which he
began to think of building ships, and attacking the islanders.
Everything had been got ready for this purpose, when Bias of Priene
(or, as some say, Pittacus the Mytilenean) put a stop to the
project. The king had made inquiry of this person, who was lately
arrived at Sardis, if there were any news from Greece; to which he
answered, "Yes, sire, the islanders are gathering ten thousand
horse, designing an expedition against thee and against thy
capital." Croesus, thinking he spake seriously, broke out, "Ah,
might the gods put such a thought into their minds as to attack the
sons of the Lydians with cavalry!" "It seems, oh! king," rejoined
the other, "that thou desirest earnestly to catch the islanders on
horseback upon the mainland,- thou knowest well what would come of it.
But what thinkest thou the islanders desire better, now that they hear
thou art about to build ships and sail against them, than to catch the
Lydians at sea, and there revenge on them the wrongs of their brothers
upon the mainland, whom thou holdest in slavery?" Croesus was
charmed with the turn of the speech; and thinking there was reason
in what was said, gave up his ship-building and concluded a league
of amity with the Ionians of the isles.
    Croesus afterwards, in the course of many years, brought under his
sway almost all the nations to the west of the Halys. The Lycians
and Cilicians alone continued free; all the other tribes he reduced
and held in subjection. They were the following: the Lydians,
Phrygians, Mysians, Mariandynians, Chalybians, Paphlagonians,
Thynian and Bithynian Thracians, Carians, Ionians, Dorians, Aeolians
and Pamphylians.
    When all these conquests had been added to the Lydian empire,
and the prosperity of Sardis was now at its height, there came
thither, one after another, all the sages of Greece living at the
time, and among them Solon, the Athenian. He was on his travels,
having left Athens to be absent ten years, under the pretence of
wishing to see the world, but really to avoid being forced to repeal
any of the laws which, at the request of the Athenians, he had made
for them. Without his sanction the Athenians could not repeal them, as
they had bound themselves under a heavy curse to be governed for ten
years by the laws which should be imposed on them by Solon.
    On this account, as well as to see the world, Solon set out upon
his travels, in the course of which he went to Egypt to the court of
Amasis, and also came on a visit to Croesus at Sardis. Croesus
received him as his guest, and lodged him in the royal palace. On
the third or fourth day after, he bade his servants conduct Solon.
over his treasuries, and show him all their greatness and
magnificence. When he had seen them all, and, so far as time
allowed, inspected them, Croesus addressed this question to him.
"Stranger of Athens, we have heard much of thy wisdom and of thy
travels through many lands, from love of knowledge and a wish to see
the world. I am curious therefore to inquire of thee, whom, of all the
men that thou hast seen, thou deemest the most happy?" This he asked
because he thought himself the happiest of mortals: but Solon answered
him without flattery, according to his true sentiments, "Tellus of
Athens, sire." Full of astonishment at what he heard, Croesus demanded
sharply, "And wherefore dost thou deem Tellus happiest?" To which
the other replied, "First, because his country was flourishing in
his days, and he himself had sons both beautiful and good, and he
lived to see children born to each of them, and these children all
grew up; and further because, after a life spent in what our people
look upon as comfort, his end was surpassingly glorious. In a battle
between the Athenians and their neighbours near Eleusis, he came to
the assistance of his countrymen, routed the foe, and died upon the
field most gallantly. The Athenians gave him a public funeral on the
spot where he fell, and paid him the highest honours."
    Thus did Solon admonish Croesus by the example of Tellus,
enumerating the manifold particulars of his happiness. When he had
ended, Croesus inquired a second time, who after Tellus seemed to
him the happiest, expecting that at any rate, he would be given the
second place. "Cleobis and Bito," Solon answered; "they were of Argive
race; their fortune was enough for their wants, and they were
besides endowed with so much bodily strength that they had both gained
prizes at the Games. Also this tale is told of them:- There was a
great festival in honour of the goddess Juno at Argos, to which
their mother must needs be taken in a car. Now the oxen did not come
home from the field in time: so the youths, fearful of being too late,
put the yoke on their own necks, and themselves drew the car in
which their mother rode. Five and forty furlongs did they draw her,
and stopped before the temple. This deed of theirs was witnessed by
the whole assembly of worshippers, and then their life closed in the
best possible way. Herein, too, God showed forth most evidently, how
much better a thing for man death is than life. For the Argive men,
who stood around the car, extolled the vast strength of the youths;
and the Argive women extolled the mother who was blessed with such a
pair of sons; and the mother herself, overjoyed at the deed and at the
praises it had won, standing straight before the image, besought the
goddess to bestow on Cleobis and Bito, the sons who had so mightily
honoured her, the highest blessing to which mortals can attain. Her
prayer ended, they offered sacrifice and partook of the holy
banquet, after which the two youths fell asleep in the temple. They
never woke more, but so passed from the earth. The Argives, looking on
them as among the best of men, caused statues of them to be made,
which they gave to the shrine at Delphi."
    When Solon had thus assigned these youths the second place,
Croesus broke in angrily, "What, stranger of Athens, is my
happiness, then, so utterly set at nought by thee, that thou dost
not even put me on a level with private men?"
    "Oh! Croesus," replied the other, "thou askedst a question
concerning the condition of man, of one who knows that the power above
us is full of jealousy, and fond of troubling our lot. A long life
gives one to witness much, and experience much oneself, that one would
not choose. Seventy years I regard as the limit of the life of man. In
these seventy years are contained, without reckoning intercalary
months, twenty-five thousand and two hundred days. Add an
intercalary month to every other year, that the seasons may come round
at the right time, and there will be, besides the seventy years,
thirty-five such months, making an addition of one thousand and
fifty days. The whole number of the days contained in the seventy
years will thus be twenty-six thousand two hundred and fifty,
whereof not one but will produce events unlike the rest. Hence man
is wholly accident. For thyself, oh! Croesus, I see that thou art
wonderfully rich, and art the lord of many nations; but with respect
to that whereon thou questionest me, I have no answer to give, until I
hear that thou hast closed thy life happily. For assuredly he who
possesses great store of riches is no nearer happiness than he who has
what suffices for his daily needs, unless it so hap that luck attend
upon him, and so he continue in the enjoyment of all his good things
to the end of life. For many of the wealthiest men have been
unfavoured of fortune, and many whose means were moderate have had
excellent luck. Men of the former class excel those of the latter
but in two respects; these last excel the former in many. The
wealthy man is better able to content his desires, and to bear up
against a sudden buffet of calamity. The other has less ability to
withstand these evils (from which, however, his good luck keeps him
clear), but he enjoys all these following blessings: he is whole of
limb, a stranger to disease, free from misfortune, happy in his
children, and comely to look upon. If, in addition to all this, he end
his life well, he is of a truth the man of whom thou art in search,
the man who may rightly be termed happy. Call him, however, until he
die, not happy but fortunate. Scarcely, indeed, can any man unite
all these advantages: as there is no country which contains within
it all that it needs, but each, while it possesses some things,
lacks others, and the best country is that which contains the most; so
no single human being is complete in every respect- something is
always lacking. He who unites the greatest number of advantages, and
retaining them to the day of his death, then dies peaceably, that
man alone, sire, is, in my judgment, entitled to bear the name of
'happy.' But in every matter it behoves us to mark well the end: for
oftentimes God gives men a gleam of happiness, and then plunges them
into ruin."
    Such was the speech which Solon addressed to Croesus, a speech
which brought him neither largess nor honour. The king saw him
depart with much indifference, since he thought that a man must be
an arrant fool who made no account of present good, but bade men
always wait and mark the end.
    After Solon had gone away a dreadful vengeance, sent of God,
came upon Croesus, to punish him, it is likely, for deeming himself
the happiest of men. First he had a dream in the night, which
foreshowed him truly the evils that were about to befall him in the
person of his son. For Croesus had two sons, one blasted by a
natural defect, being deaf and dumb; the other, distinguished far
above all his co-mates in every pursuit. The name of the last was
Atys. It was this son concerning whom he dreamt a dream that he
would die by the blow of an iron weapon. When he woke, he considered
earnestly with himself, and, greatly alarmed at the dream, instantly
made his son take a wife, and whereas in former years the youth had
been wont to command the Lydian forces in the field, he now would
not suffer him to accompany them. All the spears and javelins, and
weapons used in the wars, he removed out of the male apartments, and
laid them in heaps in the chambers of the women, fearing lest
perhaps one of the weapons that hung against the wall might fall and
strike him.
    Now it chanced that while he was making arrangements for the
wedding, there came to Sardis a man under a misfortune, who had upon
him the stain of blood. He was by race a Phrygian, and belonged to the
family of the king. Presenting himself at the palace of Croesus, he
prayed to be admitted to purification according to the customs of
the country. Now the Lydian method of purifying is very nearly the
same as the Greek. Croesus granted the request, and went through all
the customary rites, after which he asked the suppliant of his birth
and country, addressing him as follows:- "Who art thou, stranger,
and from what part of Phrygia fleddest thou to take refuge at my
hearth? And whom, moreover, what man or what woman, hast thou
slain?" "Oh! king," replied the Phrygian, "I am the son of Gordias,
son of Midas. I am named Adrastus. The man I unintentionally slew
was my own brother. For this my father drove me from the land, and I
lost all. Then fled I here to thee." "Thou art the offspring," Croesus
rejoined, "of a house friendly to mine, and thou art come to
friends. Thou shalt want for nothing so long as thou abidest in my
dominions. Bear thy misfortune as easily as thou mayest, so will it go
best with thee." Thenceforth Adrastus lived in the palace of the king.
    It chanced that at this very same time there was in the Mysian
Olympus a huge monster of a boar, which went forth often from this
mountain country, and wasted the corn-fields of the Mysians. Many a
time had the Mysians collected to hunt the beast, but instead of doing
him any hurt, they came off always with some loss to themselves. At
length they sent ambassadors to Croesus, who delivered their message
to him in these words: "Oh! king, a mighty monster of a boar has
appeared in our parts, and destroys the labour of our hands. We do our
best to take him, but in vain. Now therefore we beseech thee to let
thy son accompany us back, with some chosen youths and hounds, that we
may rid our country of the animal." Such was the tenor of their
prayer.
    But Croesus bethought him of his dream, and answered, "Say no more
of my son going with you; that may not be in any wise. He is but
just joined in wedlock, and is busy enough with that. I will grant you
a picked band of Lydians, and all my huntsmen and hounds; and I will
charge those whom I send to use all zeal in aiding you to rid your
country of the brute."
    With this reply the Mysians were content; but the king's son,
hearing what the prayer of the Mysians was, came suddenly in, and on
the refusal of Croesus to let him go with them, thus addressed his
father: "Formerly, my father, it was deemed the noblest and most
suitable thing for me to frequent the wars and hunting-parties, and
win myself glory in them; but now thou keepest me away from both,
although thou hast never beheld in me either cowardice or lack of
spirit. What face meanwhile must I wear as I walk to the forum or
return from it? What must the citizens, what must my young bride think
of me? What sort of man will she suppose her husband to be? Either,
therefore, let me go to the chase of this boar, or give me a reason
why it is best for me to do according to thy wishes."
    Then Croesus answered, "My son, it is not because I have seen in
thee either cowardice or aught else which has displeased me that I
keep thee back; but because a vision which came before me in a dream
as I slept, warned me that thou wert doomed to die young, pierced by
an iron weapon. It was this which first led me to hasten on thy
wedding, and now it hinders me from sending thee upon this enterprise.
Fain would I keep watch over thee, if by any means I may cheat fate of
thee during my own lifetime. For thou art the one and only son that
I possess; the other, whose hearing is destroyed, I regard as if he
were not."
    "Ah! father," returned the youth, "I blame thee not for keeping
watch over me after a dream so terrible; but if thou mistakest, if
thou dost not apprehend the dream aright, 'tis no blame for me to show
thee wherein thou errest. Now the dream, thou saidst thyself, foretold
that I should die stricken by an iron weapon. But what hands has a
boar to strike with? What iron weapon does he wield? Yet this is
what thou fearest for me. Had the dream said that I should die pierced
by a tusk, then thou hadst done well to keep me away; but it said a
weapon. Now here we do not combat men, but a wild animal. I pray thee,
therefore, let me go with them."
    "There thou hast me, my son," said Croesus, "thy interpretation is
better than mine. I yield to it, and change my mind, and consent to
let thee go."
    Then the king sent for Adrastus, the Phrygian, and said to him,
"Adrastus, when thou wert smitten with the rod of affliction- no
reproach, my friend- I purified thee, and have taken thee to live with
me in my palace, and have been at every charge. Now, therefore, it
behoves thee to requite the good offices which thou hast received at
my hands by consenting to go with my son on this hunting party, and to
watch over him, if perchance you should be attacked upon the road by
some band of daring robbers. Even apart from this, it were right for
thee to go where thou mayest make thyself famous by noble deeds.
They are the heritage of thy family, and thou too art so stalwart
and strong."
    Adrastus answered, "Except for thy request, Oh! king, I would
rather have kept away from this hunt; for methinks it ill beseems a
man under a misfortune such as mine to consort with his happier
compeers; and besides, I have no heart to it. On many grounds I had
stayed behind; but, as thou urgest it, and I am bound to pleasure thee
(for truly it does behove me to requite thy good offices), I am
content to do as thou wishest. For thy son, whom thou givest into my
charge, be sure thou shalt receive him back safe and sound, so far
as depends upon a guardian's carefulness."
    Thus assured, Croesus let them depart, accompanied by a band of
picked youths, and well provided with dogs of chase. When they reached
Olympus, they scattered in quest of the animal; he was soon found, and
the hunters, drawing round him in a circle, hurled their weapons at
him. Then the stranger, the man who had been purified of blood,
whose name was Adrastus, he also hurled his spear at the boar, but
missed his aim, and struck Atys. Thus was the son of Croesus slain
by the point of an iron weapon, and the warning of the vision was
fulfilled. Then one ran to Sardis to bear the tidings to the king, and
he came and informed him of the combat and of the fate that had
befallen his son.
    If it was a heavy blow to the father to learn that his child was
dead, it yet more strongly affected him to think that the very man
whom he himself once purified had done the deed. In the violence of
his grief he called aloud on Jupiter Catharsius to be a witness of
what he had suffered at the stranger's hands. Afterwards he invoked
the same god as Jupiter Ephistius and Hetaereus- using the one term
because he had unwittingly harboured in his house the man who had
now slain his son; and the other, because the stranger, who had been
sent as his child's guardian, had turned out his most cruel enemy.
    Presently the Lydians arrived, bearing the body of the youth,
and behind them followed the homicide. He took his stand in front of
the corse, and, stretching forth his hands to Croesus, delivered
himself into his power with earnest entreaties that he would sacrifice
him upon the body of his son- "his former misfortune was burthen
enough; now that he had added to it a second, and had brought ruin
on the man who purified him, he could not bear to live." Then Croesus,
when he heard these words, was moved with pity towards Adrastus,
notwithstanding the bitterness of his own calamity; and so he
answered, "Enough, my friend; I have all the revenge that I require,
since thou givest sentence of death against thyself. But in sooth it
is not thou who hast injured me, except so far as thou hast
unwittingly dealt the blow. Some god is the author of my misfortune,
and I was forewarned of it a long time ago." Croesus after this buried
the body of his son, with such honours as befitted the occasion.
Adrastus, son of Gordias, son of Midas, the destroyer of his brother
in time past, the destroyer now of his purifier, regarding himself
as the most unfortunate wretch whom he had ever known, so soon as
all was quiet about the place, slew himself upon the tomb. Croesus,
bereft of his son, gave himself up to mourning for two full years.
    At the end of this time the grief of Croesus was interrupted by
intelligence from abroad. He learnt that Cyrus, the son of Cambyses,
had destroyed the empire of Astyages, the son of Cyaxares; and that
the Persians were becoming daily more powerful. This led him to
consider with himself whether it were possible to check the growing
power of that people before it came to a head. With this design he
resolved to make instant trial of the several oracles in Greece, and
of the one in Libya. So he sent his messengers in different
directions, some to Delphi, some to Abae in Phocis, and some to
Dodona; others to the oracle of Amphiaraus; others to that of
Trophonius; others, again, to Branchidae in Milesia. These were the
Greek oracles which he consulted. To Libya he sent another embassy, to
consult the oracle of Ammon. These messengers were sent to test the
knowledge of the oracles, that, if they were found really to return
true answers, he might send a second time, and inquire if he ought
to attack the Persians.
    The messengers who were despatched to make trial of the oracles
were given the following instructions: they were to keep count of
the days from the time of their leaving Sardis, and, reckoning from
that date, on the hundredth day they were to consult the oracles,
and to inquire of them what Croesus the son of Alyattes, king of
Lydia, was doing at that moment. The answers given them were to be
taken down in writing, and brought back to him. None of the replies
remain on record except that of the oracle at Delphi. There, the
moment that the Lydians entered the sanctuary, and before they put
their questions, the Pythoness thus answered them in hexameter verse:-

    I can count the sands, and I can measure the ocean;
    I have ears for the silent, and know what the dumb man meaneth;
    Lo! on my sense there striketh the smell of a shell-covered
      tortoise,
    Boiling now on a fire, with the flesh of a lamb, in a cauldron-
    Brass is the vessel below, and brass the cover above it.

    These words the Lydians wrote down at the mouth of the Pythoness
as she prophesied, and then set off on their return to Sardis. When
all the messengers had come back with the answers which they had
received, Croesus undid the rolls, and read what was written in
each. Only one approved itself to him, that of the Delphic oracle.
This he had no sooner heard than he instantly made an act of
adoration, and accepted it as true, declaring that the Delphic was the
only really oracular shrine, the only one that had discovered in
what way he was in fact employed. For on the departure of his
messengers he had set himself to think what was most impossible for
any one to conceive of his doing, and then, waiting till the day
agreed on came, he acted as he had determined. He took a tortoise
and a lamb, and cutting them in pieces with his own hands, boiled them
both together in a brazen cauldron, covered over with a lid which
was also of brass.
    Such then was the answer returned to Croesus from Delphi. What the
answer was which the Lydians who went to the shrine of Amphiarans
and performed the customary rites obtained of the oracle there, I have
it not in my power to mention, for there is no record of it. All
that is known is that Croesus believed himself to have found there
also an oracle which spoke the truth.
    After this Croesus, having resolved to propitiate the Delphic
god with a magnificent sacrifice, offered up three thousand of every
kind of sacrificial beast, and besides made a huge pile, and placed
upon it couches coated with silver and with gold, and golden
goblets, and robes and vests of purple; all which he burnt in the hope
of thereby making himself more secure of the favour of the god.
Further he issued his orders to all the people of the land to offer
a sacrifice according to their means. When the sacrifice was ended,
the king melted down a vast quantity of gold, and ran it into
ingots, making them six palms long, three palms broad, and one palm in
thickness. The number of ingots was a hundred and seventeen, four
being of refined gold, in weight two talents and a half; the others of
pale gold, and in weight two talents. He also caused a statue of a
lion to be made in refined gold, the weight of which was ten
talents. At the time when the temple of Delphi was burnt to the
ground, this lion fell from the ingots on which it was placed; it
now stands in the Corinthian treasury, and weighs only six talents and
a half, having lost three talents and a half by the fire.
    On the completion of these works Croesus sent them away to Delphi,
and with them two bowls of an enormous size, one of gold, the other of
silver, which used to stand, the latter upon the right, the former
upon the left, as one entered the temple. They too were moved at the
time of the fire; and now the golden one is in the Clazomenian
treasury, and weighs eight talents and forty-two minae; the silver one
stands in the corner of the ante-chapel, and holds six hundred
amphorae. This is known because the Delphians fill it at the time of
the Theophania. It is said by the Delphians to be a work of Theodore
the Samian, and I think that they say true, for assuredly it is the
work of no common artist. Croesus sent also four silver casks, which
are in the Corinthian treasury, and two lustral vases, a golden and
a silver one. On the former is inscribed the name of the
Lacedaemonians, and they claim it as a gift of theirs, but wrongly,
since it was really given by Croesus. The inscription upon it was
cut by a Delphian, who wished to pleasure the Lacedaemonians. His name
is known to me, but I forbear to mention it. The boy, through whose
hand the water runs, is (I confess) a Lacedaemonian gift, but they did
not give either of the lustral vases. Besides these various offerings,
Croesus sent to Delphi many others of less account, among the rest a
number of round silver basins. Also he dedicated a female figure in
gold, three cubits high, which is said by the Delphians to be the
statue of his baking-woman; and further, he presented the necklace and
the girdles of his wife.
    These were the offerings sent by Croesus to Delphi. To the
shrine of Amphiaraus, with whose valour and misfortune he was
acquainted, he sent a shield entirely of gold, and a spear, also of
solid gold, both head and shaft. They were still existing in my day at
Thebes, laid up in the temple of Ismenian Apollo.
    The messengers who had the charge of conveying these treasures
to the shrines, received instructions to ask the oracles whether
Croesus should go to war with the Persians and if so, whether he
should strengthen himself by the forces of an ally. Accordingly,
when they had reached their destinations and presented the gifts, they
proceeded to consult the oracles in the following terms:- "Croesus, of
Lydia and other countries, believing that these are the only real
oracles in all the world, has sent you such presents as your
discoveries deserved, and now inquires of you whether he shall go to
war with the Persians, and if so, whether he shall strengthen
himself by the forces of a confederate." Both the oracles agreed in
the tenor of their reply, which was in each case a prophecy that if
Croesus attacked the Persians, he would destroy a mighty empire, and a
recommendation to him to look and see who were the most powerful of
the Greeks, and to make alliance with them.
    At the receipt of these oracular replies Croesus was overjoyed,
and feeling sure now that he would destroy the empire of the Persians,
he sent once more to Pytho, and presented to the Delphians, the number
of whom he had ascertained, two gold staters apiece. In return for
this the Delphians granted to Croesus and the Lydians the privilege of
precedency in consulting the oracle, exemption from all charges, the
most honourable seat at the festivals, and the perpetual right of
becoming at pleasure citizens of their town.
    After sending these presents to the Delphians, Croesus a third
time consulted the oracle, for having once proved its truthfulness, he
wished to make constant use of it. The question whereto he now desired
an answer was- "Whether his kingdom would be of long duration?" The
following was the reply of the Pythoness:-

    Wait till the time shall come when a mule is monarch of Media;
    Then, thou delicate Lydian, away to the pebbles of Hermus;
    Haste, oh! haste thee away, nor blush to behave like a coward.

    Of all the answers that had reached him, this pleased him far
the best, for it seemed incredible that a mule should ever come to
be king of the Medes, and so he concluded that the sovereignty would
never depart from himself or his seed after him. Afterwards he
turned his thoughts to the alliance which he had been recommended to
contract, and sought to ascertain by inquiry which was the most
powerful of the Grecian states. His inquiries pointed out to him two
states as pre-eminent above the rest. These were the Lacedaemonians
and the Athenians, the former of Doric, the latter of Ionic blood. And
indeed these two nations had held from very, early times the most
distinguished place in Greece, the being a Pelasgic, the other a
Hellenic people, and the one having never quitted its original
seats, while the other had been excessively migratory; for during
the reign of Deucalion, Phthiotis was the country in which the
Hellenes dwelt, but under Dorus, the son of Hellen, they moved to
the tract at the base of Ossa and Olympus, which is called
Histiaeotis; forced to retire from that region by the Cadmeians,
they settled, under the name of Macedni, in the chain of Pindus. Hence
they once more removed and came to Dryopis; and from Dryopis having
entered the Peloponnese in this way, they became known as Dorians.
    What the language of the Pelasgi was I cannot say with any
certainty. If, however, we may form a conjecture from the tongue
spoken by the Pelasgi of the present day- those, for instance, who
live at Creston above the Tyrrhenians, who formerly dwelt in the
district named Thessaliotis, and were neighbours of the people now
called the Dorians- or those again who founded Placia and Scylace upon
the Hellespont, who had previously dwelt for some time with the
Athenians- or those, in short, of any other of the cities which have
dropped the name but are in fact Pelasgian; if, I say, we are to
form a conjecture from any of these, we must pronounce that the
Pelasgi spoke a barbarous language. If this were really so, and the
entire Pelasgic race spoke the same tongue, the Athenians, who were
certainly Pelasgi, must have changed their language at the same time
that they passed into the Hellenic body; for it is a certain fact that
the people of Creston speak a language unlike any of their neighbours,
and the same is true of the Placianians, while the language spoken
by these two people is the same; which shows that they both retain the
idiom which they brought with them into the countries where they are
now settled.
    The Hellenic race has never, since its first origin, changed its
speech. This at least seems evident to me. It was a branch of the
Pelasgic, which separated from the main body, and at first was
scanty in numbers and of little power; but it gradually spread and
increased to a multitude of nations, chiefly by the voluntary entrance
into its ranks of numerous tribes of barbarians. The Pelasgi, on the
other hand, were, as I think, a barbarian race which never greatly
multiplied.
    On inquiring into the condition of these two nations, Croesus
found that one, the Athenian, was in a state of grievous oppression
and distraction under Pisistratus, the son of Hippocrates, who was
at that time tyrant of Athens. Hippocrates, when he was a private
citizen, is said to have gone once upon a time to Olympia to see the
Games, when a wonderful prodigy happened to him. As he was employed in
sacrificing, the cauldrons which stood near, full of water and of
the flesh of the victims, began to boil without the help of fire, so
that the water overflowed the pots. Chilon the Lacedaemonian, who
happened to be there and to witness the prodigy, advised
Hippocrates, if he were unmarried, never to take into his house a wife
who could bear him a child; if he already had one, to send her back to
her friends; if he had a son, to disown him. Chilon's advice did not
at all please Hippocrates, who disregarded it, and some time after
became the father of Pisistratus. This Pisistratus, at a time when
there was civil contention in Attica between the party of the
Sea-coast headed by Megacles the son of Alcmaeon, and that of the
Plain headed by Lycurgus, one of the Aristolaids, formed the project
of making himself tyrant, and with this view created a third party.
Gathering together a band of partisans, and giving himself out for the
protector of the Highlanders, he contrived the following stratagem. He
wounded himself and his mules, and then drove his chariot into the
market-place, professing to have just escaped an attack of his
enemies, who had attempted his life as he was on his way into the
country. He besought the people to assign him a guard to protect his
person, reminding them of the glory which he had gained when he led
the attack upon the Megarians, and took the town of Nisaea, at the
same time performing many other exploits. The Athenians, deceived by
his story, appointed him a band of citizens to serve as a guard, who
were to carry clubs instead of spears, and to accompany him wherever
he went. Thus strengthened, Pisistratus broke into revolt and seized
the citadel. In this way he acquired the sovereignty of Athens,
which he continued to hold without disturbing the previously
existing offices or altering any of the laws. He administered the
state according to the established usages, and his arrangements were
wise and salutary.
    However, after a little time, the partisans of Megacles and
those of Lycurgus agreed to forget their differences, and united to
drive him out. So Pisistratus, having by the means described first
made himself master of Athens, lost his power again before it had time
to take root. No sooner, however, was he departed than the factions
which had driven him out quarrelled anew, and at last Megacles,
wearied with the struggle, sent a herald to Pisistratus, with an offer
to re-establish him on the throne if he would marry his daughter.
Pisistratus consented, and on these terms an agreement was concluded
between the two, after which they proceeded to devise the mode of
his restoration. And here the device on which they hit was the
silliest that I find on record, more especially considering that the
Greeks have been from very ancient times distinguished from the
barbarians by superior sagacity and freedom from foolish simpleness,
and remembering that the persons on whom this trick was played were
not only Greeks but Athenians, who have the credit of surpassing all
other Greeks in cleverness. There was in the Paeanian district a woman
named Phya, whose height only fell short of four cubits by three
fingers' breadth, and who was altogether comely to look upon. This
woman they clothed in complete armour, and, instructing her as to
the carriage which she was to maintain in order to beseem her part,
they placed her in a chariot and drove to the city. Heralds had been
sent forward to precede her, and to make proclamation to this
effect: "Citizens of Athens, receive again Pisistratus with friendly
minds. Minerva, who of all men honours him the most, herself
conducts him back to her own citadel." This they proclaimed in all
directions, and immediately the rumour spread throughout the country
districts that Minerva was bringing back her favourite. They of the
city also, fully persuaded that the woman was the veritable goddess,
prostrated themselves before her, and received Pisistratus back.
    Pisistratus, having thus recovered the sovereignty, married,
according to agreement, the daughter of Megacles. As, however, he
had already a family of grown up sons, and the Alcmaeonidae were
supposed to be under a curse, he determined that there should be no
issue of the marriage. His wife at first kept this matter to
herself, but after a time, either her mother questioned her, or it may
be that she told it of her own accord. At any rate, she informed her
mother, and so it reached her father's ears. Megacles, indignant at
receiving an affront from such a quarter, in his anger instantly
made up his differences with the opposite faction, on which
Pisistratus, aware of what was planning against him, took himself
out of the country. Arrived at Eretria, he held a council with his
children to decide what was to be done. The opinion of Hippias
prevailed, and it was agreed to aim at regaining the sovereignty.
The first step was to obtain advances of money from such states as
were under obligations to them. By these means they collected large
sums from several countries, especially from the Thebans, who gave
them far more than any of the rest. To be brief, time passed, and
all was at length got ready for their return. A band of Argive
mercenaries arrived from the Peloponnese, and a certain Naxian named
Lygdamis, who volunteered his services, was particularly zealous in
the cause, supplying both men and money.
    In the eleventh year of their exile the family of Pisistratus
set sail from Eretria on their return home. They made the coast of
Attica, near Marathon, where they encamped, and were joined by their
partisans from the capital and by numbers from the country
districts, who loved tyranny better than freedom. At Athens, while
Pisistratus was obtaining funds, and even after he landed at Marathon,
no one paid any attention to his proceedings. When, however, it became
known that he had left Marathon, and was marching upon the city,
preparations were made for resistance, the whole force of the state
was levied, and led against the returning exiles. Meantime the army of
Pisistratus, which had broken up from Marathon, meeting their
adversaries near the temple of the Pallenian Minerva, pitched their
camp opposite them. Here a certain soothsayer, Amphilytus by name,
an Acarnanian, moved by a divine impulse, came into the presence of
Pisistratus, and approaching him uttered this prophecy in the
hexameter measure:-

    Now has the cast been made, the net is out-spread in the water,
    Through the moonshiny night the tunnies will enter the meshes.

    Such was the prophecy uttered under a divine inspiration.
Pisistratus, apprehending its meaning, declared that he accepted the
oracle, and instantly led on his army. The Athenians from the city had
just finished their midday meal, after which they had betaken
themselves, some to dice, others to sleep, when Pisistratus with his
troops fell upon them and put them to the rout. As soon as the
flight began, Pisistratus bethought himself of a most wise
contrivance, whereby the might be induced to disperse and not unite in
a body any more. He mounted his sons on horseback and sent them on
in front to overtake the fugitives, and exhort them to be of good
cheer, and return each man to his home. The Athenians took the advice,
and Pisistratus became for the third time master of Athens.
    Upon this he set himself to root his power more firmly, by the aid
of a numerous body of mercenaries, and by keeping up a full exchequer,
partly supplied from native sources, partly from the countries about
the river Strymon. He also demanded hostages from many of the
Athenians who had remained at home, and not left Athens at his
approach; and these he sent to Naxos, which he had conquered by
force of arms, and given over into the charge of Lygdamis. Farther, he
purified the island of Delos, according to the injunctions of an
oracle, after the following fashion. All the dead bodies which had
been interred within sight of the temple he dug up, and removed to
another part of the isle. Thus was the tyranny of Pisistratus
established at Athens, many of the Athenians having fallen in the
battle, and many others having fled the country together with the
son of Alcmaeon.
    Such was the condition of the Athenians when Croesus made
inquiry concerning them. Proceeding to seek information concerning the
Lacedaemonians, he learnt that, after passing through a period of
great depression, they had lately been victorious in a war with the
people of Tegea; for, during the joint reign of Leo and Agasicles,
kings of Sparta, the Lacedaemonians, successful in all their other
wars, suffered continual defeat at the hands of the Tegeans. At a
still earlier period they had been the very worst governed people in
Greece, as well in matters of internal management as in their
relations towards foreigners, from whom they kept entirely aloof.
The circumstances which led to their being well governed were the
following:- Lycurgus, a man of distinction among the Spartans, had
gone to Delphi, to visit the oracle. Scarcely had he entered into
the inner fane, when the Pythoness exclaimed aloud,

    Oh! thou great Lycurgus, that com'st to my beautiful dwelling,
    Dear to love, and to all who sit in the halls of Olympus,
    Whether to hail thee a god I know not, or only a mortal,
    But my hope is strong that a god thou wilt prove, Lycurgus.

Some report besides, that the Pythoness delivered to him the entire
system of laws which are still observed by the Spartans. The
Lacedaemonians, however. themselves assert that Lycurgus, when he
was guardian of his nephew, Labotas, king of Sparta, and regent in his
room, introduced them from Crete; for as soon as he became regent,
he altered the whole of the existing customs, substituting new ones,
which he took care should be observed by all. After this he arranged
whatever appertained to war, establishing the Enomotiae, Triacades,
and Syssitia, besides which he instituted the senate,' and the
ephoralty. Such was the way in which the Lacedaemonians became a
well-governed people.
    On the death of Lycurgus they built him a temple, and ever since
they have worshipped him with the utmost reverence. Their soil being
good and the population numerous, they sprang up rapidly to power, and
became a flourishing people. In consequence they soon ceased to be
satisfied to stay quiet; and, regarding the Arcadians as very much
their inferiors, they sent to consult the oracle about conquering
the whole of Arcadia. The Pythoness thus answered them:

    Cravest thou Arcady? Bold is thy craving. I shall not content it.
    Many the men that in Arcady dwell, whose food is the acorn-
    They will never allow thee. It is not I that am niggard.
    I will give thee to dance in Tegea, with noisy foot-fall,
    And with the measuring line mete out the glorious champaign.

When the Lacedaemonians received this reply, leaving the rest of
Arcadia untouched, they marched against the Tegeans, carrying with
them fetters, so confident had this oracle (which was, in truth, but
of base metal) made them that they would enslave the Tegeans. The
battle, however, went against them, and many fell into the enemy's
hands. Then these persons, wearing the fetters which they had
themselves brought, and fastened together in a string, measured the
Tegean plain as they executed their labours. The fetters in which they
worked were still, in my day, preserved at Tegea where they hung round
the walls of the temple of Minerva Alea.
    Throughout the whole of this early contest with the Tegeans, the
Lacedaemonians met with nothing but defeats; but in the time of
Croesus, under the kings Anaxandrides and  Aristo, fortune had
turned in their favour, in the manner which I will now relate.
Having been worsted in every engagement by their enemy, they sent to
Delphi, and inquired of the oracle what god they must propitiate to
prevail in the war against the Tegeans. The answer of the Pythoness
was that before they could prevail, they must remove to Sparta the
bones of Orestes, the son of Agamemnon. Unable to discover his
burial-place, they sent a second time, and asked the god where the
body of the hero had been laid. The following was the answer they
received:-

    Level and smooth is the plain where Arcadian Tegea standeth;
    There two winds are ever, by strong necessity, blowing,
    Counter-stroke answers stroke, and evil lies upon evil.
    There all-teeming Earth doth harbour the son of Atrides;
    Bring thou him to thy city, and then be Tegea's master.

After this reply, the Lacedaemonians were no nearer discovering the
burial-place than before, though they continued to search for it
diligently; until at last a man named Lichas, one of the Spartans
called Agathoergi, found it. The Agathoergi are citizens who have just
served their time among the knights. The five eldest of the knights go
out every year, and are bound during the year after their discharge to
go wherever the State sends them, and actively employ themselves in
its service.
    Lichas was one of this body when, partly by good luck, partly by
his own wisdom, he discovered the burial-place. Intercourse between
the two States existing just at this time, he went to Tegea, and,
happening to enter into the workshop of a smith, he saw him forging
some iron. As he stood marvelling at what he beheld, he was observed
by the smith who, leaving off his work, went up to him and said,
    "Certainly, then, you Spartan stranger, you would have been
wonderfully surprised if you had seen what I have, since you make a
marvel even of the working in iron. I wanted to make myself a well
in this room, and began to dig it, when what think you? I came upon
a coffin seven cubits long. I had never believed that men were
taller in the olden times than they are now, so I opened the coffin.
The body inside was of the same length: I measured it, and filled up
the hole again."
    Such was the man's account of what he had seen. The other, on
turning the matter over in his mind, conjectured that this was the
body of Orestes, of which the oracle had spoken. He guessed so,
because he observed that the smithy had two bellows, which he
understood to be the two winds, and the hammer and anvil would do
for the stroke and the counterstroke, and the iron that was being
wrought for the evil lying upon evil. This he imagined might be so
because iron had been discovered to the hurt of man. Full of these
conjectures, he sped back to Sparta and laid the whole matter before
his countrymen. Soon after, by a concerted plan, they brought a charge
against him, and began a prosecution. Lichas betook himself to
Tegea, and on his arrival acquainted the smith with his misfortune,
and proposed to rent his room of him. The smith refused for some time;
but at last Lichas persuaded him, and took up his abode in it. Then he
opened the grave, and collecting the bones, returned with them to
Sparta. From henceforth, whenever the Spartans and the Tegeans made
trial of each other's skill in arms, the Spartans always had greatly
the advantage; and by the time to which we are now come they were
masters of most of the Peloponnese.
    Croesus, informed of all these circumstances, sent messengers to
Sparta, with gifts in their hands, who were to ask the Spartans to
enter into alliance with him. They received strict injunctions as to
what they should say, and on their arrival at Sparta spake as
follows:-
    "Croesus, king of the Lydians and of other nations, has sent us to
speak thus to you: 'Oh Lacedaemonians, the god has bidden me to make
the Greek my friend; I therefore apply to you, in conformity with
the oracle, knowing that you hold the first rank in Greece, and desire
to become your friend and ally in all true faith and honesty.'"
    Such was the message which Croesus sent by his heralds. The
Lacedaemonians, who were aware beforehand of the reply given him by
the oracle, were full of joy at the coming of the messengers, and at
once took the oaths of friendship and alliance: this they did the more
readily as they had previously contracted certain obligations
towards him. They had sent to Sardis on one occasion to purchase
some gold, intending to use it on a statue of Apollo- the statue,
namely, which remains to this day at Thornax in Laconia, when Croesus,
hearing of the matter, gave them as a gift the gold which they wanted.
    This was one reason why the Lacedaemonians were so willing to make
the alliance: another was, because Croesus had chosen them for his
friends in preference to all the other Greeks. They therefore held
themselves in readiness to come at his summons, and not content with
so doing, they further had a huge vase made in bronze, covered with
figures of animals all round the outside of the rim, and large
enough to contain three hundred amphorae, which they sent to Croesus
as a return for his presents to them. The vase, however, never reached
Sardis. Its miscarriage is accounted for in two quite different
ways. The Lacedaemonian story is that when it reached Samos, on its
way towards Sardis, the Samians having knowledge of it, put to sea
in their ships of war and made it their prize. But the Samians declare
that the Lacedaemonians who had the vase in charge, happening to
arrive too late, and learning that Sardis had fallen and that
Croesus was a prisoner, sold it in their island, and the purchasers
(who were, they say, private persons) made an offering of it at the
shrine of Juno: the sellers were very likely on their return to Sparta
to have said that they had been robbed of it by the Samians. Such,
then, was the fate of the vase.
    Meanwhile Croesus, taking the oracle in a wrong sense, led his
forces into Cappadocia, fully expecting to defeat Cyrus and destroy
the empire of the Persians. While he was still engaged in making
preparations for his attack, a Lydian named Sandanis, who had always
been looked upon as a wise man, but who after this obtained a very
great name indeed among his countrymen, came forward and counselled
the king in these words:
    "Thou art about, oh! king, to make war against men who wear
leathern trousers, and have all their other garments of leather; who
feed not on what they like, but on what they can get from a soil
that is sterile and unkindly; who do not indulge in wine, but drink
water; who possess no figs nor anything else that is good to eat.
If, then, thou conquerest them, what canst thou get from them,
seeing that they have nothing at all? But if they conquer thee,
consider how much that is precious thou wilt lose: if they once get
a taste of our pleasant things, they will keep such hold of them
that we shall never be able to make them loose their grasp. For my
part, I am thankful to the gods that they have not put it into the
hearts of the Persians to invade Lydia."
    Croesus was not persuaded by this speech, though it was true
enough; for before the conquest of Lydia, the Persians possessed
none of the luxuries or delights of life.
    The Cappadocians are known to the Greeks by the name of Syrians.
Before the rise of the Persian power, they had been subject to the
Medes; but at the present time they were within the empire of Cyrus,
for the boundary between the Median and the Lydian empires was the
river Halys. This stream, which rises in the mountain country of
Armenia, runs first through Cilicia; afterwards it flows for a while
with the Matieni on the right, and the Phrygians on the left: then,
when they are passed, it proceeds with a northern course, separating
the Cappadocian Syrians from the Paphlagonians, who occupy the left
bank, thus forming the boundary of almost the whole of Lower Asia,
from the sea opposite Cyprus to the Euxine. Just there is the neck
of the peninsula, a journey of five days across for an active walker.
    There were two motives which led Croesus to attack Cappadocia:
firstly, he coveted the land, which he wished to add to his own
dominions; but the chief reason was that he wanted to revenge on Cyrus
the wrongs of Astyages, and was made confident by the oracle of
being able so to do: for Astyages, son of Cyaxares and king of the
Medes, who had been dethroned by Cyrus, son of Cambyses, was
Croesus' brother by marriage. This marriage had taken place under
circumstances which I will now relate. A band of Scythian nomads,
who had left their own land on occasion of some disturbance, had taken
refuge in Media. Cyaxares, son of Phraortes, and grandson of
Deioces, was at that time king of the country. Recognising them as
suppliants, he began by treating them with kindness, and coming
presently to esteem them highly, he intrusted to their care a number
of boys, whom they were to teach their language and to instruct in the
use of the bow. Time passed, and the Scythians employed themselves,
day after day, in hunting, and always brought home some game; but at
last it chanced that one day they took nothing. On their return to
Cyaxares with empty hands, that monarch, who was hot-tempered, as he
showed upon the occasion, received them very rudely and insultingly.
In consequence of this treatment, which they did not conceive
themselves to have deserved, the Scythians determined to take one of
the boys whom they had in charge, cut him in pieces, and then dressing
the flesh as they were wont to dress that of the wild animals, serve
it up to Cyaxares as game: after which they resolved to convey
themselves with all speed to Sardis, to the court of Alyattes, the son
of Sadyattes. The plan was carried out: Cyaxares and his guests ate of
the flesh prepared by the Scythians, and they themselves, having
accomplished their purpose, fled to Alyattes in the guise of
suppliants.
    Afterwards, on the refusal of Alyattes to give up his suppliants
when Cyaxares sent to demand them of him, war broke out between the
Lydians and the Medes, and continued for five years, with various
success. In the course of it the Medes gained many victories over
the Lydians, and the Lydians also gained many victories over the
Medes. Among their other battles there was one night engagement. As,
however, the balance had not inclined in favour of either nation,
another combat took place in the sixth year, in the course of which,
just as the battle was growing warm, day was on a sudden changed
into night. This event had been foretold by Thales, the Milesian,
who forewarned the Ionians of it, fixing for it the very year in which
it actually took place. The Medes and Lydians, when they observed
the change, ceased fighting, and were alike anxious to have terms of
peace agreed on. Syennesis of Cilicia, and Labynetus of Babylon,
were the persons who mediated between the parties, who hastened the
taking of the oaths, and brought about the exchange of espousals. It
was they who advised that Alyattes should give his daughter Aryenis in
marriage to Astyages, the son of Cyaxares, knowing, as they did,
that without some sure bond of strong necessity, there is wont to be
but little security in men's covenants. Oaths are taken by these
people in the same way as by the Greeks, except that they make a
slight flesh wound in their arms, from which each sucks a portion of
the other's blood.
    Cyrus had captured this Astyages, who was his mother's father, and
kept him prisoner, for a reason which I shall bring forward in another
of my history. This capture formed the ground of quarrel between Cyrus
and Croesus, in consequence of which Croesus sent his servants to
ask the oracle if he should attack the Persians; and when an evasive
answer came, fancying it to be in his favour, carried his arms into
the Persian territory. When he reached the river Halys, he transported
his army across it, as I maintain, by the bridges which exist there at
the present day; but, according to the general belief of the Greeks,
by the aid of Thales the Milesian. The tale is that Croesus was in
doubt how he should get his army across, as the bridges were not
made at that time, and that Thales, who happened to be in the camp,
divided the stream and caused it to flow on both sides of the army
instead of on the left only. This he effected thus:- Beginning some
distance above the camp, he dug a deep channel, which he brought round
in a semicircle, so that it might pass to rearward of the camp; and
that thus the river, diverted from its natural course into the new
channel at the point where this left the stream, might flow by the
station of the army, and afterwards fall again into the ancient bed.
In this way the river was split into two streams, which were both
easily fordable. It is said by some that the water was entirely
drained off from the natural bed of the river. But I am of a different
opinion; for I do not see how, in that case, they could have crossed
it on their return.
    Having passed the Halys with the forces under his command, Croesus
entered the district of Cappadocia which is called Pteria. It lies
in the neighbourhood of the city of Sinope upon the Euxine, and is the
strongest position in the whole country thereabouts. Here Croesus
pitched his camp, and began to ravage the fields of the Syrians. He
besieged and took the chief city of the Pterians, and reduced the
inhabitants to slavery: he likewise made himself master of the
surrounding villages. Thus he brought ruin on the Syrians, who were
guilty of no offence towards him. Meanwhile, Cyrus had levied an
army and marched against Croesus, increasing his numbers at every step
by the forces of the nations that lay in his way. Before beginning his
march he had sent heralds to the Ionians, with an invitation to them
to revolt from the Lydian king: they, however, had refused compliance.
Cyrus, notwithstanding, marched against the enemy, and encamped
opposite them in the district of Pteria, where the trial of strength
took place between the contending powers. The combat was hot and
bloody, and upon both sides the number of the slain was great; nor had
victory declared in favour of either party, when night came down
upon the battle-field. Thus both armies fought valiantly.
    Croesus laid the blame of his ill success on the number of his
troops, which fell very short of the enemy; and as on the next day
Cyrus did not repeat the attack, he set off on his return to Sardis,
intending to collect his allies and renew the contest in the spring.
He meant to call on the Egyptians to send him aid, according to the
terms of the alliance which he had concluded with Amasis, previously
to his league with the Lacedaemonians. He intended also to summon to
his assistance the Babylonians, under their king Labynetus, for they
too were bound to him by treaty: and further, he meant to send word to
Sparta, and appoint a day for the coming of their succours. Having got
together these forces in addition to his own, he would, as soon as the
winter was past and springtime come, march once more against the
Persians. With these intentions Croesus, immediately on his return,
despatched heralds to his various allies, with a request that they
would join him at Sardis in the course of the fifth month from the
time of the departure of his messengers. He then disbanded the army
consisting of mercenary troops- which had been engaged with the
Persians and had since accompanied him to his capital, and let them
depart to their homes, never imagining that Cyrus, after a battle in
which victory had been so evenly balanced, would venture to march upon
Sardis.
    While Croesus was still in this mind, all the suburbs of Sardis
were found to swarm with snakes, on the appearance of which the horses
left feeding in the pasture-grounds, and flocked to the suburbs to eat
them. The king, who witnessed the unusual sight, regarded it very
rightly as a prodigy. He therefore instantly sent messengers to the
soothsayers of Telmessus, to consult them upon the matter, His
messengers reached the city, and obtained from the Telmessians an
explanation of what the prodigy portended, but fate did not allow them
to inform their lord; for ere they entered Sardis on their return,
Croesus was a prisoner. What the Telmessians had declared was that
Croesus must look for the entry of an army of foreign invaders into
his country, and that when they came they would subdue the native
inhabitants; since the snake, said they, is a child of earth, and
the horse a warrior and a foreigner. Croesus was already a prisoner
when the Telmessians thus answered his inquiry, but they had no
knowledge of what was taking place at Sardis, or of the fate of the
monarch.
    Cyrus, however, when Croesus broke up so suddenly from his
quarters after the battle at Pteria, conceiving that he had marched
away with the intention of disbanding his army, considered a little,
and soon saw that it was advisable for him to advance upon Sardis with
all haste, before the Lydians could get their forces together a second
time. Having thus determined, he lost no time in carrying out his
plan. He marched forward with such speed that he was himself the first
to announce his coming to the Lydian king. That monarch, placed in the
utmost difficulty by the turn of events which had gone so entirely
against all his calculations, nevertheless led out the Lydians to
battle. In all Asia there was not at that time a braver or more
warlike people. Their manner of fighting was on horseback; they
carried long lances, and were clever in the management of their
steeds.
    The two armies met in the plain before Sardis. It is a vast
flat, bare of trees, watered by the Hyllus and a number of other
streams, which all flow into one larger than the rest, called the
Hermus. This river rises in the sacred mountain of the Dindymenian
Mother, and falls into the sea near the town of Phocaea.
    When Cyrus beheld the Lydians arranging themselves in order of
battle on this plain, fearful of the strength of their cavalry, he
adopted a device which Harpagus, one of the Medes, suggested to him.
He collected together all the camels that had come in the train of his
army to carry the provisions and the baggage, and taking off their
loads, he mounted riders upon them accoutred as horsemen. These he
commanded to advance in front of his other troops against the Lydian
horse; behind them were to follow the foot soldiers, and last of all
the cavalry. When his arrangements were complete, he gave his troops
orders to slay all the other Lydians who came in their way without
mercy, but to spare Croesus and not kill him, even if he should be
seized and offer resistance. The reason why Cyrus opposed his camels
to the enemy's horse was because the horse has a natural dread of
the camel, and cannot abide either the sight or the smell of that
animal. By this stratagem he hoped to make Croesus's horse useless
to him, the horse being what he chiefly depended on for victory. The
two armies then joined battle, and immediately the Lydian
war-horses, seeing and smelling the camels, turned round and
galloped off; and so it came to pass that all Croesus's hopes withered
away. The Lydians, however, behaved manfully. As soon as they
understood what was happening, they leaped off their horses, and
engaged with the Persians on foot. The combat was long; but at last,
after a great slaughter on both sides, the Lydians turned and fled.
They were driven within their walls and the Persians laid siege to
Sardis.
    Thus the siege began. Meanwhile Croesus, thinking that the place
would hold out no inconsiderable time, sent off fresh heralds to his
allies from the beleaguered town. His former messengers had been
charged to bid them assemble at Sardis in the course of the fifth
month; they whom he now sent were to say that he was already besieged,
and to beseech them to come to his aid with all possible speed.
Among his other allies Croesus did not omit to send to Lacedaemon.
    It chanced, however, that the Spartans were themselves just at
this time engaged in a quarrel with the Argives about a place called
Thyrea, which was within the limits of Argolis, but had been seized on
by the Lacedaemonians. Indeed, the whole country westward, as far as
Cape Malea, belonged once to the Argives, and not only that entire
tract upon the mainland, but also Cythera, and the other islands.
The Argives collected troops to resist the seizure of Thyrea, but
before any battle was fought, the two parties came to terms, and it
was agreed that three hundred Spartans and three hundred Argives
should meet and fight for the place, which should belong to the nation
with whom the victory rested. It was stipulated also that the other
troops on each side should return home to their respective
countries, and not remain to witness the combat, as there was
danger, if the armies stayed, that either the one or the other, on
seeing their countrymen undergoing defeat, might hasten to their
assistance. These terms being agreed on, the two armies marched off,
leaving three hundred picked men on each side to fight for the
territory. The battle began, and so equal were the combatants, that at
the close of the day, when night put a stop to the fight, of the whole
six hundred only three men remained alive, two Argives, Alcanor and
Chromius, and a single Spartan, Othryadas. The two Argives,
regarding themselves as the victors, hurried to Argos. Othryadas,
the Spartan, remained upon the field, and, stripping the bodies of the
Argives who had fallen, carried their armour to the Spartan camp. Next
day the two armies returned to learn the result. At first they
disputed, both parties claiming the victory, the one, because they had
the greater number of survivors; the other, because their man remained
on the field, and stripped the bodies of the slain, whereas the two
men of the other side ran away; but at last they fell from words to
blows, and a battle was fought, in which both parties suffered great
loss, but at the end the Lacedaemonians gained the victory. Upon
this the Argives, who up to that time had worn their hair long, cut it
off close, and made a law, to which they attached a curse, binding
themselves never more to let their hair grow, and never to allow their
women to wear gold, until they should recover Thyrea. At the same time
the Lacedaemonians made a law the very reverse of this, namely, to
wear their hair long, though they had always before cut it close.
Othryadas himself, it is said, the sole survivor of the three hundred,
prevented by a sense of shame from returning to Sparta after all his
comrades had fallen, laid violent hands upon himself in Thyrea.
    Although the Spartans were engaged with these matters when the
herald arrived from Sardis to entreat them to come to the assistance
of the besieged king, yet, notwithstanding, they instantly set to work
to afford him help. They had completed their preparations, and the
ships were just ready to start, when a second message informed them
that the place had already fallen, and that Croesus was a prisoner.
Deeply grieved at his misfortune, the Spartans ceased their efforts.
    The following is the way in which Sardis was taken. On the
fourteenth day of the siege Cyrus bade some horsemen ride about his
lines, and make proclamation to the whole army that he would give a
reward to the man who should first mount the wall. After this he
made an assault, but without success. His troops retired, but a
certain Mardian, Hyroeades by name, resolved to approach the citadel
and attempt it at a place where no guards were ever set. On this
side the rock was so precipitous, and the citadel (as it seemed) so
impregnable, that no fear was entertained of its being carried in this
place. Here was the only portion of the circuit round which their
old king Meles did not carry the lion which his leman bore to him. For
when the Telmessians had declared that if the lion were taken round
the defences, Sardis would be impregnable, and Meles, in
consequence, carried it round the rest of the fortress where the
citadel seemed open to attack, he scorned to take it round this
side, which he looked on as a sheer precipice, and therefore
absolutely secure. It is on that side of the city which faces Mount
Tmolus. Hyroeades, however, having the day before observed a Lydian
soldier descend the rock after a helmet that had rolled down from
the top, and having seen him pick it up and carry it back, thought
over what he had witnessed, and formed his plan. He climbed the rock
himself, and other Persians followed in his track, until a large
number had mounted to the top. Thus was Sardis taken, and given up
entirely to pillage.
    With respect to Croesus himself, this is what befell him at the
taking of the town. He had a son, of whom I made mention above, a
worthy youth, whose only defect was that he was deaf and dumb. In
the days of his prosperity Croesus had done the utmost that be could
for him, and among other plans which he had devised, had sent to
Delphi to consult the oracle on his behalf. The answer which he had
received from the Pythoness ran thus:-

    Lydian, wide-ruling monarch, thou wondrous simple Croesus,
    Wish not ever to hear in thy palace the voice thou hast prayed for
    Uttering intelligent sounds. Far better thy son should be silent!
    Ah! woe worth the day when thine car shall first list to his
      accents.

    When the town was taken, one of the Persians was just going to
kill Croesus, not knowing who he was. Croesus saw the man coming,
but under the pressure of his affliction, did not care to avoid the
blow, not minding whether or no he died beneath the stroke. Then
this son of his, who was voiceless, beholding the Persian as he rushed
towards Croesus, in the agony of his fear and grief burst into speech,
and said, "Man, do not kill Croesus." This was the first time that
he had ever spoken a word, but afterwards he retained the power of
speech for the remainder of his life.
    Thus was Sardis taken by the Persians, and Croesus himself fell
into their hands, after having reigned fourteen years, and been
besieged in his capital fourteen days; thus too did Croesus fulfill
the oracle, which said that he should destroy a mighty empire by
destroying his own. Then the Persians who had made Croesus prisoner
brought him before Cyrus. Now a vast pile had been raised by his
orders, and Croesus, laden with fetters, was placed upon it, and
with him twice seven of the sons of the Lydians. I know not whether
Cyrus was minded to make an offering of the to some god or other, or
whether he had vowed a vow and was performing it, or whether, as may
well be, he had heard that Croesus was a holy man, and so wished to
see if any of the heavenly powers would appear to save him from
being burnt alive. However it might be, Cyrus was thus engaged, and
Croesus was already on the pile, when it entered his mind in the depth
of his woe that there was a divine warning in the words which had come
to him from the lips of Solon, "No one while he lives is happy."
When this thought smote him he fetched a long breath, and breaking his
deep silence, groaned out aloud, thrice uttering the name of Solon.
Cyrus caught the sounds, and bade the interpreters inquire of
Croesus who it was he called on. They drew near and asked him, but
he held his peace, and for a long time made no answer to their
questionings, until at length, forced to say something, he
exclaimed, "One I would give much to see converse with every monarch."
Not knowing what he meant by this reply, the interpreters begged him
to explain himself; and as they pressed for an answer, and grew to
be troublesome, he told them how, a long time before, Solon, an
Athenian, had come and seen all his splendour, and made light of it;
and how whatever he had said to him had fallen out exactly as he
foreshowed, although it was nothing that especially concerned him, but
applied to all mankind alike, and most to those who seemed to
themselves happy. Meanwhile, as he thus spoke, the pile was lighted,
and the outer portion began to blaze. Then Cyrus, hearing from the
interpreters what Croesus had said, relented, bethinking himself
that he too was a man, and that it was a fellow-man, and one who had
once been as blessed by fortune as himself, that he was burning alive;
afraid, moreover, of retribution, and full of the thought that
whatever is human is insecure. So he bade them quench the blazing fire
as quickly as they could, and take down Croesus and the other Lydians,
which they tried to do, but the flames were not to be mastered.
    Then, the Lydians say that Croesus, perceiving by the efforts made
to quench the fire that Cyrus had relented, and seeing also that all
was in vain, and that the men could not get the fire under, called
with a loud voice upon the god Apollo, and prayed him, if he ever
received at his hands any acceptable gift, to come to his aid, and
deliver him from his present danger. As thus with tears he besought
the god, suddenly, though up to that time the sky had been clear and
the day without a breath of wind, dark clouds gathered, and the
storm burst over their heads with rain of such violence, that the
flames were speedily extinguished. Cyrus, convinced by this that
Croesus was a good man and a favourite of heaven, asked him after he
was taken off the pile, "Who it was that had persuaded him to lead
an army into his country, and so become his foe rather than continue
his friend?" to which Croesus made answer as follows: "What I did, oh!
king, was to thy advantage and to my own loss. If there be blame, it
rests with the god of the Greeks, who encouraged me to begin the
war. No one is so foolish as to prefer war to peace, in which, instead
of sons burying their fathers, fathers bury their sons. But the gods
willed it so."
    Thus did Croesus speak. Cyrus then ordered his fetters to be taken
off, and made him sit down near himself, and paid him much respect,
looking upon him, as did also the courtiers, with a sort of wonder.
Croesus, wrapped in thought, uttered no word. After a while, happening
to turn and perceive the Persian soldiers engaged in plundering the
town, he said to Cyrus, "May I now tell thee, oh! king, what I have in
my mind, or is silence best?" Cyrus bade him speak his mind boldly.
Then he put this question: "What is it, oh! Cyrus, which those men
yonder are doing so busily?" "Plundering thy city," Cyrus answered,
"and carrying off thy riches." "Not my city," rejoined the other, "nor
my riches. They are not mine any more. It is thy wealth which they are
pillaging."
    Cyrus, struck by what Croesus had said, bade all the court to
withdraw, and then asked Croesus what he thought it best for him to do
as regarded the plundering. Croesus answered, "Now that the gods
have made me thy slave, oh! Cyrus, it seems to me that it is my
part, if I see anything to thy advantage, to show it to thee. Thy
subjects, the Persians, are a poor people with a proud spirit. If then
thou lettest them pillage and possess themselves of great wealth, I
will tell thee what thou hast to expect at their hands. The man who
gets the most, look to having him rebel against thee. Now then, if
my words please thee, do thus, oh! king:- Let some of thy bodyguards
be placed as sentinels at each of the city gates, and let them take
their booty from the soldiers as they leave the town, and tell them
that they do so because the tenths are due to Jupiter. So wilt thou
escape the hatred they would feel if the plunder were taken away
from them by force; and they, seeing that what is proposed is just,
will do it willingly."
    Cyrus was beyond measure pleased with this advice, so excellent
did it seem to him. He praised Croesus highly, and gave orders to
his bodyguard to do as he had suggested. Then, turning to Croesus,
he said, "Oh! Croesus, I see that thou are resolved both in speech and
act to show thyself a virtuous prince: ask me, therefore, whatever
thou wilt as a gift at this moment." Croesus replied, "Oh! my lord, if
thou wilt suffer me to send these fetters to the god of the Greeks,
whom I once honoured above all other gods, and ask him if it is his
wont to deceive his benefactors- that will be the highest favour
thou canst confer on me." Cyrus upon this inquired what charge he
had to make against the god. Then Croesus gave him a full account of
all his projects, and of the answers of the oracle, and of the
offerings which he had sent, on which he dwelt especially, and told
him how it was the encouragement given him by the oracle which had led
him to make war upon Persia. All this he related, and at the end again
besought permission to reproach the god with his behaviour. Cyrus
answered with a laugh, "This I readily grant thee, and whatever else
thou shalt at any time ask at my hands." Croesus, finding his
request allowed, sent certain Lydians to Delphi, enjoining them to lay
his fetters upon the threshold of the temple, and ask the god, "If
he were not ashamed of having encouraged him, as the destined
destroyer of the empire of Cyrus, to begin a war with Persia, of which
such were the first-fruits?" As they said this they were to point to
the fetters- and further they were to inquire, "If it was the wont
of the Greek gods to be ungrateful?"
    The Lydians went to Delphi and delivered their message, on which
the Pythoness is said to have replied- "It is not possible even for
a god to escape the decree of destiny. Croesus has been punished for
the sin of his fifth ancestor, who, when he was one of the bodyguard
of the Heraclides, joined in a woman's fraud, and, slaying his master,
wrongfully seized the throne. Apollo was anxious that the fall of
Sardis should not happen in the lifetime of Croesus, but be delayed to
his son's days; he could not, however, persuade the Fates. All that
they were willing to allow he took and gave to Croesus. Let Croesus
know that Apollo delayed the taking of Sardis three full years, and
that he is thus a prisoner three years later than was his destiny.
Moreover it was Apollo who saved him from the burning pile. Nor has
Croesus any right to complain with respect to the oracular answer
which he received. For when the god told him that, if he attacked
the Persians, he would destroy a mighty empire, he ought, if he had
been wise, to have sent again and inquired which empire was meant,
that of Cyrus or his own; but if he neither understood what was
said, nor took the trouble to seek for enlightenment, he has only
himself to blame for the result. Besides, he had misunderstood the
last answer which had been given him about the mule. Cyrus was that
mule. For the parents of Cyrus were of different races, and of
different conditions- his mother a Median princess, daughter of King
Astyages, and his father a Persian and a subject, who, though so far
beneath her in all respects, had married his royal mistress."
    Such was the answer of the Pythoness. The Lydians returned to
Sardis and communicated it to Croesus, who confessed, on hearing it,
that the fault was his, not the god's. Such was the way in which Ionia
was first conquered, and so was the empire of Croesus brought to a
close.
    Besides the offerings which have been already mentioned, there are
many others in various parts of Greece presented by Croesus; as at
Thebes in Boeotia, where there is a golden tripod, dedicated by him to
Ismenian Apollo; at Ephesus, where the golden heifers, and most of the
columns are his gift; and at Delphi, in the temple of Pronaia, where
there is a huge shield in gold, which he gave. All these offerings
were still in existence in my day; many others have perished: among
them those which he dedicated at Branchidae in Milesia, equal in
weight, as I am informed, and in all respects like to those at Delphi.
The Delphian presents, and those sent to Amphiaraus, came from his own
private property, being the first-fruits of the fortune which he
inherited from his father; his other offerings came from the riches of
an enemy, who, before he mounted the throne, headed a party against
him, with the view of obtaining the crown of Lydia for Pantaleon. This
Pantaleon was a son of Alyattes, but by a different mother from
Croesus; for the mother of Croesus was a Carian woman, but the
mother of Pantaleon an Ionian. When, by the appointment of his father,
Croesus obtained the kingly dignity, he seized the man who had plotted
against him, and broke him upon the wheel. His property, which he
had previously devoted to the service of the gods, Croesus applied
in the way mentioned above. This is all I shall say about his
offerings.
    Lydia, unlike most other countries, scarcely offers any wonders
for the historian to describe, except the gold-dust which is washed
down from the range of Tmolus. It has, however, one structure of
enormous size, only inferior to the monuments of Egypt and Babylon.
This is the tomb of Alyattes, the father of Croesus, the base of which
is formed of immense blocks of stone, the rest being a vast mound of
earth. It was raised by the joint labour of the tradesmen,
handicraftsmen, and courtesans of Sardis, and had at the top five
stone pillars, which remained to my day, with inscriptions cut on
them, showing how much of the work was done by each class of
workpeople. It appeared on measurement that the portion of the
courtesans was the largest. The daughters of the common people in
Lydia, one and all, pursue this traffic, wishing to collect money
for their portions. They continue the practice till they marry; and
are wont to contract themselves in marriage. The tomb is six stades
and two plethra in circumference; its breadth is thirteen plethra.
Close to the tomb is a large lake, which the Lydians say is never dry.
They call it the Lake Gygaea.
    The Lydians have very nearly the same customs as the Greeks,
with the exception that these last do not bring up their girls in
the same way. So far as we have any knowledge, they were the first
nation to introduce the use of gold and silver coin, and the first who
sold goods by retail. They claim also the invention of all the games
which are common to them with the Greeks. These they declare that they
invented about the time when they colonised Tyrrhenia, an event of
which they give the following account. In the days of Atys, the son of
Manes, there was great scarcity through the whole land of Lydia. For
some time the Lydians bore the affliction patiently, but finding
that it did not pass away, they set to work to devise remedies for the
evil. Various expedients were discovered by various persons; dice, and
huckle-bones, and ball, and all such games were invented, except
tables, the invention of which they do not claim as theirs. The plan
adopted against the famine was to engage in games one day so
entirely as not to feel any craving for food, and the next day to
eat and abstain from games. In this way they passed eighteen years.
Still the affliction continued and even became more grievous. So the
king determined to divide the nation in half, and to make the two
portions draw lots, the one to stay, the other to leave the land. He
would continue to reign over those whose lot it should be to remain
behind; the emigrants should have his son Tyrrhenus for their
leader. The lot was cast, and they who had to emigrate went down to
Smyrna, and built themselves ships, in which, after they had put on
board all needful stores, they sailed away in search of new homes
and better sustenance. After sailing past many countries they came
to Umbria, where they built cities for themselves, and fixed their
residence. Their former name of Lydians they laid aside, and called
themselves after the name of the king's son, who led the colony,
Tyrrhenians.
    Thus far I have been engaged in showing how the Lydians were
brought under the Persian yoke. The course of my history now compels
me to inquire who this Cyrus was by whom the Lydian empire was
destroyed, and by what means the Persians had become the lords
paramount of Asia. And herein I shall follow those Persian authorities
whose object it appears to be not to magnify the exploits of Cyrus,
but to relate the simple truth. I know besides three ways in which the
story of Cyrus is told, all differing from my own narrative.
    The Assyrians had held the Empire of Upper Asia for the space of
five hundred and twenty years, when the Medes set the example of
revolt from their authority. They took arms for the recovery of
their freedom, and fought a battle with the Assyrians, in which they
behaved with such gallantry as to shake off the yoke of servitude, and
to become a free people. Upon their success the other nations also
revolted and regained their independence.
    Thus the nations over that whole extent of country obtained the
blessing of self-government, but they fell again under the sway of
kings, in the manner which I will now relate. There was a certain Mede
named Deioces, son of Phraortes, a man of much wisdom, who had
conceived the desire of obtaining to himself the sovereign power. In
furtherance of his ambition, therefore, he formed and carried into
execution the following scheme. As the Medes at that time dwelt in
scattered villages without any central authority, and lawlessness in
consequence prevailed throughout the land, Deioces, who was already
a man of mark in his own village, applied himself with greater zeal
and earnestness than ever before to the practice of justice among
his fellows. It was his conviction that justice and injustice are
engaged in perpetual war with one another. He therefore began his
course of conduct, and presently the men of his village, observing his
integrity, chose him to be the arbiter of all their disputes. Bent
on obtaining the sovereign power, he showed himself an honest and an
upright judge, and by these means gained such credit with his
fellow-citizens as to attract the attention of those who lived in
the surrounding villages. They had long been suffering from unjust and
oppressive judgments; so that, when they heard of the singular
uprightness of Deioces, and of the equity of his decisions, they
joyfully had recourse to him in the various quarrels and suits that
arose, until at last they came to put confidence in no one else.
    The number of complaints brought before him continually
increasing, as people learnt more and more the fairness of his
judgments, Deioces, feeling himself now all important, announced
that he did not intend any longer to hear causes, and appeared no more
in the seat in which he had been accustomed to sit and administer
justice. "It did not square with his interests," he said, "to spend
the whole day in regulating other men's affairs to the neglect of
his own." Hereupon robbery and lawlessness broke out afresh, and
prevailed through the country even more than heretofore; wherefore the
Medes assembled from all quarters, and held a consultation on the
state of affairs. The speakers, as I think, were chiefly friends of
Deioces. "We cannot possibly," they said, "go on living in this
country if things continue as they now are; let us therefore set a
king over us, that so the land may be well governed, and we
ourselves may be able to attend to our own affairs, and not be
forced to quit our country on account of anarchy." The assembly was
persuaded by these arguments, and resolved to appoint a king.
    It followed to determine who should be chosen to the office.
When this debate began the claims of Deioces and his praises were at
once in every mouth; so that presently all agreed that he should be
king. Upon this he required a palace to be built for him suitable to
his rank, and a guard to be given him for his person. The Medes
complied, and built him a strong and large palace, on a spot which
he himself pointed out, and likewise gave him liberty to choose
himself a bodyguard from the whole nation. Thus settled upon the
throne, he further required them to build a single great city, and,
disregarding the petty towns in which they had formerly dwelt, make
the new capital the object of their chief attention. The Medes were
again obedient, and built the city now called Agbatana, the walls of
which are of great size and strength, rising in circles one within the
other. The plan of the place is that each of the walls should
out-top the one beyond it by the battlements. The nature of the
ground, which is a gentle hill, favours this arrangement in some
degree, but it was mainly effected by art. The number of the circles
is seven, the royal palace and the treasuries standing within the
last. The circuit of the outer wall is very nearly the same with
that of Athens. Of this wall the battlements are white, of the next
black, of the third scarlet, of the fourth blue, of the fifth
orange; all these are coloured with paint. The two last have their
battlements coated respectively with silver and gold.
    All these fortifications Deioces caused to be raised for himself
and his own palace. The people were required to build their
dwellings outside the circuit of the walls. When the town was
finished, he proceeded to arrange the ceremonial. He allowed no one to
have direct access to the person of the king, but made all
communication pass through the hands of messengers, and forbade the
king to be seen by his subjects. He also made it an offence for any
one whatsoever to laugh or spit in the royal presence. This
ceremonial, of which he was the first inventor, Deioces established
for his own security, fearing that his compeers, who were brought up
together with him, and were of as good family as he, and no whit
inferior to him in manly qualities, if they saw him frequently would
be pained at the sight, and would therefore be likely to conspire
against him; whereas if they did not see him, they would think him
quite a different sort of being from themselves.
    After completing these arrangements, and firmly settling himself
upon the throne, Deioces continued to administer justice with the same
strictness as before. Causes were stated in writing, and sent in to
the king, who passed his judgment upon the contents, and transmitted
his decisions to the parties concerned: besides which he had spies and
eavesdroppers in all parts of his dominions, and if he heard of any
act of oppression, he sent for the guilty party, and awarded him the
punishment meet for his offence.
    Thus Deioces collected the Medes into a nation, and ruled over
them alone. Now these are the tribes of which they consist: the Busae,
the Paretaceni, the Struchates, the Arizanti, the Budii, and the Magi.
    Having reigned three-and-fifty years, Deioces was at his death
succeeded by his son Phraortes. This prince, not satisfied with a
dominion which did not extend beyond the single nation of the Medes,
began by attacking the Persians; and marching an army into their
country, brought them under the Median yoke before any other people.
After this success, being now at the head of two nations, both of them
powerful, he proceeded to conquer Asia, overrunning province after
province. At last he engaged in war with the Assyrians- those
Assyrians, I mean, to whom Nineveh belonged, who were formerly the
lords of Asia. At present they stood alone by the revolt and desertion
of their allies, yet still their internal condition was as flourishing
as ever. Phraortes attacked them, but perished in the expedition
with the greater part of his army, after having reigned over the Medes
two-and-twenty years.
    On the death of Phraortes his son Cyaxares ascended the throne. Of
him it is reported that he was still more war-like than any of his
ancestors, and that he was the first who gave organisation to an
Asiatic army, dividing the troops into companies, and forming distinct
bodies of the spearmen, the archers, and the cavalry, who before his
time had been mingled in one mass, and confused together. He it was
who fought against the Lydians on the occasion when the day was
changed suddenly into night, and who brought under his dominion the
whole of Asia beyond the Halys. This prince, collecting together all
the nations which owned his sway, marched against Nineveh, resolved to
avenge his father, and cherishing a hope that he might succeed in
taking the town. A battle was fought, in which the Assyrians
suffered a defeat, and Cyaxares had already begun the siege of the
place, when a numerous horde of Scyths, under their king Madyes, son
of Prtotohyes, burst into Asia in pursuit of the Cimmerians whom
they had driven out of Europe, and entered the Median territory.
    The distance from the Palus Maeotis to the river Phasis and the
Colchians is thirty days' journey for a lightly-equipped traveller.
>From Colchis to cross into Media does not take long- there is only a
single intervening nation, the Saspirians, passing whom you find
yourself in Media. This however was not the road followed by the
Scythians, who turned out of the straight course, and took the upper
route, which is much longer, keeping the Caucasus upon their right.
The Scythians, having thus invaded Media, were opposed by the Medes,
who gave them battle, but, being defeated, lost their empire. The
Scythians became masters of Asia.
    After this they marched forward with the design of invading Egypt.
When they had reached Palestine, however, Psammetichus the Egyptian
king met them with gifts and prayers, and prevailed on them to advance
no further. On their return, passing through Ascalon, a city of Syria,
the greater part of them went their way without doing any damage;
but some few who lagged behind pillaged the temple of Celestial Venus.
I have inquired and find that the temple at Ascalon is the most
ancient of all the temples to this goddess; for the one in Cyprus,
as the Cyprians themselves admit, was built in imitation of it; and
that in Cythera was erected by the Phoenicians, who belong to this
part of Syria. The Scythians who plundered the temple were punished by
the goddess with the female sickness, which still attaches to their
posterity. They themselves confess that they are afflicted with the
disease for this reason, and travellers who visit Scythia can see what
sort of a disease it is. Those who suffer from it are called Enarees.
    The dominion of the Scythians over Asia lasted eight-and-twenty
years, during which time their insolence and oppression spread ruin on
every side. For besides the regular tribute, they exacted from the
several nations additional imposts, which they fixed at pleasure;
and further, they scoured the country and plundered every one of
whatever they could. At length Cyaxares and the Medes invited the
greater part of them to a banquet, and made them drunk with wine,
after which they were all massacred. The Medes then recovered their
empire, and had the same extent of dominion as before. They took
Nineveh- I will relate how in another history- and conquered all
Assyria except the district of Babylonia. After this Cyaxares died,
having reigned over the Medes, if we include the time of the
Scythian rule, forty years.
    Astyages, the son of Cyaxares, succeeded to the throne. He had a
daughter who was named Mandane concerning whom he had a wonderful
dream. He dreamt that from her such a stream of water flowed forth
as not only to fill his capital, but to flood the whole of Asia.
This vision he laid before such of the Magi as had the gift of
interpreting dreams, who expounded its meaning to him in full, whereat
he was greatly terrified. On this account, when his daughter was now
of ripe age, he would not give her in marriage to any of the Medes who
were of suitable rank, lest the dream should be accomplished; but he
married her to a Persian of good family indeed, but of a quiet temper,
whom he looked on as much inferior to a Mede of even middle condition.
    Thus Cambyses (for so was the Persian called) wedded Mandane,
and took her to his home, after which, in the very first year,
Astyages saw another vision. He fancied that a vine grew from the womb
of his daughter, and overshadowed the whole of Asia. After this dream,
which he submitted also to the interpreters, he sent to Persia and
fetched away Mandane, who was now with child, and was not far from her
time. On her arrival he set a watch over her, intending to destroy the
child to which she should give birth; for the Magian interpreters
had expounded the vision to foreshow that the offspring of his
daughter would reign over Asia in his stead. To guard against this,
Astyages, as soon as Cyrus was born, sent for Harpagus, a man of his
own house and the most faithful of the Medes, to whom he was wont to
entrust all his affairs, and addressed him thus- "Harpagus, I
beseech thee neglect not the business with which I am about to
charge thee; neither betray thou the interests of thy lord for others'
sake, lest thou bring destruction on thine own head at some future
time. Take the child born of Mandane my daughter; carry him with
thee to thy home and slay him there. Then bury him as thou wilt." "Oh!
king," replied the other, "never in time past did Harpagus disoblige
thee in anything, and be sure that through all future time he will
be careful in nothing to offend. If therefore it be thy will that this
thing be done, it is for me to serve thee with all diligence."
    When Harpagus had thus answered, the child was given into his
hands, clothed in the garb of death, and he hastened weeping to his
home. There on his arrival he found his wife, to whom he told all that
Astyages had said. "What then," said she, "is it now in thy heart to
do?" "Not what Astyages requires," he answered; "no, he may be
madder and more frantic still than he is now, but I will not be the
man to work his will, or lend a helping hand to such a murder as this.
Many things forbid my slaying him. In the first place the boy is my
own kith and kin; and next Astyages is old, and has no son. If then
when he dies the crown should go to his daughter- that daughter
whose child he now wishes to slay by my hand- what remains for me
but danger of the fearfullest kind? For my own safety, indeed, the
child must die; but some one belonging to Astyages must take his life,
not I or mine."
    So saying he sent off a messenger to fetch a certain Mitradates,
one of the herdsmen of Astyages, whose pasturages he knew to be the
fittest for his purpose, lying as they did among mountains infested
with wild beasts. This man was married to one of the king's female
slaves, whose Median name was Spaco, which is in Greek Cyno, since
in the Median tongue the word "Spaca" means a bitch. The mountains, on
the skirts of which his cattle grazed, lie to the north of Agbatana,
towards the Euxine. That part of Media which borders on the Saspirians
is an elevated tract, very mountainous, and covered with forests,
while the rest of the Median territory is entirely level ground. On
the arrival of the herdsman, who came at the hasty summons, Harpagus
said to him- "Astyages requires thee to take this child and lay him in
the wildest part of the hills, where he will be sure to die
speedily. And he bade me tell thee, that if thou dost not kill the
boy, but anyhow allowest him to escape, he will put thee to the most
painful of deaths. I myself am appointed to see the child exposed."
    The herdsman on hearing this took the child in his arms, and
went back the way he had come till he reached the folds. There,
providentially, his wife, who had been expecting daily to be put to
bed, had just, during the absence of her husband, been delivered of
a child. Both the herdsman and his wife were uneasy on each other's
account, the former fearful because his wife was so near her time, the
woman alarmed because it was a new thing for her husband to be sent
for by Harpagus. When therefore he came into the house upon his
return, his wife, seeing him arrive so unexpectedly, was the first
to speak, and begged to know why Harpagus had sent for him in such a
hurry. "Wife," said he, "when I got to the town I saw and heard such
things as I would to heaven I had never seen such things as I would to
heaven had never happened to our masters. Every one was weeping in
Harpagus's house. It quite frightened me, but I went in. The moment
I stepped inside, what should I see but a baby lying on the floor,
panting and whimpering, and all covered with gold, and wrapped in
clothes of such beautiful colours. Harpagus saw me, and directly
ordered me to take the child my arms and carry him off, and what was I
to do with him, think you? Why, to lay him in the mountains, where the
wild beasts are most plentiful. And he told me it was the king himself
that ordered it to be done, and he threatened me with such dreadful
things if I failed. So I took the child up in my arms, and carried him
along. I thought it might be the son of one of the household slaves. I
did wonder certainly to see the gold and the beautiful baby-clothes,
and I could not think why there was such a weeping in Harpagus's
house. Well, very soon, as I came along, I got at the truth. They sent
a servant with me to show me the way out of the town, and to leave the
baby in my hands; and he told me that the child's mother is the king's
daughter Mandane, and his father Cambyses, the son of Cyrus; and
that the king orders him to be killed; and look, here the child is."
    With this the herdsman uncovered the infant, and showed him to his
wife, who, when she saw him, and observed how fine a child and how
beautiful he was, burst into tears, and clinging to the knees of her
husband, besought him on no account to expose the babe; to which he
answered, that it was not possible for him to do otherwise, as
Harpagus would be sure to send persons to see and report to him, and
he was to suffer a most cruel death if he disobeyed. Failing thus in
her first attempt to persuade her husband, the woman spoke a second
time, saying, "If then there is no persuading thee, and a child must
needs be seen exposed upon the mountains, at least do thus. The
child of which I have just been delivered is stillborn; take it and
lay it on the hills, and let us bring up as our own the child of the
daughter of Astyages. So shalt thou not be charged with unfaithfulness
to thy lord, nor shall we have managed badly for ourselves. Our dead
babe will have a royal funeral, and this living child will not be
deprived of life."
    It seemed to the herdsman that this advice was the best under
the circumstances. He therefore followed it without loss of time.
The child which he had intended to put to death he gave over to his
wife, and his own dead child he put in the cradle wherein he had
carried the other, clothing it first in all the other's costly attire,
and taking it in his arms he laid it in the wildest place of all the
mountain-range. When the child had been three days exposed, leaving
one of his helpers to watch the body, he started off for the city, and
going straight to Harpagus's house, declared himself ready to show the
corpse of the boy. Harpagus sent certain of his bodyguard, on whom
he had the firmest reliance, to view the body for him, and,
satisfied with their seeing it, gave orders for the funeral. Thus
was the herdsman's child buried, and the other child, who was
afterwards known by the name of Cyrus, was taken by the herdsman's
wife, and brought up under a different name.
    When the boy was in his tenth year, an accident which I will now
relate, caused it to be discovered who he was. He was at play one
day in the village where the folds of the cattle were, along with
the boys of his own age, in the street. The other boys who were
playing with him chose the cowherd's son, as he was called, to be
their king. He then proceeded to order them about some he set to build
him houses, others he made his guards, one of them was to be the
king's eye, another had the office of carrying his messages; all had
some task or other. Among the boys there was one, the son of
Artembares, a Mede of distinction, who refused to do what Cyrus had
set him. Cyrus told the other boys to take him into custody, and
when his orders were obeyed, he chastised him most severely with the
whip. The son of Artembares, as soon as he was let go, full of rage at
treatment so little befitting his rank, hastened to the city and
complained bitterly to his father of what had been done to him by
Cyrus. He did not, of course, say "Cyrus," by which name the boy was
not yet known, but called him the son of the king's cowherd.
Artembares, in the heat of his passion, went to Astyages,
accompanied by his son, and made complaint of the gross injury which
had been done him. Pointing to the boy's shoulders, he exclaimed,
"Thus, oh! king, has thy slave, the son of a cowherd, heaped insult
upon us."
    At this sight and these words Astyages, wishing to avenge the
son of Artembares for his father's sake, sent for the cowherd and
his boy. When they came together into his presence, fixing his eyes on
Cyrus, Astyages said, "Hast thou then, the son of so mean a fellow
as that, dared to behave thus rudely to the son of yonder noble, one
of the first in my court?" "My lord," replied the boy, "I only treated
him as he deserved. I was chosen king in play by the boys of our
village, because they thought me the best for it. He himself was one
of the boys who chose me. All the others did according to my orders;
but he refused, and made light of them, until at last he got his due
reward. If for this I deserve to suffer punishment, here I am ready to
submit to it."
    While the boy was yet speaking Astyages was struck with a
suspicion who he was. He thought he saw something in the character
of his face like his own, and there was a nobleness about the answer
he had made; besides which his age seemed to tally with the time
when his grandchild was exposed. Astonished at all this, Astyages
could not speak for a while. At last, recovering himself with
difficulty, and wishing to be quit of Artembares, that he might
examine the herdsman alone, he said to the former, "I promise thee,
Artembares, so to settle this business that neither thou nor thy son
shall have any cause to complain." Artembares retired from his
presence, and the attendants, at the bidding of the king, led Cyrus
into an inner apartment. Astyages then being left alone with the
herdsman, inquired of him where he had got the boy, and who had
given him to him; to which he made answer that the lad was his own
child, begotten by himself, and that the mother who bore him was still
alive with him in his house. Astyages remarked that he was very
ill-advised to bring himself into such great trouble, and at the
same time signed to his bodyguard to lay hold of him. Then the
herdsman, as they were dragging him to the rack, began at the
beginning, and told the whole story exactly as it happened, without
concealing anything, ending with entreaties and prayers to the king to
grant him forgiveness.
    Astyages, having got the truth of the matter from the herdsman,
was very little further concerned about him, but with Harpagus he
was exceedingly enraged. The guards were bidden to summon him into the
presence, and on his appearance Astyages asked him, "By what death was
it, Harpagus, that thou slewest the child of my daughter whom I gave
into thy hands?" Harpagus, seeing the cowherd in the room, did not
betake himself to lies, lest he should be confuted and proved false,
but replied as follows:- "Sire, when thou gavest the child into my
hands I instantly considered with myself how I could contrive to
execute thy wishes, and yet, while guiltless of any unfaithfulness
towards thee, avoid imbruing my hands in blood which was in truth
thy daughter's and thine own. And this was how I contrived it. I
sent for this cowherd, and gave the child over to him, telling him
that by the king's orders it was to be put to death. And in this I
told no lie, for thou hadst so commanded. Moreover, when I gave him
the child, I enjoined him to lay it somewhere in the wilds of the
mountains, and to stay near and watch till it was dead; and I
threatened him with all manner of punishment if he failed. Afterwards,
when he had done according to all that I commanded him, and the
child had died, I sent some of the most trustworthy of my eunuchs, who
viewed the body for me, and then I had the child buried. This, sire,
is the simple truth, and this is the death by which the child died."
    Thus Harpagus related the whole story in a plain,
straightforward way; upon which Astyages, letting no sign escape him
of the anger that he felt, began by repeating to him all that he had
just heard from the cowherd, and then concluded with saying, "So the
boy is alive, and it is best as it is. For the child's fate was a
great sorrow to me, and the reproaches of my daughter went to my
heart. Truly fortune has played us a good turn in this. Go thou home
then, and send thy son to be with the new comer, and to-night, as I
mean to sacrifice thank-offerings for the child's safety to the gods
to whom such honour is due, I look to have thee a guest at the
banquet."
    Harpagus, on hearing this, made obeisance, and went home rejoicing
to find that his disobedience had turned out so fortunately, and that,
instead of being punished, he was invited to a banquet given in honour
of the happy occasion. The moment he reached home he called for his
son, a youth of about thirteen, the only child of his parents, and
bade him go to the palace, and do whatever Astyages should direct.
Then, in the gladness of his heart, he went to his wife and told her
all that had happened. Astyages, meanwhile, took the son of
Harpagus, and slew him, after which he cut him in pieces, and
roasted some portions before the fire, and boiled others; and when all
were duly prepared, he kept them ready for use. The hour for the
banquet came, and Harpagus appeared, and with him the other guests,
and all sat down to the feast. Astyages and the rest of the guests had
joints of meat served up to them; but on the table of Harpagus,
nothing was placed except the flesh of his own son. This was all put
before him, except the hands and feet and head, which were laid by
themselves in a covered basket. When Harpagus seemed to have eaten his
fill, Astyages called out to him to know how he had enjoyed the
repast. On his reply that he had enjoyed it excessively, they whose
business it was brought him the basket, in which were the hands and
feet and head of his son, and bade him open it, and take out what he
pleased. Harpagus accordingly uncovered the basket, and saw within
it the remains of his son. The sight, however, did not scare him, or
rob him of his self-possession. Being asked by Astyages if he knew
what beast's flesh it was that he had been eating, he answered that he
knew very well, and that whatever the king did was agreeable. After
this reply, he took with him such morsels of the flesh as were
uneaten, and went home, intending, as I conceive, to collect the
remains and bury them.
    Such was the mode in which Astyages punished Harpagus: afterwards,
proceeding to consider what he should do with Cyrus, his grandchild,
he sent for the Magi, who formerly interpreted his dream in the way
which alarmed him so much, and asked them how they had expounded it.
They answered, without varying from what they had said before, that
"the boy must needs be a king if he grew up, and did not die too
soon." Then Astyages addressed them thus: "The boy has escaped, and
lives; he has been brought up in the country, and the lads of the
village where he lives have made him their king. All that kings
commonly do he has done. He has had his guards, and his doorkeepers,
and his messengers, and all the other usual officers. Tell me, then,
to what, think you, does all this tend?" The Magi answered, "If the
boy survives, and has ruled as a king without any craft or
contrivance, in that case we bid thee cheer up, and feel no more alarm
on his account. He will not reign a second time. For we have found
even oracles sometimes fulfilled in an unimportant way; and dreams,
still oftener, have wondrously mean accomplishments." "It is what I
myself most incline to think," Astyages rejoined; "the boy having been
already king, the dream is out, and I have nothing more to fear from
him. Nevertheless, take good heed and counsel me the best you can
for the safety of my house and your own interests." "Truly," said
the Magi in reply, "it very much concerns our interests that thy
kingdom be firmly established; for if it went to this boy it would
pass into foreign hands, since he is a Persian: and then we Medes
should lose our freedom, and be quite despised by the Persians, as
being foreigners. But so long as thou, our fellow-countryman, art on
the throne, all manner of honours are ours, and we are even not
without some share in the government. Much reason therefore have we to
forecast well for thee and for thy sovereignty. If then we saw any
cause for present fear, be sure we would not keep it back from thee.
But truly we are persuaded that the dream has had its accomplishment
in this harmless way; and so our own fears being at rest, we recommend
thee to banish thine. As for the boy, our advice is that thou send him
away to Persia, to his father and mother."
    Astyages heard their answer with pleasure, and calling Cyrus
into his presence, said to him, "My child, I was led to do thee a
wrong by a dream which has come to nothing: from that wrong thou
wert saved by thy own good fortune. Go now with a light heart to
Persia; I will provide thy escort. Go, and when thou gettest to thy
journey's end, thou wilt behold thy father and thy mother, quite other
people from Mitradates the cowherd and his wife."
    With these words Astyages dismissed his grandchild. On his arrival
at the house of Cambyses, he was received by his parents, who, when
they learnt who he was, embraced him heartily, having always been
convinced that he died almost as soon as he was born. So they asked
him by what means he had chanced to escape; and he told them how
that till lately he had known nothing at all about the matter, but had
been mistaken- oh! so widely!- and how that he had learnt his
history by the way, as he came from Media. He had been quite sure that
he was the son of the king's cowherd, but on the road the king's
escort had told him all the truth; and then he spoke of the
cowherd's wife who had brought him up, and filled his whole talk
with her praises; in all that he had to tell them about himself, it
was always Cyno- Cyno was everything. So it happened that his parents,
catching the name at his mouth, and wishing to persuade the Persians
that there was a special providence in his preservation, spread the
report that Cyrus, when he was exposed, was suckled by a bitch. This
was the sole origin of the rumour.
    Afterwards, when Cyrus grew to manhood, and became known as the
bravest and most popular of all his compeers, Harpagus, who was bent
on revenging himself upon Astyages, began to pay him court by gifts
and messages. His own rank was too humble for him to hope to obtain
vengeance without some foreign help. When therefore he saw Cyrus,
whose wrongs were so similar to his own, growing up expressly (as it
were) to be the avenger whom he needed, he set to work to procure
his support and aid in the matter. He had already paved the way for
his designs, by persuading, severally, the great Median nobles, whom
the harsh rule of their monarch had offended, that the best plan would
be to put Cyrus at their head, and dethrone Astyages. These
preparations made, Harpagus, being now ready for revolt, was anxious
to make known his wishes to Cyrus, who still lived in Persia; but as
the roads between Media and Persia were guarded, he had to contrive
a means of sending word secretly, which he did in the following way.
He took a hare, and cutting open its belly without hurting the fur, he
slipped in a letter containing what he wanted to say, and then
carefully sewing up the paunch, he gave the hare to one of his most
faithful slaves, disguising him as a hunter with nets, and sent him
off to Persia to take the game as a present to Cyrus, bidding him tell
Cyrus, by word of mouth, to paunch the animal himself, and let no
one be present at the time.
    All was done as he wished, and Cyrus, on cutting the hare open,
found the letter inside, and read as follows:- "Son of Cambyses, the
gods assuredly watch over thee, or never wouldst thou have passed
through thy many wonderful adventures- now is the time when thou mayst
avenge thyself upon Astyages, thy murderer. He willed thy death,
remember; to the gods and to me thou owest that thou art still
alive. I think thou art not ignorant of what he did to thee, nor of
what I suffered at his hands because I committed thee to the
cowherd, and did not put thee to death. Listen now to me, and obey
my words, and all the empire of Astyages shall be thine. Raise the
standard of revolt in Persia, and then march straight on Media.
Whether Astyages appoint me to command his forces against thee, or
whether he appoint any other of the princes of the Medes, all will
go as thou couldst wish. They will be the first to fall away from him,
and joining thy side, exert themselves to overturn his power. Be
sure that on our part all is ready; wherefore do thou thy part, and
that speedily."
    Cyrus, on receiving the tidings contained in this letter, set
himself to consider how he might best persuade the Persians to revolt.
After much thought, he hit on the following as the most expedient
course: he wrote what he thought proper upon a roll, and then
calling an assembly of the Persians, he unfolded the roll, and read
out of it that Astyages appointed him their general. "And now," said
he, "since it is so, I command you to go and bring each man his
reaping-hook." With these words he dismissed the assembly.
    Now the Persian nation is made up of many tribes. Those which
Cyrus assembled and persuaded to revolt from the Medes were the
principal ones on which all the others are dependent. These are the
Pasargadae, the Maraphians, and the Maspians, of whom the Pasargadae
are the noblest. The Achaemenidae, from which spring all the Perseid
kings, is one of their clans. The rest of the Persian tribes are the
following: the Panthialaeans, the Derusiaeans, the Germanians, who are
engaged in husbandry; the Daans, the Mardians, the Dropicans, and
the Sagartians, who are nomads.
    When, in obedience to the orders which they had received, the
Persians came with their reaping-hooks, Cyrus led them to a tract of
ground, about eighteen or twenty furlongs each way, covered with
thorns, and ordered them to clear it before the day was out. They
accomplished their task; upon which he issued a second order to
them, to take the bath the day following, and again come to him.
Meanwhile he collected together all his father's flocks, both sheep
and goats, and all his oxen, and slaughtered them, and made ready to
give an entertainment to the entire Persian army. Wine, too, and bread
of the choicest kinds were prepared for the occasion. When the
morrow came, and the Persians appeared, he bade them recline upon
the grass, and enjoy themselves. After the feast was over, he
requested them to tell him "which they liked best, to-day's work, or
yesterday's?" They answered that "the contrast was indeed strong:
yesterday brought them nothing but what was bad, to-day everything
that was good." Cyrus instantly seized on their reply, and laid bare
his purpose in these words: "Ye men of Persia, thus do matters stand
with you. If you choose to hearken to my words, you may enjoy these
and ten thousand similar delights, and never condescend to any slavish
toil; but if you will not hearken, prepare yourselves for unnumbered
toils as hard as yesterday's. Now therefore follow my bidding, and
be free. For myself I feel that I am destined by Providence to
undertake your liberation; and you, I am sure, are no whit inferior to
the Medes in anything, least of all in bravery. Revolt, therefore,
from Astyages, without a moment's delay."
    The Persians, who had long been impatient of the Median
dominion, now that they had found a leader, were delighted to shake
off the yoke. Meanwhile Astyages, informed of the doings of Cyrus,
sent a messenger to summon him to his presence. Cyrus replied, "Tell
Astyages that I shall appear in his presence sooner than he will
like." Astyages, when he received this message, instantly armed all
his subjects, and, as if God had deprived him of his senses, appointed
Harpagus to be their general, forgetting how greatly he had injured
him. So when the two armies met and engaged, only a few of the
Medes, who were not in the secret, fought; others deserted openly to
the Persians; while the greater number counterfeited fear, and fled.
    Astyages, on learning the shameful flight and dispersion of his
army, broke out into threats against Cyrus, saying, "Cyrus shall
nevertheless have no reason to rejoice"; and directly he seized the
Magian interpreters, who had persuaded him to allow Cyrus to escape,
and impaled them; after which, he armed all the Medes who had remained
in the city, both young and old; and leading them against the
Persians, fought a battle, in which he was utterly defeated, his
army being destroyed, and he himself falling into the enemy's hands.
    Harpagus then, seeing him a prisoner, came near, and exulted
over him with many jibes and jeers. Among other cutting speeches which
he made, he alluded to the supper where the flesh of his son was given
him to eat, and asked Astyages to answer him now, how he enjoyed being
a slave instead of a king? Astyages looked in his face, and asked
him in return, why he claimed as his own the achievements of Cyrus?
"Because," said Harpagus, "it was my letter which made him revolt, and
so I am entitled to all the credit of the enterprise." Then Astyages
declared that "in that case he was at once the silliest and the most
unjust of men: the silliest, if when it was in his power to put the
crown on his own head, as it must assuredly have been, if the revolt
was entirely his doing, he had placed it on the head of another; the
most unjust, if on account of that supper he had brought slavery on
the Medes. For, supposing that he was obliged to invest another with
the kingly power, and not retain it himself, yet justice required that
a Mede, rather than a Persian, should receive the dignity. Now,
however, the Medes, who had been no parties to the wrong of which he
complained, were made slaves instead of lords, and slaves moreover
of those who till recently had been their subjects."
    Thus after a reign of thirty-five years, Astyages lost his
crown, and the Medes, in consequence of his cruelty, were brought
under the rule of the Persians. Their empire over the parts of Asia
beyond the Halys had lasted one hundred and twenty-eight years, except
during the time when the Scythians had the dominion. Afterwards the
Medes repented of their submission, and revolted from Darius, but were
defeated in battle, and again reduced to subjection. Now, however,
in the time of Astyages, it was the Persians who under Cyrus
revolted from the Medes, and became thenceforth the rulers of Asia.
Cyrus kept Astyages at his court during the remainder of his life,
without doing him any further injury. Such then were the circumstances
of the birth and bringing up of Cyrus, and such were the steps by
which he mounted the throne. It was at a later date that he was
attacked by Croesus, and overthrew him, as I have related in an
earlier portion of this history. The overthrow of Croesus made him
master of the whole of Asia.
    The customs which I know the Persians to observe are the
following: they have no images of the gods, no temples nor altars, and
consider the use of them a sign of folly. This comes, I think, from
their not believing the gods to have the same nature with men, as
the Greeks imagine. Their wont, however, is to ascend the summits of
the loftiest mountains, and there to offer sacrifice to Jupiter, which
is the name they give to the whole circuit of the firmament. They
likewise offer to the sun and moon, to the earth, to fire, to water,
and to the winds. These are the only gods whose worship has come
down to them from ancient times. At a later period they began the
worship of Urania, which they borrowed from the Arabians and
Assyrians. Mylitta is the name by which the Assyrians know this
goddess, whom the Arabians call Alitta, and the Persians Mitra.
    To these gods the Persians offer sacrifice in the following
manner: they raise no altar, light no fire, pour no libations; there
is no sound of the flute, no putting on of chaplets, no consecrated
barley-cake; but the man who wishes to sacrifice brings his victim
to a spot of ground which is pure from pollution, and there calls upon
the name of the god to whom he intends to offer. It is usual to have
the turban encircled with a wreath, most commonly of myrtle. The
sacrificer is not allowed to pray for blessings on himself alone,
but he prays for the welfare of the king, and of the whole Persian
people, among whom he is of necessity included. He cuts the victim
in pieces, and having boiled the flesh, he lays it out upon the
tenderest herbage that he can find, trefoil especially. When all is
ready, one of the Magi comes forward and chants a hymn, which they say
recounts the origin of the gods. It is not lawful to offer sacrifice
unless there is a Magus present. After waiting a short time the
sacrificer carries the flesh of the victim away with him, and makes
whatever use of it he may please.
    Of all the days in the year, the one which they celebrate most
is their birthday. It is customary to have the board furnished on that
day with an ampler supply than common. The richer Persians cause an
ox, a horse, a camel, and an ass to be baked whole and so served up to
them: the poorer classes use instead the smaller kinds of cattle. They
eat little solid food but abundance of dessert, which is set on
table a few dishes at a time; this it is which makes them say that
"the Greeks, when they eat, leave off hungry, having nothing worth
mention served up to them after the meats; whereas, if they had more
put before them, they would not stop eating." They are very fond of
wine, and drink it in large quantities. To vomit or obey natural calls
in the presence of another is forbidden among them. Such are their
customs in these matters.
    It is also their general practice to deliberate upon affairs of
weight when they are drunk; and then on the morrow, when they are
sober, the decision to which they came the night before is put
before them by the master of the house in which it was made; and if it
is then approved of, they act on it; if not, they set it aside.
Sometimes, however, they are sober at their first deliberation, but in
this case they always reconsider the matter under the influence of
wine.
    When they meet each other in the streets, you may know if the
persons meeting are of equal rank by the following token: if they are,
instead of speaking, they kiss each other on the lips. In the case
where one is a little inferior to the other, the kiss is given on
the cheek; where the difference of rank is great, the inferior
prostrates himself upon the ground. Of nations, they honour most their
nearest neighbours, whom they esteem next to themselves; those who
live beyond these they honour in the second degree; and so with the
remainder, the further they are removed, the less the esteem in
which they hold them. The reason is that they look upon themselves
as very greatly superior in all respects to the rest of mankind,
regarding others as approaching to excellence in proportion as they
dwell nearer to them; whence it comes to pass that those who are the
farthest off must be the most degraded of mankind. Under the
dominion of the Medes, the several nations of the empire exercised
authority over each other in this order. The Medes were lords over
all, and governed the nations upon their borders, who in their turn
governed the States beyond, who likewise bore rule over the nations
which adjoined on them. And this is the order which the Persians
also follow in their distribution of honour; for that people, like
the Medes, has a progressive scale of administration and government.
    There is no nation which so readily adopts foreign customs as
the Persians. Thus, they have taken the dress of the Medes,
considering it superior to their own; and in war they wear the
Egyptian breastplate. As soon as they hear of any luxury, they
instantly make it their own: and hence, among other novelties, they
have learnt unnatural lust from the Greeks. Each of them has several
wives, and a still larger number of concubines.
    Next to prowess in arms, it is regarded as the greatest proof of
manly excellence to be the father of many sons. Every year the king
sends rich gifts to the man who can show the largest number: for
they hold that number is strength. Their sons are carefully instructed
from their fifth to their twentieth year, in three things alone,- to
ride, to draw the bow, and to speak the truth. Until their fifth
year they are not allowed to come into the sight of their father,
but pass their lives with the women. This is done that, if the child
die young, the father may not be afflicted by its loss.
    To my mind it is a wise rule, as also is the following- that the
king shall not put any one to death for a single fault, and that
none of the Persians shall visit a single fault in a slave with any
extreme penalty; but in every case the services of the offender
shall be set against his misdoings; and, if the latter be found to
outweigh the former, the aggrieved party shall then proceed to
punishment.
    The Persians maintain that never yet did any one kill his own
father or mother; but in all such cases they are quite sure that, if
matters were sifted to the bottom, it would be found that the child
was either a changeling or else the fruit of adultery; for it is not
likely, they say, that the real father should perish by the hands of
his child.
    They hold it unlawful to talk of anything which it is unlawful
to do. The most disgraceful thing in the world, they think, is to
tell a lie; the next worst, to owe a debt: because, among other
reasons, the debtor is obliged to tell lies. If a Persian has the
leprosy he is not allowed to enter into a city, or to have any
dealings with the other Persians; he must, they say, have sinned
against the sun. Foreigners attacked by this disorder, are forced to
leave the country: even white pigeons are often driven away, as
guilty of the same offence. They never defile a river with the
secretions of their bodies, nor even wash their hands in one; nor
will they allow others to do so, as they have a great reverence for
rivers. There is another peculiarity, which the Persians themselves
have never noticed, but which has not escaped my observation. Their
names, which are expressive of some bodily or mental excellence, all
end with the same letter- the letter which is called San by the
Dorians, and Sigma by the Ionians. Any one who examines will find
that the Persian names, one and all without exception, end with this
letter.
    Thus much I can declare of the Persians with entire certainty,
from my own actual knowledge. There is another custom which is
spoken of with reserve, and not openly, concerning their dead. It is
said that the body of a male Persian is never buried, until it has
been torn either by a dog or a bird of prey. That the Magi have this
custom is beyond a doubt, for they practise it without any
concealment. The dead bodies are covered with wax, and then buried
in the ground.
    The Magi are a very peculiar race, different entirely from the
Egyptian priests, and indeed from all other men whatsoever. The
Egyptian priests make it a point of religion not to kill any live
animals except those which they offer in sacrifice. The Magi, on the
contrary, kill animals of all kinds with their own hands, excepting
dogs and men. They even seem to take a delight in the employment,
and kill, as readily as they do other animals, ants and snakes, and
such like flying or creeping things. However, since this has always
been their custom, let them keep to it. I return to my former
narrative.
    Immediately after the conquest of Lydia by the Persians, the
Ionian and Aeolian Greeks sent ambassadors to Cyrus at Sardis, and
prayed to become his lieges on the footing which they had occupied
under Croesus. Cyrus listened attentively to their proposals, and
answered them by a fable. "There was a certain piper," he said, "who
was walking one day by the seaside, when he espied some fish; so he
began to pipe to them, imagining they would come out to him upon the
land. But as he found at last that his hope was vain, he took a net,
and enclosing a great draught of fishes, drew them ashore. The fish
then began to leap and dance; but the piper said, 'Cease your
dancing now, as you did not choose to come and dance when I piped to
you.'" Cyrus gave this answer to the Ionians and Aeolians, because,
when he urged them by his messengers to revolt from Croesus, they
refused; but now, when his work was done, they came to offer their
allegiance. It was in anger, therefore, that he made them this
reply. The Ionians, on hearing it, set to work to fortify their towns,
and held meetings at the Panionium, which were attended by all
excepting the Milesians, with whom Cyrus had concluded a separate
treaty, by which he allowed them the terms they had formerly
obtained from Croesus. The other Ionians resolved, with one accord, to
send ambassadors to Sparta to implore assistance.
    Now the Ionians of Asia, who meet at the Panionium, have built
their cities in a region where the air and climate are the most
beautiful in the whole world: for no other region is equally blessed
with Ionia, neither above it nor below it, nor east nor west of it.
For in other countries either the climate is over cold and damp, or
else the heat and drought are sorely oppressive. The Ionians do not
all speak the same language, but use in different places four
different dialects. Towards the south their first city is Miletus,
next to which lie Myus and Priene; all these three are in Caria and
have the same dialect. Their cities in Lydia are the following:
Ephesus, Colophon, Lebedus, Teos, Clazomenae, and Phocaea. The
inhabitants of these towns have none of the peculiarities of speech
which belong to the three first-named cities, but use a dialect of
their own. There remain three other Ionian towns, two situate in
isles, namely, Samos and Chios; and one upon the mainland, which is
Erythrae. Of these Chios and Erythrae have the same dialect, while
Samos possesses a language peculiar to itself. Such are the four
varieties of which I spoke.
    Of the Ionians at this period, one people, the Milesians, were
in no danger of attack, as Cyrus had received them into alliance.
The islanders also had as yet nothing to fear, since Phoenicia was
still independent of Persia, and the Persians themselves were not a
seafaring people. The Milesians had separated from the common cause
solely on account of the extreme weakness of the Ionians: for,
feeble as the power of the entire Hellenic race was at that time, of
all its tribes the Ionic was by far the feeblest and least esteemed,
not possessing a single State of any mark excepting Athens. The
Athenians and most of the other Ionic States over the world, went so
far in their dislike of the name as actually to lay it aside; and even
at the present day the greater number of them seem to me to be ashamed
of it. But the twelve cities in Asia have always gloried in the
appellation; they gave the temple which they built for themselves
the name of the Panionium, and decreed that it should not be open to
any of the other Ionic States; no State, however, except Smyrna, has
craved admission to it.
    In the same way the Dorians of the region which is now called
the Pentapolis, but which was formerly known as the Doric Hexapolis,
exclude all their Dorian neighbours from their temple, the Triopium:
nay, they have even gone so far as to shut out from it certain of
their own body who were guilty of an offence against the customs of
the place. In the games which were anciently celebrated in honour of
the Triopian Apollo, the prizes given to the victors were tripods of
brass; and the rule was that these tripods should not be carried
away from the temple, but should then and there be dedicated to the
god. Now a man of Halicarnassus, whose name was Agasicles, being
declared victor in the games, in open contempt of the law, took the
tripod home to his own house and there hung it against the wall. As
a punishment for this fault, the five other cities, Lindus,
Ialyssus, Cameirus, Cos, and Cnidus, deprived the sixth city,
Halicarnassus, of the right of entering the temple.
    The Ionians founded twelve cities in Asia, and refused to
enlarge the number, on account (as I imagine) of their having been
divided into twelve States when they lived in the Peloponnese; just as
the Achaeans, who drove them out, are at the present day. The first
city of the Achaeans after Sicyon, is Pellene, next to which are
Aegeira, Aegae upon the Crathis, a stream which is never dry, and from
which the Italian Crathis received its name,- Bura, Helice- where
the Ionians took refuge on their defeat by the Achaean invaders-
Aegium, Rhypes, Patreis, Phareis, Olenus on the Peirus, which is a
large river- Dyme and Tritaeeis, all sea-port towns except the last
two, which lie up the country.
    These are the twelve divisions of what is now Achaea, and was
formerly Ionia; and it was owing to their coming from a country so
divided that the Ionians, on reaching Asia, founded their twelve
States: for it is the height of folly to maintain that these Ionians
are more Ionian than the rest, or in any respect better born, since
the truth is that no small portion of them were Abantians from Euboea,
who are not even Ionians in name; and, besides, there were mixed up
with the emigration Minyae from Orchomenus, Cadmeians, Dryopians,
Phocians from the several cities of Phocis, Molossians, Arcadian
Pelasgi, Dorians from Epidaurus, and many other distinct tribes.
Even those who came from the Prytaneum of Athens, and reckon
themselves the purest Ionians of all, brought no wives with them to
the new country, but married Carian girls, whose fathers they had
slain. Hence these women made a law, which they bound themselves by an
oath to observe, and which they handed down to their daughters after
them, "That none should ever sit at meat with her husband, or call him
by his name"; because the invaders slew their fathers, their husbands,
and their sons, and then forced them to become their wives. It was
at Miletus that these events took place.
    The kings, too, whom they set over them, were either Lycians, of
the blood of Glaucus, son of Hippolochus, or Pylian Caucons of the
blood of Codrus, son of Melanthus; or else from both those families.
But since these Ionians set more store by the name than any of the
others, let them pass for the pure-bred Ionians; though truly all
are Ionians who have their origin from Athens, and keep the
Apaturia. This is a festival which all the Ionians celebrate, except
the Ephesians and the Colophonians, whom a certain act of bloodshed
excludes from it.
    The Panionium is a place in Mycale, facing the north, which was
chosen by the common voice of the Ionians and made sacred to
Heliconian Neptune. Mycale itself is a promontory of the mainland,
stretching out westward towards Samos, in which the Ionians assemble
from all their States to keep the feast of the Panionia. The names
of festivals, not only among the Ionians but among all the Greeks,
end, like the Persian proper names, in one and the same letter.
    The above-mentioned, then, are the twelve towns of the Ionians.
The Aeolic cities are the following:- Cyme, called also Phriconis,
Larissa, Neonteichus, Temnus, Cilla, Notium, Aegiroessa, Pitane,
Aegaeae, Myrina, and Gryneia. These are the eleven ancient cities of
the Aeolians. Originally, indeed, they had twelve cities upon the
mainland, like the Ionians, but the Ionians deprived them of Smyrna,
one of the number. The soil of Aeolis is better than that of Ionia,
but the climate is less agreeable.
    The following is the way in which the loss of Smyrna happened.
Certain men of Colophon had been engaged in a sedition there, and
being the weaker party, were driven by the others into banishment. The
Smyrnaeans received the fugitives, who, after a time, watching their
opportunity, while the inhabitants were celebrating a feast to Bacchus
outside the walls, shut to the gates, and so got possession of the
town. The Aeolians of the other States came to their aid, and terms
were agreed on between the parties, the Ionians consenting to give
up all the moveables, and the Aeolians making a surrender of the
place. The expelled Smyrnaeans were distributed among the other States
of the Aeolians, and were everywhere admitted to citizenship.
    These, then, were all the Aeolic cities upon the mainland, with
the exception of those about Mount Ida, which made no part of this
confederacy. As for the islands, Lesbos contains five cities.
Arisba, the sixth, was taken by the Methymnaeans, their kinsmen, and
the inhabitants reduced to slavery. Tenedos contains one city, and
there is another which is built on what are called the Hundred
Isles. The Aeolians of Lesbos and Tenedos, like the Ionian
islanders, had at this time nothing to fear. The other Aeolians
decided in their common assembly to follow the Ionians, whatever
course they should pursue.
    When the deputies of the Ionians and Aeolians, who had journeyed
with all speed to Sparta, reached the city, they chose one of their
number, Pythermus, a Phocaean, to be their spokesman. In order to draw
together as large an audience as possible, he clothed himself in a
purple garment, and so attired stood forth to speak. In a long
discourse he besought the Spartans to come to the assistance of his
countrymen, but they were not to be persuaded, and voted against
sending any succour. The deputies accordingly went their way, while
the Lacedaemonians, notwithstanding the refusal which they had given
to the prayer of the deputation, despatched a penteconter to the
Asiatic coast with certain Spartans on board, for the purpose, as I
think, of watching Cyrus and Ionia. These men, on their arrival at
Phocaea, sent to Sardis Lacrines, the most distinguished of their
number, to prohibit Cyrus, in the name of the Lacedaemonians, from
offering molestation to any city of Greece, since they would not allow
it.
    Cyrus is said, on hearing the speech of the herald, to have
asked some Greeks who were standing by, "Who these Lacedaemonians
were, and what was their number, that they dared to send him such a
notice?" When he had received their reply, he turned to the Spartan
herald and said, "I have never yet been afraid of any men, who have
a set place in the middle of their city, where they come together to
cheat each other and forswear themselves. If I live, the Spartans
shall have troubles enough of their own to talk of, without concerning
themselves about the Ionians." Cyrus intended these words as a
reproach against all the Greeks, because of their having market-places
where they buy and sell, which is a custom unknown to the Persians,
who never make purchases in open marts, and indeed have not in their
whole country a single market-place.
    After this interview Cyrus quitted Sardis, leaving the city
under the charge of Tabalus, a Persian, but appointing Pactyas, a
native, to collect the treasure belonging to Croesus and the other
Lydians, and bring after him. Cyrus himself proceeded towards
Agbatana, carrying Croesus along with him, not regarding the Ionians
as important enough to be his immediate object. Larger designs were in
his mind. He wished to war in person against Babylon, the Bactrians,
the Sacae, and Egypt; he therefore determined to assign to one of
his generals the task of conquering the Ionians.
    No sooner, however, was Cyrus gone from Sardis than Pactyas
induced his countrymen to rise in open revolt against him and his
deputy Tabalus. With the vast treasures at his disposal he then went
down to the sea, and employed them in hiring mercenary troops, while
at the same time he engaged the people of the coast to enrol
themselves in his army. He then marched upon Sardis, where he besieged
Tabalus, who shut himself up in the citadel.
    When Cyrus, on his way to Agbatana, received these tidings, he
returned to Croesus and said, "Where will all this end, Croesus,
thinkest thou? It seemeth that these Lydians will not cease to cause
trouble both to themselves and others. I doubt me if it were not
best to sell them all for slaves. Methinks what I have now done is
as if a man were to 'kill the father and then spare the child.'
Thou, who wert something more than a father to thy people, I have
seized and carried off, and to that people I have entrusted their
city. Can I then feel surprise at their rebellion?" Thus did Cyrus open
to Croesus his thoughts; whereat the latter, full of alarm lest
Cyrus should lay Sardis in ruins, replied as follows: "Oh! my king,
thy words are reasonable; but do not, I beseech thee, give full vent
to thy anger, nor doom to destruction an ancient city, guiltless alike
of the past and of the present trouble. I caused the one, and in my
own person now pay the forfeit. Pactyas has caused the other, he to
whom thou gavest Sardis in charge; let him bear the punishment. Grant,
then, forgiveness to the Lydians, and to make sure of their never
rebelling against thee, or alarming thee more, send and forbid them to
keep any weapons of war, command them to wear tunics under their
cloaks, and to put buskins upon their legs, and make them bring up
their sons to cithern-playing, harping, and shop-keeping. So wilt thou
soon see them become women instead of men, and there will be no more
fear of their revolting from thee."
    Croesus thought the Lydians would even so be better off than if
they were sold for slaves, and therefore gave the above advice to
Cyrus, knowing that, unless he brought forward some notable
suggestion, he would not be able to persuade him to alter his mind. He
was likewise afraid lest, after escaping the danger which now pressed,
the Lydians at some future time might revolt from the Persians and
so bring themselves to ruin. The advice pleased Cyrus, who consented
to forego his anger and do as Croesus had said. Thereupon he
summoned to his presence a certain Mede, Mazares by name, and
charged him to issue orders to the Lydians in accordance with the
terms of Croesus' discourse. Further, he commanded him to sell for
slaves all who had joined the Lydians in their attack upon Sardis, and
above aught else to be sure that he brought Pactyas with him alive
on his return. Having given these orders Cyrus continued his journey
towards the Persian territory.
    Pactyas, when news came of the near approach of the army sent
against him, fled in terror to Cyme. Mazares, therefore, the Median
general, who had marched on Sardis with a detachment of the army of
Cyrus, finding on his arrival that Pactyas and his troops were gone,
immediately entered the town. And first of all he forced the Lydians
to obey the orders of his master, and change (as they did from that
time) their entire manner of living. Next, he despatched messengers to
Cyme, and required to have Pactyas delivered up to him. On this the
Cymaeans resolved to send to Branchidae and ask the advice of the god.
Branchidae is situated in the territory of Miletus, above the port
of Panormus. There was an oracle there, established in very ancient
times, which both the Ionians and Aeolians were wont often to consult.
    Hither therefore the Cymaeans sent their deputies to make
inquiry at the shrine, "What the gods would like them to do with the
Lydian, Pactyas?" The oracle told them, in reply, to give him up to
the Persians. With this answer the messengers returned, and the people
of Cymd were ready to surrender him accordingly; but as they were
preparing to do so, Aristodicus, son of Heraclides, a citizen of
distinction, hindered them. He declared that he distrusted the
response, and believed that the messengers had reported it falsely;
until at last another embassy, of which Aristodicus himself made part,
was despatched, to repeat the former inquiry concerning Pactyas.
    On their arrival at the shrine of the god, Aristodicus, speaking
on behalf of the whole body, thus addressed the oracle: "Oh! king,
Pactyas the Lydian, threatened by the Persians with a violent death,
has come to us for sanctuary, and lo, they ask him at our hands,
calling upon our nation to deliver him up. Now, though we greatly
dread the Persian power, yet have we not been bold to give up our
suppliant, till we have certain knowledge of thy mind, what thou
wouldst have us to do." The oracle thus questioned gave the same
answer as before, bidding them surrender Pactyas to the Persians;
whereupon Aristodicus, who had come prepared for such an answer,
proceeded to make the circuit of the temple, and to take all the nests
of young sparrows and other birds that he could find about the
building. As he was thus employed, a voice, it is said, came forth
from the inner sanctuary, addressing Aristodicus in these words: "Most
impious of men, what is this thou hast the face to do? Dost thou
tear my suppliants from my temple?" Aristodicus, at no loss for a
reply, rejoined, "Oh, king, art thou so ready to protect thy
suppliants, and dost thou command the Cymaeans to give up a
suppliant?" "Yes," returned the god, "I do command it, that so for the
impiety you may the sooner perish, and not come here again to
consult my oracle about the surrender of suppliants."
    On the receipt of this answer the Cymaeans, unwilling to bring the
threatened destruction on themselves by giving up the man, and
afraid of having to endure a siege if they continued to harbour him,
sent Pactyas away to Mytilene. On this Mazares despatched envoys to
the Mytilenaeans to demand the fugitive of them, and they were
preparing to give him up for a reward (I cannot say with certainty how
large, as the bargain was not completed), when the Cymaeans hearing
what the Mytilenaeans were about, sent a vessel to Lesbos, and
conveyed away Pactyas to Chios. From hence it was that he was
surrendered. The Chians dragged him from the temple of Minerva
Poliuchus and gave him up to the Persians, on condition of receiving
the district of Atarneus, a tract of Mysia opposite to Lesbos, as
the price of the surrender. Thus did Pactyas fall into the hands of
his pursuers, who kept a strict watch upon him that they might be able
to produce him before Cyrus. For a long time afterwards none of the
Chians would use the barley of Atarneus to place on the heads of
victims, or make sacrificial cakes of the corn grown there, but the
whole produce of the land was excluded from all their temples.
    Meanwhile Mazares, after he had recovered Pactyas from the Chians,
made war upon those who had taken part in the attack on Tabalus, and
in the first place took Priene and sold the inhabitants for slaves,
after which he overran the whole plain of the Maeander and the
district of Magnesia, both of which he gave up for pillage to the
soldiery. He then suddenly sickened and died.
    Upon his death Harpagus was sent down to the coast to succeed to
his command. He also was of the race of the Medes, being the man
whom the Median king, Astyages, feasted at the unholy banquet, and who
lent his aid to Place Cyrus upon the throne. Appointed by Cyrus to
conduct the war in these parts, he entered Ionia, and took the
cities by means of mounds. Forcing the enemy to shut themselves up
within their defences, he heaped mounds of earth against their
walls, and thus carried the towns. Phocaea was the city against
which he directed his first attack.
    Now the Phocaeans were the first of the Greeks who performed
long voyages, and it was they who made the Greeks acquainted with
the Adriatic and with Tyrrhenia, with Iberia, and the city of
Tartessus. The vessel which they used in their voyages was not the
round-built merchant-ship, but the long penteconter. On their
arrival at Tartessus, the king of the country, whose name was
Arganthonius, took a liking to them. This monarch reigned over the
Tartessians for eighty years, and lived to be a hundred and twenty
years old. He regarded the Phocaeans with so much favour as, at first,
to beg them to quit Ionia and settle in whatever part of his country
they liked. Afterwards, finding that he could not prevail upon them to
agree to this, and hearing that the Mede was growing great in their
neighbourhood, he gave them money to build a wall about their town,
and certainly he must have given it with a bountiful hand, for the
town is many furlongs in circuit, and the wall is built entirely of
great blocks of stone skilfully fitted together. The wall, then, was
built by his aid.
    Harpagus, having advanced against the Phocaeans with his army,
laid siege to their city, first, however, offering them terms. "It
would content him," he said, "if the Phocaeans would agree to throw
down one of their battlements, and dedicate one dwelling-house to
the king." The Phocaeans, sorely vexed at the thought of becoming
slaves, asked a single day to deliberate on the answer they should
return, and besought Harpagus during that day to draw off his forces
from the walls. Harpagus replied, "that he understood well enough what
they were about to do, but nevertheless he would grant their request."
Accordingly the troops were withdrawn, and the Phocaeans forthwith
took advantage of their absence to launch their penteconters, and
put on board their wives and children, their household goods, and even
the images of their gods, with all the votive offerings from the fanes
except the paintings and the works in stone or brass, which were
left behind. With the rest they embarked, and putting to sea, set sail
for Chios. The Persians, on their return, took possession of an
empty town.
    Arrived at Chios, the Phocaeans made offers for the purchase of
the islands called the Oenussae, but the Chians refused to part with
them, fearing lest the Phocaeans should establish a factory there, and
exclude their merchants from the commerce of those seas. On their
refusal, the Phocaeans, as Arganthonius was now dead, made up their
minds to sail to Cyrnus (Corsica), where, twenty years before,
following the direction of an oracle, they had founded a city, which
was called Alalia. Before they set out, however, on this voyage,
they sailed once more to Phocaea, and surprising the Persian troops
appointed by Harpagus to garrison town, put them all to the sword.
After this laid the heaviest curses on the man who should draw back
and forsake the armament; and having dropped a heavy mass of iron into
the sea, swore never to return to Phocaea till that mass reappeared
upon the surface. Nevertheless, as they were preparing to depart for
Cyrnus, more than half of their number were seized with such sadness
and so great a longing to see once more their city and their ancient
homes, that they broke the oath by which they had bound themselves and
sailed back to Phocaea.
    The rest of the Phocaeans who kept their oath, proceeded without
stopping upon their voyage, and when they came to Cyrnus established
themselves along with the earlier settlers at Alalia and built temples
in the place. For five years they annoyed their neighbours by
plundering and pillaging on all sides, until at length the
Carthaginians and Tyrrhenians leagued against them, and sent each a
fleet of sixty ships to attack the town. The Phocaeans, on their part,
manned all their vessels, sixty in number, and met their enemy on
the Sardinian sea. In the engagement which followed the Phocaeans were
victorious, but their success was only a sort of Cadmeian victory.'
They lost forty ships in the battle, and the twenty which remained
came out of the engagement with beaks so bent and blunted as to be
no longer serviceable. The Phocaeans therefore sailed back again to
Alalia, and taking their wives and children on board, with such
portion of their goods and chattels as the vessels could bear, bade
adieu to Cyrnus and sailed to Rhegium.
    The Carthaginians and Tyrrhenians, who had got into their hands
many more than the Phocaeans from among the crews of the forty vessels
that were destroyed, landed their captives upon the coast after the
fight, and stoned them all to death. Afterwards, when sheep, or
oxen, or even men of the district of Agylla passed by the spot where
the murdered Phocaeans lay, their bodies became distorted, or they
were seized with palsy, or they lost the use of some of their limbs.
On this the people of Agylla sent to Delphi to ask the oracle how they
might expiate their sin. The answer of the Pythoness required them
to institute the custom, which they still observe, of honouring the
dead Phocaeans with magnificent funeral rites, and solemn games,
both gymnic and equestrian. Such, then, was the fate that befell the
Phocaean prisoners. The other Phocaeans, who had fled to Rhegium,
became after a while the founders of the city called Vela, in the
district of Oenotria. This city they colonised, upon the showing of
a man of Posidonia, who suggested that the oracle had not meant to bid
them set up a town in Cyrnus the island, but set up the worship of
Cyrnus the hero.
    Thus fared it with the men of the city of Phocaea in Ionia. They
of Teos did and suffered almost the same; for they too, when
Harpagus had raised his mound to the height of their defences, took
ship, one and all, and sailing across the sea to Thrace, founded there
the city of Abdera. The site was one which Timesius of Clazomenae
had previously tried to colonise, but without any lasting success, for
he was expelled by the Thracians. Still the Teians of Abdera worship
him to this day as a hero.
    Of all the Ionians these two states alone, rather than submit to
slavery, forsook their fatherland. The others (I except Miletus)
resisted Harpagus no less bravely than those who fled their country,
and performed many feats of arms, each fighting in their own
defence, but one after another they suffered defeat; the cities were
taken, and the inhabitants submitted, remaining in their respective
countries, and obeying the behests of their new lords. Miletus, as I
have already mentioned, had made terms with Cyrus, and so continued at
peace. Thus was continental Ionia once more reduced to servitude;
and when the Ionians of the islands saw their brethren upon the
mainland subjugated, they also, dreading the like, gave themselves
up to Cyrus.
    It was while the Ionians were in this distress, but still, amid it
all, held their meetings, as of old, at the Panionium, that Bias of
Priene, who was present at the festival, recommended (as I am
informed) a project of the very highest wisdom, which would, had it
been embraced, have enabled the Ionians to become the happiest and
most flourishing of the Greeks. He exhorted them "to join in one body,
set sail for Sardinia, and there found a single Pan-Ionic city; so
they would escape from slavery and rise to great fortune, being
masters of the largest island in the world, exercising dominion even
beyond its bounds; whereas if they stayed in Ionia, he saw no prospect
of their ever recovering their lost freedom." Such was the counsel
which Bias gave the Ionians in their affliction. Before their
misfortunes began, Thales, a man of Miletus, of Phoenician descent,
had recommended a different plan. He counselled them to establish a
single seat of government, and pointed out Teos as the fittest place
for it; "for that," he said, "was the centre of Ionia. Their other
cities might still continue to enjoy their own laws, just as if they
were independent states." This also was good advice.
    After conquering the Ionians, Harpagus proceeded to attack the
Carians, the Caunians, and the Lycians. The Ionians and Aeolians
were forced to serve in his army. Now, of the above nations the
Carians are a race who came into the mainland from the islands. In
ancient times they were subjects of king Minos, and went by the name
of Leleges, dwelling among the isles, and, so far as I have been
able to push my inquiries, never liable to give tribute to any man.
They served on board the ships of king Minos whenever he required; and
thus, as he was a great conqueror and prospered in his wars, the
Carians were in his day the most famous by far of all the nations of
the earth. They likewise were the inventors of three things, the use
of which was borrowed from them by the Greeks; they were the first
to fasten crests on helmets and to put devices on shields, and they
also invented handles for shields. In the earlier times shields were
without handles, and their wearers managed them by the aid of a
leathern thong, by which they were slung round the neck and left
shoulder. Long after the time of Minos, the Carians were driven from
the islands by the Ionians and Dorians, and so settled upon the
mainland. The above is the account which the Cretans give of the
Carians: the Carians themselves say very differently. They maintain
that they are the aboriginal inhabitants of the part of the mainland
where they now dwell, and never had any other name than that which
they still bear; and in proof of this they show an ancient temple of
Carian Jove in the country of the Mylasians, in which the Mysians
and Lydians have the right of worshipping, as brother races to the
Carians: for Lydus and Mysus, they say, were brothers of Car. These
nations, therefore, have the aforesaid right; but such as are of a
different race, even though they have come to use the Carian tongue,
are excluded from this temple.
    The Caunians, in my judgment, are aboriginals; but by their own
account they came from Crete. In their language, either they have
approximated to the Carians, or the Carians to them- on this point I
cannot speak with certainty. In their customs, however, they differ
greatly from the Carians, and not only so, but from all other men.
They think it a most honourable practice for friends or persons of the
same age, whether they be men, women, or children, to meet together in
large companies, for the purpose of drinking wine. Again, on one
occasion they determined that they would no longer make use of the
foreign temples which had been long established among them, but
would worship their own old ancestral gods alone. Then their whole
youth took arms, and striking the air with their spears, marched to
the Calyndic frontier, declaring that they were driving out the
foreign gods.
    The Lycians are in good truth anciently from Crete; which
island, in former days, was wholly peopled with barbarians. A
quarrel arising there between the two sons of Europa, Sarpedon and
Minos, as to which of them should be king, Minos, whose party
prevailed, drove Sarpedon and his followers into banishment. The
exiles sailed to Asia, and landed on the Milyan territory. Milyas
was the ancient name of the country now inhabited by the Lycians:
the Milyae of the present day were, in those times, called Solymi.
So long as Sarpedon reigned, his followers kept the name which they
brought with them from Crete, and were called Termilae, as the Lycians
still are by those who live in their neighbourhood. But after Lycus,
the son of Pandion, banished from Athens by his brother Aegeus had
found a refuge with Sarpedon in the country of these Termilae, they
came, in course of time, to be called from him Lycians. Their
customs are partly Cretan, partly Carian. They have, however, one
singular custom in which they differ from every other nation in the
world. They take the mother's and not the father's name. Ask a
Lycian who he is, and he answers by giving his own name, that of his
mother, and so on in the female line. Moreover, if a free woman
marry a man who is a slave, their children are full citizens; but if a
free man marry a foreign woman, or live with a concubine, even
though he be the first person in the State, the children forfeit all
the rights of citizenship.
    Of these nations, the Carians submitted to Harpagus without
performing any brilliant exploits. Nor did the Greeks who dwelt in
Caria behave with any greater gallantry. Among them were the Cnidians,
colonists from Lacedaemon, who occupy a district facing the sea, which
is called Triopium. This region adjoins upon the Bybassian Chersonese;
and, except a very small space, is surrounded by the sea, being
bounded on the north by the Ceramic Gulf, and on the south by the
channel towards the islands of Syme and Rhodes. While Harpagus was
engaged in the conquest of Ionia, the Cnidians, wishing to make
their country an island, attempted to cut through this narrow neck
of land, which was no more than five furlongs across from sea to
sea. Their whole territory lay inside the isthmus; for where Cnidia
ends towards the mainland, the isthmus begins which they were now
seeking to cut through. The work had been commenced, and many hands
were employed upon it, when it was observed that there seemed to be
something unusual and unnatural in the number of wounds that the
workmen received, especially about their eyes, from the splintering of
the rock. The Cnidians, therefore, sent to Delphi, to inquire what
it was that hindered their efforts; and received, according to their
own account, the following answer from the oracle:-

    Fence not the isthmus off, nor dig it through-
    Jove would have made an island, had he wished.

So the Cnidians ceased digging, and when Harpagus advanced with his
army, they gave themselves up to him without striking a blow.
    Above Halicarnassus and further from the coast, were the
Pedasians. With this people, when any evil is about to befall either
themselves or their neighbours, the priestess of Minerva grows an
ample beard. Three times has this marvel happened. They alone, of
all the dwellers in Caria, resisted Harpagus for a while, and gave him
much trouble, maintaining themselves in a certain mountain called
Lida, which they had fortified; but in course of time they also were
forced to submit.
    When Harpagus, after these successes, led his forces into the
Xanthian plain, the Lycians of Xanthus went out to meet him in the
field: though but a small band against a numerous host, they engaged
in battle, and performed many glorious exploits. Overpowered at
last, and forced within their walls, they collected into the citadel
their wives and children, all their treasures, and their slaves; and
having so done, fired the building, and burnt it to the ground.
After this, they bound themselves together by dreadful oaths, and
sallying forth against the enemy, died sword in hand, not one
escaping. Those Lycians who now claim to be Xanthians, are foreign
immigrants, except eighty families, who happened to be absent from the
country, and so survived the others. Thus was Xanthus taken by
Harpagus, and Caunus fell in like manner into his hands; for the
Caunians in the main followed the example of the Lycians.
    While the lower parts of Asia were in this way brought under by
Harpagus, Cyrus in person subjected the upper regions, conquering
every nation, and not suffering one to escape. Of these conquests I
shall pass by the greater portion, and give an account of those only
which gave him the most trouble, and are the worthiest of mention.
When he had brought all the rest of the continent under his sway, he
made war on the Assyrians.
    Assyria possesses a vast number of great cities, whereof the
most renowned and strongest at this time was Babylon, whither, after
the fall of Nineveh, the seat of government had been removed. The
following is a description of the place:- The city stands on a broad
plain, and is an exact square, a hundred and twenty furlongs in length
each way, so that the entire circuit is four hundred and eighty
furlongs. While such is its size, in magnificence there is no other
city that approaches to it. It is surrounded, in the first place, by a
broad and deep moat, full of water, behind which rises a wall fifty
royal cubits in width, and two hundred in height. (The royal cubit
is longer by three fingers' breadth than the common cubit.)
    And here I may not omit to tell the use to which the mould dug out
of the great moat was turned, nor the manner wherein the wall was
wrought. As fast as they dug the moat the soil which they got from the
cutting was made into bricks, and when a sufficient number were
completed they baked the bricks in kilns. Then they set to building,
and began with bricking the borders of the moat, after which they
proceeded to construct the wall itself, using throughout for their
cement hot bitumen, and interposing a layer of wattled reeds at
every thirtieth course of the bricks. On the top, along the edges of
the wall, they constructed buildings of a single chamber facing one
another, leaving between them room for a four-horse chariot to turn.
In the circuit of the wall are a hundred gates, all of brass, with
brazen lintels and side-posts. The bitumen used in the work was
brought to Babylon from the Is, a small stream which flows into the
Euphrates at the point where the city of the same name stands, eight
days' journey from Babylon. Lumps of bitumen are found in great
abundance in this river.
    The city is divided into two portions by the river which runs
through the midst of it. This river is the Euphrates, a broad, deep,
swift stream, which rises in Armenia, and empties itself into the
Erythraean sea. The city wall is brought down on both sides to the
edge of the stream: thence, from the corners of the wall, there is
carried along each bank of the river a fence of burnt bricks. The
houses are mostly three and four stories high; the streets all run
in straight lines, not only those parallel to the river, but also
the cross streets which lead down to the water-side. At the river
end of these cross streets are low gates in the fence that skirts
the stream, which are, like the great gates in the outer wall, of
brass, and open on the water.
    The outer wall is the main defence of the city. There is, however,
a second inner wall, of less thickness than the first, but very little
inferior to it in strength. The centre of each division of the town
was occupied by a fortress. In the one stood the palace of the
kings, surrounded by a wall of great strength and size: in the other
was the sacred precinct of Jupiter Belus, a square enclosure two
furlongs each way, with gates of solid brass; which was also remaining
in my time. In the middle of the precinct there was a tower of solid
masonry, a furlong in length and breadth, upon which was raised a
second tower, and on that a third, and so on up to eight. The ascent
to the top is on the outside, by a path which winds round all the
towers. When one is about half-way up, one finds a resting-place and
seats, where persons are wont to sit some time on their way to the
summit. On the topmost tower there is a spacious temple, and inside
the temple stands a couch of unusual size, richly adorned, with a
golden table by its side. There is no statue of any kind set up in the
place, nor is the chamber occupied of nights by any one but a single
native woman, who, as the Chaldaeans, the priests of this god, affirm,
is chosen for himself by the deity out of all the women of the land.
    They also declare- but I for my part do not credit it- that the
god comes down in person into this chamber, and sleeps upon the couch.
This is like the story told by the Egyptians of what takes place in
their city of Thebes, where a woman always passes the night in the
temple of the Theban Jupiter. In each case the woman is said to be
debarred all intercourse with men. It is also like the custom of
Patara, in Lycia, where the priestess who delivers the oracles, during
the time that she is so employed- for at Patara there is not always an
oracle- is shut up in the temple every night.
    Below, in the same precinct, there is a second temple, in which is
a sitting figure of Jupiter, all of gold. Before the figure stands a
large golden table, and the throne whereon it sits, and the base on
which the throne is placed, are likewise of gold. The Chaldaeans
told me that all the gold together was eight hundred talents'
weight. Outside the temple are two altars, one of solid gold, on which
it is only lawful to offer sucklings; the other a common altar, but of
great size, on which the full-grown animals are sacrificed. It is also
on the great altar that the Chaldaeans burn the frankincense, which is
offered to the amount of a thousand talents' weight, every year, at
the festival of the God. In the time of Cyrus there was likewise in
this temple a figure of a man, twelve cubits high, entirely of solid
gold. I myself did not see this figure, but I relate what the
Chaldaeans report concerning it. Darius, the son of Hystaspes, plotted
to carry the statue off, but had not the hardihood to lay his hands
upon it. Xerxes, however, the son of Darius, killed the priest who
forbade him to move the statue, and took it away. Besides the
ornaments which I have mentioned, there are a large number of
private offerings in this holy precinct.
    Many sovereigns have ruled over this city of Babylon, and lent
their aid to the building of its walls and the adornment of its
temples, of whom I shall make mention in my Assyrian history. Among
them two were women. Of these, the earlier, called Semiramis, held the
throne five generations before the later princess. She raised
certain embankments well worthy of inspection, in the plain near
Babylon, to control the river, which, till then, used to overflow, and
flood the whole country round about.
    The later of the two queens, whose name was Nitocris, a wiser
princess than her predecessor, not only left behind her, as
memorials of her occupancy of the throne, the works which I shall
presently describe, but also, observing the great power and restless
enterprise of the Medes, who had taken so large a number of cities,
and among them Nineveh, and expecting to be attacked in her turn, made
all possible exertions to increase the defences of her empire. And
first, whereas the river Euphrates, which traverses the city, ran
formerly with a straight course to Babylon, she, by certain
excavations which she made at some distance up the stream, rendered it
so winding that it comes three several times in sight of the same
village, a village in Assyria, which is called Ardericea; and to
this day, they who would go from our sea to Babylon, on descending
to the river touch three times, and on three different days, at this
very place. She also made an embankment along each side of the
Euphrates, wonderful both for breadth and height, and dug a basin
for a lake a great way above Babylon, close alongside of the stream,
which was sunk everywhere to the point where they came to water, and
was of such breadth that the whole circuit measured four hundred and
twenty furlongs. The soil dug out of this basin was made use of in the
embankments along the waterside. When the excavation was finished, she
had stones brought, and bordered with them the entire margin of the
reservoir. These two things were done, the river made to wind, and the
lake excavated, that the stream might be slacker by reason of the
number of curves, and the voyage be rendered circuitous, and that at
the end of the voyage it might be necessary to skirt the lake and so
make a long round. All these works were on that side of Babylon
where the passes lay, and the roads into Media were the straightest,
and the aim of the queen in making them was to prevent the Medes
from holding intercourse with the Babylonians, and so to keep them
in ignorance of her affairs.
    While the soil from the excavation was being thus used for the
defence of the city, Nitocris engaged also in another undertaking, a
mere by-work compared with those we have already mentioned. The
city, as I said, was divided by the river into two distinct
portions. Under the former kings, if a man wanted to pass from one
of these divisions to the other, he had to cross in a boat; which
must, it seems to me, have been very troublesome. Accordingly, while
she was digging the lake, Nitocris be. thought herself of turning it
to a use which should at once remove this inconvenience, and enable
her to leave another monument of her reign over Babylon. She gave
orders for the hewing of immense blocks of stone, and when they were
ready and the basin was excavated, she turned the entire stream of the
Euphrates into the cutting, and thus for a time, while the basin was
filling, the natural channel of the river was left dry. Forthwith
she set to work, and in the first place lined the banks of the
stream within the city with quays of burnt brick, and also bricked the
landing-places opposite the river-gates, adopting throughout the
same fashion of brickwork which had been used in the town wall;
after which, with the materials which had been prepared, she built, as
near the middle of the town as possible, a stone bridge, the blocks
whereof were bound together with iron and lead. In the daytime
square wooden platforms were laid along from pier to pier, on which
the inhabitants crossed the stream; but at night they were
withdrawn, to prevent people passing from side to side in the dark
to commit robberies. When the river had filled the cutting, and the
bridge was finished, the Euphrates was turned back again into its
ancient bed; and thus the basin, transformed suddenly into a lake, was
seen to answer the purpose for which it was made, and the inhabitants,
by help of the basin, obtained the advantage of a bridge.
    It was this same princess by whom a remarkable deception was
planned. She had her tomb constructed in the upper part of one of
the principal gateways of the city, high above the heads of the
passers by, with this inscription cut upon it:- "If there be one among
my successors on the throne of Babylon who is in want of treasure, let
him open my tomb, and take as much as he chooses- not, however, unless
he be truly in want, for it will not be for his good." This tomb
continued untouched until Darius came to the kingdom. To him it seemed
a monstrous thing that he should be unable to use one of the gates
of the town, and that a sum of money should be lying idle, and
moreover inviting his grasp, and he not seize upon it. Now he could
not use the gate, because, as he drove through, the dead body would
have been over his head. Accordingly he opened the tomb; but instead
of money, found only the dead body, and a writing which said- "Hadst
thou not been insatiate of pelf, and careless how thou gottest it,
thou wouldst not have broken open the sepulchres of the dead."
    The expedition of Cyrus was undertaken against the son of this
princess, who bore the same name as his father Labynetus, and was king
of the Assyrians. The Great King, when he goes to the wars, is
always supplied with provisions carefully prepared at home, and with
cattle of his own. Water too from the river Choaspes, which flows by
Susa, is taken with him for his drink, as that is the only water which
the kings of Persia taste. Wherever he travels, he is attended by a
number of four-wheeled cars drawn by mules, in which the Choaspes
water, ready boiled for use, and stored in flagons of silver, is moved
with him from place to place.
    Cyrus on his way to Babylon came to the banks of the Gyndes, a
stream which, rising in the Matienian mountains, runs through the
country of the Dardanians, and empties itself into the river Tigris.
The Tigris, after receiving the Gyndes, flows on by the city of
Opis, and discharges its waters into the Erythraean sea. When Cyrus
reached this stream, which could only be passed in boats, one of the
sacred white horses accompanying his march, full of spirit and high
mettle, walked into the water, and tried to cross by himself; but
the current seized him, swept him along with it, and drowned him in
its depths. Cyrus, enraged at the insolence of the river, threatened
so to break its strength that in future even women should cross it
easily without wetting their knees. Accordingly he put off for a
time his attack on Babylon, and, dividing his army into two parts,
he marked out by ropes one hundred and eighty trenches on each side of
the Gyndes, leading off from it in all directions, and setting his
army to dig, some on one side of the river, some on the other, he
accomplished his threat by the aid of so great a number of hands,
but not without losing thereby the whole summer season.
    Having, however, thus wreaked his vengeance on the Gyndes, by
dispersing it through three hundred and sixty channels, Cyrus, with
the first approach of the ensuing spring, marched forward against
Babylon. The Babylonians, encamped without their walls, awaited his
coming. A battle was fought at a short distance from the city, in
which the Babylonians were defeated by the Persian king, whereupon
they withdrew within their defences. Here they shut themselves up, and
made light of his siege, having laid in a store of provisions for many
years in preparation against this attack; for when they saw Cyrus
conquering nation after nation, they were convinced that he would
never stop, and that their turn would come at last.
    Cyrus was now reduced to great perplexity, as time went on and
he made no progress against the place. In this distress either some
one made the suggestion to him, or he bethought himself of a plan,
which he proceeded to put in execution. He placed a portion of his
army at the point where the river enters the city, and another body at
the back of the place where it issues forth, with orders to march into
the town by the bed of the stream, as soon as the water became shallow
enough: he then himself drew off with the unwarlike portion of his
host, and made for the place where Nitocris dug the basin for the
river, where he did exactly what she had done formerly: he turned
the Euphrates by a canal into the basin, which was then a marsh, on
which the river sank to such an extent that the natural bed of the
stream became fordable. Hereupon the Persians who had been left for
the purpose at Babylon by the, river-side, entered the stream, which
had now sunk so as to reach about midway up a man's thigh, and thus
got into the town. Had the Babylonians been apprised of what Cyrus was
about, or had they noticed their danger, they would never have allowed
the Persians to enter the city, but would have destroyed them utterly;
for they would have made fast all the street-gates which gave upon the
river, and mounting upon the walls along both sides of the stream,
would so have caught the enemy, as it were, in a trap. But, as it was,
the Persians came upon them by surprise and so took the city. Owing to
the vast size of the place, the inhabitants of the central parts (as
the residents at Babylon declare) long after the outer portions of the
town were taken, knew nothing of what had chanced, but as they were
engaged in a festival, continued dancing and revelling until they
learnt the capture but too certainly. Such, then, were the
circumstances of the first taking of Babylon.
    Among many proofs which I shall bring forward of the power and
resources of the Babylonians, the following is of special account. The
whole country under the dominion of the Persians, besides paying a
fixed tribute, is parcelled out into divisions, which have to supply
food to the Great King and his army during different portions of the
year. Now out of the twelve months which go to a year, the district of
Babylon furnishes food during four, the other of Asia during eight; by
the which it appears that Assyria, in respect of resources, is
one-third of the whole of Asia. Of all the Persian governments, or
satrapies as they are called by the natives, this is by far the
best. When Tritantaechmes, son of Artabazus, held it of the king, it
brought him in an artaba of silver every day. The artaba is a
Persian measure, and holds three choenixes more than the medimnus of
the Athenians. He also had, belonging to his own private stud, besides
war horses, eight hundred stallions and sixteen thousand mares, twenty
to each stallion. Besides which he kept so great a number of Indian
hounds, that four large villages of the plain were exempted from all
other charges on condition of finding them in food.
    But little rain falls in Assyria, enough, however, to make the
corn begin to sprout, after which the plant is nourished and the
ears formed by means of irrigation from the river. For the river
does not, as in Egypt, overflow the corn-lands of its own accord,
but is spread over them by the hand, or by the help of engines. The
whole of Babylonia is, like Egypt, intersected with canals. The
largest of them all, which runs towards the winter sun, and is
impassable except in boats, is carried from the Euphrates into another
stream, called the Tigris, the river upon which the town of Nineveh
formerly stood. Of all the countries that we know there is none
which is so fruitful in grain. It makes no pretension indeed of
growing the fig, the olive, the vine, or any other tree of the kind;
but in grain it is so fruitful as to yield commonly
two-hundred-fold, and when the production is the greatest, even
three-hundred-fold. The blade of the wheat-plant and barley-plant is
often four fingers in breadth. As for the millet and the sesame, I
shall not say to what height they grow, though within my own
knowledge; for I am not ignorant that what I have already written
concerning the fruitfulness of Babylonia must seem incredible to those
who have never visited the country. The only oil they use is made from
the sesame-plant. Palm-trees grow in great numbers over the whole of
the flat country, mostly of the kind which bears fruit, and this fruit
supplies them with bread, wine, and honey. They are cultivated like
the fig-tree in all respects, among others in this. The natives tie
the fruit of the male-palms, as they are called by the Greeks, to
the branches of the date-bearing palm, to let the gall-fly enter the
dates and ripen them, and to prevent the fruit from falling off. The
male-palms, like the wild fig-trees, have usually the gall-fly in
their fruit.
    But that which surprises me most in the land, after the city
itself, I will now proceed to mention. The boats which come down the
river to Babylon are circular, and made of skins. The frames, which
are of willow, are cut in the country of the Armenians above
Assyria, and on these, which serve for hulls, a covering of skins is
stretched outside, and thus the boats are made, without either stem or
stern, quite round like a shield. They are then entirely filled with
straw, and their cargo is put on board, after which they are
suffered to float down the stream. Their chief freight is wine, stored
in casks made of the wood of the palm-tree. They are managed by two
men who stand upright in them, each plying an oar, one pulling and the
other pushing. The boats are of various sizes, some larger, some
smaller; the biggest reach as high as five thousand talents'
burthen. Each vessel has a live ass on board; those of larger size
have more than one. When they reach Babylon, the cargo is landed and
offered for sale; after which the men break up their boats, sell the
straw and the frames, and loading their asses with the skins, set
off on their way back to Armenia. The current is too strong to allow a
boat to return upstream, for which reason they make their boats of
skins rather than wood. On their return to Armenia they build fresh
boats for the next voyage.
    The dress of the Babylonians is a linen tunic reaching to the
feet, and above it another tunic made in wool, besides which they have
a short white cloak thrown round them, and shoes of a peculiar
fashion, not unlike those worn by the Boeotians. They have long
hair, wear turbans on their heads, and anoint their whole body with
perfumes. Every one carries a seal, and a walking-stick, carved at the
top into the form of an apple, a rose, a lily, an eagle, or
something similar; for it is not their habit to use a stick without an
ornament.
    Of their customs, whereof I shall now proceed to give an
account, the following (which I understand belongs to them in common
with the Illyrian tribe of the Eneti) is the wisest in my judgment.
Once a year in each village the maidens of age to marry were collected
all together into one place; while the men stood round them in a
circle. Then a herald called up the damsels one by one, and offered
them for sale. He began with the most beautiful. When she was sold for
no small sum of money, he offered for sale the one who came next to
her in beauty. All of them were sold to be wives. The richest of the
Babylonians who wished to wed bid against each other for the loveliest
maidens, while the humbler wife-seekers, who were indifferent about
beauty, took the more homely damsels with marriage-portions. For the
custom was that when the herald had gone through the whole number of
the beautiful damsels, he should then call up the ugliest- a
cripple, if there chanced to be one- and offer her to the men,
asking who would agree to take her with the smallest marriage-portion.
And the man who offered to take the smallest sum had her assigned to
him. The marriage-portions were furnished by the money paid for the
beautiful damsels, and thus the fairer maidens portioned out the
uglier. No one was allowed to give his daughter in marriage to the man
of his choice, nor might any one carry away the damsel whom he had
purchased without finding bail really and truly to make her his
wife; if, however, it turned out that they did not agree, the money
might be paid back. All who liked might come even from distant
villages and bid for the women. This was the best of all their
customs, but it has now fallen into disuse. They have lately hit
upon a very different plan to save their maidens from violence, and
prevent their being torn from them and carried to distant cities,
which is to bring up their daughters to be courtesans. This is now
done by all the poorer of the common people, who since the conquest
have been maltreated by their lords, and have had ruin brought upon
their families.
    The following custom seems to me the wisest of their
institutions next to the one lately praised. They have no
physicians, but when a man is ill, they lay him in the public
square, and the passers-by come up to him, and if they have ever had
his disease themselves or have known any one who has suffered from it,
they give him advice, recommending him to do whatever they found
good in their own case, or in the case known to them; and no one is
allowed to pass the sick man in silence without asking him what his
ailment is.
    They bury their dead in honey, and have funeral lamentations
like the Egyptians. When a Babylonian has consorted with his wife,
he sits down before a censer of burning incense, and the woman sits
opposite to him. At dawn of day they wash; for till they are washed
they will not touch any of their common vessels. This practice is
observed also by the Arabians.
    The Babylonians have one most shameful custom. Every woman born in
the country must once in her life go and sit down in the precinct of
Venus, and there consort with a stranger. Many of the wealthier
sort, who are too proud to mix with the others, drive in covered
carriages to the precinct, followed by a goodly train of attendants,
and there take their station. But the larger number seat themselves
within the holy enclosure with wreaths of string about their heads-
and here there is always a great crowd, some coming and others
going; lines of cord mark out paths in all directions the women, and
the strangers pass along them to make their choice. A woman who has
once taken her seat is not allowed to return home till one of the
strangers throws a silver coin into her lap, and takes her with him
beyond the holy ground. When he throws the coin he says these words-
"The goddess Mylitta prosper thee." (Venus is called Mylitta by the
Assyrians.) The silver coin may be of any size; it cannot be
refused, for that is forbidden by the law, since once thrown it is
sacred. The woman goes with the first man who throws her money, and
rejects no one. When she has gone with him, and so satisfied the
goddess, she returns home, and from that time forth no gift however
great will prevail with her. Such of the women as are tall and
beautiful are soon released, but others who are ugly have to stay a
long time before they can fulfil the law. Some have waited three or
four years in the precinct. A custom very much like this is found also
in certain parts of the island of Cyprus.
    Such are the customs of the Babylonians generally. There are
likewise three tribes among them who eat nothing but fish. These are
caught and dried in the sun, after which they are brayed in a
mortar, and strained through a linen sieve. Some prefer to make
cakes of this material, while others bake it into a kind of bread.
    When Cyrus had achieved the conquest of the Babylonians, he
conceived the desire of bringing the Massagetae under his dominion.
Now the Massagetae are said to be a great and warlike nation, dwelling
eastward, toward the rising of the sun, beyond the river Araxes, and
opposite the Issedonians. By many they are regarded as a Scythian
race.
    As for the Araxes, it is, according to some accounts, larger,
according to others smaller than the Ister (Danube). It has islands in
it, many of which are said to be equal in size to Lesbos. The men
who inhabit them feed during the summer on roots of all kinds, which
they dig out of the ground, while they store up the fruits, which they
gather from the trees at the fitting season, to serve them as food
in the winter-time. Besides the trees whose fruit they gather for this
purpose, they have also a tree which bears the strangest produce. When
they are met together in companies they throw some of it upon the fire
round which they are sitting, and presently, by the mere smell of
the fumes which it gives out in burning, they grow drunk, as the
Greeks do with wine. More of the fruit is then thrown on the fire,
and, their drunkenness increasing, they often jump up and begin to
dance and sing. Such is the account which I have heard of this people.
    The river Araxes, like the Gyndes, which Cyrus dispersed into
three hundred and sixty channels, has its source in the country of the
Matienians. It has forty mouths, whereof all, except one, end in
bogs and swamps. These bogs and swamps are said to be inhabited by a
race of men who feed on raw fish, and clothe themselves with the skins
of seals. The other mouth of the river flows with a clear course
into the Caspian Sea.
    The Caspian is a sea by itself, having no connection with any
other. The sea frequented by the Greeks, that beyond the Pillars of
Hercules, which is called the Atlantic, and also the Erythraean, are
all one and the same sea. But the Caspian is a distinct sea, lying
by itself, in length fifteen days' voyage with a row-boat, in breadth,
at the broadest part, eight days' voyage. Along its western shore runs
the chain of the Caucasus, the most extensive and loftiest of all
mountain-ranges. Many and various are the tribes by which it is
inhabited, most of whom live entirely on the wild fruits of the
forest. In these forests certain trees are said to grow, from the
leaves of which, pounded and mixed with water, the inhabitants make
a dye, wherewith they paint upon their clothes the figures of animals;
and the figures so impressed never wash out, but last as though they
had been inwoven in the cloth from the first, and wear as long as
the garment.
    On the west then, as I have said, the Caspian Sea is bounded by
the range of Caucasus. On the cast it is followed by a vast plain,
stretching out interminably before the eye, the greater portion of
which is possessed by those Massagetae, against whom Cyrus was now
so anxious to make an expedition. Many strong motives weighed with him
and urged him on- his birth especially, which seemed something more
than human, and his good fortune in all his former wars, wherein he
had always found that against what country soever he turned his
arms, it was impossible for that people to escape.
    At this time the Massagetae were ruled by a queen, named
Tomyris, who at the death of her husband, the late king, had mounted
the throne. To her Cyrus sent ambassadors, with instructions to
court her on his part, pretending that he wished to take her to
wife. Tomyris, however, aware that it was her kingdom, and not
herself, that he courted, forbade the men to approach. Cyrus,
therefore, finding that he did not advance his designs by this deceit,
marched towards the Araxes, and openly displaying his hostile
intentions; set to work to construct a bridge on which his army
might cross the river, and began building towers upon the boats
which were to be used in the passage.
    While the Persian leader was occupied in these labours, Tomyris
sent a herald to him, who said, "King of the Medes, cease to press
this enterprise, for thou canst not know if what thou art doing will
be of real advantage to thee. Be content to rule in peace thy own
kingdom, and bear to see us reign over the countries that are ours
to govern. As, however, I know thou wilt not choose to hearken to this
counsel, since there is nothing thou less desirest than peace and
quietness, come now, if thou art so mightily desirous of meeting the
Massagetae in arms, leave thy useless toil of bridge-making; let us
retire three days' march from the river bank, and do thou come
across with thy soldiers; or, if thou likest better to give us
battle on thy side the stream, retire thyself an equal distance."
Cyrus, on this offer, called together the chiefs of the Persians,
and laid the matter before them, requesting them to advise him what he
should do. All the votes were in favour of his letting Tomyris cross
the stream, and giving battle on Persian ground.
    But Croesus the Lydian, who was present at the meeting of the
chiefs, disapproved of this advice; he therefore rose, and thus
delivered his sentiments in opposition to it: "Oh! my king! I promised
thee long since, that, as Jove had given me into thy hands, I would,
to the best of my power, avert impending danger from thy house.
Alas! my own sufferings, by their very bitterness, have taught me to
be keen-sighted of dangers. If thou deemest thyself an immortal, and
thine army an army of immortals, my counsel will doubtless be thrown
away upon thee. But if thou feelest thyself to be a man, and a ruler
of men, lay this first to heart, that there is a wheel on which the
affairs of men revolve, and that its movement forbids the same man
to be always fortunate. Now concerning the matter in hand, my judgment
runs counter to the judgment of thy other counsellors. For if thou
agreest to give the enemy entrance into thy country, consider what
risk is run! Lose the battle, and therewith thy whole kingdom is lost.
For assuredly, the Massagetae, if they win the fight, will not
return to their homes, but will push forward against the states of thy
empire. Or if thou gainest the battle, why, then thou gainest far less
than if thou wert across the stream, where thou mightest follow up thy
victory. For against thy loss, if they defeat thee on thine own
ground, must be set theirs in like case. Rout their army on the
other side of the river, and thou mayest push at once into the heart
of their country. Moreover, were it not disgrace intolerable for Cyrus
the son of Cambyses to retire before and yield ground to a woman? My
counsel, therefore, is that we cross the stream, and pushing forward
as far as they shall fall back, then seek to get the better of them by
stratagem. I am told they are unacquainted with the good things on
which the Persians live, and have never tasted the great delights of
life. Let us then prepare a feast for them in our camp; let sheep be
slaughtered without stint, and the winecups be filled full of noble
liquor, and let all manner of dishes be prepared: then leaving
behind us our worst troops, let us fall back towards the river. Unless
I very much mistake, when they see the good fare set out, they will
forget all else and fall to. Then it will remain for us to do our
parts manfully."
    Cyrus, when the two plans were thus placed in contrast before him,
changed his mind, and preferring the advice which Croesus had given,
returned for answer to Tomyris that she should retire, and that he
would cross the stream. She therefore retired, as she had engaged; and
Cyrus, giving Croesus into the care of his son Cambyses (whom he had
appointed to succeed him on the throne), with strict charge to pay him
all respect and treat him well, if the expedition failed of success;
and sending them both back to Persia, crossed the river with his army.
    The first night after the passage, as he slept in the enemy's
country, a vision appeared to him. He seemed to see in his sleep the
eldest of the sons of Hystaspes, with wings upon his shoulders,
shadowing with the one wing Asia, and Europe with the other. Now
Hystaspes, the son of Arsames, was of the race of the Achaemenidae,
and his eldest son, Darius, was at that time scarce twenty years
old; wherefore, not being of age to go to the wars, he had remained
behind in Persia. When Cyrus woke from his sleep, and turned the
vision over in his mind, it seemed to him no light matter. He
therefore sent for Hystaspes, and taking him aside said, "Hystaspes,
thy son is discovered to be plotting against me and my crown. I will
tell thee how I know it so certainly. The gods watch over my safety,
and warn me beforehand of every danger. Now last night, as I lay in my
bed, I saw in a vision the eldest of thy sons with wings upon his
shoulders, shadowing with the one wing Asia, and Europe with the
other. From this it is certain, beyond all possible doubt, that he
is engaged in some plot against me. Return thou then at once to
Persia, and be sure, when I come back from conquering the
Massagetae, to have thy son ready to produce before me, that I may
examine him."
    Thus Cyrus spoke, in the belief that he was plotted against by
Darius; but he missed the true meaning of the dream, which was sent by
God to forewarn him, that he was to die then and there, and that his
kingdom was to fall at last to Darius.
    Hystaspes made answer to Cyrus in these words:- "Heaven forbid,
sire, that there should be a Persian living who would plot against
thee! If such an one there be, may a speedy death overtake him! Thou
foundest the Persians a race of slaves, thou hast made them free
men: thou foundest them subject to others, thou hast made them lords
of all. If a vision has announced that my son is practising against
thee, lo, I resign him into thy hands to deal with as thou wilt."
Hystaspes, when he had thus answered, recrossed the Araxes and
hastened back to Persia, to keep a watch on his son Darius.
    Meanwhile Cyrus, having advanced a day's march from the river, did
as Croesus had advised him, and, leaving the worthless portion of
his army in the camp, drew off with his good troops towards the river.
Soon afterwards, a detachment of the Massagetae, one-third of their
entire army, led by Spargapises, son of the queen Tomyris, coming
up, fell upon the body which had been left behind by Cyrus, and on
their resistance put them to the sword. Then, seeing the banquet
prepared, they sat down and began to feast. When they had eaten and
drunk their fill, and were now sunk in sleep, the Persians under Cyrus
arrived, slaughtered a great multitude, and made even a larger
number prisoners. Among these last was Spargapises himself.
    When Tomyris heard what had befallen her son and her army, she
sent a herald to Cyrus, who thus addressed the conqueror:- "Thou
bloodthirsty Cyrus, pride not thyself on this poor success: it was the
grape-juice- which, when ye drink it, makes you so mad, and as ye
swallow it down brings up to your lips such bold and wicked words-
it was this poison wherewith thou didst ensnare my child, and so
overcamest him, not in fair open fight. Now hearken what I advise, and
be sure I advise thee for thy good. Restore my son to me and get
thee from the land unharmed, triumphant over a third part of the
host of the Massagetae. Refuse, and I swear by the sun, the
sovereign lord of the Massagetae, bloodthirsty as thou art, I will
give thee thy fill of blood."
    To the words of this message Cyrus paid no manner of regard. As
for Spargapises, the son of the queen, when the wine went off, 'and he
saw the extent of his calamity, he made request to Cyrus to release
him from his bonds; then, when his prayer was granted, and the fetters
were taken from his limbs, as soon as his hands were free, he
destroyed himself.
    Tomyris, when she found that Cyrus paid no heed to her advice,
collected all the forces of her kingdom, and gave him battle. Of all
the combats in which the barbarians have engaged among themselves, I
reckon this to have been the fiercest. The following, as I understand,
was the manner of it:- First, the two armies stood apart and shot
their arrows at each other; then, when their quivers were empty,
they closed and fought hand-to-hand with lances and daggers; and
thus they continued fighting for a length of time, neither choosing to
give ground. At length the Massagetae prevailed. The greater part of
the army of the Persians was destroyed and Cyrus himself fell, after
reigning nine and twenty years. Search was made among the slain by
order of the queen for the body of Cyrus, and when it was found she
took a skin, and, filling it full of human blood, she dipped the
head of Cyrus in the gore, saying, as she thus insulted the corse,
"I live and have conquered thee in fight, and yet by thee am I ruined,
for thou tookest my son with guile; but thus I make good my threat,
and give thee thy fill of blood." Of the many different accounts which
are given of the death of Cyrus, this which I have followed appears to
me most worthy of credit.
    In their dress and mode of living the Massagetae resemble the
Scythians. They fight both on horseback and on foot, neither method is
strange to them: they use bows and lances, but their favourite
weapon is the battle-axe. Their arms are all either of gold or
brass. For their spear-points, and arrow-heads, and for their
battle-axes, they make use of brass; for head-gear, belts, and
girdles, of gold. So too with the caparison of their horses, they give
them breastplates of brass, but employ gold about the reins, the
bit, and the cheek-plates. They use neither iron nor silver, having
none in their country; but they have brass and gold in abundance.
    The following are some of their customs;- Each man has but one
wife, yet all the wives are held in common; for this is a custom of
the Massagetae and not of the Scythians, as the Greeks wrongly say.
Human life does not come to its natural close with this people; but
when a man grows very old, all his kinsfolk collect together and offer
him up in sacrifice; offering at the same time some cattle also. After
the sacrifice they boil the flesh and feast on it; and those who
thus end their days are reckoned the happiest. If a man dies of
disease they do not eat him, but bury him in the ground, bewailing his
ill-fortune that he did not come to be sacrificed. They sow no
grain, but live on their herds, and on fish, of which there is great
plenty in the Araxes. Milk is what they chiefly drink. The only god
they worship is the sun, and to him they offer the horse in sacrifice;
under the notion of giving to the swiftest of the gods the swiftest of
all mortal creatures.
                      The Second Book, Entitled
                               EUTERPE

    On the death of Cyrus, Cambyses his son by Cassandane daughter
of Pharnaspes took the kingdom. Cassandane had died in the lifetime of
Cyrus, who had made a great mourning for her at her death, and had
commanded all the subjects of his empire to observe the like.
Cambyses, the son of this lady and of Cyrus, regarding the Ionian
and Aeolian Greeks as vassals of his father, took them with him in his
expedition against Egypt among the other nations which owned his sway.
    Now the Egyptians, before the reign of their king Psammetichus,
believed themselves to be the most ancient of mankind. Since
Psammetichus, however, made an attempt to discover who were actually
the primitive race, they have been of opinion that while they
surpass all other nations, the Phrygians surpass them in antiquity.
This king, finding it impossible to make out by dint of inquiry what
men were the most ancient, contrived the following method of
discovery:- He took two children of the common sort, and gave them
over to a herdsman to bring up at his folds, strictly charging him
to let no one utter a word in their presence, but to keep them in a
sequestered cottage, and from time to time introduce goats to their
apartment, see that they got their fill of milk, and in all other
respects look after them. His object herein was to know, after the
indistinct babblings of infancy were over, what word they would
first articulate. It happened as he had anticipated. The herdsman
obeyed his orders for two years, and at the end of that time, on his
one day opening the door of their room and going in, the children both
ran up to him with outstretched arms, and distinctly said "Becos."
When this first happened the herdsman took no notice; but afterwards
when he observed, on coming often to see after them, that the word was
constantly in their mouths, he informed his lord, and by his command
brought the children into his presence. Psammetichus then himself
heard them say the word, upon which he proceeded to make inquiry
what people there was who called anything "becos," and hereupon he
learnt that "becos" was the Phrygian name for bread. In
consideration of this circumstance the Egyptians yielded their claims,
and admitted the greater antiquity of the Phrygians.
    That these were the real facts I learnt at Memphis from the
priests of Vulcan. The Greeks, among other foolish tales, relate
that Psammetichus had the children brought up by women whose tongues
he had previously cut out; but the priests said their bringing up
was such as I have stated above. I got much other information also
from conversation with these priests while I was at Memphis, and I
even went to Heliopolis and to Thebes, expressly to try whether the
priests of those places would agree in their accounts with the priests
at Memphis. The Heliopolitans have the reputation of being the best
skilled in history of all the Egyptians. What they told me
concerning their religion it is not my intention to repeat, except the
names of their deities, which I believe all men know equally. If I
relate anything else concerning these matters, it will only be when
compelled to do so by the course of my narrative.
    Now with regard to mere human matters, the accounts which they
gave, and in which all agreed, were the following. The Egyptians, they
said, were the first to discover the solar year, and to portion out
its course into twelve parts. They obtained this knowledge from the
stars. (To my mind they contrive their year much more cleverly than
the Greeks, for these last every other year intercalate a whole month,
but the Egyptians, dividing the year into twelve months of thirty days
each, add every year a space of five days besides, whereby the circuit
of the seasons is made to return with uniformity.) The Egyptians, they
went on to affirm, first brought into use the names of the twelve
gods, which the Greeks adopted from them; and first erected altars,
images, and temples to the gods; and also first engraved upon stone
the figures of animals. In most of these cases they proved to me
that what they said was true. And they told me that the first man
who ruled over Egypt was Min, and that in his time all Egypt, except
the Thebaic canton, was a marsh, none of the land below Lake Moeris
then showing itself above the surface of the water. This is a distance
of seven days' sail from the sea up the river.
    What they said of their country seemed to me very reasonable.
For any one who sees Egypt, without having heard a word about it
before, must perceive, if he has only common powers of observation,
that the Egypt to which the Greeks go in their ships is an acquired
country, the gift of the river. The same is true of the land above the
lake, to the distance of three days' voyage, concerning which the
Egyptians say nothing, but which exactly the same kind of country.
    The following is the general character of the region. In the first
place, on approaching it by sea, when you are still a day's sail
from the land, if you let down a sounding-line you will bring up
mud, and find yourself in eleven fathoms' water, which shows that
the soil washed down by the stream extends to that distance.
    The length of the country along shore, according to the bounds
that we assign to Egypt, namely from the Plinthinetic gulf to Lake
Serbonis, which extends along the base of Mount Casius, is sixty
schoenes. The nations whose territories are scanty measure them by the
fathom; those whose bounds are less confined, by the furlong; those
who have an ample territory, by the parasang; but if men have a
country which is very vast, they measure it by the schoene. Now the
length of the parasang is thirty furlongs, but the schoene, which is
an Egyptian measure, is sixty furlongs. Thus the coastline of Egypt
would extend a length of three thousand six hundred furlongs.
    From the coast inland as far as Heliopolis the breadth of Egypt is
considerable, the country is flat, without springs, and full of
swamps. The length of the route from the sea up to Heliopolis is
almost exactly the same as that of the road which runs from the
altar of the twelve gods at Athens to the temple of Olympian Jove at
Pisa. If a person made a calculation he would find but a very little
difference between the two routes, not more than about fifteen
furlongs; for the road from Athens to Pisa falls short of fifteen
hundred furlongs by exactly fifteen, whereas the distance of
Heliopolis from the sea is just the round number.
    As one proceeds beyond Heliopolis up the country, Egypt becomes
narrow, the Arabian range of hills, which has a direction from north
to south, shutting it in upon the one side, and the Libyan range
upon the other. The former ridge runs on without a break, and
stretches away to the sea called the Erythraean; it contains the
quarries whence the stone was cut for the pyramids of Memphis: and
this is the point where it ceases its first direction, and bends
away in the manner above indicated. In its greatest length from east
to west it is, as I have been informed, a distance of two months'
journey towards the extreme east its skirts produce frankincense. Such
are the chief features of this range. On the Libyan side, the other
ridge whereon the pyramids stand is rocky and covered with sand; its
direction is the same as that of the Arabian ridge in the first part
of its course. Above Heliopolis, then, there is no great breadth of
territory for such a country as Egypt, but during four days' sail
Egypt is narrow; the valley between the two ranges is a level plain,
and seemed to me to be, at the narrowest point, not more than two
hundred furlongs across from the Arabian to the Libyan hills. Above
this point Egypt again widens.
    From Heliopolis to Thebes is nine days' sail up the river; the
distance is eighty-one schoenes, or 4860 furlongs. If we now put
together the several measurements of the country we shall find that
the distance along shore is, as I stated above, 3600 furlongs, and the
distance from the sea inland to Thebes 6120 furlongs. Further, it is a
distance of eighteen hundred furlongs from Thebes to the place
called Elephantine.
    The greater portion of the country above described seemed to me to
be, as the priests declared, a tract gained by the inhabitants. For
the whole region above Memphis, lying between the two ranges of
hills that have been spoken of, appeared evidently to have formed at
one time a gulf of the sea. It resembles (to compare small things with
great) the parts about Ilium and Teuthrania, Ephesus, and the plain of
the Maeander. In all these regions the land has been formed by rivers,
whereof the greatest is not to compare for size with any one of the
five mouths of the Nile. I could mention other rivers also, far
inferior to the Nile in magnitude, that have effected very great
changes. Among these not the least is the Achelous, which, after
passing through Acarnania, empties itself into the sea opposite the
islands called Echinades, and has already joined one-half of them to
the continent.
    In Arabia, not far from Egypt, there is a long and narrow gulf
running inland from the sea called the Erythraean, of which I will
here set down the dimensions. Starting from its innermost recess,
and using a row-boat, you take forty days to reach the open main,
while you may cross the gulf at its widest part in the space of half a
day. In this sea there is an ebb and flow of the tide every day. My
opinion is that Egypt was formerly very much such a gulf as this-
one gulf penetrated from the sea that washes Egypt on the north, and
extended itself towards Ethiopia; another entered from the southern
ocean, and stretched towards Syria; the two gulfs ran into the land so
as almost to meet each other, and left between them only a very narrow
tract of country. Now if the Nile should choose to divert his waters
from their present bed into this Arabian gulf, what is there to hinder
it from being filled up by the stream within, at the utmost, twenty
thousand years? For my part, I think it would be filled in half the
time. How then should not a gulf, even of much greater size, have been
filled up in the ages that passed before I was born, by a river that
is at once so large and so given to working changes?
    Thus I give credit to those from whom I received this account of
Egypt, and am myself, moreover, strongly of the same opinion, since
I remarked that the country projects into the sea further than the
neighbouring shores, and I observed that there were shells upon the
hills, and that salt exuded from the soil to such an extent as even to
injure the pyramids; and I noticed also that there is but a single
hill in all Egypt where sand is found, namely, the hill above Memphis;
and further, I found the country to bear no resemblance either to
its borderland Arabia, or to Libya- nay, nor even to Syria, which
forms the seaboard of Arabia; but whereas the soil of Libya is, we
know, sandy and of a reddish hue, and that of Arabia and Syria
inclines to stone and clay, Egypt has a soil that is black and
crumbly, as being alluvial and formed of the deposits brought down
by the river from Ethiopia.
    One fact which I learnt of the priests is to me a strong
evidence of the origin of the country. They said that when Moeris
was king, the Nile overflowed all Egypt below Memphis, as soon as it
rose so little as eight cubits. Now Moeris had not been dead 900 years
at the time when I heard this of the priests; yet at the present
day, unless the river rise sixteen, or, at the very least, fifteen
cubits, it does not overflow the lands. It seems to me, therefore,
that if the land goes on rising and growing at this rate, the
Egyptians who dwell below Lake Moeris, in the Delta (as it is
called) and elsewhere, will one day, by the stoppage of the
inundations, suffer permanently the fate which they told me they
expected would some time or other befall the Greeks. On hearing that
the whole land of Greece is watered by rain from heaven, and not, like
their own, inundated by rivers, they observed- "Some day the Greeks
will be disappointed of their grand hope, and then they will be
wretchedly hungry"; which was as much as to say, "If God shall some
day see fit not to grant the Greeks rain, but shall afflict them
with a long drought, the Greeks will be swept away by a famine,
since they have nothing to rely on but rain from Jove, and have no
other resource for water."
    And certes, in thus speaking of the Greeks the Egyptians say
nothing but what is true. But now let me tell the Egyptians how the
case stands with themselves. If, as I said before, the country below
Memphis, which is the land that is always rising, continues to
increase in height at the rate at which it has risen in times gone by,
how will it be possible for the inhabitants of that region to avoid
hunger, when they will certainly have no rain, and the river will
not be able to overflow their cornlands? At present, it must be
confessed, they obtain the fruits of the field with less trouble
than any other people in the world, the rest of the Egyptians
included, since they have no need to break up the ground with the
plough, nor to use the hoe, nor to do any of the work which the rest
of mankind find necessary if they are to get a crop; but the
husbandman waits till the river has of its own accord spread itself
over the fields and withdrawn again to its bed, and then sows his plot
of ground, and after sowing turns his swine into it- the swine tread
in the corn- after which he has only to await the harvest. The swine
serve him also to thrash the grain, which is then carried to the
garner.
    If then we choose to adopt the views of the Ionians concerning
Egypt, we must come to the conclusion that the Egyptians had
formerly no country at all. For the Ionians say that nothing is really
Egypt but the Delta, which extends along shore from the Watch-tower of
Perseus, as it is called, to the Pelusiac Salt-Pans, a distance of
forty schoenes, and stretches inland as far as the city of Cercasorus,
where the Nile divides into the two streams which reach the sea at
Pelusium and Canobus respectively. The rest of what is accounted Egypt
belongs, they say, either to Arabia or Libya. But the Delta, as the
Egyptians affirm, and as I myself am persuaded, is formed of the
deposits of the river, and has only recently, if I may use the
expression, come to light. If, then, they had formerly no territory at
all, how came they to be so extravagant as to fancy themselves the
most ancient race in the world? Surely there was no need of their
making the experiment with the children to see what language they
would first speak. But in truth I do not believe that the Egyptians
came into being at the same time with the Delta, as the Ionians call
it; I think they have always existed ever since the human race
began; as the land went on increasing, part of the population came
down into the new country, part remained in their old settlements.
In ancient times the Thebais bore the name of Egypt, a district of
which the entire circumference is but 6120 furlongs.
    If, then, my judgment on these matters be right, the Ionians are
mistaken in what they say of Egypt. If, on the contrary, it is they
who are right, then I undertake to show that neither the Ionians nor
any of the other Greeks know how to count. For they all say that the
earth is divided into three parts, Europe, Asia, and Libya, whereas
they ought to add a fourth part, the Delta of Egypt, since they do not
include it either in Asia or Libya. For is it not their theory that
the Nile separates Asia from Libya? As the Nile, therefore, splits
in two at the apex of the Delta, the Delta itself must be a separate
country, not contained in either Asia or Libya.
    Here I take my leave of the opinions of the Ionians, and proceed
to deliver my own sentiments on these subjects. I consider Egypt to be
the whole country inhabited by the Egyptians, just as Cilicia is the
tract occupied by the Cilicians, and Assyria that possessed by the
Assyrians. And I regard the only proper boundary-line between Libya
and Asia to be that which is marked out by the Egyptian frontier.
For if we take the boundary-line commonly received by the Greeks, we
must regard Egypt as divided, along its whole length from
Elephantine and the Cataracts to Cercasorus, into two parts, each
belonging to a different portion of the world, one to Asia, the
other to Libya; since the Nile divides Egypt in two from the Cataracts
to the sea, running as far as the city of Cercasorus in a single
stream, but at that point separating into three branches, whereof
the one which bends eastward is called the Pelusiac mouth, and that
which slants to the west, the Canobic. Meanwhile the straight course
of the stream, which comes down from the upper country and meets the
apex of the Delta, continues on, dividing the Delta down the middle,
and empties itself into the sea by a mouth, which is as celebrated,
and carries as large a body of water, as most of the others, the mouth
called the Sebennytic. Besides these there are two other mouths
which run out of the Sebennytic called respectively the Saitic and the
Mendesian. The Bolbitine mouth, and the Bucolic, are not natural
branches, but channels made by excavation.
    My judgment as to the extent of Egypt is confirmed by an oracle
delivered at the shrine of Ammon, of which I had no knowledge at all
until after I had formed my opinion. It happened that the people of
the cities Marea and Apis, who live in the part of Egypt that
borders on Libya, took a dislike to the religious usages of the
country concerning sacrificial animals, and wished no longer to be
restricted from eating the flesh of cows. So, as they believed
themselves to be Libyans and not Egyptians, they sent to the shrine to
say that, having nothing in common with the Egyptians, neither
inhabiting the Delta nor using the Egyptian tongue, they claimed to be
allowed to eat whatever they pleased. Their request, however, was
refused by the god, who declared in reply that Egypt was the entire
tract of country which the Nile overspreads and irrigates, and the
Egyptians were the people who lived below Elephantine, and drank the
waters of that river.
    So said the oracle. Now the Nile, when it overflows, floods not
only the Delta, but also the tracts of country on both sides the
stream which are thought to belong to Libya and Arabia, in some places
reaching to the extent of two days' journey from its banks, in some
even exceeding that distance, but in others falling short of it.
    Concerning the nature of the river, I was not able to gain any
information either from the priests or from others. I was particularly
anxious to learn from them why the Nile, at the commencement of the
summer solstice, begins to rise, and continues to increase for a
hundred days- and why, as soon as that number is past, it forthwith
retires and contracts its stream, continuing low during the whole of
the winter until the summer solstice comes round again. On none of
these points could I obtain any explanation from the inhabitants,
though I made every inquiry, wishing to know what was commonly
reported- they could neither tell me what special virtue the Nile
has which makes it so opposite in its nature to all other streams, nor
why, unlike every other river, it gives forth no breezes from its
surface.
    Some of the Greeks, however, wishing to get a reputation for
cleverness, have offered explanations of the phenomena of the river,
for which they have accounted in three different ways. Two of these
I do not think it worth while to speak of, further than simply to
mention what they are. One pretends that the Etesian winds cause the
rise of the river by preventing the Nile-water from running off into
the sea. But in the first place it has often happened, when the
Etesian winds did not blow, that the Nile has risen according to its
usual wont; and further, if the Etesian winds produced the effect, the
other rivers which flow in a direction opposite to those winds ought
to present the same phenomena as the Nile, and the more so as they are
all smaller streams, and have a weaker current. But these rivers, of
which there are many both in Syria and Libya, are entirely unlike
the Nile in this respect.
    The second opinion is even more unscientific than the one just
mentioned, and also, if I may so say, more marvellous. It is that
the Nile acts so strangely, because it flows from the ocean, and
that the ocean flows all round the earth.
    The third explanation, which is very much more plausible than
either of the others, is positively the furthest from the truth; for
there is really nothing in what it says, any more than in the other
theories. It is, that the inundation of the Nile is caused by the
melting of snows. Now, as the Nile flows out of Libya, through
Ethiopia, into Egypt, how is it possible that it can be formed of
melted snow, running, as it does, from the hottest regions of the
world into cooler countries? Many are the proofs whereby any one
capable of reasoning on the subject may be convinced that it is most
unlikely this should be the case. The first and strongest argument
is furnished by the winds, which always blow hot from these regions.
The second is that rain and frost are unknown there. Now whenever snow
falls, it must of necessity rain within five days;.so that, if there
were snow, there must be rain also in those parts. Thirdly, it is
certain that the natives of the country are black with the heat,
that the kites and the swallows remain there the whole year, and
that the cranes, when they fly from the rigours of a Scythian
winter, flock thither to pass the cold season. If then, in the country
whence the Nile has its source, or in that through which it flows,
there fell ever so little snow, it is absolutely impossible that any
of these circumstances could take place.
    As for the writer who attributes the phenomenon to the ocean,
his account is involved in such obscurity that it is impossible to
disprove it by argument. For my part I know of no river called
Ocean, and I think that Homer, or one of the earlier poets, invented
the name, and introduced it into his poetry.
    Perhaps, after censuring all the opinions that have been put
forward on this obscure subject, one ought to propose some theory of
one's own. I will therefore proceed to explain what I think to be
the reason of the Nile's swelling in the summer time. During the
winter, the sun is driven out of his usual course by the storms, and
removes to the upper parts of Libya. This is the whole secret in the
fewest possible words; for it stands to reason that the country to
which the Sun-god approaches the nearest, and which he passes most
directly over, will be scantest of water, and that there the streams
which feed the rivers will shrink the most.
    To explain, however, more at length, the case is this. The sun, in
his passage across the upper parts of Libya, affects them in the
following way. As the air in those regions is constantly clear, and
the country warm through the absence of cold winds, the sun in his
passage across them acts upon them exactly as he wont to act elsewhere
in summer, when his path is in the middle of heaven- that is, he
attracts the water. After attracting it, he again repels it into the
upper regions, where the winds lay hold of it, scatter it, and
reduce it to a vapour, whence it naturally enough comes to pass that
the winds which blow from this quarter- the south and south-west-
are of all winds the most rainy. And my own opinion is that the sun
does not get rid of all the water which he draws year by year from the
Nile, but retains some about him. When the winter begins to soften,
the sun goes back again to his old place in the middle of the
heaven, and proceeds to attract water equally from all countries. Till
then the other rivers run big, from the quantity of rain-water which
they bring down from countries where so much moisture falls that all
the land is cut into gullies; but in summer, when the showers fail,
and the sun attracts their water, they become low. The Nile, on the
contrary, not deriving any of its bulk from rains, and being in winter
subject to the attraction of the sun, naturally runs at that season,
unlike all other streams, with a less burthen of water than in the
summer time. For in summer it is exposed to attraction equally with
all other rivers, but in winter it suffers alone. The sun,
therefore, I regard as the sole cause of the phenomenon.
    It is the sun also, in my opinion, which, by heating the space
through which it passes, makes the air in Egypt so dry. There is
thus perpetual summer in the upper parts of Libya. Were the position
of the heavenly regions reversed, so that the place where now the
north wind and the winter have their dwelling became the station of
the south wind and of the noon-day, while, on the other hand, the
station of the south wind became that of the north, the consequence
would be that the sun, driven from the mid-heaven by the winter and
the northern gales, would betake himself to the upper parts of Europe,
as he now does to those of Libya, and then I believe his passage
across Europe would affect the Ister exactly as the Nile is affected
at the present day.
    And with respect to the fact that no breeze blows from the Nile, I
am of opinion that no wind is likely to arise in very hot countries,
for breezes love to blow from some cold quarter.
    Let us leave these things, however, to their natural course, to
continue as they are and have been from the beginning. With regard
to the sources of the Nile, I have found no one among all those with
whom I have conversed, whether Egyptians, Libyans, or Greeks, who
professed to have any knowledge, except a single person. He was the
scribe who kept the register of the sacred treasures of Minerva in the
city of Sais, and he did not seem to me to be in earnest when he
said that he knew them perfectly well. His story was as follows:-
"Between Syene, a city of the Thebais, and Elephantine, there are" (he
said) "two hills with sharp conical tops; the name of the one is
Crophi, of the other, Mophi. Midway between them are the fountains
of the Nile, fountains which it is impossible to fathom. Half the
water runs northward into Egypt, half to the south towards
Ethiopia." The fountains were known to be unfathomable, he declared,
because Psammetichus, an Egyptian king, had made trial of them. He had
caused a rope to be made, many thousand fathoms in length, and had
sounded the fountain with it, but could find no bottom. By this the
scribe gave me to understand, if there was any truth at all in what he
said, that in this fountain there are certain strong eddies, and a
regurgitation, owing to the force wherewith the water dashes against
the mountains, and hence a Sounding-line cannot be got to reach the
bottom of the spring.
    No other information on this head could I obtain from any quarter.
All that I succeeded in learning further of the more distant
portions of the Nile, by ascending myself as high as Elephantine and
making inquiries concerning the parts beyond, was the following:- As
one advances beyond Elephantine, the land rises. Hence it is necessary
in this part of the river to attach a rope to the boat on each side,
as men harness an ox, and so proceed on the journey. If the rope
snaps, the vessel is borne away down stream by the force of the
current. The navigation continues the same for four days, the river
winding greatly, like the Maeander, and the distance traversed
amounting to twelve schoenes. Here you come upon a smooth and level
plain, where the Nile flows in two branches, round an island called
Tachompso. The country above Elephantine is inhabited by the
Ethiopians, who possess one-half of this island, the Egyptians
occupying the other. Above the island there is a great lake, the
shores of which are inhabited by Ethiopian nomads; after passing it,
you come again to the stream of the Nile, which runs into the lake.
Here you land, and travel for forty days along the banks of the river,
since it is impossible to proceed further in a boat on account of
the sharp peaks which jut out from the water, and the sunken rocks
which abound in that part of the stream. When you have passed this
portion of the river in the space of forty days, you go on board
another boat and proceed by water for twelve days more, at the end
of which time you reach a great city called Meroe, which is said to be
the capital of the other Ethiopians. The only gods worshipped by the
inhabitants are Jupiter and Bacchus, to whom great honours are paid.
There is an oracle of Jupiter in the city, which directs the warlike
expeditions of the Ethiopians; when it commands they go to war, and in
whatever direction it bids them march, thither straightway they
carry their arms.
    On leaving this city, and again mounting the stream, in the same
space of time which it took you to reach the capital from Elephantine,
you come to the Deserters, who bear the name of Asmach. This word,
translated into our language, means "the men who stand on the left
hand of the king." These Deserters are Egyptians of the warrior caste,
who, to the number of two hundred and forty thousand, went over to the
Ethiopians in the reign of king Psammetichus. The cause of their
desertion was the following:- Three garrisons were maintained in Egypt
at that time, one in the city of Elephantine against the Ethiopians,
another in the Pelusiac Daphnae, against the Syrians and Arabians, and
a third, against the Libyans, in Marea. (The very same posts are to
this day occupied by the Persians, whose forces are in garrison both
in Daphnae and in Elephantine.) Now it happened, that on one
occasion the garrisons were not relieved during the space of three
years; the soldiers, therefore, at the end of that time, consulted
together, and having determined by common consent to revolt, marched
away towards Ethiopia. Psammetichus, informed of the movement, set out
in pursuit, and coming up with them, besought them with many words not
to desert the gods of their country, nor abandon their wives and
children. "Nay, but," said one of the deserters with an unseemly
gesture, "wherever we go, we are sure enough of finding wives and
children." Arrived in Ethiopia, they placed themselves at the disposal
of the king. In return, he made them a present of a tract of land
which belonged to certain Ethiopians with whom he was at feud, bidding
them expel the inhabitants and take possession of their territory.
>From the time that this settlement was formed, their acquaintance with
Egyptian manners has tended to civilise the Ethiopians.
    Thus the course of the Nile is known, not only throughout Egypt,
but to the extent of four months' journey either by land or water
above the Egyptian boundary; for on calculation it will be found
that it takes that length of time to travel from Elephantine to the
country of the Deserters. There the direction of the river is from
west to east. Beyond, no one has any certain knowledge of its
course, since the country is uninhabited by reason of the excessive
heat.
    I did hear, indeed, what I will now relate, from certain natives
of Cyrene. Once upon a time, they said, they were on a visit to the
oracular shrine of Ammon, when it chanced that in the course of
conversation with Etearchus, the Ammonian king, the talk fell upon the
Nile, how that its sources were unknown to all men. Etearchus upon
this mentioned that some Nasamonians had once come to his court, and
when asked if they could give any information concerning the
uninhabited parts of Libya, had told the following tale. (The
Nasamonians are a Libyan race who occupy the Syrtis, and a tract of no
great size towards the east.) They said there had grown up among
them some wild young men, the sons of certain chiefs, who, when they
came to man's estate, indulged in all manner of extravagancies, and
among other things drew lots for five of their number to go and
explore the desert parts of Libya, and try if they could not penetrate
further than any had done previously. The coast of Libya along the sea
which washes it to the north, throughout its entire length from
Egypt to Cape Soloeis, which is its furthest point, is inhabited by
Libyans of many distinct tribes who possess the whole tract except
certain portions which belong to the Phoenicians and the Greeks. Above
the coast-line and the country inhabited by the maritime tribes, Libya
is full of wild beasts; while beyond the wild beast region there is
a tract which is wholly sand, very scant of water, and utterly and
entirely a desert. The young men therefore, despatched on this
errand by their comrades with a plentiful supply of water and
provisions, travelled at first through the inhabited region, passing
which they came to the wild beast tract, whence they finally entered
upon the desert, which they proceeded to cross in a direction from
east to west. After journeying for many days over a wide extent of
sand, they came at last to a plain where they observed trees
growing; approaching them, and seeing fruit on them, they proceeded to
gather it. While they were thus engaged, there came upon them some
dwarfish men, under the middle height, who seized them and carried
them off. The Nasamonians could not understand a word of their
language, nor had they any acquaintance with the language of the
Nasamonians. They were led across extensive marshes, and finally
came to a town, where all the men were of the height of their
conductors, and black-complexioned. A great river flowed by the
town, running from west to east, and containing crocodiles.
    Here let me dismiss Etearchus the Ammonian, and his story, only
adding that (according to the Cyrenaeans) he declared that the
Nasamonians got safe back to their country, and that the men whose
city they had reached were a nation of sorcerers. With respect to
the river which ran by their town, Etearchus conjectured it to be
the Nile; and reason favours that view. For the Nile certainly flows
out of Libya, dividing it down the middle, and as I conceive,
judging the unknown from the known, rises at the same distance from
its mouth as the Ister. This latter river has its source in the
country of the Celts near the city Pyrene, and runs through the middle
of Europe, dividing it into two portions. The Celts live beyond the
pillars of Hercules, and border on the Cynesians, who dwell at the
extreme west of Europe. Thus the Ister flows through the whole of
Europe before it finally empties itself into the Euxine at Istria, one
of the colonies of the Milesians.
    Now as this river flows through regions that are inhabited, its
course is perfectly well known; but of the sources of the Nile no
one can give any account, since Libya, the country through which it
passes, is desert and without inhabitants. As far as it was possible
to get information by inquiry, I have given a description of the
stream. It enters Egypt from the parts beyond. Egypt lies almost
exactly opposite the mountainous portion of Cilicia, whence a
lightly-equipped traveller may reach Sinope on the Euxine in five days
by the direct route. Sinope lies opposite the place where the Ister
falls into the sea. My opinion therefore is that the Nile, as it
traverses the whole of Libya, is of equal length with the Ister. And
here I take my leave of this subject.
    Concerning Egypt itself I shall extend my remarks to a great
length, because there is no country that possesses so many wonders,
nor any that has such a number of works which defy description. Not
only is the climate different from that of the rest of the world,
and the rivers unlike any other rivers, but the people also, in most
of their manners and customs, exactly reverse the common practice of
mankind. The women attend the markets and trade, while the men sit
at home at the loom; and here, while the rest of the world works the
woof up the warp, the Egyptians work it down; the women likewise carry
burthens upon their shoulders, while the men carry them upon their
heads. They eat their food out of doors in the streets, but retire for
private purposes to their houses, giving as a reason that what is
unseemly, but necessary, ought to be done in secret, but what has
nothing unseemly about it, should be done openly. A woman cannot serve
the priestly office, either for god or goddess, but men are priests to
both; sons need not support their parents unless they choose, but
daughters must, whether they choose or no.
    In other countries the priests have long hair, in Egypt their
heads are shaven; elsewhere it is customary, in mourning, for near
relations to cut their hair close: the Egyptians, who wear no hair
at any other time, when they lose a relative, let their beards and the
hair of their heads grow long. All other men pass their lives separate
from animals, the Egyptians have animals always living with them;
others make barley and wheat their food; it is a disgrace to do so
in Egypt, where the grain they live on is spelt, which some call
zea. Dough they knead with their feet; but they mix mud, and even take
up dirt, with their hands. They are the only people in the world- they
at least, and such as have learnt the practice from them- who use
circumcision. Their men wear two garments apiece, their women but one.
They put on the rings and fasten the ropes to sails inside; others put
them outside. When they write or calculate, instead of going, like the
Greeks, from left to right, they move their hand from right to left;
and they insist, notwithstanding, that it is they who go to the right,
and the Greeks who go to the left. They have two quite different kinds
of writing, one of which is called sacred, the other common.
    They are religious to excess, far beyond any other race of men,
and use the following ceremonies:- They drink out of brazen cups,
which they scour every day: there is no exception to this practice.
They wear linen garments, which they are specially careful to have
always fresh washed. They practise circumcision for the sake of
cleanliness, considering it better to be cleanly than comely. The
priests shave their whole body every other day, that no lice or
other impure thing may adhere to them when they are engaged in the
service of the gods. Their dress is entirely of linen, and their shoes
of the papyrus plant: it is not lawful for them to wear either dress
or shoes of any other material. They bathe twice every day in cold
water, and twice each night; besides which they observe, so to
speak, thousands of ceremonies. They enjoy, however, not a few
advantages. They consume none of their own property, and are at no
expense for anything; but every day bread is baked for them of the
sacred corn, and a plentiful supply of beef and of goose's flesh is
assigned to each, and also a portion of wine made from the grape. Fish
they are not allowed to eat; and beans- which none of the Egyptians
ever sow, or eat, if they come up of their own accord, either raw or
boiled- the priests will not even endure to look on, since they
consider it an unclean kind of pulse. Instead of a single priest, each
god has the attendance of a college, at the head of which is a chief
priest; when one of these dies, his son is appointed in his room.
    Male kine are reckoned to belong to Epaphus, and are therefore
tested in the following manner:- One of the priests appointed for
the purpose searches to see if there is a single black hair on the
whole body, since in that case the beast is unclean. He examines him
all over, standing on his legs, and again laid upon his back; after
which he takes the tongue out of his mouth, to see if it be clean in
respect of the prescribed marks (what they are I will mention
elsewhere); he also inspects the hairs of the tail, to observe if they
grow naturally. If the animal is pronounced clean in all these various
points, the priest marks him by twisting a piece of papyrus round
his horns, and attaching thereto some sealing-clay, which he then
stamps with his own signet-ring. After this the beast is led away; and
it is forbidden, under the penalty of death, to sacrifice an animal
which has not been marked in this way.
    The following is their manner of sacrifice:- They lead the victim,
marked with their signet, to the altar where they are about to offer
it, and setting the wood alight, pour a libation of wine upon the
altar in front of the victim, and at the same time invoke the god.
Then they slay the animal, and cutting off his head, proceed to flay
the body. Next they take the head, and heaping imprecations on it,
if there is a market-place and a body of Greek traders in the city,
they carry it there and sell it instantly; if, however, there are no
Greeks among them, they throw the head into the river. The imprecation
is to this effect:- They pray that if any evil is impending either
over those who sacrifice, or over universal Egypt, it may be made to
fall upon that head. These practices, the imprecations upon the heads,
and the libations of wine, prevail all over Egypt, and extend to
victims of all sorts; and hence the Egyptians will never eat the
head of any animal.
    The disembowelling and burning are, however, different in
different sacrifices. I will mention the mode in use with respect to
the goddess whom they regard as the greatest, and honour with the
chiefest festival. When they have flayed their steer they pray, and
when their prayer is ended they take the paunch of the animal out
entire, leaving the intestines and the fat inside the body; they
then cut off the legs, the ends of the loins, the shoulders, and the
neck; and having so done, they fill the body of the steer with clean
bread, honey, raisins, figs, frankincense, myrrh, and other aromatics.
Thus filled, they burn the body, pouring over it great quantities of
oil. Before offering the sacrifice they fast, and while the bodies
of the victims are being consumed they beat themselves. Afterwards,
when they have concluded this part of the ceremony, they have the
other parts of the victim served up to them for a repast.
    The male kine, therefore, if clean, and the male calves, are
used for sacrifice by the Egyptians universally; but the females
they are not allowed to sacrifice, since they are sacred to Isis.
The statue of this goddess has the form of a woman but with horns like
a cow, resembling thus the Greek representations of Io; and the
Egyptians, one and all, venerate cows much more highly than any
other animal. This is the reason why no native of Egypt, whether man
or woman, will give a Greek a kiss, or use the knife of a Greek, or
his spit, or his cauldron, or taste the flesh of an ox, known to be
pure, if it has been cut with a Greek knife. When kine die, the
following is the manner of their sepulture:- The females are thrown
into the river; the males are buried in the suburbs of the towns, with
one or both of their horns appearing above the surface of the ground
to mark the place. When the bodies are decayed, a boat comes, at an
appointed time, from the island called Prosopitis,- which is a portion
of the Delta, nine schoenes in circumference,- and calls at the
several cities in turn to collect the bones of the oxen. Prosopitis is
a district containing several cities; the name of that from which
the boats come is Atarbechis. Venus has a temple there of much
sanctity. Great numbers of men go forth from this city and proceed
to the other towns, where they dig up the bones, which they take
away with them and bury together in one place. The same practice
prevails with respect to the interment of all other cattle- the law so
determining; they do not slaughter any of them.
    Such Egyptians as possess a temple of the Theban Jove, or live
in the Thebaic canton, offer no sheep in sacrifice, but only goats;
for the Egyptians do not all worship the same gods, excepting Isis and
Osiris, the latter of whom they say is the Grecian Bacchus. Those,
on the contrary, who possess a temple dedicated to Mendes, or belong
to the Mendesian canton, abstain from offering goats, and sacrifice
sheep instead. The Thebans, and such as imitate them in their
practice, give the following account of the origin of the custom:-
"Hercules," they say, "wished of all things to see Jove, but Jove
did not choose to be seen of him. At length, when Hercules
persisted, Jove hit on a device- to flay a ram, and, cutting off his
head, hold the head before him, and cover himself with the fleece.
In this guise he showed himself to Hercules." Therefore the
Egyptians give their statues of Jupiter the face of a ram: and from
them the practice has passed to the Ammonians, who are a joint
colony of Egyptians and Ethiopians, speaking a language between the
two; hence also, in my opinion, the latter people took their name of
Ammonians, since the Egyptian name for Jupiter is Amun. Such, then, is
the reason why the Thebans do not sacrifice rams, but consider them
sacred animals. Upon one day in the year, however, at the festival
of Jupiter, they slay a single ram, and stripping off the fleece,
cover with it the statue of that god, as he once covered himself,
and then bring up to the statue of Jove an image of Hercules. When
this has been done, the whole assembly beat their breasts in
mourning for the ram, and afterwards bury him in a holy sepulchre.
    The account which I received of this Hercules makes him one of the
twelve gods. Of the other Hercules, with whom the Greeks are familiar,
I could hear nothing in any part of Egypt. That the Greeks, however
(those I mean who gave the son of Amphitryon that name), took the name
from the Egyptians, and not the Egyptians from the Greeks, is I
think clearly proved, among other arguments, by the fact that both the
parents of Hercules, Amphitryon as well as Alcmena, were of Egyptian
origin. Again, the Egyptians disclaim all knowledge of the names of
Neptune and the Dioscuri, and do not include them in the number of
their gods; but had they adopted the name of any god from the
Greeks, these would have been the likeliest to obtain notice, since
the Egyptians, as I am well convinced, practised navigation at that
time, and the Greeks also were some of them mariners, so that they
would have been more likely to know the names of these gods than
that of Hercules. But the Egyptian Hercules is one of their ancient
gods. Seventeen thousand years before the reign of Amasis, the
twelve gods were, they affirm, produced from the eight: and of these
twelve, Hercules is one.
    In the wish to get the best information that I could on these
matters, I made a voyage to Tyre in Phoenicia, hearing there was a
temple of Hercules at that place, very highly venerated. I visited the
temple, and found it richly adorned with a number of offerings,
among which were two pillars, one of pure gold, the other of
emerald, shining with great brilliancy at night. In a conversation
which I held with the priests, I inquired how long their temple had
been built, and found by their answer that they, too, differed from
the Greeks. They said that the temple was built at the same time
that the city was founded, and that the foundation of the city took
place two thousand three hundred years ago. In Tyre I remarked another
temple where the same god was worshipped as the Thasian Hercules. So I
went on to Thasos, where I found a temple of Hercules which had been
built by the Phoenicians who colonised that island when they sailed in
search of Europa. Even this was five generations earlier than the time
when Hercules, son of Amphitryon, was born in Greece. These researches
show plainly that there is an ancient god Hercules; and my own opinion
is that those Greeks act most wisely who build and maintain two
temples of Hercules, in the one of which the Hercules worshipped is
known by the name of Olympian, and has sacrifice offered to him as
an immortal, while in the other the honours paid are such as are due
to a hero.
    The Greeks tell many tales without due investigation, and among
them the following silly fable respecting Hercules:- "Hercules,"
they say, "went once to Egypt, and there the inhabitants took him, and
putting a chaplet on his head, led him out in solemn procession,
intending to offer him a sacrifice to Jupiter. For a while he
submitted quietly; but when they led him up to the altar and began the
ceremonies, he put forth his strength and slew them all." Now to me it
seems that such a story proves the Greeks to be utterly ignorant of
the character and customs of the people. The Egyptians do not think it
allowable even to sacrifice cattle, excepting sheep, and the male kine
and calves, provided they be pure, and also geese. How, then, can it
be believed that they would sacrifice men? And again, how would it
have been possible for Hercules alone, and, as they confess, a mere
mortal, to destroy so many thousands? In saying thus much concerning
these matters, may I incur no displeasure either of god or hero!
    I mentioned above that some of the Egyptians abstain from
sacrificing goats, either male or female. The reason is the
following:- These Egyptians, who are the Mendesians, consider Pan to
be one of the eight gods who existed before the twelve, and Pan is
represented in Egypt by the painters and the sculptors, just as he
is in Greece, with the face and legs of a goat. They do not,
however, believe this to be his shape, or consider him in any
respect unlike the other gods; but they represent him thus for a
reason which I prefer not to relate. The Mendesians hold all goats
in veneration, but the male more than the female, giving the goatherds
of the males especial honour. One is venerated more highly than all
the rest, and when he dies there is a great mourning throughout all
the Mendesian canton. In Egyptian, the goat and Pan are both called
Mendes.
    The pig is regarded among them as an unclean animal, so much so
that if a man in passing accidentally touch a pig, he instantly
hurries to the river, and plunges in with all his clothes on. Hence,
too, the swineherds, notwithstanding that they are of pure Egyptian
blood, are forbidden to enter into any of the temples, which are
open to all other Egyptians; and further, no one will give his
daughter in marriage to a swineherd, or take a wife from among them,
so that the swineherds are forced to intermarry among themselves. They
do not offer swine in sacrifice to any of their gods, excepting
Bacchus and the Moon, whom they honour in this way at the same time,
sacrificing pigs to both of them at the same full moon, and afterwards
eating of the flesh. There is a reason alleged by them for their
detestation of swine at all other seasons, and their use of them at
this festival, with which I am well acquainted, but which I do not
think it proper to mention. The following is the mode in which they
sacrifice the swine to the Moon:- As soon as the victim is slain,
the tip of the tail, the spleen, and the caul are put together, and
having been covered with all the fat that has been found in the
animal's belly, are straightway burnt. The remainder of the flesh is
eaten on the same day that the sacrifice is offered, which is the
day of the full moon: at any other time they would not so much as
taste it. The poorer sort, who cannot afford live pigs, form pigs of
dough, which they bake and offer in sacrifice.
    To Bacchus, on the eve of his feast, every Egyptian sacrifices a
hog before the door of his house, which is then given back to the
swineherd by whom it was furnished, and by him carried away. In
other respects the festival is celebrated almost exactly as Bacchic
festivals are in Greece, excepting that the Egyptians have no choral
dances. They also use instead of phalli another invention,
consisting of images a cubit high, pulled by strings, which the
women carry round to the villages. A piper goes in front, and the
women follow, singing hymns in honour of Bacchus. They give a
religious reason for the peculiarities of the image.
    Melampus, the son of Amytheon, cannot (I think) have been ignorant
of this ceremony- nay, he must, I should conceive, have been well
acquainted with it. He it was who introduced into Greece the name of
Bacchus, the ceremonial of his worship, and the procession of the
phallus. He did not, however, so completely apprehend the whole
doctrine as to be able to communicate it entirely, but various sages
since his time have carried out his teaching to greater perfection.
Still it is certain that Melampus introduced the phallus, and that the
Greeks learnt from him the ceremonies which they now practise. I
therefore maintain that Melampus, who was a wise man, and had acquired
the art of divination, having become acquainted with the worship of
Bacchus through knowledge derived from Egypt, introduced it into
Greece, with a few slight changes, at the same time that he brought in
various other practices. For I can by no means allow that it is by
mere coincidence that the Bacchic ceremonies in Greece are so nearly
the same as the Egyptian- they would then have been more Greek in
their character, and less recent in their origin. Much less can I
admit that the Egyptians borrowed these customs, or any other, from
the Greeks. My belief is that Melampus got his knowledge of them
from Cadmus the Tyrian, and the followers whom he brought from
Phoenicia into the country which is now called Boeotia.
    Almost all the names of the gods came into Greece from Egypt. My
inquiries prove that they were all derived from a foreign source,
and my opinion is that Egypt furnished the greater number. For with
the exception of Neptune and the Dioscuri, whom I mentioned above, and
Juno, Vesta, Themis, the Graces, and the Nereids, the other gods
have been known from time immemorial in Egypt. This I assert on the
authority of the Egyptians themselves. The gods, with whose names they
profess themselves unacquainted, the Greeks received, I believe,
from the Pelasgi, except Neptune. Of him they got their knowledge from
the Libyans, by whom he has been always honoured, and who were
anciently the only people that had a god of the name. The Egyptians
differ from the Greeks also in paying no divine honours to heroes.
    Besides these which have been here mentioned, there are many other
practices whereof I shall speak hereafter, which the Greeks have
borrowed from Egypt. The peculiarity, however, which they observe in
their statues of Mercury they did not derive from the Egyptians, but
from the Pelasgi; from them the Athenians first adopted it, and
afterwards it passed from the Athenians to the other Greeks. For
just at the time when the Athenians were entering into the Hellenic
body, the Pelasgi came to live with them in their country, whence it
was that the latter came first to be regarded as Greeks. Whoever has
been initiated into the mysteries of the Cabiri will understand what I
mean. The Samothracians received these mysteries from the Pelasgi,
who, before they went to live in Attica, were dwellers in
Samothrace, and imparted their religious ceremonies to the
inhabitants. The Athenians, then, who were the first of all the Greeks
to make their statues of Mercury in this way, learnt the practice from
the Pelasgians; and by this people a religious account of the matter
is given, which is explained in the Samothracian mysteries.
    In early times the Pelasgi, as I know by information which I got
at Dodona, offered sacrifices of all kinds, and prayed to the gods,
but had no distinct names or appellations for them, since they had
never heard of any. They called them gods (Theoi, disposers),
because they disposed and arranged all things in such a beautiful
order. After a long lapse of time the names of the gods came to Greece
from Egypt, and the Pelasgi learnt them, only as yet they knew nothing
of Bacchus, of whom they first heard at a much later date. Not long
after the arrival of the names they sent to consult the oracle at
Dodona about them. This is the most ancient oracle in Greece, and at
that time there was no other. To their question, "Whether they
should adopt the names that had been imported from the foreigners?"
the oracle replied by recommending their use. Thenceforth in their
sacrifices the Pelasgi made use of the names of the gods, and from
them the names passed afterwards to the Greeks.
    Whence the gods severally sprang, whether or no they had all
existed from eternity, what forms they bore- these are questions of
which the Greeks knew nothing until the other day, so to speak. For
Homer and Hesiod were the first to compose Theogonies, and give the
gods their epithets, to allot them their several offices and
occupations, and describe their forms; and they lived but four hundred
years before my time, as I believe. As for the poets who are thought
by some to be earlier than these, they are, in my judgment,
decidedly later writers. In these matters I have the authority of
the priestesses of Dodona for the former portion of my statements;
what I have said of Homer and Hesiod is my own opinion.
    The following tale is commonly told in Egypt concerning the oracle
of Dodona in Greece, and that of Ammon in Libya. My informants on
the point were the priests of Jupiter at Thebes. They said "that two
of the sacred women were once carried off from Thebes by the
Phoenicians, and that the story went that one of them was sold into
Libya, and the other into Greece, and these women were the first
founders of the oracles in the two countries." On my inquiring how
they came to know so exactly what became of the women, they
answered, "that diligent search had been made after them at the
time, but that it had not been found possible to discover where they
were; afterwards, however, they received the information which they
had given me."
    This was what I heard from the priests at Thebes; at Dodona,
however, the women who deliver the oracles relate the matter as
follows:- "Two black doves flew away from Egyptian Thebes, and while
one directed its flight to Libya, the other came to them. She alighted
on an oak, and sitting there began to speak with a human voice, and
told them that on the spot where she was, there should henceforth be
an oracle of Jove. They understood the announcement to be from heaven,
so they set to work at once and erected the shrine. The dove which
flew to Libya bade the Libyans to establish there the oracle of
Ammon." This likewise is an oracle of Jupiter. The persons from whom I
received these particulars were three priestesses of the Dodonaeans,
the eldest Promeneia, the next Timarete, and the youngest Nicandra-
what they said was confirmed by the other Dodonaeans who dwell
around the temple.
    My own opinion of these matters is as follows:- I think that, if
it be true that the Phoenicians carried off the holy women, and sold
them for slaves, the one into Libya and the other into Greece, or
Pelasgia (as it was then called), this last must have been sold to the
Thesprotians. Afterwards, while undergoing servitude in those parts,
she built under a real oak a temple to Jupiter, her thoughts in her
new abode reverting- as it was likely they would do, if she had been
an attendant in a temple of Jupiter at Thebes- to that particular god.
Then, having acquired a knowledge of the Greek tongue, she set up an
oracle. She also mentioned that her sister had been sold for a slave
into Libya by the same persons as herself.
    The Dodonaeans called the women doves because they were
foreigners, and seemed to them to make a noise like birds. After a
while the dove spoke with a human voice, because the woman, whose
foreign talk had previously sounded to them like the chattering of a
bird, acquired the power of speaking what they could understand. For
how can it be conceived possible that a dove should really speak
with the voice of a man? Lastly, by calling the dove black the
Dodonaeans indicated that the woman was an Egyptian. And certainly the
character of the oracles at Thebes and Dodona is very similar. Besides
this form of divination, the Greeks learnt also divination by means of
victims from the Egyptians.
    The Egyptians were also the first to introduce solemn
assemblies, processions, and litanies to the gods; of all which the
Greeks were taught the use by them. It seems to me a sufficient
proof of this that in Egypt these practices have been established from
remote antiquity, while in Greece they are only recently known.
    The Egyptians do not hold a single solemn assembly, but several in
the course of the year. Of these the chief, which is better attended
than any other, is held at the city of Bubastis in honour of Diana.
The next in importance is that which takes place at Busiris, a city
situated in the very middle of the Delta; it is in honour of Isis, who
is called in the Greek tongue Demiter (Ceres). There is a third
great festival in Sais to Minerva, a fourth in Heliopolis to the
Sun, a fifth in Buto to Latona, and a sixth in Papremis to Mars.
    The following are the proceedings on occasion of the assembly at
Bubastis:- Men and women come sailing all together, vast numbers in
each boat, many of the women with castanets, which they strike,
while some of the men pipe during the whole time of the voyage; the
remainder of the voyagers, male and female, sing the while, and make a
clapping with their hands. When they arrive opposite any of the
towns upon the banks of the stream, they approach the shore, and,
while some of the women continue to play and sing, others call aloud
to the females of the place and load them with abuse, while a
certain number dance, and some standing up uncover themselves. After
proceeding in this way all along the river-course, they reach
Bubastis, where they celebrate the feast with abundant sacrifices.
More grape-wine is consumed at this festival than in all the rest of
the year besides. The number of those who attend, counting only the
men and women and omitting the children, amounts, according to the
native reports, to seven hundred thousand.
    The ceremonies at the feast of Isis in the city of Busiris have
been already spoken of. It is there that the whole multitude, both
of men and women, many thousands in number, beat themselves at the
close of the sacrifice, in honour of a god, whose name a religious
scruple forbids me to mention. The Carian dwellers in Egypt proceed on
this occasion to still greater lengths, even cutting their faces
with their knives, whereby they let it been seen that they are not
Egyptians but foreigners.
    At Sais, when the assembly takes place for the sacrifices, there
is one night on which the inhabitants all burn a multitude of lights
in the open air round their houses. They use lamps in the shape of
flat saucers filled with a mixture of oil and salt, on the top of
which the wick floats. These burn the whole night, and give to the
festival the name of the Feast of Lamps. The Egyptians who are
absent from the festival observe the night of the sacrifice, no less
than the rest, by a general lighting of lamps; so that the
illumination is not confined to the city of Sais, but extends over the
whole of Egypt. And there is a religious reason assigned for the
special honour paid to this night, as well as for the illumination
which accompanies it.
    At Heliopolis and Buto the assemblies are merely for the purpose
of sacrifice; but at Papremis, besides the sacrifices and other
rites which are performed there as elsewhere, the following custom
is observed:- When the sun is getting low, a few only of the priests
continue occupied about the image of the god, while the greater
number, armed with wooden clubs, take their station at the portal of
the temple. Opposite to them is drawn up a body of men, in number
above a thousand, armed, like the others, with clubs, consisting of
persons engaged in the performance of their vows. The image of the
god, which is kept in a small wooden shrine covered with plates of
gold, is conveyed from the temple into a second sacred building the
day before the festival begins. The few priests still in attendance
upon the image place it, together with the shrine containing it, on
a four-wheeled car, and begin to drag it along; the others stationed
at the gateway of the temple, oppose its admission. Then the
votaries come forward to espouse the quarrel of the god, and set
upon the opponents, who are sure to offer resistance. A sharp fight
with clubs ensues, in which heads are commonly broken on both sides.
Many, I am convinced, die of the wounds that they receive, though
the Egyptians insist that no one is ever killed.
    The natives give the subjoined account of this festival. They
say that the mother of the god Mars once dwelt in the temple.
Brought up at a distance from his parent, when he grew to man's estate
he conceived a wish to visit her. Accordingly he came, but the
attendants, who had never seen him before, refused him entrance, and
succeeded in keeping him out. So he went to another city and collected
a body of men, with whose aid he handled the attendants very
roughly, and forced his way in to his mother. Hence they say arose the
custom of a fight with sticks in honour of Mars at this festival.
    The Egyptians first made it a point of religion to have no
converse with women in the sacred places, and not to enter them
without washing, after such converse. Almost all other nations, except
the Greeks and the Egyptians, act differently, regarding man as in
this matter under no other law than the brutes. Many animals, they
say, and various kinds of birds, may be seen to couple in the
temples and the sacred precincts, which would certainly not happen
if the gods were displeased at it. Such are the arguments by which
they defend their practice, but I nevertheless can by no means approve
of it. In these points the Egyptians are specially careful, as they
are indeed in everything which concerns their sacred edifices.
    Egypt, though it borders upon Libya, is not a region abounding
in wild animals. The animals that do exist in the country, whether
domesticated or otherwise, are all regarded as sacred. If I were to
explain why they are consecrated to the several gods, I should be
led to speak of religious matters, which I particularly shrink from
mentioning; the points whereon I have touched slightly hitherto have
all been introduced from sheer necessity. Their custom with respect to
animals is as follows:- For every kind there are appointed certain
guardians, some male, some female, whose business it is to look
after them; and this honour is made to descend from father to son. The
inhabitants of the various cities, when they have made a vow to any
god, pay it to his animals in the way which I will now explain. At the
time of making the vow they shave the head of the child, cutting off
all the hair, or else half, or sometimes a third part, which they then
weigh in a balance against a sum of silver; and whatever sum the
hair weighs is presented to the guardian of the animals, who thereupon
cuts up some fish, and gives it to them for food- such being the stuff
whereon they are fed. When a man has killed one of the sacred animals,
if he did it with malice prepense, he is punished with death; if
unwittingly, he has to pay such a fine as the priests choose to
impose. When an ibis, however, or a hawk is killed, whether it was
done by accident or on purpose, the man must needs die.
    The number of domestic animals in Egypt is very great, and would
be still greater were it not for what befalls the cats. As the
females, when they have kittened, no longer seek the company of the
males, these last, to obtain once more their companionship, practise a
curious artifice. They seize the kittens, carry them off, and kill
them, but do not cat them afterwards. Upon this the females, being
deprived of their young, and longing to supply their place, seek the
males once more, since they are particularly fond of their
offspring. On every occasion of a fire in Egypt the strangest
prodigy occurs with the cats. The inhabitants allow the fire to rage
as it pleases, while they stand about at intervals and watch these
animals, which, slipping by the men or else leaping over them, rush
headlong into the flames. When this happens, the Egyptians are in deep
affliction. If a cat dies in a private house by a natural death, all
the inmates of the house shave their eyebrows; on the death of a dog
they shave the head and the whole of the body.
    The cats on their decease are taken to the city of Bubastis, where
they are embalmed, after which they are buried in certain sacred
repositories. The dogs are interred in the cities to which they
belong, also in sacred burial-places. The same practice obtains with
respect to the ichneumons; the hawks and shrew-mice, on the
contrary, are conveyed to the city of Buto for burial, and the
ibises to Hermopolis. The bears, which are scarce in Egypt, and the
wolves, which are not much bigger than foxes, they bury wherever
they happen to find them lying.
    The following are the peculiarities of the crocodile:- During
the four winter months they eat nothing; they are four-footed, and
live indifferently on land or in the water. The female lays and
hatches her eggs ashore, passing the greater portion of the day on dry
land, but at night retiring to the river, the water of which is warmer
than the night-air and the dew. Of all known animals this is the one
which from the smallest size grows to be the greatest: for the egg
of the crocodile is but little bigger than that of the goose, and
the young crocodile is in proportion to the egg; yet when it is full
grown, the animal measures frequently seventeen cubits and even
more. It has the eyes of a pig, teeth large and tusk-like, of a size
proportioned to its frame; unlike any other animal, it is without a
tongue; it cannot move its under-jaw, and in this respect too it is
singular, being the only animal in the world which moves the upper-jaw
but not the under. It has strong claws and a scaly skin,
impenetrable upon the back. In the water it is blind, but on land it
is very keen of sight. As it lives chiefly in the river, it has the
inside of its mouth constantly covered with leeches; hence it
happens that, while all the other birds and beasts avoid it, with
the trochilus it lives at peace, since it owes much to that bird:
for the crocodile, when he leaves the water and comes out upon the
land, is in the habit of lying with his mouth wide open, facing the
western breeze: at such times the trochilus goes into his mouth and
devours the leeches. This benefits the crocodile, who is pleased,
and takes care not to hurt the trochilus.
    The crocodile is esteemed sacred by some of the Egyptians, by
others he is treated as an enemy. Those who live near Thebes, and
those who dwell around Lake Moeris, regard them with especial
veneration. In each of these places they keep one crocodile in
particular, who is taught to be tame and tractable. They adorn his
ears with ear-rings of molten stone or gold, and put bracelets on
his fore-paws, giving him daily a set portion of bread, with a certain
number of victims; and, after having thus treated him with the
greatest possible attention while alive, they embalm him when he
dies and bury him in a sacred repository. The people of Elephantine on
the other hand, are so far from considering these animals as sacred
that they even eat their flesh. In the Egyptian language they are
not called crocodiles, but Champsae. The name of crocodiles was
given them by the Ionians, who remarked their resemblance to the
lizards, which in Ionia live in the walls and are called crocodiles.
    The modes of catching the crocodile are many and various. I
shall only describe the one which seems to me most worthy of
mention. They bait a hook with a chine of pork and let the meat be
carried out into the middle of the stream, while the hunter upon the
bank holds a living pig, which he belabours. The crocodile hears its
cries, and making for the sound, encounters the pork, which he
instantly swallows down. The men on the shore haul, and when they have
got him to land, the first thing the hunter does is to plaster his
eyes with mud. This once accomplished, the animal is despatched with
ease, otherwise he gives great trouble.
    The hippopotamus, in the canton of Papremis, is a sacred animal,
but not in any other part of Egypt. It may be thus described:- It is a
quadruped, cloven-footed, with hoofs like an ox, and a flat nose. It
has the mane and tail of a horse, huge tusks which are very
conspicuous, and a voice like a horse's neigh. In size it equals the
biggest oxen, and its skin is so tough that when dried it is made into
javelins.
    Otters also are found in the Nile, and are considered sacred. Only
two sorts of fish are venerated, that called the lepidotus and the
eel. These are regarded as sacred to the Nile, as likewise among birds
is the vulpanser, or fox-goose.
    They have also another sacred bird called the phoenix which I
myself have never seen, except in pictures. Indeed it is a great
rarity, even in Egypt, only coming there (according to the accounts of
the people of Heliopolis) once in five hundred years, when the old
phoenix dies. Its size and appearance, if it is like the pictures, are
as follow:- The plumage is partly red, partly golden, while the
general make and size are almost exactly that of the eagle. They
tell a story of what this bird does, which does not seem to me to be
credible: that he comes all the way from Arabia, and brings the parent
bird, all plastered over with myrrh, to the temple of the Sun, and
there buries the body. In order to bring him, they say, he first forms
a ball of myrrh as big as he finds that he can carry; then he
hollows out the ball, and puts his parent inside, after which he
covers over the opening with fresh myrrh, and the ball is then of
exactly the same weight as at first; so he brings it to Egypt,
plastered over as I have said, and deposits it in the temple of the
Sun. Such is the story they tell of the doings of this bird.
    In the neighbourhood of Thebes there are some sacred serpents
which are perfectly harmless. They are of small size, and have two
horns growing out of the top of the head. These snakes, when they die,
are buried in the temple of Jupiter, the god to whom they are sacred.
    I went once to a certain place in Arabia, almost exactly
opposite the city of Buto, to make inquiries concerning the winged
serpents. On my arrival I saw the back-bones and ribs of serpents in
such numbers as it is impossible to describe: of the ribs there were a
multitude of heaps, some great, some small, some middle-sized. The
place where the bones lie is at the entrance of a narrow gorge between
steep mountains, which there open upon a spacious plain
communicating with the great plain of Egypt. The story goes that
with the spring the winged snakes come flying from Arabia towards
Egypt, but are met in this gorge by the birds called ibises, who
forbid their entrance and destroy them all. The Arabians assert, and
the Egyptians also admit, that it is on account of the service thus
rendered that the Egyptians hold the ibis in so much reverence.
    The ibis is a bird of a deep-black colour, with legs like a crane;
its beak is strongly hooked, and its size is about that of the
land-rail. This is a description of the black ibis which contends with
the serpents. The commoner sort, for there are two quite distinct
species, has the head and the whole throat bare of feathers; its
general plumage is white, but the head and neck are jet black, as also
are the tips of the wings and the extremity of the tail; in its beak
and legs it resembles the other species. The winged serpent is
shaped like the water-snake. Its wings are not feathered, but resemble
very closely those of the bat. And thus I conclude the subject of
the sacred animals.
    With respect to the Egyptians themselves, it is to be remarked
that those who live in the corn country, devoting themselves, as
they do, far more than any other people in the world, to the
preservation of the memory of past actions, are the best skilled in
history of any men that I have ever met. The following is the mode
of life habitual to them:- For three successive days in each month
they purge the body by means of emetics and clysters, which is done
out of a regard for their health, since they have a persuasion that
every disease to which men are liable is occasioned by the
substances whereon they feed. Apart from any such precautions, they
are, I believe, next to the Libyans, the healthiest people in the
world- an effect of their climate, in my opinion, which has no
sudden changes. Diseases almost always attack men when they are
exposed to a change, and never more than during changes of the
weather. They live on bread made of spelt, which they form into loaves
called in their own tongue cyllestis. Their drink is a wine which they
obtain from barley, as they have no vines in their country. Many kinds
of fish they eat raw, either salted or dried in the sun. Quails
also, and ducks and small birds, they eat uncooked, merely first
salting them. All other birds and fishes, excepting those which are
set apart as sacred, are eaten either roasted or boiled.
    In social meetings among the rich, when the banquet is ended, a
servant carries round to the several guests a coffin, in which there
is a wooden image of a corpse, carved and painted to resemble nature
as nearly as possible, about a cubit or two cubits in length. As he
shows it to each guest in turn, the servant says, "Gaze here, and
drink and be merry; for when you die, such will you be."
    The Egyptians adhere to their own national customs, and adopt no
foreign usages. Many of these customs are worthy of note: among others
their song, the Linus, which is sung under various names not only in
Egypt but in Phoenicia, in Cyprus, and in other places; and which
seems to be exactly the same as that in use among the Greeks, and by
them called Linus. There were very many things in Egypt which filled
me with astonishment, and this was one of them. Whence could the
Egyptians have got the Linus? It appears to have been sung by them
from the very earliest times. For the Linus in Egyptian is called
Maneros; and they told me that Maneros was the only son of their first
king, and that on his untimely death he was honoured by the
Egyptians with these dirgelike strains, and in this way they got their
first and only melody.
    There is another custom in which the Egyptians resemble a
particular Greek people, namely the Lacedaemonians. Their young men,
when they meet their elders in the streets, give way to them and
step aside; and if an elder come in where young men are present, these
latter rise from their seats. In a third point they differ entirely
from all the nations of Greece. Instead of speaking to each other when
they meet in the streets, they make an obeisance, sinking the hand
to the knee.
    They wear a linen tunic fringed about the legs, and called
calasiris; over this they have a white woollen garment thrown on
afterwards. Nothing of woollen, however, is taken into their temples
or buried with them, as their religion forbids it. Here their practice
resembles the rites called Orphic and Bacchic, but which are in
reality Egyptian and Pythagorean; for no one initiated in these
mysteries can be buried in a woollen shroud, a religious reason
being assigned for the observance.
    The Egyptians likewise discovered to which of the gods each
month and day is sacred; and found out from the day of a man's birth
what he will meet with in the course of his life, and how he will
end his days, and what sort of man he will be- discoveries whereof the
Greeks engaged in poetry have made a use. The Egyptians have also
discovered more prognostics than all the rest of mankind besides.
Whenever a prodigy takes place, they watch and record the result;
then, if anything similar ever happens again, they expect the same
consequences.
    With respect to divination, they hold that it is a gift which no
mortal possesses, but only certain of the gods: thus they have an
oracle of Hercules, one of Apollo, of Minerva, of Diana, of Mars,
and of Jupiter. Besides these, there is the oracle of Latona at
Buto, which is held in much higher repute than any of the rest. The
mode of delivering the oracles is not uniform, but varies at the
different shrines.
    Medicine is practised among them on a plan of separation; each
physician treats a single disorder, and no more: thus the country
swarms with medical practitioners, some undertaking to cure diseases
of the eye, others of the head, others again of the teeth, others of
the intestines, and some those which are not local.
    The following is the way in which they conduct their mournings and
their funerals:- On the death in any house of a man of consequence,
forthwith the women of the family beplaster their heads, and sometimes
even their faces, with mud; and then, leaving the body indoors,
sally forth and wander through the city, with their dress fastened
by a band, and their bosoms bare, beating themselves as they walk. All
the female relations join them and do the same. The men too, similarly
begirt, beat their breasts separately. When these ceremonies are over,
the body is carried away to be embalmed.
    There are a set of men in Egypt who practice the art of embalming,
and make it their proper business. These persons, when a body is
brought to them, show the bearers various models of corpses, made in
wood, and painted so as to resemble nature. The most perfect is said
to be after the manner of him whom I do not think it religious to name
in connection with such a matter; the second sort is inferior to the
first, and less costly; the third is the cheapest of all. All this the
embalmers explain, and then ask in which way it is wished that the
corpse should be prepared. The bearers tell them, and having concluded
their bargain, take their departure, while the embalmers, left to
themselves, proceed to their task. The mode of embalming, according to
the most perfect process, is the following:- They take first a crooked
piece of iron, and with it draw out the brain through the nostrils,
thus getting rid of a portion, while the skull is cleared of the
rest by rinsing with drugs; next they make a cut along the flank
with a sharp Ethiopian stone, and take out the whole contents of the
abdomen, which they then cleanse, washing it thoroughly with palm
wine, and again frequently with an infusion of pounded aromatics.
After this they fill the cavity with the purest bruised myrrh, with
cassia, and every other sort of spicery except frankincense, and sew
up the opening. Then the body is placed in natrum for seventy days,
and covered entirely over. After the expiration of that space of time,
which must not be exceeded, the body is washed, and wrapped round,
from head to foot, with bandages of fine linen cloth, smeared over
with gum, which is used generally by the Egyptians in the place of
glue, and in this state it is given back to the relations, who enclose
it in a wooden case which they have had made for the purpose, shaped
into the figure of a man. Then fastening the case, they place it in
a sepulchral chamber, upright against the wall. Such is the most
costly way of embalming the dead.
    If persons wish to avoid expense, and choose the second process,
the following is the method pursued:- Syringes are filled with oil
made from the cedar-tree, which is then, without any incision or
disembowelling, injected into the abdomen. The passage by which it
might be likely to return is stopped, and the body laid in natrum
the prescribed number of days. At the end of the time the cedar-oil is
allowed to make its escape; and such is its power that it brings
with it the whole stomach and intestines in a liquid state. The natrum
meanwhile has dissolved the flesh, and so nothing is left of the
dead body but the skin and the bones. It is returned in this condition
to the relatives, without any further trouble being bestowed upon it.
    The third method of embalming, which is practised in the case of
the poorer classes, is to clear out the intestines with a clyster, and
let the body lie in natrum the seventy days, after which it is at once
given to those who come to fetch it away.
    The wives of men of rank are not given to be embalmed
immediately after death, nor indeed are any of the more beautiful
and valued women. It is not till they have been dead three or four
days that they are carried to the embalmers. This is done to prevent
indignities from being offered them. It is said that once a case of
this kind occurred: the man was detected by the information of his
fellow-workman.
    Whensoever any one, Egyptian or foreigner, has lost his life by
falling a prey to a crocodile, or by drowning in the river, the law
compels the inhabitants of the city near which the body is cast up
to have it embalmed, and to bury it in one of the sacred
repositories with all possible magnificence. No one may touch the
corpse, not even any of the friends or relatives, but only the priests
of the Nile, who prepare it for burial with their own hands- regarding
it as something more than the mere body of a man- and themselves lay
it in the tomb.
    The Egyptians are averse to adopt Greek customs, or, in a word,
those of any other nation. This feeling is almost universal among
them. At Chemmis, however, which is a large city in the Thebaic
canton, near Neapolis, there is a square enclosure sacred to
Perseus, son of Danae. Palm trees grow all round the place, which
has a stone gateway of an unusual size, surmounted by two colossal
statues, also in stone. Inside this precinct is a temple, and in the
temple an image of Perseus. The people of Chemmis say that Perseus
often appears to them, sometimes within the sacred enclosure,
sometimes in the open country: one of the sandals which he has worn is
frequently found- two cubits in length, as they affirm- and then all
Egypt flourishes greatly. In the worship of Perseus Greek ceremonies
are used; gymnastic games are celebrated in his honour, comprising
every kind of contest, with prizes of cattle, cloaks, and skins. I
made inquiries of the Chemmites why it was that Perseus appeared to
them and not elsewhere in Egypt, and how they came to celebrate
gymnastic contests unlike the rest of the Egyptians: to which they
answered, "that Perseus belonged to their city by descent. Danans
and Lynceus were Chemmites before they set sail for Greece, and from
them Perseus was descended," they said, tracing the genealogy; "and
he, when he came to Egypt for the purpose" (which the Greeks also
assign) "of bringing away from Libya the Gorgon's head, paid them a
visit, and acknowledged them for his kinsmen- he had heard the name of
their city from his mother before he left Greece- he bade them
institute a gymnastic contest in his honour, and that was the reason
why they observed the practice."
    The customs hitherto described are those of the Egyptians who live
above the marsh-country. The inhabitants of the marshes have the
same customs as the rest, as well in those matters which have been
mentioned above as in respect of marriage, each Egyptian taking to
himself, like the Greeks, a single wife; but for greater cheapness
of living the marsh-men practise certain peculiar customs, such as
these following. They gather the blossoms of a certain water-lily,
which grows in great abundance all over the flat country at the time
when the Nile rises and floods the regions along its banks- the
Egyptians call it lotus- they gather, I say, the blossoms of this
plant and dry them in the sun, after which they extract from the
centre of each blossom a substance like the head of a poppy, which
they crush and make into bread. The root of the lotus is likewise
eatable, and has a pleasant sweet taste: it is round, and about the
size of an apple. There is also another species of the lily in
Egypt, which grows, like the lotus, in the river, and resembles the
rose. The fruit springs up side by side with the blossom, on a
separate stalk, and has almost exactly the look of the comb made by
wasps. It contains a number of seeds, about the size of an
olive-stone, which are good to eat: and these are eaten both green and
dried. The byblus (papyrus), which grows year after year in the
marshes, they pull up, and, cutting the plant in two, reserve the
upper portion for other purposes, but take the lower, which is about a
cubit long, and either eat it or else sell it. Such as wish to enjoy
the byblus in full perfection bake it first in a closed vessel, heated
to a glow. Some of these folk, however, live entirely on fish, which
are gutted as soon as caught, and then hung up in the sun: when dry,
they are used as food.
    Gregarious fish are not found in any numbers in the rivers; they
frequent the lagunes, whence, at the season of breeding, they
proceed in shoals towards the sea. The males lead the way, and drop
their milt as they go, while the females, following close behind,
eagerly swallow it down. From this they conceive, and when, after
passing some time in the sea, they begin to be in spawn, the whole
shoal sets off on its return to its ancient haunts. Now, however, it
is no longer the males, but the females, who take the lead: they
swim in front in a body, and do exactly as the males did before,
dropping, little by little, their grains of spawn as they go, while
the males in the rear devour the grains, each one of which is a
fish. A portion of the spawn escapes and is not swallowed by the
males, and hence come the fishes which grow afterwards to maturity.
Whan any of this sort of fish are taken on their passage to the sea,
they are found to have the left side of the head scarred and
bruised; while if taken on their return, the marks appear on the
right. The reason is that as they swim down the Nile seaward, they
keep close to the bank of the river upon their left, and returning
again up stream they still cling to the same side, hugging it and
brushing against it constantly, to be sure that they miss not their
road through the great force of the current. When the Nile begins to
rise, the hollows in the land and the marshy spots near the river
are flooded before any other places by the percolation of the water
through the riverbanks; and these, almost as soon as they become
pools, are found to be full of numbers of little fishes. I think
that I understand how it is this comes to pass. On the subsidence of
the Nile the year before, though the fish retired with the
retreating waters, they had first deposited their spawn in the mud
upon the banks; and so, when at the usual season the water returns,
small fry are rapidly engendered out of the spawn of the preceding
year. So much concerning the fish.
    The Egyptians who live in the marshes use for the anointing of
their bodies an oil made from the fruit of the sillicyprium, which
is known among them by the name of "kiki." To obtain this they plant
the sillicyprium (which grows wild in Greece) along the banks of the
rivers and by the sides of the lakes, where it produces fruit in great
abundance, but with a very disagreeable smell. This fruit is gathered,
and then bruised and pressed, or else boiled down after roasting:
the liquid which comes from it is collected and is found to be
unctuous, and as well suited as olive-oil for lamps, only that it
gives out an unpleasant odour.
    The contrivances which they use against gnats, wherewith the
country swarms, are the following. In the parts of Egypt above the
marshes the inhabitants pass the night upon lofty towers, which are of
great service, as the gnats are unable to fly to any height on account
of the winds. In the marsh-country, where there are no towers, each
man possesses a net instead. By day it serves him to catch fish, while
at night he spreads it over the bed in which he is to rest, and
creeping in, goes to sleep underneath. The gnats, which, if he rolls
himself up in his dress or in a piece of muslin, are sure to bite
through the covering, do not so much as attempt to pass the net.
    The vessels used in Egypt for the transport of merchandise are
made of the Acantha (Thorn), a tree which in its growth is very like
the Cyrenaic lotus, and from which there exudes a gum. They cut a
quantity of planks about two cubits in length from this tree, and then
proceed to their ship-building, arranging the planks like bricks,
and attaching them by ties to a number of long stakes or poles till
the hull is complete, when they lay the cross-planks on the top from
side to side. They give the boats no ribs, but caulk the seams with
papyrus on the inside. Each has a single rudder, which is driven
straight through the keel. The mast is a piece of acantha-wood, and
the sails are made of papyrus. These boats cannot make way against the
current unless there is a brisk breeze; they are, therefore, towed
up-stream from the shore: down-stream they are managed as follows.
There is a raft belonging to each, made of the wood of the tamarisk,
fastened together with a wattling of reeds; and also a stone bored
through the middle about two talents in weight. The raft is fastened
to the vessel by a rope, and allowed to float down the stream in
front, while the stone is attached by another rope astern. The
result is that the raft, hurried forward by the current, goes
rapidly down the river, and drags the "baris" (for so they call this
sort of boat) after it; while the stone, which is pulled along in
the wake of the vessel, and lies deep in the water, keeps the boat
straight. There are a vast number of these vessels in Egypt, and
some of them are of many thousand talents' burthen.
    When the Nile overflows, the country is converted into a sea,
and nothing appears but the cities, which look like the islands in the
Egean. At this season boats no longer keep the course of the river,
but sail right across the plain. On the voyage from Naucratis to
Memphis at this season, you pass close to the pyramids, whereas the
usual course is by the apex of the Delta, and the city of
Cercasorus. You can sail also from the maritime town of Canobus across
the flat to Naucratis, passing by the cities of Anthylla and
Archandropolis.
    The former of these cities, which is a place of note, is
assigned expressly to the wife of the ruler of Egypt for the time
being, to keep her in shoes. Such has been the custom ever since Egypt
fell under the Persian yoke. The other city seems to me to have got
its name of Archandropolis from Archander the Phthian, son of Achaeus,
and son-in-law of Danaus. There might certainly have been another
Archander; but, at any rate, the name is not Egyptian.
    Thus far I have spoken of Egypt from my own observation,
relating what I myself saw, the ideas that I formed, and the results
of my own researches. What follows rests on the accounts given me by
the Egyptians, which shall now repeat, adding thereto some particulars
which fell under by own notice.
    The priests said that Min was the first king of Egypt, and that it
was he who raised the dyke which protects Memphis from the inundations
of the Nile. Before his time the river flowed entirely along the sandy
range of hills which skirts Egypt on the side of Libya. He, however,
by banking up the river at the bend which it forms about a hundred
furlongs south of Memphis, laid the ancient channel dry, while he
dug a new course for the stream halfway between the two lines of
hills. To this day, the elbow which the Nile forms at the point
where it is forced aside into the new channel is guarded with the
greatest care by the Persians, and strengthened every year; for if the
river were to burst out at this place, and pour over the mound,
there would be danger of Memphis being completely overwhelmed by the
flood. Min, the first king, having thus, by turning the river, made
the tract where it used to run, dry land, proceeded in the first place
to build the city now called Memphis, which lies in the narrow part of
Egypt; after which he further excavated a lake outside the town, to
the north and west, communicating with the river, which was itself the
eastern boundary. Besides these works, he also, the priests said,
built the temple of Vulcan which stands within the city, a vast
edifice, very worthy of mention.
    Next, they read me from a papyrus the names of three hundred and
thirty monarchs, who (they said) were his successors upon the
throne. In this number of generations there were eighteen Ethiopian
kings, and one queen who was a native; all the rest were kings and
Egyptians. The queen bore the same name as the Babylonian princess,
namely, Nitocris. They said that she succeeded her brother; he had
been king of Egypt, and was put to death by his subjects, who then
placed her upon the throne. Bent on avenging his death, she devised
a cunning scheme by which she destroyed a vast number of Egyptians.
She constructed a spacious underground chamber, and, on pretence of
inaugurating it, contrived the following:- Inviting to a banquet those
of the Egyptians whom she knew to have had the chief share in the
murder of her brother, she suddenly, as they were feasting, let the
river in upon them by means of a secret duct of large size. This and
this only did they tell me of her, except that, when she had done as I
have said, she threw herself into an apartment full of ashes, that she
might escape the vengeance whereto she would otherwise have been
exposed.
    The other kings, they said, were personages of no note or
distinction, and left no monuments of any account, with the
exception of the last, who was named Moeris. He left several memorials
of his reign- the northern gateway of the temple of Vulcan, the lake
excavated by his orders, whose dimensions I shall give presently,
and the pyramids built by him in the lake, the size of which will be
stated when I describe the lake itself wherein they stand. Such were
his works: the other kings left absolutely nothing.
    Passing over these monarchs, therefore, I shall speak of the
king who reigned next, whose name was Sesostris. He, the priests said,
first of all proceeded in a fleet of ships of war from the Arabian
gulf along the shores of the Erythraean sea, subduing the nations as
he went, until he finally reached a sea which could not be navigated
by reason of the shoals. Hence he returned to Egypt, where, they
told me, he collected a vast armament, and made a progress by land
across the continent, conquering every people which fell in his way.
In the countries where the natives withstood his attack, and fought
gallantly for their liberties, he erected pillars, on which he
inscribed his own name and country, and how that he had here reduced
the inhabitants to subjection by the might of his arms: where, on
the contrary, they submitted readily and without a struggle, he
inscribed on the pillars, in addition to these particulars, an
emblem to mark that they were a nation of women, that is, unwarlike
and effeminate.
    In this way he traversed the whole continent of Asia, whence he
passed on into Europe, and made himself master of Scythia and of
Thrace, beyond which countries I do not think that his army extended
its march. For thus far the pillars which he erected are still
visible, but in the remoter regions they are no longer found.
Returning to Egypt from Thrace, he came, on his way, to the banks of
the river Phasis. Here I cannot say with any certainty what took
place. Either he of his own accord detached a body of troops from
his main army and left them to colonise the country, or else a certain
number of his soldiers, wearied with their long wanderings,
deserted, and established themselves on the banks of this stream.
    There can be no doubt that the Colchians are an Egyptian race.
Before I heard any mention of the fact from others, I had remarked
it myself. After the thought had struck me, I made inquiries on the
subject both in Colchis and in Egypt, and I found that the Colchians
had a more distinct recollection of the Egyptians, than the
Egyptians had of them. Still the Egyptians said that they believed the
Colchians to be descended from the army of Sesostris. My own
conjectures were founded, first, on the fact that they are
black-skinned and have woolly hair, which certainly amounts to but
little, since several other nations are so too; but further and more
especially, on the circumstance that the Colchians, the Egyptians, and
the Ethiopians, are the only nations who have practised circumcision
from the earliest times. The Phoenicians and the Syrians of
Palestine themselves confess that they learnt the custom of the
Egyptians; and the Syrians who dwell about the rivers Thermodon and
Parthenius, as well as their neighbours the Macronians, say that
they have recently adopted it from the Colchians. Now these are the
only nations who use circumcision, and it is plain that they all
imitate herein the Egyptians. With respect to the Ethiopians,
indeed, I cannot decide whether they learnt the practice of the
Egyptians, or the Egyptians of them- it is undoubtedly of very ancient
date in Ethiopia- but that the others derived their knowledge of it
from Egypt is clear to me from the fact that the Phoenicians, when
they come to have commerce with the Greeks, cease to follow the
Egyptians in this custom, and allow their children to remain
uncircumcised.
    I will add a further proof to the identity of the Egyptians and
the Colchians. These two nations weave their linen in exactly the same
way, and this is a way entirely unknown to the rest of the world; they
also in their whole mode of life and in their language resemble one
another. The Colchian linen is called by the Greeks Sardinian, while
that which comes from Egypt is known as Egyptian.
    The pillars which Sesostris erected in the conquered countries
have for the most part disappeared; but in the part of Syria called
Palestine, I myself saw them still standing, with the writing
above-mentioned, and the emblem distinctly visible. In Ionia also,
there are two representations of this prince engraved upon rocks,
one on the road from Ephesus to Phocaea, the other between Sardis
and Smyrna. In each case the figure is that of a man, four cubits
and a span high, with a spear in his right hand and a bow in his left,
the rest of his costume being likewise half Egyptian, half
Ethiopian. There is an inscription across the breast from shoulder
to shoulder, in the sacred character of Egypt, which says, "With my
own shoulders I conquered this land." The conqueror does not tell
who he is, or whence he comes, though elsewhere Sesostris records
these facts. Hence it has been imagined by some of those who have seen
these forms, that they are figures of Memnon; but such as think so err
very widely from the truth.
    This Sesostris, the priests went on to say, upon his return
home, accompanied by vast multitudes of the people whose countries
he had subdued, was received by his brother, whom he had made
viceroy of Egypt on his departure, at Daphnae near Pelusium, and
invited by him to a banquet, which he attended, together with his
sons. Then his brother piled a quantity of wood all round the
building, and having so done set it alight. Sesostris, discovering
what had happened, took counsel instantly with his wife, who had
accompanied him to the feast, and was advised by her to lay two of
their six sons upon the fire, and so make a bridge across the
flames, whereby the rest might effect their escape. Sesostris did as
she recommended, and thus while two of his sons were burnt to death,
he himself and his other children were saved.
    The king then returned to his own land and took vengeance upon his
brother, after which he proceeded to make use of the multitudes whom
he had brought with him from the conquered countries, partly to drag
the huge masses of stone which were moved in the course of his reign
to the temple of Vulcan- partly to dig the numerous canals with
which the whole of Egypt is intersected. By these forced labours the
entire face of the country was changed; for whereas Egypt had formerly
been a region suited both for horses and carriages, henceforth it
became entirely unfit for either. Though a flat country throughout its
whole extent, it is now unfit for either horse or carriage, being
cut up by the canals, which are extremely numerous and run in all
directions. The king's object was to supply Nile water to the
inhabitants of the towns situated in the mid-country, and not lying
upon the river; for previously they had been obliged, after the
subsidence of the floods, to drink a brackish water which they
obtained from wells.
    Sesostris also, they declared, made a division of the soil of
Egypt among the inhabitants, assigning square plots of ground of equal
size to all, and obtaining his chief revenue from the rent which the
holders were required to pay him year by year. If the river carried
away any portion of a man's lot, he appeared before the king, and
related what had happened; upon which the king sent persons to
examine, and determine by measurement the exact extent of the loss;
and thenceforth only such a rent was demanded of him as was
proportionate to the reduced size of his land. From this practice, I
think, geometry first came to be known in Egypt, whence it passed into
Greece. The sun-dial, however, and the gnomon with the division of the
day into twelve parts, were received by the Greeks from the
Babylonians.
    Sesostris was king not only of Egypt, but also of Ethiopia. He was
the only Egyptian monarch who ever ruled over the latter country. He
left, as memorials of his reign, the stone statues which stand in
front of the temple of Vulcan, two of which, representing himself
and his wife, are thirty cubits in height, while the remaining four,
which represent his sons, are twenty cubits. These are the statues, in
front of which the priest of Vulcan, very many years afterwards, would
not allow Darius the Persian to place a statue of himself;
"because," he said, "Darius had not equalled the achievements of
Sesostris the Egyptian: for while Sesostris had subdued to the full as
many nations as ever Darius had brought under, he had likewise
conquered the Scythians, whom Darius had failed to master. It was
not fair, therefore, that he should erect his statue in front of the
offerings of a king, whose deeds he had been unable to surpass."
Darius, they say, pardoned the freedom of this speech.
    On the death of Sesostris, his son Pheron, the priests said,
mounted the throne. He undertook no warlike expeditions; being
struck with blindness, owing to the following circumstance. The
river had swollen to the unusual height of eighteen cubits, and had
overflowed all the fields, when, a sudden wind arising, the water rose
in great waves. Then the king, in a spirit of impious violence, seized
his spear, and hurled it into the strong eddies of the stream.
Instantly he was smitten with disease of the eyes, from which after
a little while he became blind, continuing without the power of vision
for ten years. At last, in the eleventh year, an oracular announcement
reached him from the city of Buto, to the effect, that "the time of
his punishment had run out, and he should recover his sight by washing
his eyes with urine. He must find a woman who had been faithful to her
husband, and had never preferred to him another man." The king,
therefore, first of all made trial of his wife, but to no purpose he
continued as blind as before. So he made the experiment with other
women, until at length he succeeded, and in this way recovered his
sight. Hereupon he assembled all the women, except the last, and
bringing them to the city which now bears the name of Erythrabolus
(Red-soil), he there burnt them all, together with the place itself.
The woman to whom he owed his cure, he married, and after his recovery
was complete, he presented offerings to all the temples of any note,
among which the best worthy of mention are the two stone obelisks
which he gave to the temple of the Sun. These are magnificent works;
each is made of a single stone, eight cubits broad, and a hundred
cubits in height.
    Pheron, they said, was succeeded by a man of Memphis, whose
name, in the language of the Greeks, was Proteus. There is a sacred
precinct of this king in Memphis, which is very beautiful, and
richly adorned, situated south of the great temple of Vulcan.
Phoenicians from the city of Tyre dwell all round this precinct, and
the whole place is known by the name of "the camp of the Tyrians."
Within the enclosure stands a temple, which is called that of Venus
the Stranger. I conjecture the building to have been erected to Helen,
the daughter of Tyndarus; first, because she, as I have heard say,
passed some time at the court of Proteus; and secondly, because the
temple is dedicated to Venus the Stranger; for among all the many
temples of Venus there is no other where the goddess bears this title.
    The priests, in answer to my inquiries on the subject of Helen,
informed me of the following particulars. When Alexander had carried
off Helen from Sparta, he took ship and sailed homewards. On his way
across the Egean a gale arose, which drove him from his course and
took him down to the sea of Egypt; hence, as the wind did not abate,
he was carried on to the coast, when he went ashore, landing at the
Salt-Pans, in that mouth of the Nile which is now called the
Canobic. At this place there stood upon the shore a temple, which
still exists, dedicated to Hercules. If a slave runs away from his
master, and taking sanctuary at this shrine gives himself up to the
god, and receives certain sacred marks upon his person, whosoever
his master may be, he cannot lay hand on him. This law still
remained unchanged to my time. Hearing, therefore, of the custom of
the place, the attendants of Alexander deserted him, and fled to the
temple, where they sat as suppliants. While there, wishing to damage
their master, they accused him to the Egyptians, narrating all the
circumstances of the rape of Helen and the wrong done to Menelaus.
These charges they brought, not only before the priests, but also
before the warden of that mouth of the river, whose name was Thonis.
    As soon as he received the intelligence, Thonis sent a message
to Proteus, who was at Memphis, to this effect: "A stranger is arrived
from Greece; he is by race a Teucrian, and has done a wicked deed in
the country from which he is come. Having beguiled the wife of the man
whose guest he was, he carried her away with him, and much treasure
also. Compelled by stress of weather, he has now put in here. Are we
to let him depart as he came, or shall we seize what he has
brought?" Proteus replied, "Seize the man, be he who he may, that
has dealt thus wickedly with his friend, and bring him before me, that
I may hear what he will say for himself."
    Thonis, on receiving these orders, arrested Alexander, and stopped
the departure of his ships; then, taking with him Alexander, Helen,
the treasures, and also the fugitive slaves, he went up to Memphis.
When all were arrived, Proteus asked Alexander, "who he was, and
whence he had come?" Alexander replied by giving his descent, the name
of his country, and a true account of his late voyage. Then Proteus
questioned him as to how he got possession of Helen. In his reply
Alexander became confused, and diverged from the truth, whereon the
slaves interposed, confuted his statements, and told the whole history
of the crime. Finally, Proteus delivered judgment as follows: "Did I
not regard it as a matter of the utmost consequence that no stranger
driven to my country by adverse winds should ever be put to death, I
would certainly have avenged the Greek by slaying thee. Thou basest of
men,- after accepting hospitality, to do so wicked a deed! First, thou
didst seduce the wife of thy own host- then, not content therewith,
thou must violently excite her mind, and steal her away from her
husband. Nay, even so thou wert not satisfied, but on leaving, thou
must plunder the house in which thou hadst been a guest. Now then,
as I think it of the greatest importance to put no stranger to
death, I suffer thee to depart; but the woman and the treasures I
shall not permit to be carried away. Here they must stay, till the
Greek stranger comes in person and takes them back with him. For
thyself and thy companions, I command thee to begone from my land
within the space of three days- and I warn you, that otherwise at
the end of that time you will be treated as enemies."
    Such was the tale told me by the priests concerning the arrival of
Helen at the court of Proteus. It seems to me that Homer was
acquainted with this story, and while discarding it, because he
thought it less adapted for epic poetry than the version which he
followed, showed that it was not unknown to him. This is evident
from the travels which he assigns to Alexander in the Iliad- and let
it be borne in mind that he has nowhere else contradicted himself-
making him be carried out of his course on his return with Helen,
and after divers wanderings come at last to Sidon in Phoenicia. The
passage is in the Bravery of Diomed, and the words are as follows:-

    There were the robes, many-coloured, the work of Sidonian women:
    They from Sidon had come, what time god-shaped Alexander
    Over the broad sea brought, that way, the high-born Helen.

    In the Odyssey also the same fact is alluded to, in these words:-

    Such, so wisely prepared, were the drugs that her stores
      afforded,
    Excellent; gift which once Polydamna, partner of Thonis,
    Gave her in Egypt, where many the simples that grow in the
      meadows,
    Potent to cure in part, in part as potent to injure.

    Menelaus too, in the same poem, thus addresses Telemachus:-

    Much did I long to return, but the Gods still kept me in Egypt-
    Angry because I had failed to pay them their hecatombs duly.

    In these places Homer shows himself acquainted with the voyage
of Alexander to Egypt, for Syria borders on Egypt, and the
Phoenicians, to whom Sidon belongs, dwell in Syria.
    From these various passages, and from that about Sidon especially,
it is clear that Homer did not write the Cypria. For there it is
said that Alexander arrived at Ilium with Helen on the third day after
he left Sparta, the wind having been favourable, and the sea smooth;
whereas in the Iliad, the poet makes him wander before he brings her
home. Enough, however, for the present of Homer and the Cypria.
    I made inquiry of the priests whether the story which the Greeks
tell about Ilium is a fable, or no. In reply they related the
following particulars, of which they declared that Menelaus had
himself informed them. After the rape of Helen, a vast army of Greeks,
wishing to render help to Menelaus, set sail for the Teucrian
territory; on their arrival they disembarked, and formed their camp,
after which they sent ambassadors to Ilium, of whom Menelaus was
one. The embassy was received within the walls, and demanded the
restoration of Helen with the treasures which Alexander had carried
off, and likewise required satisfaction for the wrong done. The
Teucrians gave at once the answer in which they persisted ever
afterwards, backing their assertions sometimes even with oaths, to
wit, that neither Helen, nor the treasures claimed, were in their
possession,- both the one and the other had remained, they said, in
Egypt; and it was not just to come upon them for what Proteus, king of
Egypt, was detaining. The Greeks, imagining that the Teucrians were
merely laughing at them, laid siege to the town, and never rested
until they finally took it. As, however, no Helen was found, and
they were still told the same story, they at length believed in its
truth, and despatched Menelaus to the court of Proteus.
    So Menelaus travelled to Egypt, and on his arrival sailed up the
river as far as Memphis, and related all that had happened. He met
with the utmost hospitality, received Helen back unharmed, and
recovered all his treasures. After this friendly treatment Menelaus,
they said, behaved most unjustly towards the Egyptians; for as it
happened that at the time when he wanted to take his departure, he was
detained by the wind being contrary, and as he found this
obstruction continue, he had recourse to a most wicked expedient. He
seized, they said, two children of the people of the country, and
offered them up in sacrifice. When this became known, the
indignation of the people was stirred, and they went in pursuit of
Menelaus, who, however, escaped with his ships to Libya, after which
the Egyptians could not say whither he went. The rest they knew full
well, partly by the inquiries which they had made, and partly from the
circumstances having taken place in their own land, and therefore
not admitting of doubt.
    Such is the account given by the Egyptian priests, and I am myself
inclined to regard as true all that they say of Helen from the
following considerations:- If Helen had been at Troy, the
inhabitants would, I think, have given her up to the Greeks, whether
Alexander consented to it or no. For surely neither Priam, nor his
family, could have been so infatuated as to endanger their own
persons, their children, and their city, merely that Alexander might
possess Helen. At any rate, if they determined to refuse at first, yet
afterwards when so many of the Trojans fell on every encounter with
the Greeks, and Priam too in each battle lost a son, or sometimes two,
or three, or even more, if we may credit the epic poets, I do not
believe that even if Priam himself had been married to her he would
have declined to deliver her up, with the view of bringing the
series of calamities to a close. Nor was it as if Alexander had been
heir to the crown, in which case he might have had the chief
management of affairs, since Priam was already old. Hector, who was
his elder brother, and a far braver man, stood before him, and was the
heir to the kingdom on the death of their father Priam. And it could
not be Hector's interest to uphold his brother in his wrong, when it
brought such dire calamities upon himself and the other Trojans. But
the fact was that they had no Helen to deliver, and so they told the
Greeks, but the Greeks would not believe what they said- Divine
Providence, as I think, so willing, that by their utter destruction it
might be made evident to all men that when great wrongs are done,
the gods will surely visit them with great punishments. Such, at
least, is my view of the matter.
    (1.) When Proteus died, Rhampsinitus, the priests informed me,
succeeded to the throne. His monuments were the western gateway of the
temple of Vulcan, and the two statues which stand in front of this
gateway, called by the Egyptians, the one Summer, the other Winter,
each twenty-five cubits in height. The statue of Summer, which is
the northernmost of the two, is worshipped by the natives, and has
offerings made to it; that of Winter, which stands towards the
south, is treated in exactly the contrary way. King Rhampsinitus was
possessed, they said, of great riches in silver- indeed to such an
amount, that none of the princes, his successors, surpassed or even
equalled his wealth. For the better custody of this money, he proposed
to build a vast chamber of hewn stone, one side of which was to form a
part of the outer wall of his palace. The builder, therefore, having
designs upon the treasures, contrived, as he was making the
building, to insert in this wall a stone, which could easily be
removed from its place by two men, or even by one. So the chamber
was finished, and the king's money stored away in it. Time passed, and
the builder fell sick, when finding his end approaching, he called for
his two sons, and related to them the contrivance he had made in the
king's treasure-chamber, telling them it was for their sakes he had
done it, that so they might always live in affluence. Then he gave
them clear directions concerning the mode of removing the stone, and
communicated the measurements, bidding them carefully keep the secret,
whereby they would be Comptrollers of the Royal Exchequer so long as
they lived. Then the father died, and the sons were not slow in
setting to work: they went by night to the palace, found the stone
in the wall of the building, and having removed it with ease,
plundered the treasury of a round sum.
    (2.) When the king next paid a visit to the apartment, he was
astonished to see that the money was sunk in some of the vessels
wherein it was stored away. Whom to accuse, however, he knew not, as
the seals were all perfect, and the fastenings of the room secure.
Still each time that he repeated his visits, he found that more
money was gone. The thieves in truth never stopped, but plundered
the treasury ever more and more. At last the king determined to have
some traps made, and set near the vessels which contained his
wealth. This was done, and when the thieves came, as usual, to the
treasure-chamber, and one of them entering through the aperture,
made straight for the jars, suddenly he found himself caught in one of
the traps. Perceiving that he was lost, he instantly called his
brother and telling him what had happened, entreated him to enter as
quickly as possible and cut off his head, that when his body should be
discovered it might not be recognised, which would have the effect
of bringing ruin upon both. The other thief thought the advice good,
and was persuaded to follow it then, fitting the stone into its place,
he went home, taking with him his brother's head.
    (3.) When day dawned, the king came into the room, and marvelled
greatly to see the body of the thief in the trap without a head, while
the building was still whole, and neither entrance nor exit was to
be seen anywhere. In this perplexity he commanded the body of the dead
man to be hung up outside the palace wall, and set a guard to watch
it, with orders that if any persons were seen weeping or lamenting
near the place, they should be seized and brought before him. When the
mother heard of this exposure of the corpse of her son, she took it
sorely to heart, and spoke to her surviving child, bidding him
devise some plan or other to get back the body, and threatening,
that if he did not exert himself, she would go herself to the king,
and denounce him as the robber.
    (4.) The son said all he could to persuade her to let the matter
rest, but in vain; she still continued to trouble him, until at last
he yielded to her importunity, and contrived as follows:- Filling some
skins with wine, he loaded them on donkeys, which he drove before
him till he came to the place where the guards were watching the
dead body, when pulling two or three of the skins towards him, he
untied some of the necks which dangled by the asses' sides. The wine
poured freely out, whereupon he began to beat his head, and shout with
all his might, seeming not to know which of the donkeys he should turn
to first. When the guards saw the wine running, delighted to profit by
the occasion, they rushed one and all into the road, each with some
vessel or other, and caught the liquor as it was spilling. The
driver pretended anger, and loaded them with abuse; whereon they did
their best to pacify him, until at last he appeared to soften, and
recover his good humour, drove his asses aside out of the road, and
set to work to rearrange their burthens; meanwhile, as he talked and
chatted with the guards, one of them began to rally him, and make
him laugh, whereupon he gave them one of the skins as a gift. They now
made up their minds to sit down and have a drinking-bout where they
were, so they begged him to remain and drink with them. Then the man
let himself be persuaded, and stayed. As the drinking went on, they
grew very friendly together, so presently he gave them another skin,
upon which they drank so copiously that they were all overcome with
the liquor, and growing drowsy lay down, and fell asleep on the
spot. The thief waited till it was the dead of the night, and then
took down the body of his brother; after which, in mockery, he
shaved off the right side of all the soldiers' beards, and so left
them. Laying his brother's body upon the asses, he carried it home
to his mother, having thus accomplished the thing that she had
required of him.
    (5.) When it came to the king's ears that the thief's body was
stolen away, he was sorely vexed. Wishing, therefore, whatever it
might cost, to catch the man who had contrived the trick, he had
recourse (the priests said) to an expedient, which I can scarcely
credit. He sent his own daughter to the common stews, with orders to
admit all comers, but to require every man to tell her what was the
cleverest and wickedest thing he had done in the whole course of his
life. If any one in reply told her the story of the thief, she was
to lay hold of him and not allow him to get away. The daughter did
as her father willed, whereon the thief, who was well aware of the
king's motive, felt a desire to outdo him in craft and cunning.
Accordingly he contrived the following plan:- He procured the corpse
of a man lately dead, and cutting of one of the arms at the
shoulder, put it under his dress, and so went to the king's
daughter. When she put the question to him as she had done to all
the rest, he replied that the wickedest thing he had ever done was
cutting off the head of his brother when he was caught in a trap in
the king's treasury, and the cleverest was making the guards drunk and
carrying off the body. As he spoke, the princess caught at him, but
the thief took advantage of the darkness to hold out to her the hand
of the corpse. Imagining it to be his own hand, she seized and held it
fast; while the thief, leaving it in her grasp, made his escape by the
door.
    (6.) The king, when word was brought him of this fresh success,
amazed at the sagacity and boldness of the man, sent messengers to all
the towns in his dominions to proclaim a free pardon for the thief,
and to promise him a rich reward, if he came and made himself known.
The thief took the king at his word, and came boldly into his
presence; whereupon Rhampsinitus, greatly admiring him, and looking on
him as the most knowing of men, gave him his daughter in marriage.
"The Egyptians," he said, "excelled all the rest of the world in
wisdom, and this man excelled all other Egyptians."
    The same king, I was also informed by the priests, afterwards
descended alive into the region which the Greeks call Hades, and there
played at dice with Ceres, sometimes winning and sometimes suffering
defeat. After a while he returned to earth, and brought with him a
golden napkin, a gift which he had received from the goddess. From
this descent of Rhampsinitus into Hades, and return to earth again,
the Egyptians, I was told, instituted a festival, which they certainly
celebrated in my day. On what occasion it was that they instituted it,
whether upon this or upon any other, I cannot determine. The following
are the ceremonies:- On a certain day in the year the priests weave
a mande, and binding the eyes of one of their number with a fillet,
they put the mantle upon him, and take him with them into the
roadway conducting to the temple of Ceres, when they depart and
leave him to himself. Then the priest, thus blindfolded, is led
(they say) by two wolves to the temple of Ceres, distant twenty
furlongs from the city, where he stays awhile, after which he is
brought back from the temple by the wolves, and left upon the spot
where they first joined him.
    Such as think the tales told by the Egyptians credible are free to
accept them for history. For my own part, I propose to myself
throughout my whole work faithfully to record the traditions of the
several nations. The Egyptians maintain that Ceres and Bacchus preside
in the realms below. They were also the first to broach the opinion
that the soul of man is immortal and that, when the body dies, it
enters into the form of an animal which is born at the moment,
thence passing on from one animal into another, until it has circled
through the forms of all the creatures which tenant the earth, the
water, and the air, after which it enters again into a human frame,
and is born anew. The whole period of the transmigration is (they say)
three thousand years. There are Greek writers, some of an earlier,
some of a later date, who have borrowed this doctrine from the
Egyptians, and put it forward as their own. I could mention their
names, but I abstain from doing so.
    Till the death of Rhampsinitus, the priests said, Egypt was
excellently governed, and flourished greatly; but after him Cheops
succeeded to the throne, and plunged into all manner of wickedness. He
closed the temples, and forbade the Egyptians to offer sacrifice,
compelling them instead to labour, one and all, in his service. Some
were required to drag blocks of stone down to the Nile from the
quarries in the Arabian range of hills; others received the blocks
after they had been conveyed in boats across the river, and drew
them to the range of hills called the Libyan. A hundred thousand men
laboured constantly, and were relieved every three months by a fresh
lot. It took ten years' oppression of the people to make the
causeway for the conveyance of the stones, a work not much inferior,
in my judgment, to the pyramid itself. This causeway is five
furlongs in length, ten fathoms wide, and in height, at the highest
part, eight fathoms. It is built of polished stone, and is covered
with carvings of animals. To make it took ten years, as I said- or
rather to make the causeway, the works on the mound where the
pyramid stands, and the underground chambers, which Cheops intended as
vaults for his own use: these last were built on a sort of island,
surrounded by water introduced from the Nile by a canal. The pyramid
itself was twenty years in building. It is a square, eight hundred
feet each way, and the height the same, built entirely of polished
stone, fitted together with the utmost care. The stones of which it is
composed are none of them less than thirty feet in length.
    The pyramid was built in steps, battlement-wise, as it is
called, or, according to others, altar-wise. After laying the stones
for the base, they raised the remaining stones to their places by
means of machines formed of short wooden planks. The first machine
raised them from the ground to the top of the first step. On this
there was another machine, which received the stone upon its
arrival, and conveyed it to the second step, whence a third machine
advanced it still higher. Either they had as many machines as there
were steps in the pyramid, or possibly they had but a single
machine, which, being easily moved, was transferred from tier to
tier as the stone rose- both accounts are given, and therefore I
mention both. The upper portion of the pyramid was finished first,
then the middle, and finally the part which was lowest and nearest the
ground. There is an inscription in Egyptian characters on the
pyramid which records the quantity of radishes, onions, and garlic
consumed by the labourers who constructed it; and I perfectly well
remember that the interpreter who read the writing to me said that the
money expended in this way was 1600 talents of silver. If this then is
a true record, what a vast sum must have been spent on the iron
tools used in the work, and on the feeding and clothing of the
labourers, considering the length of time the work lasted, which has
already been stated, and the additional time- no small space, I
imagine- which must have been occupied by the quarrying of the stones,
their conveyance, and the formation of the underground apartments.
    The wickedness of Cheops reached to such a pitch that, when he had
spent all his treasures and wanted more, he sent his daughter to the
stews, with orders to procure him a certain sum- how much I cannot
say, for I was not told; she procured it, however, and at the same
time, bent on leaving a monument which should perpetuate her own
memory, she required each man to make her a present of a stone towards
the works which she contemplated. With these stones she built the
pyramid which stands midmost of the three that are in front of the
great pyramid, measuring along each side a hundred and fifty feet.
    Cheops reigned, the Egyptians said, fifty years, and was succeeded
at his demise by Chephren, his brother.
    Chephren imitated the conduct of his predecessor, and, like him,
built a pyramid, which did not, however, equal the dimensions of his
brother's. Of this I am certain, for I measured them both myself. It
has no subterraneous apartments, nor any canal from the Nile to supply
it with water, as the other pyramid has. In that, the Nile water,
introduced through an artificial duct, surrounds an island, where
the body of Cheops is said to lie. Chephren built his pyramid close to
the great pyramid of Cheops, and of the same dimensions, except that
he lowered the height forty feet. For the basement he employed the
many-coloured stone of Ethiopia. These two pyramids stand both on
the same hill, an elevation not far short of a hundred feet in height.
The reign of Chephren lasted fifty-six years.
    Thus the affliction of Egypt endured for the space of one
hundred and six years, during the whole of which time the temples were
shut up and never opened. The Egyptians so detest the memory of
these kings that they do not much like even to mention their names.
Hence they commonly call the pyramids after Philition, a shepherd
who at that time fed his flocks about the place.
    After Chephren, Mycerinus (they said), son of Cheops, ascended the
throne. This prince disapproved the conduct of his father, re-opened
the temples, and allowed the people, who were ground down to the
lowest point of misery, to return to their occupations, and to
resume the practice of sacrifice. His justice in the decision of
causes was beyond that of all the former kings. The Egyptians praise
him in this respect more highly than any of their other monarchs,
declaring that he not only gave his judgments with fairness, but also,
when any one was dissatisfied with his sentence, made compensation
to him out of his own purse, and thus pacified his anger. Mycerinus
had established his character for mildness, and was acting as I have
described, when the stroke of calamity fell on him. First of all his
daughter died, the only child that he possessed. Experiencing a bitter
grief at this visitation, in his sorrow he conceived the wish to
entomb his child in some unusual way. He therefore caused a cow to
be made of wood, and after the interior had been hollowed out, he
had the whole surface coated with gold; and in this novel tomb laid
the dead body of his daughter.
    The cow was not placed under ground, but continued visible to my
times: it was at Sais, in the royal palace, where it occupied a
chamber richly adorned. Every day there are burnt before it
aromatics of every kind; and all night long a lamp is kept burning
in the apartment. In an adjoining chamber are statues which the
priests at Sais, declared to represent the various concubines of
Mycerinus. They are colossal figures in wood, of the number of about
twenty, and are represented naked. Whose images they really are, I
cannot say- I can only repeat the account which was given to me.
    Concerning these colossal figures and the sacred cow, there is
also another tale narrated, which runs thus: "Mycerinus was
enamoured of his daughter, and offered her violence- the damsel for
grief hanged herself, and Mycerinus entombed her in the cow. Then
her mother cut off the hands of all her tiring- maids, because they
had sided with the father, and betrayed the child; and so the
statues of the maids have no hands." All this is mere fable in my
judgment, especially what is said about the hands of the colossal
statues. I could plainly see that the figures had only lost their
hands through the effect of time. They had dropped off, and were still
lying on the ground about the feet of the statues.
    As for the cow, the greater portion of it is hidden by a scarlet
coverture; the head and neck, however, which are visible, are coated
very thickly with gold, and between the horns there is a
representation in gold of the orb of the sun. The figure is not erect,
but lying down, with the limbs under the body; the dimensions being
fully those of a large animal of the kind. Every year it is taken from
the apartment where it is kept, and exposed to the light of day-
this is done at the season when the Egyptians beat themselves in
honour of one of their gods, whose name I am unwilling to mention in
connection with such a matter. They say that the daughter of Mycerinus
requested her father in her dying moments to allow her once a year
to see the sun.
    After the death of his daughter, Mycerinus was visited with a
second calamity, of which I shall now proceed to give an account. An
oracle reached him from the town of Buto, which said, "Six years
only shalt thou live upon the earth, and in the seventh thou shalt end
thy days." Mycerinus, indignant, sent an angry message to the
oracle, reproaching the god with his injustice- "My father and uncle,"
he said, "though they shut up the temples, took no thought of the
gods, and destroyed multitudes of men, nevertheless enjoyed a long
life; I, who am pious, am to die so soon!" There came in reply a
second message from the oracle- "For this very reason is thy life
brought so quickly to a close- thou hast not done as it behoved
thee. Egypt was fated to suffer affliction one hundred and fifty
years- the two kings who preceded thee upon the throne understood
this- thou hast not understood it." Mycerinus, when this answer
reached him, perceiving that his doom was fixed, had prepared, which
he lighted every day at eventime, and feasted and enjoyed himself
unceasingly both day and night, moving about in the marsh-country
and the woods, and visiting all the places that he heard were
agreeable sojourns. His wish was to prove the oracle false, by turning
the nights into days, and so living twelve years in the space of six.
    He too left a pyramid, but much inferior in size to his
father's. It is a square, each side of which falls short of three
plethra by twenty feet, and is built for half its height of the
stone of Ethiopia. Some of the Greeks call it the work of Rhodopis the
courtesan, but they report falsely. It seems to me that these
persons cannot have any real knowledge who Rhodopis was; otherwise
they would scarcely have ascribed to her a work on which uncounted
treasures, so to speak, must have been expended. Rhodopis also lived
during the reign of Amasis, not of Mycerinus, and was thus very many
years later than the time of the kings who built the pyramids. She was
a Thracian by birth, and was the slave of Iadmon, son of
Hephaestopolis, a Samian. Aesop, the fable-writer, was one of her
fellow-slaves. That Aesop belonged to Iadmon is proved by many
facts- among others, by this. When the Delphians, in obedience to
the command of the oracle, made proclamation that if any one claimed
compensation for the murder of Aesop he should receive it, the
person who at last came forward was Iadmon, grandson of the former
Iadmon, and he received the compensation. Aesop therefore must
certainly have been the former Iadmon's slave.
    Rhodopis really arrived in Egypt under the conduct of Xantheus the
Samian; she was brought there to exercise her trade, but was
redeemed for a vast sum by Charaxus, a Mytilenaean, the son of
Scamandronymus, and brother of Sappho the poetess. After thus
obtaining her freedom, she remained in Egypt, and, as she was very
beautiful, amassed great wealth, for a person in her condition; not,
however, enough to enable her to erect such a work as this pyramid.
Any one who likes may go and see to what the tenth part of her
wealth amounted, and he will thereby learn that her riches must not be
imagined to have been very wonderfully great. Wishing to leave a
memorial of herself in Greece, she determined to have something made
the like of which was not to be found in any temple, and to offer it
at the shrine at Delphi. So she set apart a tenth of her
possessions, and purchased with the money a quantity of iron spits,
such as are fit for roasting oxen whole, whereof she made a present to
the oracle. They are still to be seen there, lying of a heap, behind
the altar which the Chians dedicated, opposite the sanctuary.
Naucratis seems somehow to be the place where such women are most
attractive. First there was this Rhodopis of whom we have been
speaking, so celebrated a person that her name came to be familiar
to all the Greeks; and, afterwards, there was another, called
Archidice, notorious throughout Greece, though not so much talked of
as her predecessor. Charaxus, after ransoming Rhodopis, returned to
Mytilene, and was often lashed by Sappho in her poetry. But enough has
been said on the subject of this courtesan.
    After Mycerinus, the priests said, Asychis ascended the throne. He
built the eastern gateway of the temple of Vulcan, which in size and
beauty far surpasses the other three. All the four gateways have
figures graven on them, and a vast amount of architectural ornament,
but the gateway of Asychis is by far the most richly adorned. In the
reign of this king, money being scarce and commercial dealings
straitened, a law was passed that the borrower might pledge his
father's body to raise the sum whereof he had need. A proviso was
appended to this law, giving the lender authority over the entire
sepulchre of the borrower, so that a man who took up money under
this pledge, if he died without paying the debt, could not obtain
burial either in his own ancestral tomb, or in any other, nor could he
during his lifetime bury in his own tomb any member of his family. The
same king, desirous of eclipsing all his predecessors upon the throne,
left as a monument of his reign a pyramid of brick. It bears an
inscription, cut in stone, which runs thus:- "Despise me not in
comparison with the stone pyramids; for I surpass them all, as much as
Jove surpasses the other gods. A pole was plunged into a lake, and the
mud which clave thereto was gathered; and bricks were made of the mud,
and so I was formed." Such were the chief actions of this prince.
    He was succeeded on the throne, they said, by a blind man, a
native of Anysis, whose own name also was Anysis. Under him Egypt
was invaded by a vast army of Ethiopians, led by Sabacos, their
king. The blind Anysis fled away to the marsh-country, and the
Ethiopian was lord of the land for fifty years, during which his
mode of rule was the following:- When an Egyptian was guilty of an
offence, his plan was not to punish him with death: instead of so
doing, he sentenced him, according to the nature of his crime, to
raise the ground to a greater or a less extent in the neighbourhood of
the city to which he belonged. Thus the cities came to be even more
elevated than they were before. As early as the time of Sesostris,
they had been raised by those who dug the canals in his reign; this
second elevation of the soil under the Ethiopian king gave them a very
lofty position. Among the many cities which thus attained to a great
elevation, none (I think) was raised so much as the town called
Bubastis, where there is a temple of the goddess Bubastis, which
well deserves to be described. Other temples may be grander, and may
have cost more in the building, but there is none so pleasant to the
eye as this of Bubastis. The Bubastis of the Egyptians is the same
as the Artemis (Diana) of the Greeks.
    The following is a description of this edifice:- Excepting the
entrance, the whole forms an island. Two artificial channels from
the Nile, one on either side of the temple, encompass the building,
leaving only a narrow passage by which it is approached. These
channels are each a hundred feet wide, and are thickly shaded with
trees. The gateway is sixty feet in height, and is ornamented with
figures cut upon the stone, six cubits high and well worthy of notice.
The temple stands in the middle of the city, and is visible on all
sides as one walks round it; for as the city has been raised up by
embankment, while the temple has been left untouched in its original
condition, you look down upon it wheresoever you are. A low wall
runs round the enclosure, having figures engraved upon it, and
inside there is a grove of beautiful tall trees growing round the
shrine, which contains the image of the goddess. The enclosure is a
furlong in length, and the same in breadth. The entrance to it is by a
road paved with stone for a distance of about three furlongs, which
passes straight through the market-place with an easterly direction,
and is about four hundred feet in width. Trees of an extraordinary
height grow on each side the road, which conducts from the temple of
Bubastis to that of Mercury.
    The Ethiopian finally quitted Egypt, the priests said, by a
hasty flight under the following circumstances. He saw in his sleep
a vision:- a man stood by his side, and counselled him to gather
together all the priests of Egypt and cut every one of them asunder.
On this, according to the account which he himself gave, it came
into his mind that the gods intended hereby to lead him to commit an
act of sacrilege, which would be sure to draw down upon him some
punishment either at the hands of gods or men. So he resolved not to
do the deed suggested to him, but rather to retire from Egypt, as
the time during which it was fated that he should hold the country had
now (he thought) expired. For before he left Ethiopia he had been told
by the oracles which are venerated there, that he was to reign fifty
years over Egypt. The years were now fled, and the dream had come to
trouble him; he therefore of his own accord withdrew from the land.
    As soon as Sabacos was gone, the blind king left the marshes,
and resumed the government. He had lived in the marsh-region the whole
time, having formed for himself an island there by a mixture of
earth and ashes. While he remained, the natives had orders to bring
him food unbeknown to the Ethiopian, and latterly, at his request,
each man had brought him, with the food, a certain quantity of
ashes. Before Amyrtaeus, no one was able to discover the site of
this island, which continued unknown to the kings of Egypt who
preceded him on the throne for the space of seven hundred years and
more. The name which it bears is Elbo. It is about ten furlongs across
in each direction.
    The next king, I was told, was a priest of Vulcan, called
Sethos. This monarch despised and neglected the warrior class of the
Egyptians, as though he did not need their services. Among other
indignities which he offered them, he took from them the lands which
they had possessed under all the previous kings, consisting of
twelve acres of choice land for each warrior. Afterwards, therefore,
when Sanacharib, king of the Arabians and Assyrians, marched his
vast army into Egypt, the warriors one and all refused to come to
his aid. On this the monarch, greatly distressed, entered into the
inner sanctuary, and, before the image of the god, bewailed the fate
which impended over him. As he wept he fell asleep, and dreamed that
the god came and stood at his side, bidding him be of good cheer,
and go boldly forth to meet the Arabian host, which would do him no
hurt, as he himself would send those who should help him. Sethos,
then, relying on the dream, collected such of the Egyptians as were
willing to follow him, who were none of them warriors, but traders,
artisans, and market people; and with these marched to Pelusium, which
commands the entrance into Egypt, and there pitched his camp. As the
two armies lay here opposite one another, there came in the night, a
multitude of field-mice, which devoured all the quivers and bowstrings
of the enemy, and ate the thongs by which they managed their
shields. Next morning they commenced their fight, and great multitudes
fell, as they had no arms with which to defend themselves. There
stands to this day in the temple of Vulcan, a stone statue of
Sethos, with a mouse in his hand, and an inscription to this effect-
"Look on me, and learn to reverence the gods."
    Thus far I have spoken on the authority of the Egyptians and their
priests. They declare that from their first king to this
last-mentioned monarch, the priest of Vulcan, was a period of three
hundred and forty-one generations; such, at least, they say, was the
number both of their kings, and of their high-priests, during this
interval. Now three hundred generations of men make ten thousand
years, three generations filling up the century; and the remaining
forty-one generations make thirteen hundred and forty years. Thus
the whole number of years is eleven thousand, three hundred and forty;
in which entire space, they said, no god had ever appeared in a
human form; nothing of this kind had happened either under the
former or under the later Egyptian kings. The sun, however, had within
this period of time, on four several occasions, moved from his
wonted course, twice rising where he now sets, and twice setting where
he now rises. Egypt was in no degree affected by these changes; the
productions of the land, and of the river, remained the same; nor
was there anything unusual either in the diseases or the deaths.
    When Hecataeus the historian was at Thebes, and, discoursing of
his genealogy, traced his descent to a god in the person of his
sixteenth ancestor, the priests of Jupiter did to him exactly as
they afterwards did to me, though I made no boast of my family. They
led me into the inner sanctuary, which is a spacious chamber, and
showed me a multitude of colossal statues, in wood, which they counted
up, and found to amount to the exact number they had said; the
custom being for every high priest during his lifetime to set up his
statue in the temple. As they showed me the figures and reckoned
them up, they assured me that each was the son of the one preceding
him; and this they repeated throughout the whole line, beginning
with the representation of the priest last deceased, and continuing
till they had completed the series. When Hecataeus, in giving his
genealogy, mentioned a god as his sixteenth ancestor, the priests
opposed their genealogy to his, going through this list, and
refusing to allow that any man was ever born of a god. Their
colossal figures were each, they said, a Piromis, born of a Piromis,
and the number of them was three hundred and forty-five; through the
whole series Piromis followed Piromis, and the line did not run up
either to a god or a hero. The word Piromis may be rendered
"gentleman."
    Of such a nature were, they said, the beings represented by
these images- they were very far indeed from being gods. However, in
the times anterior to them it was otherwise; then Egypt had gods for
its rulers, who dwelt upon the earth with men, one being always
supreme above the rest. The last of these was Horus, the son of
Osiris, called by the Greeks Apollo. He deposed Typhon, and ruled over
Egypt as its last god-king. Osiris is named Dionysus (Bacchus) by
the Greeks.
    The Greeks regard Hercules, Bacchus, and Pan as the youngest of
the gods. With the Egyptians, contrariwise, Pan is exceedingly
ancient, and belongs to those whom they call "the eight gods," who
existed before the rest. Hercules is one of the gods of the second
order, who are known as "the twelve"; and Bacchus belongs to the
gods of the third order, whom the twelve produced. I have already
mentioned how many years intervened according to the Egyptians between
the birth of Hercules and the reign of Amasis. From Pan to this period
they count a still longer time; and even from Bacchus, who is the
youngest of the three, they reckon fifteen thousand years to the reign
of that king. In these matters they say they cannot be mistaken, as
they have always kept count of the years, and noted them in their
registers. But from the present day to the time of Bacchus, the
reputed son of Semele, daughter of Cadmus, is a period of not more
than sixteen hundred years; to that of Hercules, son of Alcmena, is
about nine hundred; while to the time of Pan, son of Penelope (Pan,
according to the Greeks, was her child by Mercury), is a shorter space
than to the Trojan war, eight hundred years or thereabouts.
    It is open to all to receive whichever he may prefer of these
two traditions; my own opinion about them has been already declared.
If indeed these gods had been publicly known, and had grown old in
Greece, as was the case with Hercules, son of Amphitryon, Bacchus, son
of Semele, and Pan, son of Penelope, it might have been said that
the last-mentioned personages were men who bore the names of certain
previously existing deities. But Bacchus, according to the Greek
tradition, was no sooner born than he was sewn up in Jupiter's
thigh, and carried off to Nysa, above Egypt, in Ethiopia; and as to
Pan, they do not even profess to know what happened to him after his
birth. To me, therefore, it is quite manifest that the names of
these gods became known to the Greeks after those of their other
deities, and that they count their birth from the time when they first
acquired a knowledge of them. Thus far my narrative rests on the
accounts given by the Egyptians.
    In what follows I have the authority, not of the Egyptians only,
but of others also who agree with them. I shall speak likewise in part
from my own observation. When the Egyptians regained their liberty
after the reign of the priest of Vulcan, unable to continue any
while without a king, they divided Egypt into twelve districts, and
set twelve kings over them. These twelve kings, united together by
intermarriages, ruled Egypt in peace, having entered into
engagements with one another not to depose any of their number, nor to
aim at any aggrandisement of one above the rest, but to dwell together
in perfect amity. Now the reason why they made these stipulations, and
guarded with care against their infraction, was because at the very
first establishment of the twelve kingdoms an oracle had declared-
"That he among them who should pour in Vulcan's temple a libation from
a cup of bronze would become monarch of the whole land of Egypt."
Now the twelve held their meetings at all the temples.
    To bind themselves yet more closely together, it seemed good to
them to leave a common monument. In pursuance of this resolution
they made the Labyrinth which lies a little above Lake Moeris, in
the neighbourhood of the place called the city of Crocodiles. I
visited this place, and found it to surpass description; for if all
the walls and other great works of the Greeks could be put together in
one, they would not equal, either for labour or expense, this
Labyrinth; and yet the temple of Ephesus is a building worthy of note,
and so is the temple of Samos. The pyramids likewise surpass
description, and are severally equal to a number of the greatest works
of the Greeks, but the Labyrinth surpasses the pyramids. It has twelve
courts, all of them roofed, with gates exactly opposite one another,
six looking to the north, and six to the south. A single wall
surrounds the entire building. There are two different sorts of
chambers throughout- half under ground, half above ground, the
latter built upon the former; the whole number of these chambers is
three thousand, fifteen hundred of each kind. The upper chambers I
myself passed through and saw, and what I say concerning them is
from my own observation; of the underground chambers I can only
speak from report: for the keepers of the building could not be got to
show them, since they contained (as they said) the sepulchres of the
kings who built the Labyrinth, and also those of the sacred
crocodiles. Thus it is from hearsay only that I can speak of the lower
chambers. The upper chambers, however, I saw with my own eyes, and
found them to excel all other human productions; for the passages
through the houses, and the varied windings of the paths across the
courts excited in me infinite admiration as I passed from the courts
into chambers, and from the chambers into colonnades, and from the
colonnades into fresh houses, and again from these into courts
unseen before. The roof was throughout of stone, like the walls; and
the walls were carved all over with figures; every court was
surrounded with a colonnade which was built of white stones
exquisitely fitted together. At the corner of the Labyrinth stands a
pyramid, forty fathoms high, with large figures engraved on it,
which is entered by a subterranean passage.
    Wonderful as is the Labyrinth, the work called the Lake of Moeris,
which is close by the Labyrinth, is yet more astonishing. The
measure of its circumference is sixty schoenes, or three thousand
six hundred furlongs, which is equal to the entire length of Egypt
along the sea-coast. The lake stretches in its longest direction
from north to south, and in its deepest parts is of the depth of fifty
fathoms. It is manifestly an artificial excavation, for nearly in
the centre there stand two pyramids, rising to the height of fifty
fathoms above the surface of the water, and extending as far
beneath, crowned each of them with a colossal statue sitting upon a
throne. Thus these pyramids are one hundred fathoms high, which is
exactly a furlong (stadium) of six hundred feet: the fathom being
six feet in length, or four cubits, which is the same thing, since a
cubit measures six, and a foot four, palms. The water of the lake does
not come out of the ground, which is here excessively dry, but is
introduced by a canal from the Nile. The current sets for six months
into the lake from the river, and for the next six months into the
river from the lake. it runs outward it returns a talent of silver
daily to the royal treasury from the fish that are taken, but when the
current is the other way the return sinks to one-third of that sum.
    The natives told me that there was a subterranean passage from
this lake to the Libyan Syrtis, running westward into the interior
by the hills above Memphis. As I could not anywhere see the earth
which had been taken out when the excavation was made, and I was
curious to know what had become of it, I asked the Egyptians who
live closest to the lake where the earth had been put. The answer that
they gave me I readily accepted as true, since I had heard of the same
thing being done at Nineveh of the Assyrians. There, once upon a time,
certain thieves, having formed a plan to get into their possession the
vast treasures of Sardanapalus, the Ninevite king, which were laid
up in subterranean treasuries, proceeded to tunnel a passage from
the house where they lived into the royal palace, calculating the
distance and the direction. At nightfall they took the earth from
the excavation and carried it to the river Tigris, which ran by
Nineveh, continuing to get rid of it in this manner until they had
accomplished their purpose. It was exactly in the same way that the
Egyptians disposed of the mould from their excavation, except that
they did it by day and not by night; for as fast as the earth was dug,
they carried it to the Nile, which they knew would disperse it far and
wide. Such was the account which I received of the formation of this
lake.
    The twelve kings for some time dealt honourably by one another,
but at length it happened that on a certain occasion, when they had
met to worship in the temple of Vulcan, the high-priest on the last
day of the festival, in bringing forth the golden goblets from which
they were wont to pour the libations, mistook the number and brought
eleven goblets only for the twelve princes. Psammetichus was
standing last, and, being left without a cup, he took his helmet,
which was of bronze, from off his head, stretched it out to receive
the liquor, and so made his libation. All the kings were accustomed to
wear helmets, and all indeed wore them at this very time. Nor was
there any crafty design in the action of Psammetichus. The eleven,
however, when they came to consider what had been done, and
bethought them of the oracle which had declared "that he who, of the
twelve, should pour a libation from a cup of bronze, the same would be
king of the whole land of Egypt," doubted at first if they should
not put Psammetichus to death. Finding, however, upon examination,
that he had acted in the matter without any guilty intent, they did
not think it would be just to kill him; but determined, instead, to
strip him of the chief part of his power and to banish him to the
marshes, forbidding him to leave them or to hold any communication
with the rest of Egypt.
    This was the second time that Psammetichus had been driven into
banishment. On a former occasion he had fled from Sabacos the
Ethiopian, who had put his father Necos to death; and had taken refuge
in Syria from whence, after the retirement of the Ethiop in
consequence of his dream, he was brought back by the Egyptians of
the Saitic canton. Now it was his ill-fortune to be banished a
second time by the eleven kings, on account of the libation which he
had poured from his helmet; on this occasion he fled to the marshes.
Feeling that he was an injured man, and designing to avenge himself
upon his persecutors, Psammetichus sent to the city of Buto, where
there is an oracle of Latona, the most veracious of all the oracles of
the Egyptians, and having inquired concerning means of vengeance,
received for answer that "Vengeance would come from the sea, when
brazen men should appear." Great was his incredulity when this
answer arrived, for never, he thought, would brazen men arrive to be
his helpers. However, not long afterwards certain Carians and
Ionians who had left their country on a voyage of plunder, were
carried by stress of weather to Egypt where they disembarked, all
equipped in their brazen armour, and were seen by the natives, one
of whom carried the tidings to Psammetichus, and, as he had never
before seen men clad in brass, he reported that brazen men had come
from the sea and were plundering the plain. Psammetichus, perceiving
at once that the oracle was accomplished, made friendly advances to
the strangers, and engaged them, by splendid promises, to enter into
his service. He then, with their aid and that of the Egyptians who
espoused his cause, attacked the eleven and vanquished them.
    When Psammetichus had thus become sole monarch of Egypt, he
built the southern gateway of the temple of Vulcan in Memphis, and
also a court for Apis, in which Apis is kept whenever he makes his
appearance in Egypt. This court is opposite the gateway of
Psammetichus, and is surrounded with a colonnade and adorned with a
multitude of figures. Instead of pillars, the colonnade rests upon
colossal statues, twelve cubits in height. The Greek name for Apis
is Epaphus.
    To the Ionians and Carians who had lent him their assistance
Psammetichus assigned as abodes two places opposite to each other, one
on either side of the Nile, which received the name of "the Camps." He
also made good all the splendid promises by which he had gained
their support; and further, he intrusted to their care certain
Egyptian children whom they were to teach the language of the
Greeks. These children, thus instructed, became the parents of the
entire class of interpreters in Egypt. The Ionians and Carians
occupied for many years the places assigned them by Psammetichus,
which lay near the sea, a little below the city of Bubastis, on the
Pelusiac mouth of the Nile. King Amasis long afterwards removed the
Greeks hence, and settled them at Memphis to guard him against the
native Egyptians. From the date of the original settlement of these
persons in Egypt, we Greeks, through our intercourse with them, have
acquired an accurate knowledge of the several events in Egyptian
history, from the reign of Psammetichus downwards; but before his time
no foreigners had ever taken up their residence in that land. The
docks where their vessels were laid up and the ruins of their
habitations were still to be seen in my day at the place where they
dwelt originally, before they were removed by Amasis. Such was the
mode by which Psammetichus became master of Egypt.
    I have already made mention more than once of the Egyptian oracle,
and, as it well deserves notice, I shall now proceed to give an
account of it more at length. It is a temple of Latona, situated in
the midst of a great city on the Sebennytic mouth of the Nile, at some
distance up the river from the sea. The name of the city, as I have
before observed, is Buto; and in it are two other temples also, one of
Apollo and one of Diana. Latona's temple, which contains the oracle,
is a spacious building with a gateway ten fathoms in height. The
most wonderful thing that was actually to be seen about this temple
was a chapel in the enclosure made of a single stone, the length and
height of which were the same, each wall being forty cubits square,
and the whole a single block! Another block of stone formed the roof
and projected at the eaves to the extent of four cubits.
    This, as I have said, was what astonished me the most, of all
the things that were actually to be seen about the temple. The next
greatest marvel was the island called Chemmis. This island lies in the
middle of a broad and deep lake close by the temple, and the natives
declare that it floats. For my own part I did not see it float, or
even move; and I wondered greatly, when they told me concerning it,
whether there be really such a thing as a floating island. It has a
grand temple of Apollo built upon it, in which are three distinct
altars. Palm trees grow on it in great abundance, and many other
trees, some of which bear fruit, while others are barren. The
Egyptians tell the following story in connection with this island,
to explain the way in which it first came to float:- "In former times,
when the isle was still fixed and motionless, Latona, one of the eight
gods of the first order, who dwelt in the city of Buto, where now
she has her oracle, received Apollo as a sacred charge from Isis,
and saved him by hiding him in what is now called the floating island.
Typhon meanwhile was searching everywhere in hopes of finding the
child of Osiris." (According to the Egyptians, Apollo and Diana are
the children of Bacchus and Isis, while Latona is their nurse and
their preserver. They call Apollo, in their language, Horus; Ceres
they call Isis; Diana, Bubastis. From this Egyptian tradition, and
from no other, it must have been that Aeschylus, the son of Euphorion,
took the idea, which is found in none of the earlier poets, of
making Diana the daughter of Ceres.) The island, therefore, in
consequence of this event, was first made to float. Such at least is
the account which the Egyptians give.
    Psammetichus ruled Egypt for fifty-four years, during
twenty-nine of which he pressed the siege of Azotus without
intermission, till finally he took the place. Azotus is a great town
in Syria. Of all the cities that we know, none ever stood so long a
siege.
    Psammetichus left a son called Necos, who succeeded him upon the
throne. This prince was the first to attempt the construction of the
canal to the Red Sea- a work completed afterwards by Darius the
Persian- the length of which is four days' journey, and the width such
as to admit of two triremes being rowed along it abreast. The water is
derived from the Nile, which the canal leaves a little above the
city of Bubastis, near Patumus, the Arabian town, being continued
thence until it joins the Red Sea. At first it is carried along the
Arabian side of the Egyptian plain, as far as the chain of hills
opposite Memphis, whereby the plain is bounded, and in which lie the
great stone quarries; here it skirts the base of the hills running
in a direction from west to east, after which it turns and enters a
narrow pass, trending southwards from this point until it enters the
Arabian Gulf. From the northern sea to that which is called the
southern or Erythraean, the shortest and quickest passage, which is
from Mount Casius, the boundary between Egypt and Syria, to the Gulf
of Arabia, is a distance of exactly one thousand furlongs. But the way
by the canal is very much longer on account of the crookedness of
its course. A hundred and twenty thousand of the Egyptians, employed
upon the work in the reign of Necos, lost their lives in making the
excavation. He at length desisted from his undertaking, in consequence
of an oracle which warned him "that he was labouring for the
barbarian." The Egyptians call by the name of barbarians all such as
speak a language different from their own.
    Necos, when he gave up the construction of the canal, turned all
his thoughts to war, and set to work to build a fleet of triremes,
some intended for service in the northern sea, and some for the
navigation of the Erythraean. These last were built in the Arabian
Gulf where the dry docks in which they lay are still visible. These
fleets he employed wherever he had occasion, while he also made war by
land upon the Syrians and defeated them in a pitched battle at
Magdolus, after which he made himself master of Cadytis, a large
city of Syria. The dress which he wore on these occasions he sent to
Branchidae in Milesia, as an offering to Apollo. After having
reigned in all sixteen years, Necos died, and at his death
bequeathed the throne to his son Psammis.
    In the reign of Psammis, ambassadors from Elis arrived in Egypt,
boasting that their arrangements for the conduct of the Olympic
Games were the best and fairest that could be devised, and fancying
that not even the Egyptians, who surpassed all other nations in
wisdom, could add anything to their perfection. When these persons
reached Egypt, and explained the reason of their visit, the king
summoned an assembly of all the wisest of the Egyptians. They met, and
the Eleans having given them a full account of all their rules and
regulations with respect to the contests said that they had come to
Egypt for the express purpose of learning whether the Egyptians
could improve the fairness of their regulations in any particular. The
Egyptians considered awhile and then made inquiry, "If they allowed
their own citizens to enter the lists?" The Eleans answered, "That the
lists were open to all Greeks, whether they belonged to Elis or to any
other state." Hereupon the Egyptians observed, "That if this were
so, they departed from justice very widely, since it was impossible
but that they would favour their own countrymen and deal unfairly by
foreigners. If therefore they really wished to manage the games with
fairness, and if this was the object of their coming to Egypt, they
advised them to confine the contests to strangers, and allow no native
of Elis to be a candidate." Such was the advice which the Egyptians
gave to the Eleans.
    Psammis reigned only six years. He attacked Ethiopia, and died
almost directly afterwards. Apries, his son, succeeded him upon the
throne, who, excepting Psammetichus, his great-grandfather, was the
most prosperous of all the kings that ever ruled over Egypt. The
length of his reign was twenty-five years, and in the course of it
he marched an army to attack Sidon, and fought a battle with the
king of Tyre by sea. When at length the time came that was fated to
bring him woe, an occasion arose which I shall describe more fully
in my Libyan history, only touching it very briefly here. An army
despatched by Apries to attack Cyrene, having met with a terrible
reverse, the Egyptians laid the blame on him, imagining that he had,
of malice prepense, sent the troops into the jaws of destruction. They
believed he had wished a vast number of them to be slain in order that
he himself might reign with more security over the rest of the
Egyptians. Indignant therefore at this usage, the soldiers who
returned and the friends of the slain broke instantly into revolt.
    Apries, on learning these circumstances, sent Amasis to the rebels
to appease the tumult by persuasion. Upon his arrival, as he was seek.
ing to restrain the malcontents by his exhortations, one of them,
coming behind him, put a helmet on his head, saying, as he put it
on, that he thereby crowned him king. Amasis was not altogether
displeased at the action, as his conduct soon made manifest; for no
sooner had the insurgents agreed to make him actually their king
than he prepared to march with them against Apries. That monarch, on
tidings of these events reaching him, sent Patarbemis, one of his
courtiers, a man of high rank, to Amasis with orders to bring him
alive into his presence. Patarbemis, on arriving at the place where
Amasis was, called on him to come back with him to the king, whereupon
Amasis broke a coarse jest, and said, "Prythee take that back to thy
master." When the envoy, notwithstanding this reply, persisted in
his request, exhorting Amasis to obey the summons of the king, he made
answer "that this was exactly what he had long been intending to do;
Apries would have no reason to complain of him on the score of
delay; he would shortly come himself to the king, and bring others
with him." Patarbemis, upon this, comprehending the intention of
Amasis, partly from his replies and partly from the preparations which
he saw in progress, departed hastily, wishing to inform the king
with all speed of what was going on. Apries, however, when he saw
him approaching without Amasis, fell into a paroxysm of rage, and
not giving himself time for reflection, commanded the nose and ears of
Patarbemis to be cut off. Then the rest of the Egyptians, who had
hitherto espoused the cause of Apries, when they saw a man of such
note among them so shamefully outraged, without a moment's
hesitation went over to the rebels, and put themselves at the disposal
of Amasis.
    Apries, informed of this new calamity, armed his mercenaries,
and led them against the Egyptians: this was a body of Carians and
Ionians, numbering thirty thousand men, which was now with him at
Says, where his palace stood- a vast building, well worthy of
notice. The army of Apries marched out to attack the host of the
Egyptians, while that of Amasis went forth to fight the strangers; and
now both armies drew near the city of Momemphis and prepared for the
coming fight.
    The Egyptians are divided into seven distinct classes- these
are, the priests, the warriors, the cowherds, the swineherds, the
tradesmen, the interpreters, and the boatmen. Their titles indicate
their occupations. The warriors consist of Hermotybians and
Calascirians, who come from different cantons, the whole of Egypt
being parcelled out into districts bearing this name.
    The following cantons furnish the Hermotybians:- The cantons of
Busiris, Sais, Chemmis, Papremis, that of the island called
Prosopitis, and half of Natho. They number, when most numerous, a
hundred and sixty thousand. None of them ever practices a trade, but
all are given wholly to war.
    The cantons of the Calascirians are different- they include the
following:- The cantons of Thebes, Bubastis, Aphthis, Tanis, Mendes,
Sebennytus, Athribis, Pharbaethus, Thmuis, Onuphis, Anysis, and
Myecphoris- this last canton consists of an island which lies over
against the town of Bubastis. The Calascirians, when at their greatest
number, have amounted to two hundred and fifty thousand. Like the
Hermotybians, they are forbidden to pursue any trade, and devote
themselves entirely to warlike exercises, the son following the
father's calling.
    Whether the Greeks borrowed from the Egyptians their notions about
trade, like so many others, I cannot say for certain. I have
remarked that the Thracians, the Scyths, the Persians, the Lydians,
and almost all other barbarians, hold the citizens who practice
trades, and their children, in less repute than the rest, while they
esteem as noble those who keep aloof from handicrafts, and
especially honour such as are given wholly to war. These ideas prevail
throughout the whole of Greece, particularly among the Lacedaemonians.
Corinth is the place where mechanics are least despised.
    The warrior class in Egypt had certain special privileges in which
none of the rest of the Egyptians participated, except the priests. In
the first place each man had twelve arurae of land assigned him free
from tax. (The arura is a square of a hundred Egyptian cubits, the
Egyptian cubit being of the same length as the Samian.) All the
warriors enjoyed this privilege together, but there were other
advantages which came to each in rotation, the same man never
obtaining them twice. A thousand Calascirians, and the same number
of Hermotybians, formed in alternate years the body-guard of the king;
and during their year of service these persons, besides their
arurae, received a daily portion of meat and drink, consisting of five
pounds of baked bread, two pounds of beef, and four cups of wine.
    When Apries, at the head of his mercenaries, and Amasis, in
command of the whole native force of the Egyptians, encountered one
another near the city of Momemphis, an engagement presently took
place. The foreign troops fought bravely, but were overpowered by
numbers, in which they fell very far short of their adversaries. It is
said that Apries believed that there was not a god who could cast
him down from his eminence, so firmly did he think that he had
established himself in his kingdom. But at this time the battle went
against him, and his army being worsted, he fell into the enemy's
hands and was brought back a prisoner to Sais, where he was lodged
in what had been his own house, but was now the palace of Amasis.
Amasis treated him with kindness, and kept him in the palace for a
while; but finding his conduct blamed by the Egyptians, who charged
him with acting unjustly in preserving a man who had shown himself
so bitter an enemy both to them and him, he gave Apries over into
the hands of his former subjects, to deal with as they chose. Then the
Egyptians took him and strangled him, but having so done they buried
him in the sepulchre of his fathers. This tomb is in the temple of
Minerva, very near the sanctuary, on the left hand as one enters.
The Saites buried all the kings who belonged to their canton inside
this temple; and thus it even contains the tomb of Amasis, as well
as that of Apries and his family. The latter is not so close to the
sanctuary as the former, but still it is within the temple. It
stands in the court, and is a spacious cloister built of stone and
adorned with pillars carved so as to resemble palm trees, and with
other sumptuous ornaments. Within the cloister is a chamber with
folding doors, behind which lies the sepulchre of the king.
    Here too, in this same precinct of Minerva at Sais, is the
burial-place of one whom I think it not right to mention in such a
connection. It stands behind the temple, against the backwall, which
it entirely covers. There are also some large stone obelisks in the
enclosure, and there is a lake near them, adorned with an edging of
stone. In form it is circular, and in size, as it seemed to me,
about equal to the lake in Delos called "the Hoop."
    On this lake it is that the Egyptians represent by night his
sufferings whose name I refrain from mentioning, and this
representation they call their Mysteries. I know well the whole course
of the proceedings in these ceremonies, but they shall not pass my
lips. So too, with regard to the mysteries of Ceres, which the
Greeks term "the Thesmophoria," I know them, but I shall not mention
them, except so far as may be done without impiety. The daughters of
Danaus brought these rites from Egypt, and taught them to the Pelasgic
women of the Peloponnese. Afterwards, when the inhabitants of the
peninsula were driven from their homes by the Dorians, the rites
perished. Only in Arcadia, where the natives remained and were not
compelled to migrate, their observance continued.
    After Apries had been put to death in the way that I have
described above, Amasis reigned over Egypt. He belonged to the
canton of Sais, being a native of the town called Siouph. At first his
subjects looked down on him and held him in small esteem, because he
had been a mere private person, and of a house of no great
distinction; but after a time Amasis succeeded in reconciling them
to his rule, not by severity, but by cleverness. Among his other
splendour he had a golden foot-pan, in which his guests and himself
were wont upon occasion to wash their feet. This vessel he caused to
be broken in pieces, and made of the gold an image of one of the gods,
which he set up in the most public place in the whole city; upon which
the Egyptians flocked to the image, and worshipped it with the
utmost reverence. Amasis, finding this was so, called an assembly, and
opened the matter to them, explaining how the image had been made of
the foot-pan, wherein they had been wont formerly to wash their feet
and to put all manner of filth, yet now it was greatly reverenced.
"And truly," he went on to say, "it had gone with him as with the
foot-pan. If he was a private person formerly, yet now he had come
to be their king. And so he bade them honour and reverence him."
Such was the mode in which he won over the Egyptians, and brought them
to be content to do him service.
    The following was the general habit of his life:- from early
dawn to the time when the forum is wont to fill, he sedulously
transacted all the business that was brought before him; during the
remainder of the day he drank and joked with his guests, passing the
time in witty and, sometimes, scarce seemly conversation. It grieved
his friends that he should thus demean himself, and accordingly some
of them chid him on the subject, saying to him- "Oh! king, thou dost
but ill guard thy royal dignity whilst thou allowest thyself in such
levities. Thou shouldest sit in state upon a stately throne, and
busy thyself with affairs the whole day long. So would the Egyptians
feel that a great man rules them, and thou wouldst be better spoken
of. But now thou conductest thyself in no kingly fashion." Amasis
answered them thus:- "Bowmen bend their bows when they wish to
shoot; unbrace them when the shooting is over. Were they kept always
strung they would break, and fail the archer in time of need. So it is
with men. If they give themselves constantly to serious work, and
never indulge awhile in pastime or sport, they lose their senses,
and become mad or moody. Knowing this, I divide my life between
pastime and business." Thus he answered his friends.
    It is said that Amasis, even while he was a private man, had the
same tastes for drinking and jesting, and was averse to engaging in
any serious employment. He lived in constant feasts and revelries, and
whenever his means failed him, he roamed about and robbed people. On
such occasions the persons from whom he had stolen would bring him, if
he denied the charge, before the nearest oracle; sometimes the
oracle would pronounce him guilty of the theft, at other times it
would acquit him. When afterwards he came to be king, he neglected the
temples of such gods as had declared that he was not a thief, and
neither contributed to their adornment nor frequented them for
sacrifice, since he regarded them as utterly worthless and their
oracles as wholly false: but the gods who had detected his guilt he
considered to be true gods whose oracles did not deceive, and these he
honoured exceedingly.
    First of all, therefore, he built the gateway of the temple of
Minerva at Sais, which is an astonishing work, far surpassing all
other buildings of the same kind both in extent and height, and
built with stones of rare size and excellency. In the next place, he
presented to the temple a number of large colossal statues and several
prodigious andro-sphinxes, besides certain stones for the repairs,
of a most extraordinary size. Some of these he got from the quarries
over against Memphis, but the largest were brought from Elephantine,
which is twenty days' voyage from Sais. Of all these wonderful
masses that which I most admire is a chamber made of a single stone,
which was quarried at Elephantine. It took three years to convey
this block from the quarry to Sais; and in the conveyance were
employed no fewer than two thousand labourers, who were all from the
class of boatmen. The length of this chamber on the outside is
twenty-one cubits, its breadth fourteen cubits, and its height, eight.
The measurements inside are the following:- the length, eighteen
cubits and five-sixths; the breadth, twelve cubits; and the height,
five. It lies near the entrance of the temple, where it was left in
consequence of the following circumstance:- it happened that the
architect, just as the stone had reached the spot where it now stands,
heaved a sigh, considering the length of time that the removal had
taken, and feeling wearied with the heavy toil. The sigh was heard
by Amasis who, regarding it as an omen, would not allow the chamber to
be moved forward any farther. Some, however, say that one of the
workmen engaged at the levers was crushed and killed by the mass,
and that this was the reason of its being left where it now stands.
    To the other temples of much note Amasis also made magnificent
offerings- at Memphis, for instance, he gave the recumbent colossus in
front of the temple of Vulcan, which is seventy-five feet long. Two
other colossal statues stand on the same base, each twenty feet
high, carved in the stone of Ethiopia, one on either side of the
temple. There is also a stone colossus of the same size at Says,
recumbent like that at Memphis. Amasis finally built the temple of
Isis at Memphis, a vast structure, well worth seeing.
    It is said that the reign of Amasis was the most prosperous time
that Egypt ever saw,- the river was more liberal to the land, and
the land brought forth more abundantly for the service of man than had
ever been known before; while the number of inhabited cities was not
less than twenty thousand. It was this king Amasis who established the
law that every Egyptian should appear once a year before the
governor of his canton, and show his means of living; or, failing to
do so, and to prove that he got an honest livelihood, should be put to
death. Solon the Athenian borrowed this law from the Egyptians, and
imposed it on his countrymen, who have observed it ever since. It is
indeed an excellent custom.
    Amasis was partial to the Greeks, and among other favours which he
granted them, gave to such as liked to settle in Egypt the city of
Naucratis for their residence. To those who only wished to trade
upon the coast, and did not want to fix their abode in the country, he
granted certain lands where they might set up altars and erect temples
to the gods. Of these temples the grandest and most famous, which is
also the most frequented, is that called "the Hellenium." It was built
conjointly by the Ionians, Dorians, and Aeolians, the following cities
taking part in the work:- the Ionian states of Chios, Teos, Phocaea,
and Clazomenae; Rhodes, Cnidus, Halicarnassus, and Phaselis of the
Dorians; and Mytilene of the Aeolians. These are the states to whom
the temple belongs, and they have the right of appointing the
governors of the factory; the other cities which claim a share in
the building, claim what in no sense belongs to them. Three nations,
however, consecrated for themselves separate temples- the Eginetans
one to Jupiter, the Samians to Juno, and the Milesians to Apollo.
    In ancient times there was no factory but Naucratis in the whole
of Egypt; and if a person entered one of the other mouths of the Nile,
he was obliged to swear that he had not come there of his own free
will. Having so done, he was bound to sail in his ship to the
Canobic mouth, or were that impossible owing to contrary winds, he
must take his wares by boat all round the Delta, and so bring them
to Naucratis, which had an exclusive privilege.
    It happened in the reign of Amasis that the temple of Delphi had
been accidentally burnt, and the Amphictyons had contracted to have it
rebuilt for three hundred talents, of which sum one-fourth was to be
furnished by the Delphians. Under these circumstances the Delphians
went from city to city begging contributions, and among their other
wanderings came to Egypt and asked for help. From few other places did
they obtain so much- Amasis gave them a thousand talents of alum,
and the Greek settlers twenty minae.
    A league was concluded by Amasis with the Cyrenaeans, by which
Cyrene and Egypt became close friends and allies. He likewise took a
wife from that city, either as a sign of his friendly feeling, or
because he had a fancy to marry a Greek woman. However this may be,
certain it is that he espoused a lady of Cyrene, by name Ladice,
daughter, some say, of Battus or Arcesilaus, the king- others, of
Critobulus, one of the chief citizens. When the time came to
complete the contract, Amasis was struck with weakness. Astonished
hereat- for he was not wont to be so afflicted- the king thus
addressed his bride: "Woman, thou hast certainly bewitched me- now
therefore be sure thou shalt perish more miserably than ever woman
perished yet." Ladice protested her innocence, but in vain; Amasis was
not softened. Hereupon she made a vow internally, that if he recovered
within the day (for no longer time was allowed her), she would present
a statue to the temple of Venus at Cyrene. Immediately she obtained
her wish, and the king's weakness disappeared. Amasis loved her
greatly ever after, and Ladice performed her vow. The statue which she
caused to be made, and sent to Cyrene continued there to my day,
standing with its face looking outwards from the city. Ladice herself,
when Cambyses conquered Egypt, suffered no wrong; for Cambyses, on
learning of her who she was, sent her back unharmed to her country.
    Besides the marks of favour already mentioned, Amasis also
enriched with offerings many of the Greek temples. He sent to Cyrene a
statue of Minerva covered with plates of gold, and a painted
likeness of himself. To the Minerva of Lindus he gave two statues in
stone, and a linen corslet well worth inspection. To the Samian Juno
he presented two statues of himself, made in wood, which stood in
the great temple to my day, behind the doors. Samos was honoured
with these gifts on account of the bond of friendship subsisting
between Amasis and Polycrates, the son of Aeaces: Lindus, for no
such reason, but because of the tradition that the daughters of Danaus
touched there in their flight from the sons of Aegyptus, and built the
temple of Minerva. Such were the offerings of Amasis. He likewise took
Cyprus, which no man had ever done before, and compelled it to pay him
a tribute.
                      The Third Book, Entitled
                               THALIA

    The above-mentioned Amasis was the Egyptian king against whom
Cambyses, son of Cyrus, made his expedition; and with him went an army
composed of the many nations under his rule, among them being included
both Ionic and Aeolic Greeks. The reason of the invasion was the
following. Cambyses, by the advice of a certain Egyptian, who was
angry with Amasis for having torn him from his wife and children and
given him over to the Persians, had sent a herald to Amasis to ask his
daughter in marriage. His adviser was a physician, whom Amasis, when
Cyrus had requested that he would send him the most skilful of all the
Egyptian eye-doctors, singled out as the best from the whole number.
Therefore the Egyptian bore Amasis a grudge, and his reason for urging
Cambyses to ask the hand of the king's daughter was, that if he
complied, it might cause him annoyance; if he refused, it might make
Cambyses his enemy. When the message came, Amasis, who much dreaded
the power of the Persians, was greatly perplexed whether to give his
daughter or no; for that Cambyses did not intend to make her his wife,
but would only receive her as his concubine, he knew for certain. He
therefore cast the matter in his mind, and finally resolved what he
would do. There was a daughter of the late king Apries, named Nitetis,
a tall and beautiful woman, the last survivor of that royal house.
Amasis took this woman, and decking her out with gold and costly
garments, sent her to Persia as if she had been his own child. Some
time afterwards, Cambyses, as he gave her an embrace, happened to call
her by her father's name, whereupon she said to him, "I see, O king,
thou knowest not how thou has been cheated by Amasis; who took me,
and, tricking me out with gauds, sent me to thee as his own
daughter. But I am in truth the child of Apries, who was his lord
and master, until he rebelled against him, together with the rest of
the Egyptians, and put him to death." It was this speech, and the
cause of quarrel it disclosed, which roused the anger of Cambyses, son
of Cyrus, and brought his arms upon Egypt. Such is the Persian story.
    The Egyptians, however, claim Cambyses as belonging to them,
declaring that he was the son of this Nitetis. It was Cyrus, they say,
and not Cambyses, who sent to Amasis for his daughter. But here they
mis-state the truth. Acquainted as they are beyond all other men
with the laws and customs of the Persians, they cannot but be well
aware, first, that it is not the Persian wont to allow a bastard to
reign when there is a legitimate heir; and next, that Cambyses was the
son of Cassandane, the daughter of Pharnaspes, an Achaemenian, and not
of this Egyptian. But the fact is that they pervert history in order
to claim relationship with the house of Cyrus. Such is the truth of
this matter.
    I have also heard another account, which I do not at all
believe: that a Persian lady came to visit the wives of Cyrus, and
seeing how tall and beautiful were the children of Cassandane, then
standing by, broke out into loud praise of them, and admired them
exceedingly. But Cassandane, wife of Cyrus, answered, "Though such the
children I have borne him, yet Cyrus slights me and gives all his
regard to the new-comer from Egypt." Thus did she express her vexation
on account of Nitetis: whereupon Cambyses, the eldest of her boys,
exclaimed, "Mother, when I am a man, I will turn Egypt upside down for
you." He was but ten years old, as the tale runs, when he said this,
and astonished all the women, yet he never forgot it afterwards; and
on this account, they say, when he came to be a man, and mounted the
throne, he made his expedition against Egypt.
    There was another matter, quite distinct, which helped to bring
about the expedition. One of the mercenaries of Amasis, a
Halicarnassian, Phanes by name, a man of good judgment, and a brave
warrior, dissatisfied for some reason or other with his master,
deserted the service, and taking ship, fled to Cambyses, wishing to
get speech with him. As he was a person of no small account among
the mercenaries, and one who could give very exact intelligence
about Egypt, Amasis, anxious to recover him, ordered that he should be
pursued. He gave the matter in charge to one of the most trusty of the
eunuchs, who went in quest of the Halicarnassian in a vessel of war.
The eunuch caught him in Lycia, but did not contrive to bring him back
to Egypt, for Phanes outwitted him by making his guards drunk, and
then escaping into Persia. Now it happened that Cambyses was
meditating his attack on Egypt, and doubting how he might best pass
the desert, when Phanes arrived, and not only told him all the secrets
of Amasis, but advised him also how the desert might be crossed. He
counselled him to send an ambassador to the king of the Arabs, and ask
him for safe-conduct through the region.
    Now the only entrance into Egypt is by this desert: the country
from Phoenicia to the borders of the city Cadytis belongs to the
people called the Palaestine Syrians; from Cadytis, which it appears
to me is a city almost as large as Sardis, the marts upon the coast
till you reach Jenysus are the Arabian king's; after Jenysus the
Syrians again come in, and extend to Lake Serbonis, near the place
where Mount Casius juts out into the sea. At Lake Serbonis, where
the tale goes that Typhon hid himself, Egypt begins. Now the whole
tract between Jenysus on the one side, and Lake Serbonis and Mount
Casius on the other, and this is no small space, being as much as
three days' journey, is a dry desert without a drop of water.
    I shall now mention a thing of which few of those who sail to
Egypt are aware. Twice a year wine is brought into Egypt from every
part of Greece, as well as from Phoenicia, in earthen jars; and yet in
the whole country you will nowhere see, as I may say, a single jar.
What then, every one will ask, becomes of the jars? This, too, I
will clear up. The burgomaster of each town has to collect the
wine-jars within his district, and to carry them to Memphis, where
they are all filled with water by the Memphians, who then convey
them to this desert tract of Syria. And so it comes to pass that all
the jars which enter Egypt year by year, and are there put up to sale,
find their way into Syria, whither all the old jars have gone before
them.
    This way of keeping the passage into Egypt fit for use by
storing water there, was begun by the Persians so soon as they
became masters of that country. As, however, at the time of which we
speak the tract had not yet been so supplied, Cambyses took the advice
of his Halicarnassian guest, and sent messengers to the Arabian to beg
a safe-conduct through the region. The Arabian granted his prayer, and
each pledged faith to the other.
    The Arabs keep such pledges more religiously than almost any other
people. They plight faith with the forms following. When two men would
swear a friendship, they stand on each side of a third: he with a
sharp stone makes a cut on the inside of the hand of each near the
middle finger, and, taking a piece from their dress, dips it in the
blood of each, and moistens therewith seven stones lying in the midst,
calling the while on Bacchus and Urania. After this, the man who makes
the pledge commends the stranger (or the citizen, if citizen he be) to
all his friends, and they deem themselves bound to stand to the
engagement. They have but these two gods, to wit, Bacchus and
Urania; and they say that in their mode of cutting the hair, they
follow Bacchus. Now their practice is to cut it in a ring, away from
the temples. Bacchus they call in their language Orotal, and Urania,
Alilat.
    When therefore the Arabian had pledged his faith to the messengers
of Cambyses, he straightway contrived as follows:- he filled a
number of camels' skins with water, and loading therewith all the live
camels that he possessed, drove them into the desert, and awaited
the coming of the army. This is the more likely of the two tales
that are told. The other is an improbable story, but, as it is
related, I think that I ought not to pass it by. There is a great
river in Arabia, called the Corys, which empties itself into the
Erythraean sea. The Arabian king, they say, made a pipe of the skins
of oxen and other beasts, reaching from this river all the way to
the desert, and so brought the water to certain cisterns which he
had dug in the desert to receive it. It is a twelve days' journey from
the river to this desert tract. And the water, they say, was brought
through three different pipes to three separate places.
    Psammenitus, son of Amasis, lay encamped at the mouth of the.
Nile, called the Pelusiac, awaiting Cambyses. For Cambyses, when he
went up against Egypt, found Amasis no longer in life: he had died
after ruling Egypt forty and four years, during all which time no
great misfortune had befallen him. When he died, his body was
embalmed, and buried in the tomb which he had himself caused to be
made in the temple. After his son Psammenitus had mounted the
throne, a strange prodigy occurred in Egypt- rain fell at Egyptian
Thebes, a thing which never happened before, and which, to the present
time, has never happened again, as the Thebans themselves testify.
In Upper Egypt it does not usually rain at all; but on this
occasion, rain fell at Thebes in small drops.
    The Persians crossed the desert, and, pitching their camp close to
the Egyptians, made ready for battle. Hereupon the mercenaries in
the pay of Psammenitus, who were Greeks and Carians, full of anger
against Phanes for having brought a foreign army upon Egypt, bethought
themselves of a mode whereby they might be revenged on him. Phanes had
left sons in Egypt. The mercenaries took these, and leading them to
the camp, displayed them before the eyes of their father; after
which they brought out a bowl, and, placing it in the space between
the two hosts, they led the sons of Phanes, one by one, to the vessel,
and slew them over it. When the last was dead, water and wine were
poured into the bowl, and all the soldiers tasted of the blood, and so
they went to the battle. Stubborn was the fight which followed, and it
was not till vast numbers had been slain upon both sides, that the
Egyptians turned and fled.
    On the field where this battle was fought I saw a very wonderful
thing which the natives pointed out to me. The bones of the slain
lie scattered upon the field in two lots, those of the Persians in one
place by themselves, as the bodies lay at the first- those of the
Egyptians in another place apart from them. If, then, you strike the
Persian skulls, even with a pebble, they are so weak, that you break a
hole in them; but the Egyptian skulls are so strong, that you may
smite them with a stone and you will scarcely break them in. They gave
me the following reason for this difference, which seemed to me likely
enough:- The Egyptians (they said) from early childhood have the
head shaved, and so by the action of the sun the skull becomes thick
and hard. The same cause prevents baldness in Egypt, where you see
fewer bald men than in any other land. Such, then, is the reason why
the skulls of the Egyptians are so strong. The Persians, on the
other hand, have feeble skulls, because they keep themselves shaded
from the first, wearing turbans upon their heads. What I have here
mentioned I saw with my own eyes, and I observed also the like at
Papremis, in the case of the Persians who were killed with
Achaeamenes, the son of Darius, by Inarus the Libyan.
    The Egyptians who fought in the battle, no sooner turned their
backs upon the enemy, than they fled away in complete disorder to
Memphis, where they shut themselves up within the walls. Hereupon
Cambyses sent a Mytilenaean vessel, with a Persian herald on board,
who was to sail up the Nile to Memphis, and invite the Egyptians to
a surrender. They, however, when they saw the vessel entering the
town, poured forth in crowds from the castle, destroyed the ship, and,
tearing the crew limb from limb, so bore them into the fortress. After
this Memphis was besieged, and in due time surrendered. Hereon the
Libyans who bordered upon Egypt, fearing the fate of that country,
gave themselves up to Cambyses without a battle, made an agreement
to pay tribute to him, and forthwith sent him gifts. The Cyrenaeans
too, and the Barcaeans, having the same fear as the Libyans,
immediately did the like. Cambyses received the Libyan presents very
graciously, but not so the gifts of the Cyrenaeans. They had sent no
more than five hundred minx of silver, which Cambyses, I imagine,
thought too little. He therefore snatched the money from them, and
with his own hands scattered it among his soldiers.
    Ten days after the fort had fallen, Cambyses resolved to try the
spirit of Psammenitus, the Egyptian king, whose whole reign had been
but six months. He therefore had him set in one of the suburbs, and
many other Egyptians with him, and there subjected him to insult.
First of all he sent his daughter out from the city, clothed in the
garb of a slave, with a pitcher to draw water. Many virgins, the
daughters of the chief nobles, accompanied her, wearing the same
dress. When the damsels came opposite the place where their fathers
sate, shedding tears and uttering cries of woe, the fathers, all but
Psammenitus, wept and wailed in return, grieving to see their children
in so sad a plight; but he, when he had looked and seen, bent his head
towards the ground. In this way passed by the water-carriers. Next
to them came Psammenitus' son, and two thousand Egyptians of the
same age with him- all of them having ropes round their necks and
bridles in their mouths- and they too passed by on their way to suffer
death for the murder of the Mytilenaeans who were destroyed, with
their vessel, in Memphis. For so had the royal judges given their
sentence for each Mytilenaean ten of the noblest Egyptians must
forfeit life." King Psammenitus saw the train pass on, and knew his
son was being led to death, but while the other Egyptians who sate
around him wept and were sorely troubled, he showed no further sign
than when he saw his daughter. And now, when they too were gone, it
chanced that one of his former boon-companions, a man advanced in
years, who had been stripped of all that he had and was a beggar, came
where Psammenitus, son of Amasis, and the rest of the Egyptians
were, asking alms from the soldiers. At this sight the king burst into
tears, and weeping out aloud, called his friend by his name, and smote
himself on the head. Now there were some who had been set to watch
Psammenitus and see what he would do as each train went by; so these
persons went and told Cambyses of his behaviour. Then he, astonished
at what was done, sent a messenger to Psammenitus, and questioned him,
saying, "Psammenitus, thy lord Cambyses asketh thee why, when thou
sawest thy daughter brought to shame, and thy son on his way to death,
thou didst neither utter cry nor shed tear, while to a beggar, who is,
he hears, a stranger to thy race, thou gavest those marks of
honour." To this question Psammenitus made answer, "O son of Cyrus, my
own misfortunes were too great for tears; but the woe of my friend
deserved them. When a man falls from splendour and plenty into beggary
at the threshold of old age, one may well weep for him." When the
messenger brought back this answer, Cambyses owned it was just;
Croesus, likewise, the Egyptians say, burst into tears- for he too had
come into Egypt with Cambyses- and the Persians who were present wept.
Even Cambyses himself was touched with pity, and he forthwith gave
an order that the son of Psammenitus should be spared from the
number of those appointed to die, and Psammenitus himself brought from
the suburb into his presence.
    The messengers were too late to save the life of Psammenitus' son,
who had been cut in pieces the first of all; but they took Psammenitus
himself and brought him before the king. Cambyses allowed him to
live with him, and gave him no more harsh treatment; nay, could he
have kept from intermeddling with affairs, he might have recovered
Egypt, and ruled it as governor. For the Persian wont is to treat
the sons of kings with honour, and even to give their fathers'
kingdoms to the children of such as revolt from them. There are many
cases from which one may collect that this is the Persian rule, and
especially those of Pausiris and Thannyras. Thannyras was son of
Inarus the Libyan, and was allowed to succeed his father, as was
also Pausiris, son of Amyrtaeus; yet certainly no two persons ever did
the Persians more damage than Amyrtaeus and Inarus. In this case
Psammenitus plotted evil, and received his reward accordingly. He
was discovered to be stirring up revolt in Egypt, wherefore
Cambyses, when his guilt clearly appeared, compelled him to drink
bull's blood, which presently caused his death. Such was the end of
Psammenitus.
    After this Cambyses left Memphis, and went to Sais, wishing to
do that which he actually did on his arrival there. He entered the
palace of Amasis, and straightway commanded that the body of the
king should be brought forth from the sepulchre. When the attendants
did according to his commandment, he further bade them scourge the
body, and prick it with goads, and pluck the hair from it, and heap
upon it all manner of insults. The body, however, having been
embalmed, resisted, and refused to come apart, do what they would to
it; so the attendants grew weary of their work; whereupon Cambyses
bade them take the corpse and burn it. This was truly an impious
command to give, for the Persians hold fire to be a god, and never
by any chance burn their dead. Indeed this practice is unlawful,
both with them and with the Egyptians- with them for the reason
above mentioned, since they deem it wrong to give the corpse of a
man to a god; and with the Egyptians, because they believe fire to
be a live animal, which eats whatever it can seize, and then,
glutted with the food, dies with the matter which it feeds upon. Now
to give a man's body to be devoured by beasts is in no wise
agreeable to their customs, and indeed this is the very reason why
they embalm their dead; namely, to prevent them from being eaten in
the grave by worms. Thus Cambyses commanded what both nations
accounted unlawful. According to the Egyptians, it was not Amasis
who was thus treated, but another of their nation who was of about the
same height. The Persians, believing this man's body to be the king's,
abused it in the fashion described above. Amasis, they say, was warned
by an oracle of what would happen to him after his death: in order,
therefore, to prevent the impending fate, he buried the body, which
afterwards received the blows, inside his own tomb near the
entrance, commanding his son to bury him, when he died, in the
furthest recess of the same sepulchre. For my own part I do not
believe that these orders were ever given by Amasis; the Egyptians, as
it seems to me, falsely assert it, to save their own dignity.
    After this Cambyses took counsel with himself, and planned three
expeditions. One was against the Carthaginians, another against the
Ammonians, and a third against the long-lived Ethiopians, who dwelt in
that part of Libya which borders upon the southern sea. He judged it
best to despatch his fleet against Carthage and to send some portion
of his land army to act against the Ammonians, while his spies went
into Ethiopia, under the pretence of carrying presents to the king,
but in reality to take note of all they saw, and especially to observe
whether there was really what is called "the table of the Sun" in
Ethiopia.
    Now the table of the Sun according to the accounts given of it may
be thus described:- It is a meadow in the skirts of their city full of
the boiled flesh of all manner of beasts, which the magistrates are
careful to store with meat every night, and where whoever likes may
come and eat during the day. The people of the land say that the earth
itself brings forth the food. Such is the description which is given
of this table.
    When Cambyses had made up his mind that the spies should go, he
forthwith sent to Elephantine for certain of the Icthyophagi who
were acquainted with the Ethiopian tongue; and, while they were
being fetched, issued orders to his fleet to sail against Carthage.
But the Phoenicians said they would not go, since they were bound to
the Carthaginians by solemn oaths, and since besides it would be
wicked in them to make war on their own children. Now when the
Phoenicians refused, the rest of the fleet was unequal to the
undertaking; and so it was that the Carthaginians escaped, and were
not enslaved by the Persians. Cambyses thought it not right to force
the war upon the Phoenicians, because they had yielded themselves to
the Persians, and because upon the Phoenicians all his sea-service
depended. The Cyprians had also joined the Persians of their own
accord, and took part with them in the expedition against Egypt.
    As soon as the Icthyophagi arrived from Elephantine, Cambyses,
having told them what they were to say, forthwith despatched them into
Ethiopia with these following gifts: to wit, a purple robe, a gold
chain for the neck, armlets, an alabaster box of myrrh, and a cask
of palm wine. The Ethiopians to whom this embassy was sent are said to
be the tallest and handsomest men in the whole world. In their customs
they differ greatly from the rest of mankind, and particularly in
the way they choose their kings; for they find out the man who is
the tallest of all the citizens, and of strength equal to his
height, and appoint him to rule over them.
    The Icthyophagi on reaching this people, delivered the gifts to
the king of the country, and spoke as follows:- "Cambyses, king of the
Persians, anxious to become thy ally and sworn friend, has sent us
to hold converse with thee, and to bear thee the gifts thou seest,
which are the things wherein he himself delights the most." Hereon the
Ethiopian, who knew they came as spies, made answer:- "The king of the
Persians sent you not with these gifts because he much desired to
become my sworn friend- nor is the account which ye give of yourselves
true, for ye are come to search out my kingdom. Also your king is
not a just man- for were he so, he had not coveted a land which is not
his own, nor brought slavery on a people who never did him any
wrong. Bear him this bow, and say- 'The king of the Ethiops thus
advises the king of the Persians when the Persians can pull a bow of
this strength thus easily, then let him come with an army of
superior strength against the long-lived Ethiopians- till then, let
him thank the gods that they have not put it into the heart of the
sons of the Ethiops to covet countries which do not belong to them.'
    So speaking, he unstrung the bow, and gave it into the hands of
the messengers. Then, taking the purple robe, he asked them what it
was, and how it had been made. They answered truly, telling him
concerning the purple, and the art of the dyer- whereat he observed
"that the men were deceitful, and their garments also." Next he took
the neck-chain and the armlets, and asked about them. So the
Icthyophagi explained their use as ornaments. Then the king laughed,
and fancying they were fetters, said, "the Ethiopians had much
stronger ones." Thirdly, he inquired about the myrrh, and when they
told him how it was made and rubbed upon the limbs, he said the same
as he had said about the robe. Last of all he came to the wine, and
having learnt their way of making it, he drank a draught, which
greatly delighted him; whereupon he asked what the Persian king was
wont to eat, and to what age the longest-lived of the Persians had
been known to attain. They told him that the king ate bread, and
described the nature of wheat- adding that eighty years was the
longest term of man's life among the Persians. Hereat he remarked, "It
did not surprise him, if they fed on dirt, that they died so soon;
indeed he was sure they never would have lived so long as eighty
years, except for the refreshment they got from that drink (meaning
the wine), wherein he confessed the Persians surpassed the
Ethiopians."
    The Icthyophagi then in their turn questioned the king
concerning the term of life, and diet of his people, and were told
that most of them lived to be a hundred and twenty years old, while
some even went beyond that age- they ate boiled flesh, and had for
their drink nothing but milk. When the Icthyophagi showed wonder at
the number of the years, he led them to a fountain, wherein when
they had washed, they found their flesh all glossy and sleek, as if
they had bathed in oil- and a scent came from the spring like that
of violets. The water was so weak, they said, that nothing would float
in it, neither wood, nor any lighter substance, but all went to the
bottom. If the account of this fountain be true, it would be their
constant use of the water from it which makes them so long-lived. When
they quitted the fountain the king led them to a prison, where the
prisoners were all of them bound with fetters of gold. Among these
Ethiopians copper is of all metals the most scarce and valuable. After
they had seen the prison, they were likewise shown what is called "the
table of the Sun."
    Also, last of all, they were allowed to behold the coffins of
the Ethiopians, which are made (according to report) of crystal, after
the following fashion:- When the dead body has been dried, either in
the Egyptian, or in some other manner, they cover the whole with
gypsum, and adorn it with painting until it is as like the living
man as possible. Then they place the body in a crystal pillar which
has been hollowed out to receive it, crystal being dug up in great
abundance in their country, and of a kind very easy to work. You may
see the corpse through the pillar within which it lies; and it neither
gives out any unpleasant odour, nor is it in any respect unseemly; yet
there is no part that is not as plainly visible as if the body were
bare. The next of kin keep the crystal pillar in their houses for a
full year from the time of the death, and give it the first fruits
continually, and honour it with sacrifice. After the year is out
they bear the pillar forth, and set it up near the town.
    When the spies had now seen everything, they returned back to
Egypt, and made report to Cambyses, who was stirred to anger by
their words. Forthwith he set out on his march against the
Ethiopians without having made any provision for the sustenance of his
army, or reflected that he was about to wage war in the uttermost
parts of the earth. Like a senseless madman as he was, no sooner did
he receive the report of the Icthyophagi than he began his march,
bidding the Greeks who were with his army remain where they were,
and taking only his land force with him. At Thebes, which he passed
through on his way, he detached from his main body some fifty thousand
men, and sent them against the Ammonians with orders to carry the
people into captivity, and burn the oracle of Jupiter. Meanwhile he
himself went on with the rest of his forces against the Ethiopians.
Before, however, he had accomplished one-fifth part of the distance,
all that the army had in the way of provisions failed; whereupon the
men began to eat the sumpter beasts, which shortly failed also. If
then, at this time, Cambyses, seeing what was happening, had confessed
himself in the wrong, and led his army back, he would have done the
wisest thing that he could after the mistake made at the outset; but
as it was, he took no manner of heed, but continued to march forwards.
So long as the earth gave them anything, the soldiers sustained life
by eating the grass and herbs; but when they came to the bare sand,
a portion of them were guilty of a horrid deed: by tens they cast lots
for a man, who was slain to be the food of the others. When Cambyses
heard of these doings, alarmed at such cannibalism, he gave up his
attack on Ethiopia, and retreating by the way he had come, reached
Thebes, after he had lost vast numbers of his soldiers. From Thebes he
marched down to Memphis, where he dismissed the Greeks, allowing
them to sail home. And so ended the expedition against Ethiopia.
    The men sent to attack the Ammonians, started from Thebes,
having guides with them, and may be clearly traced as far as the
city Oasis, which is inhabited by Samians, said to be of the tribe
Aeschrionia. The place is distant from Thebes seven days' journey
across the sand, and is called in our tongue "the Island of the
Blessed." Thus far the army is known to have made its way; but
thenceforth nothing is to be heard of them, except what the Ammonians,
and those who get their knowledge from them, report. It is certain
they neither reached the Ammonians, nor even came back to Egypt.
Further than this, the Ammonians relate as follows:- That the Persians
set forth from Oasis across the sand, and had reached about half way
between that place and themselves when, as they were at their midday
meal, a wind arose from the south, strong and deadly, bringing with it
vast columns of whirling sand, which entirely covered up the troops
and caused them wholly to disappear. Thus, according to the Ammonians,
did it fare with this army.
    About the time when Cambyses arrived at Memphis, Apis appeared
to the Egyptians. Now Apis is the god whom the Greeks call Epaphus. As
soon as he appeared, straightway all the Egyptians arrayed
themselves in their gayest garments, and fell to feasting and jollity:
which when Cambyses saw, making sure that these rejoicings were on
account of his own ill success, he called before him the officers
who had charge of Memphis, and demanded of them- "Why, when he was
in Memphis before, the Egyptians had done nothing of this kind, but
waited until now, when he had returned with the loss of so many of his
troops?" The officers made answer, "That one of their gods had
appeared to them, a god who at long intervals of time had been
accustomed to show himself in Egypt- and that always on his appearance
the whole of Egypt feasted and kept jubilee." When Cambyses heard
this, he told them that they lied, and as liars he condemned them
all to suffer death.
    When they were dead, he called the priests to his presence, and
questioning them received the same answer; whereupon he observed,
"That he would soon know whether a tame god had really come to dwell
in Egypt"- and straightway, without another word, he bade them bring
Apis to him. So they went out from his presence to fetch the god.
Now this Apis, or Epaphus, is the calf of a cow which is never
afterwards able to bear young. The Egyptians say that fire comes
down from heaven upon the cow, which thereupon conceives Apis. The
calf which is so called has the following marks:- He is black, with
a square spot of white upon his forehead, and on his back the figure
of an eagle; the hairs in his tail are double, and there is a beetle
upon his tongue.
    When the priests returned bringing Apis with them, Cambyses,
like the harebrained person that he was, drew his dagger, and aimed at
the belly of the animal, but missed his mark, and stabbed him in the
thigh. Then he laughed, and said thus to the priests:- "Oh!
blockheads, and think ye that gods become like this, of flesh and
blood, and sensible to steel? A fit god indeed for Egyptians, such
an one! But it shall cost you dear that you have made me your
laughing-stock." When he had so spoken, he ordered those whose
business it was to scourge the priests, and if they found any of the
Egyptians keeping festival to put them to death. Thus was the feast
stopped throughout the land of Egypt, and the priests suffered
punishment. Apis, wounded in the thigh, lay some time pining in the
temple; at last he died of his wound, and the priests buried him
secretly without the knowledge of Cambyses.
    And now Cambyses, who even before had not been quite in his
right mind, was forthwith, as the Egyptians say, smitten with
madness for this crime. The first of his outrages was the slaying of
Smerdis, his full brother, whom he had sent back to Persia from
Egypt out of envy, because he drew the bow brought from the Ethiopians
by the Icthyophagi (which none of the other Persians were able to
bend) the distance of two fingers' breadth. When Smerdis was
departed into Persia, Cambyses had a vision in his sleep- he thought a
messenger from Persia came to him with tidings that Smerdis sat upon
the royal throne and with his head touched the heavens. Fearing
therefore for himself, and thinking it likely that his brother would
kill him and rule in his stead, Cambyses sent into Persia Prexaspes,
whom he trusted beyond all the other Persians, bidding him put Smerdis
to death. So this Prexaspes went up to Susa and slew Smerdis. Some say
he killed him as they hunted together, others, that he took him down
to the Erythraean Sea, and there drowned him.
    This, it is said, was the first outrage which Cambyses
committed. The second was the slaying of his sister, who had
accompanied him into Egypt, and lived with him as his wife, though she
was his full sister, the daughter both of his father and his mother.
The way wherein he had made her his wife was the following:-It was not
the custom of the Persians, before his time, to marry their sisters,
but Cambyses, happening to fall in love with one of his and wishing to
take her to wife, as he knew that it was an uncommon thing, called
together the royal judges, and put it to them, "whether there was
any law which allowed a brother, if he wished, to marry his sister?"
Now the royal judges are certain picked men among the Persians, who
hold their office for life, or until they are found guilty of some
misconduct. By them justice is administered in Persia, and they are
the interpreters of the old laws, all disputes being referred to their
decision. When Cambyses, therefore, put his question to these
judges, they gave him an answer which was at once true and safe- "they
did not find any law," they said, "allowing a brother to take his
sister to wife, but they found a law, that the king of the Persians
might do whatever he pleased." And so they neither warped the law
through fear of Cambyses, nor ruined themselves by over stiffly
maintaining the law; but they brought another quite distinct law to
the king's help, which allowed him to have his wish. Cambyses,
therefore, married the object of his love, and no long time afterwards
he took to wife another sister. It was the younger of these who went
with him into Egypt, and there suffered death at his hands.
    Concerning the manner of her death, as concerning that of Smerdis,
two different accounts are given. The story which the Greeks tell is
that Cambyses had set a young dog to fight the cub of a lioness- his
wife looking on at the time. Now the dog was getting the worse, when a
pup of the same litter broke his chain, and came to his brother's aid-
then the two dogs together fought the lion, and conquered him. The
thing greatly pleased Cambyses, but his sister who was sitting by shed
tears. When Cambyses saw this, he asked her why she wept: whereon
she told him, that seeing the young dog come to his brother's aid made
her think of Smerdis, whom there was none to help. For this speech,
the Greeks say, Cambyses put her to death. But the Egyptians tell
the story thus:- The two were sitting at table, when the sister took a
lettuce, and stripping the leaves off, asked her brother "when he
thought the lettuce looked the prettiest- when it had all its leaves
on, or now that it was stripped?" He answered, "When the leaves were
on." "But thou," she rejoined, "hast done as I did to the lettuce, and
made bare the house of Cyrus." Then Cambyses was wroth, and sprang
fiercely upon her, though she was with child at the time. And so it
came to pass that she miscarried and died.
    Thus mad was Cambyses upon his own kindred, and this either from
his usage of Apis, or from some other among the many causes from which
calamities are wont to arise. They say that from his birth he was
afflicted with a dreadful disease, the disorder which some call "the
sacred sickness." It would be by no means strange, therefore, if his
mind were affected in some degree, seeing that his body laboured under
so sore a malady.
    He was mad also upon others besides his kindred; among the rest,
upon Prexaspes, the man whom he esteemed beyond all the rest of the
Persians, who carried his messages, and whose son held the office-
an honour of no small account in Persia- of his cupbearer. Him
Cambyses is said to have once addressed as follows:- "What sort of
man, Prexaspes, do the Persians think me? What do they say of me?"
Prexaspes answered, "Oh! sire, they praise thee greatly in all
things but one- they say thou art too much given to love of wine."
Such Prexaspes told him was the judgment of the Persians; whereupon
Cambyses, full of rage, made answer, "What? they say now that I
drink too much wine, and so have lost my senses, and am gone out of my
mind! Then their former speeches about me were untrue." For once, when
the Persians were sitting with him, and Croesus was by, he had asked
them, "What sort of man they thought him compared to his father
Cyrus?" Hereon they had answered, "That he surpassed his father, for
he was lord of all that his father ever ruled, and further had made
himself master of Egypt, and the sea." Then Croesus, who was
standing near, and misliked the comparison, spoke thus to Cambyses:
"In my judgment, O son of Cyrus, thou art not equal to thy father, for
thou hast not yet left behind thee such a son as he." Cambyses was
delighted when he heard this reply, and praised the judgment of
Croesus.
    Recollecting these answers, Cambyses spoke fiercely to
Prexaspes, saying, "Judge now thyself, Prexaspes, whether the Persians
tell the truth, or whether it is not they who are mad for speaking
as they do. Look there now at thy son standing in the vestibule- if
I shoot and hit him right in the middle of the heart, it will be plain
the Persians have no grounds for what they say: if I miss him, then
I allow that the Persians are right, and that I am out of my mind." So
speaking he drew his bow to the full, and struck the boy, who
straightway fell down dead. Then Cambyses ordered the body to be
opened, and the wound examined; and when the arrow was found to have
entered the heart, the king was quite overjoyed, and said to the
father with a laugh, "Now thou seest plainly, Prexaspes, that it is
not I who am mad, but the Persians who have lost their senses. I
pray thee tell me, sawest thou ever mortal man send an arrow with a
better aim?" Prexaspes, seeing that the king was not in his right
mind, and fearing for himself, replied, "Oh! my lord, I do not think
that God himself could shoot so dexterously." Such was the outrage
which Cambyses committed at this time: at another, he took twelve of
the noblest Persians, and, without bringing any charge worthy of death
against them, buried them all up to the neck.
    Hereupon Croesus the Lydian thought it right to admonish Cambyses,
which he did in these words following:- "Oh! king, allow not thyself
to give way entirely to thy youth, and the heat of thy temper, but
check and control thyself. It is well to look to consequences, and
in forethought is true wisdom. Thou layest hold of men, who are thy
fellow-citizens, and, without cause of complaint, slayest them- thou
even puttest children to death- bethink thee now, if thou shalt
often do things like these, will not the Persians rise in revolt
against thee? It is by thy father's wish that I offer thee advice;
he charged me strictly to give thee such counsel as I might see to
be most for thy good." In thus advising Cambyses, Croesus meant
nothing but what was friendly. But Cambyses answered him, "Dost thou
presume to offer me advice? Right well thou ruledst thy own country
when thou wert a king, and right sage advice thou gavest my father
Cyrus, bidding him cross the Araxes and fight the Massagetae in
their own land, when they were willing to have passed over into
ours. By thy misdirection of thine own affairs thou broughtest ruin
upon thyself, and by thy bad counsel, which he followed, thou
broughtest ruin upon Cyrus, my father. But thou shalt not escape
punishment now, for I have long been seeking to find some occasion
against thee." As he thus spoke, Cambyses took up his bow to shoot
at Croesus; but Croesus ran hastily out, and escaped. So when Cambyses
found that he could not kill him with his bow, he bade his servants
seize him, and put him to death. The servants, however, who knew their
master's humour, thought it best to hide Croesus; that so, if Cambyses
relented, and asked for him, they might bring him out, and get a
reward for having saved his life- if, on the other hand, he did not
relent, or regret the loss, they might then despatch him. Not long
afterwards, Cambyses did in fact regret the loss of Croesus, and the
servants, perceiving it, let him know that he was still alive. "I am
glad," said he, "that Croesus lives, but as for you who saved him,
ye shall not escape my vengeance, but shall all of you be put to
death." And he did even as he had said.
    Many other wild outrages of this sort did Cambyses commit, both
upon the Persians and the allies, while he still stayed at Memphis;
among the rest he opened the ancient sepulchres, and examined the
bodies that were buried in them. He likewise went into the temple of
Vulcan, and made great sport of the image. For the image of Vulcan
is very like the Pataeci of the Phoenicians, wherewith they ornament
the prows of their ships of war. If persons have not seen these, I
will explain in a different way- it is a figure resembling that of a
pigmy. He went also into the temple of the Cabiri, which it is
unlawful for any one to enter except the priests, and not only made
sport of the images, but even burnt them. They are made like the
statue of Vulcan, who is said to have been their father.
    Thus it appears certain to me, by a great variety of proofs,
that Cambyses was raving mad; he would not else have set himself to
make a mock of holy rites and long-established usages. For if one were
to offer men to choose out of all the customs in the world such as
seemed to them the best, they would examine the whole number, and
end by preferring their own; so convinced are they that their own
usages far surpass those of all others. Unless, therefore, a man was
mad, it is not likely that he would make sport of such matters. That
people have this feeling about their laws may be seen by very many
proofs: among others, by the following. Darius, after he had got the
kingdom, called into his presence certain Greeks who were at hand, and
asked- "What he should pay them to eat the bodies of their fathers
when they died?" To which they answered, that there was no sum that
would tempt them to do such a thing. He then sent for certain Indians,
of the race called Callatians, men who eat their fathers, and asked
them, while the Greeks stood by, and knew by the help of an
interpreter all that was said - "What he should give them to burn
the bodies of their fathers at their decease?" The Indians exclaimed
aloud, and bade him forbear such language. Such is men's wont
herein; and Pindar was right, in my judgment, when he said, "Law is
the king o'er all."
    While Cambyses was carrying on this war in Egypt, the
Lacedaemonians likewise sent a force to Samos against Polycrates,
the son of Aeaces, who had by insurrection made himself master of that
island. At the outset he divided the state into three parts, and
shared the kingdom with his brothers, Pantagnotus and Syloson; but
later, having killed the former and banished the latter, who was the
younger of the two, he held the whole island. Hereupon he made a
contract of friendship with Amasis the Egyptian king, sending him
gifts, and receiving from him others in return. In a little while
his power so greatly increased, that the fame of it went abroad
throughout Ionia and the rest of Greece. Wherever he turned his
arms, success waited on him. He had a fleet of a hundred penteconters,
and bowmen to the number of a thousand. Herewith he plundered all,
without distinction of friend or foe; for he argued that a friend
was better pleased if you gave him back what you had taken from him,
than if you spared him at the first. He captured many of the
islands, and several towns upon the mainland. Among his other doings
he overcame the Lesbians in a sea-fight, when they came with all their
forces to the help of Miletus, and made a number of them prisoners.
These persons, laden with fetters, dug the moat which surrounds the
castle at Samos.
    The exceeding good fortune of Polycrates did not escape the notice
of Amasis, who was much disturbed thereat. When therefore his
successes continued increasing, Amasis wrote him the following letter,
and sent it to Samos. "Amasis to Polycrates thus sayeth: It is a
pleasure to hear of a friend and ally prospering, but thy exceeding
prosperity does not cause me joy, forasmuch as I know that the gods
are envious. My wish for myself and for those whom I love is to be now
successful, and now to meet with a check; thus passing through life
amid alternate good and ill, rather than with perpetual good
fortune. For never yet did I hear tell of any one succeeding in all
his undertakings, who did not meet with calamity at last, and come
to utter ruin. Now, therefore, give ear to my words, and meet thy good
luck in this way: bethink thee which of all thy treasures thou valuest
most and canst least bear to part with; take it, whatsoever it be, and
throw it away, so that it may be sure never to come any more into
the sight of man. Then, if thy good fortune be not thenceforth
chequered with ill, save thyself from harm by again doing as I have
counselled."
    When Polycrates read this letter, and perceived that the advice of
Amasis was good, he considered carefully with himself which of the
treasures that he had in store it would grieve him most to lose. After
much thought he made up his mind that it was a signet-ring which he
was wont to wear, an emerald set in gold, the workmanship of Theodore,
son of Telecles, a Samian. So he determined to throw this away; and,
manning a penteconter, he went on board, and bade the sailors put
out into the open sea. When he was now a long way from the island,
he took the ring from his finger, and, in the sight of all those who
were on board, flung it into the deep. This done, he returned home,
and gave vent to his sorrow.
    Now it happened five or six days afterwards that a fisherman
caught a fish so large and beautiful that he thought it well
deserved to be made a present of to the king. So he took it with him
to the gate of the palace, and said that he wanted to see
Polycrates. Then Polycrates allowed him to come in, and the
fisherman gave him the fish with these words following- "Sir king,
when I took this prize, I thought I would not carry it to market,
though I am a poor man who live by my trade. I said to myself, it is
worthy of Polycrates and his greatness; and so I brought it here to
give it to you." The speech pleased the king, who thus spoke in
reply:- "Thou didst right well, friend, and I am doubly indebted, both
for the gift, and for the speech. Come now, and sup with me." So the
fisherman went home, esteeming it a high honour that he had been asked
to sup with the king. Meanwhile the servants, on cutting open the
fish, found the signet of their master in its belly. No sooner did
they see it than they seized upon it, and hastening to Polycrates with
great joy, restored it to him, and told him in what way it had been
found. The king, who saw something providential in the matter,
forthwith wrote a letter to Amasis, telling him all that had happened,
what he had himself done, and what had been the upshot- and despatched
the letter to Egypt.
    When Amasis had read the letter of Polycrates, he perceived that
it does not belong to man to save his fellow-man from the fate which
is in store for him; likewise he felt certain that Polycrates would
end ill, as he prospered in everything, even finding what he had
thrown away. So he sent a herald to Samos, and dissolved the
contract of friendship. This he did, that when the great and heavy
misfortune came, he might escape the grief which he would have felt if
the sufferer had been his bond-friend.
    It was with this Polycrates, so fortunate in every undertaking,
that the Lacedaemonians now went to war. Certain Samians, the same who
afterwards founded the city of Cydonia in Crete, had earnestly
intreated their help. For Polycrates, at the time when Cambyses, son
of Cyrus, was gathering together an armament against Egypt, had sent
to beg him not to omit to ask aid from Samos; whereupon Cambyses
with much readiness despatched a messenger to the island, and made
request that Polycrates would give some ships to the naval force which
he was collecting against Egypt. Polycrates straightway picked out
from among the citizens such as he thought most likely to stir
revolt against him, and manned with them forty triremes, which he sent
to Cambyses, bidding him keep the men safe, and never allow them to
return home.
    Now some accounts say that these Samians did not reach Egypt;
for that when they were off Carpathus, they took counsel together
and resolved to sail no further. But others maintain that they did
go to Egypt, and, finding themselves watched, deserted, and sailed
back to Samos. There Polycrates went out against them with his
fleet, and a battle was fought and gained by the exiles; after which
they disembarked upon the island and engaged the land forces of
Polycrates, but were defeated, and so sailed off to Lacedaemon. Some
relate that the Samians from Egypt overcame Polycrates, but it seems
to me untruly; for had the Samians been strong enough to conquer
Polycrates by themselves, they would not have needed to call in the
aid of the Lacedaemonians. And moreover, it is not likely that a
king who had in his pay so large a body of foreign mercenaries, and
maintained likewise such a force of native bowmen, would have been
worsted by an army so small as that of the returned Samians. As for
his own subjects, to hinder them from betraying him and joining the
exiles, Polycrates shut up their wives and children in the sheds built
to shelter his ships, and was ready to burn sheds and all in case of
need.
    When the banished Samians reached Sparta, they had audience of the
magistrates, before whom they made a long speech, as was natural
with persons greatly in want of aid. Accordingly at this first sitting
the Spartans answered them that they had forgotten the first half of
their speech, and could make nothing of the remainder. Afterwards
the Samians had another audience, whereat they simply said, showing
a bag which they had brought with them, "The bag wants flour." The
Spartans answered that they did not need to have said "the bag";
however, they resolved to give them aid.
    Then the Lacedaemonians made ready and set forth to the attack
of Samos, from a motive of gratitude, if we may believe the Samians,
because the Samians had once sent ships to their aid against the
Messenians; but as the Spartans themselves say, not so much from any
wish to assist the Samians who begged their help, as from a desire
to punish the people who had seized the bowl which they sent to
Croesus, and the corselet which Amasis, king of Egypt, sent as a
present to them. The Samians made prize of this corselet the year
before they took the bowl- it was of linen, and had a vast number of
figures of animals inwoven into its fabric, and was likewise
embroidered with gold and tree-wool. What is most worthy of admiration
in it is that each of the twists, although of fine texture, contains
within it three hundred and sixty threads, all of them clearly
visible. The corselet which Amasis gave to the temple of Minerva in
Lindus is just such another.
    The Corinthians likewise right willingly lent a helping hand
towards the expedition against Samos; for a generation earlier,
about the time of the seizure of the wine-bowl, they too had
suffered insult at the hands of the Samians. It happened that
Periander, son of Cypselus, had taken three hundred boys, children
of the chief nobles among the Corcyraeans, and sent them to Alyattes
for eunuchs; the men who had them in charge touched at Samos on
their way to Sardis; whereupon the Samians, having found out what
was to become of the boys when they reached that city, first
prompted them to take sanctuary at the temple of Diana; and after
this, when the Corinthians, as they were forbidden to tear the
suppliants from the holy place, sought to cut off from them all
supplies of food, invented a festival in their behalf, which they
celebrate to this day with the selfsame rites. Each evening, as
night closed in, during the whole time that the boys continued
there, choirs of youths and virgins were placed about the temple,
carrying in their hands cakes made of sesame and honey, in order
that the Corcyraean boys might snatch the cakes, and so get enough
to live upon.
    And this went on for so long, that at last the Corinthians who had
charge of the boys gave them up, and took their departure, upon
which the Samians conveyed them back to Corcyra. If now, after the
death of Periander, the Corinthians and Corcyraeans had been good
friends, it is not to be imagined that the former would ever have
taken part in the expedition against Samos for such a reason as
this; but as, in fact, the two people have always, ever since the
first settlement of the island, been enemies to one another, this
outrage was remembered, and the Corinthians bore the Samians a
grudge for it. Periander had chosen the youths from among the first
families in Corcyra, and sent them a present to Alyattes, to avenge
a wrong which he had received. For it was the Corcyraeans who began
the quarrel and injured Periander by an outrage of a horrid nature.
    After Periander had put to death his wife Melissa, it chanced that
on this first affliction a second followed of a different kind. His
wife had borne him two sons, and one of them had now reached the age
of seventeen, the other of eighteen years, when their mother's father,
Procles, tyrant of Epidaurus, asked them to his court. They went,
and Procles treated them with much kindness, as was natural,
considering they were his own daughter's children. At length, when the
time for parting came, Procles, as he was sending them on their way,
said, "Know you now, my children, who it was that caused your mother's
death?" The elder son took no account of this speech, but the younger,
whose name was Lycophron, was sorely troubled at it- so much so,
that when he got back to Corinth, looking upon his father as his
mother's murderer, he would neither speak to him, nor answer when
spoken to, nor utter a word in reply to all his questionings. So
Periander at last, growing furious at such behaviour, banished him
from his house.
    The younger son gone, he turned to the elder and asked him,
"what it was that their grandfather had said to them?" Then he related
in how kind and friendly a fashion he had received them; but, not
having taken any notice of the speech which Procles had uttered at
parting, he quite forgot to mention it. Periander insisted that it was
not possible this should be all- their grandfather must have given
them some hint or other- and he went on pressing him, till at last the
lad remembered the parting speech and told it. Periander, after he had
turned the whole matter over in his thoughts, and felt unwilling to
give way at all, sent a messenger to the persons who had opened
their houses to his outcast son, and forbade them to harbour him. Then
the boy, when he was chased from one friend, sought refuge with
another, but was driven from shelter to shelter by the threats of
his father, who menaced all those that took him in, and commanded them
to shut their doors against him. Still, as fast as he was forced to
leave one house he went to another, and was received by the inmates;
for his acquaintance, although in no small alarm, yet gave him
shelter, as he was Periander's son.
    At last Periander made proclamation that whoever harboured his son
or even spoke to him, should forfeit a certain sum of money to Apollo.
On hearing this no one any longer liked to take him in, or even to
hold converse with him, and he himself did not think it right to
seek to do what was forbidden; so, abiding by his resolve, he made his
lodging in the public porticos. When four days had passed in this way,
Periander, secing how wretched his son was, that he neither washed nor
took any food, felt moved with compassion towards him; wherefore,
foregoing his anger, he approached him, and said, "Which is better,
oh! my son, to fare as now thou farest, or to receive my crown and all
the good things that I possess, on the one condition of submitting
thyself to thy father? See, now, though my own child, and lord of this
wealthy Corinth, thou hast brought thyself to a beggar's life, because
thou must resist and treat with anger him whom it least behoves thee
to oppose. If there has been a calamity, and thou bearest me ill
will on that account, bethink thee that I too feel it, and am the
greatest sufferer, in as much as it was by me that the deed was
done. For thyself, now that thou knowest how much better a thing it is
to be envied than pitied, and how dangerous it is to indulge anger
against parents and superiors, come back with me to thy home." With
such words as these did Periander chide his son; but the son made no
reply, except to remind his father that he was indebted to the god
in the penalty for coming and holding converse with him. Then
Periander knew that there was no cure for the youth's malady, nor
means of overcoming it; so he prepared a ship and sent him away out of
his sight to Corcyra, which island at that time belonged to him. As
for Procles, Periander, regarding him as the true author of all his
present troubles, went to war with him as soon as his son was gone,
and not only made himself master of his kingdom Epidaurus, but also
took Procles himself, and carried him into captivity.
    As time went on, and Periander came to be old, he found himself no
longer equal to the oversight and management of affairs. Seeing,
therefore, in his eldest son no manner of ability, but knowing him
to be dull and blockish, he sent to Corcyra and recalled Lycophron
to take the kingdom. Lycophron, however, did not even deign to ask the
bearer of this message a question. But Periander's heart was set
upon the youth, so he sent again to him, this time by his own
daughter, the sister of Lycophron, who would, he thought, have more
power to persuade him than any other person. Then she, when she
reached Corcyra, spoke thus with her brother:- "Dost thou wish the
kingdom, brother, to pass into strange hands, and our father's
wealth to be made a prey, rather than thyself return to enjoy it? Come
back home with me, and cease to punish thyself. It is scant gain, this
obstinacy. Why seek to cure evil by evil? Mercy, remember, is by
many set above justice. Many, also, while pushing their mother's
claims have forfeited their father's fortune. Power is a slippery
thing- it has many suitors; and he is old and stricken in years- let
not thy own inheritance go to another." Thus did the sister, who had
been tutored by Periander what to say, urge all the arguments most
likely to have weight with her brother. He however made answer,
"That so long as he knew his father to be still alive, he would
never go back to Corinth." When the sister brought Periander this
reply, he sent his son a third time by a herald, and said he would
come himself to Corcyra, and let his son take his place at Corinth
as heir to his kingdom. To these terms Lycophron agreed; and Periander
was making ready to pass into Corcyra and his son to return to
Corinth, when the Corcyraeans, being informed of what was taking
place, to keep Periander away, put the young man to death. For this
reason it was that Periander took vengeance on the Corcyraeans.
    The Lacedaemonians arrived before Samos with a mighty armament,
and forthwith laid siege to the place. In one of the assaults upon the
walls, they forced their way to the top of the tower which stands by
the sea on the side where the suburb is, but Polycrates came in person
to the rescue with a strong force, and beat them back. Meanwhile at
the upper tower, which stood on the ridge of the hill, the besieged,
both mercenaries and Samians, made a sally; but after they had
withstood the Lacedaemonians a short time, they fled backwards, and
the Lacedaemonians, pressing upon them, slew numbers.
    If now all who were present had behaved that day like Archias
and Lycopas, two of the Lacedaemonians, Samos might have been taken.
For these two heroes, following hard upon the flying Samians,
entered the city along with them, and, being all alone, and their
retreat cut off, were slain within the walls of the place. I myself
once fell in with the grandson of this Archias, a man named Archias
like his grandsire, and the son of Samius, whom I met at Pitana, to
which canton he belonged. He respected the Samians beyond all other
foreigners, and he told me that his father was called Samius,
because his grandfather Archias died in Samos so gloriously, and
that the reason why he respected the Samians so greatly was that his
grandsire was buried with public honours by the Samian people.
    The Lacedaemonians besieged Samos during forty days, but not
making any progress before the place, they raised the siege at the end
of that time, and returned home to the Peloponnese. There is a silly
tale told that Polycrates struck a quantity of the coin of his country
in lead, and, coating it with gold, gave it to the Lacedaemonians, who
on receiving it took their departure.
    This was the first expedition into Asia of the Lacedaemonian
Dorians.
    The Samians who had fought against Polycrates, when they knew that
the Lacedaemonians were about to forsake them, left Samos
themselves, and sailed to Siphnos. They happened to be in want of
money; and the Siphnians at that time were at the height of their
greatness, no islanders having so much wealth as they. There were
mines of gold and silver in their country, and of so rich a yield,
that from a tithe of the ores the Siphnians furnished out a treasury
at Delphi which was on a par with the grandest there. What the mines
yielded was divided year by year among the citizens. At the time
when they formed the treasury, the Siphnians consulted the oracle, and
asked whether their good things would remain to them many years. The
Pythoness made answer as follows:-

    When the Prytanies'seat shines white in the island of Siphnos,
    White-browed all the forum-need then of a true seer's wisdom-
    Danger will threat from a wooden host, and a herald in scarlet.

Now about this time the forum of the Siphnians and their townhall or
prytaneum had been adorned with Parian marble.
    The Siphnians, however, were unable to understand the oracle,
either at the time when it was given, or afterwards on the arrival
of the Samians. For these last no sooner came to anchor off the island
than they sent one of their vessels, with an ambassage on board, to
the city. All ships in these early times were painted with
vermilion; and this was what the Pythoness had meant when she told
them to beware of danger "from a wooden host, and a herald in
scarlet." So the ambassadors came ashore and besought the Siphnians to
lend them ten talents; but the Siphnians refused, whereupon the
Samians began to plunder their lands. Tidings of this reached the
Siphnians, who straightway sallied forth to save their crops; then a
battle was fought, in which the Siphnians suffered defeat, and many of
their number were cut off from the city by the Samians, after which
these latter forced the Siphnians to give them a hundred talents.
    With this money they bought of the Hermionians the island of
Hydrea, off the coast of the Peloponnese, and this they gave in
trust to the Troezenians, to keep for them, while they themselves went
on to Crete, and founded the city of Cydonia. They had not meant, when
they set sail, to settle there, but only to drive out the
Zacynthians from the island. However they rested at Cydonia, where
they flourished greatly for five years. It was they who built the
various temples that may still be seen at that place, and among them
the fane of Dictyna. But in the sixth year they were attacked by the
Eginetans, who beat them in a sea-fight, and, with the help of the
Cretans, reduced them all to slavery. The beaks of their ships,
which carried the figure of a wild boar, they sawed off, and laid them
up in the temple of Minerva in Egina. The Eginetans took part
against the Samians on account of an ancient grudge, since the Samians
had first, when Amphicrates was king of Samos, made war on them and
done great harm to their island, suffering, however, much damage
also themselves. Such was the reason which moved the Eginetans to make
this attack.
    I have dwelt the longer on the affairs of the Samians, because
three of the greatest works in all Greece were made by them. One is
a tunnel, under a hill one hundred and fifty fathoms high, carried
entirely through the base of the hill, with a mouth at either end. The
length of the cutting is seven furlongs- the height and width are each
eight feet. Along the whole course there is a second cutting, twenty
cubits deep and three feet broad, whereby water is brought, through
pipes, from an abundant source into the city. The architect of this
tunnel was Eupalinus, son of Naustrophus, a Megarian. Such is the
first of their great works; the second is a mole in the sea, which
goes all round the harbour, near twenty fathoms deep, and in length
above two furlongs. The third is a temple; the largest of all the
temples known to us, whereof Rhoecus, son of Phileus, a Samian, was
first architect. Because of these works I have dwelt the longer on the
affairs of Samos.
    While Cambyses, son of Cyrus, after losing his senses, still
lingered in Egypt, two Magi, brothers, revolted against him. One of
them had been left in Persia by Cambyses as comptroller of his
household; and it was he who began the revolt. Aware that Smerdis
was dead, and that his death was hid and known to few of the Persians,
while most believed that he was still alive, he laid his plan, and
made a bold stroke for the crown. He had a brother- the same of whom I
spoke before as his partner in the revolt- who happened greatly to
resemble Smerdis the son of Cyrus, whom Cambyses his brother had put
to death. And not only was this brother of his like Smerdis in person,
but he also bore the selfsame name, to wit Smerdis. Patizeithes, the
other Magus, having persuaded him that he would carry the whole
business through, took him and made him sit upon the royal throne.
Having so done, he sent heralds through all the land, to Egypt and
elsewhere, to make proclamation to the troops that henceforth they
were to obey Smerdis the son of Cyrus, and not Cambyses.
    The other heralds therefore made proclamation as they were
ordered, and likewise the herald whose place it was to proceed into
Egypt. He, when he reached Agbatana in Syria, finding Cambyses and his
army there, went straight into the middle of the host, and standing
forth before them all, made the proclamation which Patizeithes the
Magus had commanded. Cambyses no sooner heard him, than believing that
what the herald said was true, and imagining that he had been betrayed
by Prexaspes (who, he supposed, had not put Smerdis to death when sent
into Persia for that purpose), he turned his eyes full upon Prexaspes,
and said, "Is this the way, Prexaspes, that thou didst my errand?"
"Oh! my liege," answered the other, "there is no truth in the
tidings that Smerdis thy brother has revolted against thee, nor hast
thou to fear in time to come any quarrel, great or small, with that
man. With my own hands I wrought thy will on him, and with my own
hands I buried him. If of a truth the dead can leave their graves,
expect Astyages the Mede to rise and fight against thee; but if the
course of nature be the same as formerly, then be sure no ill will
ever come upon thee from this quarter. Now, therefore, my counsel is
that we send in pursuit of the herald, and strictly question him who
it was that charged him to bid us obey king Smerdis."
    When Prexaspes had so spoken, and Cambyses had approved his words,
the herald was forthwith pursued, and brought back to the king. Then
Prexaspes said to him, "Sirrah, thou bear'st us a message, sayst thou,
from Smerdis, son of Cyrus. Now answer truly, and go thy way
scathless. Did Smerdis have thee to his presence and give thee thy
orders, or hadst thou them from one of his officers?" The herald
answered, "Truly I have not set eyes on Smerdis son of Cyrus, since
the day when king Cambyses led the Persians into Egypt. The man who
gave me my orders was the Magus that Cambyses left in charge of the
household; but he said that Smerdis son of Cyrus sent you the
message." In all this the herald spoke nothing but the strict truth.
Then Cambyses said thus to Prexaspes:- "Thou art free from all
blame, Prexaspes, since, as a right good man, thou hast not failed
to do the thing which I commanded. But tell me now, which of the
Persians can have taken the name of Smerdis, and revolted from me?" "I
think, my liege," he answered, "that I apprehend the whole business.
The men who have risen in revolt against thee are the two Magi,
Patizeithes, who was left comptroller of thy household, and his
brother, who is named Smerdis."
    Cambyses no sooner heard the name of Smerdis than he was struck
with the truth of Prexaspes' words, and the fulfilment of his own
dream- the dream, I mean, which he had in former days, when one
appeared to him in his sleep and told him that Smerdis sate upon the
royal throne, and with his head touched the heavens. So when he saw
that he had needlessly slain his brother Smerdis, he wept and bewailed
his loss: after which, smarting with vexation as he thought of all his
ill luck, he sprang hastily upon his steed, meaning to march his
army with all haste to Susa against the Magus. As he made his
spring, the button of his sword-sheath fell off, and the bared point
entered his thigh, wounding him exactly where he had himself once
wounded the Egyptian god Apis. Then Cambyses, feeling that he had
got his death-wound, inquired the name of the place where he was,
and was answered, "Agbatana." Now before this it had been told him
by the oracle at Buto that he should end his days at Agbatana. He,
however, had understood the Median Agbatana, where all his treasures
were, and had thought that he should die there in a good old age;
but the oracle meant Agbatana in Syria. So when Cambyses heard the
name of the place, the double shock that he had received, from the
revolt of the Magus and from his wound, brought him back to his
senses. And he understood now the true meaning of the oracle, and
said, "Here then Cambyses, son of Cyrus, is doomed to die."
    At this time he said no more; but twenty days afterwards he called
to his presence all the chief Persians who were with the army, and
addressed them as follows:- "Persians, needs must I tell you now
what hitherto I have striven with the greatest care to keep concealed.
When I was in Egypt I saw in my sleep a vision, which would that I had
never beheld! I thought a messenger came to me from my home, and
told me that Smerdis sate upon the royal throne, and with his head
touched the heavens. Then I feared to be cast from my throne by
Smerdis my brother, and I did what was more hasty than wise. Ah!
truly, do what they may, it is impossible for men to turn aside the
coming fate. I, in my folly, sent Prexaspes to Susa to put my
brother to death. So this great woe was accomplished, and I then lived
without fear, never imagining that, after Smerdis was dead, I need
dread revolt from any other. But herein I had quite mistaken what
was about to happen, and so I slew my brother without any need, and
nevertheless have lost my crown. For it was Smerdis the Magus, and not
Smerdis my brother, of whose rebellion God forewarned me by the
vision. The deed is done, however, and Smerdis, son of Cyrus, be
sure is lost to you. The Magi have the royal power- Patizeithes,
whom I left at Susa to overlook my household, and Smerdis his brother.
There was one who would have been bound beyond all others to avenge
the wrongs I have suffered from these Magians, but he, alas! has
perished by a horrid fate, deprived of life by those nearest and
dearest to him. In his default, nothing now remains for me but to tell
you, O Persians, what I would wish to have done after I have
breathed my last. Therefore, in the name of the gods that watch over
our royal house, I charge you all, and specially such of you as are
Achaemenids, that ye do not tamely allow the kingdom to go back to the
Medes. Recover it one way or another, by force or fraud; by fraud,
if it is by fraud that they have seized on it; by force, if force
has helped them in their enterprise. Do this, and then may your land
bring you forth fruit abundantly, and your wives bear children, and
your herds increase, and freedom be your portion for ever: but do it
not- make no brave struggle to regain the kingdom- and then my curse
be on you, and may the opposite of all these things happen to you- and
not only so, but may you, one and all, perish at the last by such a
fate as mine!" Then Cambyses, when he left speaking, bewailed his
whole misfortune from beginning to end.
    Whereupon the Persians, seeing their king weep, rent the
garments that they had on, and uttered lamentable cries; after
which, as the bone presently grew carious, and the limb gangrened,
Cambyses, son of Cyrus, died. He had reigned in all seven years and
five months, and left no issue behind him, male or female. The
Persians who had heard his words, put no faith in anything that he
said concerning the Magi having the royal power; but believed that
he spoke out of hatred towards Smerdis, and had invented the tale of
his death to cause the whole Persian race to rise up in arms against
him. Thus they were convinced that it was Smerdis the son of Cyrus who
had rebelled and now sate on the throne. For Prexaspes stoutly
denied that he had slain Smerdis, since it was not safe for him, after
Cambyses was dead, to allow that a son of Cyrus had met with death
at his hands.
    Thus then Cambyses died, and the Magus now reigned in security,
and passed himself off for Smerdis the son of Cyrus. And so went by
the seven months which were wanting to complete the eighth year of
Cambyses. His subjects, while his reign lasted, received great
benefits from him, insomuch that, when he died, all the dwellers in
Asia mourned his loss exceedingly, except only the Persians. For no
sooner did he come to the throne than forthwith he sent round to every
nation under his rule, and granted them freedom from war-service and
from taxes for the space of three years.
    In the eighth month, however, it was discovered who he was in
the mode following. There was a man called Otanes, the son of
Pharnaspes, who for rank and wealth was equal to the greatest of the
Persians. This Otanes was the first to suspect that the Magus was
not Smerdis the son of Cyrus, and to surmise moreover who he really
was. He was led to guess the truth by the king never quitting the
citadel, and never calling before him any of the Persian noblemen.
As soon, therefore, as his suspicions were aroused he adopted the
following measures:- One of his daughters, who was called Phaedima,
had been married to Cambyses, and was taken to wife, together with the
rest of Cambyses' wives, by the Magus. To this daughter Otanes sent
a message, and inquired of her "who it was whose bed she shared,-
was it Smerdis the son of Cyrus, or was it some other man?" Phaedima
in reply declared she did not know- Smerdis the son of Cyrus she had
never seen, and so she could not tell whose bed she shared. Upon
this Otanes sent a second time, and said, "If thou dost not know
Smerdis son of Cyrus thyself, ask queen Atossa who it is with whom
ye both live- she cannot fail to know her own brother." To this the
daughter made answer, "I can neither get speech with Atossa, nor
with any of the women who lodge in the palace. For no sooner did
this man, be he who he may, obtain the kingdom, than he parted us from
one another, and gave us all separate chambers."
    This made the matter seem still more plain to Otanes. Nevertheless
he sent a third message to his daughter in these words following:-
"Daughter, thou art of noble blood- thou wilt not shrink from a risk
which thy father bids thee encounter. If this fellow be not Smerdis
the son of Cyrus, but the man whom I think him to be, his boldness
in taking thee to be his wife, and lording it over the Persians,
must not be allowed to pass unpunished. Now therefore do as I command-
when next he passes the night with thee, wait till thou art sure he is
fast asleep, and then feel for his ears. If thou findest him to have
ears, then believe him to be Smerdis the son of Cyrus, but if he has
none, know him for Smerdis the Magian." Phaedima returned for
answer, "It would be a great risk. If he was without ears, and
caught her feeling for them, she well knew he would make away with
her- nevertheless she would venture." So Otanes got his daughter's
promise that she would do as he desired. Now Smerdis the Magian had
had his ears cut off in the lifetime of Cyrus son of Cambyses, as a
punishment for a crime of no slight heinousness. Phaedima therefore,
Otanes' daughter, bent on accomplishing what she had promised her
father, when her turn came, and she was taken to the bed of the
Magus (in Persia a man's wives sleep with him in their turns),
waited till he was sound asleep, and then felt for his ears. She
quickly perceived that he had no ears; and of this, as soon as day
dawned, she sent word to her father.
    Then Otanes took to him two of the chief Persians, Aspathines
and Gobryas, men whom it was most advisable to trust in such a matter,
and told them everything. Now they had already of themselves suspected
how the matter stood. When Otanes therefore laid his reasons before
them they at once came into his views; and it was agreed that each
of the three should take as companion in the work the Persian in
whom he placed the greatest confidence. Then Otanes chose Intaphernes,
Gobryas Megabyzus, and Aspathines Hydarnes. After the number had
thus become six, Darius, the son of Hystaspes, arrived at Susa from
Persia, whereof his father was governor. On his coming it seemed
good to the six to take him likewise into their counsels.
    After this, the men, being now seven in all, met together to
exchange oaths, and hold discourse with one another. And when it
came to the turn of Darius to speak his mind, he said as follows:-
"Methought no one but I knew that Smerdis, the son of Cyrus, was not
now alive, and that Smerdis the Magian ruled over us; on this
account I came hither with speed, to compass the death of the
Magian. But as it seems the matter is known to you all, and not to
me only, my judgment is that we should act at once, and not any longer
delay. For to do so were not well." Otanes spoke upon this:- "Son of
Hystaspes," said he, "thou art the child of a brave father, and
seemest likely to show thyself as bold a gallant as he. Beware,
however, of rash haste in this matter; do not hurry so, but proceed
with soberness. We must add to our number ere we adventure to strike
the blow." "Not so," Darius rejoined; "for let all present be well
assured that if the advice of Otanes guide our acts, we shall perish
most miserably. Some one will betray our plot to the Magians for
lucre's sake. Ye ought to have kept the matter to yourselves, and so
made the venture; but as ye have chosen to take others into your
secret, and have opened the matter to me, take my advice and make
the attempt today- or if not, if a single day be suffered to pass
by, be sure that I will let no one betray me to the Magian. I myself
will go to him, and plainly denounce you all."
    Otanes, when he saw Darius so hot, replied, "But if thou wilt
force us to action, and not allow a day's delay, tell us, I pray thee,
how we shall get entrance into the palace, so as to set upon them.
Guards are placed everywhere, as thou thyself well knowest- for if
thou hast not seen, at least thou hast heard tell of them. How are
we to pass these guards, I ask thee?" answered Darius, "there are many
things easy enough in act, which by speech it is hard to explain.
There are also things concerning which speech is easy, but no noble
action follows when the speech is done. As for these guards, ye know
well that we shall not find it hard to make our way through them.
Our rank alone would cause them to allow us to enter- shame and fear
alike forbidding them to say us nay. But besides, I have the fairest
plea that can be conceived for gaining admission. I can say that I
have just come from Persia, and have a message to deliver to the
king from my father. An untruth must be spoken, where need requires.
For whether men lie, or say true, it is with one and the same
object. Men lie, because they think to gain by deceiving others; and
speak the truth, because they expect to get something by their true
speaking, and to be trusted afterwards in more important matters.
Thus, though their conduct is so opposite, the end of both is alike.
If there were no gain to be got, your true-speaking man would tell
untruths as much as your liar, and your liar would tell the truth as
much as your true-speaking man. The doorkeeper, who lets us in
readily, shall have his guerdon some day or other; but woe to the
man who resists us, he must forthwith be declared an enemy. Forcing
our way past him, we will press in and go straight to our work."
    After Darius had thus said, Gobryas spoke as follows:- "Dear
friends, when will a fitter occasion offer for us to recover the
kingdom, or, if we are not strong enough, at least die in the attempt?
Consider that we Persians are governed by a Median Magus, and one,
too, who has had his ears cut off! Some of you were present when
Cambyses lay upon his deathbed- such, doubtless, remember what
curses he called down upon the Persians if they made no effort to
recover the kingdom. Then, indeed, we paid but little heed to what
he said, because we thought he spoke out of hatred to set us against
his brother. Now, however, my vote is that we do as Darius has
counselled- march straight in a body to the palace from the place
where we now are, and forthwith set upon the Magian." So Gobryas
spake, and the others all approved.
    While the seven were thus taking counsel together, it so chanced
that the following events were happening:- The Magi had been
thinking what they had best do, and had resolved for many reasons to
make a friend of Prexaspes. They knew how cruelly he had been outraged
by Cambyses, who slew his son with an arrow; they were also aware that
it was by his hand that Smerdis the son of Cyrus fell, and that he was
the only person privy to that prince's death; and they further found
him to be held in the highest esteem by all the Persians. So they
called him to them, made him their friend, and bound him by a
promise and by oaths to keep silence about the fraud which they were
practising upon the Persians, and not discover it to any one; and they
pledged themselves that in this case they would give him thousands
of gifts of every sort and kind. So Prexaspes agreed, and the Magi,
when they found that they had persuaded him so far, went on to another
proposal, and said they would assemble the Persians at the foot of the
palace wall, and he should mount one of the towers and harangue them
from it, assuring them that Smerdis the son of Cyrus, and none but he,
ruled the land. This they bade him do, because Prexaspes was a man
of great weight with his countrymen, and had often declared in
public that Smerdis the son of Cyrus was still alive, and denied being
his murderer.
    Prexaspes said he was quite ready to do their will in the
matter; so the Magi assembled the people, and placed Prexaspes upon
the top of the tower, and told him to make his speech. Then this
man, forgetting of set purpose all that the Magi had intreated him
to say, began with Achaeamenes, and traced down the descent of
Cyrus; after which, when he came to that king, he recounted all the
services that had been rendered by him to the Persians, from whence he
went on to declare the truth, which hitherto he had concealed, he
said, because it would not have been safe for him to make it known,
but now necessity was laid on him to disclose the whole. Then he
told how, forced to it by Cambyses, he had himself taken the life of
Smerdis, son of Cyrus, and how that Persia was now ruled by the
Magi. Last of all, with many curses upon the Persians if they did
not recover the kingdom, and wreak vengeance on the Magi, he threw
himself headlong from the tower into the abyss below. Such was the end
of Prexaspes, a man all his life of high repute among the Persians.
    And now the seven Persians, having resolved that they would attack
the Magi without more delay, first offered prayers to the gods and
then set off for the palace, quite unacquainted with what had been
done by Prexaspes. The news of his doings reached them upon their way,
when they had accomplished about half the distance. Hereupon they
turned aside out of the road, and consulted together. Otanes and his
party said they must certainly put off the business, and not make
the attack when affairs were in such a ferment. Darius, on the other
hand, and his friends, were against any change of plan, and wished
to go straight on, and not lose a moment. Now, as they strove
together, suddenly there came in sight two pairs of vultures, and
seven pairs of hawks, pursuing them, and the hawks tore the vultures
both with their claws and bills. At this sight the seven with one
accord came in to the opinion of Darius, and encouraged by the omen
hastened on towards the palace.
    At the gate they were received as Darius had foretold. The guards,
who had no suspicion that they came for any ill purpose, and held
the chief Persians in much reverence, let them pass without
difficulty- it seemed as if they were under the special protection
of the gods- none even asked them any question. When they were now
in the great court they fell in with certain of the eunuchs, whose
business it was to carry the king's messages, who stopped them and
asked what they wanted, while at the same time they threatened the
doorkeepers for having let them enter. The seven sought to press on,
but the eunuchs would not suffer them. Then these men, with cheers
encouraging one another, drew their daggers, and stabbing those who
strove to withstand them, rushed forward to the apartment of the
males.
    Now both the Magi were at this time within, holding counsel upon
the matter of Prexaspes. So when they heard the stir among the
eunuchs, and their loud cries, they ran out themselves, to see what
was happening. Instantly perceiving their danger, they both flew to
arms; one had just time to seize his bow, the other got hold of his
lance; when straightway the fight began. The one whose weapon was
the bow found it of no service at all; the foe was too near, and the
combat too close to allow of his using it. But the other made a
stout defence with his lance, wounding two of the seven, Aspathines in
the leg, and Intaphernes in the eye. This wound did not kill
Intaphernes, but it cost him the sight of that eye. The other Magus,
when he found his bow of no avail, fled into a chamber which opened
out into the apartment of the males, intending to shut to the doors.
But two of the seven entered the room with him, Darius and Gobryas.
Gobryas seized the Magus and grappled with him, while Darius stood
over them, not knowing what to do; for it was dark, and he was
afraid that if he struck a blow he might kill Gobryas. Then Gobyras,
when he perceived that Darius stood doing nothing, asked him, "why his
hand was idle?" "I fear to hurt thee," he answered. "Fear not," said
Gobryas; "strike, though it be through both." Darius did as he
desired, drove his dagger home, and by good hap killed the Magus.
    Thus were the Magi slain; and the seven, cutting off both the
heads, and leaving their own wounded in the palace, partly because
they were disabled, and partly to guard the citadel, went forth from
the gates with the heads in their hands, shouting and making an
uproar. They called out to all the Persians whom they met, and told
them what had happened, showing them the heads of the Magi, while at
the same time they slew every Magus who fell in their way. Then the
Persians, when they knew what the seven had done, and understood the
fraud of the Magi, thought it but just to follow the example set them,
and, drawing their daggers, they killed the Magi wherever they could
find any. Such was their fury, that, unless night had closed in, not a
single Magus would have been left alive. The Persians observe this day
with one accord, and keep it more strictly than any other in the whole
year. It is then that they hold the great festival, which they call
the Magophonia. No Magus may show himself abroad during the whole time
that the feast lasts; but all must remain at home the entire day.
    And now when five days were gone, and the hubbub had settled down,
the conspirators met together to consult about the situation of
affairs. At this meeting speeches were made, to which many of the
Greeks give no credence, but they were made nevertheless. Otanes
recommended that the management of public affairs should be
entrusted to the whole nation. "To me," he said, "it seems
advisable, that we should no longer have a single man to rule over
us- the rule of one is neither good nor pleasant. Ye cannot have
forgotten to what lengths Cambyses went in his haughty tyranny, and
the haughtiness of the Magi ye have yourselves experienced. How indeed
is it possible that monarchy should be a well-adjusted thing, when
it allows a man to do as he likes without being answerable? Such
licence is enough to stir strange and unwonted thoughts in the heart
of the worthiest of men. Give a person this power, and straightway his
manifold good things puff him up with pride, while envy is so
natural to human kind that it cannot but arise in him. But pride and
envy together include all wickedness- both of them leading on to deeds
of savage violence. True it is that kings, possessing as they do all
that heart can desire, ought to be void of envy; but the contrary is
seen in their conduct towards the citizens. They are jealous of the
most virtuous among their subjects, and wish their death; while they
take delight in the meanest and basest, being ever ready to listen
to the tales of slanderers. A king, besides, is beyond all other men
inconsistent with himself. Pay him court in moderation, and he is
angry because you do not show him more profound respect- show him
profound respect, and he is offended again, because (as he says) you
fawn on him. But the worst of all is, that he sets aside the laws of
the land, puts men to death without trial, and subjects women to
violence. The rule of the many, on the other hand, has, in the first
place, the fairest of names, to wit, isonomy; and further it is free
from all those outrages which a king is wont to commit. There,
places are given by lot, the magistrate is answerable for what he
does, and measures rest with the commonalty. I vote, therefore, that
we do away with monarchy, and raise the people to power. For the
people are all in all."
    Such were the sentiments of Otanes. Megabyzus spoke next, and
advised the setting up of an oligarchy:- "In all that Otanes has
said to persuade you to put down monarchy," he observed, "I fully
concur; but his recommendation that we should call the people to power
seems to me not the best advice. For there is nothing so void of
understanding, nothing so full of wantonness, as the unwieldy
rabble. It were folly not to be borne, for men, while seeking to
escape the wantonness of a tyrant, to give themselves up to the
wantonness of a rude unbridled mob. The tyrant, in all his doings,
at least knows what is he about, but a mob is altogether devoid of
knowledge; for how should there be any knowledge in a rabble,
untaught, and with no natural sense of what is right and fit? It
rushes wildly into state affairs with all the fury of a stream swollen
in the winter, and confuses everything. Let the enemies of the
Persians be ruled by democracies; but let us choose out from the
citizens a certain number of the worthiest, and put the government
into their hands. For thus both we ourselves shall be among the
governors, and power being entrusted to the best men, it is likely
that the best counsels will prevail in the state."
    This was the advice which Megabyzus gave, and after him Darius
came forward, and spoke as follows:- "All that Megabyzus said
against democracy was well said, I think; but about oligarchy he did
not speak advisedly; for take these three forms of government-
democracy, oligarchy, and monarchy- and let them each be at their
best, I maintain that monarchy far surpasses the other two. What
government can possibly be better than that of the very best man in
the whole state? The counsels of such a man are like himself, and so
he governs the mass of the people to their heart's content; while at
the same time his measures against evil-doers are kept more secret
than in other states. Contrariwise, in oligarchies, where men vie with
each other in the service of the commonwealth, fierce enmities are apt
to arise between man and man, each wishing to be leader, and to
carry his own measures; whence violent quarrels come, which lead to
open strife, often ending in bloodshed. Then monarchy is sure to
follow; and this too shows how far that rule surpasses all others.
Again, in a democracy, it is impossible but that there will be
malpractices: these malpractices, however, do not lead to enmities,
but to close friendships, which are formed among those engaged in
them, who must hold well together to carry on their villainies. And so
things go on until a man stands forth as champion of the commonalty,
and puts down the evil-doers. Straightway the author of so great a
service is admired by all, and from being admired soon comes to be
appointed king; so that here too it is plain that monarchy is the best
government. Lastly, to sum up all in a word, whence, I ask, was it
that we got the freedom which we enjoy?- did democracy give it us,
or oligarchy, or a monarch? As a single man recovered our freedom
for us, my sentence is that we keep to the rule of one. Even apart
from this, we ought not to change the laws of our forefathers when
they work fairly; for to do so is not well."
    Such were the three opinions brought forward at this meeting;
the four other Persians voted in favour of the last. Otanes, who
wished to give his countrymen a democracy, when he found the
decision against him, arose a second time, and spoke thus before the
assembly:- "Brother conspirators, it is plain that the king who is
to be chosen will be one of ourselves, whether we make the choice by
casting lots for the prize, or by letting the people decide which of
us they will have to rule over them, in or any other way. Now, as I
have neither a mind to rule nor to be ruled, I shall not enter the
lists with you in this matter. I withdraw, however, on one
condition- none of you shall claim to exercise rule over me or my seed
for ever." The six agreed to these terms, and Otanes withdraw and
stood aloof from the contest. And still to this day the family of
Otanes continues to be the only free family in Persia; those who
belong to it submit to the rule of the king only so far as they
themselves choose; they are bound, however, to observe the laws of the
land like the other Persians.
    After this the six took counsel together, as to the fairest way of
setting up a king: and first, with respect to Otanes, they resolved,
that if any of their own number got the kingdom, Otanes and his seed
after him should receive year by year, as a mark of special honour,
a Median robe, and all such other gifts as are accounted the most
honourable in Persia. And these they resolved to give him, because
he was the man who first planned the outbreak, and who brought the
seven together. These privileges, therefore, were assigned specially
to Otanes. The following were made common to them all:- It was to be
free to each, whenever he pleased, to enter the palace unannounced,
unless the king were in the company of one of his wives; and the
king was to be bound to marry into no family excepting those of the
conspirators. Concerning the appointment of a king, the resolve to
which they came was the following:- They would ride out together
next morning into the skirts of the city, and he whose steed first
neighed after the sun was up should have the kingdom.
    Now Darius had a groom, a sharp-witted knave, called Oebares.
After the meeting had broken up, Darius sent for him, and said,
"Oebares, this is the way in which the king is to be chosen- we are to
mount our horses, and the man whose horse first neighs after the sun
is up is to have the kingdom. If then you have any cleverness,
contrive a plan whereby the prize may fall to us, and not go to
another." "Truly, master," Oebares answered, "if it depends on this
whether thou shalt be king or no, set thine heart at ease, and fear
nothing: I have a charm which is sure not to fail." "If thou hast
really aught of the kind," said Darius, "hasten to get it ready. The
matter does not brook delay, for the trial is to be to-morrow." So
Oebares when he heard that, did as follows:- When night came, he
took one of the mares, the chief favourite of the horse which Darius
rode, and tethering it in the suburb, brought his master's horse to
the place; then, after leading him round and round the mare several
times, nearer and nearer at each circuit, he ended by letting them
come together.
    And now, when the morning broke, the six Persians, according to
agreement, met together on horseback, and rode out to the suburb. As
they went along they neared the spot where the mare was tethered the
night before, whereupon the horse of Darius sprang forward and
neighed. just at the same time, though the sky was clear and bright,
there was a flash of lightning, followed by a thunderclap. It seemed
as if the heavens conspired with Darius, and hereby inaugurated him
king: so the five other nobles leaped with one accord from their
steeds, and bowed down before him and owned him for their king.
    This is the account which some of the Persians gave of the
contrivance of Oebares; but there are others who relate the matter
differently. They say that in the morning he stroked the mare with his
hand, which he then hid in his trousers until the sun rose and the
horses were about to start, when he suddenly drew his hand forth and
put it to the nostrils of his master's horse, which immediately
snorted and neighed.
    Thus was Darius, son of Hystaspes, appointed king; and, except the
Arabians, all they of Asia were subject to him; for Cyrus, and after
him Cambyses, had brought them all under. The Arabians were never
subject as slaves to the Persians, but had a league of friendship with
them from the time when they brought Cambyses on his way as he went
into Egypt; for had they been unfriendly the Persians could never have
made their invasion.
    And now Darius contracted marriages of the first rank, according
to the notions of the Persians: to wit, with two daughters of Cyrus,
Atossa and Artystone; of whom, Atossa had been twice married before,
once to Cambyses, her brother, and once to the Magus, while the other,
Artystone, was a virgin. He married also Parmys, daughter of
Smerdis, son of Cyrus; and he likewise took to wife the daughter of
Otanes, who had made the discovery about the Magus. And now when his
power was established firmly throughout all the kingdoms, the first
thing that he did was to set up a carving in stone, which showed a man
mounted upon a horse, with an inscription in these words following:-
"Darius, son of Hystaspes, by aid of his good horse" (here followed
the horse's name), "and of his good groom Oebares, got himself the
kingdom of the Persians."
    This he set up in Persia; and afterwards he proceeded to establish
twenty governments of the kind which the Persians call satrapies,
assigning to each its governor, and fixing the tribute which was to be
paid him by the several nations. And generally he joined together in
one satrapy the nations that were neighbours, but sometimes he
passed over the nearer tribes, and put in their stead those which were
more remote. The following is an account of these governments, and
of the yearly tribute which they paid to the king:- Such as brought
their tribute in silver were ordered to pay according to the
Babylonian talent; while the Euboic was the standard measure for
such as brought gold. Now the Babylonian talent contains seventy
Euboic minae. During all the reign of Cyrus, and afterwards when
Cambyses ruled, there were no fixed tributes, but the nations
severally brought gifts to the king. On account of this and other like
doings, the Persians say that Darius was a huckster, Cambyses a
master, and Cyrus a father; for Darius looked to making a gain in
everything; Cambyses was harsh and reckless; while Cyrus was gentle,
and procured them all manner of goods.
    The Ionians, the Magnesians of Asia, the Aeolians, the Carians,
the Lycians, the Milyans, and the Pamphylians, paid their tribute in a
single sum, which was fixed at four hundred talents of silver. These
formed together the first satrapy.
    The Mysians, Lydians, Lasonians, Cabalians, and Hygennians paid
the sum of five hundred talents. This was the second satrapy.
    The Hellespontians, of the right coast as one enters the
straits, the Phrygians, the Asiatic Thracians, the Paphlagonians,
the Mariandynians' and the Syrians paid a tribute of three hundred and
sixty talents. This was the third satrapy.
    The Cilicians gave three hundred and sixty white horses, one for
each day in the year, and five hundred talents of silver. Of this
sum one hundred and forty talents went to pay the cavalry which
guarded the country, while the remaining three hundred and sixty
were received by Darius. This was the fourth satrapy.
    The country reaching from the city of Posideium (built by
Amphilochus, son of Amphiaraus, on the confines of Syria and
Cilicia) to the borders of Egypt, excluding therefrom a district which
belonged to Arabia and was free from tax, paid a tribute of three
hundred and fifty talents. All Phoenicia, Palestine Syria, and Cyprus,
were herein contained. This was the fifth satrapy.
    From Egypt, and the neighbouring parts of Libya, together with the
towns of Cyrene and Barca, which belonged to the Egyptian satrapy, the
tribute which came in was seven hundred talents. These seven hundred
talents did not include the profits of the fisheries of Lake Moeris,
nor the corn furnished to the troops at Memphis. Corn was supplied
to 120,000 Persians, who dwelt at Memphis in the quarter called the
White Castle, and to a number of auxiliaries. This was the sixth
satrapy.
    The Sattagydians, the Gandarians, the Dadicae, and the Aparytae,
who were all reckoned together, paid a tribute of a hundred and
seventy talents. This was the seventh satrapy.
    Susa, and the other parts of Cissia, paid three hundred talents.
This was the eighth satrapy.
    From Babylonia, and the rest of Assyria, were drawn a thousand
talents of silver, and five hundred boy-eunuchs. This was the ninth
satrapy.
    Agbatana, and the other parts of Media, together with the
Paricanians and Orthocorybantes, paid in all four hundred and fifty
talents. This was the tenth satrapy.
    The Caspians, Pausicae, Pantimathi, and Daritae, were joined in
one government, and paid the sum of two hundred talents. This was
the eleventh satrapy.
    From the Bactrian tribes as far as the Aegli the tribute
received was three hundred and sixty talents. This was the twelfth
satrapy.
    From Pactyica, Armenia, and the countries reaching thence to the
Euxine, the sum drawn was four hundred talents. This was the
thirteenth satrapy.
    The Sagartians, Sarangians, Thamanaeans, Utians, and Mycians,
together with the inhabitants of the islands in the Erythraean sea,
where the king sends those whom he banishes, furnished altogether a
tribute of six hundred talents. This was the fourteenth satrapy.
    The Sacans and Caspians gave two hundred and fifty talents. This
was the fifteenth satrapy.
    The Parthians, Chorasmians, Sogdians, and Arians, gave three
hundred. This was the sixteenth satrapy.
    The Paricanians and Ethiopians of Asia furnished a tribute of four
hundred talents. This was the seventeenth satrapy.
    The Matienians, Saspeires, and Alarodians were rated to pay two
hundred talents. This was the eighteenth satrapy.
    The Moschi, Tibareni, Macrones, Mosynoeci, and Mares had to pay
three hundred talents. This was the nineteenth satrapy.
    The Indians, who are more numerous than any other nation with
which we are acquainted, paid a tribute exceeding that of every
other people, to wit, three hundred and sixty talents of gold-dust.
This was the twentieth satrapy.
    If the Babylonian money here spoken of be reduced to the Euboic
scale, it will make nine thousand five hundred and forty such talents;
and if the gold be reckoned at thirteen times the worth of silver, the
Indian gold-dust will come to four thousand six hundred and eighty
talents. Add these two amounts together and the whole revenue which
came in to Darius year by year will be found to be in Euboic money
fourteen thousand five hundred and sixty talents, not to mention parts
of a talent.
    Such was the revenue which Darius derived from Asia and a small
part of Libya. Later in his reign the sum was increased by the tribute
of the islands, and of the nations of Europe as far as Thessaly. The
Great King stores away the tribute which he receives after this
fashion- he melts it down, and, while it is in a liquid state, runs it
into earthen vessels, which are afterwards removed, leaving the
metal in a solid mass. When money is wanted, he coins as much of
this bullion as the occasion requires.
    Such then were the governments, and such the amounts of tribute at
which they were assessed respectively. Persia alone has not been
reckoned among the tributaries- and for this reason, because the
country of the Persians is altogether exempt from tax. The following
peoples paid no settled tribute, but brought gifts to the king: first,
the Ethiopians bordering upon Egypt, who were reduced by Cambyses when
he made war on the long-lived Ethiopians, and who dwell about the
sacred city of Nysa, and have festivals in honour of Bacchus. The
grain on which they and their next neighbours feed is the same as that
used by the Calantian Indians. Their dwelling-houses are under ground.
Every third year these two nations brought- and they still bring to my
day- two choenices of virgin gold, two hundred logs of ebony, five
Ethiopian boys, and twenty elephant tusks. The Colchians, and the
neighbouring tribes who dwell between them and the Caucasus- for so
far the Persian rule reaches, while north of the Caucasus no one fears
them any longer- undertook to furnish a gift, which in my day was
still brought every fifth year, consisting of a hundred boys, and
the same number of maidens. The Arabs brought every year a thousand
talents of frankincense. Such were the gifts which the king received
over and above the tribute-money.
    The way in which the Indians get the plentiful supply of gold
which enables them to furnish year by year so vast an amount of
gold-dust to the kind is the following:- eastward of India lies a
tract which is entirely sand. Indeed of all the inhabitants of Asia,
concerning whom anything certain is known, the Indians dwell the
nearest to the east, and the rising of the sun. Beyond them the
whole country is desert on account of the sand. The tribes of
Indians are numerous, and do not all speak the same language- some are
wandering tribes, others not. They who dwell in the marshes along
the river live on raw fish, which they take in boats made of reeds,
each formed out of a single joint. These Indians wear a dress of
sedge, which they cut in the river and bruise; afterwards they weave
it into mats, and wear it as we wear a breast-plate.
    Eastward of these Indians are another tribe, called Padaeans,
who are wanderers, and live on raw flesh. This tribe is said to have
the following customs:- If one of their number be ill, man or woman,
they take the sick person, and if he be a man, the men of his
acquaintance proceed to put him to death, because, they say, his flesh
would be spoilt for them if he pined and wasted away with sickness.
The man protests he is not ill in the least; but his friends will
not accept his denial- in spite of all he can say, they kill him,
and feast themselves on his body. So also if a woman be sick, the
women, who are her friends, take her and do with her exactly the
same as the men. If one of them reaches to old age, about which
there is seldom any question, as commonly before that time they have
had some disease or other, and so have been put to death- but if a
man, notwithstanding, comes to be old, then they offer him in
sacrifice to their gods, and afterwards eat his flesh.
    There is another set of Indians whose customs are very
different. They refuse to put any live animal to death, they sow no
corn, and have no dwelling-houses. Vegetables are their only food.
There is a plant which grows wild in their country, bearing seed,
about the size of millet-seed, in a calyx: their wont is to gather
this seed and having boiled it, calyx and all, to use it for food.
If one of them is attacked with sickness, he goes forth into the
wilderness, and lies down to die; no one has the least concern
either for the sick or for the dead.
    All the tribes which I have mentioned live together like the brute
beasts: they have also all the same tint of skin, which approaches
that of the Ethiopians. Their country is a long way from Persia
towards the south: nor had king Darius ever any authority over them.
    Besides these, there are Indians of another tribe, who border on
the city of Caspatyrus, and the country of Pactyica; these people
dwell northward of all the rest of the Indians, and follow nearly
the same mode of life as the Bactrians. They are more warlike than any
of the other tribes, and from them the men are sent forth who go to
procure the gold. For it is in this part of India that the sandy
desert lies. Here, in this desert, there live amid the sand great
ants, in size somewhat less than dogs, but bigger than foxes. The
Persian king has a number of them, which have been caught by the
hunters in the land whereof we are speaking. Those ants make their
dwellings under ground, and like the Greek ants, which they very
much resemble in shape, throw up sand-heaps as they burrow. Now the
sand which they throw up is full of gold. The Indians, when they go
into the desert to collect this sand, take three camels and harness
them together, a female in the middle and a male on either side, in
a leading-rein. The rider sits on the female, and they are
particular to choose for the purpose one that has but just dropped her
young; for their female camels can run as fast as horses, while they
bear burthens very much better.
    As the Greeks are well acquainted with the shape of the camel, I
shall not trouble to describe it; but I shall mention what seems to
have escaped their notice. The camel has in its hind legs four
thigh-bones and four knee-joints.
    When the Indians therefore have thus equipped themselves they
set off in quest of the gold, calculating the time so that they may be
engaged in seizing it during the most sultry part of the day, when the
ants hide themselves to escape the heat. The sun in those parts shines
fiercest in the morning, not, as elsewhere, at noonday; the greatest
heat is from the time when he has reached a certain height, until
the hour at which the market closes. During this space he burns much
more furiously than at midday in Greece, so that the men there are
said at that time to drench themselves with water. At noon his heat is
much the same in India as in other countries, after which, as the
day declines, the warmth is only equal to that of the morning sun
elsewhere. Towards evening the coolness increases, till about sunset
it becomes very cold.
    When the Indians reach the place where the gold is, they fill
their bags with the sand, and ride away at their best speed: the ants,
however, scenting them, as the Persians say, rush forth in pursuit.
Now these animals are, they declare, so swift, that there is nothing
in the world like them: if it were not, therefore, that the Indians
get a start while the ants are mustering, not a single gold-gatherer
could escape. During the flight the male camels, which are not so
fleet as the females, grow tired, and begin to drag, first one, and
then the other; but the females recollect the young which they have
left behind, and never give way or flag. Such, according to the
Persians, is the manner in which the Indians get the greater part of
their gold; some is dug out of the earth, but of this the supply is
more scanty.
    It seems as if the extreme regions of the earth were blessed by
nature with the most excellent productions, just in the same way
that Greece enjoys a climate more excellently tempered than any
other country. In India, which, as I observed lately, is the
furthest region of the inhabited world towards the east, all the
four-footed beasts and the birds are very much bigger than those found
elsewhere, except only the horses, which are surpassed by the Median
breed called the Nisaean. Gold too is produced there in vast
abundance, some dug from the earth, some washed down by the rivers,
some carried off in the mode which I have but now described. And
further, there are trees which grow wild there, the fruit whereof is a
wool exceeding in beauty and goodness that of sheep. The natives
make their clothes of this tree-wool.
    Arabia is the last of inhabited lands towards the south, and it is
the only country which produces frankincense, myrrh, cassia, cinnamon,
and ledanum. The Arabians do not get any of these, except the myrrh,
without trouble. The frankincense they procure by means of the gum
styrax, which the Greeks obtain from the Phoenicians; this they
burn, and thereby obtain the spice. For the trees which bear the
frankincense are guarded by winged serpents, small in size, and of
varied colours, whereof vast numbers hang about every tree. They are
of the same kind as the serpents that invade Egypt; and there is
nothing but the smoke of the styrax which will drive them from the
trees.
    The Arabians say that the whole world would swarm with these
serpents, if they were not kept in check in the way in which I know
that vipers are. Of a truth Divine Providence does appear to be, as
indeed one might expect beforehand, a wise contriver. For timid
animals which are a prey to others are all made to produce young
abundantly, that so the species may not be entirely eaten up and lost;
while savage and noxious creatures are made very unfruitful. The hare,
for instance, which is hunted alike by beasts, birds, and men,
breeds so abundantly as even to superfetate, a thing which is true
of no other animal. You find in a hare's belly, at one and the same
time, some of the young all covered with fur, others quite naked,
others again just fully formed in the womb, while the hare perhaps has
lately conceived afresh. The lioness, on the other hand, which is
one of the strongest and boldest of brutes, brings forth young but
once in her lifetime, and then a single cub; she cannot possibly
conceive again, since she loses her womb at the same time that she
drops her young. The reason of this is that as soon as the cub
begins to stir inside the dam, his claws, which are sharper than those
of any other animal, scratch the womb; as the time goes on, and he
grows bigger, he tears it ever more and more; so that at last, when
the birth comes, there is not a morsel in the whole womb that is
sound.
    Now with respect to the vipers and the winged snakes of Arabia, if
they increased as fast as their nature would allow, impossible were it
for man to maintain himself upon the earth. Accordingly it is found
that when the male and female come together, at the very moment of
impregnation, the female seizes the male by the neck, and having
once fastened, cannot be brought to leave go till she has bit the neck
entirely through. And so the male perishes; but after a while he is
revenged upon the female by means of the young, which, while still
unborn, gnaw a passage through the womb, and then through the belly of
their mother, and so make their entrance into the world. Contrariwise,
other snakes, which are harmless, lay eggs, and hatch a vast number of
young. Vipers are found in all parts of the world, but the winged
serpents are nowhere seen except in Arabia, where they are all
congregated together. This makes them appear so numerous.
    Such, then, is the way in which the Arabians obtain their
frankincense; their manner of collecting the cassia is the following:-
They cover all their body and their face with the hides of oxen and
other skins, leaving only holes for the eyes, and thus protected go in
search of the cassia, which grows in a lake of no great depth. All
round the shores and in the lake itself there dwell a number of winged
animals, much resembling bats, which screech horribly, and are very
valiant. These creatures they must keep from their eyes all the
while that they gather the cassia.
    Still more wonderful is the mode in which they collect the
cinnamon. Where the wood grows, and what country produces it, they
cannot tell- only some, following probability, relate that it comes
from the country in which Bacchus was brought up. Great birds, they
say, bring the sticks which we Greeks, taking the word from the
Phoenicians, call cinnamon, and carry them up into the air to make
their nests. These are fastened with a sort of mud to a sheer face
of rock, where no foot of man is able to climb. So the Arabians, to
get the cinnamon, use the following artifice. They cut all the oxen
and asses and beasts of burthen that die in their land into large
pieces, which they carry with them into those regions, and Place
near the nests: then they withdraw to a distance, and the old birds,
swooping down, seize the pieces of meat and fly with them up to
their nests; which, not being able to support the weight, break off
and fall to the ground. Hereupon the Arabians return and collect the
cinnamon, which is afterwards carried from Arabia into other
countries.
    Ledanum, which the Arabs call ladanum, is procured in a yet
stranger fashion. Found in a most inodorous place, it is the
sweetest-scented of all substances. It is gathered from the beards
of he-goats, where it is found sticking like gum, having come from the
bushes on which they browse. It is used in many sorts of unguents, and
is what the Arabs burn chiefly as incense.
    Concerning the spices of Arabia let no more be said. The whole
country is scented with them, and exhales an odour marvellously sweet.
There are also in Arabia two kinds of sheep worthy of admiration,
the like of which is nowhere else to be seen; the one kind has long
tails, not less than three cubits in length, which, if they were
allowed to trail on the ground, would be bruised and fall into
sores. As it is, all the shepherds know enough of carpentering to make
little trucks for their sheep's tails. The trucks are placed under the
tails, each sheep having one to himself, and the tails are then tied
down upon them. The other kind has a broad tail, which is a cubit
across sometimes.
    Where the south declines towards the setting sun lies the
country called Ethiopia, the last inhabited land in that direction.
There gold is obtained in great plenty, huge elephants abound, with
wild trees of all sorts, and ebony; and the men are taller, handsomer,
and longer lived than anywhere else.
    Now these are the farthest regions of the world in Asia and Libya.
Of the extreme tracts of Europe towards the west I cannot speak with
any certainty; for I do not allow that there is any river, to which
the barbarians give the name of Eridanus, emptying itself into the
northern sea, whence (as the tale goes) amber is procured; nor do I
know of any islands called the Cassiterides (Tin Islands), whence
the tin comes which we use. For in the first place the name Eridanus
is manifestly not a barbarian word at all, but a Greek name,
invented by some poet or other; and secondly, though I have taken vast
pains, I have never been able to get an assurance from an
eye-witness that there is any sea on the further side of Europe.
Nevertheless, tin and amber do certainly come to us from the ends of
the earth.
    The northern parts of Europe are very much richer in gold than any
other region: but how it is procured I have no certain knowledge.
The story runs that the one-eyed Arimaspi purloin it from the
griffins; but here too I am incredulous, and cannot persuade myself
that there is a race of men born with one eye, who in all else
resemble the rest of mankind. Nevertheless it seems to be true that
the extreme regions of the earth, which surround and shut up within
themselves all other countries, produce the things which are the
rarest, and which men reckon the most beautiful.
    There is a plain in Asia which is shut in on all sides by a
mountain-range, and in this mountain-range are five openings. The
plain lies on the confines of the Chorasmians, Hyrcanians,
Parthians, Sarangians, and Thamanaeans, and belonged formerly to the
first-mentioned of those peoples. Ever since the Persians, however,
obtained the mastery of Asia, it has been the property of the Great
King. A mighty river, called the Aces, flows from the hills
inclosing the plain; and this stream, formerly splitting into five
channels, ran through the five openings in the hills, and watered
the lands of the five nations which dwell around. The Persian came,
however, and conquered the region, and then it went ill with the
people of these lands. The Great King blocked up all the passages
between the hills with dykes and flood gates, and so prevented the
water from flowing out. Then the plain within the hills became a
sea, for the river kept rising, and the water could find no outlet.
>From that time the five nations which were wont formerly to have the
use of the stream, losing their accustomed supply of water, have
been in great distress. In winter, indeed, they have rain from
heaven like the rest of the world, but in summer, after sowing their
millet and their sesame, they always stand in need of water from the
river. When, therefore, they suffer from this want, hastening to
Persia, men and women alike, they take their station at the gate of
the king's palace, and wail aloud. Then the king orders the
flood-gates to be opened towards the country whose need is greatest,
and lets the soil drink until it has had enough; after which the gates
on this side are shut, and others are unclosed for the nation which,
of the remainder, needs it most. It has been told me that the king
never gives the order to open the gates till the suppliants have
paid him a large sum of money over and above the tribute.
    Of the seven Persians who rose up against the Magus, one,
Intaphernes, lost his life very shortly after the outbreak, for an act
of insolence. He wished to enter the palace and transact a certain
business with the king. Now the law was that all those who had taken
part in the rising against the Magus might enter unannounced into
the king's presence, unless he happened to be in private with his
wife. So Intaphernes would not have any one announce him, but, as he
belonged to the seven, claimed it as his right to go in. The
doorkeeper, however, and the chief usher forbade his entrance, since
the king, they said, was with his wife. But Intaphernes thought they
told lies; so, drawing his scymitar, he cut off their noses and
their ears, and, hanging them on the bridle of his horse, put the
bridle round their necks, and so let them go.
    Then these two men went and showed themselves to the king, and
told him how it had come to pass that they were thus treated. Darius
trembled lest it was by the common consent of the six that the deed
had been done; he therefore sent for them all in turn, and sounded
them to know if they approved the conduct of Intaphernes. When he
found by their answers that there had been no concert between him
and them, he laid hands on Intaphernes, his children, and all his near
kindred; strongly suspecting that he and his friends were about to
raise a revolt. When all had been seized and put in chains, as
malefactors condemned to death, the wife of Intaphernes came and stood
continually at the palace-gates, weeping and wailing sore. So Darius
after a while, seeing that she never ceased to stand and weep, was
touched with pity for her, and bade a messenger go to her and say,
"Lady, king Darius gives thee as a boon the life of one of thy
kinsmen- choose which thou wilt of the prisoners." Then she pondered
awhile before she answered, "If the king grants me the life of one
alone, I make choice of my brother." Darius, when he heard the
reply, was astonished, and sent again, saying, "Lady, the king bids
thee tell him why it is that thou passest by thy husband and thy
children, and preferrest to have the life of thy brother spared. He is
not so near to thee as thy children, nor so dear as thy husband."
She answered, "O king, if the gods will, I may have another husband
and other children when these are gone. But as my father and my mother
are no more, it is impossible that I should have another brother. This
was my thought when I asked to have my brother spared." Then it seemed
to Darius that the lady spoke well, and he gave her, besides the
life that she had asked, the life also of her eldest son, because he
was greatly pleased with her. But he slew all the rest. Thus one of
the seven died, in the way I have described, very shortly after the
insurrection.
    About the time of Cambyses' last sickness, the following events
happened. There was a certain Oroetes, a Persian, whom Cyrus had
made governor of Sardis. This man conceived a most unholy wish. He had
never suffered wrong or had an ill word from Polycrates the Samian-
nay, he had not so much as seen him in all his life; yet,
notwithstanding, he conceived the wish to seize him and put him to
death. This wish, according to the account which the most part give,
arose from what happened one day as he was sitting with another
Persian in the gate of the king's palace. The man's name was
Mitrobates, and he was ruler of the satrapy of Dascyleium. He and
Oroetes had been talking together, and from talking they fell to
quarrelling and comparing their merits; whereupon Mitrobates said to
Oroetes reproachfully, "Art thou worthy to be called a man, when, near
as Samos lies to thy government, and easy as it is to conquer, thou
hast omitted to bring it under the dominion of the king? Easy to
conquer, said I? Why, a mere common citizen, with the help of
fifteen men-at-arms, mastered the island, and is still king of it."
Oroetes, they say, took this reproach greatly to heart; but, instead
of seeking to revenge himself on the man by whom it was uttered, he
conceived the desire of destroying Polycrates, since it was on
Polycrates' account that the reproach had fallen on him.
    Another less common version of the story is that Oroetes sent a
herald to Samos to make a request, the nature of which is not
stated; Polycrates was at the time reclining in the apartment of the
males, and Anacreon the Teian was with him; when therefore the
herald came forward to converse, Polycrates, either out of studied
contempt for the power of Oroetes, or it may be merely by chance,
was lying with his face turned away towards the wall; and so he lay
all the time that the herald spake, and when he ended, did not even
vouchsafe him a word.
    Such are the two reasons alleged for the death of Polycrates; it
is open to all to believe which they please. What is certain is that
Oroetes, while residing at Magnesia on the Maeander, sent a Lydian, by
name Myrsus, the son of Gyges, with a message to Polycrates at
Samos, well knowing what that monarch designed. For Polycrates
entertained a design which no other Greek, so far as we know, ever
formed before him, unless it were Minos the Cnossian, and those (if
there were any such) who had the mastery of the Egaean at an earlier
time- Polycrates, I say, was the first of mere human birth who
conceived the design of gaining the empire of the sea, and aspired
to rule over Ionia and the islands. Knowing then that Polycrates was
thus minded, Oroetes sent his message, which ran as follows:-
    "Oroetes to Polycrates thus sayeth: I hear thou raisest thy
thoughts high, but thy means are not equal to thy ambition. Listen
then to my words, and learn how thou mayest at once serve thyself
and preserve me. King Cambyses is bent on my destruction- of this I
have warning from a sure hand. Come thou, therefore, and fetch me
away, me and all my wealth- share my wealth with me, and then, so
far as money can aid, thou mayest make thyself master of the whole
of Greece. But if thou doubtest of my wealth, send the trustiest of
thy followers, and I will show my treasures to him."
    Polycrates, when he heard this message, was full of joy, and
straightway approved the terms; but, as money was what he chiefly
desired, before stirring in the business he sent his secretary,
Maeandrius, son of Maeandrius, a Samian, to look into the matter. This
was the man who, not very long afterwards, made an offering at the
temple of Juno of all the furniture which had adorned the male
apartments in the palace of Polycrates, an offering well worth seeing.
Oroetes learning that one was coming to view his treasures,
contrived as follows:- he filled eight great chests almost brimful
of stones, and then covering over the stones with gold, corded the
chests, and so held them in readiness. When Maeandrius arrived, he was
shown this as Oroetes' treasure, and having seen it returned to Samos.
    On hearing his account, Polycrates, notwithstanding many
warnings given him by the soothsayers, and much dissuasion of his
friends, made ready to go in person. Even the dream which visited
his daughter failed to check him. She had dreamed that she saw her
father hanging high in air, washed by love, and anointed by the sun.
Having therefore thus dreamed, she used every effort to prevent her
father from going; even as he went on board his penteconter crying
after him with words of evil omen. Then Polycrates threatened her
that, if he returned in safety, he would keep her unmarried many
years. She answered, "Oh! that he might perform his threat; far better
for her to remain long unmarried than to be bereft of her father!"
    Polycrates, however, making light of all the counsel offered
him, set sail and went to Oroetes. Many friends accompanied him; among
the rest, Democedes, the son of Calliphon, a native of Crotona, who
was a physician, and the best skilled in his art of all men then
living. Polycrates, on his arrival at Magnesia, perished miserably, in
a way unworthy of his rank and of his lofty schemes. For, if we except
the Syracusans, there has never been one of the Greek tyrants who
was to be compared with Polycrates for magnificence. Oroetes, however,
slew him in a mode which is not fit to be described, and then hung his
dead body upon a cross. His Samian followers Oroetes let go free,
bidding them thank him that they were allowed their liberty; the rest,
who were in part slaves, in part free foreigners, he alike treated
as his slaves by conquest. Then was the dream of the daughter of
Polycrates fulfilled; for Polycrates, as he hung upon the cross, and
rain fell on him, was washed by Jupiter; and he was anointed by the
sun, when his own moisture overspread his body. And so the vast good
fortune of Polycrates came at last to the end which Amasis the
Egyptian king had prophesied in days gone by.
    It was not long before retribution for the murder of Polycrates
overtook Oroetes. After the death of Cambyses, and during all the time
that the Magus sat upon the throne, Oroetes remained in Sardis, and
brought no help to the Persians, whom the Medes had robbed of the
sovereignty. On the contrary, amid the troubles of this season, he
slew Mitrobates, the satrap of Dascyleium, who had cast the reproach
upon him in the matter of Polycrates; and he slew also Mitrobates's
son, Cranaspes- both men of high repute among the Persians. He was
likewise guilty of many other acts of insolence; among the rest, of
the following:- there was a courier sent to him by Darius whose
message was not to his mind- Oroetes had him waylaid and murdered on
his road back to the king; the man and his horse both disappeared, and
no traces were left of either.
    Darius therefore was no sooner settled upon the throne than he
longed to take vengeance upon Oroetes for all his misdoings, and
especially for the murder of Mitrobates and his son. To send an
armed force openly against him, however, he did not think advisable,
as the whole kingdom was still unsettled, and he too was but lately
come to the throne, while Oroetes, as he understood, had a great
power. In truth a thousand Persians attended on him as a bodyguard,
and he held the satrapies of Phrygia, Lydia, and Ionia. Darius
therefore proceeded by artifice. He called together a meeting of all
the chief of the Persians, and thus addressed them:- "Who among you, O
Persians, will undertake to accomplish me a matter by skill without
force or tumult? Force is misplaced where the work wants skilful
management. Who, then, will undertake to bring me Oroetes alive, or
else to kill him? He never did the Persians any good in his life,
and he has wrought us abundant injury. Two of our number, Mitrobates
and his son, he has slain; and when messengers go to recall him,
even though they have their mandate from me, with an insolence which
is not to be endured, he puts them to death. We must kill this man,
therefore, before he does the Persians any greater hurt."
    Thus spoke Darius; and straightway thirty of those present came
forward and offered themselves for the work. As they strove
together, Darius interfered, and bade them have recourse to the lot.
Accordingly lots were cast, and the task fell to Bagaeus, son of
Artontes. Then Bagaeus caused many letters to be written on divers
matters, and sealed them all with the king's signet; after which he
took the letters with him, and departed for Sardis. On his arrival
he was shown into the presence of Oroetes, when he uncovered the
letters one by one, and giving them to the king's secretary- every
satrap has with him a king's secretary- commanded him to read their
contents. Herein his design was to try the fidelity of the
bodyguard, and to see if they would be likely to fall away from
Oroetes. When therefore he saw that they showed the letters all due
respect, and even more highly reverenced their contents, he gave the
secretary a paper in which was written, "Persians, king Darius forbids
you to guard Oroetes." The soldiers at these words laid aside their
spears. So Bagaeus, finding that they obeyed this mandate, took
courage, and gave into the secretary's hands the last letter,
wherein it was written, "King Darius commands the Persians who are
in Sardis to kill Oroetes." Then the guards drew their swords and slew
him upon the spot. Thus did retribution for the murder of Polycrates
the Samian overtake Oroetes the Persian.
    Soon after the treasures of Oroetes had been conveyed to Sardis it
happened that king Darius, as he leaped from his horse during the
chase, sprained his foot. The sprain was one of no common severity,
for the ankle-bone was forced quite out of the socket. Now Darius
already had at his court certain Egyptians whom he reckoned the
best-skilled physicians in all the world; to their aid, therefore,
he had recourse; but they twisted the foot so clumsily, and used
such violence, that they only made the mischief greater. For seven
days and seven nights the king lay without sleep, so grievous was
the pain he suffered. On the eighth day of his indisposition, one
who had heard before leaving Sardis of the skill of Democedes the
Crotoniat, told Darius, who commanded that he should be brought with
all speed into his presence. When, therefore, they had found him among
the slaves of Oroetes, quite uncared for by any one, they brought
him just as he was, clanking his fetters, and all clothed in rags,
before the king.
    As soon as he was entered into the presence, Darius asked him if
he knew medicine- to which he answered "No," for he feared that if
he made himself known he would lose all chance of ever again beholding
Greece. Darius, however, perceiving that he dealt deceitfully, and
really understood the art, bade those who had brought him to the
presence go fetch the scourges and the pricking-irons. Upon this
Democedes made confession, but at the same time said, that he had no
thorough knowledge of medicine- he had but lived some time with a
physician, and in this way had gained a slight smattering of the
art. However, Darius put himself under his care, and Democedes, by
using the remedies customary among the Greeks, and exchanging the
violent treatment of the Egyptians for milder means, first enabled him
to get some sleep, and then in a very little time restored him
altogether, after he had quite lost the hope of ever having the use of
his foot. Hereupon the king presented Democedes with two sets of
fetters wrought in gold; so Democedes asked if he meant to double
his sufferings because he had brought him back to health? Darius was
pleased at the speech, and bade the eunuchs take Democedes to see
his wives, which they did accordingly, telling them all that this
was the man who had saved the king's life. Then each of the wives
dipped with a saucer into a chest of gold, and gave so bountifully
to Democedes, that a slave named Sciton, who followed him, and
picked up the staters which fell from the saucers, gathered together a
great heap of gold.
    This Democedes left his country and became attached to
Polycrates in the following way:- His father, who dwelt at Crotona,
was a man of a savage temper, and treated him cruelly. When,
therefore, he could no longer bear such constant ill-usage,
Democedes left his home, and sailed away to Egina. There he set up
in business, and succeeded the first year in surpassing all the
best-skilled physicians of the place, notwithstanding that he was
without instruments, and had with him none of the appliances needful
for the practice of his art. In the second year the state of Egina
hired his services at the price of a talent; in the third the
Athenians engaged him at a hundred minae; and in the fourth Polycrates
at two talents. So he went to Samos, and there took up his abode. It
was in no small measure from his success that the Crotoniats came to
be reckoned such good physicians; for about this period the physicians
of Crotona had the name of being the best, and those of Cyrene the
second best, in all Greece. The Argives, about the same time, were
thought to be the first musicians in Greece.
    After Democedes had cured Darius at Susa, he dwelt there in a
large house, and feasted daily at the king's table, nor did he lack
anything that his heart desired, excepting liberty to return to his
country. By interceding for them with Darius, he saved the lives of
the Egyptian physicians who had had the care of the king before he
came, when they were about to be impaled because they had been
surpassed by a Greek; and further, he succeeded in rescuing an Elean
soothsayer, who had followed the fortunes of Polycrates, and was lying
in utter neglect among his slaves. In short there was no one who stood
so high as Democedes in the favour of the king.
    Moreover, within a little while it happened that Atossa, the
daughter of Cyrus, who was married to Darius, had a boil form upon her
breast, which, after it burst, began to spread and increase. Now so
long as the sore was of no great size, she hid it through shame and
made no mention of it to any one; but when it became worse, she sent
at last for Democedes, and showed it to him. Democedes said that he
would make her well, but she must first promise him with an oath
that if he cured her she would grant him whatever request he might
prefer; assuring her at the same time that it should be nothing
which she could blush to hear.
    On these terms Democedes applied his art, and soon cured the
abscess; and Atossa, when she had heard his request, spake thus one
night to Darius:-
    "It seemeth to me strange, my lord, that, with the mighty power
which is thine, thou sittest idle, and neither makest any conquest,
nor advancest the power of the Persians. Methinks that one who is so
young, and so richly endowed with wealth, should perform some noble
achievement to prove to the Persians that it is a man who governs
them. Another reason, too, should urge thee to attempt some
enterprise. Not only does it befit thee to show the Persians that a
man rules them, but for thy own peace thou shouldest waste their
strength in wars lest idleness breed revolt against thy authority.
Now, too, whilst thou art still young, thou mayest well accomplish
some exploit; for as the body grows in strength the mind too ripens,
and as the body ages, the mind's powers decay, till at last it becomes
dulled to everything."
    So spake Atossa, as Democedes had instructed her. Darius
answered:- "Dear lady, thou hast uttered the very thoughts that occupy
my brain. I am minded to construct a bridge which shall join our
continent with the other, and so carry war into Scythia. Yet a brief
space and all will be accomplished as thou desirest."
    But Atossa rejoined:- "Look now, this war with Scythia were best
reserved awhile- for the Scythians may be conquered at any time.
Prithee, lead me thy host first into Greece. I long to be served by
some of those Lacedaemonian maids of whom I have heard so much. I want
also Argive, and Athenian, and Corinthian women. There is now at the
court a man who can tell thee better than any one else in the whole
world whatever thou wouldst know concerning Greece, and who might
serve thee right well as guide; I mean him who performed the cure on
thy foot."
    "Dear lady," Darius answered, "since it is thy wish that we try
first the valour of the Greeks, it were best, methinks, before
marching against them, to send some Persians to spy out the land; they
may go in company with the man thou mentionest, and when they have
seen and learnt all, they can bring us back a full report. Then,
having a more perfect knowledge of them, I will begin the war."
    Darius, having so spoke, put no long distance between the word and
the deed, but as soon as day broke he summoned to his presence fifteen
Persians of note, and bade them take Democedes for their guide, and
explore the sea-coasts of Greece. Above all, they were to be sure to
bring Democedes back with them, and not suffer him to run away and
escape. After he had given these orders, Darius sent for Democedes,
and besought him to serve as guide to the Persians, and when he had
shown them the whole of Greece to come back to Persia. He should take,
he said, all the valuables he possessed as presents to his father
and his brothers, and he should receive on his return a far more
abundant store. Moreover, the king added, he would give him, as his
contribution towards the presents, a merchantship laden with all
manner of precious things, which should accompany him on his voyage.
Now I do not believe that Darius, when he made these promises, had any
guile in his heart: Democedes, however, who suspected that the king
spoke to try him, took care not to snatch at the offers with any
haste; but said, "he would leave his own goods behind to enjoy upon
his return- the merchant-ship which the king proposed to grant him
to carry gifts to his brothers, that he would accept at the king's
hands." So when Darius had laid his orders upon Democedes, he sent him
and the Persians away to the coast.
    The men went down to Phoenicia, to Sidon, the Phoenician town,
where straightway they fitted out two triremes and a trading-vessel,
which they loaded with all manner of precious merchandise; and,
everything being now ready, they set sail for Greece. When they had
made the land, they kept along the shore and examined it, taking notes
of all that they saw; and in this way they explored the greater
portion of the country, and all the most famous regions, until at last
they reached Tarentum in Italy. There Aristophilides, king of the
Tarentines, out of kindness to Democedes, took the rudders off the
Median ships, and detained their crews as spies. Meanwhile Democedes
escaped to Crotona, his native city, whereupon Aristophilides released
the Persians from prison, and gave their rudders back to them.
    The Persians now quitted Tarentum, and sailed to Crotona in
pursuit of Democedes; they found him in the market-place, where they
straightway laid violent hands on him. Some of the Crotoniats, who
greatly feared the power of the Persians, were willing to give him up;
but others resisted, held Democedes fast, and even struck the Persians
with their walking-sticks. They, on their part, kept crying out,
"Men of Crotona, beware what you do. It is the king's runaway slave
that you are rescuing. Think you Darius will tamely submit to such
an insult? Think you, that if you carry off the man from us, it will
hereafter go well with you? Will you not rather be the first persons
on whom we shall make war? Will not your city be the first we shall
seek to lead away captive?" Thus they spake, but the Crotoniats did
not heed them; they rescued Democedes, and seized also the
trading-ship which the Persians had brought with them from
Phoenicia. Thus robbed, and bereft of their guide, the Persians gave
up all hope of exploring the rest of Greece, and set sail for Asia. As
they were departing, Democedes sent to them and begged they would
inform Darius that the daughter of Milo was allianced to him as his
bride. For the name of Milo the wrestler was in high repute with the
king. My belief is, that Democedes hastened his marriage by the
payment of a large sum of money for the purpose of showing Darius that
he was a man of mark in his own country.
    The Persians weighed anchor and left Crotona, but, being wrecked
on the coast of Iapygia, were made slaves by the inhabitants. From
this condition they were rescued by Gillus, a banished Tarentine,
who ransomed them at his own cost, and took them back to Darius.
Darius offered to repay this service by granting Gillus whatever
boon he chose to ask; whereupon Gillus told the king of his
misfortune, and begged to be restored to his country. Fearing,
however, that he might bring trouble on Greece if a vast armament were
sent to Italy on his account, he added that it would content him if
the Cnidians undertook to obtain his recall. Now the Cnidians were
dose friends of the Tarentines, which made him think there was no
likelier means of procuring his return. Darius promised and
performed his part; for he sent messenger to Cnidus, and commanded the
Cnidians to restore Gillus. The Cnidians did as he wished, but found
themselves unable to persuade the Tarentines, and were too weak to
attempt force. Such then was the course which this matter took.
These were the first Persians who ever came from Asia to Greece; and
they were sent to spy out the land for the reason which I have
before mentioned.
    After this, king Darius besieged and took Samos, which was the
first city, Greek or Barbarian, that he conquered. The cause of his
making war upon Samos was the following:- at the time when Cambyses,
son of Cyrus, marched against Egypt, vast numbers of Greeks flocked
thither; some, as might have been looked for, to push their trade;
others, to serve in his army; others again, merely to see the land:
among these last was Syloson, son of Aeaces, and brother of
Polycrates, at that time an exile from Samos. This Syloson, during his
stay in Egypt, met with a singular piece of good fortune. He
happened one day to put on a scarlet cloak, and thus attired to go
into the market-place at Memphis, when Dariuss who was one of
Cambyses' bodyguard, and not at that time a man of any account, saw
him, and taking a strong liking to the dress, went up and offered to
purchase it. Syloson perceived how anxious he was, and by a lucky
inspiration answered: "There is no price at which I would sell my
cloak; but I will give it thee for nothing, if it must needs be
thine." Darius thanked him, and accepted the garment.
    Poor Syloson felt at the time that he had fooled away his cloak in
a very simple manner; but afterwards, when in the course of years
Cambyses died, and the seven Persians rose in revolt against the
Magus, and Darius was the man chosen out of the seven to have the
kingdom, Syloson learnt that the person to whom the crown had come was
the very man who had coveted his cloak in Egypt, and to whom he had
freely given it. So he made his way to Susa, and seating himself at
the portal of the royal palace, gave out that he was a benefactor of
the king. Then the doorkeeper went and told Darius. Amazed at what
he heard, king said thus within himself:- "What Greek can have been my
benefactor, or to which of them do I owe anything, so lately as I have
got the kingdom? Scarcely a man of them all has been here, not more
than one or two certainly, since I came to the throne. Nor do I
remember that I am in the debt of any Greek. However, bring him in,
and let me hear what he means by his boast." So the doorkeeper ushered
Syloson into the presence, and the interpreters asked him who he
was, and what he had done that he should call himself a benefactor
of the king. Then Syloson told the whole story of the cloak, and
said that it was he who had made Darius the present. Hereupon Darius
exclaimed, "Oh! thou most generous of men, art thou indeed he who,
when I had no power at all, gavest me something, albeit little?
Truly the favour is as great as a very grand present would be
nowadays. I will therefore give thee in return gold and silver without
stint, that thou mayest never repent of having rendered a service to
Darius, son of Hystaspes. "Give me not, O king," replied Syloson,
"either silver or gold, but recover me Samos, my native land, and
let that be thy gift to me. It belongs now to a slave of ours, who,
when Oroetes put my brother Polycrates to death, became its master.
Give me Samos, I beg; but give it unharmed, with no bloodshed- no
leading into captivity."
    When he heard this, Darius sent off an army, under Otanes, one
of the seven, with orders to accomplish all that Syloson had
desired. And Otanes went down to the coast and made ready to cross
over.
    The government of Samos was held at this time by Maeandrius, son
of Maeandrius, whom Polycrates had appointed as his deputy. This
person conceived the wish to act like the justest of men, but it was
not allowed him to do so. On receiving tidings of the death of
Polycrates, he forthwith raised an altar to love the Protector of
Freedom, and assigned it the piece of ground which may still be seen
in the suburb. This done, he assembled all the citizens, and spoke
to them as follows:-
    "Ye know, friends, that the sceptre of Polycrates, and all his
power, has passed into my hands, and if I choose I may rule over
you. But what I condemn in another I will, if I may, avoid myself. I
never approved the ambition of Polycrates to lord it over men as
good as himself, nor looked with favour on any of those who have
done the like. Now therefore, since he has fulfilled his destiny, I
lay down my office, and proclaim equal rights. All that I claim in
return is six talents from the treasures of Polycrates, and the
priesthood of Jove the Protector of Freedom, for myself and my
descendants for ever. Allow me this, as the man by whom his temple has
been built, and by whom ye yourselves are now restored to liberty." As
soon as Maeandrius had ended, one of the Samians rose up and said, "As
if thou wert fit to rule us, base-born and rascal as thou art! Think
rather of accounting for the monies which thou hast fingered."
    The man who thus spoke was a certain Telesarchus, one of the
leading citizens. Maeandrius, therefore, feeling sure that if he
laid down the sovereign power some one else would become tyrant in his
room, gave up the thought of relinquishing it. Withdrawing to the
citadel, he sent for the chief men one by one, under pretence of
showing them his accounts, and as fast as they came arrested them
and put them in irons. So these men were bound; and Maeandrius
within a short time fell sick: whereupon Lycaretus, one of his
brothers, thinking that he was going to die, and wishing to make his
own accession to the throne the easier, slew all the prisoners. It
seemed that the Samians did not choose to be a free people.
    When the Persians whose business it was to restore Syloson reached
Samos, not a man was found to lift up his hand against them.
Maeandrius and his partisans expressed themselves willing to quit
the island upon certain terms, and these terms were agreed to by
Otanes. After the treaty was made, the most distinguished of the
Persians had their thrones brought, and seated themselves over against
the citadel.
    Now the king Maeandrius had a lightheaded brother- Charilaus by
name- whom for some offence or other he had shut up in prison: this
man heard what was going on, and peering through his bars, saw the
Persians sitting peacefully upon their seats, whereupon he exclaimed
aloud, and said he must speak with Maeandrius. When this was
reported to him, Maeandrius gave orders that Charilaus should be
released from prison and brought into his presence. No sooner did he
arrive than he began reviling and abusing his brother, and strove to
persuade him to attack the Persians. "Thou meanest-spirited of men,"
he said, "thou canst keep me, thy brother, chained in a dungeon,
notwithstanding that I have done nothing worthy of bonds; but when the
Persians come and drive thee forth a houseless wanderer from thy
native land, thou lookest on, and hast not the heart to seek
revenge, though they might so easily be subdued. If thou, however, art
afraid, lend me thy soldiers, and I will make them pay dearly for
their coming here. I engage too to send thee first safe out of the
island."
    So spake Charilaus, and Maeandrius gave consent; not (I believe)
that he was so void of sense as to imagine that his own forces could
overcome those of the king, but because he was jealous of Syloson, and
did not wish him to get so quietly an unharmed city. He desired
therefore to rouse the anger of the Persians against Samos, that so he
might deliver it up to Syloson with its power at the lowest possible
ebb; for he knew well that if the Persians met with a disaster they
would be furious against the Samians, while he himself felt secure
of a retreat at any time that he liked, since he had a secret
passage under ground leading from the citadel to the sea. Maeandrius
accordingly took ship and sailed away from Samos; and Charilaus,
having armed all the mercenaries, threw open the gates, and fell
upon the Persians, who looked for nothing less, since they supposed
that the whole matter had been arranged by treaty. At the first
onslaught therefore all the Persians of most note, men who were in the
habit of using litters, were slain by the mercenaries; the rest of the
army, however, came to the rescue, defeated the mercenaries, and drove
them back into the citadel.
    Then Otanes, the general, when he saw the great calamity which had
befallen the Persians, made up his mind to forget the orders which
Darius had given him, "not to kill or enslave a single Samian, but
to deliver up the island unharmed to Syloson," and gave the word to
his army that they should slay the Samians, both men and boys,
wherever they could find them. Upon this some of his troops laid siege
to the citadel, while others began the massacre, killing all they met,
some outside, some inside the temples.
    Maeandrius fled from Samos to Lacedaemon, and conveyed thither all
the riches which he had brought away from the island, after which he
acted as follows. Having placed upon his board all the gold and silver
vessels that he had, and bade his servants employ themselves in
cleaning them, he himself went and entered into conversation with
Cleomenes, son of Anaxandridas, king of Sparta, and as they talked
brought him along to his house. There Cleomenes, seeing the plate, was
filled with wonder and astonishment; whereon the other begged that
he would carry home with him any of the vessels that he liked.
Maeandrius said this two or three times; but Cleomenes here
displayed surpassing honesty. He refused the gift, and thinking that
if Maeandrius made the same offers to others he would get the aid he
sought, the Spartan king went straight to the ephors and told them "it
would be best for Sparta that the Samian stranger should be sent
away from the Peloponnese; for otherwise he might perchance persuade
himself or some other Spartan to be base." The ephors took his advice,
and let Maeandrius know by a herald that he must leave the city.
    Meanwhile the Persians netted Samos, and delivered it up to
Syloson, stripped of all its men. After some time, however, this
same general Otanes was induced to repeople it by a dream which he
had, and a loathsome disease that seized on him.
    After the armament of Otanes had set sail for Samos, the
Babylonians revolted, having made every preparation for defence.
During all the time that the Magus was king, and while the seven
were conspiring, they had profited by the troubles, and had made
themselves ready against a siege. And it happened somehow or other
that no one perceived what they were doing. At last when the time came
for rebelling openly, they did as follows:- having first set apart
their mothers, each man chose besides out of his whole household one
woman, whomsoever he pleased; these alone were allowed to live,
while all the rest were brought to one place and strangled. The
women chosen were kept to make bread for the men; while the others
were strangled that they might not consume the stores.
    When tidings reached Darius of what had happened, he drew together
all his power, and began the war by marching straight upon Babylon,
and laying siege to the place. The Babylonians, however, cared not a
whit for his siege. Mounting upon the battlements that crowned their
walls, they insulted and jeered at Darius and his mighty host. One
even shouted to them and said, "Why sit ye there, Persians? why do
ye not go back to your homes? Till mules foal ye will not take our
city." This was by a Babylonian who thought that a mule would never
foal.
    Now when a year and seven months had passed, Darius and his army
were quite wearied out, finding that they could not anyhow take the
city. All stratagems and all arts had been used, and yet the king
could not prevail- not even when he tried the means by which Cyrus
made himself master of the place. The Babylonians were ever upon the
watch, and he found no way of conquering them.
    At last, in the twentieth month, a marvellous thing happened to
Zopyrus, son of the Megabyzus who was among the seven men that
overthrew the Magus. One of his sumpter-mules gave birth to a foal.
Zopyrus, when they told him, not thinking that it could be true,
went and saw the colt with his own eyes; after which he commanded
his servants to tell no one what had come to pass, while he himself
pondered the matter. Calling to mind then the words of the
Babylonian at the beginning of the siege, "Till mules foal ye shall
not take our city"- he thought, as he reflected on this speech, that
Babylon might now be taken. For it seemed to him that there was a
Divine Providence in the man having used the phrase, and then his mule
having foaled.
    As soon therefore as he felt within himself that Babylon was fated
to be taken, he went to Darius and asked him if he set a very high
value on its conquest. When he found that Darius did indeed value it
highly, he considered further with himself how he might make the
deed his own, and be the man to take Babylon. Noble exploits in Persia
are ever highly honoured and bring their authors to greatness. He
therefore reviewed all ways of bringing the city under, but found none
by which he could hope to prevail, unless he maimed himself and then
went over to the enemy. To do this seeming to him a light matter, he
mutilated himself in a way that was utterly without remedy. For he cut
off his own nose and ears, and then, clipping his hair close and
flogging himself with a scourge, he came in this plight before Darius.
    Wrath stirred within the king at the sight of a man of his lofty
rank in such a condition; leaping down from his throne, he exclaimed
aloud, and asked Zopyrus who it was that had disfigured him, and
what he had done to be so treated. Zopyrus answered, "There is not a
man in the world, but thou, O king, that could reduce me to such a
plight- no stranger's hands have wrought this work on me, but my own
only. I maimed myself I could not endure that the Assyrians should
laugh at the Persians." "Wretched man," said Darius, "thou coverest
the foulest deed with the fairest possible name, when thou sayest
thy maiming is to help our siege forward. How will thy
disfigurement, thou simpleton, induce the enemy to yield one day the
sooner? Surely thou hadst gone out of thy mind when thou didst so
misuse thyself." "Had I told thee," rejoined the other, "what I was
bent on doing, thou wouldest not have suffered it; as it is, I kept my
own counsel, and so accomplished my plans. Now, therefore, if there be
no failure on thy part, we shall take Babylon. I will desert to the
enemy as I am, and when I get into their city I will tell them that it
is by thee I have been thus treated. I think they will believe my
words, and entrust me with a command of troops. Thou, on thy part,
must wait till the tenth day after I am entered within the town, and
then place near to the gates of Semiramis a detachment of thy army,
troops for whose loss thou wilt care little, a thousand men. Wait,
after that, seven days, and post me another detachment, two thousand
strong, at the Nineveh gates; then let twenty days pass, and at the
end of that time station near the Chaldaean gates a body of four
thousand. Let neither these nor the former troops be armed with any
weapons but their swords- those thou mayest leave them. After the
twenty days are over, bid thy whole army attack the city on every
side, and put me two bodies of Persians, one at the Belian, the
other at the Cissian gates; for I expect, that, on account of my
successes, the Babylonians will entrust everything, even the keys of
their gates, to me. Then it will be for me and my Persians to do the
rest."
    Having left these instructions, Zopyrus fled towards the gates
of the town, often looking back, to give himself the air of a
deserter. The men upon the towers, whose business it was to keep a
lookout, observing him, hastened down, and setting one of the gates
slightly ajar, questioned him who he was, and on what errand he had
come. He replied that he was Zopyrus, and had deserted to them from
the Persians. Then the doorkeepers, when they heard this, carried
him at once before the Magistrates. Introduced into the assembly, he
began to bewail his misfortunes, telling them that Darius had
maltreated him in the way they could see, only because he had given
advice that the siege should be raised, since there seemed no hope
of taking the city. "And now," he went on to say, "my coming to you,
Babylonians, will prove the greatest gain that you could possibly
receive, while to Darius and the Persians it will be the severest
loss. Verily he by whom I have been so mutilated shall not escape
unpunished. And truly all the paths of his counsels are known to
me." Thus did Zopyrus speak.
    The Babylonians, seeing a Persian of such exalted rank in so
grievous a plight, his nose and ears cut off, his body red with
marks of scourging and with blood, had no suspicion but that he
spoke the truth, and was really come to be their friend and helper.
They were ready, therefore, to grant him anything that he asked; and
on his suing for a command, they entrusted to him a body of troops,
with the help of which he proceeded to do as he had arranged with
Darius. On the tenth day after his flight he led out his detachment,
and surrounding the thousand men, whom Darius according to agreement
had sent first, he fell upon them and slew them all. Then the
Babylonians, seeing that his deeds were as brave as his words, were
beyond measure pleased, and set no bounds to their trust. He waited,
however, and when the next period agreed on had elapsed, again with
a band of picked men he sallied forth, and slaughtered the two
thousand. After this second exploit, his praise was in all mouths.
Once more, however, he waited till the interval appointed had gone by,
and then leading the troops to the place where the four thousand were,
he put them also to the sword. This last victory gave the finishing
stroke to his power, and made him all in all with the Babylonians:
accordingly they committed to him the command of their whole army, and
put the keys of their city into his hands.
    Darius now, still keeping to the plan agreed upon, attacked the
walls on every side, whereupon Zopyrus played out the remainder of his
stratagem. While the Babylonians, crowding to the walls, did their
best to resist the Persian assault, he threw open the Cissian and
the Belian gates, and admitted the enemy. Such of the Babylonians as
witnessed the treachery, took refuge in the temple of Jupiter Belus;
the rest, who did not see it, kept at their posts, till at last they
too learnt that they were betrayed.
    Thus was Babylon taken for the second time. Darius having become
master of the place, destroyed the wall, and tore down all the
gates; for Cyrus had done neither the one nor the other when he took
Babylon. He then chose out near three thousand of the leading
citizens, and caused them to be crucified, while he allowed the
remainder still to inhabit the city. Further, wishing to prevent the
race of the Babylonians from becoming extinct, he provided wives for
them in the room of those whom (as I explained before) they strangled,
to save their stores. These he levied from the nations bordering on
Babylonia, who were each required to send so large a number to
Babylon, that in all there were collected no fewer than fifty
thousand. It is from these women that the Babylonians of our times are
sprung.
    As for Zopyrus, he was considered by Darius to have surpassed,
in the greatness of his achievements, all other Persians, whether of
former or of later times, except only Cyrus- with whom no Persian ever
yet thought himself worthy to compare. Darius, as the story goes,
would often say that "he had rather Zopyrus were unmaimed, than be
master of twenty more Babylons." And he honoured Zopyrus greatly; year
by year he presented him with all the gifts which are held in most
esteem among the Persians; he gave him likewise the government of
Babylon for his life, free from tribute; and he also granted him
many other favours. Megabyzus, who held the command in Egypt against
the Athenians and their allies, was a son of this Zopyrus. And
Zopyrus, who fled from Persia to Athens, was a son of this Megabyzus.
                        The Fourth Book, Entitled
                                MELPOMENE

    After the taking of Babylon, an expedition was led by Darius
into Scythia. Asia abounding in men, and vast sums flowing into the
treasury, the desire seized him to exact vengeance from the Scyths,
who had once in days gone by invaded Media, defeated those who met
them in the field, and so begun the quarrel. During the space of
eight-and-twenty years, as I have before mentioned, the Scyths
continued lords of the whole of Upper Asia. They entered Asia in
pursuit of the Cimmerians, and overthrew the empire of the Medes,
who till they came possessed the sovereignty. On their return to their
homes after the long absence of twenty-eight years, a task awaited
them little less troublesome than their struggle with the Medes.
They found an army of no small size prepared to oppose their entrance.
For the Scythian women, when they saw that time went on, and their
husbands did not come back, had intermarried with their slaves.
    Now the Scythians blind all their slaves, to use them in preparing
their milk. The plan they follow is to thrust tubes made of bone,
not unlike our musical pipes, up the vulva of the mare, and then to
blow into the tubes with their mouths, some milking while the others
blow. They say that they do this because when the veins of the
animal are full of air, the udder is forced down. The milk thus
obtained is poured into deep wooden casks, about which the blind
slaves are placed, and then the milk is stirred round. That which
rises to the top is drawn off, and considered the best part; the under
portion is of less account. Such is the reason why the Scythians blind
all those whom they take in war; it arises from their not being
tillers of the ground, but a pastoral race.
    When therefore the children sprung from these slaves and the
Scythian women grew to manhood, and understood the circumstances of
their birth, they resolved to oppose the army which was returning from
Media. And, first of all, they cut off a tract of country from the
rest of Scythia by digging a broad dyke from the Tauric mountains to
the vast lake of the Maeotis. Afterwards, when the Scythians tried
to force an entrance, they marched out and engaged them. Many
battles were fought, and the Scythians gained no advantage, until at
last one of them thus addressed the remainder: "What are we doing,
Scythians? We are fighting our slaves, diminishing our own number when
we fall, and the number of those that belong to us when they fall by
our hands. Take my advice- lay spear and bow aside, and let each man
fetch his horsewhip, and go boldly up to them. So long as they see
us with arms in our hands, they imagine themselves our equals in birth
and bravery; but let them behold us with no other weapon but the whip,
and they will feel that they are our slaves, and flee before us."
    The Scythians followed this counsel, and the slaves were so
astounded, that they forgot to fight, and immediately ran away. Such
was the mode in which the Scythians, after being for a time the
lords of Asia, and being forced to quit it by the Medes, returned
and settled in their own country. This inroad of theirs it was that
Darius was anxious to avenge, and such was the purpose for which he
was now collecting an army to invade them.
    According to the account which the Scythians themselves give, they
are the youngest of all nations. Their tradition is as follows. A
certain Targitaus was the first man who ever lived in their country,
which before his time was a desert without inhabitants. He was a
child- I do not believe the tale, but it is told nevertheless- of Jove
and a daughter of the Borysthenes. Targitaus, thus descended, begat
three sons, Leipoxais, Arpoxais, and Colaxais, who was the youngest
born of the three. While they still ruled the land, there fell from
the sky four implements, all of gold- a plough, a yoke, a
battle-axe, and a drinking-cup. The eldest of the brothers perceived
them first, and approached to pick them up; when lo! as he came
near, the gold took fire, and blazed. He therefore went his way, and
the second coming forward made the attempt, but the same thing
happened again. The gold rejected both the eldest and the second
brother. Last of all the youngest brother approached, and
immediately the flames were extinguished; so he picked up the gold,
and carried it to his home. Then the two elder agreed together, and
made the whole kingdom over to the youngest born.
    From Leipoxais sprang the Scythians of the race called Auchatae;
from Arpoxais, the middle brother, those known as the Catiari and
Traspians; from Colaxais, the youngest, the Royal Scythians, or
Paralatae. All together they are named Scoloti, after one of their
kings: the Greeks, however, call them Scythians.
    Such is the account which the Scythians give of their origin. They
add that from the time of Targitaus, their first king, to the invasion
of their country by Darius, is a period of one thousand years, neither
less nor more. The Royal Scythians guard the sacred gold with most
especial care, and year by year offer great sacrifices in its
honour. At this feast, if the man who has the custody of the gold
should fall asleep in the open air, he is sure (the Scythians say) not
to outlive the year. His pay therefore is as much land as he can
ride round on horseback in a day. As the extent of Scythia is very
great, Colaxais gave each of his three sons a separate kingdom, one of
which was of ampler size than the other two: in this the gold was
preserved. Above, to the northward of the farthest dwellers in
Scythia, the country is said to be concealed from sight and made
impassable by reason of the feathers which are shed abroad abundantly.
The earth and air are alike full of them, and this it is which
prevents the eye from obtaining any view of the region.
    Such is the account which the Scythians give of themselves, and of
the country which lies above them. The Greeks who dwell about the
Pontus tell a different story. According to Hercules, when he was
carrying off the cows of Geryon, arrived in the region which is now
inhabited by the Scyths, but which was then a desert. Geryon lived
outside the Pontus, in an island called by the Greeks Erytheia, near
Gades, which is beyond the Pillars of Hercules upon the Ocean. Now
some say that the Ocean begins in the east, and runs the whole way
round the world; but they give no proof that this is really so.
Hercules came from thence into the region now called Scythia, and,
being overtaken by storm and frost, drew his lion's skin about him,
and fell fast asleep. While he slept, his mares, which he had loosed
from his chariot to graze, by some wonderful chance disappeared.
    On waking, he went in quest of them, and, after wandering over the
whole country, came at last to the district called "the Woodland,"
where he found in a cave a strange being, between a maiden and a
serpent, whose form from the waist upwards was like that of a woman,
while all below was like a snake. He looked at her wonderingly; but
nevertheless inquired, whether she had chanced to see his strayed
mares anywhere. She answered him, "Yes, and they were now in her
keeping; but never would she consent to give them back, unless he took
her for his mistress." So Hercules, to get his mares back, agreed; but
afterwards she put him off and delayed restoring the mares, since
she wished to keep him with her as long as possible. He, on the
other hand, was only anxious to secure them and to get away. At
last, when she gave them up, she said to him, "When thy mares
strayed hither, it was I who saved them for thee: now thou hast paid
their salvage; for lo! I bear in my womb three sons of thine. Tell
me therefore when thy sons grow up, what must I do with them?
Wouldst thou wish that I should settle them here in this land, whereof
I am mistress, or shall I send them to thee?" Thus questioned, they
say, Hercules answered, "When the lads have grown to manhood, do thus,
and assuredly thou wilt not err. Watch them, and when thou seest one
of them bend this bow as I now bend it, and gird himself with this
girdle thus, choose him to remain in the land. Those who fail in the
trial, send away. Thus wilt thou at once please thyself and obey me."
    Hereupon he strung one of his bows- up to that time he had carried
two- and showed her how to fasten the belt. Then he gave both bow
and belt into her hands. Now the belt had a golden goblet attached
to its clasp. So after he had given them to her, he went his way;
and the woman, when her children grew to manhood, first gave them
severally their names. One she called Agathyrsus, one Gelonus, and the
other, who was the youngest, Scythes. Then she remembered the
instructions she had received from Hercules, and, in obedience to
his orders, she put her sons to the test. Two of them, Agathyrsus
and Gelonus, proving unequal to the task enjoined, their mother sent
them out of the land; Scythes, the youngest, succeeded, and so he
was allowed to remain. From Scythes, the son of Hercules, were
descended the after kings of Scythia; and from the circumstance of the
goblet which hung from the belt, the Scythians to this day wear
goblets at their girdles. This was the only thing which the mother
of Scythes did for him. Such is the tale told by the Greeks who
dwell around the Pontus.
    There is also another different story, now to be related, in which
I am more inclined to put faith than in any other. It is that the
wandering Scythians once dwelt in Asia, and there warred with the
Massagetae, but with ill success; they therefore quitted their
homes, crossed the Araxes, and entered the land of Cimmeria. For the
land which is now inhabited by the Scyths was formerly the country
of the Cimmerians. On their coming, the natives, who heard how
numerous the invading army was, held a council. At this meeting
opinion was divided, and both parties stiffly maintained their own
view; but the counsel of the Royal tribe was the braver. For the
others urged that the best thing to be done was to leave the
country, and avoid a contest with so vast a host; but the Royal
tribe advised remaining and fighting for the soil to the last. As
neither party chose to give way, the one determined to retire
without a blow and yield their lands to the invaders; but the other,
remembering the good things which they had enjoyed in their homes, and
picturing to themselves the evils which they had to expect if they
gave them up, resolved not to flee, but rather to die and at least
be buried in their fatherland. Having thus decided, they drew apart in
two bodies, the one as numerous as the other, and fought together. All
of the Royal tribe were slain, and the people buried them near the
river Tyras, where their grave is still to be seen. Then the rest of
the Cimmerians departed, and the Scythians, on their coming, took
possession of a deserted land.
    Scythia still retains traces of the Cimmerians; there are
Cimmerian castles, and a Cimmerian ferry, also a tract called
Cimmeria, and a Cimmerian Bosphorus. It appears likewise that the
Cimmerians, when they fled into Asia to escape the Scyths, made a
settlement in the peninsula where the Greek city of Sinope was
afterwards built. The Scyths, it is plain, pursued them, and missing
their road, poured into Media. For the Cimmerians kept the line
which led along the sea-shore, but the Scyths in their pursuit held
the Caucasus upon their right, thus proceeding inland, and falling
upon Media. This account is one which is common both to Greeks and
barbarians.
    Aristeas also, son of Caystrobius, a native of Proconnesus, says
in the course of his poem that wrapt in Bacchic fury he went as far as
the Issedones. Above them dwelt the Arimaspi, men with one eye;
still further, the gold-guarding griffins; and beyond these, the
Hyperboreans, who extended to the sea. Except the Hyperboreans, all
these nations, beginning with the Arimaspi, were continually
encroaching upon their neighbours. Hence it came to pass that the
Arimaspi drove the Issedonians from their country, while the
Issedonians dispossessed the Scyths; and the Scyths, pressing upon the
Cimmerians, who dwelt on the shores of the Southern Sea, forced them
to leave their land. Thus even Aristeas does not agree in his
account of this region with the Scythians.
    The birthplace of Aristeas, the poet who sung of these things, I
have already mentioned. I will now relate a tale which I heard
concerning him both at Proconnesus and at Cyzicus. Aristeas, they
said, who belonged to one of the noblest families in the island, had
entered one day into a fuller's shop, when he suddenly dropt down
dead. Hereupon the fuller shut up his shop, and went to tell Aristeas'
kindred what had happened. The report of the death had just spread
through the town, when a certain Cyzicenian, lately arrived from
Artaca, contradicted the rumour, affirming that he had met Aristeas on
his road to Cyzicus, and had spoken with him. This man, therefore,
strenuously denied the rumour; the relations, however, proceeded to
the fuller's shop with all things necessary for the funeral, intending
to carry the body away. But on the shop being opened, no Aristeas
was found, either dead or alive. Seven years afterwards he reappeared,
they told me, in Proconnesus, and wrote the poem called by the
Greeks The Arimaspeia, after which he disappeared a second time.
This is the tale current in the two cities above-mentioned.
    What follows I know to have happened to the Metapontines of Italy,
three hundred and forty years after the second disappearance of
Aristeas, as I collect by comparing the accounts given me at
Proconnesus and Metapontum. Aristeas then, as the Metapontines affirm,
appeared to them in their own country, and ordered them to set up an
altar in honour of Apollo, and to place near it a statue to be
called that of Aristeas the Proconnesian. "Apollo," he told them, "had
come to their country once, though he had visited no other Italiots;
and he had been with Apollo at the time, not however in his present
form, but in the shape of a crow." Having said so much, he vanished.
Then the Metapontines, as they relate, sent to Delphi, and inquired of
the god in what light they were to regard the appearance of this ghost
of a man. The Pythoness, in reply, bade them attend to what the
spectre said, "for so it would go best with them." Thus advised,
they did as they had been directed: and there is now a statue
bearing the name of Aristeas, close by the image of Apollo in the
market-place of Metapontum, with bay-trees standing around it. But
enough has been said concerning Aristeas.
    With regard to the regions which lie above the country whereof
this portion of my history treats, there is no one who possesses any
exact knowledge. Not a single person can I find who professes to be
acquainted with them by actual observation. Even Aristeas, the
traveller of whom I lately spoke, does not claim- and he is writing
poetry- to have reached any farther than the Issedonians. What he
relates concerning the regions beyond is, he confesses, mere
hearsay, being the account which the Issedonians gave him of those
countries. However, I shall proceed to mention all that I have
learnt of these parts by the most exact inquiries which I have been
able to make concerning them.
    Above the mart of the Borysthenites, which is situated in the very
centre of the whole sea-coast of Scythia, the first people who inhabit
the land are the Callipedae, a Greco-Scythic race. Next to them, as
you go inland, dwell the people called the Alazonians. These two
nations in other respects resemble the Scythians in their usages,
but sow and eat corn, also onions, garlic, lentils, and millet. Beyond
the Alazonians reside Scythian cultivators, who grow corn, not for
their own use, but for sale. Still higher up are the Neuri. Northwards
of the Neuri the continent, as far as it is known to us, is
uninhabited. These are the nations along the course of the river
Hypanis, west of the Borysthenes.
    Across the Borysthenes, the first country after you leave the
coast is Hylaea (the Woodland). Above this dwell the Scythian
Husbandmen, whom the Greeks living near the Hypanis call
Borysthenites, while they call themselves Olbiopolites. These
Husbandmen extend eastward a distance of three days' journey to a
river bearing the name of Panticapes, while northward the country is
theirs for eleven days' sail up the course of the Borysthenes. Further
inland there is a vast tract which is uninhabited. Above this desolate
region dwell the Cannibals, who are a people apart, much unlike the
Scythians. Above them the country becomes an utter desert; not a
single tribe, so far as we know, inhabits it.
    Crossing the Panticapes, and proceeding eastward of the
Husbandmen, we come upon the wandering Scythians, who neither plough
nor sow. Their country, and the whole of this region, except Hylaea,
is quite bare of trees. They extend towards the east a distance of
fourteen' days' journey, occupying a tract which reaches to the
river Gerrhus.
    On the opposite side of the Gerrhus is the Royal district, as it
is called: here dwells the largest and bravest of the Scythian tribes,
which looks upon all the other tribes in the light of slaves. Its
country reaches on the south to Taurica, on the east to the trench dug
by the sons of the blind slaves, the mart upon the Palus Maeotis,
called Cremni (the Cliffs), and in part to the river Tanais. North
of the country of the Royal Scythians are the Melanchaeni
(Black-Robes), a people of quite a different race from the
Scythians. Beyond them lie marshes and a region without inhabitants,
so far as our knowledge reaches.
    When one crosses the Tanais, one is no longer in Scythia; the
first region on crossing is that of the Sauromatae, who, beginning
at the upper end of the Palus Maeotis, stretch northward a distance of
fifteen days' journey, inhabiting a country which is entirely bare
of trees, whether wild or cultivated. Above them, possessing the
second region, dwell the Budini, whose territory is thickly wooded
with trees of every kind.
    Beyond the Budini, as one goes northward, first there is a desert,
seven days' journey across; after which, if one inclines somewhat to
the east, the Thyssagetae are reached, a numerous nation quite
distinct from any other, and living by the chase. Adjoining them,
and within the limits of the same region, are the people who bear
the name of Iyrcae; they also support themselves by hunting, which
they practise in the following manner. The hunter climbs a tree, the
whole country abounding in wood, and there sets himself in ambush;
he has a dog at hand, and a horse, trained to lie down upon its belly,
and thus make itself low; the hunter keeps watch, and when he sees his
game, lets fly an arrow; then mounting his horse, he gives the beast
chase, his dog following hard all the while. Beyond these people, a
little to the east, dwells a distinct tribe of Scyths, who revolted
once from the Royal Scythians, and migrated into these parts.
    As far as their country, the tract of land whereof I have been
speaking is all a smooth plain, and the soil deep; beyond you enter on
a region which is rugged and stony. Passing over a great extent of
this rough country, you come to a people dwelling at the foot of lofty
mountains, who are said to be all- both men and women- bald from their
birth, to have flat noses, and very long chins. These people speak a
language of their own,. the dress which they wear is the same as the
Scythian. They live on the fruit of a certain tree, the name of
which is Ponticum; in size it is about equal to our fig-tree, and it
bears a fruit like a bean, with a stone inside. When the fruit is
ripe, they strain it through cloths; the juice which runs off is black
and thick, and is called by the natives "aschy." They lap this up with
their tongues, and also mix it with milk for a drink; while they
make the lees, which are solid, into cakes, and eat them instead of
meat; for they have but few sheep in their country, in which there
is no good pasturage. Each of them dwells under a tree, and they cover
the tree in winter with a cloth of thick white felt, but take off
the covering in the summer-time. No one harms these people, for they
are looked upon as sacred- they do not even possess any warlike
weapons. When their neighbours fall out, they make up the quarrel; and
when one flies to them for refuge, he is safe from all hurt. They
are called the Argippaeans.
    Up to this point the territory of which we are speaking is very
completely explored, and all the nations between the coast and the
bald-headed men are well known to us. For some of the Scythians are
accustomed to penetrate as far, of whom inquiry may easily be made,
and Greeks also go there from the mart on the Borysthenes, and from
the other marts along the Euxine. The Scythians who make this
journey communicate with the inhabitants by means of seven
interpreters and seven languages.
    Thus far, therefore, the land is known; but beyond the bald-headed
men lies a region of which no one can give any exact account. Lofty
and precipitous mountains, which are never crossed, bar further
progress. The bald men say, but it does not seem to me credible,
that the people who live in these mountains have feet like goats;
and that after passing them you find another race of men, who sleep
during one half of the year. This latter statement appears to me quite
unworthy of credit. The region east of the bald-headed men is well
known to be inhabited by the Issedonians, but the tract that lies to
the north of these two nations is entirely unknown, except by the
accounts which they give of it.
    The Issedonians are said to have the following customs. When a
man's father dies, all the near relatives bring sheep to the house;
which are sacrificed, and their flesh cut in pieces, while at the same
time the dead body undergoes the like treatment. The two sorts of
flesh are afterwards mixed together, and the whole is served up at a
banquet. The head of the dead man is treated differently: it is
stripped bare, cleansed, and set in gold. It then becomes an
ornament on which they pride themselves, and is brought out year by
year at the great festival which sons keep in honour of their fathers'
death, just as the Greeks keep their Genesia. In other respects the
Issedonians are reputed to be observers of justice: and it is to be
remarked that their women have equal authority with the men. Thus
our knowledge extends as far as this nation.
    The regions beyond are known only from the accounts of the
Issedonians, by whom the stories are told of the one-eyed race of
men and the gold-guarding griffins. These stories are received by
the Scythians from the Issedonians, and by them passed on to us
Greeks: whence it arises that we give the one-eyed race the Scythian
name of Arimaspi, "arima" being the Scythic word for "one," and
"spu" for "the eye."
    The whole district whereof we have here discoursed has winters
of exceeding rigour. During eight months the frost is so intense
that water poured upon the ground does not form mud, but if a fire
be lighted on it mud is produced. The sea freezes, and the Cimmerian
Bosphorus is frozen over. At that season the Scythians who dwell
inside the trench make warlike expeditions upon the ice, and even
drive their waggons across to the country of the Sindians. Such is the
intensity of the cold during eight months out of the twelve; and
even in the remaining four the climate is still cool. The character of
the winter likewise is unlike that of the same season in any other
country; for at that time, when the rains ought to fall in Scythia,
there is scarcely any rain worth mentioning, while in summer it
never gives over raining; and thunder, which elsewhere is frequent
then, in Scythia is unknown in that part of the year, coming only in
summer, when it is very heavy. Thunder in the winter-time is there
accounted a prodigy; as also are earthquakes, whether they happen in
winter or summer. Horses bear the winter well, cold as it is, but
mules and asses are quite unable to bear it; whereas in other
countries mules and asses are found to endure the cold, while
horses, if they stand still, are frost-bitten.
    To me it seems that the cold may likewise be the cause which
prevents the oxen in Scythia from having horns. There is a line of
Homer's in the Odyssey which gives a support to my opinion:-

    Libya too, where horns hud quick on the foreheads of lambkins.

He means to say what is quite true, that in warm countries the horns
come early. So too in countries where the cold is severe animals
either have no horns, or grow them with difficulty- the cold being the
cause in this instance.
    Here I must express my wonder- additions being what my work always
from the very first affected- that in Elis, where the cold is not
remarkable, and there is nothing else to account for it, mules are
never produced. The Eleans say it is in consequence of a curse; and
their habit is, when the breeding-time comes, to take their mares into
one of the adjoining countries, and there keep them till they are in
foal, when they bring them back again into Elis.
    With respect to the feathers which are said by the Scythians to
fill the air, and to prevent persons from penetrating into the remoter
parts of the continent, even having any view of those regions, my
opinion is that in the countries above Scythia it always snows-
less, of course, in the summer than in the wintertime. Now snow when
it falls looks like feathers, as every one is aware who has seen it
come down close to him. These northern regions, therefore, are
uninhabitable by reason of the severity of the winter; and the
Scythians, with their neighbours, call the snow-flakes feathers
because, I think, of the likeness which they bear to them. I have
now related what is said of the most distant parts of this continent
whereof any account is given.
    Of the Hyperboreans nothing is said either by the Scythians or
by any of the other dwellers in these regions, unless it be the
Issedonians. But in my opinion, even the Issedonians are silent
concerning them; otherwise the Scythians would have repeated their
statements, as they do those concerning the one-eyed men. Hesiod,
however, mentions them, and Homer also in the Epigoni, if that be
really a work of his.
    But the persons who have by far the most to say on this subject
are the Delians. They declare that certain offerings, packed in
wheaten straw, were brought from the country of the Hyperboreans
into Scythia, and that the Scythians received them and passed them
on to their neighbours upon the west, who continued to pass them on
until at last they reached the Adriatic. From hence they were sent
southward, and when they came to Greece, were received first of all by
the Dodonaeans. Thence they descended to the Maliac Gulf, from which
they were carried across into Euboea, where the people handed them
on from city to city, till they came at length to Carystus. The
Carystians took them over to Tenos, without stopping at Andros; and
the Tenians brought them finally to Delos. Such, according to their
own account, was the road by which the offerings reached the
Delians. Two damsels, they say, named Hyperoche and Laodice, brought
the first offerings from the Hyperboreans; and with them the
Hyperboreans sent five men to keep them from all harm by the way;
these are the persons whom the Delians call "Perpherees," and to
whom great honours are paid at Delos. Afterwards the Hyperboreans,
when they found that their messengers did not return, thinking it
would be a grievous thing always to be liable to lose the envoys
they should send, adopted the following plan:- they wrapped their
offerings in the wheaten straw, and bearing them to their borders,
charged their neighbours to send them forward from one nation to
another, which was done accordingly, and in this way the offerings
reached Delos. I myself know of a practice like this, which obtains
with the women of Thrace and Paeonia. They in their sacrifices to
the queenly Diana bring wheaten straw always with their offerings.
Of my own knowledge I can testify that this is so.
    The damsels sent by the Hyperboreans died in Delos; and in their
honour all the Delian girls and youths are wont to cut off their hair.
The girls, before their marriage-day, cut off a curl, and twining it
round a distaff, lay it upon the grave of the strangers. This grave is
on the left as one enters the precinct of Diana, and has an olive-tree
growing on it. The youths wind some of their hair round a kind of
grass, and, like the girls, place it upon the tomb. Such are the
honours paid to these damsels by the Delians.
    They add that, once before, there came to Delos by the same road
as Hyperoche and Laodice, two other virgins from the Hyperboreans,
whose names were Arge and Opis. Hyperoche and Laodice came to bring to
Ilithyia the offering which they had laid upon themselves, in
acknowledgment of their quick labours; but Arge and Opis came at the
same time as the gods of Delos,' and are honoured by the Delians in
a different way. For the Delian women make collections in these
maidens' names, and invoke them in the hymn which Olen, a Lycian,
composed for them; and the rest of the islanders, and even the
Ionians, have been taught by the Delians to do the like. This Olen,
who came from Lycia, made the other old hymns also which are sung in
Delos. The Delians add that the ashes from the thigh-bones burnt
upon the altar are scattered over the tomb of Opis and Arge. Their
tomb lies behind the temple of Diana, facing the east, near the
banqueting-hall of the Ceians. Thus much then, and no more, concerning
the Hyperboreans.
    As for the tale of Abaris, who is said to have been a Hyperborean,
and to have gone with his arrow all round the world without once
eating, I shall pass it by in silence. Thus much, however, is clear:
if there are Hyperboreans, there must also be Hypernotians. For my
part, I cannot but laugh when I see numbers of persons drawing maps of
the world without having any reason to guide them; making, as they do,
the ocean-stream to run all round the earth, and the earth itself to
be an exact circle, as if described by a pair of compasses, with
Europe and Asia just of the same size. The truth in this matter I will
now proceed to explain in a very few words, making it clear what the
real size of each region is, and what shape should be given them.
    The Persians inhabit a country upon the southern or Erythraean
sea; above them, to the north, are the Medes; beyond the Medes, the
Saspirians; beyond them, the Colchians, reaching to the northern
sea, into which the Phasis empties itself. These four nations fill the
whole space from one sea to the other.
    West of these nations there project into the sea two tracts
which I will now describe; one, beginning at the river Phasis on the
north, stretches along the Euxine and the Hellespont to Sigeum in
the Troas; while on the south it reaches from the Myriandrian gulf,
which adjoins Phoenicia, to the Triopic promontory. This is one of the
tracts, and is inhabited by thirty different nations.
    The other starts from the country of the Persians, and stretches
into the Erythraean sea, containing first Persia, then Assyria, and
after Assyria, Arabia. It ends, that is to say, it is considered to
end, though it does not really come to a termination, at the Arabian
gulf- the gulf whereinto Darius conducted the canal which he made from
the Nile. Between Persia and Phoenicia lies a broad and ample tract of
country, after which the region I am describing skirts our sea,
stretching from Phoenicia along the coast of Palestine-Syria till it
comes to Egypt, where it terminates. This entire tract contains but
three nations. The whole of Asia west of the country of the Persians
is comprised in these two regions.
    Beyond the tract occupied by the Persians, Medes, Saspirians,
and Colchians, towards the east and the region of the sunrise, Asia is
bounded on the south by the Erythraean sea, and on the north by the
Caspian and the river Araxes, which flows towards the rising sun. Till
you reach India the country is peopled; but further east it is void of
inhabitants, and no one can say what sort of region it is. Such then
is the shape, and such the size of Asia.
    Libya belongs to one of the above-mentioned tracts, for it adjoins
on Egypt. In Egypt the tract is at first a narrow neck, the distance
from our sea to the Erythraean not exceeding a hundred thousand
fathoms, in other words, a thousand furlongs; but from the point where
the neck ends, the tract which bears the name of Libya is of very
great breadth.
    For my part I am astonished that men should ever have divided
Libya, Asia, and Europe as they have, for they are exceedingly
unequal. Europe extends the entire length of the other two, and for
breadth will not even (as I think) bear to be compared to them. As for
Libya, we know it to be washed on all sides by the sea, except where
it is attached to Asia. This discovery was first made by Necos, the
Egyptian king, who on desisting from the canal which he had begun
between the Nile and the Arabian gulf, sent to sea a number of ships
manned by Phoenicians, with orders to make for the Pillars of
Hercules, and return to Egypt through them, and by the
Mediterranean. The Phoenicians took their departure from Egypt by
way of the Erythraean sea, and so sailed into the southern ocean. When
autumn came, they went ashore, wherever they might happen to be, and
having sown a tract of land with corn, waited until the grain was
fit to cut. Having reaped it, they again set sail; and thus it came to
pass that two whole years went by, and it was not till the third
year that they doubled the Pillars of Hercules, and made good their
voyage home. On their return, they declared- I for my part do not
believe them, but perhaps others may- that in sailing round Libya they
had the sun upon their right hand. In this way was the extent of Libya
first discovered.
    Next to these Phoenicians the Carthaginians, according to their
own accounts, made the voyage. For Sataspes, son of Teaspes the
Achaemenian, did not circumnavigate Libya, though he was sent to do
so; but, fearing the length and desolateness of the journey, he turned
back and left unaccomplished the task which had been set him by his
mother. This man had used violence towards a maiden, the daughter of
Zopyrus, son of Megabyzus, and King Xerxes was about to impale him for
the offence, when his mother, who was a sister of Darius, begged him
off, undertaking to punish his crime more heavily than the king
himself had designed. She would force him, she said, to sail round
Libya and return to Egypt by the Arabian gulf. Xerxes gave his
consent; and Sataspes went down to Egypt, and there got a ship and
crew, with which he set sail for the Pillars of Hercules. Having
passed the Straits, he doubled the Libyan headland, known as Cape
Soloeis, and proceeded southward. Following this course for many
months over a vast stretch of sea, and finding that more water than he
had crossed still lay ever before him, he put about, and came back
to Egypt. Thence proceeding to the court, he made report to Xerxes,
that at the farthest point to which he had reached, the coast was
occupied by a dwarfish race, who wore a dress made from the palm tree.
These people, whenever he landed, left their towns and fled away to
the mountains; his men, however, did them no wrong, only entering into
their cities and taking some of their cattle. The reason why he had
not sailed quite round Libya was, he said, because the ship stopped,
and would no go any further. Xerxes, however, did not accept this
account for true; and so Sataspes, as he had failed to accomplish
the task set him, was impaled by the king's orders in accordance
with the former sentence. One of his eunuchs, on hearing of his death,
ran away with a great portion of his wealth, and reached Samos,
where a certain Samian seized the whole. I know the man's name well,
but I shall willingly forget it here.
    Of the greater part of Asia Darius was the discoverer. Wishing
to know where the Indus (which is the only river save one that
produces crocodiles) emptied itself into the sea, he sent a number
of men, on whose truthfulness he could rely, and among them Scylax
of Caryanda, to sail down the river. They started from the city of
Caspatyrus, in the region called Pactyica, and sailed down the
stream in an easterly direction to the sea. Here they turned westward,
and, after a voyage of thirty months, reached the place from which the
Egyptian king, of whom I spoke above, sent the Phoenicians to sail
round Libya. After this voyage was completed, Darius conquered the
Indians, and made use of the sea in those parts. Thus all Asia, except
the eastern portion, has been found to be similarly circumstanced with
Libya.
    But the boundaries of Europe are quite unknown, and there is not a
man who can say whether any sea girds it round either on the north
or on the east, while in length it undoubtedly extends as far as
both the other two. For my part I cannot conceive why three names, and
women's names especially, should ever have been given to a tract which
is in reality one, nor why the Egyptian Nile and the Colchian Phasis
(or according to others the Maeotic Tanais and Cimmerian ferry) should
have been fixed upon for the boundary lines; nor can I even say who
gave the three tracts their names, or whence they took the epithets.
According to the Greeks in general, Libya was so called after a
certain Libya, a native woman, and Asia after the wife of
Prometheus. The Lydians, however, put in a claim to the latter name,
which, they declare, was not derived from Asia the wife of Prometheus,
but from Asies, the son of Cotys, and grandson of Manes, who also gave
name to the tribe Asias at Sardis. As for Europe, no one can say
whether it is surrounded by the sea or not, neither is it known whence
the name of Europe was derived, nor who gave it name, unless we say
that Europe was so called after the Tyrian Europe, and before her time
was nameless, like the other divisions. But it is certain that
Europe was an Asiatic, and never even set foot on the land which the
Greeks now call Europe, only sailing from Phoenicia to Crete, and from
Crete to Lycia. However let us quit these matters. We shall
ourselves continue to use the names which custom sanctions.
    The Euxine sea, where Darius now went to war, has nations dwelling
around it, with the one exception of the Scythians, more unpolished
than those of any other region that we know of. For, setting aside
Anacharsis and the Scythian people, there is not within this region
a single nation which can be put forward as having any claims to
wisdom, or which has produced a single person of any high repute.
The Scythians indeed have in one respect, and that the very most
important of all those that fall under man's control, shown themselves
wiser than any nation upon the face of the earth. Their customs
otherwise are not such as I admire. The one thing of which I speak
is the contrivance whereby they make it impossible for the enemy who
invades them to escape destruction, while they themselves are entirely
out of his reach, unless it please them to engage with him. Having
neither cities nor forts, and carrying their dwellings with them
wherever they go; accustomed, moreover, one and all of them, to
shoot from horseback; and living not by husbandry but on their cattle,
their waggons the only houses that they possess, how can they fail
of being unconquerable, and unassailable even?
    The nature of their country, and the rivers by which it is
intersected, greatly favour this mode of resisting attacks. For the
land is level, well watered, and abounding in pasture; while the
rivers which traverse it are almost equal in number to the canals of
Egypt. Of these I shall only mention the most famous and such as are
navigable to some distance from the sea. They are, the Ister, which
has five mouths; the Tyras, the Hypanis, the Borysthenes, the
Panticapes, the Hypacyris, the Gerrhus, and the Tanais. The courses of
these streams I shall now proceed to describe.
    The Ister is of all the rivers with which we are acquainted the
mightiest. It never varies in height, but continues at the same
level summer and winter. Counting from the west it is the first of the
Scythian rivers, and the reason of its being the greatest is that it
receives the water of several tributaries. Now the tributaries which
swell its flood are the following: first, on the side of Scythia,
these five- the stream called by the Scythians Porata, and by the
Greeks Pyretus, the Tiarantus, the Ararus, the Naparis, and the
Ordessus. The first mentioned is a great stream, and is the
easternmost of the tributaries. The Tiarantus is of less volume, and
more to the west. The Ararus, Naparis, and Ordessus fall into the
Ister between these two. All the above mentioned are genuine
Scythian rivers, and go to swell the current of the Ister.
    From the country of the Agathyrsi comes down another river, the
Maris, which empties itself into the same; and from the heights of
Haemus descend with a northern course three mighty streams, the Atlas,
the Auras, and the Tibisis, and pour their waters into it. Thrace
gives it three tributaries, the Athrys, the Noes, and the Artanes,
which all pass through the country of the Crobyzian Thracians. Another
tributary is furnished by Paeonia, namely, the Scius; this river,
rising near Mount Rhodope, forces its way through the chain of Haemus,
and so reaches the Ister. From Illyria comes another stream, the
Angrus, which has a course from south to north, and after watering the
Triballian plain, falls into the Brongus, which falls into the
Ister. So the Ister is augmented by these two streams, both
considerable. Besides all these, the Ister receives also the waters of
the Carpis and the Alpis, two rivers running in a northerly
direction from the country above the Umbrians. For the Ister flows
through the whole extent of Europe, rising in the country of the Celts
(the most westerly of all the nations of Europe, excepting the
Cynetians), and thence running across the continent till it reaches
Scythia, whereof it washes the flanks.
    All these streams, then, and many others, add their waters to
swell the flood of the Ister, which thus increased becomes the
mightiest of rivers; for undoubtedly if we compare the stream of the
Nile with the single stream of the Ister, we must give the
preference to the Nile, of which no tributary river, nor even rivulet,
augments the volume. The Ister remains at the same level both summer
and winter- owing to the following reasons, as I believe. During the
winter it runs at its natural height, or a very little higher, because
in those countries there is scarcely any rain in winter, but
constant snow. When summer comes, this snow, which is of great
depth, begins to melt, and flows into the Ister, which is swelled at
that season, not only by this cause but also by the rains, which are
heavy and frequent at that part of the year. Thus the various
streams which go to form the Ister are higher in summer than in
winter, and just so much higher as the sun's power and attraction
are greater; so that these two causes counteract each other, and the
effect is to produce a balance, whereby the Ister remains always at
the same level.
    This, then, is one of the great Scythian rivers; the next to it is
the Tyras, which rises from a great lake separating Scythia from the
land of the Neuri, and runs with a southerly course to the sea. Greeks
dwell at the mouth of the river, who are called Tyritae.
    The third river is the Hypanis. This stream rises within the
limits of Scythia, and has its source in another vast lake, around
which wild white horses graze. The lake is called, properly enough,
the Mother of the Hypanis. The Hypanis, rising here, during the
distance of five days' navigation is a shallow stream, and the water
sweet and pure; thence, however, to the sea, which is a distance of
four days, it is exceedingly bitter. This change is caused by its
receiving into it at that point a brook the waters of which are so
bitter that, although it is but a tiny rivulet, it nevertheless taints
the entire Hypanis, which is a large stream among those of the
second order. The source of this bitter spring is on the borders of
the Scythian Husbandmen, where they adjoin upon the Alazonians; and
the place where it rises is called in the Scythic tongue Exampaeus,
which means in our language, "The Sacred Ways." The spring itself
bears the same name. The Tyras and the Hypanis approach each other
in the country of the Alazonians, but afterwards separate, and leave a
wide space between their streams.
    The fourth of the Scythian rivers is the Borysthenes. Next to
the Ister, it is the greatest of them all; and, in my judgment, it
is the most productive river, not merely in Scythia, but in the
whole world, excepting only the Nile, with which no stream can
possibly compare. It has upon its banks the loveliest and most
excellent pasturages for cattle; it contains abundance of the most
delicious fish; its water is most pleasant to the taste; its stream is
limpid, while all the other rivers near it are muddy; the richest
harvests spring up along its course, and where the ground is not sown,
the heaviest crops of grass; while salt forms in great plenty about
its mouth without human aid, and large fish are taken in it of the
sort called Antacaei, without any prickly bones, and good for
pickling. Nor are these the whole of its marvels. As far inland as the
place named Gerrhus, which is distant forty days' voyage from the sea,
its course is known, and its direction is from north to south; but
above this no one has traced it, so as to say through what countries
it flows. It enters the territory of the Scythian Husbandmen after
running for some time across a desert region, and continues for ten
days' navigation to pass through the land which they inhabit. It is
the only river besides the Nile the sources of which are unknown to
me, as they are also (I believe) to all the other Greeks. Not long
before it reaches the sea, the Borysthenes is joined by the Hypanis,
which pours its waters into the same lake. The land that lies
between them, a narrow point like the beak of a ship, is called Cape
Hippolaus. Here is a temple dedicated to Ceres, and opposite the
temple upon the Hypanis is the dwelling-place of the Borysthenites.
But enough has been said of these streams.
    Next in succession comes the fifth river, called the Panticapes,
which has, like the Borysthenes, a course from north to south, and
rises from a lake. The space between this river and the Borysthenes is
occupied by the Scythians who are engaged in husbandry. After watering
their country, the Panticapes flows through Hylaea, and empties itself
into the Borysthenes.
    The sixth stream is the Hypacyris, a river rising from a lake, and
running directly through the middle of the Nomadic Scythians. It falls
into the sea near the city of Carcinitis, leaving Hylaea and the
course of Achilles to the right.
    The seventh river is the Gerrhus, which is a branch thrown out
by the Borysthenes at the point where the course of that stream
first begins to be known, to wit, the region called by the same name
as the stream itself, viz. Gerrhus. This river on its passage
towards the sea divides the country of the Nomadic from that of the
Royal Scyths. It runs into the Hypacyris.
    The eighth river is the Tanais, a stream which has its source, far
up the country, in a lake of vast size, and which empties itself
into another still larger lake, the Palus Maeotis, whereby the country
of the Royal Scythians is divided from that of the Sauromatae. The
Tanais receives the waters of a tributary stream, called the Hyrgis.
    Such then are the rivers of chief note in Scythia. The grass which
the land produces is more apt to generate gall in the beasts that feed
on it than any other grass which is known to us, as plainly appears on
the opening of their carcases.
    Thus abundantly are the Scythians provided with the most important
necessaries. Their manners and customs come now to be described.
They worship only the following gods, namely, Vesta, whom they
reverence beyond all the rest, Jupiter, and Tellus, whom they consider
to be the wife of Jupiter; and after these Apollo, Celestial Venus,
Hercules, and Mars. These gods are worshipped by the whole nation: the
Royal Scythians offer sacrifice likewise to Neptune. In the Scythic
tongue Vesta is called Tabiti, Jupiter (very properly, in my judgment)
Papaeus, Tellus Apia, Apollo Oetosyrus, Celestial Venus Artimpasa, and
Neptune Thamimasadas. They use no images, altars, or temples, except
in the worship of Mars; but in his worship they do use them.
    The manner of their sacrifices is everywhere and in every case the
same; the victim stands with its two fore-feet bound together by a
cord, and the person who is about to offer, taking his station
behind the victim, gives the rope a pull, and thereby throws the
animal down; as it falls he invokes the god to whom he is offering;
after which he puts a noose round the animal's neck, and, inserting
a small stick, twists it round, and so strangles him. No fire is
lighted, there is no consecration, and no pouring out of
drink-offerings; but directly that the beast is strangled the
sacrificer flays him, and then sets to work to boil the flesh.
    As Scythia, however, is utterly barren of firewood, a plan has had
to be contrived for boiling the flesh, which is the following. After
flaying the beasts, they take out all the bones, and (if they
possess such gear) put the flesh into boilers made in the country,
which are very like the cauldrons of the Lesbians, except that they
are of a much larger size; then placing the bones of the animals
beneath the cauldron, they set them alight, and so boil the meat. If
they do not happen to possess a cauldron, they make the animal's
paunch hold the flesh, and pouring in at the same time a little water,
lay the bones under and light them. The bones burn beautifully; and
the paunch easily contains all the flesh when it is stript from the
bones, so that by this plan your ox is made to boil himself, and other
victims also to do the like. When the meat is all cooked, the
sacrificer offers a portion of the flesh and of the entrails, by
casting it on the ground before him. They sacrifice all sorts of
cattle, but most commonly horses.
    Such are the victims offered to the other gods, and such is the
mode in which they are sacrificed; but the rites paid to Mars are
different. In every district, at the seat of government, there
stands a temple of this god, whereof the following is a description.
It is a pile of brushwood, made of a vast quantity of fagots, in
length and breadth three furlongs; in height somewhat less, having a
square platform upon the top, three sides of which are precipitous,
while the fourth slopes so that men may walk up it. Each year a
hundred and fifty waggon-loads of brushwood are added to the pile,
which sinks continually by reason of the rains. An antique iron
sword is planted on the top of every such mound, and serves as the
image of Mars: yearly sacrifices of cattle and of horses are made to
it, and more victims are offered thus than to all the rest of their
gods. When prisoners are taken in war, out of every hundred men they
sacrifice one, not however with the same rites as the cattle, but with
different. Libations of wine are first poured upon their heads,
after which they are slaughtered over a vessel; the vessel is then
carried up to the top of the pile, and the blood poured upon the
scymitar. While this takes place at the top of the mound, below, by
the side of the temple, the right hands and arms of the slaughtered
prisoners are cut off, and tossed on high into the air. Then the other
victims are slain, and those who have offered the sacrifice depart,
leaving the hands and arms where they may chance to have fallen, and
the bodies also, separate.
    Such are the observances of the Scythians with respect to
sacrifice. They never use swine for the purpose, nor indeed is it
their wont to breed them in any part of their country.
    In what concerns war, their customs are the following. The
Scythian soldier drinks the blood of the first man he overthrows in
battle. Whatever number he slays, he cuts off all their heads, and
carries them to the king; since he is thus entitled to a share of
the booty, whereto he forfeits all claim if he does not produce a
head. In order to strip the skull of its covering, he makes a cut
round the head above the ears, and, laying hold of the scalp, shakes
the skull out; then with the rib of an ox he scrapes the scalp clean
of flesh, and softening it by rubbing between the hands, uses it
thenceforth as a napkin. The Scyth is proud of these scalps, and hangs
them from his bridle-rein; the greater the number of such napkins that
a man can show, the more highly is he esteemed among them. Many make
themselves cloaks, like the capotes of our peasants, by sewing a
quantity of these scalps together. Others flay the right arms of their
dead enemies, and make of the skin, which stripped off with the
nails hanging to it, a covering for their quivers. Now the skin of a
man is thick and glossy, and would in whiteness surpass almost all
other hides. Some even flay the entire body of their enemy, and
stretching it upon a frame carry it about with them wherever they
ride. Such are the Scythian customs with respect to scalps and skins.
    The skulls of their enemies, not indeed of all, but of those
whom they most detest, they treat as follows. Having sawn off the
portion below the eyebrows, and cleaned out the inside, they cover the
outside with leather. When a man is poor, this is all that he does;
but if he is rich, he also lines the inside with gold: in either
case the skull is used as a drinking-cup. They do the same with the
skulls of their own kith and kin if they have been at feud with
them, and have vanquished them in the presence of the king. When
strangers whom they deem of any account come to visit them, these
skulls are handed round, and the host tells how that these were his
relations who made war upon him, and how that he got the better of
them; all this being looked upon as proof of bravery.
    Once a year the governor of each district, at a set place in his
own province, mingles a bowl of wine, of which all Scythians have a
right to drink by whom foes have been slain; while they who have slain
no enemy are not allowed to taste of the bowl, but sit aloof in
disgrace. No greater shame than this can happen to them. Such as
have slain a very large number of foes, have two cups instead of
one, and drink from both.
    Scythia has an abundance of soothsayers, who foretell the future
by means of a number of willow wands. A large bundle of these wands is
brought and laid on the ground. The soothsayer unties the bundle,
and places each wand by itself, at the same time uttering his
prophecy: then, while he is still speaking, he gathers the rods
together again, and makes them up once more into a bundle. This mode
of divination is of home growth in Scythia. The Enarees, or woman-like
men, have another method, which they say Venus taught them. It is done
with the inner bark of the linden-tree. They take a piece of this
bark, and, splitting it into three strips, keep twining the strips
about their fingers, and untwining them, while they prophesy.
    Whenever the Scythian king falls sick, he sends for the three
soothsayers of most renown at the time, who come and make trial of
their art in the mode above described. Generally they say that the
king is ill because such or such a person, mentioning his name, has
sworn falsely by the royal hearth. This is the usual oath among the
Scythians, when they wish to swear with very great solemnity. Then the
man accused of having foresworn himself is arrested and brought before
the king. The soothsayers tell him that by their art it is clear he
has sworn a false oath by the royal hearth, and so caused the
illness of the king- he denies the charge, protests that he has
sworn no false oath, and loudly complains of the wrong done to him.
Upon this the king sends for six new soothsayers, who try the matter
by soothsaying. If they too find the man guilty of the offence,
straightway he is beheaded by those who first accused him, and his
goods are parted among them: if, on the contrary, they acquit him,
other soothsayers, and again others, are sent for, to try the case.
Should the greater number decide in favour of the man's innocence,
then they who first accused him forfeit their lives.
    The mode of their execution is the following: a waggon is loaded
with brushwood, and oxen are harnessed to it; the soothsayers, with
their feet tied together, their hands bound behind their backs, and
their mouths gagged, are thrust into the midst of the brushwood;
finally the wood is set alight, and the oxen, being startled, are made
to rush off with the waggon. It often happens that the oxen and the
soothsayers are both consumed together, but sometimes the pole of
the waggon is burnt through, and the oxen escape with a scorching.
Diviners- lying diviners, they call them- are burnt in the way
described, for other causes besides the one here spoken of. When the
king puts one of them to death, he takes care not to let any of his
sons survive: all the male offspring are slain with the father, only
the females being allowed to live.
    Oaths among the Scyths are accompanied with the following
ceremonies: a large earthern bowl is filled with wine, and the parties
to the oath, wounding themselves slightly with a knife or an awl, drop
some of their blood into the wine; then they plunge into the mixture a
scymitar, some arrows, a battle-axe, and a javelin, all the while
repeating prayers; lastly the two contracting parties drink each a
draught from the bowl, as do also the chief men among their followers.
    The tombs of their kings are in the land of the Gerrhi, who
dwell at the point where the Borysthenes is first navigable. Here,
when the king dies, they dig a grave, which is square in shape, and of
great size. When it is ready, they take the king's corpse, and, having
opened the belly, and cleaned out the inside, fill the cavity with a
preparation of chopped cypress, frankincense, parsley-seed, and
anise-seed, after which they sew up the opening, enclose the body in
wax, and, placing it on a waggon, carry it about through all the
different tribes. On this procession each tribe, when it receives
the corpse, imitates the example which is first set by the Royal
Scythians; every man chops off a piece of his ear, crops his hair
close, and makes a cut all round his arm, lacerates his forehead and
his nose, and thrusts an arrow through his left hand. Then they who
have the care of the corpse carry it with them to another of the
tribes which are under the Scythian rule, followed by those whom
they first visited. On completing the circuit of all the tribes
under their sway, they find themselves in the country of the Gerrhi,
who are the most remote of all, and so they come to the tombs of the
kings. There the body of the dead king is laid in the grave prepared
for it, stretched upon a mattress; spears are fixed in the ground on
either side of the corpse, and beams stretched across above it to form
a roof, which is covered with a thatching of osier twigs. In the
open space around the body of the king they bury one of his
concubines, first killing her by strangling, and also his
cup-bearer, his cook, his groom, his lacquey, his messenger, some of
his horses, firstlings of all his other possessions, and some golden
cups; for they use neither silver nor brass. After this they set to
work, and raise a vast mound above the grave, all of them vying with
each other and seeking to make it as tall as possible.
    When a year is gone by, further ceremonies take place. Fifty of
the best of the late king's attendants are taken, all native
Scythians- for, as bought slaves are unknown in the country, the
Scythian kings choose any of their subjects that they like, to wait on
them- fifty of these are taken and strangled, with fifty of the most
beautiful horses. When they are dead, their bowels are taken out,
and the cavity cleaned, filled full of chaff, and straightway sewn
up again. This done, a number of posts are driven into the ground,
in sets of two pairs each, and on every pair half the felly of a wheel
is placed archwise; then strong stakes are run lengthways through
the bodies of the horses from tail to neck, and they are mounted up
upon the fellies, so that the felly in front supports the shoulders of
the horse, while that behind sustains the belly and quarters, the legs
dangling in mid-air; each horse is furnished with a bit and bridle,
which latter is stretched out in front of the horse, and fastened to a
peg. The fifty strangled youths are then mounted severally on the
fifty horses. To effect this, a second stake is passed through their
bodies along the course of the spine to the neck; the lower end of
which projects from the body, and is fixed into a socket, made in
the stake that runs lengthwise down the horse. The fifty riders are
thus ranged in a circle round the tomb, and so left.
    Such, then, is the mode in which the kings are buried: as for
the people, when any one dies, his nearest of kin lay him upon a
waggon and take him round to all his friends in succession: each
receives them in turn and entertains them with a banquet, whereat
the dead man is served with a portion of all that is set before the
others; this is done for forty days, at the end of which time the
burial takes place. After the burial, those engaged in it have to
purify themselves, which they do in the following way. First they well
soap and wash their heads; then, in order to cleanse their bodies,
they act as follows: they make a booth by fixing in the ground three
sticks inclined towards one another, and stretching around them
woollen felts, which they arrange so as to fit as close as possible:
inside the booth a dish is placed upon the ground, into which they put
a number of red-hot stones, and then add some hemp-seed.
    Hemp grows in Scythia: it is very like flax; only that it is a
much coarser and taller plant: some grows wild about the country, some
is produced by cultivation: the Thracians make garments of it which
closely resemble linen; so much so, indeed, that if a person has never
seen hemp he is sure to think they are linen, and if he has, unless he
is very experienced in such matters, he will not know of which
material they are.
    The Scythians, as I said, take some of this hemp-seed, and,
creeping under the felt coverings, throw it upon the red-hot stones;
immediately it smokes, and gives out such a vapour as no Grecian
vapour-bath can exceed; the Scyths, delighted, shout for joy, and this
vapour serves them instead of a water-bath; for they never by any
chance wash their bodies with water. Their women make a mixture of
cypress, cedar, and frankincense wood, which they pound into a paste
upon a rough piece of stone, adding a little water to it. With this
substance, which is of a thick consistency, they plaster their faces
all over, and indeed their whole bodies. A sweet odour is thereby
imparted to them, and when they take off the plaster on the day
following, their skin is clean and glossy.
    The Scythians have an extreme hatred of all foreign customs,
particularly of those in use among the Greeks, as the instances of
Anacharsis, and, more lately, of Scylas, have fully shown. The former,
after he had travelled over a great portion of the world, and
displayed wherever he went many proofs of wisdom, as he sailed through
the Hellespont on his return to Scythia touched at Cyzicus. There he
found the inhabitants celebrating with much pomp and magnificence a
festival to the Mother of the Gods, and was himself induced to make
a vow to the goddess, whereby he engaged, if he got back safe and
sound to his home, that he would give her a festival and a
night-procession in all respects like those which he had seen in
Cyzicus. When, therefore, he arrived in Scythia, he betook himself
to the district called the Woodland, which lies opposite the course of
Achilles, and is covered with trees of all manner of different
kinds, and there went through all the sacred rites with the tabour
in his hand, and the images tied to him. While thus employed, he was
noticed by one of the Scythians, who went and told king Saulius what
he had seen. Then king Saulius came in person, and when he perceived
what Anacharsis was about, he shot at him with an arrow and killed
him. To this day, if you ask the Scyths about Anacharsis, they pretend
ignorance of him, because of his Grecian travels and adoption of the
customs of foreigners. I learnt, however, from Timnes, the steward
of Ariapithes, that Anacharsis was paternal uncle to the Scythian king
Idanthyrsus, being the son of Gnurus, who was the son of Lycus and the
grandson of Spargapithes. If Anacharsis were really of this house,
it must have been by his own brother that he was slain, for
Idanthyrsus was a son of the Saulius who put Anacharsis to death.
    I have heard, however, another tale, very different from this,
which is told by the Peloponnesians: they say, that Anacharsis was
sent by the king of the Scyths to make acquaintance with Greece-
that he went, and on his return home reported that the Greeks were all
occupied in the pursuit of every kind of knowledge, except the
Lacedaemonians; who, however, alone knew how to converse sensibly. A
silly tale this, which the Greeks have invented for their amusement!
There is no doubt that Anacharsis suffered death in the mode already
related, on account of his attachment to foreign customs, and the
intercourse which he held with the Greeks.
    Scylas, likewise, the son of Ariapithes, many years later, met
with almost the very same fate. Ariapithes, the Scythian king, had
several sons, among them this Scylas, who was the child, not of a
native Scyth, but of a woman of Istria. Bred up by her, Scylas
gained an acquaintance with the Greek language and letters. Some
time afterwards, Ariapithes was treacherously slain by Spargapithes,
king of the Agathyrsi; whereupon Scylas succeeded to the throne, and
married one of his father's wives, a woman named Opoea. This Opoea was
a Scythian by birth, and had brought Ariapithes a son called Oricus.
Now when Scylas found himself king of Scythia, as he disliked the
Scythic mode of life, and was attached, by his bringing up, to the
manners of the Greeks, he made it his usual practice, whenever he came
with his army to the town of the Borysthenites, who, according to
their own account, are colonists of the Milesians- he made it his
practice, I say, to leave the army before the city, and, having
entered within the walls by himself, and carefully closed the gates,
to exchange his Scythian dress for Grecian garments, and in this
attire to walk about the forum, without guards or retinue. The
Borysthenites kept watch at the gates, that no Scythian might see
the king thus apparelled. Scylas, meanwhile, lived exactly as the
Greeks, and even offered sacrifices to the gods according to the
Grecian rites. In this way he would pass a month, or more, with the
Borysthenites, after which he would clothe himself again in his
Scythian dress, and so take his departure. This he did repeatedly, and
even built himself a house in Borysthenes, and married a wife there
who was a native of the place.
    But when the time came that was ordained to bring him woe, the
occasion of his ruin was the following. He wanted to be initiated in
the Bacchic mysteries, and was on the point of obtaining admission
to the rites, when a most strange prodigy occurred to him. The house
which he possessed, as I mentioned a short time back, in the city of
the Borysthenites, a building of great extent and erected at a vast
cost, round which there stood a number of sphinxes and griffins carved
in white marble, was struck by lightning from on high, and burnt to
the ground. Scylas, nevertheless, went on and received the initiation.
Now the Scythians are wont to reproach the Greeks with their Bacchanal
rage, and to say that it is not reasonable to imagine there is a god
who impels men to madness. No sooner, therefore, was Scylas
initiated in the Bacchic mysteries than one of the Borysthenites
went and carried the news to the Scythians "You Scyths laugh at us" he
said, "because we rave when the god seizes us. But now our god has
seized upon your king, who raves like us, and is maddened by the
influence. If you think I do not tell you true, come with me, and I
will show him to you." The chiefs of the Scythians went with the man
accordingly, and the Borysthenite, conducting them into the city,
placed them secretly on one of the towers. Presently Scylas passed
by with the band of revellers, raving like the rest, and was seen by
the watchers. Regarding the matter as a very great misfortune they
instantly departed, and came and told the army what they had
witnessed.
    When, therefore, Scylas, after leaving Borysthenes, was about
returning home, the Scythians broke out into revolt. They put at their
head Octamasadas, grandson (on the mother's side) of Teres. Then
Scylas, when he learned the danger with which he was threatened, and
the reason of the disturbance, made his escape to Thrace. Octamasadas,
discovering whither he had fled, marched after him, and had reached
the Ister, when he was met by the forces of the Thracians. The two
armies were about to engage, but before they joined battle, Sitalces
sent a message to Octamasadas to this effect- "Why should there be
trial of arms betwixt thee and me? Thou art my own sister's son, and
thou hast in thy keeping my brother. Surrender him into my hands,
and I will give thy Scylas back to thee. So neither thou nor I will
risk our armies." Sitalces sent this message to Octamasadas, by a
herald, and Octamasadas, with whom a brother of Sitalces had
formerly taken refuge, accepted the terms. He surrendered his own
uncle to Sitalces, and obtained in exchange his brother Scylas.
Sitalces took his brother with him and withdrew; but Octamasadas
beheaded Scylas upon the spot. Thus rigidly do the Scythians
maintain their own customs, and thus severely do they punish such as
adopt foreign usages.
    What the population of Scythia is I was not able to learn with
certainty; the accounts which I received varied from one another. I
heard from some that they were very numerous indeed; others made their
numbers but scanty for such a nation as the Scyths. Thus much,
however, I witnessed with my own eyes. There is a tract called
Exampaeus between the Borysthenes and the Hypanis. I made some mention
of it in a former place, where I spoke of the bitter stream which
rising there flows into the Hypanis, and renders the water of that
river undrinkable. Here then stands a brazen bowl, six times as big as
that at the entrance of the Euxine, which Pausanias, the son of
Cleombrotus, set up. Such as have never seen that vessel may
understand me better if I say that the Scythian bowl holds with ease
six hundred amphorae, and is of the thickness of six fingers' breadth.
The natives gave me the following account of the manner in which it
was made. One of their kings, by name Ariantas, wishing to know the
number of his subjects, ordered them all to bring him, on pain of
death, the point off one of their arrows. They obeyed; and he
collected thereby a vast heap of arrow-heads, which he resolved to
form into a memorial that might go down to posterity. Accordingly he
made of them this bowl, and dedicated it at Exampaeus. This was all
that I could learn concerning the number of the Scythians.
    The country has no marvels except its rivers, which are larger and
more numerous than those of any other land. These, and the vastness of
the great plain, are worthy of note, and one thing besides, which I am
about to mention. They show a footmark of Hercules, impressed on a
rock, in shape like the print of a man's foot, but two cubits in
length. It is in the neighbourhood of the Tyras. Having described
this, I return to the subject on which I originally proposed to
discourse.
    The preparations of Darius against the Scythians had begun,
messengers had been despatched on all sides with the king's
commands, some being required to furnish troops, others to supply
ships, others again to bridge the Thracian Bosphorus, when
Artabanus, son of Hystaspes and brother of Darius, entreated the
king to desist from his expedition, urging on him the great difficulty
of attacking Scythia. Good, however, as the advice of Artabanus was,
it failed to persuade Darius. He therefore ceased his reasonings;
and Darius, when his preparations were complete, led his army forth
from Susa.
    It was then that a certain Persian, by name Oeobazus, the father
of three sons, all of whom were to accompany the army, came and prayed
the king that he would allow one of his sons to remain with him.
Darius made answer, as if he regarded him in the light of a friend who
had urged a moderate request, "that he would allow them all to
remain." Oeobazus was overjoyed, expecting that all his children would
be excused from serving; the king, however, bade his attendants take
the three sons of Oeobazus and forthwith put them to death. Thus
they were all left behind, but not till they had been deprived of
life.
    When Darius, on his march from Susa, reached the territory of
Chalcedon on the shores of the Bosphorus, where the bridge had been
made, he took ship and sailed thence to the Cyanean islands, which,
according to the Greeks, once floated. He took his seat also in the
temple and surveyed the Pontus, which is indeed well worthy of
consideration. There is not in the world any other sea so wonderful:
it extends in length eleven thousand one hundred furlongs, and its
breadth, at the widest part, is three thousand three hundred. The
mouth is but four furlongs wide; and this strait, called the
Bosphorus, and across which the bridge of Darius had been thrown, is a
hundred and twenty furlongs in length, reaching from the Euxine to the
Propontis. The Propontis is five hundred furlongs across, and fourteen
hundred long. Its waters flow into the Hellespont, the length of which
is four hundred furlongs, and the width no more than seven. The
Hellespont opens into the wide sea called the Egean.
    The mode in which these distances have been measured is the
following. In a long day a vessel generally accomplishes about seventy
thousand fathoms, in the night sixty thousand. Now from the mouth of
the Pontus to the river Phasis, which is the extreme length of this
sea, is a voyage of nine days and eight nights, which makes the
distance one million one hundred and ten thousand fathoms, or eleven
thousand one hundred furlongs. Again, from Sindica, to Themiscyra on
the river Thermodon, where the Pontus is wider than at any other
place, is a sail of three days and two nights; which makes three
hundred and thirty thousand fathoms, or three thousand three hundred
furlongs. Such is the plan on which I have measured the Pontus, the
Bosphorus, and the Hellespont, and such is the account which I have to
give of them. The Pontus has also a lake belonging to it, not very
much inferior to itself in size. The waters of this lake run into
the Pontus: it is called the Maeotis, and also the Mother of the
Pontus.
    Darius, after he had finished his survey, sailed back to the
bridge, which had been constructed for him by Mandrocles a Samian.
He likewise surveyed the Bosphorus, and erected upon its shores two
pillars of white marble, whereupon he inscribed the names of all the
nations which formed his army- on the one pillar in Greek, on the
other in Assyrian characters. Now his army was drawn from all the
nations under his sway; and the whole amount, without reckoning the
naval forces, was seven hundred thousand men, including cavalry. The
fleet consisted of six hundred ships. Some time afterwards the
Byzantines removed these pillars to their own city, and used them
for an altar which they erected to Orthosian Diana. One block remained
behind: it lay near the temple of Bacchus at Byzantium, and was
covered with Assyrian writing. The spot where Darius bridged the
Bosphorus was, I think, but I speak only from conjecture, half-way
between the city of Byzantium and the temple at the mouth of the
strait.
    Darius was so pleased with the bridge thrown across the strait
by the Samain Mandrocles, that he not only bestowed upon him all the
customary presents, but gave him ten of every kind. Mandrocles, by the
way of offering first-fruits from these presents, caused a picture
to be painted which showed the whole of the bridge, with King Darius
sitting in a seat of honour, and his army engaged in the passage. This
painting he dedicated in the temple of Juno at Samos, attaching to
it the inscription following:-

    The fish-fraught Bosphorus bridged, to Juno's fane
      Did Mandrocles this proud memorial bring;
    When for himself a crown he'd skill to gain,
      For Samos praise, contenting the Great King.

Such was the memorial of his work which was left by the architect of
the bridge.
    Darius, after rewarding Mandrocles, passed into Europe, while he
ordered the Ionians to enter the Pontus, and sail to the mouth of
the Ister. There he bade them throw a bridge across the stream and
await his coming. The Ionians, Aeolians, and Hellespontians were the
nations which furnished the chief strength of his navy. So the
fleet, threading the Cyanean Isles, proceeded straight to the Ister,
and, mounting the river to the point where its channels separate, a
distance of two days' voyage from the sea, yoked the neck of the
stream. Meantime Darius, who had crossed the Bosphorus by the bridge
over it, marched through Thrace; and happening upon the sources of the
Tearus, pitched his camp and made a stay of three days.
    Now the Tearus is said by those who dwell near it, to be the
most healthful of all streams, and to cure, among other diseases,
the scab either in man or beast. Its sources, which are eight and
thirty in number, all flowing from the same rock, are in part cold, in
part hot. They lie at an equal distance from the town of Heraeum
near Perinthus, and Apollonia on the Euxine, a two days' journey
from each. This river, the Tearus, is a tributary of the
Contadesdus, which runs into the Agrianes, and that into the Hebrus.
The Hebrus empties itself into the sea near the city of Aenus.
    Here then, on the banks of the Tearus, Darius stopped and
pitched his camp. The river charmed him so, that he caused a pillar to
be erected in this place also, with an inscription to the following
effect: "The fountains of the Tearus afford the best and most
beautiful water of all rivers: they were visited, on his march into
Scythia, by the best and most beautiful of men, Darius, son of
Hystaspes, king of the Persians, and of the whole continent." Such was
the inscription which he set up at this place.
    Marching thence, he came to a second river, called the Artiscus,
which flows through the country of the Odrysians. Here he fixed upon a
certain spot, where every one of his soldiers should throw a stone
as he passed by. When his orders were obeyed, Darius continued his
march, leaving behind him great hills formed of the stones cast by his
troops.
    Before arriving at the Ister, the first people whom he subdued
were the Getae, who believe in their immortality. The Thracians of
Salmydessus, and those who dwelt above the cities of Apollonia and
Mesembria- the Scyrmiadae and Nipsaeans, as they are called- gave
themselves up to Darius without a struggle; but the Getae
obstinately defending themselves, were forthwith enslaved,
notwithstanding that they are the noblest as well as the most just
of all the Thracian tribes.
    The belief of the Getae in respect of immortality is the
following. They think that they do not really die, but that when
they depart this life they go to Zalmoxis, who is called also
Gebeleizis by some among them. To this god every five years they
send a messenger, who is chosen by lot out of the whole nation, and
charged to bear him their several requests. Their mode of sending
him is this. A number of them stand in order, each holding in his hand
three darts; others take the man who is to be sent to Zalmoxis, and
swinging him by his hands and feet, toss him into the air so that he
falls upon the points of the weapons. If he is pierced and dies,
they think that the god is propitious to them; but if not, they lay
the fault on the messenger, who (they say) is a wicked man: and so
they choose another to send away. The messages are given while the man
is still alive. This same people, when it lightens and thunders, aim
their arrows at the sky, uttering threats against the god; and they do
not believe that there is any god but their own.
    I am told by the Greeks who dwell on the shores of the
Hellespont and the Pontus, that this Zalmoxis was in reality a man,
that he lived at Samos, and while there was the slave of Pythagoras
son of Mnesarchus. After obtaining his freedom he grew rich, and
leaving Samos, returned to his own country. The Thracians at that time
lived in a wretched way, and were a poor ignorant race; Zalmoxis,
therefore, who by his commerce with the Greeks, and especially with
one who was by no means their most contemptible philosopher,
Pythagoras to wit, was acquainted with the Ionic mode of life and with
manners more refined than those current among his countrymen, had a
chamber built, in which from time to time he received and feasted
all the principal Thracians, using the occasion to teach them that
neither he, nor they, his boon companions, nor any of their
posterity would ever perish, but that they would all go to a place
where they would live for aye in the enjoyment of every conceivable
good. While he was acting in this way, and holding this kind of
discourse, he was constructing an apartment underground, into which,
when it was completed, he withdrew, vanishing suddenly from the eyes
of the Thracians, who greatly regretted his loss, and mourned over him
as one dead. He meanwhile abode in his secret chamber three full
years, after which he came forth from his concealment, and showed
himself once more to his countrymen, who were thus brought to
believe in the truth of what he had taught them. Such is the account
of the Greeks.
    I for my part neither put entire faith in this story of Zalmoxis
and his underground chamber, nor do I altogether discredit it: but I
believe Zalmoxis to have lived long before the time of Pythagoras.
Whether there was ever really a man of the name, or whether Zalmoxis
is nothing but a native god of the Getae, I now bid him farewell. As
for the Getae themselves, the people who observe the practices
described above, they were now reduced by the Persians, and
accompanied the army of Darius.
    When Darius, with his land forces, reached the Ister, he made
his troops cross the stream, and after all were gone over gave
orders to the Ionians to break the bridge, and follow him with the
whole naval force in his land march. They were about to obey his
command, when the general of the Mytilenaeans, Coes son of Erxander,
having first asked whether it was agreeable to the king to listen to
one who wished to speak his mind, addressed him in the words
following:- "Thou art about, Sire, to attack a country no part of
which is cultivated, and wherein there is not a single inhabited city.
Keep this bridge, then, as it is, and leave those who built it to
watch over it. So if we come up with the Scythians and succeed against
them as we could wish, we may return by this route; or if we fail of
finding them, our retreat will still be secure. For I have no fear
lest the Scythians defeat us in battle, but my dread is lest we be
unable to discover them, and suffer loss while we wander about their
territory. And now, mayhap, it will be said, I advise thee thus in the
hope of being myself allowed to remain behind; but in truth I have
no other design than to recommend the course which seems to me the
best; nor will I consent to be among those left behind, but my resolve
is, in any case, to follow thee." The advice of Coes pleased Darius
highly, who thus replied to him:- "Dear Lesbian, when I am safe home
again in my palace, be sure thou come to me, and with good deeds
will I recompense thy good words of to-day."
    Having so said, the king took a leathern thong, and tying sixty
knots in it, called together the Ionian tyrants, and spoke thus to
them:- "Men of Ionia, my former commands to you concerning the
bridge are now withdrawn. See, here is a thong: take it, and observe
my bidding with respect to it. From the time that I leave you to march
forward into Scythia, untie every day one of the knots. If I do not
return before the last day to which the knots will hold out, then
leave your station, and sail to your several homes. Meanwhile,
understand that my resolve is changed, and that you are to guard the
bridge with all care, and watch over its safety and preservation. By
so doing ye will oblige me greatly." When Darius had thus spoken, he
set out on his march with all speed.
    Before you come to Scythia, on the sea coast, lies Thrace. The
land here makes a sweep, and then Scythia begins, the Ister falling
into the sea at this point with its mouth facing the east. Starting
from the Ister I shall now describe the measurements of the seashore
of Scythia. Immediately that the Ister is crossed, Old Scythia begins,
and continues as far as the city called Carcinitis, fronting towards
the south wind and the mid-day. Here upon the same sea, there lies a
mountainous tract projecting into the Pontus, which is inhabited by
the Tauri, as far as what is called the Rugged Chersonese, which
runs out into the sea upon the east. For the boundaries of Scythia
extend on two sides to two different seas, one upon the south, and the
other towards the east, as is also the case with Attica. And the Tauri
occupy a position in Scythia like that which a people would hold in
Attica, who, being foreigners and not Athenians, should inhabit the
high land of Sunium, from Thoricus to the township of Anaphlystus,
if this tract projected into the sea somewhat further than it does.
Such, to compare great things with small, is the Tauric territory. For
the sake of those who may not have made the voyage round these parts
of Attica, I will illustrate in another way. It is as if in Iapygia
a line were drawn from Port Brundusium to Tarentum, and a people
different from the Iapygians inhabited the promontory. These two
instances may suggest a number of others where the shape of the land
closely resembles that of Taurica.
    Beyond this tract, we find the Scythians again in possession of
the country above the Tauri and the parts bordering on the eastern
sea, as also of the whole district lying west of the Cimmerian
Bosphorus and the Palus Maeotis, as far as the river Tanais, which
empties itself into that lake at its upper end. As for the inland
boundaries of Scythia, if we start from the Ister, we find it enclosed
by the following tribes, first the Agathyrsi, next the Neuri, then the
Androphagi, and last of all, the Melanchaeni.
    Scythia then, which is square in shape, and has two of its sides
reaching down to the sea, extends inland to the same distance that
it stretches along the coast, and is equal every way. For it is a
ten days' journey from the Ister to the Borysthenes, and ten more from
the Borysthenes to the Palus Maeotis, while the distance from the
coast inland to the country of the Melanchaeni, who dwell above
Scythia, is a journey of twenty days. I reckon the day's journey at
two hundred furlongs. Thus the two sides which run straight inland are
four thousand furlongs each, and the transverse sides at right
angles to these are also of the same length, which gives the full size
of Scythia.
    The Scythians, reflecting on their situation, perceived that
they were not strong enough by themselves to contend with the army
of Darius in open fight. They, therefore, sent envoys to the
neighbouring nations, whose kings had already met, and were in
consultation upon the advance of so vast a host. Now they who had come
together were the kings of the Tauri, the Agathyrsi, the Neuri, the
Androphagi, the Melanchaeni, the Geloni, the Budini, and the
Sauromatae.
    The Tauri have the following customs. They offer in sacrifice to
the Virgin all shipwrecked persons, and all Greeks compelled to put
into their ports by stress of weather. The mode of sacrifice is
this. After the preparatory ceremonies, they strike the victim on
the head with a club. Then, according to some accounts, they hurl
the trunk from the precipice whereon the temple stands, and nail the
head to a cross. Others grant that the head is treated in this way,
but deny that the body is thrown down the cliff- on the contrary, they
say, it is buried. The goddess to whom these sacrifices are offered
the Tauri themselves declare to be Iphigenia the daughter of
Agamemnon. When they take prisoners in war they treat them in the
following way. The man who has taken a captive cuts off his head,
and carrying it to his home, fixes it upon a tall pole, which he
elevates above his house, most commonly over the chimney. The reason
that the heads are set up so high, is (it is said) in order that the
whole house may be under their protection. These people live
entirely by war and plundering.
    The Agathyrsi are a race of men very luxurious, and very fond of
wearing gold on their persons. They have wives in common, that so they
may be all brothers, and, as members of one family, may neither envy
nor hate one another. In other respects their customs approach
nearly to those of the Thracians.
    The Neurian customs are like the Scythian. One generation before
the attack of Darius they were driven from their land by a huge
multitude of serpents which invaded them. Of these some were
produced in their own country, while others, and those by far the
greater number, came in from the deserts on the north. Suffering
grievously beneath this scourge, they quitted their homes, and took
refuge with the Budini. It seems that these people are conjurers:
for both the Scythians and the Greeks who dwell in Scythia say that
every Neurian once a year becomes a wolf for a few days, at the end of
which time he is restored to his proper shape. Not that I believe
this, but they constantly affirm it to be true, and are even ready
to back their assertion with an oath.
    The manners of the Androphagi are more savage than those of any
other race. They neither observe justice, nor are governed, by any
laws. They are nomads, and their dress is Scythian; but the language
which they speak is peculiar to themselves. Unlike any other nation in
these parts, they are cannibals.
    The Melanchaeni wear, all of them, black cloaks, and from this
derive the name which they bear. Their customs are Scythic.
    The Budini are a large and powerful nation: they have all deep
blue eyes, and bright red hair. There is a city in their territory,
called Gelonus, which is surrounded with a lofty wall, thirty furlongs
each way, built entirely of wood. All the houses in the place and
all the temples are of the same material. Here are temples built in
honour of the Grecian gods, and adorned after the Greek fashion with
images, altars, and shrines, all in wood. There is even a festival,
held every third year in honour of Bacchus, at which the natives
fall into the Bacchic fury. For the fact is that the Geloni were
anciently Greeks, who, being driven out of the factories along the
coast, fled to the Budini and took up their abode with them. They
still speak a language half Greek, half Scythian.
    The Budini, however, do not speak the same language as the Geloni,
nor is their mode of life the same. They are the aboriginal people
of the country, and are nomads; unlike any of the neighbouring
races, they eat lice. The Geloni on the contrary, are tillers of the
soil, eat bread, have gardens, and both in shape and complexion are
quite different from the Budini. The Greeks notwithstanding call these
latter Geloni; but it is a mistake to give them the name. Their
country is thickly planted with trees of all manner of kinds. In the
very woodiest part is a broad deep lake, surrounded by marshy ground
with reeds growing on it. Here otters are caught, and beavers, with
another sort of animal which has a square face. With the skins of this
last the natives border their capotes: and they also get from them a
remedy, which is of virtue in diseases of the womb.
    It is reported of the Sauromatae, that when the Greeks fought with
the Amazons, whom the Scythians call Oior-pata or "man-slayers," as it
may be rendered, Oior being Scythic for "man," and pata for "to slay"-
It is reported, I say, that the Greeks after gaining the battle of the
Thermodon, put to sea, taking with them on board three of their
vessels all the Amazons whom they had made prisoners; and that these
women upon the voyage rose up against the crews, and massacred them to
a man. As however they were quite strange to ships, and did not know
how to use either rudder, sails, or oars, they were carried, after the
death of the men, where the winds and the waves listed. At last they
reached the shores of the Palus Maeotis and came to a place called
Cremni or "the Cliffs," which is in the country of the free Scythians.
Here they went ashore, and proceeded by land towards the inhabited
regions; the first herd of horses which they fell in with they seized,
and mounting upon their backs, fell to plundering the Scythian
territory.
    The Scyths could not tell what to make of the attack upon them-
the dress, the language, the nation itself, were alike unknown
whence the enemy had come even, was a marvel. Imagining, however, that
they were all men of about the same age, they went out against them,
and fought a battle. Some of the bodies of the slain fell into their
hands, whereby they discovered the truth. Hereupon they deliberated,
and made a resolve to kill no more of them, but to send against them a
detachment of their youngest men, as near as they could guess equal to
the women in number, with orders to encamp in their neighbourhood, and
do as they saw them do- when the Amazons advanced against them, they
were to retire, and avoid a fight- when they halted, the young men
were to approach and pitch their camp near the camp of the enemy.
All this they did on account of their strong desire to obtain children
from so notable a race.
    So the youths departed, and obeyed the orders which had been given
them. The Amazons soon found out that they had not come to do them any
harm; and so they on their part ceased to offer the Scythians any
molestation. And now day after day the camps approached nearer to
one another; both parties led the same life, neither having anything
but their arms and horses, so that they were forced to support
themselves by hunting and pillage.
    At last an incident brought two of them together- the man easily
gained the good graces of the woman, who bade him by signs (for they
did not understand each other's language) to bring a friend the next
day to the spot where they had met- promising on her part to bring
with her another woman. He did so, and the woman kept her word. When
the rest of the youths heard what had taken place, they also sought
and gained the favour of the other Amazons.
    The two camps were then joined in one, the Scythians living with
the Amazons as their wives; and the men were unable to learn the
tongue of the women, but the women soon caught up the tongue of the
men. When they could thus understand one another, the Scyths addressed
the Amazons in these words- "We have parents, and properties, let us
therefore give up this mode of life, and return to our nation, and
live with them. You shall be our wives there no less than here, and we
promise you to have no others." But the Amazons said- "We could not
live with your women- our customs are quite different from theirs.
To draw the bow, to hurl the javelin, to bestride the horse, these are
our arts of womanly employments we know nothing. Your women, on the
contrary, do none of these things; but stay at home in their
waggons, engaged in womanish tasks, and never go out to hunt, or to do
anything. We should never agree together. But if you truly wish to
keep us as your wives, and would conduct yourselves with strict
justice towards us, go you home to your parents, bid them give you
your inheritance, and then come back to us, and let us and you live
together by ourselves."
    The youths approved of the advice, and followed it. They went
and got the portion of goods which fell to them, returned with it, and
rejoined their wives, who then addressed them in these words
following:- "We are ashamed, and afraid to live in the country where
we now are. Not only have we stolen you from your fathers, but we have
done great damage to Scythia by our ravages. As you like us for wives,
grant the request we make of you. Let us leave this country
together, and go and dwell beyond the Tanais." Again the youths
complied.
    Crossing the Tanais they journeyed eastward a distance of three
days' march from that stream, and again northward a distance of
three days' march from the Palus Maeotis. Here they came to the
country where they now live, and took up their abode in it. The
women of the Sauromatae have continued from that day to the present to
observe their ancient customs, frequently hunting on horseback with
their husbands, sometimes even unaccompanied; in war taking the field;
and wearing the very same dress as the men.
    The Sauromatae speak the language of Scythia, but have never
talked it correctly, because the Amazons learnt it imperfectly at
the first. Their marriage-law lays it down that no girl shall wed till
she has killed a man in battle. Sometimes it happens that a woman dies
unmarried at an advanced age, having never been able in her whole
lifetime to fulfil the condition.
    The envoys of the Scythians, on being introduced into the presence
of the kings of these nations, who were assembled to deliberate,
made it known to them that the Persian, after subduing the whole of
the other continent, had thrown a bridge over the strait of the
Bosphorus, and crossed into the continent of Europe, where he had
reduced the Thracians, and was now making a bridge over the Ister, his
aim being to bring under his sway all Europe also. "Stand ye not aloof
then from this contest," they went on to say, "look not on tamely
while we are perishing- but make common cause with us, and together
let us meet the enemy. If ye refuse, we must yield to the pressure,
and either quit our country, or make terms with the invaders. For what
else is left for us to do, if your aid be withheld from us? The
blow, be sure, will not light on you more gently upon this account.
The Persian comes against you no less than against us: and will not be
content, after we are conquered, to leave you in peace. We can bring
strong proof of what we here advance. Had the Persian leader indeed
come to avenge the wrongs which he suffered at our hands when we
enslaved his people, and to war on us only, he would have been bound
to march straight upon Scythia, without molesting any nation by the
way. Then it would have been plain to all that Scythia alone was aimed
at. But now, what has his conduct been? From the moment of his
entrance into Europe, he has subjugated without exception every nation
that lay in his path. All the tribes of the Thracians have been
brought under his sway, and among them even our next neighbours, the
Getae."
    The assembled princes of the nations, after hearing all that the
Scythians had to say, deliberated. At the end opinion was divided- the
kings of the Geloni, Budini, and Sauromatae were of accord, and
pledged themselves to give assistance to the Scythians; but the
Agathyrsian and Neurian princes, together with the sovereigns of the
Androphagi, the Melanchaeni, and the Tauri, replied to their request
as follows:- "If you had not been the first to wrong the Persians, and
begin the war, we should have thought the request you make just;- we
should then have complied with your wishes, and joined our arms with
yours. Now, however, the case stands thus- you, independently of us,
invaded the land of the Persians, and so long as God gave you the
power, lorded it over them: raised up now by the same God, they are
come to do to you the like. We, on our part, did no wrong to these men
in the former war, and will not be the first to commit wrong now. If
they invade our land, and begin aggressions upon us, we will not
suffer them; but, till we see this come to pass, we will remain at
home. For we believe that the Persians are not come to attack us,
but to punish those who are guilty of first injuring them."
    When this reply reached the Scythians, they resolved, as the
neighbouring nations refused their alliance, that they would not
openly venture on any pitched battle with the enemy, but would
retire before them, driving off their herds, choking up all the
wells and springs as they retreated, and leaving the whole country
bare of forage. They divided themselves into three bands, one of
which, namely, that commanded by Scopasis, it was agreed should be
joined by the Sauromatae, and if the Persians advanced in the
direction of the Tanais, should retreat along the shores of the
Palus Maeotis and make for that river; while if the Persians
retired, they should at once pursue and harass them. The two other
divisions, the principal one under the command of Idanthyrsus, and the
third, of which Taxacis was king, were to unite in one, and, joined by
the detachments of the Geloni and Budini, were, like the others, to
keep at the distance of a day's march from the Persians, falling
back as they advanced, and doing the same as the others. And first,
they were to take the direction of the nations which had refused to
join the alliance, and were to draw the war upon them: that so, if
they would not of their own free will engage in the contest, they
might by these means be forced into it. Afterwards, it was agreed that
they should retire into their own land, and, should it on deliberation
appear to them expedient, join battle with the enemy.
    When these measures had been determined on, the Scythians went out
to meet the army of Darius, sending on in front as scouts the fleetest
of their horsemen. Their waggons wherein their women and their
children lived, and all their cattle, except such a number as was
wanted for food, which they kept with them, were made to precede
them in their retreat, and departed, with orders to keep marching,
without change of course, to the north.
    The scouts of the Scythians found the Persian host advanced
three days' march from the Ister, and immediately took the lead of
them at the distance of a day's march, encamping from time to time,
and destroying all that grow on the ground. The Persians no sooner
caught sight of the Scythian horse than they pursued upon their track,
while the enemy retired before them. The pursuit of the Persians was
directed towards the single division of the Scythian army, and thus
their line of march was eastward toward the Tanais. The Scyths crossed
the river and the Persians after them, still in pursuit. in this way
they passed through the country of the Sauromatae, and entered that of
the Budini.
    As long as the march of the Persian army lay through the countries
of the Scythians and Sauromatae, there was nothing which they could
damage, the land being waste and barren; but on entering the
territories of the Budini, they came upon the wooden fortress above
mentioned, which was deserted by its inhabitants and left quite
empty of everything. This place they burnt to the ground; and having
so done, again pressed forward on the track of the retreating
Scythians, till, having passed through the entire country of the
Budini, they reached the desert, which has no inhabitants, and extends
a distance of seven days' journey above the Budinian territory. Beyond
this desert dwell the Thyssagetae, out of whose land four great
streams flow. These rivers all traverse the country of the
Maeotians, and fall into the Palus Maeotis. Their names are the Lycus,
the Oarus, the Tanais, and the Syrgis.
    When Darius reached the desert, he paused from his pursuit, and
halted his army upon the Oarus. Here he built eight large forts, at an
equal distance from one another, sixty furlongs apart or
thereabouts, the ruins of which were still remaining in my day. During
the time that he was so occupied, the Scythians whom he had been
following made a circuit by the higher regions, and re-entered
Scythia. On their complete disappearance, Darius, seeing nothing
more of them, left his forts half finished, and returned towards the
west. He imagined that the Scythians whom he had seen were the
entire nation, and that they had fled in that direction.
    He now quickened his march, and entering Scythia, fell in with the
two combined divisions of the Scythian army, and instantly gave them
chase. They kept to their plan of retreating before him at the
distance of a day's march; and, he still following them hotly, they
led him, as had been previously settled, into the territories of the
nations that had refused to become their allies, and first of all into
the country of the Melanchaeni. Great disturbance was caused among
this people by the invasion of the Scyths first, and then of the
Persians. So, having harassed them after this sort, the Scythians
led the way into the land of the Androphagi, with the same result as
before; and thence passed onwards into Neuris, where their coming
likewise spread dismay among the inhabitants. Still retreating they
approached the Agathyrsi; but this people, which had witnessed the
flight and terror of their neighbours, did not wait for the Scyths
to invade them, but sent a herald to forbid them to cross their
borders, and to forewarn them, that, if they made the attempt, it
would be resisted by force of arms. The Agathyrsi then proceeded to
the frontier, to defend their country against the invaders. As for the
other nations, the Melanchaeni, the Androphagi, and the Neuri, instead
of defending themselves, when the Scyths and Persians overran their
lands, they forgot their threats and fled away in confusion to the
deserts lying towards the north. The Scythians, when the Agathyrsi
forbade them to enter their country, refrained; and led the Persians
back from the Neurian district into their own land.
    This had gone on so long, and seemed so interminable, that
Darius at last sent a horseman to Idanthyrsus, the Scythian king, with
the following message:- "Thou strange man, why dost thou keep on
flying before me, when there are two things thou mightest do so
easily? If thou deemest thyself able to resist my arms, cease thy
wanderings and come, let us engage in battle. Or if thou art conscious
that my strength is greater than thine- even so thou shouldest cease
to run away- thou hast but to bring thy lord earth and water, and to
come at once to a conference."
    To this message Idanthyrsus, the Scythian king, replied:- "This is
my way, Persian. I never fear men or fly from them. I have not done so
in times past, nor do I now fly from thee. There is nothing new or
strange in what I do; I only follow my common mode of life in peaceful
years. Now I will tell thee why I do not at once join battle with
thee. We Scythians have neither towns nor cultivated lands, which
might induce us, through fear of their being taken or ravaged, to be
in any hurry to fight with you. If, however, you must needs come to
blows with us speedily, look you now, there are our fathers' tombs-
seek them out, and attempt to meddle with them- then ye shall see
whether or no we will fight with you. Till ye do this, be sure we
shall not join battle, unless it pleases us. This is my answer to
the challenge to fight. As for lords, I acknowledge only Jove my
ancestor, and Vesta, the Scythian queen. Earth and water, the
tribute thou askedst, I do not send, but thou shalt soon receive
more suitable gifts. Last of all, in return for thy calling thyself my
lord, I say to thee, 'Go weep.'" (This is what men mean by the
Scythian mode of speech.) So the herald departed, bearing this message
to Darius.
    When the Scythian kings heard the name of slavery they were filled
with rage, and despatched the division under Scopasis to which the
Sauromatae were joined, with orders that they should seek a conference
with the Ionians, who had been left at the Ister to guard the
bridge. Meanwhile the Scythians who remained behind resolved no longer
to lead the Persians hither and thither about their country, but to
fall upon them whenever they should be at their meals. So they
waited till such times, and then did as they had determined. In
these combats the Scythian horse always put to flight the horse of the
enemy; these last, however, when routed, fell back upon their foot,
who never failed to afford them support; while the Scythians, on their
side, as soon as they had driven the horse in, retired again, for fear
of the foot. By night too the Scythians made many similar attacks.
    There was one very strange thing which greatly advantaged the
Persians, and was of equal disservice to the Scyths, in these assaults
on the Persian camp. This was the braying of the asses and the
appearance of the mules. For, as I observed before, the land of the
Scythians produces neither ass nor mule, and contains no single
specimen of either animal, by reason of the cold. So, when the asses
brayed, they frightened the Scythian cavalry; and often, in the middle
of a charge, the horses, hearing the noise made by the asses, would
take fright and wheel round, pricking up their ears, and showing
astonishment. This was owing to their having never heard the noise, or
seen the form, of the animal before: and it was not without some
little influence on the progress of the war.
    The Scythians, when they perceived signs that the Persians were
becoming alarmed, took steps to induce them not to quit Scythia, in
the hope, if they stayed, of inflicting on them the greater injury,
when their supplies should altogether fail. To effect this, they would
leave some of their cattle exposed with the herdsmen, while they
themselves moved away to a distance: the Persians would make a
foray, and take the beasts, whereupon they would be highly elated.
    This they did several times, until at last Darius was at his wits'
end; hereon the Scythian princes, understanding how matters stood,
despatched a herald to the Persian camp with presents for the king:
these were, a bird, a mouse, a frog, and five arrows. The Persians
asked the bearer to tell them what these gifts might mean, but he made
answer that he had no orders except to deliver them, and return
again with all speed. If the Persians were wise, he added, they
would find out the meaning for themselves. So when they heard this,
they held a council to consider the matter.
    Darius gave it as his opinion that the Scyths intended a surrender
of themselves and their country, both land and water, into his
hands. This he conceived to be the meaning of the gifts, because the
mouse is an inhabitant of the earth, and eats the same food as man,
while the frog passes his life in the water; the bird bears a great
resemblance to the horse, and the arrows might signify the surrender
of all their power. To the explanation of Darius, Gobryas, one of
the seven conspirators against the Magus, opposed another which was as
follows:- "Unless, Persians, ye can turn into birds and fly up into
the sky, or become mice and burrow under the ground, or make
yourselves frogs, and take refuge in the fens, ye will never make
escape from this land, but die pierced by our arrows. Such were
meanings which the Persians assigned to the gifts.
    The single division of the Scyths, which in the early part of
the war had been appointed to keep guard about the Palus Maeotis,
and had now been sent to get speech of the Ionians stationed at the
Ister, addressed them, on reaching the bridge, in these words- "Men of
Ionia, we bring you freedom, if ye will only do as we recommend.
Darius, we understand, enjoined you to keep your guard here at this
bridge just sixty days; then, if he did not appear, you were to return
home. Now, therefore, act so as to be free from blame, alike in his
sight, and in ours. Tarry here the appointed time, and at the end go
your ways." Having said this, and received a promise from the
Ionians to do as they desired, the Scythians hastened back with all
possible speed.
    After the sending of the gifts to Darius, the part of the Scythian
army which had not marched to the Ister, drew out in battle array
horse and foot against the Persians, and seemed about to come to an
engagement. But as they stood in battle array, it chanced that a
hare started up between them and the Persians, and set to running;
when immediately all the Scyths who saw it, rushed off in pursuit,
with great confusion and loud cries and shouts. Darius, hearing the
noise, inquired the cause of it, and was told that the Scythians
were all engaged in hunting a hare. On this he turned to those with
whom he was wont to converse, and said:- "These men do indeed
despise us utterly: and now I see that Gobryas was right about the
Scythian gifts. As, therefore, his opinion is now mine likewise, it is
time we form some wise plan whereby we may secure ourselves a safe
return to our homes." "Ah! sire," Gobryas rejoined, "I was well nigh
sure, ere I came here, that this was an impracticable race- since
our coming I am yet more convinced of it, especially now that I see
them making game of us. My advice is, therefore, that, when night
falls, we light our fires as we are wont to do at other times, and
leaving behind us on some pretext that portion of our army which is
weak and unequal to hardship, taking care also to leave our asses
tethered, retreat from Scythia, before our foes march forward to the
Ister and destroy the bridge, or the Ionians come to any resolution
which may lead to our ruin."
    So Gobryas advised; and when night came, Darius followed his
counsel, and leaving his sick soldiers, and those whose loss would
be of least account, with the asses also tethered about the camp,
marched away. The asses were left that their noise might be heard: the
men, really because they were sick and useless, but under the pretence
that he was about to fall upon the Scythians with the flower of his
troops, and that they meanwhile were to guard his camp for him. Having
thus declared his plans to the men whom he was deserting, and having
caused the fires to be lighted, Darius set forth, and marched
hastily towards the Ister. The asses, aware of the departure of the
host, brayed louder than ever; and the Scythians, hearing the sound,
entertained no doubt of the Persians being still in the same place.
    When day dawned, the men who had been left behind, perceiving that
they were betrayed by Darius, stretched out their hands towards the
Scythians, and spoke as. befitted their situation. The enemy no sooner
heard, than they quickly joined all their troops in one, and both
portions of the Scythian army- alike that which consisted of a
single division, and that made up of two- accompanied by all their
allies, the Sauromatae, the Budini, and the Geloni, set off in
pursuit, and made straight for the Ister. As, however, the Persian
army was chiefly foot, and had no knowledge of the routes, which are
not cut out in Scythia; while the Scyths were all horsemen and well
acquainted with the shortest way; it so happened that the two armies
missed one another, and the Scythians, getting far ahead of their
adversaries, came first to the bridge. Finding that the Persians
were not yet arrived, they addressed the Ionians, who were aboard
their ships, in these words:- "Men of Ionia, the number of your days
is out, and ye do wrong to remain. Fear doubtless has kept you here
hitherto: now, however, you may safely break the bridge, and hasten
back to your homes, rejoicing that you are free, and thanking for it
the gods and the Scythians. Your former lord and master we undertake
so to handle, that he will never again make war upon any one."
    The Ionians now held a council. Miltiades the Athenian, who was
king of the Chersonesites upon the Hellespont, and their commander
at the Ister, recommended the other generals to do as the Scythians
wished, and restore freedom to Ionia. But Histiaeus the Milesian
opposed this advice. "It is through Darius," he said, "that we enjoy
our thrones in our several states. If his power be overturned, I
cannot continue lord of Miletus, nor ye of your cities. For there is
not one of them which will not prefer democracy to kingly rule."
Then the other captains, who, till Histiaeus spoke, were about to vote
with Miltiades, changed their minds, and declared in favour of the
last speaker.
    The following were the voters on this occasion- all of them men
who stood high in the esteem of the Persian king: the tyrants of the
Hellespont- Daphnis of Abydos, Hippoclus of Lampsacus, Herophantus
of Parium, Metrodorus of Proconnesus, Aristagoras of Cyzicus, and
Ariston of Byzantium; the Ionian princes- Strattis of Chios, Aeaces of
Samos, Laodamas of Phocaea, and Histiaeus of Miletus, the man who
had opposed Miltiades. Only one Aeolian of note was present, to wit,
Aristagoras of Cyme.
    Having resolved to follow the advice of Histiaeus, the Greek
leaders further determined to speak and act as follows. In order to
appear to the Scythians to be doing something, when in fact they
were doing nothing of consequence, and likewise to prevent them from
forcing a passage across the Ister by the bridge, they resolved to
break up the part of the bridge which abutted on Scythia, to the
distance of a bowshot from the river bank; and to assure the
Scythians, while the demolition was proceeding, that there was nothing
which they would not do to pleasure them. Such were the additions made
to the resolution of Histiaeus; and then Histiaeus himself stood forth
and made answer to the Scyths in the name of all the Greeks.- "Good is
the advice which ye have brought us, Scythians, and well have ye
done to come here with such speed. Your efforts have now put us into
the right path; and our efforts shall not be wanting to advance your
cause. Your own eyes see that we are engaged in breaking the bridge;
and, believe us, we will work zealously to procure our own freedom.
Meantime, while we labour here at our task, be it your business to
seek them out, and, when found, for our sakes, as well as your own, to
visit them with the vengeance which they so well deserve."
    Again the Scyths put faith in the promises of the Ionian chiefs,
and retraced their steps, hoping to fall in with the Persians. They
missed, however, the enemy's whole line of march; their own former
acts being to blame for it. Had they not ravaged all the pasturages of
that region, and filled in all the wells, they would have easily found
the Persians whenever they chose. But, as it turned out, the
measures which seemed to them so wisely planned were exactly what
caused their failure. They took a route where water was to be found
and fodder could be got for their horses, and on this track sought
their adversaries, expecting that they too would retreat through
regions where these things were to be obtained. The Persians, however,
kept strictly to the line of their former march, never for a moment
departing from it; and even so gained the bridge with difficulty. It
was night when they arrived, and their terror, when they found the
bridge broken up, was great; for they thought that perhaps the Ionians
had deserted them.
    Now there was in the army of Darius a certain man, an Egyptian,
who had a louder voice than any other man in the world. This person
was bid by Darius to stand at the water's edge, and call Histiaeus the
Milesian. The fellow did as he was bid; and Histiaeus, hearing him
at the very first summons, brought the fleet to assist in conveying
the army across, and once more made good the bridge.
    By these means the Persians escaped from Scythia, while the Scyths
sought for them in vain, again missing their track. And hence the
Scythians are accustomed to say of the Ionians, by way of reproach,
that, if they be looked upon as freemen, they are the basest and
most dastardly of all mankind- but if they be considered as under
servitude, they are the faithfullest of slaves, and the most fondly
at. to their lords.
    Darius, having passed through Thrace, reached Sestos in the
Chersonese, whence he crossed by the help of his fleet into Asia,
leaving a Persian, named Megabazus, commander on the European side.
This was the man on whom Darius once conferred special honour by a
compliment which he paid him before all the Persians. was about to eat
some pomegranates, and had opened the first, when his brother
Artabanus asked him "what he would like to have in as great plenty
as the seeds of the pomegranate?" Darius answered- "Had I as many
men like Megabazus as there are seeds here, it would please me
better than to be lord of Greece." Such was the compliment wherewith
Darius honoured the general to whom at this time he gave the command
of the troops left in Europe, amounting in all to some eighty thousand
men.
    This same Megabazus got himself an undying remembrance among the
Hellespontians, by a certain speech which he made. It came to his
knowledge, while he was staying at Byzantium, that the Chalcedonians
made their settlement seventeen years earlier than the Byzantines.
"Then," said he, "the Chalcedonians must at that time have been
labouring under blindness- otherwise, when so far more excellent a
site was open to them, they would never have chosen one so greatly
inferior." Megabazus now, having been appointed to take the command
upon the Hellespont, employed himself in the reduction of all those
states which had not of their own accord joined the Medes.
    About this very time another great expedition was undertaken
against Libya, on a pretext which I will relate when I have premised
certain particulars. The descendants of the Argonauts in the third
generation, driven out of Lemnos by the Pelasgi who carried off the
Athenian women from Brauron, took ship and went to Lacedaemon,
where, seating themselves on Mount Taygetum, they proceeded to
kindle their fires. The Lacedaemonians, seeing this, sent a herald
to inquire of them "who they were, and from what region they had
come"; whereupon they made answer, "that they were Minyae, sons of the
heroes by whom the ship Argo was manned; for these persons had
stayed awhile in Lemnos, and had there become their progenitors." On
hearing this account of their descent, the Lacedaemonians sent to them
a second time, and asked "what was their object in coming to
Lacedaemon, and there kindling their fires?" They answered, "that,
driven from their own land by the Pelasgi, they had come, as was
most reasonable, to their fathers; and their wish was to dwell with
them in their country, partake their privileges, and obtain allotments
of land. It seemed good to the Lacedaemonians to receive the Minyae
among them on their own terms; to assign them lands, and enrol them in
their tribes. What chiefly moved them to this was the consideration
that the sons of Tyndarus had sailed on board the Argo. The Minyae, on
their part, forthwith married Spartan wives, and gave the wives,
whom they had married in Lemnos, to Spartan husbands.
    However, before much time had elapsed, the Minyae began to wax
wanton, demanded to share the throne, and committed other impieties:
whereupon the Lacedaemonians passed on them sentence of death, and,
seizing them, cast them into prison. Now the Lacedaemonians never
put criminals to death in the daytime, but always at night. When the
Minyae, accordingly, were about to suffer, their wives, who were not
only citizens, but daughters of the chief men among the Spartans,
entreated to be allowed to enter the prison, and have some talk with
their lords; and the Spartans, not expecting any fraud from such a
quarter, granted their request. The women entered the prison. gave
their own clothes to their husbands, and received theirs in
exchange: after which the Minyae, dressed in their wives' garments,
and thus passing for women, went forth. Having effected their escape
in this manner, they seated themselves once more upon Taygetum.own
land
    It happened that at this very time Theras, son of Autesion
(whose father Tisamenus was the son of Thersander, and grandson of
Polynices), was about to lead out a colony from Lacedaemon This
Theras, by birth a Cadmeian, was uncle on the mother's side to the two
sons of Aristodemus, Procles and Eurysthenes, and, during their
infancy, administered in their right the royal power. When his
nephews, however, on attaining to man's estate, took the government,
Theras, who could not bear to be under the authority of others after
he had wielded authority so long himself, resolved to leave Sparta and
cross the sea to join his kindred. There were in the island now called
Thera, but at that time Calliste, certain descendants of Membliarus,
the son of Poeciles, a Phoenician. (For Cadmus, the son of Agenor,
when he was sailing in search of Europe, made a landing on this
island; and, either because the country pleased him, or because he had
a purpose in so doing, left there a number of Phoenicians, and with
them his own kinsman Membliarus. Calliste had been inhabited by this
race for eight generations of men, before the arrival of Theras from
Lacedaemon.)
    Theras now, having with him a certain number of men from each of
the tribes, was setting forth on his expedition hitherward. Far from
intending to drive out the former inhabitants, he regarded them as his
near kin, and meant to settle among them. It happened that just at
this time the Minyae, having escaped from their prison, had taken up
their station upon Mount Taygetum; and the Lacedaemonians, wishing
to destroy them, were considering what was best to be done, when
Theras begged their lives, undertaking to remove them from the
territory. His prayer being granted, he took ship, and sailed, with
three triaconters, to join the descendants of Membliarus. He was
not, however, accompanied by all the Minyae, but only by some few of
them. The greater number fled to the land of the Paroreats and
Caucons, whom they drove out, themselves occupying the region in six
bodies, by which were afterwards built the towns of Lepreum, Macistus,
Phryxae, Pyrgus, Epium, and Nudium; whereof the greater part were in
my day demolished by the Eleans.
    The island was called Thera after the name of its founder. This
same Theras had a son, who refused to cross the sea with him; Theras
therefore left him behind, "a sheep," as he said, "among wolves." From
this speech his son came to be called Oeolycus, a name which
afterwards grew to be the only one by which he was known. This
Oeolycus was the father of Aegeus, from whom sprang the Aegidae, a
great tribe in Sparta. The men of this tribe lost at one time all
their children, whereupon they were bidden by an oracle to build a
temple to the furies of Laius and Oedipus; they complied, and the
mortality ceased. The same thing happened in Thera to the
descendants of these men.
    Thus far the history is delivered without variation both by the
Theraeans and the Lacedaemonians; but from this point we have only the
Theraean narrative. Grinus (they say), the son of Aesanius, a
descendant of Theras, and king of the island of Thera, went to
Delphi to offer a hecatomb on behalf of his native city. He was
accompanied by a large number of the citizens, and among the rest by
Battus, the son of Polymnestus, who belonged to the Minyan family of
the Euphemidae. On Grinus consulting the oracle about sundry
matters, the Pythoness gave him for answer, "that he should found a
city in Libya." Grinus replied to this: "I, O king! am too far
advanced in years, and too inactive, for such a work. Bid one of these
youngsters undertake it." As he spoke, he pointed towards Battus;
and thus the matter rested for that time. When the embassy returned to
Thera, small account was taken of the oracle by the Theraeans, as they
were quite ignorant where Libya was, and were not so venturesome as to
send out a colony in the dark.
    Seven years passed from the utterance of the oracle, and not a
drop of rain fell in Thera: all the trees in the island, except one,
were killed with the drought. The Theraeans upon this sent to
Delphi, and were reminded reproachfully that they had never
colonised Libya. So, as there was no help for it, they sent messengers
to Crete, to inquire whether any of the Cretans, or of the strangers
sojourning among them, had ever travelled as far as Libya: and these
messengers of theirs, in their wanderings about the island, among
other places visited Itanus, where they fell in with a man, whose name
was Corobius, a dealer in purple. In answer to their inquiries, he
told them that contrary winds had once carried him to Libya, where
he had gone ashore on a certain island which was named Platea. So they
hired this man's services, and took him back with them to Thera. A few
persons then sailed from Thera to reconnoitre. Guided by Corobius to
the island of Platea, they left him there with provisions for a
certain number of months, and returned home with all speed to give
their countrymen an account of the island.
    During their absence, which was prolonged beyond the time that had
been agreed upon, Corobius provisions failed him. He was relieved,
however, after a while by a Samian vessel, under the command of a
man named Colaeus, which, on its way to Egypt, was forced to put in at
Platea. The crew, informed by Corobius of all the circumstances,
left him sufficient food for a year. They themselves quitted the
island; and, anxious to reach Egypt, made sail in that direction,
but were carried out of their course by a gale of wind from the
east. The storm not abating, they were driven past the Pillars of
Hercules, and at last, by some special guiding providence, reached
Tartessus. This trading town was in those days a virgin port,
unfrequented by the merchants. The Samians, in consequence, made by
the return voyage a profit greater than any Greeks before their day,
excepting Sostratus, son of Laodamas, an Eginetan, with whom no one
else can compare. From the tenth part of their gains, amounting to six
talents, the Samians made a brazen vessel, in shape like an Argive
wine-bowl, adorned with the heads of griffins standing out in high
relief. This bowl, supported by three kneeling colossal figures in
bronze, of the height of seven cubits, was placed as an offering in
the temple of Juno at Samos. The aid given to Corobius was the
original cause of that close friendship which afterwards united the
Cyrenaeans and Theraeans with the Samians.
    The Theraeans who had left Corobius at Platea, when they reached
Thera, told their countrymen that they had colonised an island on
the coast of Libya. They of Thera, upon this, resolved that men should
be sent to join the colony from each of their seven districts, and
that the brothers in every family should draw lots to determine who
were to go. Battus was chosen to be king and leader of the colony.
So these men departed for Platea on board of two penteconters.
    Such is the account which the Theraeans give. In the sequel of the
history their accounts tally with those of the people of Cyrene; but
in what they relate of Battus these two nations differ most widely.
The following is the Cyrenaic story. There was once a king named
Etearchus, who ruled over Axus, a city in Crete, and had a daughter
named Phronima. This girl's mother having died, Etearchus married a
second wife; who no sooner took up her abode in his house than she
proved a true step-mother to poor Phronima, always vexing her, and
contriving against her every sort of mischief. At last she taxed her
with light conduct; and Etearchus, persuaded by his wife that the
charge was true, bethought himself of a most barbarous mode of
punishment. There was a certain Theraean, named Themison, a
merchant, living at Axus. This man Etearchus invited to be his
friend and guest, and then induced him to swear that he would do him
any service he might require. No sooner had he given the promise, than
the king fetched Phronima, and, delivering her into his hands, told
him to carry her away and throw her into the sea. Hereupon Themison,
full of indignation at the fraud whereby his oath had been procured,
dissolved forthwith the friendship, and, taking the girl with him,
sailed away from Crete. Having reached the open main, to acquit
himself of the obligation under which he was laid by his oath to
Etearchus, he fastened ropes about the damsel, and, letting her down
into the sea, drew her up again, and so made sail for Thera.
    At Thera, Polymnestus, one of the chief citizens of the place,
took Phronima to be his concubine. The fruit of this union was a
son, who stammered and had a lisp in his speech. According to the
Cyrenaeans and Theraeans the name given to the boy was Battus: in my
opinion, however, he was called at the first something else, and
only got the name of Battus after his arrival in Libya, assuming it
either in consequence of the words addressed to him by the Delphian
oracle, or on account of the office which he held. For, in the
Libyan tongue, the word "Battus" means "a king." And this, I think,
was the reason the Pythoness addressed him as she did: she he was to
be a king in Libya, and so she used the Libyan word in speaking to
him. For after he had grown to man's estate, he made a journey to
Delphi, to consult the oracle about his voice; when, upon his
putting his question, the Pythoness thus replied to him:-

    Battus, thou camest to ask of thy voice; but Phoebus Apollo
    Bids thee establish a city in Libya, abounding in fleeces;

which was as if she had said in her own tongue, "King, thou camest
to ask of thy voice." Then he replied, "Mighty lord, I did indeed come
hither to consult thee about my voice, but thou speakest to me of
quite other matters, bidding me colonise Libya- an impossible thing!
what power have I? what followers?" Thus he spake, but he did not
persuade the Pythoness to give him any other response; so, when he
found that she persisted in her former answer, he left her speaking,
and set out on his return to Thera.
    After a while, everything began to go wrong both with Battus and
with the rest of the Theraeans, whereupon these last, ignorant of
the cause of their sufferings, sent to Delphi to inquire for what
reason they were afflicted. The Pythoness in reply told them "that
if they and Battus would make a settlement at Cyrene in Libya,
things would go better with them." Upon this the Theraeans sent out
Battus with two penteconters, and with these he proceeded to Libya,
but within a little time, not knowing what else to do, the men
returned and arrived off Thera. The Theraeans, when they saw the
vessels approaching, received them with showers of missiles, would not
allow them to come near the shore, and ordered the men to sail back
from whence they came. Thus compelled to return, they settled on an
island near the Libyan coast, which (as I have already said) was
called Platea. In size it is reported to have been about equal to
the city of Cyrene, as it now stands.
    In this place they continued two years, but at the end of that
time, as their ill luck still followed them, they left the island to
the care of one of their number, and went in a body to Delphi, where
they made complaint at the shrine to the effect that,
notwithstanding they had colonised Libya, they prospered as poorly
as before. Hereon the Pythoness made them the following answer:-

    Knowest thou better than I, fair Libya abounding in fleeces?
    Better the stranger than he who has trod it? Oh! clever
      Theraeans!

Battus and his friends, when they heard this, sailed back to Platea:
it was plain the god would not hold them acquitted of the colony
till they were absolutely in Libya. So, taking with them the man
whom they had left upon the island, they made a settlement on the
mainland directly opposite Platea, fixing themselves at a place called
Aziris, which is closed in on both sides by the most beautiful
hills, and on one side is washed by a river.
    Here they remained six years, at the end of which time the Libyans
induced them to move, promising that they would lead them to a
better situation. So the Greeks left Aziris and were conducted by
the Libyans towards the west, their journey being so arranged, by
the calculation of their guides, that they passed in the night the
most beautiful district of that whole country, which is the region
called Irasa. The Libyans brought them to a spring, which goes by
the name of Apollo's fountain, and told them- "Here, Grecians, is
the proper place for you to settle; for here the sky leaks."
    During the lifetime of Battus, the founder of the colony, who
reigned forty years, and during that of his son Arcesilaus, who
reigned sixteen, the Cyrenaeans continued at the same level, neither
more nor fewer in number than they were at the first. But in the reign
of the third king, Battus, surnamed the Happy, the advice of the
Pythoness brought Greeks from every quarter into Libya, to join the
settlement. The Cyrenaeans had offered to all comers a share in
their lands; and the oracle had spoken as follows:-

    He that is backward to share in the pleasant Libyan acres,
    Sooner or later, I warn him, will feel regret at his folly.

Thus a great multitude were collected together to Cyrene, and the
Libyans of the neighbourhood found themselves stripped of large
portions of their lands. So they, and their king Adicran, being robbed
and insulted by the Cyrenaeans, sent messengers to Egypt, and put
themselves under the rule of Apries, the Egyptian monarch; who, upon
this, levied a vast army of Egyptians, and sent them against Cyrene.
The inhabitants of that place left their walls and marched out in
force to the district of Irasa, where, near the spring called
Theste, they engaged the Egyptian host, and defeated it. The
Egyptians, who had never before made trial of the prowess of the
Greeks, and so thought but meanly of them, were routed with such
slaughter that but a very few of them ever got back home. For this
reason, the subjects of Apries, who laid the blame of the defeat on
him, revolted from his authority.
    This Battus left a son called Arcesilaus, who, when he came to the
throne, had dissensions with his brothers, which ended in their
quitting him and departing to another region of Libya, where, after
consulting among themselves, they founded the city, which is still
called by the name then given to it, Barca. At the same time they
endeavoured to induce the Libyans to revolt from Cyrene. Not long
afterwards Arcesilaus made an expedition against the Libyans who had
received his brothers and been prevailed upon to revolt; and they,
fearing his power, fled to their countrymen who dwelt towards the
east. Arcesilaus pursued, and chased them to a place called Leucon,
which is in Libya, where the Libyans resolved to risk a battle.
Accordingly they engaged the Cyrenaeans, and defeated them so entirely
that as many as seven thousand of their heavy-armed were slain in
the fight. Arcesilaus, after this blow, fell sick, and, whilst he
was under the influence of a draught which he had taken, was strangled
by Learchus, one of his brothers. This Learchus was afterwards
entrapped by Eryxo, the widow of Arcesilaus, and put to death.
    Battus, Arcesilaus' son, succeeded to the kingdom, a lame man, who
limped in his walk. Their late calamities now induced the Cyrenaeans
to send to Delphi and inquire of the god what form of government
they had best set up to secure themselves prosperity. The Pythoness
answered by recommending them to fetch an arbitrator from Mantinea
in Arcadia. Accordingly they sent; and the Mantineans gave them a
man named Demonax, a person of high repute among the citizens; who, on
his arrival at Cyrene, having first made himself acquainted with all
the circumstances, proceeded to enrol the people in three tribes.
One he made to consist of the Theraeans and their vassals; another
of the Peloponnesians and Cretans; and a third of the various
islanders. Besides this, he deprived the king Battus of his former
privileges, only reserving for him certain sacred lands and offices;
while, with respect to the powers which had hitherto been exercised by
the king, he gave them all into the hands of the people.
    Thus matters rested during the lifetime of this Battus, but when
his son Arcesilaus came to the throne, great disturbance arose about
the privileges. For Arcesilaus, son of Battus the lame and
Pheretima, refused to submit to the arrangements of Demonax the
Mantinean, and claimed all the powers of his forefathers. In the
contention which followed Arcesilaus was worsted, whereupon he fled to
Samos, while his mother took refuge at Salamis in the island of
Cyprus. Salamis was at that time ruled by Evelthon, the same who
offered at Delphi the censer which is in the treasury of the
Corinthians, a work deserving of admiration. Of him Pheretima made
request that he would give her an army whereby she and her son might
regain Cyrene. But Evelthon, preferring to give her anything rather
than an army, made her various presents. Pheretima accepted them
all, saying, as she took them: "Good is this too, O king! but better
were it to give me the army which I crave at thy hands." Finding
that she repeated these words each time that he presented her with a
gift, Evelthon at last sent her a golden spindle and distaff, with the
wool ready for spinning. Again she uttered the same speech as
before, whereupon Evelthon rejoined-"These are the gifts I present
to women, not armies."
    At Samos, meanwhile, Arcesilaus was collecting troops by the
promise of granting them lands. Having in this way drawn together a
vast host, he sent to Delphi to consult the oracle about his
restoration. The answer of the Pythoness was this: "Loxias grants
thy race to rule over Cyrene, till four kings Battus, four
Arcesilaus by name, have passed away. Beyond this term of eight
generations of men, he warns you not to seek to extend your reign.
Thou, for thy part, be gentle, when thou art restored. If thou findest
the oven full of jars, bake not the jars; but be sure to speed them on
their way. If, however, thou heatest the oven, then avoid the island
else thou wilt die thyself, and with thee the most beautiful bull."
    So spake the Pythoness. Arcesilaus upon this returned to Cyrene,
taking with him the troops which he had raised in Samos. There he
obtained possession of the supreme power; whereupon, forgetful of
the oracle, he took proceedings against those who had driven him
into banishment. Some of them fled from him and quitted the country
for good; others fell into his hands and were sent to suffer death
in Cyprus. These last happening on their passage to put in through
stress of weather at Cnidus, the Cnidians rescued them, and sent
them off to Thera. Another body found a refuge in the great tower of
Aglomachus, a private edifice, and were there destroyed by Arcesilaus,
who heaped wood around the place, and burnt them to death. Aware,
after the deed was done, that this was what the Pythoness meant when
she warned him, if he found the jars in the oven, not to bake them, he
withdrew himself of his own accord from the city of Cyrene,
believing that to be the island of the oracle, and fearing to die as
had been prophesied. Being married to a relation of his own, a
daughter of Alazir, at that time king of the Barcaeans, he took up his
abode with him. At Barca, however, certain of the citizens, together
with a number of Cyrenaean exiles, recognising him as he walked in the
forum, killed him; they slew also at the same time Alazir, his
father-in-law. So Arcesilaus, wittingly or unwittingly, disobeyed
the oracle, and thereby fulfilled his destiny.
    Pheretima, the mother of Arcesilaus, during the time that her son,
after working his own ruin, dwelt at Barca, continued to enjoy all his
privileges at Cyrene, managing the government, and taking her seat
at the council-board. No sooner, however, did she hear of the death of
her son at Barca, than leaving Cyrene, she fled in haste to Egypt.
Arcesilaus had claims for service done to Cambyses, son of Cyrus;
since it was by him that Cyrene was put under the Persian yoke, and
a rate of tribute agreed upon. Pheretima therefore went straight to
Egypt, and presenting herself as a suppliant before Aryandes,
entreated him to avenge her wrongs. Her son, she said, had met his
death on account of his being so well affected towards the Medes.
    Now Aryandes had been made governor of Egypt by Cambyses. He it
was who in after times was punished with death by Darius for seeking
to rival him. Aware, by report and also by his own eyesight, that
Darius wished to leave a memorial of himself, such as no king had ever
left before, Aryandes resolved to follow his example, and did so, till
he got his reward. Darius had refined gold to the last perfection of
purity in order to have coins struck of it: Aryandes, in his
Egyptian government, did the very same with silver, so that to this
day there is no such pure silver anywhere as the Aryandic. Darius,
when this came to his ears, brought another charge, a charge of
rebellion, against Aryandes, and put him to death.
    At the time of which we are speaking Aryandes, moved with
compassion for Pheretima, granted her all the forces which there
were in Egypt, both land and sea. The command of the army he gave to
Amasis, a Maraphian; while Badres, one of the tribe of the Pasargadae,
was appointed to lead the fleet. Before the expedition, however,
left Egypt, he sent a herald to Barca to inquire who it was that had
slain king Arcesilaus. The Barcaeans replied "that they, one and
all, acknowledged the deed- Arcesilaus had done them many and great
injuries." After receiving this reply, Aryandes gave the troops orders
to march with Pheretima. Such was the cause which served as a
pretext for this expedition: its real object was, I believe, the
subjugation of Libya. For Libya is inhabited by many and various
races, and of these but very few were subjects of the Persian king,
while by far the larger number held Darius in no manner of respect.
    The Libyans dwell in the order which I will now describe.
Beginning on the side of Egypt, the first Libyans are the Adyrmachidae
These people have, in most points, the same customs as the
Egyptians, but use the costume of the Libyans. Their women wear on
each leg a ring made of bronze; they let their hair grow long, and
when they catch any vermin on their persons, bite it and throw it
away. In this they differ from all the other Libyans. They are also
the only tribe with whom the custom obtains of bringing all women
about to become brides before the king, that he may choose such as are
agreeable to him. The Adyrmachidae extend from the borders of Egypt to
the harbour called Port Plynus.
    Next to the Adyrmachidae are the Gilligammae, who inhabit the
country westward as far as the island of Aphrodisias. Off this tract
is the island of Platea, which the Cyrenaeans colonised. Here too,
upon the mainland, are Port Menelaus, and Aziris, where the Cyrenaeans
once lived. The Silphium begins to grow in this region, extending from
the island of Platea on the one side to the mouth of the Syrtis on the
other. The customs of the Gilligammae are like those of the rest of
their countrymen.
    The Asbystae adjoin the Gilligammae upon the west. They inhabit
the regions above Cyrene, but do not reach to the coast, which belongs
to the Cyrenaeans. Four-horse chariots are in more common use among
them than among any other Libyans. In most of their customs they ape
the manners of the Cyrenaeans.
    Westward of the Asbystae dwell the Auschisae, who possess the
country above Barca, reaching, however, to the sea at the place called
Euesperides. In the middle of their territory is the little tribe of
the Cabalians, which touches the coast near Tauchira, a city of the
Barcaeans. Their customs are like those of the Libyans above Cyrene.
    The Nasamonians, a numerous people, are the western neighbours
of the Auschisae. In summer they leave their flocks and herds upon the
sea-shore, and go up the country to a place called Augila, where
they gather the dates from the palms, which in those parts grow
thickly, and are of great size, all of them being of the fruit-bearing
kind. They also chase the locusts, and, when caught, dry them in the
sun, after which they grind them to powder, and, sprinkling this
upon their milk, so drink it. Each man among them has several wives,
in their intercourse with whom they resemble the Massagetae. The
following are their customs in the swearing of oaths and the
practice of augury. The man, as he swears, lays his hand upon the tomb
of some one considered to have been pre-eminently just and good, and
so doing swears by his name. For divination they betake themselves
to the sepulchres of their own ancestors, and, after praying, lie down
to sleep upon their graves; by the dreams which then come to them they
guide their conduct. When they pledge their faith to one another, each
gives the other to drink out of his hand; if there be no liquid to
be had, they take up dust from the ground, and put their tongues to
it.
    On the country of the Nasamonians borders that of the Psylli,
who were swept away under the following circumstances. The
south-wind had blown for a long time and dried up all the tanks in
which their water was stored. Now the whole region within the Syrtis
is utterly devoid of springs. Accordingly the Psylli took counsel
among themselves, and by common consent made war upon the southwind-
so at least the Libyans say, I do but repeat their words- they went
forth and reached the desert; but there the south-wind rose and buried
them under heaps of sand: whereupon, the Psylli being destroyed, their
lands passed to the Nasamonians.
    Above the Nasamonians, towards the south, in the district where
the wild beasts abound, dwell the Garamantians, who avoid all
society or intercourse with their fellow-men, have no weapon of war,
and do not know how to defend themselves.
    These border the Nasamonians on the south: westward along the
sea-shore their neighbours are the Macea, who, by letting the locks
about the crown of their head grow long, while they clip them close
everywhere else, make their hair resemble a crest. In war these people
use the skins of ostriches for shields. The river Cinyps rises among
them from the height called "the Hill of the Graces," and runs from
thence through their country to the sea. The Hill of the Graces is
thickly covered with wood, and is thus very unlike the rest of
Libya, which is bare. It is distant two hundred furlongs from the sea.
    Adjoining the Macae are the Gindanes, whose women wear on their
legs anklets of leather. Each lover that a woman has gives her one;
and she who can show the most is the best esteemed, as she appears
to have been loved by the greatest number of men.
   A promontory jutting out into the sea from the country of the
Gindanes is inhabited by the Lotophagi, who live entirely on the fruit
of the lotus-tree. The lotus fruit is about the size of the lentisk
berry, and in sweetness resembles the date. The Lotophagi even succeed
in obtaining from it a sort of wine.
    The sea-coast beyond the Lotophagi is occupied by the Machlyans,
who use the lotus to some extent, though not so much as the people
of whom we last spoke. The Machlyans reach as far as the great river
called the Triton, which empties itself into the great lake
Tritonis. Here, in this lake, is an island called Phla, which it is
said the Lacedaemonians were to have colonised, according to an
oracle.
    The following is the story as it is commonly told. When Jason
had finished building the Argo at the foot of Mount Pelion, he took on
board the usual hecatomb, and moreover a brazen tripod. Thus equipped,
he set sail, intending to coast round the Peloponnese, and so to reach
Delphi. The voyage was prosperous as far as Malea; but at that point a
gale of wind from the north came on suddenly, and carried him out of
his course to the coast of Libya; where, before he discovered the
land, he got among the shallows of Lake Tritonis. As he was turning it
in his mind how he should find his way out, Triton (they say) appeared
to him, and offered to show him the channel, and secure him a safe
retreat, if he would give him the tripod. Jason complying, was shown
by Triton the passage through the shallows; after which the god took
the tripod, and, carrying it to his own temple, seated himself upon
it, and, filled with prophetic fury, delivered to Jason and his
companions a long prediction. "When a descendant," he said, "of one of
the Argo's crew should seize and carry off the brazen tripod, then
by inevitable fate would a hundred Grecian cities be built around Lake
Tritonis." The Libyans of that region, when they heard the words of
this prophecy, took away the tripod and hid it.
    The next tribe beyond the Machlyans is the tribe of the Auseans.
Both these nations inhabit the borders of Lake Tritonis, being
separated from one another by the river Triton. Both also wear their
hair long, but the Machlyans let it grow at the back of the head,
while the Auseans have it long in front. The Ausean maidens keep
year by year a feast in honour of Minerva, whereat their custom is
to draw up in two bodies, and fight with stones and clubs. They say
that these are rites which have come down to them from their
fathers, and that they honour with them their native goddess, who is
the same as the Minerva (Athene) of the Grecians. If any of the
maidens die of the wounds they receive, the Auseans declare that
such are false maidens. Before the fight is suffered to begin, they
have another ceremony. One of the virgins, the loveliest of the
number, is selected from the rest; a Corinthian helmet and a
complete suit of Greek armour are publicly put upon her; and, thus
adorned, she is made to mount into a chariot, and led around the whole
lake in a procession. What arms they used for the adornment of their
damsels before the Greeks came to live in their country, I cannot say.
I imagine they dressed them in Egyptian armour, for I maintain that
both the shield and the helmet came into Greece from Egypt. The
Auseans declare that Minerva is the daughter of Neptune and the Lake
Tritonis- they say she quarrelled with her father, and applied to
Jupiter, who consented to let her be his child; and so she became
his adopted daughter. These people do not marry or live in families,
but dwell together like the gregarious beasts. When their children are
full-grown, they are brought before the assembly of the men, which
is held every third month, and assigned to those whom they most
resemble.
    Such are the tribes of wandering Libyans dwelling upon the
sea-coast. Above them inland is the wild-beast tract: and beyond that,
a ridge of sand, reaching from Egyptian Thebes to the Pillars of
Hercules. Throughout this ridge, at the distance of about ten days'
journey from one another, heaps of salt in large lumps lie upon hills.
At the top of every hill there gushes forth from the middle of the
salt a stream of water, which is both cold and sweet. Around dwell men
who are the last inhabitants of Libya on the side of the desert,
living, as they do, more inland than the wild-beast district. Of these
nations the first is that of the Ammonians, who dwell at a distance of
ten days' from Thebes, and have a temple derived from that of the
Theban Jupiter. For at Thebes likewise, as I mentioned above, the
image of Jupiter has a face like that of a ram. The Ammonians have
another spring besides that which rises from the salt. The water of
this stream is lukewarm at early dawn; at the time when the market
fills it is much cooler; by noon it has grown quite cold; at this
time, therefore, they water their gardens. As the afternoon advances
the coldness goes off, till, about sunset, the water is once more
lukewarm; still the heat increases, and at midnight it boils
furiously. After this time it again begins to cool, and grows less and
less hot till morning comes. This spring is called "the Fountain of
the Sun."
    Next to the Ammonians, at the distance of ten days' journey
along the ridge of sand, there is a second salt-hill like the
Ammonian, and a second spring. The country round is inhabited, and the
place bears the name of Augila. Hither it is that the Nasamonians come
to gather in the dates.
    Ten days' journey from Augila there is again a salt-hill and a
spring; palms of the fruitful kind grow here abundantly, as they do
also at the other salt-hills. This region is inhabited by a nation
called the Garamantians, a very powerful people, who cover the salt
with mould, and then sow their crops. From thence is the shortest road
to the Lutophagi, a journey of thirty days. In the Garamantian country
are found the oxen which, as they graze, walk backwards. This they
do because their horns curve outwards in front of their heads, so that
it is not possible for them when grazing to move forwards, since in
that case their horns would become fixed in the ground. Only herein do
they differ from other oxen, and further in the thickness and hardness
of their hides. The Garamantians have four-horse chariots, in which
they chase the Troglodyte Ethiopians, who of all the nations whereof
any account has reached our ears are by far the swiftest of foot.
The Troglodytes feed on serpents, lizards, and other similar reptiles.
Their language is unlike that of any other people; it sounds like
the screeching of bats.
    At the distance of ten days' journey from the Garamantians there
is again another salt-hill and spring of water; around which dwell a
people, called the Atarantians, who alone of all known nations are
destitute of names. The title of Atarantians is borne by the whole
race in common; but the men have no particular names of their own. The
Atarantians, when the sun rises high in the heaven, curse him, and
load him with reproaches, because (they say) he burns and wastes
both their country and themselves. Once more at the distance of ten
days' there is a salt-hill, a spring, and an inhabited tract. Near the
salt is a mountain called Atlas, very taper and round; so lofty,
moreover, that the top (it is said) cannot be seen, the clouds never
quitting it either summer or winter. The natives call this mountain
"the Pillar of Heaven"; and they themselves take their name from it,
being called Atlantes. They are reported not to eat any living
thing, and never to have any dreams.
    As far as the Atlantes the names of the nations inhabiting the
sandy ridge are known to me; but beyond them my knowledge fails. The
ridge itself extends as far as the Pillars of Hercules, and even
further than these; and throughout the whole distance, at the end of
every ten days' there is a salt-mine, with people dwelling round it
who all of them build their houses with blocks of the salt. No rain
falls in these parts of Libya; if it were otherwise, the walls of
these houses could not stand. The salt quarried is of two colours,
white and purple. Beyond the ridge, southwards, in the direction of
the interior, the country is a desert, with no springs, no beasts,
no rain, no wood, and altogether destitute of moisture.
    Thus from Egypt as far as Lake Tritonis Libya is inhabited by
wandering tribes, whose drink is milk and their food the flesh of
animals. Cow's flesh, however, none of these tribes ever taste, but
abstain from it for the same reason as the Egyptians, neither do
they any of them breed swine. Even at Cyrene, the women think it wrong
to eat the flesh of the cow, honouring in this Isis, the Egyptian
goddess, whom they worship both with fasts and festivals. The Barcaean
women abstain, not from cow's flesh only, but also from the flesh of
swine.
    West of Lake Tritonis the Libyans are no longer wanderers, nor
do they practise the same customs as the wandering people, or treat
their children in the same way. For the wandering Libyans, many of
them at any rate, if not all- concerning which I cannot speak with
certainty- when their children come to the age of four years, burn the
veins at the top of their heads with a flock from the fleece of a
sheep: others burn the veins about the temples. This they do to
prevent them from being plagued in their after lives by a flow of
rheum from the head; and such they declare is the reason why they
are so much more healthy than other men. Certainly the Libyans are the
healthiest men that I know; but whether this is what makes them so, or
not, I cannot positively say- the healthiest certainly they are. If
when the children are being burnt convulsions come on, there is a
remedy of which they have made discovery. It is to sprinkle goat's
water upon the child, who thus treated, is sure to recover. In all
this I only repeat what is said by the Libyans.
    The rites which the wandering Libyans use in sacrificing are the
following. They begin with the ear of the victim, which they cut off
and throw over their house: this done, they kill the animal by
twisting the neck. They sacrifice to the Sun and Moon, but not to
any other god. This worship is common to all the Libyans. The
inhabitants of the parts about Lake Tritonis worship in addition
Triton, Neptune, and Minerva, the last especially.
    The dress wherewith Minerva's statues are adorned, and her
Aegis, were derived by the Greeks from the women of Libya. For, except
that the garments of the Libyan women are of leather, and their
fringes made of leathern thongs instead of serpents, in all else the
dress of both is exactly alike. The name too itself shows that the
mode of dressing the Pallas-statues came from Libya. For the Libyan
women wear over their dress stript of the hair, fringed at their
edges, and coloured with vermilion; and from these goat-skins the
Greeks get their word Aegis (goat-harness). I think for my part that
the loud cries uttered in our sacred rites came also from thence;
for the Libyan women are greatly given to such cries and utter them
very sweetly. Likewise the Greeks learnt from the Libyans to yoke four
horses to a chariot.
    All the wandering tribes bury their dead according to the
fashion of the Greeks, except the Nasamonians. They bury them sitting,
and are right careful when the sick man is at the point of giving up
the ghost, to make him sit and not let him die lying down. The
dwellings of these people are made of the stems of the asphodel, and
of rushes wattled together. They can be carried from place to place.
Such are the customs of the afore-mentioned tribes.
    Westward of the river Triton and adjoining upon the Auseans, are
other Libyans who till the ground, and live in houses: these people
are named the Maxyans. They let the hair grow long on the right side
of their heads, and shave it close on the left; they besmear their
bodies with red paint; and they say that they are descended from the
men of Troy. Their country and the remainder of Libya towards the west
is far fuller of wild beasts and of wood than the country of the
wandering people. For the eastern side of Libya, where the wanderers
dwell, is low and sandy, as far as the river Triton; but westward of
that the land of the husbandmen is very hilly, and abounds with
forests and wild beasts. For this is the tract in which the huge
serpents are found, and the lions, the elephants, the bears, the
aspicks, and the horned asses. Here too are the dog-faced creatures,
and the creatures without heads, whom the Libyans declare to have
their eyes in their breasts; and also the wild men, and wild women,
and many other far less fabulous beasts.
    Among the wanderers are none of these, but quite other animals; as
antelopes, gazelles, buffaloes, and asses, not of the horned sort, but
of a kind which does not need to drink; also oryxes, whose horns are
used for the curved sides of citherns, and whose size is about that of
the ox; foxes, hyaenas porcupines, wild rams, dictyes, jackals,
panthers, boryes, land-crocodiles about three cubits in length, very
like lizards, ostriches, and little snakes, each with a single horn.
All these animals are found here, and likewise those belonging to
other countries, except the stag and the wild boar; but neither stag
nor wild-boar are found in any part of Libya. There are, however,
three sorts of mice in these parts; the first are called two-footed;
the next, zegeries, which is a Libyan word meaning "hills"; and the
third, urchins. Weasels also are found in the Silphium region, much
like the Tartessian. So many, therefore, are the animals belonging
to the land of the wandering Libyans, in so far at least as my
researches have been able to reach.
    Next to the Maxyan Libyans are the Zavecians, whose wives drive
their chariots to battle.
    On them border the Gyzantians; in whose country a vast deal of
honey is made by bees; very much more, however, by the skill of men.
The people all paint themselves red, and eat monkeys, whereof there is
inexhaustible store in the hills.
    Off their coast, as the Carthaginians report, lies an island, by
name Cyraunis, the length of which is two hundred furlongs, its
breadth not great, and which is soon reached from the mainland.
Vines and olive trees cover the whole of it, and there is in the
island a lake, from which the young maidens of the country draw up
gold-dust, by dipping into the mud birds' feathers smeared with pitch.
If this be true, I know not; I but write what is said. It may be
even so, however; since I myself have seen pitch drawn up out of the
water from a lake in Zacynthus. At the place I speak of there are a
number of lakes; but one is larger than the rest, being seventy feet
every way, and two fathoms in depth. Here they let down a pole into
the water, with a bunch of myrtle tied to one end, and when they raise
it again, there is pitch sticking to the myrtle, which in smell is
like to bitumen, but in all else is better than the pitch of Pieria.
This they pour into a trench dug by the lake's side; and when a good
deal has thus been got together, they draw it off and put it up in
jars. Whatever falls into the lake passes underground, and comes up in
the sea, which is no less than four furlongs distant. So then what
is said of the island off the Libyan coast is not without likelihood.
    The Carthaginians also relate the following:- There is a country
in Libya, and a nation, beyond the Pillars of Hercules, which they are
wont to visit, where they no sooner arrive but forthwith they unlade
their wares, and, having disposed them after an orderly fashion
along the beach, leave them, and, returning aboard their ships,
raise a great smoke. The natives, when they see the smoke, come down
to the shore, and, laying out to view so much gold as they think the
worth of the wares, withdraw to a distance. The Carthaginians upon
this come ashore and look. If they think the gold enough, they take it
and go their way; but if it does not seem to them sufficient, they
go aboard ship once more, and wait patiently. Then the others approach
and add to their gold, till the Carthaginians are content. Neither
party deals unfairly by the other: for they themselves never touch the
gold till it comes up to the worth of their goods, nor do the
natives ever carry off the goods till the gold is taken away.
    These be the Libyan tribes whereof I am able to give the names;
and most of these cared little then, and indeed care little now, for
the king of the Medes. One thing more also I can add concerning this
region, namely, that, so far as our knowledge reaches, four nations,
and no more, inhabit it; and two of these nations are indigenous,
while two are not. The two indigenous are the Libyans and
Ethiopians, who dwell respectively in the north and the south of
Libya. The Phoenicians and the Greek are in-comers.
    It seems to me that Libya is not to compare for goodness of soil
with either Asia or Europe, except the Cinyps region, which is named
after the river that waters it. This piece of land is equal to any
country in the world for cereal crops, and is in nothing like the rest
of Libya. For the soil here is black, and springs of water abound;
so that there is nothing to fear from drought; nor do heavy rains (and
it rains in that part of Libya) do any harm when they soak the ground.
The returns of the harvest come up to the measure which prevails in
Babylonia. The soil is likewise good in the country of the
Euesperites; for there the land brings forth in the best years a
hundred-fold. But the Cinyps region yields three hundred-fold.
    The country of the Cyrenaeans, which is the highest tract within
the part of Libya inhabited by the wandering tribes, has three seasons
that deserve remark. First the crops along the sea-coast begin to
ripen, and are ready for the harvest and the vintage; after they
have been gathered in, the crops of the middle tract above the coast
region (the hill-country, as they call it) need harvesting; while
about the time when this middle crop is housed, the fruits ripen and
are fit for cutting in the highest tract of all. So that the produce
of the first tract has been all eaten and drunk by the time that the
last harvest comes in. And the harvest-time of the Cyrenaeans
continues thus for eight full months. So much concerning these
matters.
    When the Persians sent from Egypt by Aryandes to help Pheretima
reached Barca, they laid siege to the town, calling on those within to
give up the men who had been guilty of the murder of Arcesilaus. The
townspeople, however, as they had one and all taken part in the
deed, refused to entertain the proposition. So the Persians
beleaguered Barca for nine months, in the course of which they dug
several mines from their own lines to the walls, and likewise made a
number of vigorous assaults. But their mines were discovered by a
man who was a worker in brass, who went with a brazen shield all round
the fortress, and laid it on the ground inside the city. In other
Places the shield, when he laid it down, was quite dumb; but where the
ground was undermined, there the brass of the shield rang. Here,
therefore, the Barcaeans countermined, and slew the Persian diggers.
Such was the way in which the mines were discovered; as for the
assaults, the Barcaeans beat them back.
    When much time had been consumed, and great numbers had fallen
on both sides, nor had the Persians lost fewer than their adversaries,
Amasis, the leader of the land-army, perceiving that, although the
Barcaeans would never be conquered by force, they might be overcome by
fraud, contrived as follows One night he dug a wide trench, and laid
light planks of wood across the opening, after which he brought
mould and placed it upon the planks, taking care to make the place
level with the surrounding ground. At dawn of day he summoned the
Barcaeans to a parley: and they gladly hearkening, the terms were at
length agreed upon. Oaths were interchanged upon the ground over the
hidden trench, and the agreement ran thus- "So long as the ground
beneath our feet stands firm, the oath shall abide unchanged; the
people of Barca agree to pay a fair sum to the king, and the
Persians promise to cause no further trouble to the people of
Barca." After the oath, the Barcaeans, relying upon its terms, threw
open all their gates, went out themselves beyond the walls, and
allowed as many of the enemy as chose to enter. Then the Persians
broke down their secret bridge, and rushed at speed into the town-
their reason for breaking the bridge being that so they might
observe what they had sworn; for they had promised the Barcaeans
that the oath should continue "so long as the ground whereon they
stood was firm." When, therefore, the bridge was once broken down, the
oath ceased to hold.
    Such of the Barcaeans as were most guilty the Persians gave up
to Pheretima, who nailed them to crosses all round the walls of the
city. She also cut off the breasts of their wives, and fastened them
likewise about the walls. The remainder of the people she gave as
booty to the Persians, except only the Battiadae and those who had
taken no part in the murder, to whom she handed over the possession of
the town.
    The Persians now set out on their return home, carrying with
them the rest of the Barcaeans, whom they had made their slaves. On
their way they came to Cyrene; and the Cyrenaeans, out of regard for
an oracle, let them pass through the town. During the passage,
Bares, the commander of the fleet, advised to seize the place; but
Amasis, the leader of the land-force, would not consent; "because," he
said, "they had only been charged to attack the one Greek city of
Barca." When, however, they had passed through the town, and were
encamped upon the hill of Lycaean Jove, it repented them that they had
not seized Cyrene, and they endeavoured to enter it a second time. The
Cyrenaeans, however, would not suffer this; whereupon, though no one
appeared to offer them battle, yet a panic came upon the Persians, and
they ran a distance of full sixty furlongs before they pitched their
camp. Here as they lay, a messenger came to them from Aryandes,
ordering them home. Then the Persians besought the men of Cyrene to
give them provisions for the way, and, these consenting, they set
off on their return to Egypt. But the Libyans now beset them, and, for
the sake of their clothes and harness, slew all who dropped behind and
straggled, during the whole march homewards.
    The furthest point of Libya reached by this Persian host was the
city of Euesperides. The Barcaeans carried into slavery were sent from
Egypt to the king; and Darius assigned them a village in Bactria for
their dwelling-place. To this village they gave the name of Barca, and
it was to my time an inhabited place in Bactria.
    Nor did Pheretima herself end her days happily. For on her
return to Egypt from Libya, directly after taking vengeance on the
people of Barca, she was overtaken by a most horrid death. Her body
swarmed with worms, which ate her flesh while she was still alive.
Thus do men, by over-harsh punishments, draw down upon themselves
the anger of the gods. Such then, and so fierce, was the vengeance
which Pheretima, daughter of Battus, took upon the Barcaeans.
                         The Fifth Book, Entitled
                               TERPSICHORE

    The Persians left behind by King Darius in Europe, who had
Megabazus for their general, reduced, before any other Hellespontine
state, the people of Perinthus, who had no mind to become subjects
of the king. Now the Perinthians had ere this been roughly handled
by another nation, the Paeonians. For the Paeonians from about the
Strymon were once bidden by an oracle to make war upon the
Perinthians, and if these latter, when the camps faced one another,
challenged them by name to fight, then to venture on a battle, but
if otherwise, not to make the hazard. The Paeonians followed the
advice. Now the men of Perinthus drew out to meet them in the skirts
of their city; and a threefold single combat was fought on challenge
given. Man to man, and horse to horse, and dog to dog, was the
strife waged; and the Perinthians, winners of two combats out of the
three, in their joy had raised the paean; when the Paeonians struck by
the thought that this was what the oracle had meant, passed the word
one to another, saying, "Now of a surety has the oracle been fulfilled
for us; now our work begins." Then the Paeonians set upon the
Perinthians in the midst of their paean, and defeated them utterly,
leaving but few of them alive.
    Such was the affair of the Paeonians, which happened a long time
previously. At this time the Perinthians, after a brave struggle for
freedom, were overcome by numbers, and yielded to Megabazus and his
Persians. After Perinthus had been brought under, Megabazus led his
host through Thrace, subduing to the dominion of the king all the
towns and all the nations of those parts. For the king's command to
him was that he should conquer Thrace.
    The Thracians are the most powerful people in the world, except,
of course, the Indians; and if they had one head, or were agreed among
themselves, it is my belief that their match could not be found
anywhere, and that they would very far surpass all other nations.
But such union is impossible for them, and there are no means of
ever bringing it about. Herein therefore consists their weakness.
The Thracians bear many names in the different regions of their
country, but all of them have like usages in every respect,
excepting only the Getae, the Trausi, and those who dwell above the
people of Creston.
    Now the manners and customs of the Getae, who believe in their
immortality, I have already spoken of. The Trausi in all else resemble
the other Thracians, but have customs at births and deaths which I
will now describe. When a child is born all its kindred sit round
about it in a circle and weep for the woes it will have to undergo now
that it is come into the world, making mention of every ill that falls
to the lot of humankind; when, on the other hand, a man has died, they
bury him with laughter and rejoicings, and say that now he is free
from a host of sufferings, and enjoys the completest happiness.
    The Thracians who live above the Crestonaeans observe the
following customs. Each man among them has several wives; and no
sooner does a man die than a sharp contest ensues among the wives upon
the question which of them all the husband loved most tenderly; the
friends of each eagerly plead on her behalf, and she to whom the
honour is adjudged, after receiving the praises both of men and women,
is slain over the grave by the hand of her next of kin, and then
buried with her husband. The others are sorely grieved, for nothing is
considered such a disgrace.
    The Thracians who do not belong to these tribes have the customs
which follow. They sell their children to traders. On their maidens
they keep no watch, but leave them altogether free, while on the
conduct of their wives they keep a most strict watch. Brides are
purchased of their parents for large sums of money. Tattooing among
them marks noble birth, and the want of it low birth. To be idle is
accounted the most honourable thing, and to be a tiller of the
ground the most dishonourable. To live by war and plunder is of all
things the most glorious. These are the most remarkable of their
customs.
    The gods which they worship are but three, Mars, Bacchus, and
Dian. Their kings, however, unlike the rest of the citizens, worship
Mercury more than any other god, always swearing by his name, and
declaring that they are themselves sprung from him.
    Their wealthy ones are buried in the following fashion. The body
is laid out for three days; and during this time they kill victims
of all kinds, and feast upon them, after first bewailing the departed.
Then they either burn the body or else bury it in the ground.
Lastly, they raise a mound over the grave, and hold games of all
sorts, wherein the single combat is awarded the highest prize. Such is
the mode of burial among the Thracians.
    As regards the region lying north of this country no one can say
with any certainty what men inhabit it. It appears that you no
sooner cross the Ister than you enter on an interminable wilderness.
The only people of whom I can hear as dwelling beyond the Ister are
the race named Sigynnae, who wear, they say, a dress like the Medes,
and have horses which are covered entirely with a coat of shaggy hair,
five fingers in length. They are a small breed, flat-nosed, and not
strong enough to bear men on their backs; but when yoked to
chariots, they are among the swiftest known, which is the reason why
the people of that country use chariots. Their borders reach down
almost to the Eneti upon the Adriatic Sea, and they call themselves
colonists of the Medes; but how they can be colonists of the Medes I
for my part cannot imagine. Still nothing is impossible in the long
lapse of ages. Sigynnae is the name which the Ligurians who dwell
above Massilia give to traders, while among the Cyprians the word
means spears.
    According to the account which the Thracians give, the country
beyond the Ister is possessed by bees, on account of which it is
impossible to penetrate farther. But in this they seem to me to say
what has no likelihood; for it is certain that those creatures are
very impatient of cold. I rather believe that it is on account of
the cold that the regions which lie under the Bear are without
inhabitants. Such then are the accounts given of this country, the
sea-coast whereof Megabazus was now employed in subjecting to the
Persians.
    King Darius had no sooner crossed the Hellespont and reached
Sardis, than he bethought himself of the good deed of Histiaeus the
Milesian, and the good counsel of the Mytilenean Coes. He therefore
sent for both of them to Sardis, and bade them each crave a boon at
his hands. Now Histiaeus, as he was already king of Miletus, did not
make request for any government besides, but asked Darius to give
him Myrcinus of the Edonians, where he wished to build him a city.
Such was the choice that Histiaeus made. Coes, on the other hand, as
he was a mere burgher, and not a king, requested the sovereignty of
Mytilene. Both alike obtained their requests, and straight-way
betook themselves to the places which they had chosen.
    It chanced in the meantime that King Darius saw a sight which
determined him to bid Megabazus remove the Paeonians from their
seats in Europe and transport them to Asia. There were two
Paeonians, Pigres and Mantyes, whose ambition it was to obtain the
sovereignty over their countrymen. As soon therefore as ever Darius
crossed into Asia, these men came to Sardis, and brought with them
their sister, who was a tall and beautiful woman. Having so done, they
waited till a day came when the king sat in state in the suburb of the
Lydians; and then dressing their sister in the richest gear they
could, sent her to draw water for them. She bore a pitcher upon her
head, and with one arm led a horse, while all the way as she went
she span flax. Now as she passed by where the king was, Darius took
notice of her; for it was neither like the Persians nor the Lydians,
nor any of the dwellers in Asia, to do as she did. Darius
accordingly noted her, and ordered some of his guard to follow her
steps, and watch to see what she would do with the horse. So the
spearmen went; and the woman, when she came to the river, first
watered the horse, and then filling the pitcher, came back the same
way she had gone, with the pitcher of water upon her head, and the
horse dragging upon her arm, while she still kept twirling the
spindle.
    King Darius was full of wonder both at what they who had watched
the woman told him, and at what he had himself seen. So he commanded
that she should be brought before him. And the woman came; and with
her appeared her brothers, who had been watching everything a little
way off. Then Darius asked them of what nation the woman was; and
the young men replied that they were Paeonians, and she was their
sister. Darius rejoined by asking, "Who the Paeonians were, and in
what part of the world they lived? and, further, what business had
brought the young men to Sardis?" Then the brothers told him they
had come to put themselves under his power, and Paeonia was a
country upon the river Strymon, and the Strymon was at no great
distance from the Hellespont. The Paeonians, they said, were colonists
of the Teucrians from Troy. When they had thus answered his questions,
Darius asked if all the women of their country worked so hard? Then
the brothers eagerly answered, Yes; for this was the very object
with which the whole thing had been done.
    So Darius wrote letters to Megabazus, the commander whom he had
left behind in Thrace, and ordered him to remove the Paeonians from
their own land, and bring them into his presence, men, women, and
children. And straightway a horseman took the message, and rode at
speed to the Hellespont; and, crossing it, gave the paper to
Megabazus. Then Megabazus, as soon as he had read it, and procured
guides from Thrace, made war upon Paeonia.
    Now when the Paeonians heard that the Persians were marching
against them, they gathered themselves together, and marched down to
the sea-coast, since they thought the Persians would endeavour to
enter their country on that side. Here then they stood in readiness to
oppose the army of Megabazus. But the Persians, who knew that they had
collected, and were gone to keep guard at the pass near the sea, got
guides, and taking the inland route before the Paeonians were aware,
poured down upon their cities, from which the men had all marched out;
and finding them empty, easily got possession of them. Then the men,
when they heard that all their towns were taken, scattered this way
and that to their homes, and gave themselves up to the Persians. And
so these tribes of the Paeonians, to wit, the Siropaeonians, the
Paeoplians and all the others as far as Lake Prasias, were torn from
their seats and led away into Asia.
    They on the other hand who dwelt about Mount Pangaeum and in the
country of the Doberes, the Agrianians, and the Odomantians, and
they likewise who inhabited Lake Prasias, were not conquered by
Megabazus. He sought indeed to subdue the dwellers upon the lake,
but could not effect his purpose. Their manner of living is the
following. Platforms supported upon tall piles stand in the middle
of the lake, which are approached from the land by a single narrow
bridge. At the first the piles which bear up the platforms were
fixed in their places by the whole body of the citizens, but since
that time the custom which has prevailed about fixing them is this:-
they are brought from a hill called Orbelus, and every man drives in
three for each wife that he marries. Now the men have all many wives
apiece; and this is the way in which they live. Each has his own
hut, wherein he dwells, upon one of the platforms, and each has also a
trapdoor giving access to the lake beneath; and their wont is to tie
their baby children by the foot with a string, to save them from
rolling into the water. They feed their horses and their other
beasts upon fish, which abound in the lake to such a degree that a man
has only to open his trap-door and to let down a basket by a rope into
the water, and then to wait a very short time, when he draws it up
quite full of them. The fish are of two kinds, which they call the
paprax and the tilon.
    The Paeonians therefore- at least such of them as had been
conquered- were led away into Asia. As for Megabazus, he no sooner
brought the Paeonians under, than he sent into Macedonia an embassy of
Persians, choosing for the purpose the seven men of most note in all
the army after himself. These persons were to go to Amyntas, and
require him to give earth and water to King Darius. Now there is a
very short cut from the Lake Prasias across to Macedonia. Quite
close to the lake is the mine which yielded afterwards a talent of
silver a day to Alexander; and from this mine you have only to cross
the mountain called Dysorum to find yourself in the Macedonian
territory.
    So the Persians sent upon this errand, when they reached the
court, and were brought into the presence of Amyntas, required him
to give earth and water to King Darius. And Amyntas not only gave them
what they asked, but also invited them to come and feast with him;
after which he made ready the board with great magnificence, and
entertained the Persians in right friendly fashion. Now when the
meal was over, and they were all set to the drinking, the Persians
said-
    "Dear Macedonian, we Persians have a custom when we make a great
feast to bring with us to the board our wives and concubines, and make
them sit beside us. Now then, as thou hast received us so kindly,
and feasted us so handsomely, and givest moreover earth and water to
King Darius, do also after our custom in this matter."
    Then Amyntas answered- "O, Persians! we have no such custom as
this; but with us men and women are kept apart. Nevertheless, since
you, who are our lords, wish it, this also shall be granted to you."
    When Amyntas had thus spoken, he bade some go and fetch the women.
And the women came at his call and took their seats in a row over
against the Persians. Then, when the Persians saw that the women
were fair and comely, they spoke again to Amyntas and said, that "what
had been done was not wise; for it had been better for the women not
to have come at all, than to come in this way, and not sit by their
sides, but remain over against them, the torment of their eyes." So
Amyntas was forced to bid the women sit side by side with the
Persians. The women did as he ordered; and then the Persians, who
had drunk more than they ought, began to put their hands on them,
and one even tried to give the woman next him a kiss.
    King Amyntas saw, but he kept silence, although sorely grieved,
for he greatly feared the power of the Persians. Alexander, however,
Amyntas' son, who was likewise there and witnessed the whole, being
a young man and unacquainted with suffering, could not any longer
restrain himself. He therefore, full of wrath, spake thus to Amyntas:-
"Dear father, thou art old and shouldst spare thyself. Rise up from
table and go take thy rest; do not stay out the drinking. I will
remain with the guests and give them all that is fitting."
    Amyntas, who guessed that Alexander would play some wild prank,
made answer:- "Dear son, thy words sound to me as those of one who
is well nigh on fire, and I perceive thou sendest me away that thou
mayest do some wild deed. I beseech thee make no commotion about these
men, lest thou bring us all to ruin, but bear to look calmly on what
they do. For myself, I will e'en withdraw as thou biddest me."
    Amyntas, when he had thus besought his son, went out; and
Alexander said to the Persians, "Look on these ladies as your own,
dear strangers, all or any of them- only tell us your wishes. But now,
as the evening wears, and I see you have all had wine enough, let
them, if you please, retire, and when they have bathed they shall come
back again." To this the Persians agreed, and Alexander, having got
the women away, sent them off to the harem, and made ready in their
room an equal number of beardless youths, whom he dressed in the
garments of the women, and then, arming them with daggers, brought
them in to the Persians, saying as he introduced them, "Methinks, dear
Persians, that your entertainment has fallen short in nothing. We have
set before you all that we had ourselves in store, and all that we
could anywhere find to give you- and now, to crown the whole, we
make over to you our sisters and our mothers, that you may perceive
yourselves to be entirely honoured by us, even as you deserve to be-
and also that you may take back word to the king who sent you here,
that there was one man, a Greek, the satrap of Macedonia, by whom
you were both feasted and lodged handsomely." So speaking, Alexander
set by the side of each Persian one of those whom he had called
Macedonian women, but who were in truth men. And these men, when the
Persians began to be rude, despatched them with their daggers.
    So the ambassadors perished by this death, both they and also
their followers. For the Persians had brought a great train with them,
carriages, and attendants, and baggage of every kind- all of which
disappeared at the same time as the men themselves. Not very long
afterwards the Persians made strict search for their lost embassy; but
Alexander, with much wisdom, hushed up the business, bribing those
sent on the errand, partly with money, and partly with the gift of his
own sister Gygaea, whom he gave in marriage to Bubares, a Persian, the
chief leader of the expedition which came in search of the lost men.
Thus the death of these Persians was hushed up, and no more was said
of it.
    Now that the men of this family are Greeks, sprung from Perdiccas,
as they themselves affirm, is a thing which I can declare of my own
knowledge, and which I will hereafter make plainly evident. That
they are so has been already adjudged by those who manage the
Pan-Hellenic contest at Olympia. For when Alexander wished to
contend in the games, and had come to Olympia with no other view,
the Greeks who were about to run against him would have excluded him
from the contest- saying that Greeks only were allowed to contend, and
not barbarians. But Alexander proved himself to be an Argive, and
was distinctly adjudged a Greek; after which he entered the lists
for the foot-race, and was drawn to run in the first pair. Thus was
this matter settled.
    Megabazus, having reached the Hellespont with the Paeonians,
crossed it, and went up to Sardis. He had become aware while in Europe
that Histiaeus the Milesian was raising a wall at Myrcinus- the town
upon the Strymon which he had obtained from King Darius as his guerdon
for keeping the bridge. No sooner therefore did he reach Sardis with
the Paeonians than he said to Darius, "What mad thing is this that
thou hast done, sire, to let a Greek, a wise man and a shrewd, get
hold of a town in Thrace, a place too where there is abundance of
timber fit for shipbuilding, and oars in plenty, and mines of
silver, and about which are many dwellers both Greek and barbarian,
ready enough to take him for their chief, and by day and night to do
his bidding! I pray thee make this man cease his work, if thou
wouldest not be entangled in a war with thine own followers. Stop him,
but with a gentle message, only bidding him to come to thee. Then when
thou once hast him in thy power, be sure thou take good care that he
never get back to Greece again."
    With these words Megabazus easily persuaded Darius, who thought he
had shown true foresight in this matter. Darius therefore sent a
messenger to Myrcinus, who said, "These be the words of the king to
thee, O Histiaeus! I have looked to find a man well affectioned
towards me and towards my greatness; and I have found none whom I
can trust like thee. Thy deeds, and not thy words only, have proved
thy love for me. Now then, since I have a mighty enterprise in hand, I
pray thee come to me, that I may show thee what I purpose!"
    Histiaeus, when he heard this, put faith in the words of the
messenger; and, as it seemed to him a grand thing to be the king's
counsellor, he straightway went up to Sardis. Then Darius, when he was
come, said to him, "Dear Histiaeus, hear why I have sent for thee.
No sooner did I return from Scythia, and lose thee out of my sight,
than I longed, as I have never longed for aught else, to behold thee
once more, and to interchange speech with thee. Right sure I am
there is nothing in all the world so precious as a friend who is at
once wise and true: both which thou art, as I have had good proof in
what thou hast already done for me. Now then 'tis well thou art
come; for look, I have an offer to make to thee. Let go Miletus and
thy newly-founded town in Thrace, and come with me up to Susa; share
all that I have; live with me, and be my counsellor.
    When Darius had thus spoken he made Artaphernes, his brother by
the father's side, governor of Sardis, and taking Histiaeus with
him, went up to Susa. He left as general of all the troops upon the
sea-coast Otanes, son of Sisamnes, whose father King Cambyses slew and
flayed, because that he, being of the number of the royal judges,
had taken money to give an unrighteous sentence. Therefore Cambyses
slew and flayed Sisamnes, and cutting his skin into strips,
stretched them across the seat of the throne whereon he had been
wont to sit when he heard causes. Having so done Cambyses appointed
the son of Sisamnes to be judge in his father's room, and bade him
never forget in what way his seat was cushioned.
    Accordingly this Otanes, who had occupied so strange a throne,
became the successor of Megabazus in his command, and took first of
all Byzantium and Chalcidon, then Antandrus in the Troas, and next
Lamponium. This done, he borrowed ships of the Lesbians, and took
Lemnos and Imbrus, which were still inhabited by Pelasgians.
    Now the Lemnians stood on their defence, and fought gallantly; but
they were brought low in course of time. Such as outlived the struggle
were placed by the Persians under the government of Lycaretus, the
brother of that Maeandrius who was tyrant of Samos. (This Lycaretus
died afterwards in his government.) The cause which Otanes alleged for
conquering and enslaving all these nations was that some had refused
to join the king's army against Scythia, while others had molested the
host on its return. Such were the exploits which Otanes performed in
his command.
    Afterwards, but for no long time, there was a respite from
suffering. Then from Naxos and Miletus troubles gathered anew about
Ionia. Now Naxos at this time surpassed all the other islands in
prosperity, and Miletus had reached the height of her power, and was
the glory of Ionia. But previously for two generations the Milesians
had suffered grievously from civil disorders, which were composed by
the Parians, whom the Milesians chose before all the rest of the
Greeks to rearrange their government.
    Now the way in which the Parians healed their differences was
the following. A number of the chief Parians came to Miletus, and when
they saw in how ruined a condition the Milesians were, they said
that they would like first to go over their country. So they went
through all Milesia, and on their way, whenever they saw in the
waste and desolate country any land that was well farmed, they took
down the names of the owners in their tablets; and having thus gone
through the whole region, and obtained after all but few names, they
called the people together on their return to Miletus, and made
proclamation that they gave the government into the hands of those
persons whose lands they had found well farmed; for they thought it
likely (they said) that the same persons who had managed their own
affairs well would likewise conduct aright the business of the
state. The other Milesians, who in time past had been at variance,
they placed under the rule of these men. Thus was the Milesian
government set in order by the Parians.
    It was, however, from the two cities above mentioned that troubles
began now to gather again about Ionia; and this is the way in which
they arose. Certain of the rich men had been banished from Naxos by
the commonalty, and, upon their banishment, had fled to Miletus.
Aristagoras, son of Molpagoras, the nephew and likewise the son-in-law
of Histiaeus, son of Lysagoras, who was still kept by Darius at
Susa, happened to be regent of Miletus at the time of their coming.
For the kingly power belonged to Histiaeus; but he was at Susa when
the Naxians came. Now these Naxians had in times past been
bond-friends of Histiaeus; and so on their arrival at Miletus they
addressed themselves to Aristagoras and begged him to lend them such
aid as his ability allowed, in hopes thereby to recover their country.
Then Aristagoras, considering with himself that, if the Naxians should
be restored by his help, he would be lord of Naxos, put forward the
friendship with Histiaeus to cloak his views, and spoke as follows:-
    "I cannot engage to furnish you with such a power as were
needful to force you, against their will, upon the Naxians who hold
the city; for I know they can bring into the field eight thousand
bucklers, and have also a vast number of ships of war. But I will do
all that lies in my power to get you some aid, and I think I can
manage it in this way. Artaphernes happens to be my friend. Now he
is a son of Hystaspes, and brother to King Darius. All the sea-coast
of Asia is under him, and he has a numerous army and numerous ships. I
think I can prevail on him to do what we require."
    When the Naxians heard this, they empowered Aristagoras to
manage the matter for them as well as he could, and told him to
promise gifts and pay for the soldiers, which (they said) they would
readily furnish, since they had great hope that the Naxians, so soon
as they saw them returned, would render them obedience, and likewise
the other islanders. For at that time not one of the Cyclades was
subject to King Darius.
    So Aristagoras went to Sardis and told Artaphernes that Naxos
was an island of no great size, but a fair land and fertile, lying
near Ionia, and containing much treasure and a vast number of
slaves. "Make war then upon this land (he said) and reinstate the
exiles; for if thou wilt do this, first of all, I have very rich gifts
in store for thee (besides the cost of the armament, which it is
fair that we who are the authors of the war should pay); and,
secondly, thou wilt bring under the power of the king not only Naxos
but the other islands which depend on it, as Paros, Andros, and all
the rest of the Cyclades. And when thou hast gained these, thou mayest
easily go on against Euboea, which is a large and wealthy island not
less in size than Cyprus, and very easy to bring under. A hundred
ships were quite enough to subdue the whole." The other answered-
"Truly thou art the author of a plan which may much advantage the
house of the king, and thy counsel is good in all points except the
number of the ships. Instead of a hundred, two hundred shall be at thy
disposal when the spring comes. But the king himself must first
approve the undertaking."
    When Aristagoras heard this he was greatly rejoiced, and went home
in good heart to Miletus. And Artaphernes, after he had sent a
messenger to Susa to lay the plans of Aristagoras before the king, and
received his approval of the undertaking, made ready a fleet of two
hundred triremes and a vast army of Persians and their confederates.
The command of these he gave to a Persian named Megabates, who
belonged to the house of the Achaemenids, being nephew both to himself
and to King Darius. It was to a daughter of this man that Pausanias
the Lacedaemonian, the son of Cleombrotus (if at least there be any
truth in the tale), was allianced many years afterwards, when he
conceived the desire of becoming tyrant of Greece. Artaphernes now,
having named Megabates to the command, sent forward the armament to
Aristagoras.
    Megabates set sail, and, touching at Miletus, took on board
Aristagoras with the Ionian troops and the Naxians; after which he
steered, as he gave out, for the Hellespont; and when he reached
Chios, he brought the fleet to anchor off Caucasa, being minded to
wait there for a north wind, and then sail straight to Naxos. The
Naxians however were not to perish at this time; and so the
following events were brought about. As Megabates went his rounds to
visit the watches on board the ships, he found a Myndian vessel upon
which there was none set. Full of anger at such carelessness, he
bade his guards to seek out the captain, one Scylax by name, and
thrusting him through one of the holes in the ship's side, to fasten
him there in such a way that his head might show outside the vessel,
while his body remained within. When Scylax was thus fastened, one
went and informed Aristagoras that Megabates had bound his Myndian
friend and was entreating him shamefully. So he came and asked
Megabates to let the man off; but the Persian refused him; whereupon
Aristagoras went himself and set Scylax free. When Megabates heard
this he was still more angry than before, and spoke hotly to
Aristagoras. Then the latter said to him-
    "What has thou to do with these matters? Wert thou not sent here
by Artaphernes to obey me, and to sail whithersoever I ordered? Why
dost meddle so?
    Thus spake Aristagoras. The other, in high dudgeon at such
language, waited till the night, and then despatched a boat to
Naxos, to warn the Naxians of the coming danger.
    Now the Naxians up to this time had not had any suspicion that the
armament was directed against them; as soon, therefore, as the message
reached them, forthwith they brought within their walls all that
they had in the open field, and made themselves ready against a
siege by provisioning their town both with food and drink. Thus was
Naxos placed in a posture of defence; and the Persians, when they
crossed the sea from Chios, found the Naxians fully prepared for them.
However they sat down before the place, and besieged it for four whole
months. When at length all the stores which they had brought with them
were exhausted, and Aristagoras had likewise spent upon the siege no
small sum from his private means, and more was still needed to
insure success, the Persians gave up the attempt, and first building
certain forts, wherein they left the banished Naxians, withdrew to the
mainland, having utterly failed in their undertaking.
    And now Aristagoras found himself quite unable to make good his
promises to Artaphernes; nay, he was even hard pressed to meet the
claims whereto he was liable for the pay of the troops; and at the
same time his fear was great, lest, owing to the failure of the
expedition and his own quarrel with Megabates, he should be ousted
from the government of Miletus. These manifold alarms had already
caused him to contemplate raising a rebellion, when the man with the
marked head came from Susa, bringing him instructions on the part of
Histiaeus to revolt from the king. For Histiaeus, when he was
anxious to give Aristagoras orders to revolt, could find but one
safe way, as the roads were guarded, of making his wishes known; which
was by taking the trustiest of his slaves, shaving all the hair from
off his head, and then pricking letters upon the skin, and waiting
till the hair grew again. Thus accordingly he did; and as soon as ever
the hair was grown, he despatched the man to Miletus, giving him no
other message than this- "When thou art come to Miletus, bid
Aristagoras shave thy head, and look thereon." Now the marks on the
head, as I have already mentioned, were a command to revolt. All
this Histiaeus did because it irked him greatly to be kept at Susa,
and because he had strong hopes that, if troubles broke out, he
would be sent down to the coast to quell them, whereas, if Miletus
made no movement, he did not see a chance of his ever again
returning thither.
    Such, then, were the views which led Histiaeus to despatch his
messenger; and it so chanced that all these several motives to
revolt were brought to bear upon Aristagoras at one and the same time.
    Accordingly, at this conjuncture Aristagoras held a council of his
trusty friends, and laid the business before them, telling them both
what he had himself purposed, and what message had been sent him by
Histiaeus. At this council all his friends were of the same way of
thinking, and recommended revolt, except only Hecataeus the historian.
He, first of all, advised them by all means to avoid engaging in war
with the king of the Persians, whose might he set forth, and whose
subject nations he enumerated. As however he could not induce them
to listen to this counsel, he next advised that they should do all
that lay in their power to make themselves masters of the sea.
"There was one only way," he said, "so far as he could see, of their
succeeding in this. Miletus was, he knew, a weak state- but if the
treasures in the temple at Branchidae, which Croesus the Lydian gave
to it, were seized, he had strong hopes that the mastery of the sea
might be thereby gained; at least it would give them money to begin
the war, and would save the treasures from falling into the hands of
the enemy." Now these treasures were of very great value, as I
showed in the first part of my History. The assembly, however,
rejected the counsel of Hecataeus, while, nevertheless, they
resolved upon a revolt. One of their number, it was agreed, should
sail to Myus, where the fleet had been lying since its return from
Naxos, and endeavour to seize the captains who had gone there with the
vessels.
    Iatragoras accordingly was despatched on this errand, and he
took with guile Oliatus the son of Ibanolis the Mylassian, and
Histiaeus the son of Tymnes the Termerean-Coes likewise, the son of
Erxander, to whom Darius gave Mytilene, and Aristagoras the son of
Heraclides the Cymaean, and also many others. Thus Aristagoras
revolted openly from Darius; and now he set to work to scheme
against him in every possible way. First of all, in order to induce
the Milesians to join heartily in the revolt, he gave out that he laid
down his own lordship over Miletus, and in lieu thereof established
a commonwealth: after which, throughout all Ionia he did the like; for
from some of the cities he drove out their tyrants, and to others,
whose goodwill he hoped thereby to gain, he handed theirs over, thus
giving up all the men whom he had seized at the Naxian fleet, each
to the city whereto he belonged.
    Now the Mytileneans had no sooner got Coes into their power,
than they led him forth from the city and stoned him; the Cymaeans, on
the other hand, allowed their tyrant to go free; as likewise did
most of the others. And so this form of government ceased throughout
all the cities. Aristagoras the Milesian, after he had in this way put
down the tyrants, and bidden the cities choose themselves captains
in their room, sailed away himself on board a trireme to Lacedaemon;
for he had great need of obtaining the aid of some powerful ally.
    At Sparta, Anaxandridas the son of Leo was no longer king: he
had died, and his son Cleomenes had mounted the throne, not however by
right of merit, but of birth. Anaxandridas took to wife his own
sister's daughter, and was tenderly attached to her; but no children
came from the marriage. Hereupon the Ephors called him before them,
and said- "If thou hast no care for thine own self, nevertheless we
cannot allow this, nor suffer the race of Eurysthenes to die out
from among us. Come then, as thy present wife bears thee no
children, put her away, and wed another. So wilt thou do what is
well-pleasing to the Spartans." Anaxandridas however refused to do
as they required, and said it was no good advice the Ephors gave, to
bid him put away his wife when she had done no wrong, and take to
himself another. He therefore declined to obey them.
    Then the Ephors and Elders took counsel together, and laid this
proposal before the king:- "Since thou art so fond, as we see thee
to be, of thy present wife, do what we now advise, and gainsay us not,
lest the Spartans make some unwonted decree concerning thee. We ask
thee not now to put away thy wife to whom thou art married- give her
still the same love and honour as ever- but take thee another wife
beside, who may bear thee children."
    When he heard this offer, Anaxandridas gave way- and henceforth he
lived with two wives in two separate houses, quite against all Spartan
custom.
    In a short time, the wife whom he had last married bore him a son,
who received the name of Cleomenes; and so the heir to the throne
was brought into the world by her. After this, the first wife also,
who in time past had been barren, by some strange chance conceived,
and came to be with child. Then the friends of the second wife, when
they heard a rumour of the truth, made a great stir, and said it was a
false boast, and she meant, they were sure, to bring forward as her
own a supposititious child. So they raised an outcry against her;
and therefore, when her full time was come, the Ephors, who were
themselves incredulous, sat round her bed, and kept a strict watch
on the labour. At this time then she bore Dorieus, and after him,
quickly, Leonidas, and after him, again quickly, Cleombrotus. Some
even say that Leonidas and Cleombrotus were twins. On the other
hand, the second wife, the mother of Cleomenes (who was a daughter
of Prinetadas, the son of Demarmenus), never gave birth to a second
child.
    Now Cleomenes, it is said, was not right in his mind; indeed he
verged upon madness; while Dorieus surpassed all his co-mates, and
looked confidently to receiving the kingdom on the score of merit.
When, therefore, after the death of Anaxandridas, the Spartans kept to
the law, and made Cleomenes, his eldest son, king in his room,
Dorieus, who had imagined that he should be chosen, and who could
not bear the thought of having such a man as Cleomenes to rule over
him, asked the Spartans to give him a body of men, and left Sparta
with them in order to found a colony. However, he neither took counsel
of the oracle at Delphi as to the place whereto he should go, nor
observed any of the customary usages; but left Sparta in dudgeon,
and sailed away to Libya, under the guidance of certain men who were
Theraeans. These men brought him to Cinyps, where he colonised a spot,
which has not its equal in all Libya, on the banks of a river: but
from this place he was driven in the third year by the Macians, the
Libyans, and the Carthaginians.
    Dorieus returned to the Peloponnese; whereupon Antichares the
Eleonian gave him a counsel (which he got from the oracle of Laius),
to "found the city of Heraclea in Sicily; the whole country of Eryx
belonged," he said, "to the Heracleids, since Hercules himself
conquered it." On receiving this advice, Dorieus went to Delphi to
inquire of the oracle whether he would take the place to which he
was about to go. The Pythoness prophesied that he would; whereupon
Dorieus went back to Libya, took up the men who had sailed with him at
the first, and proceeded upon his way along the shores of Italy.
    Just at this time, the Sybarites say, they and their king Telys
were about to make war upon Crotona, and the Crotoniats, greatly
alarmed, besought Dorieus to lend them aid. Dorieus was prevailed
upon, bore part in the war against Sybaris, and had a share in
taking the town. Such is the account which the Sybarites give of
what was done by Dorieus and his companions. The Crotoniats, on the
other hand, maintain that no foreigner lent them aid in their war
against the Sybarites, save and except Callias the Elean, a soothsayer
of the race of the Iamidae; and he only forsook Telys the Sybaritic
king, and deserted to their side, when he found on sacrificing that
the victims were not favourable to an attack on Crotona. Such is the
account which each party gives of these matters.
    Both parties likewise adduce testimonies to the truth of what they
say. The Sybarites show a temple and sacred precinct near the dry
stream of the Crastis, which they declare that Dorieus, after taking
their city, dedicated to Minerva Crastias. And further, they bring
forward the death of Dorieus as the surest proof; since he fell,
they say, because he disobeyed the oracle. For had he in nothing
varied from the directions given him, but confined himself to the
business on which he was sent, he would assuredly have conquered the
Erycian territory, and kept possession of it, instead of perishing
with all his followers. The Crotoniats, on the other hand, point to
the numerous allotments within their borders which were assigned to
Callias the Elean by their countrymen, and which to my day remained in
the possession of his family; while Dorieus and his descendants
(they remark) possess nothing. Yet if Dorieus had really helped them
in the Sybaritic war, he would have received very much more than
Callias. Such are the testimonies which are adduced on either side; it
is open to every man to adopt whichever view he deems the best.
    Certain Spartans accompanied Dorieus on his voyage as co-founders,
to wit, Thessalus, Paraebates, Celeas, and Euryleon. These men and all
the troops under their command reached Sicily; but there they fell
in a battle wherein they were defeated by the Egestaeans and
Phoenicians, only one, Euryleon, surviving the disaster. He then,
collecting the remnants of the beaten army, made himself master of
Minoa, the Selinusian colony, and helped the Selinusians to throw
off the yoke of their tyrant Peithagoras. Having upset Peithagoras, he
sought to become tyrant in his room, and he even reigned at Selinus
for a brief space- but after a while the Selinusians rose up in revolt
against him, and though he fled to the altar of Jupiter Agoraeus, they
notwithstanding put him to death.
    Another man who accompanied Dorieus, and died with him, was Philip
the son of Butacidas, a man of Crotona; who, after he had been
betrothed to a daughter of Telys the Sybarite, was banished from
Crotona, whereupon his marriage came to nought; and he in his
disappointment took ship and sailed to Cyrene. From thence he became a
follower of Dorieus, furnishing to the fleet a trireme of his own, the
crew of which he supported at his own charge. This Philip was an
Olympian victor, and the handsomest Greek of his day. His beauty
gained him honours at the hands of the Egestaeans which they never
accorded to any one else; for they raised a hero-temple over his
grave, and they still worship him with sacrifices.
    Such then was the end of Dorieus, who if he had brooked the rule
of Cleomenes, and remained in Sparta, would have been king of
Lacedaemon; since Cleomenes, after reigning no great length of time,
died without male offspring, leaving behind him an only daughter, by
name Gorgo.
    Cleomenes, however, was still king when Aristagoras, tyrant of
Miletus, reached Sparta. At their interview, Aristagoras, according to
the report of the Lacedaemonians, produced a bronze tablet,
whereupon the whole circuit of the earth was engraved, with all its
seas and rivers. Discourse began between the two; and Aristagoras
addressed the Spartan king in these words following:- "Think it not
strange, O King Cleomenes, that I have been at the pains to sail
hither; for the posture of affairs, which I will now recount unto
thee, made it fitting. Shame and grief is it indeed to none so much as
to us, that the sons of the Ionians should have lost their freedom,
and come to be the slaves of others; but yet it touches you
likewise, O Spartans, beyond the rest of the Greeks, inasmuch as the
pre-eminence over all Greece appertains to you. We beseech you,
therefore, by the common gods of the Grecians, deliver the Ionians,
who are your own kinsmen, from slavery. Truly the task is not
difficult; for the barbarians are an unwarlike people; and you are the
best and bravest warriors in the whole world. Their mode of fighting
is the following:- they use bows and arrows and a short spear; they
wear trousers in the field, and cover their heads with turbans. So
easy are they to vanquish! Know too that the dwellers in these parts
have more good things than all the rest of the world put together-
gold, and silver, and brass, and embroidered garments, beasts of
burthen, and bond-servants- all which, if you only wish it, you may
soon have for your own. The nations border on one another, in the
order which I will now explain. Next to these Ionians" (here he
pointed with his finger to the map of the world which was engraved
upon the tablet that he had brought with him) "these Lydians dwell;
their soil is fertile, and few people are so rich in silver. Next to
them," he continued, "come these Phrygians, who have more flocks and
herds than any race that I know, and more plentiful harvests. On
them border the Cappadocians, whom we Greeks know by the name of
Syrians: they are neighbours to the Cilicians, who extend all the
way to this sea, where Cyprus (the island which you see here) lies.
The Cilicians pay the king a yearly tribute of five hundred talents.
Next to them come the Armenians, who live here- they too have numerous
flocks and herds. After them come the Matieni, inhabiting this
country; then Cissia, this province, where you see the river
Choaspes marked, and likewise the town Susa upon its banks, where
the Great King holds his court, and where the treasuries are in
which his wealth is stored. Once masters of this city, you may be bold
to vie with Jove himself for riches. In the wars which ye wage with
your rivals of Messenia, with them of Argos likewise and of Arcadia,
about paltry boundaries and strips of land not so remarkably good,
ye contend with those who have no gold, nor silver even, which often
give men heart to fight and die. Must ye wage such wars, and when ye
might so easily be lords of Asia, will ye decide otherwise?" Thus
spoke Aristagoras; and Cleomenes replied to him,- "Milesian
stranger, three days hence I will give thee an answer."
    So they proceeded no further at that time. When, however, the
day appointed for the answer came, and the two once more met,
Cleomenes asked Aristagoras, "how many days' journey it was from the
sea of the Ionians to the king's residence?" Hereupon Aristagoras, who
had managed the rest so cleverly, and succeeded in deceiving the king,
tripped in his speech and blundered; for instead of concealing the
truth, as he ought to have done if he wanted to induce the Spartans to
cross into Asia, he said plainly that it was a journey of three
months. Cleomenes caught at the words, and, preventing Aristagoras
from finishing what he had begun to say concerning the road, addressed
him thus:- "Milesian stranger, quit Sparta before sunset. This is no
good proposal that thou makest to the Lacedaemonians, to conduct
them a distance of three months' journey from the sea." When he had
thus spoken, Cleomenes went to his home.
    But Aristagoras took an olive-bough in his hand, and hastened to
the king's house, where he was admitted by reason of his suppliant's
pliant's guise. Gorgo, the daughter of Cleomenes, and his only
child, a girl of about eight or nine years of age, happened to be
there, standing by her father's side. Aristagoras, seeing her,
requested Cleomenes to send her out of the room before he began to
speak with him; but Cleomenes told him to say on, and not mind the
child. So Aristagoras began with a promise of ten talents if the
king would grant him his request, and when Cleomenes shook his head,
continued to raise his offer till it reached fifty talents;
whereupon the child spoke:- "Father," she said, "get up and go, or the
stranger will certainly corrupt thee." Then Cleomenes, pleased at
the warning of his child, withdrew and went into another room.
Aristagoras quitted Sparta for good, not being able to discourse any
more concerning the road which led up to the king.
    Now the true account of the road in question is the following:-
Royal stations exist along its whole length, and excellent
caravanserais; and throughout, it traverses an inhabited tract, and is
free from danger. In Lydia and Phrygia there are twenty stations
within a distance Of 94 1/2 parasangs. On leaving Phrygia the Halys
has to be crossed; and here are gates through which you must needs
pass ere you can traverse the stream. A strong force guards this post.
When you have made the passage, and are come into Cappadocia, 28
stations and 104 parasangs bring you to the borders of Cilicia,
where the road passes through two sets of gates, at each of which
there is a guard posted. Leaving these behind, you go on through
Cilicia, where you find three stations in a distance of 15 1/2
parasangs. The boundary between Cilicia and Armenia is the river
Euphrates, which it is necessary to cross in boats. In Armenia the
resting-places are 15 in number, and the distance is 56 1/2 parasangs.
There is one place where a guard is posted. Four large streams
intersect this district, all of which have to be crossed by means of
boats. The first of these is the Tigris; the second and the third have
both of them the same name, though they are not only different rivers,
but do not even run from the same place. For the one which I have
called the first of the two has its source in Armenia, while the other
flows afterwards out of the country of the Matienians. The fourth of
the streams is called the Gyndes, and this is the river which Cyrus
dispersed by digging for it three hundred and sixty channels.
Leaving Armenia and entering the Matienian country, you have four
stations; these passed you find yourself in Cissia, where eleven
stations and 42 1/2 parasangs bring you to another navigable stream,
the Choaspes, on the banks of which the city of Susa is built. Thus
the entire number of the stations is raised to one hundred and eleven;
and so many are in fact the resting-places that one finds between
Sardis and Susa.
    If then the royal road be measured aright, and the parasang
equals, as it does, thirty furlongs, the whole distance from Sardis to
the palace of Memnon (as it is called), amounting thus to 450
parasangs, would be 13,500 furlongs. Travelling then at the rate of
150 furlongs a day, one will take exactly ninety days to perform the
journey.
    Thus when Aristagoras the Milesian told Cleomenes the
Lacedaemonian that it was a three months' journey from the sea up to
the king, he said no more than the truth. The exact distance (if any
one desires still greater accuracy) is somewhat more; for the
journey from Ephesus to Sardis must be added to the foregoing account;
and this will make the whole distance between the Greek Sea and Susa
(or the city of Memnon, as it is called) 14,040 furlongs; since
Ephesus is distant from Sardis 540 furlongs. This would add three days
to the three months' journey.
    When Aristagoras left Sparta he hastened to Athens, which had
got quit of its tyrants in the way that I will now describe. After the
death of Hipparchus (the son of Pisistratus, and brother of the tyrant
Hippias), who, in spite of the clear warning he had received
concerning his fate in a dream, was slain by Harmodius and
Aristogeiton (men both of the race of the Gephyraeans), the oppression
of the Athenians continued by the space of four years; and they gained
nothing, but were worse used than before.
    Now the dream of Hipparchus was the following:- The night before
the Panathenaic festival, he thought he saw in his sleep a tall and
beautiful man, who stood over him, and read him the following riddle:-

    Bear thou unbearable woes with the all-bearing heart of a lion;
    Never, be sure, shall wrong-doer escape the reward of
      wrong-doing.

As soon as day dawned he sent and submitted his dream to the
interpreters, after which he offered the averting sacrifices, and then
went and led the procession in which he perished.
    The family of the Gephyraeans, to which the murderers of
Hipparchus belonged, according to their own account, came originally
from Eretria. My inquiries, however, have made it clear to me that
they are in reality Phoenicians, descendants of those who came with
Cadmus into the country now called Boeotia. Here they received for
their portion the district of Tanagra, in which they afterwards dwelt.
On their expulsion from this country by the Boeotians (which
happened some time after that of the Cadmeians from the same parts
by the Argives) they took refuge at Athens. The Athenians received
them among their citizens upon set terms, whereby they were excluded
from a number of privileges which are not worth mentioning.
    Now the Phoenicians who came with Cadmus, and to whom the
Gephyraei belonged, introduced into Greece upon their arrival a
great variety of arts, among the rest that of writing, whereof the
Greeks till then had, as I think, been ignorant. And originally they
shaped their letters exactly like all the other Phoenicians, but
afterwards, in course of time, they changed by degrees their language,
and together with it the form likewise of their characters. Now the
Greeks who dwelt about those parts at that time were chiefly the
Ionians. The Phoenician letters were accordingly adopted by them,
but with some variation in the shape of a few, and so they arrived
at the present use, still calling the letters Phoenician, as justice
required, after the name of those who were the first to introduce them
into Greece. Paper rolls also were called from of old "parchments"
by the Ionians, because formerly when paper was scarce they used,
instead, the skins of sheep and goats- on which material many of the
barbarians are even now wont to write.
    I myself saw Cadmeian characters engraved upon some tripods in the
temple of Apollo Ismenias in Boeotian Thebes, most of them shaped like
the Ionian. One of the tripods has the inscription following:-

    Me did Amphitryon place, from the far Teleboans coming.

    This would be about the age of Laius, the son of Labdacus, the son
of Polydorus, the son of Cadmus.
    Another of the tripods has this legend in the hexameter measure:-

    I to far-shooting Phoebus was offered by Scaeus the boxer,
    When he had won at the games- a wondrous beautiful offering.

This might be Scaeus, the son of Hippocoon; and the tripod, if
dedicated by him, and not by another of the same name, would belong to
the time of Oedipus, the son of Laius.
    The third tripod has also an inscription in hexameters, which runs
thus:-

    King Laodamas gave this tripod to far-seeing Phoebus,
    When he was set on the throne- a wondrous beautiful offering.

It was in the reign of this Laodamas, the son of Eteocles, that the
Cadmeians were driven by the Argives out of their country, and found a
shelter with the Encheleans. The Gephyraeans at that time remained
in the country, but afterwards they retired before the Boeotians,
and took refuge at Athens, where they have a number of temples for
their separate use, which the other Athenians are not allowed to
enter- among the rest, one of Achaean Ceres, in whose honour they
likewise celebrate special orgies.
    Having thus related the dream which Hipparchus saw, and traced the
descent of the Gephyraeans, the family whereto his murderers belonged,
I must proceed with the matter whereof I was intending before to
speak; to wit, the way in which the Athenians got quit of their
tyrants. Upon the death of Hipparchus, Hippias, who was king, grew
harsh towards the Athenians; and the Alcaeonidae, an Athenian family
which had been banished by the Pisistratidae, joined the other exiles,
and endeavoured to procure their own return, and to free Athens, by
force. They seized and fortified Leipsydrium above Paeonia, and
tried to gain their object by arms; but great disasters befell them,
and their purpose remained unaccomplished. They therefore resolved
to shrink from no contrivance that might bring them success; and
accordingly they contracted with the Amphictyons to build the temple
which now stands at Delphi, but which in those days did not exist.
Having done this, they proceeded, being men of great wealth and
members of an ancient and distinguished family, to build the temple
much more magnificently than the plan obliged them. Besides other
improvements, instead of the coarse stone whereof by the contract
the temple was to have been constructed, they made the facings of
Parian marble.
    These same men, if we may believe the Athenians, during their stay
at Delphi persuaded the Pythoness by a bribe to tell the Spartans,
whenever any of them came to consult the oracle, either on their own
private affairs or on the business of the state, that they must free
Athens. So the Lacedaemonians, when they found no answer ever returned
to them but this, sent at last Anchimolius, the son of Aster- a man of
note among their citizens- at the head of an army against Athens, with
orders to drive out the Pisistratidae, albeit they were bound to
them by the closest ties of friendship. For they esteemed the things
of heaven more highly than the things of men. The troops went by sea
and were conveyed in transports. Anchimolius brought them to an
anchorage at Phalerum; and there the men disembarked. But the
Pisistratidae, who had previous knowledge of their intentions, had
sent to Thessaly, between which country and Athens there was an
alliance, with a request for aid. The Thessalians, in reply to their
entreaties, sent them by a public vote 1000 horsemen, under the
command of their king, Cineas, who was a Coniaean. When this help
came, the Pisistratidae laid their plan accordingly: they cleared
the whole plain about Phalerum so as to make it fit for the
movements of cavalry, and then charged the enemy's camp with their
horse, which fell with such fury upon the Lacedaemonians as to kill
numbers, among the rest Anchimolius, the general, and to drive the
remainder to their ships. Such was the fate of the first army sent
from Lacedaemon, and the tomb of Anchimolius may be seen to this day
in Attica; it is at Alopecae (Foxtown), near the temple of Hercules in
Cynosargos.
    Afterwards, the Lacedaemonians despatched a larger force against
Athens, which they put under the command of Cleomenes, son of
Anaxandridas, one of their kings. These troops were not sent by sea,
but marched by the mainland. When they were come into Attica, their
first encounter was with the Thessalian horse, which they shortly
put to flight, killing above forty men; the remainder made good
their escape, and fled straight to Thessaly. Cleomenes proceeded to
the city, and, with the aid of such of the Athenians as wished for
freedom, besieged the tyrants, who had shut themselves up in the
Pelasgic fortress.
    And now there had been small chance of the Pisistratidae falling
into the hands of the Spartans, who did not even design to sit down
before the place, which had moreover been well provisioned
beforehand with stores both of meat and drink,- nay, it is likely that
after a few days' blockade the Lacedaemonians would have quitted
Attica altogether, and gone back to Sparta- had not an event
occurred most unlucky for the besieged, and most advantageous for
the besiegers. The children of the Pisistratidae were made
prisoners, as they were being removed out of the country. By this
calamity all their plans were deranged, and-as the ransom of their
children- they consented to the demands of the Athenians, and agreed
within five days' time to quit Attica. Accordingly they soon
afterwards left the country, and withdrew to Sigeum on the
Scamander, after reigning thirty-six years over the Athenians. By
descent they were Pylians, of the family of the Neleids, to which
Codrus and Melanthus likewise belonged, men who in former times from
foreign settlers became kings of Athens. And hence it was that
Hippocrates came to think of calling his son Pisistratus: he named him
after the Pisistratus who was a son of Nestor. Such then was the
mode in which the Athenians got quit of their tyrants. What they did
and suffered worthy of note from the time when they gained their
freedom until the revolt of Ionia from King Darius, and the coming
of Aristagoras to Athens with a request that the Athenians would
lend the Ionians aid, I shall now proceed to relate.
    The power of Athens had been great before; but, now that the
tyrants were gone, it became greater than ever. The chief authority
was lodged with two persons, Clisthenes, of the family of the
Alcmaeonids, who is said to have been the persuader of the
Pythoness, and Isagoras, the son of Tisander, who belonged to a
noble house, but whose pedigree I am not able to trace further.
Howbeit his kinsmen offer sacrifice to the Carian Jupiter. These two
men strove together for the mastery; and Clisthenes, finding himself
the weaker, called to his aid the common people. Hereupon, instead
of the four tribes among which the Athenians had been divided
hitherto, Clisthenes made ten tribes, and parcelled out the
Athenians among them. He likewise changed the names of the tribes; for
whereas they had till now been called after Geleon, Aegicores,
Argades, and Hoples, the four sons of Ion, Clisthenes set these
names aside, and called his tribes after certain other heroes, all
of whom were native, except Ajax. Ajax was associated because,
although a foreigner, he was a neighbour and an ally of Athens.
    My belief is that in acting thus he did but imitate his maternal
grandfather, Clisthenes, king of Sicyon. This king, when he was at war
with Argos, put an end to the contests of the rhapsodists at Sicyon,
because in the Homeric poems Argos and the Argives were so
constantly the theme of song. He likewise conceived the wish to
drive Adrastus, the son of Talaus, out of his country, seeing that
he was an Argive hero. For Adrastus had a shrine at Sicyon, which
yet stands in the market-place of the town. Clisthenes therefore
went to Delphi, and asked the oracle if he might expel Adrastus. To
this the Pythoness is reported to have answered- "Adrastus is the
Sicyonians' king, but thou art only a robber." So when the god would
not grant his request, he went home and began to think how he might
contrive to make Adrastus withdraw of his own accord. After a while he
hit upon a plan which he thought would succeed. He sent envoys to
Thebes in Boeotia, and informed the Thebans that he wished to bring
Melanippus, the son of Astacus, to Sicyon. The Thebans consenting,
Clisthenes carried Melanippus back with him, assigned him a precinct
within the government-house, and built him a shrine there in the
safest and strongest part. The reason for his so doing (which I must
not forbear to mention) was because Melanippus was Adrastus' great
enemy, having slain both his brother Mecistes and his son-in-law
Tydeus. Clisthenes, after assigning the precinct to Melanippus, took
away from Adrastus the sacrifices and festivals wherewith he had
till then been honoured, and transferred them to his adversary.
Hitherto the Sicyonians had paid extraordinary honours to Adrastus,
because the country had belonged to Polybus, and Adrastus was Polybus'
daughter's son; whence it came to pass that Polybus, dying
childless, left Adrastus his kingdom. Besides other ceremonies, it had
been their wont to honour Adrastus with tragic choruses, which they
assigned to him rather than Bacchus, on account of his calamities.
Clisthenes now gave the choruses to Bacchus, transferring to
Melanippus the rest of the sacred rites.
    Such were his doings in the matter of Adrastus. With respect to
the Dorian tribes, not choosing the Sicyonians to have the same tribes
as the Argives, he changed all the old names for new ones; and here he
took special occasion to mock the Sicyonians, for he drew his new
names from the words "pig," and "ass," adding thereto the usual
tribe-endings; only in the case of his own tribe he did nothing of the
sort, but gave them a name drawn from his own kingly office. For he
called his own tribe the Archelai, or Rulers, while the others he
named Hyatae, or Pig-folk, Oneatae, or Assfolk, and Choereatae, or
Swine-folk. The Sicyonians kept these names, not only during the reign
of Clisthenes, but even after his death, by the space of sixty
years: then, however, they took counsel together, and changed to the
well-known names of Hyllaeans, Pamphylians, and Dymanatae, taking at
the same time, as a fourth name, the title of Aegialeans, from
Aegialeus the son of Adrastus.
    Thus had Clisthenes the Sicyonian done. The Athenian Clisthenes,
who was grandson by the mother's side of the other, and had been named
after him, resolved, from contempt (as I believe) of the Ionians, that
his tribes should not be the same as theirs; and so followed the
pattern set him by his namesake of Sicyon. Having brought entirely
over to his own side the common people of Athens, whom he had before
disdained, he gave all the tribes new names, and made the number
greater than formerly; instead of the four phylarchs he established
ten; he likewise placed ten demes in each of the tribes; and he was,
now that the common people took his part, very much more powerful than
his adversaries.
    Isagoras in his turn lost ground; and therefore, to counter-plot
his enemy, he called in Cleomenes the Lacedaemonian, who had
already, at the time when he was besieging the Pisistratidae, made a
contract of friendship with him. A charge is even brought against
Cleomenes that he was on terms of too great familiarity with
Isagoras's wife. At this time the first thing that he did was to
send a herald and require that Clisthenes, and a large number of
Athenians besides, whom he called "The Accursed," should leave Athens.
This message he sent at the suggestion of Isagoras: for in the
affair referred to, the blood-guiltiness lay on the Alcmaeonidae and
their partisans, while he and his friends were quite clear of it.
    The way in which "The Accursed" at Athens got their name, was
the following. There was a certain Athenian called Cylon, a victor
at the Olympic Games, who aspired to the sovereignty, and aided by a
number of his companions, who were of the same age with himself,
made an attempt to seize the citadel. But the attack failed; and Cylon
became a suppliant at the image. Hereupon the Heads of the Naucraries,
who at that time bore rule in Athens, induced the fugitives to
remove by a promise to spare their lives. Nevertheless they were all
slain; and the blame was laid on the Alcmaeonidae. All this happened
before the time of Pisistratus.
    When the message of Cleomenes arrived, requiring Clisthenes and
"The Accursed" to quit the city, Clisthenes departed of his own
accord. Cleomenes, however, notwithstanding his departure, came to
Athens, with a small band of followers; and on his arrival sent into
banishment seven hundred Athenian families, which were pointed out
to him by Isagoras. Succeeding here, he next endeavoured to dissolve
the council, and to put the government into the hands of three hundred
of the partisans of that leader. But the council resisted, and refused
to obey his orders; whereupon Cleomenes, Isagoras, and their followers
took possession of the citadel. Here they were attacked by the rest of
the Athenians, who took the side of the council, and were besieged for
the space of two days: on the third day they accepted terms, being
allowed- at least such of them as were Lacedaemonians- to quit the
country. And so the word which came to Cleomenes received its
fulfilment. For when he first went up into the citadel, meaning to
seize it, just as he was entering the sanctuary of the goddess, in
order to question her, the priestess arose from her throne, before
he had passed the doors, and said- "Stranger from Lacedaemon, depart
hence, and presume not to enter the holy place- it is not lawful for a
Dorian to set foot there." But he answered, "Oh! woman, I am not a
Dorian, but an Achaean." Slighting this warning, Cleomenes made his
attempt, and so he was forced to retire, together with his
Lacedaemonians. The rest were cast into prison by the Athenians, and
condemned to die- among them Timasitheus the Delphian, of whose
prowess and courage I have great things which I could tell.
    So these men died in prison. The Athenians directly afterwards
recalled Clisthenes, and the seven hundred families which Cleomenes
had driven out; and, further, they sent envoys to Sardis, to make an
alliance with the Persians, for they knew that war would follow with
Cleomenes and the Lacedaemonians. When the ambassadors reached
Sardis and delivered their message, Artaphernes, son of Hystaspes, who
was at that time governor of the Place, inquired of them "who they
were, and in what part of the world they dwelt, that they wanted to
become allies of the Persians?" The messengers told him; upon which he
answered them shortly- that "if the Athenians chose to give earth
and water to King Darius, he would conclude an alliance with them; but
if not, they might go home again." After consulting together, the
envoys, anxious to form the alliance, accepted the terms; but on their
return to Athens, they fell into deep disgrace on account of their
compliance.
    Meanwhile Cleomenes, who considered himself to have been
insulted by the Athenians both in word and deed, was drawing a force
together from all parts of the Peloponnese, without informing any
one of his object; which was to revenge himself on the Athenians,
and to establish Isagoras, who had escaped with him from the
citadel, as despot of Athens. Accordingly, with a large army, he
invaded the district of Eleusis, while the Boeotians, who had
concerted measures with him, took Oenoe and Hysiae, two country
towns upon the frontier; and at the same time the Chalcideans, on
another side, plundered divers places in Attica. The Athenians,
notwithstanding that danger threatened them from every quarter, put
off all thought of the Boeotians and Chalcideans till a future time,
and marched against the Peloponnesians, who were at Eleusis.
    As the two hosts were about to engage, first of all the
Corinthians, bethinking themselves that they were perpetrating a
wrong, changed their minds, and drew off from the main army. Then
Demaratus, son of Ariston, who was himself king of Sparta and
joint-leader of the expedition, and who till now had had no sort of
quarrel with Cleomenes, followed their example. On account of this
rupture between the kings, a law was passed at Sparta, forbidding both
monarchs to go out together with the army, as had been the custom
hitherto. The law also provided, that, as one of the kings was to be
left behind, one of the Tyndaridae should also remain at home; whereas
hitherto both had accompanied the expeditions, as auxiliaries. So when
the rest of the allies saw that the Lacedaemonian kings were not of
one mind, and that the Corinthian troops had quitted their post,
they likewise drew off and departed.
    This was the fourth time that the Dorians had invaded Attica:
twice they came as enemies, and twice they came to do good service
to the Athenian people. Their first invasion took place at the
period when they founded Megara, and is rightly placed in the reign of
Codrus at Athens; the second and third occasions were when they came
from Sparta to drive out the Pisistratidae; the fourth was the present
attack, when Cleomenes, at the head of a Peloponnesian army, entered
at Eleusis. Thus the Dorians had now four times invaded Attica.
    So when the Spartan army had broken up from its quarters thus
ingloriously, the Athenians, wishing to revenge themselves, marched
first against the Chalcideans. The Boeotians, however, advancing to
the aid of the latter as far as the Euripus, the Athenians thought
it best to attack them first. A battle was fought accordingly; and the
Athenians gained a very complete victory, killing a vast number of the
enemy, and taking seven hundred of them alive. After this, on the very
same day, they crossed into Euboea, and engaged the Chalcideans with
the like success; whereupon they left four thousand settlers upon
the lands of the Hippobotae,- which is the name the Chalcideans give
to their rich men. All the Chalcidean prisoners whom they took were
put in irons, and kept for a long time in close confinement, as
likewise were the Boeotians, until the ransom asked for them was paid;
and this the Athenians fixed at two minae the man. The chains
wherewith they were fettered the Athenians suspended in their citadel;
where they were still to be seen in my day, hanging against the wall
scorched by the Median flames, opposite the chapel which faces the
west. The Athenians made an offering of the tenth part of the
ransom-money: and expended it on the brazen chariot drawn by four
steeds, which stands on the left hand immediately that one enters
the gateway of the citadel. The inscription runs as follows:-

    When Chalcis and Boeotia dared her might,
    Athens subdued their pride in valorous fight;
    Gave bonds for insults; and, the ransom paid,
    From the full tenths these steeds for Pallas made.

    Thus did the Athenians increase in strength. And it is plain
enough, not from this instance only, but from many everywhere, that
freedom is an excellent thing since even the Athenians, who, while
they continued under the rule of tyrants, were not a whit more valiant
than any of their neighbours, no sooner shook off the yoke than they
became decidedly the first of all. These things show that, while
undergoing oppression, they let themselves be beaten, since then
they worked for a master; but so soon as they got their freedom,
each man was eager to do the best he could for himself. So fared it
now with the Athenians.
    Meanwhile the Thebans, who longed to be revenged on the Athenians,
had sent to the oracle, and been told by the Pythoness that of their
own strength they would be unable to accomplish their wish: "they must
lay the matter," she said, "before the many-voiced, and ask the aid of
those nearest them." The messengers, therefore, on their return,
called a meeting, and laid the answer of the oracle before the people,
who no sooner heard the advice to "ask the aid of those nearest
them" than they exclaimed- "What! are not they who dwell the nearest
to us the men of Tanagra, of Coronaea, and Thespiae? Yet these men
always fight on our side, and have aided us with a good heart all
through the war. Of what use is it to ask them? But maybe this is
not the true meaning of the oracle."
    As they were thus discoursing one with another, a certain man,
informed of the debate, cried out-"Methinks that I understand what
course the oracle would recommend to us. Asopus, they say, had two
daughters, Thebe and Egina. The god means that, as these two were
sisters, we ought to ask the Eginetans to lend us aid." As no one
was able to hit on any better explanation, the Thebans forthwith
sent messengers to Egina, and, according to the advice of the
oracle, asked their aid, as the people "nearest to them." In answer to
this petition the Eginetans said that they would give them the
Aeacidae for helpers.
    The Thebans now, relying on the assistance of the Aeacidae,
ventured to renew the war; but they met with so rough a reception,
that they resolved to send to the Eginetans again, returning the
Aeacidae, and beseeching them to send some men instead. The Eginetans,
who were at that time a most flourishing people, elated with their
greatness, and at the same time calling to mind their ancient feud
with Athens, agreed to lend the Thebans aid, and forthwith went to war
with the Athenians, without even giving them notice by a herald. The
attention of these latter being engaged by the struggle with the
Boeotians, the Eginetans in their ships of war made descents upon
Attica, plundered Phalerum, and ravaged a vast number of the townships
upon the sea-board, whereby the Athenians suffered very grievous
damage.
    The ancient feud between the Eginetans and Athenians arose out
of the following circumstances. Once upon a time the land of Epidaurus
would bear no crops; and the Epidaurians sent to consult the oracle of
Delphi concerning their affliction. The answer bade them set up the
images of Damia and Auxesia, and promised them better fortune when
that should be done. "Shall the images be made of bronze or stone?"
the Epidaurians asked; but the Pythoness replied, "Of neither: but let
them be made of the garden olive." Then the Epidaurians sent to Athens
and asked leave to cut olive wood in Attica, believing the Athenian
olives to be the holiest; or, according to others, because there
were no olives at that time anywhere else in all the world but at
Athens.' The Athenians answered that they would give them leave, but
on condition of their bringing offerings year by year to Minerva
Polias and to Erechtheus. The Epidaurians agreed, and having
obtained what they wanted, made the images of olive wood, and set them
up in their own country. Henceforth their land bore its crops; and
they duly paid the Athenians what had been agreed upon.
    Anciently, and even down to the time when this took place, the
Eginetans were in all things subject to the Epidaurians, and had to
cross over to Epidaurus for the trial of all suits in which they
were engaged one with another. After this, however, the Eginetans
built themselves ships, and, growing proud, revolted from the
Epidaurians. Having thus come to be at enmity with them, the
Eginetans, who were masters of the sea, ravaged Epidaurus, and even
carried off these very images of Damia and Auxesia, which they set
up in their own country, in the interior, at a place called Oea, about
twenty furlongs from their city. This done, they fixed a worship for
the images, which consisted in part of sacrifices, in part of female
satiric choruses; while at the same time they appointed certain men to
furnish the choruses, ten for each goddess. These choruses did not
abuse men, but only the women of the country. Holy orgies of a similar
kind were in use also among the Epidaurians, and likewise another sort
of holy orgies, whereof it is not lawful to speak.
    After the robbery of the images the Epidaurians ceased to make the
stipulated payments to the Athenians, wherefore the Athenians sent
to Epidaurus to remonstrate. But the Epidaurians proved to them that
they were not guilty of any wrong:-"While the images continued in
their country," they said, "they had duly paid the offerings according
to the agreement; now that the images had been taken from them, they
were no longer under any obligation to pay: the Athenians should
make their demand of the Eginetans, in whose possession the figures
now were." Upon this the Athenians sent to Egina, and demanded the
images back; but the Eginetans answered that the Athenians had nothing
whatever to do with them.
    After this the Athenians relate that they sent a trireme to
Egina with certain citizens on board, and that these men, who bore
commission from the state, landed in Egina, and sought to take the
images away, considering them to be their own, inasmuch as they were
made of their wood. And first they endeavoured to wrench them from
their pedestals, and so carry them off; but failing herein, they in
the next place tied ropes to them, and set to work to try if they
could haul them down. In the midst of their hauling suddenly there was
a thunderclap, and with the thunderclap an earthquake; and the crew of
the trireme were forthwith seized with madness, and, like enemies,
began to kill one another; until at last there was but one left, who
returned alone to Phalerum.
    Such is the account given by the Athenians. The Eginetans deny
that there was only a single vessel- "Had there been only one," they
say, "or no more than a few, they would easily have repulsed the
attack, even if they had had no fleet at all; but the Athenians came
against them with a large number of ships, wherefore they gave way,
and did not hazard a battle." They do not however explain clearly
whether it was from a conviction of their own inferiority at sea
that they yielded, or whether it was for the purpose of doing that
which in fact they did. Their account is that the Athenians,
disembarking from their ships, when they found that no resistance
was offered, made for the statues, and failing to wrench them from
their pedestals, tied ropes to them and began to haul. Then, they say-
and some people will perhaps believe them, though I for my part do
not- the two statues, as they were being dragged and hauled, fell down
both upon their knees; in which attitude they still remain. Such,
according to them, was the conduct of the Athenians; they meanwhile,
having learnt beforehand what was intended, had prevailed on the
Argives to hold themselves in readiness; and the Athenians accordingly
were but just landed on their coasts when the Argives came to their
aid. Secretly and silently they crossed over from Epidaurus, and,
before the Athenians were aware, cut off their retreat to their ships,
and fell upon them; and the thunder came exactly at that moment, and
the earthquake with it.
    The Argives and the Eginetans both agree in giving this account;
and the Athenians themselves acknowledge that but one of their men
returned alive to Attica. According to the Argives, he escaped from
the battle in which the rest of the Athenian troops were destroyed
by them. According to the Athenians, it was the god who destroyed
their troops; and even this one man did not escape, for he perished in
the following manner. When he came back to Athens, bringing word of
the calamity, the wives of those who had been sent out on the
expedition took it sorely to heart that he alone should have
survived the slaughter of all the rest;- they therefore crowded
round the man, and struck him with the brooches by which their dresses
were fastened each, as she struck, asking him where he had left her
husband. And the man died in this way. The Athenians thought the
deed of the women more horrible even than the fate of the troops; as
however they did not know how else to punish them, they changed
their dress and compelled them to wear the costume of the Ionians.
Till this time the Athenian women had worn a Dorian dress, shaped
nearly like that which prevails at Corinth. Henceforth they were
made to wear the linen tunic, which does not require brooches.
    In very truth, however, this dress is not originally Ionian, but
Carian; for anciently the Greek women all wore the costume which is
now called the Dorian. It is said further that the Argives and
Eginetans made it a custom, on this same account, for their women to
wear brooches half as large again as formerly, and to offer brooches
rather than anything else in the temple of these goddesses. They
also forbade the bringing of anything Attic into the temple, were it
even a jar of earthenware, and made a law that none but native
drinking vessels should be used there in time to come. From this early
age to my own day the Argive and Eginetan women have always
continued to wear their brooches larger than formerly, through
hatred of the Athenians.
    Such then was the origin of the feud which existed between the
Eginetans and the Athenians. Hence, when the Thebans made their
application for succour, the Eginetans, calling to mind the matter
of images, gladly lent their aid to the Boeotians. They ravaged all
the sea-coast of Attica; and the Athenians were about to attack them
in return, when they were stopped by the oracle of Delphi, which
bade them wait till thirty years had passed from the time that the
Eginetans did the wrong, and in the thirty-first year, having first
set apart a precinct for Aeacus, then to begin the war. "So should
they succeed to their wish," the oracle said; "but if they went to war
at once, though they would still conquer the island in the end, yet
they must go through much suffering and much exertion before taking
it." On receiving this warning the Athenians set apart a precinct
for Aeacus- the same which still remains dedicated to him in their
market-place- but they could not hear with any patience of waiting
thirty years, after they had suffered such grievous wrong at the hands
of the Eginetans.
    Accordingly they were making ready to take their revenge when a
fresh stir on the part of the Lacedaemonians hindered their
projects. These last had become aware of the truth- how that the
Alcmaeonidae had practised on the Pythoness, and the Pythoness had
schemed against themselves, and against the Pisistratidae; and the
discovery was a double grief to them, for while they had driven
their own sworn friends into exile, they found that they had not
gained thereby a particle of good will from Athens. They were also
moved by certain prophecies, which declared that many dire
calamities should befall them at the hands of the Athenians. Of
these in times past they had been ignorant; but now they had become
acquainted with them by means of Cleomenes, who had brought them
with him to Sparta, having found them in the Athenian citadel, where
they had been left by the Pisistratidae when they were driven from
Athens: they were in the temple, and Cleomenes having discovered them,
carried them off.
    So when the Lacedaemonians obtained possession of the
prophecies, and saw that the Athenians were growing in strength, and
had no mind to acknowledge any subjection to their control, it
occurred to them that, if the people of Attica were free, they would
be likely to be as powerful as themselves, but if they were
oppressed by a tyranny, they would be weak and submissive. Under
this feeling they sent and recalled Hippias, the son of Pisistratus,
from Sigeum upon the Hellespont, where the Pisistratidae had taken
shelter. Hippias came at their bidding, and the Spartans on his
arrival summoned deputies from all their other allies, and thus
addressed the assembly:-
    "Friends and brothers in arms, we are free to confess that we
did lately a thing which was not right. Misled by counterfeit oracles,
we drove from their country those who were our sworn and true friends,
and who had, moreover, engaged to keep Athens in dependence upon us;
and we delivered the government into the hands of an unthankful
people- a people who no sooner got their freedom by our means, and
grew in power, than they turned us and our king, with every token of
insult, out of their city. Since then they have gone on continually
raising their thoughts higher, as their neighbours of Boeotia and
Chalcis have already discovered to their cost, and as others too
will presently discover if they shall offend them. Having thus
erred, we will endeavour now, with your help, to remedy the evils we
have caused, and to obtain vengeance on the Athenians. For this
cause we have sent for Hippias to come here, and have summoned you
likewise from your several states, that we may all now with heart
and hand unite to restore him to Athens, and thereby give him back
that which we took from him formerly."
    (SS 1.) Such was the address of the Spartans. The greater number
of the allies listened without being persuaded. None however broke
silence but Sosicles the Corinthian, who exclaimed-
    "Surely the heaven will soon be below, and the earth above, and
men will henceforth live in the sea, and fish take their place upon
the dry land, since you, Lacedaemonians, propose to put down free
governments in the cities of Greece, and to set up tyrannies in
their room. There is nothing in the whole world so unjust, nothing
so bloody, as a tyranny. If, however, it seems to you a desirable
thing to have the cities under despotic rule, begin by putting a
tyrant over yourselves, and then establish despots in the other
states. While you continue yourselves, as you have always been,
unacquainted with tyranny, and take such excellent care that Sparta
may not suffer from it, to act as you are now doing is to treat your
allies unworthily. If you knew what tyranny was as well as
ourselves, you would be better advised than you now are in regard to
it. (SS 2.) The government at Corinth was once an oligarchy - a single
race, called Bacchiadae, who intermarried only among themselves,
held the management of affairs. Now it happened that Amphion, one of
these, had a daughter, named Labda, who was lame, and whom therefore
none of the Bacchiadae would consent to marry; so she was taken to
wife by Aetion, son of Echecrates, a man of the township of Petra, who
was, however, by descent of the race of the Lapithae, and of the house
of Caeneus. Aetion, as he had no child, either by this wife or by
any other, went to Delphi to consult the oracle concerning the matter.
Scarcely had he entered the temple when the Pythoness saluted him in
these words-

    No one honours thee now, Aetion, worthy of honour-
    Labda shall soon be a mother- her offspring a rock, that will
      one day
    Fall on the kingly race, and right the city of Corinth.

By some chance this address of the oracle to Aetion came to the ears
of the Bacchiadae, who till then had been unable to perceive the
meaning of another earlier prophecy which likewise bore upon
Corinth, and pointed to the same event as Aetion's prediction. It
was the following:-

    When mid the rocks an eagle shall bear a carnivorous lion,
    Mighty and fierce, he shall loosen the limbs of many beneath them-

    Brood ye well upon this, all ye Corinthian people,
    Ye who dwell by fair Peirene, and beetling Corinth.

    (SS 3.) The Bacchiadae had possessed this oracle for some time;
but they were quite at a loss to know what it meant until they heard
the response given to Aetion; then however they at once perceived
its meaning, since the two agreed so well together. Nevertheless,
though the bearing of the first prophecy was now clear to them, they
remained quiet, being minded to put to death the child which Aetion
was expecting. As soon, therefore, as his wife was delivered, they
sent ten of their number to the township where Aetion lived, with
orders to make away with the baby. So the men came to Petra, and
went into Aetion's house, and there asked if they might see the child;
and Labda, who knew nothing of their purpose, but thought their
inquiries arose from a kindly feeling towards her husband, brought the
child, and laid him in the arms of one of them. Now they had agreed by
the way that whoever first got hold of the child should dash it
against the ground. It happened, however, by a providential chance,
that the babe, just as Labda put him into the man's arms, smiled in
his face. The man saw the smile, and was touched with pity, so that he
could not kill it; he therefore passed it on to his next neighbour,
who gave it to a third; and so it went through all the ten without any
one choosing to be the murderer. The mother received her child back;
and the men went out of the house, and stood near the door, and
there blamed and reproached one another; chiefly however accusing
the man who had first had the child in his arms, because he had not
done as had been agreed upon. At last, after much time had been thus
spent, they resolved to go into the house again and all take part in
the murder. (SS 4.) But it was fated that evil should come upon
Corinth from the progeny of Aetion; and so it chanced that Labda, as
she stood near the door, heard all that the men said to one another,
and fearful of their changing their mind, and returning to destroy her
baby, she carried him off and hid him in what seemed to her the most
unlikely place to be suspected, viz., a 'cypsel' or corn-bin. She knew
that if they came back to look for the child, they would search all
her house; and so indeed they did, but not finding the child after
looking everywhere, they thought it best to go away, and declare to
those by whom they had been sent that they had done their bidding. And
thus they reported on their return home. (SS 5.) Aetion's son grew up,
and, in remembrance of the danger from which he had escaped, was named
Cypselus, after the cornbin. When he reached to man's estate, he
went to Delphi, and on consulting the oracle, received a response
which was two-sided. It was the following:

    See there comes to my dwelling a man much favour'd of fortune,
    Cypselus, son of Aetion, and king of the glorious Corinth-
    He and his children too, but not his children's children.

Such was the oracle; and Cypselus put so much faith in it that he
forthwith made his attempt, and thereby became master of Corinth.
Having thus got the tyranny, he showed himself a harsh ruler- many
of the Corinthians he drove into banishment, many he deprived of their
fortunes, and a still greater number of their lives. (SS 6.) His reign
lasted thirty years, and was prosperous to its close; insomuch that he
left the government to Periander, his son. This prince at the
beginning of his reign was of a milder temper than his father; but
after he corresponded by means of messengers with Thrasybulus,
tyrant of Miletus, he became even more sanguinary. On one occasion
he sent a herald to ask Thrasybulus what mode of government it was
safest to set up in order to rule with honour. Thrasybulus led the
messenger without the city, and took him into a field of corn, through
which he began to walk, while he asked him again and again
concerning his coming from Corinth, ever as he went breaking off and
throwing away all such ears of corn as over-topped the rest. In this
way he went through the whole field, and destroyed all the best and
richest part of the crop; then, without a word, he sent the
messenger back. On the return of the man to Corinth, Periander was
eager to know what Thrasybulus had counselled, but the messenger
reported that he had said nothing; and he wondered that Periander
had sent him to so strange a man, who seemed to have lost his
senses, since he did nothing but destroy his own property. And upon
this he told how Thrasybulus had behaved at the interview. (SS 7.)
Periander, perceiving what the action meant, and knowing that
Thrasybulus advised the destruction of all the leading citizens,
treated his subjects from this time forward with the very greatest
cruelty. Where Cypselus had spared any, and had neither put them to
death nor banished them, Periander completed what his father had
left unfinished. One day he stripped all the women of Corinth stark
naked, for the sake of his own wife Melissa. He had sent messengers
into Thesprotia to consult the oracle of the dead upon the Acheron
concerning a pledge which had been given into his charge by a
stranger, and Melissa appeared, but refused to speak or tell where the
pledge was- 'she was chill,' she said, 'having no clothes; the
garments buried with her were of no manner of use, since they had
not been burnt. And this should be her token to Periander, that what
she said was true- the oven was cold when he baked his loaves in
it.' When this message was brought him, Periander knew the token;
wherefore he straightway made proclamation, that all the wives of
the Corinthians should go forth to the temple of Juno. So the women
apparelled themselves in their bravest, and went forth, as if to a
festival. Then, with the help of his guards, whom he had placed for
the purpose, he stripped them one and all, making no difference
between the free women and the slaves; and, taking their clothes to
a pit, he called on the name of Melissa, and burnt the whole heap.
This done, he sent a second time to the oracle; and Melissa's ghost
told him where he would find the stranger's pledge. Such, O
Lacedaemonians! is tyranny, and such are the deeds which spring from
it. We Corinthians marvelled greatly when we first knew of your having
sent for Hippias; and now it surprises us still more to hear you speak
as you do. We adjure you, by the common gods of Greece, plant not
despots in her cities. If however you are determined, if you
persist, against all justice, in seeking to restore Hippias- know,
at least, that the Corinthians will not approve your conduct."
    When Sosicles, the deputy from Corinth, had thus spoken, Hippias
replied, and, invoking the same gods, he said-"Of a surety the
Corinthians will, beyond all others, regret the Pisistratidae, when
the fated days come for them to be distressed by the Athenians."
Hippias spoke thus because he knew the prophecies better than any
man living. But the rest of the allies, who till Sosicles spoke had
remained quiet, when they heard him utter his thoughts thus boldly,
all together broke silence, and declared themselves of the same
mind; and withal, they conjured the Lacedaemonians "not to
revolutionise a Grecian city." And in this way the enterprise came
to nought.
    Hippias hereupon withdrew; and Amyntas the Macedonian offered
him the city of Anthemus, while the Thessalians were willing to give
him Iolcos: but he would accept neither the one nor the other,
preferring to go back to Sigeum, which city Pisistratus had taken by
force of arms from the Mytilenaeans. Pisistratus, when he became
master of the place, established there as tyrant his own natural
son, Hegesistratus, whose mother was an Argive woman. But this
prince was not allowed to enjoy peaceably what his father had made
over to him; for during very many years there had been war between the
Athenians of Sigeum and the Mytilenaeans of the city called Achilleum.
They of Mytilene insisted on having the place restored to them: but
the Athenians refused, since they argued that the Aeolians had no
better claim to the Trojan territory than themselves, or than any of
the other Greeks who helped Menelaus on occasion of the rape of Helen.
    War accordingly continued, with many and various incidents,
whereof the following was one. In a battle which was gained by the
Athenians, the poet Alcaeus took to flight, and saved himself, but
lost his arms, which fell into the hands of the conquerors. They
hung them up in the temple of Minerva at Sigeum; and Alcaeus made a
poem, describing his misadventure to his friend Melanippus, and sent
it to him at Mytilene. The Mytilenaeans and Athenians were
reconciled by Periander, the son of Cypselus, who was chosen by both
parties as arbiter- he decided that they should each retain that of
which they were at the time possessed; and Sigeum passed in this way
under the dominion of Athens.
    On the return of Hippias to Asia from Lacedaemon, he moved
heaven and earth to set Artaphernes against the Athenians, and did all
that lay in his power to bring Athens into subjection to himself and
Darius. So when the Athenians learnt what he was about, they sent
envoys to Sardis, and exhorted the Persians not to lend an ear to
the Athenian exiles. Artaphernes told them in reply, "that if they
wished to remain safe, they must receive back Hippias." The Athenians,
when this answer was reported to them, determined not to consent,
and therefore made up their minds to be at open enmity with the
Persians.
    The Athenians had come to this decision, and were already in bad
odour with the Persians, when Aristagoras the Milesian, dismissed from
Sparta by Cleomenes the Lacedaemonian, arrived at Athens. He knew
that, after Sparta, Athens was the most powerful of the Grecian
states. Accordingly he appeared before the people, and, as he had done
at Sparta, spoke to them of the good things which there were in
Asia, and of the Persian mode of fight- how they used neither shield
nor spear, and were very easy to conquer. All this he urged, and
reminded them also that Miletus was a colony from Athens, and
therefore ought to receive their succour, since they were so powerful-
and in the earnestness of his entreaties, he cared little what he
promised- till, at the last, he prevailed and won them over. It
seems indeed to be easier to deceive a multitude than one man- for
Aristagoras, though he failed to impose on Cleomenes the
Lacedaemonian, succeeded with the Athenians, who were thirty thousand.
Won by his persuasions, they voted that twenty ships should be sent to
the aid of the Ionians, under the command of Melanthius, one of the
citizens, a man of mark in every way. These ships were the beginning
of mischief both to the Greeks and to the barbarians.
    Aristagoras sailed away in advance, and when he reached Miletus,
devised a plan, from which no manner of advantage could possibly
accrue to the Ionians;- indeed, in forming it, he did not aim at their
benefit, but his sole wish was to annoy King Darius. He sent a
messenger into Phrygia to those Paeonians who had been led away
captive by Megabazus from the river Strymon, and who now dwelt by
themselves in Phrygia, having a tract of land and a hamlet of their
own. This man, when he reached the Paeonians, spoke thus to them:-
    "Men of Paeonia, Aristagoras, king of Miletus, has sent me to you,
to inform you that you may now escape, if you choose to follow the
advice he proffers. All Ionia has revolted from the king; and the
way is open to you to return to your own land. You have only to
contrive to reach the sea-coast; the rest shall be our business."
    When the Paeonians heard this, they were exceedingly rejoiced,
and, taking with them their wives and children, they made all speed to
the coast; a few only remaining in Phrygia through fear. The rest,
having reached the sea, crossed over to Chios, where they had just
landed, when a great troop of Persian horse came following upon
their heels, and seeking to overtake them. Not succeeding, however,
they sent a message across to Chios, and begged the Paeonians to
come back again. These last refused, and were conveyed by the Chians
from Chios to Lesbos, and by the Lesbians thence to Doriscus; from
which place they made their way on foot to Paeonia.
    The Athenians now arrived with a fleet of twenty sail, and brought
also in their company five triremes of the Eretrians; which had joined
the expedition, not so much out of goodwill towards Athens, as to
pay a debt which they already owed to the people of Miletus. For in
the old war between the Chalcideans and Eretrians, the Milesians
fought on the Eretrian side throughout, while the Chalcideans had
the help of the Samian people. Aristagoras, on their arrival,
assembled the rest of his allies, and proceeded to attack Sardis,
not however leading the army in person, but appointing to the
command his own brother Charopinus and Hermophantus, one of the
citizens, while he himself remained behind in Miletus.
    The Ionians sailed with this fleet to Ephesus, and, leaving
their ships at Coressus in the Ephesian territory, took guides from
the city, and went up the country with a great host. They marched
along the course of the river Cayster, and, crossing over the ridge of
Tmolus, came down upon Sardis and took it, no man opposing them;-
the whole city fell into their hands, except only the citadel, which
Artaphernes defended in person, having with him no contemptible force.
    Though, however, they took the city, they did not succeed in
plundering it; for, as the houses in Sardis were most of them built of
reeds, and even the few which were of brick had a reed thatching for
their roof, one of them was no sooner fired by a soldier than the
flames ran speedily from house to house, and spread over the whole
place. As the fire raged, the Lydians and such Persians as were in the
city, inclosed on every side by the flames, which had seized all the
skirts of the town, and finding themselves unable to get out, came
in crowds into the market-place, and gathered themselves upon the
banks of the Pactolus This stream, which comes down from Mount Tmolus,
and brings the Sardians a quantity of gold-dust, runs directly through
the market place of Sardis, and joins the Hermus, before that river
reaches the sea. So the Lydians and Persians, brought together in this
way in the market-place and about the Pactolus, were forced to stand
on their defence; and the Ionians, when they saw the enemy in part
resisting, in part pouring towards them in dense crowds, took
fright, and drawing off to the ridge which is called Tmolus when night
came, went back to their ships.
    Sardis however was burnt, and, among other buildings, a temple
of the native goddess Cybele was destroyed; which was the reason
afterwards alleged by the Persians for setting on fire the temples
of the Greeks. As soon as what had happened was known, all the
Persians who were stationed on this side the Halys drew together,
and brought help to the Lydians. Finding however, when they arrived,
that the Ionians had already withdrawn from Sardis, they set off, and,
following close upon their track, came up with them at Ephesus. The
Ionians drew out against them in battle array; and a fight ensued,
wherein the Greeks had very greatly the worse. Vast numbers were slain
by the Persians: among other men of note, they killed the captain of
the Eretrians, a certain Eualcidas, a man who had gained crowns at the
Games, and received much praise from Simonides the Cean. Such as
made their escape from the battle, dispersed among the several cities.
    So ended this encounter. Afterwards the Athenians quite forsook
the Ionians, and, though Aristagoras besought them much by his
ambassadors, refused to give him any further help. Still the
Ionians, notwithstanding this desertion, continued unceasingly their
preparations to carry on the war against the Persian king, which their
late conduct towards him had rendered unavoidable. Sailing into the
Hellespont, they brought Byzantium, and all the other cities in that
quarter, under their sway. Again, quitting the Hellespont, they went
to Caria, and won the greater part of the Carians to their side; while
Caunus, which had formerly refused to join with them, after the
burning of Sardis, came over likewise.
    All the Cyprians too, excepting those of Amathus, of their own
proper motion espoused the Ionian cause. The occasion of their
revolting from the Medes was the following. There was a certain
Onesilus, younger brother of Gorgus, king of Salamis, and son of
Chersis, who was son of Siromus, and grandson of Evelthon. This man
had often in former times entreated Gorgus to rebel against the
king; but, when he heard of the revolt of the Ionians, he left him
no peace with his importunity. As, however, Gorgus would not hearken
to him, he watched his occasion, and when his brother had gone outside
the town, he with his partisans closed the gates upon him. Gorgus,
thus deprived of his city, fled to the Medes; and Onesilus, being
now king of Salamis, sought to bring about a revolt of the whole of
Cyprus. All were prevailed on except the Amathusians, who refused to
listen to him; whereupon Onesilus sate down before Amathus, and laid
siege to it.
    While Onesilus was engaged in the siege of Amathus, King Darius
received tidings of the taking and burning of Sardis by the
Athenians and Ionians; and at the same time he learnt that the
author of the league, the man by whom the whole matter had been
Planned and contrived, was Aristagoras the Milesian. It is said that
he no sooner understood what had happened, than, laying aside all
thought concerning the Ionians, who would, he was sure, pay dear for
their rebellion, he asked, "Who the Athenians were?" and, being
informed, called for his bow, and placing an arrow on the string, shot
upward into the sky, saying, as he let fly the shaft- "Grant me,
Jupiter, to revenge myself on the Athenians!" After this speech, he
bade one of his servants every day, when his dinner was spread,
three times repeat these words to him- "Master, remember the
Athenians."
    Then he summoned into his presence Histiaeus if Miletus, whom he
had kept at his court for so long a time; and on his appearance
addressed him thus "I am told, O Histiaeus, that thy lieutenant, to
whom thou hast given Miletus in charge, has raised a rebellion against
me. He has brought men from the other continent to contend with me,
and, prevailing on the Ionians- whose conduct I shall know how to
recompense- to join with this force, he has robbed me of Sardis! Is
this as it should be, thinkest thou Or can it have been done without
thy knowledge and advice? Beware lest it be found hereafter that the
blame of these acts is thine."
    Histiaeus answered- "What words are these, O king, to which thou
hast given utterance? I advise aught from which unpleasantness of
any kind, little or great, should come to thee! What could I gain by
so doing? Or what is there that I lack now? Have I not all that thou
hast, and am I not thought worthy to partake all thy counsels? If my
lieutenant has indeed done as thou sayest, be sure he has done it
all of his own head. For my part, I do not think it can really be that
the Milesians and my lieutenant have raised a rebellion against
thee. But if they have indeed committed aught to thy hurt, and the
tidings are true which have come to thee, judge thou how ill-advised
thou wert to remove me from the sea-coast. The Ionians, it seems, have
waited till I was no longer in sight, and then sought to execute
that which they long ago desired; whereas, if I had been there, not
a single city would have stirred. Suffer me then to hasten at my
best speed to Ionia, that I may place matters there upon their
former footing, and deliver up to thee the deputy of Miletus, who
has caused all the troubles. Having managed this business to thy
heart's content, I swear by all the gods of thy royal house, I will
not put off the clothes in which I reach Ionia till I have made
Sardinia, the biggest island in the world, thy tributary."
    Histiaeus spoke thus, wishing to deceive the king; and Darius,
persuaded by his words, let him go; only bidding him be sure to do
as he had promised, and afterwards come back to Susa.
    In the meantime- while the tidings of the burning of Sardis were
reaching the king, and Darius was shooting the arrow and having the
conference with Histiaeus, and the latter, by permission of Darius,
was hastening down to the sea- in Cyprus the following events took
place. Tidings came to Onesilus, the Salaminian, who was still
besieging Amathus, that a certain Artybius, a Persian, was looked
for to arrive in Cyprus with a great Persian armament. So Onesilus,
when the news reached him, sent off heralds to all parts of Ionia, and
besought the Ionians to give him aid. After brief deliberation,
these last in full force passed over into the island; and the Persians
about the same time crossed in their ships from Cilicia, and proceeded
by land to attack Salamis; while the Phoenicians, with the fleet,
sailed round the promontory which goes by the name of "the Keys of
Cyprus."
    In this posture of affairs the princes of Cyprus called together
the captains of the Ionians, and thus addressed them:-
    "Men of Ionia, we Cyprians leave it to you to choose whether you
will fight with the Persians or with the Phoenicians. If it be your
pleasure to try your strength on land against the Persians, come on
shore at once, and array yourselves for the battle; we will then
embark aboard your ships and engage the Phoenicians by sea. If, on the
other hand, ye prefer to encounter the Phoenicians, let that be your
task: only be sure, whichever part you choose, to acquit yourselves so
that Ionia and Cyprus, so far as depends on you, may preserve their
freedom."
    The Ionians made answer- "The commonwealth of Ionia sent us here
to guard the sea, not to make over our ships to you, and engage with
the Persians on shore. We will therefore keep the post which has
been assigned to us, and seek therein to be of some service. Do you,
remembering what you suffered when you were the slaves of the Medes,
behave like brave warriors."
    Such was the reply of the Ionians. Not long afterwards the
Persians advanced into the plain before Salamis, and the Cyprian kings
ranged their troops in order of battle against them, placing them so
that while the rest of the Cyprians were drawn up against the
auxiliaries of the enemy, the choicest troops of the Salaminians and
the Solians were set to oppose the Persians. At the same time
Onesilus, of his own accord, took post opposite to Artybius, the
Persian general.
    Now Artybius rode a horse which had been trained to rear up
against a foot-soldier. Onesilus, informed of this, called to him
his shield-bearer, who was a Carian by nation, a man well skilled in
war, and of daring courage; and thus addressed him:- "I hear," he
said, "that the horse which Artybius rides, rears up and attacks
with his fore legs and teeth the man against whom his rider urges him.
Consider quickly therefore and tell me which wilt thou undertake to
encounter, the steed or the rider?" Then the squire answered him,
"Both, my liege, or either, am I ready to undertake, and there is
nothing that I will shrink from at thy bidding. But I will tell thee
what seems to me to make most for thy interests. As thou art a
prince and a general, I think thou shouldest engage with one who is
himself both a prince and also a general. For then, if thou slayest
thine adversary, 'twill redound to thine honour, and if he slays
thee (which may Heaven forefend!), yet to fall by the hand of a worthy
foe makes death lose half its horror. To us, thy followers, leave
his war-horse and his retinue. And have thou no fear of the horse's
tricks. I warrant that this is the last time he will stand up
against any one."
    Thus spake the Carian; and shortly after, the two hosts joined
battle both by sea and land. And here it chanced that by sea the
Ionians, who that day fought as they have never done either before
or since, defeated the Phoenicians, the Samians especially
distinguishing themselves. Meanwhile the combat had begun on land, and
the two armies were engaged in a sharp struggle, when thus it fell out
in the matter of the generals. Artybius, astride upon his horse,
charged down upon Onesilus, who, as he had agreed with his
shield-bearer, aimed his blow at the rider; the horse reared and
placed his fore feet upon the shield of Onesilus, when the Carian
cut at him with a reaping-hook, and severed the two legs from the
body. The horse fell upon the spot, and Artybius, the Persian general,
with him.
    In the thick of the fight, Stesanor, tyrant of Curium, who
commanded no inconsiderable body of troops, went over with them to the
enemy. On this desertion of the Curians- Argive colonists, if report
says true- forthwith the war-chariots of the Salaminians followed
the example set them, and went over likewise; whereupon victory
declared in favour of the Persians; and the army of the Cyprians being
routed, vast numbers were slain, and among them Onesilus, the son of
Chersis, who was the author of the revolt, and Aristocyprus, king of
the Solians. This Aristocyprus was son of Philocyprus, whom Solon
the Athenian, when he visited Cyprus, praised in his poems beyond
all other sovereigns.
    The Amathusians, because Onesilus had laid siege to their town,
cut the head off his corpse, and took it with them to Amathus, where
it was set up over the gates. Here it hung till it became hollow;
whereupon a swarm of bees took possession of it, and filled it with
a honeycomb. On seeing this the Amathusians consulted the oracle,
and were commanded "to take down the head and bury it, and thenceforth
to regard Onesilus as a hero, and offer sacrifice to him year by year;
so it would go the better with them." And to this day the
Amathusians do as they were then bidden.
    As for the Ionians who had gained the sea-fight, when they found
that the affairs of Onesilus were utterly lost and ruined, and that
siege was laid to all the cities of Cyprus excepting Salamis, which
the inhabitants had surrendered to Gorgus, the former king,
forthwith they left Cyprus, and sailed away home. Of the cities
which were besieged, Soli held out the longest: the Persians took it
by undermining the wall in the fifth month from the beginning of the
siege.
    Thus, after enjoying a year of freedom, the Cyprians were enslaved
for the second time. Meanwhile Daurises, who was married to one of the
daughters of Darius, together with Hymeas, Otanes, and other Persian
captains, who were likewise married to daughters of the king, after
pursuing the Ionians who had fought at Sardis, defeating them, and
driving them to their ships, divided their efforts against the
different cities, and proceeded in succession to take and sack each
one of them.
    Daurises attacked the towns upon the Hellespont, and took in as
many days the five cities of Dardanus, Abydos, Percote, Lampsacus, and
Paesus. From Paesus he marched against Parium; but on his way
receiving intelligence that the Carians had made common cause with the
Ionians, and thrown off the Persian yoke, he turned round, and,
leaving the Hellespont, marched away towards Caria.
    The Carians by some chance got information of this movement before
Daurises arrived, and drew together their strength to a place called
"the White Columns," which is on the river Marsyas, a stream running
from the Idrian country, and emptying itself into the Maeander. Here
when they were met, many plans were put forth; but the best, in my
judgment, was that of Pixodarus, the son of Mausolus, a Cindyan, who
was married to a daughter of Syennesis, the Cilician king. His
advice was that the Carians should cross the Maeander, and fight
with the river at their back; that so, all chance of flight being
cut off, they might be forced to stand their ground, and have their
natural courage raised to a still higher pitch. His opinion,
however, did not prevail; it was thought best to make the enemy have
the Maeander behind them; that so, if they were defeated in the battle
and put to flight, they might have no retreat open, but be driven
headlong into the river.
    The Persians soon afterwards approached, and, crossing the
Maeander, engaged the Carians upon the banks of the Marsyas; where for
a long time the battle was stoutly contested, but at last the
Carians were defeated, being overpowered by numbers. On the side of
the Persians there fell 2000, while the Carians had not fewer than
10,000 slain. Such as escaped from the field of battle collected
together at Labranda, in the vast precinct of Jupiter Stratius- a
deity worshipped only by the Carians- and in the sacred grove of
plane-trees. Here they deliberated as to the best means of saving
themselves, doubting whether they would fare better if they gave
themselves up to the Persians, or if they abandoned Asia for ever.
    As they were debating these matters a body of Milesians and allies
came to their assistance; whereupon the Carians, dismissing their
former thoughts, prepared themselves afresh for war, and on the
approach of the Persians gave them battle a second time. They were
defeated, however, with still greater loss than before; and while
all the troops engaged suffered severely, the blow fell with most
force on the Milesians.
    The Carians, some while after, repaired their ill fortune in
another action. Understanding that the Persians were about to attack
their cities, they laid an ambush for them on the road which leads
to Pedasus; the Persians, who were making a night-march, fell into the
trap, and the whole army was destroyed, together with the generals,
Daurises, Amorges, and Sisimaces: Myrsus too, the son of Gyges, was
killed at the same time. The leader of the ambush was Heraclides,
the son of Ibanolis, a man of Mylasa. Such was the way in which
these Persians perished.
    In the meantime Hymeas, who was likewise one of those by whom
the Ionians were pursued after their attack on Sardis, directing his
course towards the Propontis, took Cius, a city of Mysia. Learning,
however, that Daurises had left the Hellespont, and was gone into
Caria, he in his turn quitted the Propontis, and marching with the
army under his command to the Hellespont, reduced all the Aeolians
of the Troad, and likewise conquered the Gergithae, a remnant of the
ancient Teucrians. He did not, however, quit the Troad, but, after
gaining these successes, was himself carried off by disease.
    After his death, which happened as have related, Artaphernes,
the satrap of Sardis, and Otanes, the third general, were directed
to undertake the conduct of the war against Ionia and the neighbouring
Aeolis. By them Clazomenae in the former, and Cyme in the latter, were
recovered.
    As the cities fell one after another, Aristagoras the Milesian
(who was in truth, as he now plainly showed, a man of but little
courage), notwithstanding that it was he who had caused the
disturbances in Ionia and made so great a commotion, began, seeing his
danger, to look about for means of escape. Being convinced that it was
in vain to endeavour to overcome King Darius, he called his
brothers-in-arms together, and laid before them the following
project:- "'Twould be well," he said, "to have some place of refuge,
in case they were driven out of Miletus. Should he go out at the
head of a colony to Sardinia, or should he sail to Myrcinus in Edonia,
which Histiaeus had received as a gift from King Darius, and had begun
to fortify?"
    To this question of Aristagoras, Hecataeus, the historian, son
of Hegesander, made answer that in his judgement neither place was
suitable. "Aristagoras should build a fort," he said, "in the island
of Leros, and, if driven from Miletus, should go there and bide his
time; from Leros attacks might readily be made, and he might
re-establish himself in Miletus." Such was the advice given by
Hecataeus.
    Aristagoras, however, was bent on retiring to Myrcinus.
Accordingly, he put the government of Miletus into the hands of one of
the chief citizens, named Pythagoras, and, taking with him all who
liked to go, sailed to Thrace, and there made himself master of the
place in question. From thence he proceeded to attack the Thracians;
but here he was cut off with his whole army, while besieging a city
whose defenders were anxious to accept terms of surrender.
                       The Sixth Book, Entitled
                                 ERATO

    ARISTAGORAS, the author of the Ionian revolt, perished in the
way which I have described. Meanwhile Histiaeus, tyrant of Miletus,
who had been allowed by Darius to leave Susa, came down to Sardis.
On his arrival, being asked by Artaphernes, the Sardian satrap, what
he thought was the reason that the Ionians had rebelled, he made
answer that he could not conceive, and it had astonished him
greatly, pretending to be quite unconscious of the whole business.
Artaphernes, however, who perceived that he was dealing dishonestly,
and who had in fact full knowledge of the whole history of the
outbreak, said to him, "I will tell thee how the case stands,
Histiaeus: this shoe is of thy stitching; Aristagoras has but put it
on."
    Such was the remark made by Artaphernes concerning the
rebellion. Histiaeus, alarmed at the knowledge which he displayed,
so soon as night fell, fled away to the coast. Thus he forfeited his
word to Darius; for though he had pledged himself to bring Sardinia,
the biggest island in the whole world, under the Persian yoke, he in
reality sought to obtain the direction of the war against the king.
Crossing over to Chios, he was there laid in bonds by the inhabitants,
who accused him of intending some mischief against them in the
interest of Darius. However, when the whole truth was laid before
them, and they found that Histiaeus was in reality a foe to the
king, they forthwith set him at large again.
    After this the Ionians inquired of him for what reason he had so
strongly urged Aristagoras to revolt from the king, thereby doing
their nation so ill a service. In reply, he took good care not to
disclose to them the real cause, but told them that King Darius had
intended to remove the Phoenicians from their own country, and place
them in Ionia, while he planted the Ionians in Phoenicia, and that
it was for this reason he sent Aristagoras the order. Now it was not
true that the king had entertained any such intention, but Histiaeus
succeeded hereby in arousing the fears of the Ionians.
    After this, Histiaeus, by means of a certain Hermippus, a native
of Atarneus, sent letters to many of the Persians in Sardis, who had
before held some discourse with him concerning a revolt. Hermippus,
however, instead of conveying them to the persons to whom they were
addressed, delivered them into the hands of Artaphernes, who,
perceiving what was on foot, commanded Hermippus to deliver the
letters according to their addresses, and then bring him back the
answers which were sent to Histiaeus. The traitors being in this way
discovered, Artaphernes put a number of Persians to death, and
caused a commotion in Sardis.
    As for Histiaeus, when his hopes in this matter were disappointed,
he persuaded the Chians to carry him back to Miletus; but the
Milesians were too well pleased at having got quit of Aristagoras to
be anxious to receive another tyrant into their country; besides which
they had now tasted liberty. They therefore opposed his return; and
when he endeavoured to force an entrance during the night, one of
the inhabitants even wounded him in the thigh. Having been thus
rejected from his country, he went back to Chios; whence, after
failing in an attempt to induce the Chians to give him ships, he
crossed over to Mytilene, where he succeeded in obtaining vessels from
the Lesbians. They fitted out a squadron of eight triremes, and sailed
with him to the Hellespont, where they took up their station, and
proceeded to seize all the vessels which passed out from the Euxine,
unless the crews declared themselves ready to obey his orders.
    While Histiaeus and the Mytilenaeans were thus employed, Miletus
was expecting an attack from a vast armament, which comprised both a
fleet and also a land force. The Persian captains had drawn their
several detachments together, and formed them into a single army;
and had resolved to pass over all the other cities, which they
regarded as of lesser account, and to march straight on Miletus. Of
the naval states, Phoenicia showed the greatest zeal; but the fleet
was composed likewise of the Cyprians (who had so lately been
brought under), the Cilicians, and also the Egyptians.
    While the Persians were thus making preparations against Miletus
and Ionia, the Ionians, informed of their intent, sent their
deputies to the Panionium, and held a council upon the posture of
their affairs. Hereat it was determined that no land force should be
collected to oppose the Persians, but that the Milesians should be
left to defend their own walls as they could; at the same time they
agreed that the whole naval force of the states, not excepting a
single ship, should be equipped, and should muster at Lade, a small
island lying off Miletus- to give battle on behalf of the place.
    Presently the Ionians began to assemble in their ships, and with
them came the Aeolians of Lesbos; and in this way they marshalled
their line:- The wing towards the east was formed of the Milesians
themselves, who furnished eighty ships; next to them came the
Prienians with twelve, and the Myusians with three ships; after the
Myusians were stationed the Teians, whose ships were seventeen; then
the Chians, who furnished a hundred. The Erythraeans and Phocaeans
followed, the former with eight, the latter with three ships; beyond
the Phocaeans were the Lesbians, furnishing seventy; last of all
came the Samians, forming the western wing, and furnishing sixty
vessels. The fleet amounted in all to three hundred and fifty-three
triremes. Such was the number on the Ionian side.
    On the side of the barbarians the number of vessels was six
hundred. These assembled off the coast of Milesia, while the land army
collected upon the shore; but the leaders, learning the strength of
the Ionian fleet, began to fear lest they might fail to defeat them,
in which case, not having the mastery at sea, they would be unable
to reduce Miletus, and might in consequence receive rough treatment at
the hands of Darius. So when they thought of all these things, they
resolved on the following course:- Calling together the Ionian
tyrants, who had fled to the Medes for refuge when Aristagoras deposed
them from their governments, and who were now in camp, having joined
in the expedition against Miletus, the Persians addressed them thus:
"Men of Ionia, now is the fit time to show your zeal for the house
of the king. Use your best efforts, every one of you, to detach your
fellow-countrymen from the general body. Hold forth to them the
promise that, if they submit, no harm shall happen to them on
account of their rebellion; their temples shall not be burnt, nor
any of their private buildings; neither shall they be treated with
greater harshness than before the outbreak. But if they refuse to
yield, and determine to try the chance of a battle, threaten them with
the fate which shall assuredly overtake them in that case. Tell
them, when they are vanquished in fight, they shall be enslaved; their
boys shall be made eunuchs, and their maidens transported to Bactra;
while their country shall be delivered into the hands of foreigners."
    Thus spake the Persians. The Ionian tyrants sent accordingly by
night to their respective citizens, and reported the words of the
Persians; but the people were all staunch, and refused to betray their
countrymen, those of each state thinking that they alone had had
made to them. Now these events happened on the first appearance of the
Persians before Miletus.
    Afterwards, while the Ionian fleet was still assembled at Lade,
councils were held, and speeches made by divers persons- among the
rest by Dionysius, the Phocaean captain, who thus expressed
himself:- "Our affairs hang on the razor's edge, men of Ionia,
either to be free or to be slaves; and slaves, too, who have shown
themselves runaways. Now then you have to choose whether you will
endure hardships, and so for the present lead a life of toil, but
thereby gain ability to overcome your enemies and establish your own
freedom; or whether you will persist in this slothfulness and
disorder, in which case I see no hope of your escaping the king's
vengeance for your rebellion. I beseech you, be persuaded by me, and
trust yourselves to my guidance. Then, if the gods only hold the
balance fairly between us, I undertake to say that our foes will
either decline a battle, or, if they fight, suffer complete
discomfiture."
    These words prevailed with the Ionians, and forthwith they
committed themselves to Dionysius; whereupon he proceeded every day to
make the ships move in column, and the rowers ply their oars, and
exercise themselves in breaking the line; while the marines were
held under arms, and the vessels were kept, till evening fell, upon
their anchors, so that the men had nothing but toil from morning
even to night. Seven days did the Ionians continue obedient, and do
whatsoever he bade them; but on the eighth day, worn out by the
hardness of the work and the heat of the sun, and quite unaccustomed
to such fatigues, they began to confer together, and to say one to
another, "What god have we offended to bring upon ourselves such a
punishment as this? Fools and distracted that we were, to put
ourselves into the hands of this Phocaean braggart, who does but
furnish three ships to the fleet! He, now that he has got us,
plagues us in the most desperate fashion; many of us, in
consequence, have fallen sick already- many more expect to follow.
We had better suffer anything rather than these hardships; even the
slavery with which we are threatened, however harsh, can be no worse
than our present thraldom. Come, let us refuse him obedience." So
saying, they forthwith ceased to obey his orders, and pitched their
tents, as if they had been soldiers, upon the island, where they
reposed under the shade all day, and refused to go aboard the ships
and train themselves.
    Now when the Samian captains perceived what was taking place, they
were more inclined than before to accept the terms which Aeaces, the
son of Syloson, had been authorised by the Persians to offer them,
on condition of their deserting from the confederacy. For they saw
that all was disorder among the Ionians, and they felt also that it
was hopeless to contend with the power of the king; since if they
defeated the fleet which had been sent against them, they knew that
another would come five times as great. So they took advantage of
the occasion which now offered, and as soon as ever they saw the
Ionians refuse to work, hastened gladly to provide for the safety of
their temples and their properties. This Aeaces, who made the
overtures to the Samians, was the son of Syloson, and grandson of
the earlier Aeaces. He had formerly been tyrant of Samos, but was
ousted from his government by Aristagoras the Milesian, at the same
time with the other tyrants of the Ionians.
    The Phoenicians soon afterwards sailed to the attack; and the
Ionians likewise put themselves in line, and went out to meet them.
When they had now neared one another, and joined battle, which of
the Ionians fought like brave men and which like cowards, I cannot
declare with any certainty, for charges are brought on all sides;
but the tale goes that the Samians, according to the agreement which
they had made with Aeaces, hoisted sail, and quitting their post
bore away for Samos, except eleven ships, whose captains gave no
heed to the orders of the commanders, but remained and took part in
the battle. The state of Samos, in consideration of this action,
granted to these men, as an acknowledgment if their bravery, the
honour of having their names, and the names of their fathers,
inscribed upon a pillar, which still stands in the market-place. The
Lesbians also, when they saw the Samians, who were drawn up next them,
begin to flee, themselves did the like; and the example, once set, was
followed by the greater number of the Ionians.
    Of those who remained and fought, none were so rudely handled as
the Chians, who displayed prodigies of valour, and disdained to play
the part of cowards. They furnished to the common fleet, as I
mentioned above, one hundred ships, having each of them forty armed
citizens, and those picked men, on board; and when they saw the
greater portion of the allies betraying the common cause, they for
their part, scorning to imitate the base conduct of these traitors,
although they were left almost alone and unsupported, a very few
friends continuing to stand by them, notwithstanding went on with
the fight, and ofttimes cut the line of the enemy, until at last,
after they had taken very many of their adversaries' ships, they ended
by losing more than half of their own. Hereupon, with the remainder of
their vessels, the Chians fled away to their own country.
    As for such of their ships as were damaged and disabled, these,
being pursued by the enemy, made straight for Mycale, where the
crews ran them ashore, and abandoning them began their march along the
continent. Happening in their way upon the territory of Ephesus,
they essayed to cross it; but here a dire misfortune befell them. It
was night, and the Ephesian women chanced to be engaged in celebrating
the Thesmophoria- the previous calamity of the Chians had not been
heard of- so when the Ephesians saw their country invaded by an
armed band, they made no question of the new-comers being robbers
who purposed to carry off their women; and accordingly they marched
out against them in full force, and slew them all. Such were the
misfortunes which befell them of Chios.
    Dionysius, the Phocaean, when he perceived that all was lost,
having first captured three ships from the enemy, himself took to
flight. He would not, however, return to Phocaea, which he well knew
must fall again, like the rest of Ionia, under the Persian yoke; but
straightway, as he was, he set sail for Phoenicia, and there sunk a
number of merchantmen, and gained a great booty; after which he
directed his course to Sicily, where he established himself as a
corsair, and plundered the Carthaginians and Tyrrhenians, but did no
harm to the Greeks.
    The Persians, when they had vanquished the Ionians in the
sea-fight, besieged Miletus both by land and sea, driving mines
under the walls, and making use of every known device, until at length
they took both the citadel and the town, six years from the time
when the revolt first broke out under Aristagoras. All the inhabitants
of the city they reduced to slavery, and thus the event tallied with
the announcement which had been made by the oracle.
    For once upon a time, when the Argives had sent to Delphi to
consult the god about the safety of their own city, a prophecy was
given them, in which others besides themselves were interested; for
while it bore in part upon the fortunes of Argos, it touched in a
by-clause the fate of the men of Miletus. I shall set down the portion
which concerned the Argives when I come to that part of my History,
mentioning at present only the passage in which the absent Milesians
were spoken of. This passage was as follows:-

    Then shalt thou, Miletus, so oft the contriver of evil,
    Be, thyself, to many a least and an excellent booty:
    Then shall thy matrons wash the feet of long-haired masters-
    Others shall then possess our lov'd Didymian temple.

Such a fate now befell the Milesians; for the Persians, who wore their
hair long, after killing most of the men, made the women and
children slaves; and the sanctuary at Didyma, the oracle no less
than the temple was plundered and burnt; of the riches whereof I
have made frequent mention in other parts of my History.
    Those of the Milesians whose lives were spared, being carried
prisoners to Susa, received no ill treatment at the hands of King
Darius, but were established by him in Ampe, a city on the shores of
the Erythraean sea, near the spot where the Tigris flows into it.
Miletus itself, and the plain about the city, were kept by the
Persians for themselves, while the hill-country
was assigned to the Carians of Pedasus.
    And now the Sybarites, who after the loss of their city occupied
Laus and Scidrus, failed duly to return the former kindness of the
Milesians. For these last, when Sybaris was taken by the Crotoniats,
made a great mourning, all of them, youths as well as men, shaving
their heads; since Miletus and Sybaris were, of all the cities whereof
we have any knowledge, the two most closely united to one another. The
Athenians, on the other hand, showed themselves beyond measure
afflicted at the fall of Miletus, in many ways expressing their
sympathy, and especially by their treatment of Phrynichus. For when
this poet brought out upon the stage his drama of the Capture of
Miletus, the whole theatre burst into tears; and the people
sentenced him to pay a fine of a thousand drachms, for recalling to
them their own misfortunes. They likewise made a law that no one
should ever again exhibit that piece.
    Thus was Miletus bereft of its inhabitants. In Samos the people of
the richer sort were much displeased with the doings of the
captains, and the dealings they had had the Medes; they therefore held
a council, very shortly after the sea-fight, and resolved that they
would not remain to become the slaves of Aeaces and the Persians,
but before the tyrant set foot in their country, would sail away and
found a colony in another land. Now it chanced that about this time
the Zanclaeans of Sicily had sent ambassadors to the Ionians, and
invited them to Kale-Acte where they wished an Ionian city to be
founded. This place, Kale-Acte (or the Fair Strand) as it is called,
is in the country of the Sicilians, and is situated in the part of
Sicily which looks towards Tyrrhenia. The offer thus made to all the
Ionians was embraced only by the Samians, and by such of the Milesians
as had contrived to effect their escape.
    Hereupon this is what ensued. The Samians on their voyage
reached the country of the Epizephyrian Locrians, at a time when the
Zanclaeans and their king Scythas were engaged in the siege of a
Sicilian town which they hoped to take. Anaxilaus, tyrant of
Rhegium, who was on ill terms with the Zanclaeans knowing how
matters stood, made application to the Samians, and persuaded them
to give up the thought of Kale-Acte the place to which they were
bound, and to seize Zancle itself, which was left without men. The
Samians followed this counsel and possessed themselves of the town;
which the Zanclaeans no sooner heard than they hurried to the
rescue, calling to their aid Hippocrates, tyrant of Gela, who was
one of their allies. Hippocrates came with his army to their
assistance; but on his arrival he seized Scythas, the Zanclaean
king, who had just lost his city, and sent him away in chains,
together with his brother Pythogenes, to the town of Inycus; after
which he came to an understanding with the Samians, exchanged oaths
with them, and agreed to betray the people of Zancle. The reward of
his treachery was to be one-half of the goods and chattels,
including slaves, which the town contained, and all that he could find
in the open country. Upon this Hippocrates seized and bound the
greater number of the Zanclaeans as slaves; delivering, however,
into the hands of the Samians three hundred of the principal citizens,
to be slaughtered; but the Samians spared the lives of these persons.
    Scythas, the king of the Zanclaeans, made his escape from
Inycus, and fled to Himera; whence he passed into Asia, and went up to
the court of Darius. Darius thought him the most upright of all the
Greeks to whom he afforded a refuge; for with the king's leave he paid
a visit to Sicily, and thence returned back to Persia, where he
lived in great comfort, and died by a natural death at an advanced
age.
    Thus did the Samians escape the yoke of the Medes, and possess
themselves without any trouble of Zancle, a most beautiful city. At
Samos itself the Phoenicians, after the fight which had Miletus for
its prize was over, re-established Aeaces, the son of Syloson, upon
his throne. This they did by the command of the Persians, who looked
upon Aeaces as one who had rendered them a high service and
therefore deserved well at their hands. They likewise spared the
Samians, on account of the desertion of their vessels, and did not
burn either their city or their temples, as they did those of the
other rebels. Immediately after the fall of Miletus the Persians
recovered Caria, bringing some of the cities over by force, while
others submitted of their own accord.
    Meanwhile tidings of what had befallen Miletus reached Histiaeus
the Milesian, who was still at Byzantium, employed in intercepting the
Ionian merchantmen as they issued from the Euxine. Histiaeus had no
sooner heard the news than he gave the Hellespont in charge to
Bisaltes, son of Apollophanes, a native of Abydos, and himself, at the
head of his Lesbians, set sail for Chios. One of the Chian garrisons
which opposed him he engaged at a place called "The Hollows," situated
in the Chian territory, and of these he slaughtered a vast number;
afterwards, by the help of his Lesbians, he reduced all the rest of
the Chians, who were weakened by their losses in the sea-fight,
Polichne, a city of Chios, serving him as head-quarters.
    It mostly happens that there is some warning when great
misfortunes are about to befall a state or nation; and so it was in
this instance, for the Chians had previously had some strange tokens
sent to them. A choir of a hundred of their youths had been despatched
to Delphi; and of these only two had returned; the remaining
ninety-eight having been carried off by a pestilence. Likewise,
about the same time, and very shortly before the sea-fight, the roof
of a school-house had fallen in upon a number of their boys, who
were at lessons; and out of a hundred and twenty children there was
but one left alive. Such were the signs which God sent to warn them.
It was very shortly afterwards that the sea-fight happened, which
brought the city down upon its knees; and after the sea-fight came the
attack of Histiaeus and his Lesbians, to whom the Chians, weakened
as they were, furnished an easy conquest.
    Histiaeus now led a numerous army, composed of Ionians and
Aelians, against Thasos, and had laid siege to the place when news
arrived that the Phoenicians were about to quit Miletus and attack the
other cities of Ionia. On hearing this, Histiaeus raised the siege
of Thasos, and hastened to Lesbos with all his forces. There his
army was in great straits for want of food; whereupon Histiaeus left
Lesbos and went across to the mainland, intending to cut the crops
which were growing in the Atarnean territory, and likewise in the
plain of the Caicus, which belonged to Mysia. Now it chanced that a
certain Persian named Harpagus was in these regions at the head of
an army of no little strength. He, when Histiaeus landed, marched
out to meet him, and engaging with his forces destroyed the greater
number of them, and took Histiaeus himself prisoner.
    Histiaeus fell into the hands of the Persians in the following
manner. The Greeks and Persians engaged at Malena, in the region of
Atarneus; and the battle was for a long time stoutly contested, till
at length the cavalry came up, and, charging the Greeks, decided the
conflict. The Greeks fled; and Histiaeus, who thought that Darius
would not punish his fault with death, showed how he loved his life by
the following conduct. Overtaken in his flight by one of the Persians,
who was about to run him through, he cried aloud in the Persian tongue
that he was Histiaeus the Milesian.
    Now, had he been taken straightway before King Darius, I verily
believe that he would have received no hurt, but the king would have
freely forgiven him. Artaphernes, however, satrap of Sardis, and his
captor Harpagus, on this very account- because they were afraid
that, if he escaped, he would be again received into high favour by
the king- put him to death as soon as he arrived at Sardis. His body
they impaled at that place, while they embalmed his head and sent it
up to Susa to the king. Darius, when he learnt what had taken place,
found great fault with the men engaged in this business for not
bringing Histiaeus alive into his presence, and commanded his servants
to wash and dress the head with all care, and then bury it, as the
head of a man who had been a great benefactor to himself and the
Persians. Such was the sequel of the history of Histiaeus.
    The naval armament of the Persians wintered at Miletus, and in the
following year proceeded to attack the islands off the coast, Chios,
Lesbos, and Tenedos, which were reduced without difficulty. Whenever
they became masters of an island, the barbarians, in every single
instance, netted the inhabitants. Now the mode in which they
practise this netting is the following. Men join hands, so as to
form a line across from the north coast to the south, and then march
through the island from end to end and hunt out the inhabitants. In
like manner the Persians took also the Ionian towns upon the mainland,
not however netting the inhabitants, as it was not possible.
    And now their generals made good all the threats wherewith they
had menaced the Ionians before the battle. For no sooner did they
get possession of the towns than they choose out all the best favoured
boys and made them eunuchs, while the most beautiful of the girls they
tore from their homes and sent as presents to the king, at the same
time burning the cities themselves, with their temples. Thus were
the Ionians for the third time reduced to slavery; once by the
Lydians, and a second, and now a third time, by the Persians.
    The sea force, after quitting Ionia, proceeded to the
Hellespont, and took all the towns which lie on the left shore as
one sails into the straits. For the cities on the right bank had
already been reduced by the land force of the Persians. Now these
are the places which border the Hellespont on the European side; the
Chersonese, which contains a number of cities, Perinthus, the forts in
Thrace, Selybria, and Byzantium. The Byzantines at this time, and
their opposite neighbours, the Chalcedonians, instead of awaiting
the coming of the Phoenicians, quitted their country, and sailing into
the Euxine, took up their abode at the city of Mesembria. The
Phoenicians, after burning all the places above mentioned, proceeded
to Proconnresus and Artaca, which they likewise delivered to the
flames; this done, they returned to the Chersonese, being minded to
reduce those cities which they had not ravaged in their former cruise.
Upon Cyzicus they made no attack at all, as before their coming the
inhabitants had made terms with Oebares, the son of Megabazus, and
satrap of Dascyleium, and had submitted themselves to the king. In the
Chersonese the Phoenicians subdued all the cities, excepting Cardia.
    Up to this time the cities of the Chersonese had been under the
government of Miltiades, the son of Cimon, and grandson of Stesagoras,
to whom they had descended from Miltiades, the son of Cypselus, who
obtained possession of them in the following manner. The Dolonci, a
Thracian tribe, to whom the Chersonese at that time belonged, being
harassed by a war in which they were engaged with the Apsinthians,
sent their princes to Delphi to consult the oracle about the matter.
The reply of the Pythoness bade them "take back with them as a
colonist into their country the man who should first offer them
hospitality after they quitted the temple." The Dolonci, following the
Sacred Road, passed through the regions of Phocis and Boeotia; after
which, as still no one invited them in, they turned aside, and
travelled to Athens.
    Now Pisistratus was at this time sole lord of Athens; but
Miltiades, the son of Cypselus, was likewise a person of much
distinction. He belonged to a family which was wont to contend in
the four-horse-chariot races, and traced its descent to Aeacus and
Egina, but which, from the time of Philaeas, the son of Ajax, who
was the first Athenian citizen of the house, had been naturalised at
Athens. It happened that as the Dolonci passed his door Miltiades
was sitting in his vestibule, which caused him to remark them, dressed
as they were in outlandish garments, and armed moreover with lances.
He therefore called to them, and, on their approach, invited them
in, offering them lodging and entertainment. The strangers accepted
his hospitality, and, after the banquet was over, they laid before him
in full the directions of the oracle and besought him on their own
part to yield obedience to the god. Miltiades was persuaded ere they
had done speaking; for the government of Pisistratus was irksome to
him, and he wanted to be beyond the tyrant's reach. He therefore
went straightway to Delphi, and inquired of the oracle whether he
should do as the Dolonci desired.
    As the Pythoness backed their request, Miltiades, son of
Cypselus who had already won the four-horse chariot-race at Olympia,
left Athens, taking with him as many of the Athenians as liked to join
in the enterprise, and sailed away with the Dolonci. On his arrival at
the Chersonese, he was made king by those who had invited him. After
this his first act was to build a wall across the neck of the
Chersonese from the city of Cardia to Pactya, to protect the country
from the incursions and ravages of the Apsinthians. The breadth of the
isthmus at this part is thirty-six furlongs, the whole length of the
peninsula within the isthmus being four hundred and twenty furlongs.
    When he had finished carrying the wall across the isthmus, and had
thus secured the Chersonese against the Apsinthians, Miltiades
proceeded to engage in other wars, and first of all attacked the
Lampsacenians; but falling into an ambush which they had laid he had
the misfortune to be taken prisoner. Now it happened that Miltiades
stood high in the favour of Croesus, king of Lydia. When Croesus
therefore heard of his calamity, he sent and commanded the men of
Lampsacus to give Miltiades his freedom; "if they refused," he said,
"he would destroy them like a fir." Then the Lampsacenians were
somewhile in doubt about this speech of Croesus, and could not tell
how to construe his threat "that he would destroy them like a fir";
but at last one of their elders divined the true sense, and told
them that the fir is the only tree which, when cut down, makes no
fresh shoots, but forthwith dies outright. So the Lampsacenians, being
greatly afraid of Croesus, released Miltiades, and let him go free.
    Thus did Miltiades, by the help of Croesus, escape this danger.
Some time afterwards he died childless, leaving his kingdom and his
riches to Stesagoras, who was the son of Cimon, his half-brother. Ever
since his death the people of the Chersonese have offered him the
customary sacrifices of a founder; and they have further established
in his honour a gymnic contest and a chariot-race, in neither of which
is it lawful for any Lampsacenian to contend. Before the war with
Lampsacus was ended Stesagoras too died childless: he was sitting in
the hall of justice when he was struck upon the head with a hatchet by
a man who pretended to be a deserter, but was in good sooth an
enemy, and a bitter one.
    Thus died Stesagoras; and upon his death the Pisistratidae
fitted out a trireme, and sent Miltiades, the son of Cimon, and
brother of the deceased, to the Chersonese, that he might undertake
the management of affairs in that quarter. They had already shown
him much favour at Athens, as if, forsooth, they had been no parties
to the death of his father Cimon- a matter whereof I will give an
account in another place. He upon his arrival remained shut up
within the house, pretending to do honour to the memory of his dead
brother; whereupon the chief people of the Chersonese gathered
themselves together from all the cities of the land, and came in a
procession to the place where Miltiades was, to condole with him
upon his misfortune. Miltiades commanded them to be seized and
thrown into prison; after which he made himself master of the
Chersonese, maintained a body of five hundred mercenaries, and married
Hegesipyla, daughter of the Thracian king Olorus.
    This Miltiades, the son of Cimon, had not been long in the country
when a calamity befell him yet more grievous than those in which he
was now involved: for three years earlier he had had to fly before
an incursion of the Scyths. These nomads, angered by the attack of
Darius, collected in a body and marched as far as the Chersonese.
Miltiades did not await their coming, but fled, and remained away
until the Scyths retired, when the Dolonci sent and fetched him
back. All this happened three years before the events which befell
Miltiades at the present time.
    He now no sooner heard that the Phoenicians were attacking Tenedos
than he loaded five triremes with his goods and chattels, and set sail
for Athens. Cardia was the point from which he took his departure; and
as he sailed down the gulf of Melas, along the shore of the
Chersonese, he came suddenly upon the whole Phoenician fleet.
However he himself escaped, with four of his vessels, and got into
Imbrus, one trireme only falling into the hands of his pursuers.
This vessel was under the command of his eldest son Metiochus, whose
mother was not the daughter of the Thracian king Olorus, but a
different woman. Metiochus and his ship were taken; and when the
Phoenicians found out that he was a son of Miltiades they resolved
to convey him to the king, expecting thereby to rise high in the royal
favour. For they remembered that it was Miltiades who counselled the
Ionians to hearken when the Scyths prayed them to break up the
bridge and return home. Darius, however, when the Phoenicians
brought Metiochus into his presence, was so far from doing him any
hurt, that he loaded him with benefits. He gave him a house and
estate, and also a Persian wife, by whom there were children born to
him who were accounted Persians. As for Miltiades himself, from Imbrus
he made his way in safety to Athens.
    At this time the Persians did no more hurt to the Ionians; but
on the contrary, before the year was out, they carried into effect the
following measures, which were greatly to their advantage.
Artaphernes, satrap of Sardis, summoned deputies from all the Ionian
cities, and forced them to enter into agreements with one another, not
to harass each other by force of arms, but to settle their disputes by
reference. He likewise took the measurement of their whole country
in parasangs- such is the name which the Persians give to a distance
of thirty furlongs- and settled the tributes which the several
cities were to pay, at a rate that has continued unaltered from the
time when Artaphernes fixed it down to the present day. The rate was
very nearly the same as that which had been paid before the revolt.
Such were the peaceful dealings of the Persians with the Ionians.
    The next spring Darius superseded all the other generals, and sent
down Mardonius, the son of Gobryas, to the coast, and with him a
vast body of men, some fit for sea, others for land service. Mardonius
was a youth at this time, and had only lately married Artazostra,
the king's daughter. When Mardonius, accompanied by this numerous
host, reached Cilicia, he took ship and proceeded along shore with his
fleet, while the land army marched under other leaders towards the
Hellespont. In the course of his voyage along the coast of Asia he
came to Ionia; and here I have a marvel to relate which will greatly
surprise those Greeks who cannot believe that Otanes advised the seven
conspirators to make Persia a commonwealth. Mardonius put down all the
despots throughout Ionia, and in lieu of them established democracies.
Having so done, he hastened to the Hellespont, and when a vast
multitude of ships had been brought together, and likewise a
powerful land force, he conveyed his troops across the strait by means
of his vessels, and proceeded through Europe against Eretria and
Athens.
    At least these towns served as a pretext for the expedition, the
real purpose of which was to subjugate as great a number as possible
of the Grecian cities; and this became plain when the Thasians, who
did not even lift a hand in their defence, were reduced by the sea
force, while the land army added the Macedonians to the former
slaves of the king. All the tribes on the hither side of Macedonia had
been reduced previously. From Thasos the fleet stood across to the
mainland, and sailed along shore to Acanthus, whence an attempt was
made to double Mount Athos. But here a violent north wind sprang up,
against which nothing could contend, and handled a large number of the
ships with much rudeness, shattering them and driving them aground
upon Athos. 'Tis said the number of the ships destroyed was little
short of three hundred; and the men who perished were more than twenty
thousand. For the sea about Athos abounds in monsters beyond all
others; and so a portion were seized and devoured by these animals,
while others were dashed violently against the rocks; some, who did
not know how to swim, were engulfed; and some died of the cold.
    While thus it fared with the fleet, on land Mardonius and his army
were attacked in their camp during the night by the Brygi, a tribe
of Thracians; and here vast numbers of the Persians were slain, and
even Mardonius himself received a wound. The Brygi, nevertheless,
did not succeed in maintaining their own freedom: for Mardonius
would not leave the country till he had subdued them and made them
subjects of Persia. Still, though he brought them under the yoke,
the blow which his land force had received at their hands, and the
great damage done to his fleet off Athos, induced him to set out
upon his retreat; and so this armament, having failed disgracefully,
returned to Asia.
    The year after these events, Darius received information from
certain neighbours of the Thasians that those islanders were making
preparations for revolt; he therefore sent a herald, and bade them
dismantle their walls, and bring all their ships to Abdera. The
Thasians, at the time when Histiaeus the Milesian made his attack upon
them, had resolved that, as their income was very great, they would
apply their wealth to building ships of war, and surrounding their
city with another and a stronger wall. Their revenue was derived
partly from their possessions upon the mainland, partly from the mines
which they owned. They were masters of the gold mines at
Scapte-Hyle, the yearly produce of which amounted in all to eighty
talents. Their mines in Thasos yielded less, but still were so far
prolific that, besides being entirely free from land-tax, they had a
surplus income, derived from the two sources of their territory on the
main and their mines, in common years of two hundred, and in the
best years of three hundred talents.
    I myself have seen the mines in question: by far the most
curious of them are those which the Phoenicians discovered at the time
when they went with Thasus and colonised the island, which
afterwards took its name from him. These Phoenician workings are in
Thasos itself, between Coenyra and a place called Aenyra, over against
Samothrace: a huge mountain has been turned upside down in the
search for ores. Such then was the source of their wealth. On this
occasion no sooner did the Great King issue his commands than
straightway the Thasians dismantled their wall, and took their whole
fleet to Abdera.
    After this Darius resolved to prove the Greeks, and try the bent
of their minds, whether they were inclined to resist him in arms or
prepared to make their submission. He therefore sent out heralds in
divers directions round about Greece, with orders to demand everywhere
earth and water for the king. At the same time he sent other heralds
to the various seaport towns which paid him tribute, and required them
to provide a number of ships of war and horse-transports.
    These towns accordingly began their preparations; and the
heralds who had been sent into Greece obtained what the king had bid
them ask from a large number of the states upon the mainland, and
likewise from all the islanders whom they visited. Among these last
were included the Eginetans, who, equally with the rest, consented
to give earth and water to the Persian king.
    When the Athenians heard what the Eginetans had done, believing
that it was from enmity to themselves that they had given consent, and
that the Eginetans intended to join the Persian in his attack upon
Athens, they straightway took the matter in hand. In good truth it
greatly rejoiced them to have so fair a pretext; and accordingly
they sent frequent embassies to Sparta, and made it a charge against
the Eginetans that their conduct in this matter proved them to be
traitors to Greece.
    Hereupon Cleomenes, the son of Anaxandridas, who was then king
of the Spartans, went in person to Egina, intending to seize those
whose guilt was the greatest. As soon however as he tried to arrest
them, a number of the Eginetins made resistance; a certain Crius,
son of Polycritus, being the foremost in violence. This person told
him "he should not carry off a single Eginetan without it costing
him dear- the Athenians had bribed him to make this attack, for
which he had no warrant from his own government- otherwise both the
kings would have come together to make the seizure." This he said in
consequence of instructions which he had received from Demaratus.
Hereupon Cleomenes, finding that he must quit Egina, asked Crius his
name; and when Crius told him, "Get thy horns tipped with brass with
all speed, O Crius!" he said, "for thou wilt have to struggle with a
great danger."
    Meanwhile Demaratus, son of Ariston, was bringing charges
against Cleomenes at Sparta. He too, like Cleomenes, was king of the
Spartans, but he belonged to the lower house- not indeed that his
house was of any lower origin than the other, for both houses are of
one blood- but the house of Eurysthenes is the more honoured of the
two, inasmuch as it is the elder branch.
    The Lacedaemonians declare, contradicting therein all the poets,
that it was king Aristodemus himself, son of Aristomachus, grandson of
Cleodaeus, and great-grandson of Hyllus, who conducted them to the
land which they now possess, and not the sons of Aristodemus. The wife
of Aristodemus, whose name (they say) was Argeia, and who was daughter
of Autesion, son of Tisamenus, grandson of Thersander, and
great-grandson of Polynices, within a little while after their
coming into the country, gave birth to twins. Aristodemus just lived
to see his children, but died soon afterwards of a disease. The
Lacedaemonians of that day determined, according to custom, to take
for their king the elder of the two children; but they were so
alike, and so exactly of one size, that they could not possibly tell
which of the two to choose: so when they found themselves unable to
make a choice, or haply even earlier, they went to the mother and
asked her to tell them which was the elder, whereupon she declared
that "she herself did not know the children apart"; although in good
truth she knew them very well, and only feigned ignorance in order
that, if it were possible, both of them might be made kings of Sparta.
The Lacedaemonians were now in a great strait; so they sent to
Delphi and inquired of the oracle how they should deal with the
matter. The Pythoness made answer, "Let both be taken to be kings; but
let the elder have the greater honour." So the Lacedaemonians were
in as great a strait as before, and could not conceive how they were
to discover which was the first-born, till at length a certain
Messenian, by name Panites, suggested to them to watch and see which
of the two the mother washed and fed first; if they found she always
gave one the preference, that fact would tell them all they wanted
to know; if, on the contrary, she herself varied, and sometimes took
the one first, sometimes the other, it would be plain that she knew as
little as they; in which case they must try some other plan. The
Lacedaemonians did according to the advice of the Messenian, and,
without letting her know why, kept a watch upon the mother; by which
means they discovered that, whenever she either washed or fed her
children, she always gave the same child the preference. So they
took the boy whom the mother honoured the most, and regarding him as
the first-born, brought him up in the palace; and the name which
they gave to the elder boy was Eurysthenes, while his brother they
called Procles. When the brothers grew up, there was always, so long
as they lived, enmity between them; and the houses sprung from their
loins have continued the feud to this day.
    Thus much is related by the Lacedaemonians, but not by any of
the other Greeks; in what follows I give the tradition of the Greeks
generally. The kings of the Dorians (they say)- counting up to
Perseus, son of Danae, and so omitting the god- are rightly given in
the common Greek lists, and rightly considered to have been Greeks
themselves; for even at this early time they ranked among that people.
I say "up to Perseus," and not further, because Perseus has no
mortal father by whose name he is called, as Hercules has in
Amphitryon; whereby it appears that I have reason on my side, and am
right in saying, "up to Perseus." If we follow the line of Danad,
daughter of Acrisius, and trace her progenitors, we shall find that
the chiefs of the Dorians are really genuine Egyptians. In the
genealogies here given I have followed the common Greek accounts.
    According to the Persian story, Perseus was an Assyrian who became
a Greek; his ancestors, therefore, according to them, were not Greeks.
They do not admit that the forefathers of Acrisius were in any way
related to Perseus, but say they were Egyptians, as the Greeks
likewise testify.
    Enough however of this subject. How it came to pass that Egyptians
obtained the kingdoms of the Dorians, and what they did to raise
themselves to such a position, these are questions concerning which,
as they have been treated by others, I shall say nothing. I proceed to
speak of points on which no other writer has touched.
    The prerogatives which the Spartans have allowed their kings are
the following. In the first place, two priesthoods, those (namely)
of Lacedaemonian and of Celestial Jupiter; also the right of making
war on what country soever they please, without hindrance from any
of the other Spartans, under pain of outlawry; on service the
privilege of marching first in the advance and last in the retreat,
and of having a hundred picked men for their body guard while with the
army; likewise the liberty of sacrificing as many cattle in their
expeditions as it seems them good, and the right of having the skins
and the chines of the slaughtered animals for their own use.
    Such are their privileges in war; in peace their rights are as
follows. When a citizen makes a public sacrifice the kings are given
the first seats at the banquet; they are served before any of the
other guests, and have a double portion of everything; they take the
lead in the libations; and the hides of the sacrificed beasts belong
to them. Every month, on the first day, and again on the seventh of
the first decade, each king receives a beast without blemish at the
public cost, which he offers up to Apollo; likewise a medimnus of
meal, and of wine a Laconian quart. In the contests of the Games
they have always the seat of honour; they appoint the citizens who
have to entertain foreigners; they also nominate, each of them, two of
the Pythians, officers whose business it is to consult the oracle at
Delphi, who eat with the kings, and, like them, live at the public
charge. If the kings do not come to the public supper, each of them
must have two choenixes of meal and a cotyle of wine sent home to
him at his house; if they come, they are given a double quantity of
each, and the same when any private man invites them to his table.
They have the custody of all the oracles which are pronounced; but the
Pythians must likewise have knowledge of them. They have the whole
decision of certain causes, which are these, and these only:- When a
maiden is left the heiress of her father's estate, and has not been
betrothed by him to any one, they decide who is to marry her; in all
matters concerning the public highways they judge; and if a person
wants to adopt a child, he must do it before the kings. They
likewise have the right of sitting in council with the
eight-and-twenty senators; and if they are not present, then the
senators nearest of kin to them have their privileges, and give two
votes as the royal proxies, besides a third vote, which is their own.
    Such are the honours which the Spartan people have allowed their
kings during their lifetime; after they are dead other honours await
them. Horsemen carry the news of their death through all Laconia,
while in the city the women go hither and thither drumming upon a
kettle. At this signal, in every house two free persons, a man and a
woman, must put on mourning, or else be subject to a heavy fine. The
Lacedaemonians have likewise a custom at the demise of their kings
which is common to them with the barbarians of Asia- indeed with the
greater number of the barbarians everywhere- namely, that when one
of their kings dies, not only the Spartans, but a certain number of
the country people from every part of Laconia are forced, whether they
will or no, to attend the funeral. So these persons and the helots,
and likewise the Spartans themselves, flock together to the number
of several thousands, men and women intermingled; and all of them
smite their foreheads violently, and weep and wall without stint,
saying always that their last king was the best. If a king dies in
battle, then they make a statue of him, and placing it upon a couch
right bravely decked, so carry it to the grave. After the burial, by
the space of ten days there is no assembly, nor do they elect
magistrates, but continue mourning the whole time.
    They hold with the Persians also in another custom. When a king
dies, and another comes to the throne, the newly-made monarch forgives
all the Spartans the debts which they owe either to the king or to the
public treasury. And in like manner among the Persians each king
when he begins to reign remits the tribute due from the provinces.
    In one respect the Lacedaemonians resemble the Egyptians. Their
heralds and flute-players, and likewise their cooks, take their trades
by succession from their fathers. A flute-player must be the son of
a flute-player, a cook of a cook, a herald of a herald; and other
people cannot take advantage of the loudness of their voice to come
into the profession and shut out the heralds' sons; but each follows
his father's business. Such are the customs of the Lacedaemonians.
    At the time of which we are speaking, while Cleomenes in Egina was
labouring for the general good of Greece, Demaratus at Sparta
continued to bring charges against him, moved not so much by love of
the Eginetans as by jealousy and hatred of his colleague. Cleomenes
therefore was no sooner returned from Egina than he considered with
himself how he might deprive Demaratus of his kingly office; and
here the following circumstance furnished a ground for him to
proceed upon. Ariston, king of Sparta, had been married to two
wives, but neither of them had borne him any children; as however he
still thought it was possible he might have offspring, he resolved
to wed a third; and this was how the wedding was brought about. He had
a certain friend, a Spartan, with whom he was more intimate than
with any other citizen. This friend was married to a wife whose beauty
far surpassed that of all the other women in Sparta; and what was
still more strange, she had once been as ugly as she now was
beautiful. For her nurse, seeing how ill-favoured she was, and how
sadly her parents, who were wealthy people, took her bad looks to
heart, bethought herself of a plan, which was to carry the child every
day to the temple of Helen at Therapna, which stands above the
Phoebeum, and there to place her before the image, and beseech the
goddess to take away the child's ugliness. One day, as she left the
temple, a woman appeared to her, and begged to know what it was she
held in her arms. The nurse told her it was a child, on which she
asked to see it; but the nurse refused; the parents, she said, had
forbidden her to show the child to any one. However the woman would
not take a denial; and the nurse, seeing how highly she prized a look,
at last let her see the child. Then the woman gently stroked its head,
and said, "One day this child shall be the fairest dame in Sparta."
And her looks began to change from that very day. When she was of
marriageable age, Agetus, son of Alcides, the same whom I have
mentioned above as the friend of Ariston, made her his wife.
    Now it chanced that Ariston fell in love with this person; and his
love so preyed upon his mind that at last he devised as follows. He
went to his friend, the lady's husband, and proposed to him that
they should exchange gifts, each taking that which pleased him best
out of all the possessions of the other. His friend, who felt no alarm
about his wife, since Ariston was also married, consented readily; and
so the matter was confirmed between them by an oath. Then Ariston gave
Agetus the present, whatever it was, of which he had made choice,
and when it came to his turn to name the present which he was to
receive in exchange, required to be allowed to carry home with him
Agetus's wife. But the other demurred, and said, "except his wife,
he might have anything else": however, as he could not resist the oath
which he had sworn, or the trickery which had been practised on him,
at last he suffered Ariston to carry her away to his house.
    Ariston hereupon put away his second wife and took for his third
this woman; and she, in less than the due time- when she had not yet
reached her full term of ten months- gave birth to a child, the
Demaratus of whom we have spoken. Then one of his servants came and
told him the news, as he sat in council with the Ephors; whereat,
remembering when it was that the woman became his wife, he counted the
months upon his fingers, and having so done, cried out with an oath,
"The boy cannot be mine." This was said in the hearing of the
Ephors; but they made no account of it at the time. The boy grew up;
and Ariston repented of what he had said; for he became altogether
convinced that Demaratus was truly his son. The reason why he named
him Demaratus was the following. Some time before these events the
whole Spartan people, looking upon Ariston as a man of mark beyond all
the kings that had reigned at Sparta before him, had offered up a
prayer that he might have a son. On this account, therefore, the
name Demaratus was given.
    In course of time Ariston died; and Demaratus received the
kingdom: but it was fated, as it seems, that these words, when bruited
abroad, should strip him of his sovereignty. This was brought about by
means of Cleomenes, whom he had twice sorely vexed, once when he led
the army home from Eleusis, and a second time when Cleomenes was
gone across to Egina against such as had espoused the side of the
Medes.
    Cleomenes now, being resolved to have his revenge upon
Demaratus, went to Leotychides, the son of Menares, and grandson of
Agis, who was of the same family as Demaratus, and made agreement with
him to this tenor following. Cleomenes was to lend his aid to make
Leotychides king in the room of Demaratus; and then Leotychides was to
take part with Cleomenes against the Eginetans. Now Leotychides
hated Demaratus chiefly on account of Percalus, the daughter of
Chilon, son of Demarmenus: this lady had been betrothed to
Leotychides; but Demaratus laid a plot, and robbed him of his bride,
forestalling him in carrying her off, and marrying her. Such was the
origin of the enmity. At the time of which we speak, Leotychides was
prevailed upon by the earnest desire of Cleomenes to come forward
against Demaratus and make oath "that Demaratus was not rightful
king of Sparta, since he was not the true son of Ariston." After he
had thus sworn, Leotychides sued Demaratus, and brought up against him
the phrase which Ariston had let drop when, on the coming of his
servant to announce to him the birth of his son, he counted the
months, and cried out with an oath that the child was not his. It
was on this speech of Ariston's that Leotychides relied to prove
that Demaratus was not his son, and therefore not rightful king of
Sparta; and he produced as witnesses the Ephors who were sitting
with Ariston at the time and heard what he said.
    At last, as there came to be much strife concerning this matter,
the Spartans made a decree that the Delphic oracle should be asked
to say whether Demaratus were Ariston's son or no. Cleomenes set
them upon this plan; and no sooner was the decree passed than he
made a friend of Cobon, the son of Aristophantus, a man of the
greatest weight among the Delphians; and this Cobon prevailed upon
Perialla, the prophetess, to give the answer which Cleomenes wished.
Accordingly, when the sacred messengers came and put their question,
the Pythoness returned for answer "that Demaratus was not Ariston's
son." Some time afterwards all this became known; and Cobon was forced
to fly from Delphi; while Perialla the prophetess was deprived of
her office.
    Such were the means whereby the deposition of Demaratus was
brought about; but his flying from Sparta to the Medes was by reason
of an affront which was put upon him. On losing his kingdom he had
been made a magistrate; and in that office soon afterwards, when the
feast of the Gymnopaediae came around, he took his station among the
 lookers-on; whereupon Leotychides, who was now king in his room, sent
a servant to him and asked him, by way of insult and mockery, "how
it felt to be a magistrate after one had been a king?" Demaratus,
who was hurt at the question, made answer- "Tell him I have tried them
both, but he has not. Howbeit this speech will be the cause to
Sparta of infinite blessings or else of infinite woes." Having thus
spoken he wrapped his head in his robe, and, leaving the theatre, went
home to his own house, where he prepared an ox for sacrifice, and
offered it to Jupiter, after which he called for his mother.
    When she appeared, he took of the entrails, and placing them in
her hand, besought her in these words following:-
    "Dear mother, I beseech you, by all the gods, and chiefly by our
own hearth-god Jupiter, tell me the very truth, who was really my
father. For Leotychides, in the suit which we had together, declared
that when thou becamest Ariston's wife thou didst already bear in
thy womb a child by thy former husband, and others repeat a yet more
disgraceful tale, that our groom found favour in thine eyes, and
that I am his son. I entreat thee therefore by the gods to tell me the
truth. For if thou hast gone astray, thou hast done no more than
many a woman; and the Spartans remark it as strange, if I am Ariston's
son, that he had no children by his other wives."
    Thus spake Demaratus; and his mother replied as follows: "Dear
son, since thou entreatest so earnestly for the truth, it shall indeed
be fully told to thee. When Ariston brought me to his house, on the
third night after my coming, there appeared to me one like to Ariston,
who, after staying with me a while, rose, and taking the garlands from
his own brows placed them upon my head, and so went away. Presently
after Ariston entered, and when he saw the garlands which I still
wore, asked me who gave them to me. I said, 'twas he; but this he
stoutly denied; whereupon I solemnly swore that it was none other, and
told him he did not do well to dissemble when he had so lately risen
from my side and left the garlands with me. Then Ariston, when he
heard my oath, understood that there was something beyond nature in
what had taken place. And indeed it appeared that the garlands had
come from the hero-temple which stands by our court gates- the
temple of him they call Astrabacus- and the soothsayers, moreover,
declared that the apparition was that very person. And now, my son,
I have told thee all thou wouldest fain know. Either thou art the
son of that hero- either thou mayest call Astrabacus sire; or else
Ariston was thy father. As for that matter which they who hate thee
urge the most, the words of Ariston, who, when the messenger told
him of thy birth, declared before many witnesses that 'thou wert not
his son, forasmuch as the ten months were not fully out,' it was a
random speech, uttered from mere ignorance. The truth is, children are
born not only at ten months, but at nine, and even at seven. Thou wert
thyself, my son, a seven months' child. Ariston acknowledged, no
long time afterwards, that his speech sprang from thoughtlessness.
Hearken not then to other tales concerning thy birth, my son: for be
assured thou hast the whole truth. As for grooms, pray Heaven
Leotychides and all who speak as he does may suffer wrong from
them!" Such was the mother's answer.
    Demaratus, having learnt all that he wished to know, took with him
provision for the journey, and went into Elis, pretending that he
purposed to proceed to Delphi, and there consult the oracle. The
Lacedaemonians, however, suspecting that he meant to fly his
country, sent men in pursuit of him; but Demaratus hastened, and
leaving Elis before they arrived, sailed across to Zacynthus. The
Lacedaemonians followed, and sought to lay hands upon him, and to
separate him from his retinue; but the Zacynthians would not give
him up to them: so he escaping, made his way afterwards by sea to
Asia, and presented himself before King Darius, who received him
generously, and gave him both lands and cities. Such was the chance
which drove Demaratus to Asia, a man distinguished among the
Lacedaemonians for many noble deeds and wise counsels, and who alone
of all the Spartan kings brought honour to his country by winning at
Olympia the prize in the four-horse chariot-race.
    After Demaratus was deposed, Leotychides, the son of Menares,
received the kingdom. He had a son, Zeuxidamus, called Cyniscus by
many of the Spartans. This Zeuxidamus did not reign at Sparta, but
died before his father, leaving a son, Archidamus. Leotychides, when
Zeuxidamus was taken from him, married a second wife, named
Eurydame, the sister of Menius and daughter of Diactorides. By her
he had no male offspring, but only a daughter called Lampito, whom
he gave in marriage to Archidamus, Zeuxidamus' son.
    Even Leotychides, however, did not spend his old age in Sparta,
but suffered a punishment whereby Demaratus was fully avenged. He
commanded the Lacedaemonians when they made war against Thessaly,
and might have conquered the whole of it, but was bribed by a large
sum of money. It chanced that he was caught in the fact, being found
sitting in his tent on a gauntlet, quite full of silver. Upon this
he was brought to trial and banished from Sparta; his house was
razed to the ground; and he himself fled to Tegea, where he ended
his days. But these events took place long afterwards.
    At the time of which we are speaking, Cleomenes, having carried
his proceedings in the matter of Demaratus to a prosperous issue,
forthwith took Leotychides with him, and crossed over to attack the
Eginetans; for his anger was hot against them on account of the
affront which they had formerly put upon him. Hereupon the
Eginetans, seeing that both the kings were come against them,
thought it best to make no further resistance. So the two kings picked
out from all Egina the ten men who for wealth and birth stood the
highest, among whom were Crius, son of Polycritus, and Casambus, son
of Aristocrates, who wielded the chief power; and these men they
carried with them to Attica, and there deposited them in the hands
of the Athenians, the great enemies of the Eginetans.
    Afterwards, when it came to be known what evil arts had been
used against Demaratus, Cleomenes was seized with fear of his own
countrymen, and fled into Thessaly. From thence he passed into
Arcadia, where he began to stir up troubles, and endeavoured to
unite the Arcadians against Sparta. He bound them by various oaths
to follow him whithersoever he should lead, and was even desirous of
taking their chief leaders with him to the city of Nonacris, that he
might swear them to his cause by the waters of the Styx. For the
waters of Styx, as the Arcadians say, are in that city, and this is
the appearance they present: you see a little water, dripping from a
rock into a basin, which is fenced round by a low wall. Nonacris,
where this fountain is to be seen, is a city of Arcadia near Pheneus.
     When the Lacedaemonians heard how Cleomenes was engaged, they
were afraid, and agreed with him that he should come back to Sparta
and be king as before. So Cleomenes came back; but had no sooner
returned than he, who had never been altogether of sound mind, was
smitten with downright madness. This he showed by striking every
Spartan he met upon the face with his sceptre. On his behaving thus,
and showing that he was gone quite out of his mind, his kindred
imprisoned him, and even put his feet in the stocks. While so bound,
finding himself left alone with a single keeper, he asked the man
for a knife. The keeper at first refused, whereupon Cleomenes began to
threaten him, until at last he was afraid, being only a helot, and
gave him what he required. Cleomenes had no sooner got the steel than,
beginning at his legs, he horribly disfigured himself, cutting
gashes in his flesh, along his legs, thighs, hips, and loins, until at
last he reached his belly, which he likewise began to gash,
whereupon in a little time he died. The Greeks generally think that
this fate came upon him because he induced the Pythoness to
pronounce against Demaratus; the Athenians differ from all others in
saying that it was because he cut down the sacred grove of the
goddesses when he made his invasion by Eleusis; while the Argives
ascribe it to his having taken from their refuge and cut to pieces
certain argives who had fled from battle into a precinct sacred to
Argus, where Cleomenes slew them, burning likewise at the same time,
through irreverence, the grove itself.
    For once, when Cleomenes had sent to Delphi to consult the oracle,
it was prophesied to him that he should take Argos; upon which he went
out at the head of the Spartans, and led them to the river Erasinus.
This stream is reported to flow from the Stymphalian lake, the
waters of which empty themselves into a pitch-dark chasm, and then (as
they say) reappear in Argos, where the Argives call them the Erasinus.
Cleomenes, having arrived upon the banks of this river, proceeded to
offer sacrifice to it, but, in spite of all that he could do, the
victims were not favourable to his crossing. So he said that he
admired the god for refusing to betray his countrymen, but still the
Argives should not escape him for all that. He then withdrew his
troops, and led them down to Thyrea, where he sacrificed a bull to the
sea, and conveyed his men on shipboard to Nauplia in the Tirynthian
territory.
    The Argives, when they heard of this, marched down to the sea to
defend their country; and arriving in the neighbourhood of Tiryns,
at the place which bears the name of Sepeia, they pitched their camp
opposite to the Lacedaemonians, leaving no great space between the
hosts. And now their fear was not so much lest they should be
worsted in open fight as lest some trick should be practised on
them; for such was the danger which the oracle given to them in common
with the Milesians seemed to intimate. The oracle ran as follows:-

    Time shall be when the female shall conquer the male, and shall
      chase him
    Far away- gaining so great praise and honour in Argos;
    Then full many an Argive woman her cheeks shall mangle
    Hence, in the times to come 'twill be said by the men who are
      unborn,
    "Tamed by the spear expired the coiled terrible serpent."

At the coincidence of all these things the Argives were greatly cast
down; and so they resolved that they would follow the signals of the
enemy's herald. Having made this resolve, they proceeded to act as
follows: whenever the herald of the Lacedaemonians gave an order to
the soldiers of his own army, the Argives did the like on their side.
    Now when Cleomenes heard that the Argives were acting thus, he
commanded his troops that, so soon as the herald gave the word for the
soldiers to go to dinner, they should instantly seize their arms and
charge the host of the enemy. Which the Lacedaemonians did
accordingly, and fell upon the Argives just as, following the
signal, they had begun their repast; whereby it came to pass that vast
numbers of the Argives were slain, while the rest, who were more
than they which died in the fight, were driven to take refuge in the
grove of Argus hard by, where they were surrounded, and watch kept
upon them.
    When things were at this pass Cleomenes acted as follows: Having
learnt the names of the Argives who were shut up in the sacred
precinct from certain deserters who had come over to him, he sent a
herald to summon them one by one, on pretence of having received their
ransoms. Now the ransom of prisoners among the Peloponnesians is fixed
at two minae the man. So Cleomenes had these persons called forth
severally, to the number of fifty, or thereabouts, and massacred them.
All this while they who remained in the enclosure knew nothing of what
was happening; for the grove was so thick that the people inside
were unable to see what was taking place without. But at last one of
their number climbed up into a tree and spied the treachery; after
which none of those who were summoned would go forth.
    Then Cleomenes ordered all the helots to bring brushwood, and heap
it around the grove; which was done accordingly; and Cleomenes set the
grove on fire. As the flames spread he asked a deserter "Who was the
god of the grove?" whereto the other made answer, "Argus." So he, when
he heard that, uttered a loud groan, and said:-
    "Greatly hast thou deceived me, Apollo, god of prophecy, in saying
that I should take Argos. I fear me thy oracle has now got its
accomplishment."
    Cleomenes now sent home the greater part of his army, while with a
thousand of his best troops he proceeded to the temple of Juno, to
offer sacrifice. When however he would have slain the victim on the
altar himself, the priest forbade him, as it was not lawful (he
said) for a foreigner to sacrifice in that temple. At this Cleomenes
ordered his helots to drag the priest from the altar and scourge
him, while he performed the sacrifice himself, after which he went
back to Sparta.
    Thereupon his enemies brought him up before the Ephors, and made
it a charge against him that he had allowed himself to be bribed,
and on that account had not taken Argos when he might have captured it
easily. To this he answered- whether truly or falsely I cannot say
with certainty- but at any rate his answer to the charge was that
"so soon as he discovered the sacred precinct which he had taken to
belong to Argos, he directly imagined that the oracle had received its
accomplishment; he therefore thought it not good to attempt the
town, at the least until he had inquired by sacrifice, and ascertained
if the god meant to grant him the place, or was determined to oppose
his taking it. So he offered in the temple of Juno, and when the omens
were propitious, immediately there flashed forth a flame of fire
from the breast of the image; whereby he knew of a surety that he
was not to take Argos. For if the flash had come from the head, he
would have gained the town, citadel and all; but as it shone from
the breast, he had done so much as the god intended." And his words
seemed to the Spartans so true and reasonable, that he came clear
off from his adversaries.
    Argos however was left so bare of men that the slaves managed
the state, filled the offices, and administered everything until the
sons of those who were slain by Cleomenes grew up. Then these latter
cast out the slaves, and got the city back under their own rule; while
the slaves who had been driven out fought a battle and won Tiryns.
After this for a time there was peace between the two; but a certain
man, a soothsayer, named Cleander, who was by race a Phigalean from
Arcadia, joined himself to the slaves, and stirred them up to make a
fresh attack upon their lords. Then were they at war with one
another by the space of many years; but at length the Argives with
much trouble gained the upper hand.
    The Argives say that Cleomenes lost his senses, and died so
miserably, on account of these doings. But his own countrymen
declare that his madness proceeded not from any supernatural cause
whatever, but only from the habit of drinking wine unmixed with water,
which he learnt of the Scyths. These nomads, from the time that Darius
made his inroad into their country, had always had a wish for revenge.
They therefore sent ambassadors to Sparta to conclude a league,
proposing to endeavour themselves to enter Media by the Phasis,
while the Spartans should march inland from Ephesus, and then the
two armies should join together in one. When the Scyths came to Sparta
on this errand Cleomenes was with them continually; and growing
somewhat too familiar, learnt of them to drink his wine without water,
a practice which is thought by the Spartans to have caused his
madness. From this distance of time the Spartans, according to their
own account, have been accustomed, when they want to drink purer
wine than common, to give the order to fill "Scythian fashion." The
Spartans then speak thus concerning Cleomenes; but for my own part I
think his death was a judgment on him for wronging Demaratus.
    No sooner did the news of Cleomenes' death reach Egina than
straightway the Eginetans sent ambassadors to Sparta to complain of
the conduct of Leotychides in respect of their hostages, who were
still kept at Athens. So they of Lacedaemon assembled a court of
justice and gave sentence upon Leotychides, that whereas he had
grossly affronted the people of Egina, he should be given up to the
ambassadors, to be led away in place of the men whom the Athenians had
in their keeping. Then the ambassadors were about to lead him away;
but Theasides, the son of Leoprepes, who was a man greatly esteemed in
Sparta, interfered, and said to them:-
    "What are ye minded to do, ye men of Egina? To lead away captive
the king of the Spartans, whom his countrymen have given into your
hands? Though now in their anger they have passed this sentence, yet
belike the time will come when they will punish you, if you act
thus, by bringing utter destruction upon your country."
    The Eginetans, when they heard this, changed their plan, and,
instead of leading Leotychides away captive, agreed with him that he
should come with them to Athens, and give them back their men.
    When however he reached that city, and demanded the restoration of
his pledge, the Athenians, being unwilling to comply, proceeded to
make excuses, saying "that two kings had come and left the men with
them, and they did not think it right to give them back to the one
without the other." So when the Athenians refused plainly to restore
the men, Leotychides said to them:-
    "Men of Athens, act which way you choose- give me up the hostages,
and be righteous, or keep them, and be the contrary. I wish,
however, to tell you what happened once in Sparta about a pledge.
The story goes among us that three generations back there lived in
Lacedaemon one Glaucus, the son of Epicydes, a man who in every
other respect was on a par with the first in the kingdom, and whose
character for justice was such as to place him above all the other
Spartans. Now to this man at the appointed season the following events
happened. A certain Milesian came to Sparta and, having desired to
speak with him, said- 'I am of Miletus, and I have come hither,
Glaucus, in the hope of profiting by thy honesty. For when I heard
much talk thereof in Ionia and through all the rest of Greece, and
when I observed that whereas Ionia is always insecure, the Peloponnese
stands firm and unshaken, and noted likewise how wealth is continually
changing hands in our country, I took counsel with myself and resolved
to turn one-half of my substance into money, and place it in thy
hands, since I am well assured that it will be safe in thy keeping.
Here then is the silver- take it- and take likewise these tallies, and
be careful of them; remember thou art to give back the money to the
person who shall bring you their fellows.' Such were the words of
the Milesian stranger; and Glaucus took the deposit on the terms
expressed to him. Many years had gone by when the sons of the man by
whom the money was left came to Sparta, and had an interview with
Glaucus, whereat they produced the tallies, and asked to have the
money returned to them. But Glaucus sought to refuse, and answered
them: 'I have no recollection of the matter; nor can I bring to mind
any of those particulars whereof ye speak. When I remember, I will
certainly do what is just. If I had the money, you have a right to
receive it back; but if it was never given to me, I shall put the
Greek law in force against you. For the present I give you no
answer; but four months hence I will settle the business.' So the
Milesians went away sorrowful, considering that their money was
utterly lost to them. As for Glaucus, he made a journey to Delphi, and
there consulted the oracle. To his question if he should swear, and so
make prize of the money, the Pythoness returned for answer these lines
following:-

    Best for the present it were, O Glaucus, to do as thou wishest,
    Swearing an oath to prevail, and so to make prize of the money.
    Swear then- death is the lot e'en of those who never swear
falsely.
    Yet hath the Oath-God a son who is nameless, footless, and
      handless;
    Mighty in strength he approaches to vengeance, and whelms in
      destruction,
    All who belong to the race, or the house of the man who is
      perjured.
    But oath- keeping men leave behind them a flourishing offspring.

Glaucus when he heard these words earnestly besought the god to pardon
his question; but the Pythoness replied that it was as bad to have
tempted the god as it would have been to have done the deed.
Glaucus, however, sent for the Milesian strangers, and gave them
back their money. And now I will tell you, Athenians, what my
purpose has been in recounting to you this history. Glaucus at the
present time has not a single descendant; nor is there any family
known as his- root and branch has he been removed from Sparta. It is a
good thing, therefore, when a pledge has been left with one, not
even in thought to doubt about restoring it."
    Thus spake Leotychides; but, as he found that the Athenians
would not hearken to him, he left them and went his way.
    The Eginetans had never been punished for the wrongs which, to
pleasure the Thebans, they had committed upon Athens. Now, however,
conceiving that they were themselves wronged, and had a fair ground of
complaint against the Athenians, they instantly prepared to revenge
themselves. As it chanced that the Athenian theoris, which was a
vessel of five banks of oars, lay at Sunium, the Eginetans contrived
an ambush, and made themselves masters of the holy vessel, on board of
which were a number of Athenians of the highest rank, whom they took
and threw into prison.
    At this outrage the Athenians no longer delayed, but set to work
to scheme their worst against the Eginetans; and, as there was in
Egina at that time a man of mark, Nicodromus by name, the son of
Cnoethus, who was on ill terms with his countrymen because on a former
occasion they had driven him into banishment, they listened to
overtures from this man, who had heard how determined they were to
do the Eginetans a mischief, and agreed with him that on a certain day
he should be ready to betray the island into their hands, and they
would come with a body of troops to his assistance. And Nicodromus,
some time after, holding to the agreement, made himself master of what
is called the old town.
    The Athenians, however, did not come to the day; for their own
fleet was not of force sufficient to engage the Eginetans, and while
they were begging the Corinthians to lend them some ships, the failure
of the enterprise took place. In those days the Corinthians were on
the best of terms with the Athenians; and accordingly they now yielded
to their request, and furnished them with twenty ships; but, as
their law did not allow the ships to be given for nothing, they sold
them to the Athenians for five drachms apiece. As soon then as the
Athenians had obtained this aid, and, by manning also their own ships,
had equipped a fleet of seventy sail, they crossed over to Egina,
but arrived a day later than the time agreed upon.
    Meanwhile Nicodromus, when he found the Athenians did not come
to the time appointed, took ship and made his escape from the
island. The Eginetans who accompanied him were settled by the
Athenians at Sunium, whence they were wont to issue forth and
plunder the Eginetans of the island. But this took place at a later
date.
    When the wealthier Eginetans had thus obtained the victory over
the common people who had revolted with Nicodromus, they laid hands on
a certain number of them, and led them out to death. But here they
were guilty of a sacrilege, which, notwithstanding all their
efforts, they were never able to atone, being driven from the island
before they had appeased the goddess whom they now provoked. Seven
hundred of the common people had fallen alive into their hands; and
they were all being led out to death, when one of them escaped from
his chains, and flying to the gateway of the temple of Ceres the
Lawgiver, laid hold of the doorhandles, and clung to them. The
others sought to drag him from his refuge; but, finding themselves
unable to tear him away, they cut off his hands, and so took him,
leaving the hands still tightly grasping the handles.
    Such were the doings of the Eginetans among themselves. When the
Athenians arrived, they went out to meet them with seventy ships;
and a battle took place, wherein the Eginetans suffered a defeat.
Hereupon they had recourse again to their old allies, the Argives; but
these latter refused now to lend them any aid, being angry because
some Eginetan ships, which Cleomenes had taken by force, accompanied
him in his invasion of Argolis, and joined in the disembarkation.
The same thing had happened at the same time With certain vessels of
the Sicyonians; and the Argives had laid a fine of a thousand
talents upon the misdoers, five hundred upon each: whereupon they of
Sicyon acknowledged themselves to have sinned, and agreed with the
Argives to pay them a hundred talents, and so be quit of the debt; but
the Eginetans would make no acknowledgment at all, and showed
themselves proud and stiffnecked. For this reason, when they now
prayed the Argives for aid, the state refused to send them a single
soldier. Notwithstanding, volunteers joined them from Argos to the
number of a thousand, under a captain, Eurybates, a man skilled in the
pentathlic contests. Of these men the greater part never returned, but
were slain by the Athenians in Egina. Eurybates, their captain, fought
a number of single combats, and, after killing three men in this
way, was himself slain by the fourth, who was a Decelean, named
Sophanes.
    Afterwards the Eginetans fell upon the Athenian fleet when it
was in some disorder and beat it, capturing four ships with their
crews.
    Thus did war rage between the Eginetans and Athenians. Meantime
the Persian pursued his own design, from day to day exhorted by his
servant to "remember the Athenians," and likewise urged continually by
the Pisistratidae, who were ever accusing their countrymen. Moreover
it pleased him well to have a pretext for carrying war into Greece,
that so he might reduce all those who had refused to give him earth
and water. As for Mardonius, since his expedition had succeeded so
ill, Darius took the command of the troops from him, and appointed
other generals in his stead, who were to lead the host against Eretria
and Athens; to wit, Datis, who was by descent a Mede, and Artaphernes,
the son of Artaphernes, his own nephew. These men received orders to
carry Athens and Eretria away captive, and to bring the prisoners into
his presence.
    So the new commanders took their departure from the court and went
down to Cilicia, to the Aleian plain, having with them a numerous
and wellappointed land army. Encamping here, they were joined by the
sea force which had been required of the several states, and at the
same time by the horsetransports which Darius had, the year before,
commanded his tributaries to make ready. Aboard these the horses
were embarked; and the troops were received by the ships of war; after
which the whole fleet, amounting in all to six hundred triremes,
made sail for Ionia. Thence, instead of proceeding with a straight
course along the shore to the Hellespont and to Thrace, they loosed
from Samos and voyaged across the Icarian sea through the midst of the
islands; mainly, as I believe, because they feared the danger of
doubling Mount Athos, where the year before they had suffered so
grievously on their passage; but a constraining cause also was their
former failure to take Naxos.
    When the Persians, therefore, approaching from the Icarian Sea,
cast anchor at Naxos, which, recollecting what there befell them
formerly, they had determined to attack before any other state, the
Naxians, instead of encountering them, took to flight, and hurried off
to the hills. The Persians however succeeded in laying hands on
some, and them they carried away captive, while at the same time
they burnt all the temples together with the town. This done, they
left Naxos, and sailed away to the other islands.
    While the Persians were thus employed, the Delians likewise
quitted Delos, and took refuge in Tenos. And now the expedition drew
near, when Datis sailed forward in advance of the other ships;
commanding them, instead of anchoring at Delos, to rendezvous at
Rhenea, over against Delos, while he himself proceeded to discover
whither the Delians had fled; after which he sent a herald to them
with this message:
    "Why are ye fled, O holy men? Why have ye judged me so harshly and
so wrongfully? I have surely sense enough, even had not the king so
ordered, to spare the country which gave birth to the two gods- to
spare, I say, both the country and its inhabitants. Come back
therefore to your dwellings; and once more inhabit your island."
    Such was the message which Datis sent by his herald to the
Delians. He likewise placed upon the altar three hundred talents'
weight of frankincense, and offered it.
    After this he sailed with his whole host against Eretria, taking
with him both Ionians and Aeolians. When he was departed, Delos (as
the Delians told me) was shaken by an earthquake, the first and last
shock that has been felt to this day. And truly this was a prodigy
whereby the god warned men of the evils that were coming upon them.
For in the three following generations of Darius the son of Hystaspes,
Xerxes the son of Darius, and Artaxerxes the son of Xerxes, more
woes befell Greece than in the twenty generations preceding Darius-
woes caused in part by the Persians, but in part arising from the
contentions among their own chief men respecting the supreme power.
Wherefore it is not surprising that Delos, though it had never
before been shaken, should at that time have felt the shock of an
earthquake. And indeed there was an oracle, which said of Delos-

    Delo's self will I shake, which never yet has been
      shaken

Of the above names Darius may be rendered "Worker," Xerxes
"Warrior," and Artaxerxes "Great Warrior." And so might we call
these kings in our own language with propriety.
    The barbarians, after loosing from Delos, proceeded to touch at
the other islands, and took troops from each, and likewise carried off
a number of the children as hostages. Going thus from one to
another, they came at last to Carystus; but here the hostages were
refused by the Carystians, who said they would neither give any, nor
consent to bear arms against the cities of their neighbours, meaning
Athens and Eretria. Hereupon the Persians laid siege to Carystus,
and wasted the country round, until at length the inhabitants were
brought over and agreed to do what was required of them.
    Meanwhile the Eretrians, understanding that the Persian armament
was coming against them, besought the Athenians for assistance. Nor
did the Athenians refuse their aid, but assigned to them as
auxiliaries the four thousand landholders to whom they had allotted
the estates of the Chalcidean Hippobatae. At Eretria, however,
things were in no healthy state; for though they had called in the aid
of the Athenians, yet they were not agreed among themselves how they
should act; some of them were minded to leave the city and to take
refuge in the heights of Euboea, while others, who looked to receiving
a reward from the Persians, were making ready to betray their country.
So when these things came to the ears of Aeschines, the son of Nothon,
one of the first men in Eretria, he made known the whole state of
affairs to the Athenians who were already arrived, and besought them
to return home to their own land, and not perish with his
countrymen. And the Athenians hearkened to his counsel, and,
crossing over to Oropus, in this way escaped the danger.
    The Persian fleet now drew near and anchored at Tamynae, Choereae,
and Aegilia, three places in the territory of Eretria. Once masters of
these posts, they proceeded forthwith to disembark their horses, and
made ready to attack the enemy. But the Eretrians were not minded to
sally forth and offer battle; their only care, after it had been
resolved not to quit the city, was, if possible, to defend their
walls. And now the fortress was assaulted in good earnest, and for six
days there fell on both sides vast numbers, but on the seventh day
Euphorbus, the son of Alcimachus, and Philagrus, the son of Cyneas,
who were both citizens of good repute, betrayed the place to the
Persians. These were no sooner entered within the walls than they
plundered and burnt all the temples that there were in the town, in
revenge for the burning of their own temples at Sardis; moreover, they
did according to the orders of Darius, and carried away captive all
the inhabitants.
    The Persians, having thus brought Eretria into subjection after
waiting a few days, made sail for Attica, greatly straitening the
Athenians as they approached, and thinking to deal with them as they
had dealt with the people of Eretria. And, because there was no
Place in all Attica so convenient for their horse as Marathon, and
it lay moreover quite close to Eretria, therefore Hippias, the son
of Pisistratus, conducted them thither.
    When intelligence of this reached the Athenians, they likewise
marched their troops to Marathon, and there stood on the defensive,
having at their head ten generals, of whom one was Miltiades.
    Now this man's father, Cimon, the son of Stesagoras, was
banished from Athens by Pisistratus, the son of Hippocrates. In his
banishment it was his fortune to win the four-horse chariot-race at
Olympia, whereby he gained the very same honour which had before
been carried off by Miltiades, his half-brother on the mother's
side. At the next Olympiad he won the prize again with the same mares;
upon which he caused Pisistratus to be proclaimed the winner, having
made an agreement with him that on yielding him this honour he
should be allowed to come back to his country. Afterwards, still
with the same mares, he won the prize a third time; whereupon he was
put to death by the sons of Pisistratus, whose father was no longer
living. They set men to lie in wait for him secretly; and these men
slew him near the government-house in the night-time. He was buried
outside the city, beyond what is called the Valley Road; and right
opposite his tomb were buried the mares which had won the three
prizes. The same success had likewise been achieved once previously,
to wit, by the mares of Evagoras the Lacedaemonian, but never except
by them. At the time of Cimon's death Stesagoras, the elder of his two
sons, was in the Chersonese, where he lived with Miltiades his
uncle; the younger, who was called Miltiades after the founder of
the Chersonesite colony, was with his father in Athens.
    It was this Miltiades who now commanded the Athenians, after
escaping from the Chersonese, and twice nearly losing his life.
First he was chased as far as Imbrus by the Phoenicians, who had a
great desire to take him and carry him up to the king; and when he had
avoided this danger, and, having reached his own country, thought
himself to be altogether in safety, he found his enemies waiting for
him, and was cited by them before a court and impeached for his
tyranny in the Chersonese. But he came off victorious here likewise,
and was thereupon made general of the Athenians by the free choice
of the people.
    And first, before they left the city, the generals sent off to
Sparta a herald, one Pheidippides, who was by birth an Athenian, and
by profession and practice a trained runner. This man, according to
the account which he gave to the Athenians on his return, when he
was near Mount Parthenium, above Tegea, fell in with the god Pan,
who called him by his name, and bade him ask the Athenians
"wherefore they neglected him so entirely, when he was kindly disposed
towards them, and had often helped them in times past, and would do so
again in time to come?" The Athenians, entirely believing in the truth
of this report, as soon as their affairs were once more in good order,
set up a temple to Pan under the Acropolis, and, in return for the
message which I have recorded, established in his honour yearly
sacrifices and a torch-race.
    On the occasion of which we speak when Pheidippides was sent by
the Athenian generals, and, according to his own account, saw Pan on
his journey, he reached Sparta on the very next day after quitting the
city of Athens- Upon his arrival he went before the rulers, and said
to them:-
    "Men of Lacedaemon, the Athenians beseech you to hasten to their
aid, and not allow that state, which is the most ancient in all
Greece, to be enslaved by the barbarians. Eretria, look you, is
already carried away captive; and Greece weakened by the loss of no
mean city."
    Thus did Pheidippides deliver the message committed to him. And
the Spartans wished to help the Athenians, but were unable to give
them any present succour, as they did not like to break their
established law. It was then the ninth day of the first decade; and
they could not march out of Sparta on the ninth, when the moon had not
reached the full. So they waited for the full of the moon.
    The barbarians were conducted to Marathon by Hippias. the son of
Pisistratus, who the night before had seen a strange vision in his
sleep. He dreamt of lying in his mother's arms, and conjectured the
dream to mean that he would be restored to Athens, recover the power
which he had lost, and afterwards live to a good old age in his native
country. Such was the sense in which he interpreted the vision. He now
proceeded to act as guide to the Persians; and, in the first place, he
landed the prisoners taken from Eretria upon the island that is called
Aegileia, a tract belonging to the Styreans, after which he brought
the fleet to anchor off Marathon, and marshalled the bands of the
barbarians as they disembarked. As he was thus employed it chanced
that he sneezed and at the same time coughed with more violence than
was his wont. Now, as he was a man advanced in years, and the
greater number of his teeth were loose, it so happened that one of
them was driven out with the force of the cough, and fell down into
the sand. Hippias took all the pains he could to find it; but the
tooth was nowhere to be seen: whereupon he fetched a deep sigh, and
said to the bystanders:-
    "After all, the land is not ours; and we shall never be able to
bring it under. All my share in it is the portion of which my tooth
has possession."
    So Hippias believed that in this way his dream was fulfilled.
    The Athenians were drawn up in order of battle in a sacred close
belonging to Hercules, when they were joined by the Plataeans, who
came in full force to their aid. Some time before, the Plataeans had
put themselves under the rule of the Athenians; and these last had
already undertaken many labours on their behalf. The occasion of the
surrender was the following. The Plataeans suffered grievous things at
the hands of the men of Thebes; so, as it chanced that Cleomenes,
the son of Anaxandridas, and the Lacedaemonians were in their
neighbourhood, they first of all offered to surrender themselves to
them. But the Lacedaemonians refused to receive them, and said:-
    "We dwell too far off from you, and ours would be but chill
succour. Ye might oftentimes be carried into slavery before one of
us heard of it. We counsel you rather to give yourselves up to the
Athenians, who are your next neighbours, and well able to shelter
you."
    This they said, not so much out of good will towards the Plataeans
as because they wished to involve the Athenians in trouble by engaging
them in wars with the Boeotians. The Plataeans, however, when the
Lacedaemonians gave them this counsel, complied at once; and when
the sacrifice to the Twelve Gods was being offered at Athens, they
came and sat as suppliants about the altar, and gave themselves up
to the Athenians. The Thebans no sooner learnt what the Plataeans
had done than instantly they marched out against them, while the
Athenians sent troops to their aid. As the two armies were about to
join battle, the Corinthians, who chanced to be at hand, would not
allow them to engage; both sides consented to take them for
arbitrators, whereupon they made up the quarrel, and fixed the
boundary-line between the two states upon this condition: to wit, that
if any of the Boeotians wished no longer to belong to Boeotia, the
Thebans should allow them to follow their own inclinations. The
Corinthians, when they had thus decreed, forthwith departed to their
homes: the Athenians likewise set off on their return; but the
Boeotians fell upon them during the march, and a battle was fought
wherein they were worsted by the Athenians. Hereupon these last
would not be bound by the line which the Corinthians had fixed, but
advanced beyond those limits, and made the Asopus the boundary-line
between the country of the Thebans and that of the Plataeans and
Hysians. Under such circumstances did the Plataeans give themselves up
to Athens; and now they were come to Marathon to bear the Athenians
aid.
    The Athenian generals were divided in their opinions; and some
advised not to risk a battle, because they were too few to engage such
a host as that of the Medes, while others were for fighting at once;
and among these last was Miltiades. He therefore, seeing that opinions
were thus divided, and that the less worthy counsel appeared likely to
prevail, resolved to go to the Polemarch, and have a conference with
him. For the man on whom the lot fell to be Polemarch at Athens was
entitled to give his vote with the ten generals, since anciently the
Athenians allowed him an equal right of voting with them. The
Polemarch at this juncture was Callimachus of Aphidnae; to him
therefore Miltiades went, and said:-
    "With thee it rests, Callimachus, either to bring Athens to
slavery, or, by securing her freedom, to leave behind thee to all
future generations a memory beyond even Harmodius and Aristogeiton.
For never since the time that the Athenians became a people were
they in so great a danger as now. If they bow their necks beneath
the yoke of the Medes, the woes which they will have to suffer when
given into the power of Hippias are already determined on; if, on
the other hand, they fight and overcome, Athens may rise to be the
very first city in Greece. How it comes to pass that these things
are likely to happen, and how the determining of them in some sort
rests with thee, I will now proceed to make clear. We generals are ten
in number, and our votes are divided; half of us wish to engage,
half to avoid a combat. Now, if we do not fight, I look to see a great
disturbance at Athens which will shake men's resolutions, and then I
fear they will submit themselves; but if we fight the battle before
any unsoundness show itself among our citizens, let the gods but
give us fair play, and we are well able to overcome the enemy. On thee
therefore we depend in this matter, which lies wholly in thine own
power. Thou hast only to add thy vote to my side and thy country
will be free, and not free only, but the first state in Greece. Or, if
thou preferrest to give thy vote to them who would decline the combat,
then the reverse will follow."
    Miltiades by these words gained Callimachus; and the addition of
the Polemarch's vote caused the decision to be in favour of
fighting. Hereupon all those generals who had been desirous of
hazarding a battle, when their turn came to command the army, gave
up their right to Miltiades. He however, though he accepted their
offers, nevertheless waited, and would not fight until his own day
of command arrived in due course.
    Then at length, when his own turn was come, the Athenian battle
was set in array, and this was the order of it. Callimachus the
Polemarch led the right wing; for it was at that time a rule with
the Athenians to give the right wing to the Polemarch. After this
followed the tribes, according as they were numbered, in an unbroken
line; while last of all came the Plataeans, forming the left wing. And
ever since that day it has been a custom with the Athenians, in the
sacrifices and assemblies held each fifth year at Athens, for the
Athenian herald to implore the blessing of the gods on the Plataeans
conjointly with the Athenians. Now, as they marshalled the host upon
the field of Marathon, in order that the Athenian front might he of
equal length with the Median, the ranks of the centre were diminished,
and it became the weakest part of the line, while the wings were
both made strong with a depth of many ranks.
    So when the battle was set in array, and the victims showed
themselves favourable, instantly the Athenians, so soon as they were
let go, charged the barbarians at a run. Now the distance between
the two armies was little short of eight furlongs. The Persians,
therefore, when they saw the Greeks coming on at speed, made ready
to receive them, although it seemed to them that the Athenians were
bereft of their senses, and bent upon their own destruction; for
they saw a mere handful of men coming on at a run without either
horsemen or archers. Such was the opinion of the barbarians; but the
Athenians in close array fell upon them, and fought in a manner worthy
of being recorded. They were the first of the Greeks, so far as I
know, who introduced the custom of charging the enemy at a run, and
they were likewise the first who dared to look upon the Median garb,
and to face men clad in that fashion. Until this time the very name of
the Medes had been a terror to the Greeks to hear.
    The two armies fought together on the plain of Marathon for a
length of time; and in the mid battle, where the Persians themselves
and the Sacae had their place, the barbarians were victorious, and
broke and pursued the Greeks into the inner country; but on the two
wings the Athenians and the Plataeans defeated the enemy. Having so
done, they suffered the routed barbarians to fly at their ease, and
joining the two wings in one, fell upon those who had broken their own
centre, and fought and conquered them. These likewise fled, and now
the Athenians hung upon the runaways and cut them down, chasing them
all the way to the shore, on reaching which they laid hold of the
ships and called aloud for fire.
    It was in the struggle here that Callimachus the Polemarch,
after greatly distinguishing himself, lost his life; Stesilaus too,
the son of Thrasilaus, one of the generals, was slain; and Cynaegirus,
the son of Euphorion, having seized on a vessel of the enemy's by
the ornament at the stern, had his hand cut off by the blow of an axe,
and so perished; as likewise did many other Athenians of note and
name.
    Nevertheless the Athenians secured in this way seven of the
vessels; while with the remainder the barbarians pushed off, and
taking aboard their Eretrian prisoners from the island where they
had left them, doubled Cape Sunium, hoping to reach Athens before
the return of the Athenians. The Alcmaeonidae were accused by their
countrymen of suggesting this course to them; they had, it was said,
an understanding with the Persians, and made a signal to them, by
raising a shield, after they were embarked in their ships.
    The Persians accordingly sailed round Sunium. But the Athenians
with all possible speed marched away to the defence of their city, and
succeeded in reaching Athens before the appearance of the
barbarians: and as their camp at Marathon had been pitched in a
precinct of Hercules, so now they encamped in another precinct of
the same god at Cynosarges. The barbarian fleet arrived, and lay to
off Phalerum, which was at that time the haven of Athens; but after
resting awhile upon their oars, they departed and sailed away to Asia.
    There fell in this battle of Marathon, on the side of the
barbarians, about six thousand and four hundred men; on that of the
Athenians, one hundred and ninety-two. Such was the number of the
slain on the one side and the other. A strange prodigy likewise
happened at this fight. Epizelus, the son of Cuphagoras, an
Athenian, was in the thick of the fray, and behaving himself as a
brave man should, when suddenly he was stricken with blindness,
without blow of sword or dart; and this blindness continued
thenceforth during the whole of his after life. The following is the
account which he himself, as I have heard, gave of the matter: he said
that a gigantic warrior, with a huge beard, which shaded all his
shield, stood over against him; but the ghostly semblance passed him
by, and slew the man at his side. Such, as I understand, was the
tale which Epizelus told.
    Datis meanwhile was on his way back to Asia, and had reached
Myconus, when he saw in his sleep a vision. What it was is not
known; but no sooner was day come than he caused strict search to be
made throughout the whole fleet, and finding on board a Phoenician
vessel an image of Apollo overlaid with gold, he inquired from
whence it had been taken, and learning to what temple it belonged,
he took it with him in his own ship to Delos, and placed it in the
temple there, enjoining the Delians, who had now come back to their
island, to restore the image to the Theban Delium, which lies on the
coast over against Chalcis. Having left these injunctions, he sailed
away; but the Delians failed to restore the statue; and it was not
till twenty years afterwards that the Thebans, warned by an oracle,
themselves brought it back to Delium.
    As for the Eretrians, whom Datis and Artaphernes had carried
away captive, when the fleet reached Asia, they were taken up to Susa.
Now King Darius, before they were made his prisoners, nourished a
fierce anger against these men for having injured him without
provocation; but now that he saw them brought into his presence, and
become his subjects, he did them no other harm, but only settled
them at one of his own stations in Cissia- a place called Ardericea-
two hundred and ten furlongs distant from Susa, and forty from the
well which yields produce of three different kinds. For from this well
they get bitumen, salt, and oil, procuring it in the way that I will
now describe: they draw with a swipe, and instead of a bucket make use
of the half of a wine-skin; with this the man dips, and after drawing,
pours the liquid into a reservoir, wherefrom it passes into another,
and there takes three different shapes. The salt and the bitumen
forthwith collect and harden, while the oil is drawn off into casks.
It is called by the Persians "rhadinace," is black, and has an
unpleasant smell. Here then King Darius established the Eretrians; and
here they continued to my time, and still spoke their old language. So
thus it fared with the Eretrians.
    After the full of the moon two thousand Lacedaemonians came to
Athens. So eager had they been to arrive in time, that they took but
three days to reach Attica from Sparta. They came, however, too late
for the battle; yet, as they had a longing to behold the Medes, they
continued their march to Marathon and there viewed the slain. Then,
after giving the Athenians all praise for their achievement, they
departed and returned home.    But it fills me with wonderment, and
I can in no wise believe the report, that the Alcmaeonidae had an
understanding with the Persians, and held them up a shield as a
signal, wishing Athens to be brought under the yoke of the
barbarians and of Hippias- the Alcmaeonidae, who have shown themselves
at least as bitter haters of tyrants as was Callias, the son of
Phaenippus, and father of Hipponicus. This Callias was the only person
at Athens who, when the Pisistratidae were driven out, and their goods
were exposed for sale by the vote of the people, had the courage to
make purchases, and likewise in many other ways to display the
strongest hostility.
    He was a man very worthy to be had in remembrance by all, on
several accounts. For not only did he thus distinguish himself
beyond others in the cause of his country's freedom; but likewise,
by the honours which he gained at the Olympic Games, where he
carried off the prize in the horse-race, and was second in the
four-horse chariot-race, and by his victory at an earlier period in
the Pythian Games, he showed himself in the eyes of all the Greeks a
man most unsparing in his expenditure. He was remarkable too for his
conduct in respect of his daughters, three in number; for when they
came to be of marriageable age, he gave to each of them a most ample
dowry, and placed it at their own disposal, allowing them to choose
their husbands from among all the citizens of Athens, and giving
each in marriage to the man of her own choice.
    Now the Alcmaeonidae fell not a whit short of this person in their
hatred of tyrants, so that I am astonished at the charge made
against them, and cannot bring myself to believe that they held up a
shield; for they were men who had remained in exile during the whole
time that the tyranny lasted, and they even contrived the trick by
which the Pisistratidae were deprived of their throne. Indeed I look
upon them as the persons who in good truth gave Athens her freedom far
more than Harmodius and Aristogeiton. For these last did but
exasperate the other Pisistratidae by slaying Hipparchus, and were far
from doing anything towards putting down the tyranny: whereas the
Alcmaeonidae were manifestly the actual deliverers of Athens, if at
least it be true that the Pythoness was prevailed upon by them to
bid the Lacedaemonians set Athens free, as I have already related.
    But perhaps they were offended with the people of Athens; and
therefore betrayed their country. Nay, but on the contrary there
were none of the Athenians who were held in such general esteem, or
who were so laden with honours. So that it is not even reasonable to
suppose that a shield was held up by them on this account. A shield
was shown, no doubt; that cannot be gainsaid; but who it was that
showed it I cannot any further determine.
    Now the Alcmaeonidae were, even in days of yore, a family of
note at Athens; but from the time of Alcmaeon, and again of
Megacles, they rose to special eminence. The former of these two
personages, to wit, Alcmaeon, the son of Megacles, when Croesus the
Lydian sent men from Sardis to consult the Delphic oracle, gave aid
gladly to his messengers, assisted them to accomplish their task.
Croesus, informed of Alcmaeon's kindnesses by the Lydians who from
time to time conveyed his messages to the god, sent for him to Sardis,
and when he arrived, made him a present of as much gold as he should
be able to carry at one time about his person. Finding that this was
the gift assigned him, Alcmaeon took his measures, and prepared
himself to receive it in the following way. He clothed himself in a
loose tunic, which he made to bag greatly at the waist, and placing
upon his feet the widest buskins that he could anywhere find, followed
his guides into the treasure-house. Here he fell to upon a heap of
gold-dust, and in the first place packed as much as he could inside
his buskins, between them and his legs; after which he filled the
breast of his tunic quite full of gold, and then sprinkling some among
his hair, and taking some likewise in his mouth, he came forth from
the treasure-house, scarcely able to drag his legs along, like
anything rather than a man, with his mouth crammed full, and his
bulk increased every way. On seeing him, Croesus burst into a laugh,
and not only let him have all that he had taken, but gave him presents
besides of fully equal worth. Thus this house became one of great
wealth; and Alcmaeon was able to keep horses for the chariot-race, and
won the prize at Olympia.
    Afterwards, in the generation which followed, Clisthenes, king
of Sicyon, raised the family to still greater eminence among the
Greeks than even that to which it had attained before. For this
Clisthenes, who was the son of Aristonymus, the grandson of Myron, and
the great-grandson of Andreas, had a daughter, called Agarista, whom
he wished to marry to the best husband that he could find in the whole
of Greece. At the Olympic Games, therefore, having gained the prize in
the chariot race, he caused public proclamation to be made to the
following effect:- "Whoever among the Greeks deems himself worthy to
become the son-in-law of Clisthenes, let him come, sixty days hence,
or, if he will, sooner, to Sicyon; for within a year's time,
counting from the end of the sixty days, Clisthenes will decide on the
man to whom he shall contract his daughter." So all the Greeks who
were proud of their own merit or of their country flocked to Sicyon as
suitors; and Clisthenes had a foot-course and a wrestling-ground
made ready, to try their powers.
    From Italy there came Smindyrides, the son of Hippocrates, a
native of Sybaris- which city about that time was at the very height
of its prosperity. He was a man who in luxuriousness of living
exceeded all other persons. Likewise there came Damasus, the son of
Amyris, surnamed the Wise, a native of Siris. These two were the
only suitors from Italy. From the Ionian Gulf appeared Amphimnestus,
the son of Epistrophus, an Epidamnian; from Aetolia, Males, the
brother of that Titormus who excelled all the Greeks in strength,
and who wishing to avoid his fellow-men, withdrew himself into the
remotest parts of the Aetolian territory. From the Peloponnese came
several- Leocedes, son of that Pheidon, king of the Argives, who
established weights and measures throughout the Peloponnese, and was
the most insolent of all the Grecians- the same who drove out the
Elean directors of the Games, and himself presided over the contests
at Olympia- Leocedes, I say, appeared, this Pheidon's son; and
likewise Amiantus, son of Lycurgus, an Arcadian of the city of
Trapezus; Laphanes, an Azenian of Paeus, whose father, Euphorion, as
the story goes in Arcadia, entertained the Dioscuri at his
residence, and thenceforth kept open house for all comers; and lastly,
Onomastus, the son of Agaeus, a native of Elis. These four came from
the Peloponnese. From Athens there arrived Megacles, the son of that
Alcmaeon who visited Croesus, and Tisander's son, Hippoclides, the
wealthiest and handsomest of the Athenians. There was likewise one
Euboean, Lysanias, who came from Eretria, then a flourishing city.
>From Thessaly came Diactorides, a Cranonian, of the race of the
Scopadae; and Alcon arrived from the Molossians. This was the list
of the suitors.
    Now when they were all come, and the day appointed had arrived,
Clisthenes first of all inquired of each concerning his country and
his family; after which he kept them with him a year, and made trial
of their manly bearing, their temper, their accomplishments, and their
disposition, sometimes drawing them apart for converse, sometimes
bringing them all together. Such as were still youths he took with him
from time to time to the gymnasia; but the greatest trial of all was
at the banquettable. During the whole period of their stay he lived
with them as I have said; and, further, from first to last he
entertained them sumptuously. Somehow or other the suitors who came
from Athens pleased him the best of all; and of these Hippoclides,
Tisander's son, was specially in favour, partly on account of his
manly bearing, and partly also because his ancestors were of kin to
the Corinthian Cypselids.
    When at length the day arrived which had been fixed for the
espousals, and Clisthenes had to speak out and declare his choice,
he first of all made a sacrifice of a hundred oxen, and held a
banquet, whereat he entertained all the suitors and the whole people
of Sicyon. After the feast was ended, the suitors vied with each other
in music and in speaking on a given subject. Presently, as the
drinking advanced, Hippoclides, who quite dumbfoundered the rest,
called aloud to the flute-player, and bade him strike up a dance;
which the man did, and Hippoclides danced to it. And he fancied that
he was dancing excellently well; but Clisthenes, who was observing
him, began to misdoubt the whole business. Then Hippoclides, after a
pause, told an attendant to bring in a table; and when it was brought,
he mounted upon it and danced first of all some Laconian figures, then
some Attic ones; after which he stood on his head upon the table,
and began to toss his legs about. Clisthenes, notwithstanding that
he now loathed Hippoclides for a son-in-law, by reason of his
dancing and his shamelessness, still, as he wished to avoid an
outbreak, had restrained himself during the first and likewise
during the second dance; when, however, he saw him tossing his legs in
the air, he could no longer contain himself, but cried out, "Son of
Tisander, thou hast danced thy wife away!" "What does Hippoclides
care?" was the other's answer. And hence the proverb arose.
    Then Clisthenes commanded silence, and spake thus before the
assembled company:-
    "Suitors of my daughter, well pleased am I with you all; and right
willingly, if it were possible, would I content you all, and not by
making choice of one appear to put a slight upon the rest. But as it
is out of my power, seeing that I have but one daughter, to grant to
all their wishes, I will present to each of you whom I must needs
dismiss a talent of silver, for the honour that you have done me in
seeking to ally yourselves with my house, and for your long absence
from your homes. But my daughter, Agarista, I betroth to Megacles, the
son of Alcmaeon, to be his wife, according to the usage and wont of
Athens."
    Then Megacles expressed his readiness; and Clisthenes had the
marriage solemnised.
    Thus ended the affair of the suitors; and thus the Alcmaeonidae
came to be famous throughout the whole of Greece. The issue of this
marriage was the Clisthenes named after his grandfather the Sicyonian-
who made the tribes at Athens, and set up the popular government.
Megacles had likewise another son, called Hippocrates, whose
children were a Megacles and an Agarista, the latter named after
Agarista the daughter of Clisthenes. She married Xanthippus, the son
of Ariphron; and when she was with child by him had a dream, wherein
she fancied that she was delivered of a lion; after which, within a
few days, she bore Xanthippus a son, to wit, Pericles.
    After the blow struck at Marathon, Miltiades, who was previously
held in high esteem by his countrymen, increased yet more in
influence. Hence, when he told them that he wanted a fleet of
seventy ships, with an armed force, and money, without informing
them what country he was going to attack, but only promising to enrich
them if they would accompany him, seeing that it was a right wealthy
land, where they might easily get as much gold as they cared to
have- when he told them this, they were quite carried away, and gave
him the whole armament which he required.
    So Miltiades, having got the armament, sailed against Paros,
with the object, as he alleged, of punishing the Parians for having
gone to war with Athens, inasmuch as a trireme of theirs had come with
the Persian fleet to Marathon. This, however, was a mere pretence; the
truth was, that Miltiades owed the Parians a grudge, because
Lysagoras, the son of Tisias, who was a Parian by birth, had told
tales against him to Hydarnes the Persian. Arrived before the place
against which his expedition was designed, he drove the Parians within
their walls, and forthwith laid siege to the city. At the same time he
sent a herald to the inhabitants, and required of them a hundred
talents, threatening that, if they refused, he would press the
siege, and never give it over till the town was taken. But the
Parians, without giving his demand a thought, proceeded to use every
means that they could devise for the defence of their city, and even
invented new plans for the purpose, one of which was, by working at
night, to raise such parts of the wall as were likely to be carried by
assault to double their former height.
    Thus far all the Greeks agree in their accounts of this
business; what follows is related upon the testimony of the Parians
only. Miltiades had come to his wit's end, when one of the
prisoners, a woman named Timo, who was by birth a Parian, and had held
the office of under-priestess in the temple of the infernal goddesses,
came and conferred with him. This woman, they say, being introduced
into the presence of Miltiades, advised him, if he set great store
by the capture of the place, to do something which she could suggest
to him. When therefore she had told him what it was she meant, he
betook himself to the hill which lies in front of the city, and
there leapt the fence enclosing the precinct of Ceres Thesmophorus,
since he was not able to open the door. After leaping into the place
he went straight to the sanctuary, intending to do something within
it- either to remove some of the holy things which it was not lawful
to stir, or to perform some act or other, I cannot say what- and had
just reached the door, when suddenly a feeling of horror came upon
him, and he returned back the way he had come; but in jumping down
from the outer wall, he strained his thigh, or, as some say, struck
the ground with his knee.
    So Miltiades returned home sick, without bringing the Athenians
any money, and without conquering Paros, having done no more than to
besiege the town for six-and-twenty days, and ravage the remainder
of the island. The Parians, however, when it came to their knowledge
that Timo, the under-priestess of the goddesses, had advised Miltiades
what he should do, were minded to punish her for her crime; they
therefore sent messengers to Delphi, as soon as the siege was at an
end, and asked the god if they should put the under-priestess to
death. "She had discovered," they said, "to the enemies of her country
how they might bring it into subjection, and had exhibited to
Miltiades mysteries which it was not lawful for a man to know." But
the Pythoness forbade them, and said, "Timo was not in fault; 'twas
decreed that Miltiades should come to an unhappy end; and she was sent
to lure him to his destruction." Such was the answer given to the
Parians by the Pythoness.
    The Athenians, upon the return of Miltiades from Paros, had much
debate concerning him; and Xanthippus, the son of Ariphron, who
spoke more freely against him than all the rest, impleaded him
before the people, and brought him to trial for his life, on the
charge of having dealt deceitfully with the Athenians. Miltiades,
though he was present in court, did not speak in his own defence;
for his thigh had begun to mortify, and disabled him from pleading his
cause. He was forced to lie on a couch while his defence was made by
his friends, who dwelt at most length on the fight at Marathon,
while they made mention also of the capture of Lemnos, telling how
Miltiades took the island, and, after executing vengeance on the
Pelasgians, gave up his conquest to Athens. The judgment of the people
was in his favour so far as to spare his life; but for the wrong he
had done them they fined him fifty talents. Soon afterwards his
thigh completely gangrened and mortified: and so Miltiades died; and
the fifty talents were paid by his son Cimon.
    Now the way in which Miltiades had made himself master of Lemnos
was the following. There were certain Pelasgians whom the Athenians
once drove out of Attica; whether they did it- justly or unjustly I
cannot say, since I only know what is reported concerning it, which is
the following: Hecataeus, the son of Hegesander, says in his History
that it was unjustly. "The Athenians," according to him, "had given to
the Pelasgi a tract of land at the foot of Hymettus as payment for the
wall with which the Pelasgians had surrounded their citadel. This land
was barren, and little worth at the time; but the Pelasgians brought
it into good condition; whereupon the Athenians begrudged them the
tract, and desired to recover it. And so, without any better excuse,
they took arms and drove out the Pelasgians." But the Athenians
maintain that they were justified in what they did. "The
Pelasgians," they say, "while they lived at the foot of Hymettus, were
wont to sally forth from that region and commit outrages on their
children. For the Athenians used at that time to send their sons and
daughters to draw water at the fountain called 'the Nine Springs,'
inasmuch as neither they nor the other Greeks had any household slaves
in those days; and the maidens, whenever they came, were used rudely
and insolently by the Pelasgians. Nor were they even content thus; but
at the last they laid a plot, and were caught by the Athenians in
the act of making an attempt upon their city. Then did the Athenians
give a proof how much better men they were than the Pelasgians; for
whereas they might justly have killed them all, having caught them
in the very act of rebelling, the; spared their lives, and only
required that they should leave the country. Hereupon the Pelasgians
quitted Attica, and settled in Lemnos and other places." Such are
the accounts respectively of Hecataeus and the Athenians.
    These same Pelasgians, after they were settled in Lemnos,
conceived the wish to be revenged on the Athenians. So, as they were
well acquainted with the Athenian festivals, they manned some
penteconters, and having laid an ambush to catch the Athenian women as
they kept the festival of Diana at Brauron, they succeeded in carrying
off a large number, whom they took to Lemnos and there kept as
concubines. After a while the women bore children, whom they taught to
speak the language of Attica and observe the manners of the Athenians.
These boys refused to have any commerce with the sons of the Pelasgian
women; and if a Pelasgian boy struck one of their number, they all
made common cause, and joined in avenging their comrade; nay, the
Greek boys even set up a claim to exercise lordship over the others,
and succeeded in gaining the upper hand. When these things came to the
ears of the Pelasgians, they took counsel together, and, on
considering the matter, they grew frightened, and said one to another,
"If these boys even now are resolved to make common cause against
the sons of our lawful wives, and seek to exercise lordship over them,
what may we expect when they grow up to be men?" Then it seemed good
to the Pelasgians to kill all the sons of the Attic women; which
they did accordingly, and at the same time slew likewise their
mothers. From this deed, and that former crime of the Lemnian women,
when they slew their husbands in the days of Thoas, it has come to
be usual throughout Greece to call wicked actions by the name of
"Lemnian deeds."
    When the Pelasgians had thus slain their children and their women,
the earth refused to bring forth its fruits for them, and their
wives bore fewer children, and their flocks and herds increased more
slowly than before, till at last, sore pressed by famine and
bereavement, they sent men to Delphi, and begged the god to tell
them how they might obtain deliverance from their sufferings. The
Pythoness answered that "they must give the Athenians whatever
satisfaction they might demand." Then the Pelasgians went to Athens
and declared their wish to give the Athenians satisfaction for the
wrong which they had done to them. So the Athenians had a couch
prepared in their townhall, and adorned it with the fairest coverlets,
and set by its side a table laden with all manner of good things,
and then told the Pelasgians they must deliver up their country to
them in a similar condition. The Pelasgians answered and said, "When a
ship comes with a north wind from your country to ours in a single
day, then will we give it up to you." This they said because they knew
that what they required was impossible, for Attica lies a long way
to the south of Lemnos.
    No more passed at that time. But very many years afterwards,
when the Hellespontian Chersonese had been brought under the power
of Athens, Miltiades, the son of Cimon, sailed, during the
prevalence of the Etesian winds, from Elaeus in the Chersonese to
Lemnos, and called on the Pelasgians to quit their island, reminding
them of the prophecy which they had supposed it impossible to
fulfil. The people of Hephaestia obeyed the call; but they of
Myrina, not acknowledging the Chersonese to be any part of Attica,
refused and were besieged and brought over by force. Thus was Lemnos
gained by the Athenians and Miltiades.
                      The Seventh Book, Entitled
                               POLYMNIA

    Now when tidings of the battle that had been fought at Marathon
reached the ears of King Darius, the son of Hystaspes, his anger
against the Athenians, which had been already roused by their attack
upon Sardis, waxed still fiercer, and he became more than ever eager
to lead an army against Greece. Instantly he sent off messengers to
make proclamation through the several states that fresh levies were to
be raised, and these at an increased rate; while ships, horses,
provisions, and transports were likewise to be furnished. So the men
published his commands; and now all Asia was in commotion by the space
of three years, while everywhere, as Greece was to be attacked, the
best and bravest were enrolled for the service, and had to make
their preparations accordingly.
    After this, in the fourth year, the Egyptians whom Cambyses had
enslaved revolted from the Persians; whereupon Darius was more hot for
war than ever, and earnestly desired to march an army against both
adversaries.
    Now, as he was about to lead forth his levies against Egypt and
Athens, a fierce contention for the sovereign power arose among his
sons; since the law of the Persians was that a king must not go out
with his army, until he has appointed one to succeed him upon the
throne. Darius, before he obtained the kingdom, had had three sons
born to him from his former wife, who was a daughter of Gobryas;
while, since he began to reign, Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, had
borne him four. Artabazanes was the eldest of the first family, and
Xerxes of the second. These two, therefore, being the sons of
different mothers, were now at variance. Artabazanes claimed the crown
as the eldest of all the children, because it was an established
custom all over the world for the eldest to have the pre-eminence;
while Xerxes, on the other hand, urged that he was sprung from Atossa,
the daughter of Cyrus, and that it was Cyrus who had won the
Persians their freedom.
    Before Darius had pronounced on the matter, it happened that
Demaratus, the son of Ariston, who had been deprived of his crown at
Sparta, and had afterwards, of his own accord, gone into banishment,
came up to Susa, and there heard of the quarrel of the princes.
Hereupon, as report says, he went to Xerxes, and advised him, in
addition to all that he had urged before, to plead- that at the time
when he was born Darius was already king, and bore rule over the
Persians; but when Artabazanes came into the world, he was a mere
private person. It would therefore be neither right nor seemly that
the crown should go to another in preference to himself. "For at
Sparta," said Demaratus, byway of suggestion, "the law is that if a
king has sons before he comes to the throne, and another son is born
to him afterwards, the child so born is heir to his father's kingdom."
Xerxes followed this counsel, and Darius, persuaded that he had
justice on his side, appointed him his successor. For my own part I
believe that, even without this, the crown would have gone to
Xerxes; for Atossa was all-powerful.
    Darius, when he had thus appointed Xerxes his heir, was minded
to lead forth his armies; but he was prevented by death while his
preparations were still proceeding. He died in the year following
the revolt of Egypt and the matters here related, after having reigned
in all six-and-thirty years, leaving the revolted Egyptians and the
Athenians alike unpunished. At his death the kingdom passed to his son
Xerxes.
    Now Xerxes, on first mounting the throne, was coldly disposed
towards the Grecian war, and made it his business to collect an army
against Egypt. But Mardonius, the son of Gobryas, who was at the
court, and had more influence with him than any of the other Persians,
being his own cousin, the child of a sister of Darius, plied him
with discourses like the following:-
    "Master, it is not fitting that they of Athens escape scot-free,
after doing the Persians such great injury. Complete the work which
thou hast now in hand, and then, when the pride of Egypt is brought
low, lead an army against Athens. So shalt thou thyself have good
report among men, and others shall fear hereafter to attack thy
country."
    Thus far it was of vengeance that he spoke; but sometimes he would
vary the theme, and observe by the way, "that Europe was a wondrous
beautiful region, rich in all kinds of cultivated trees, and the
soil excellent: no one, save the king, was worthy to own such a land."
    All this he said, because he longed for adventures, and hoped to
become satrap of Greece under the king; and after a while he had his
way, and persuaded Xerxes to do according to his desires. Other
things, however, occurring about the same time, helped his
persuasions. For, in the first place, it chanced that messengers
arrived from Thessaly, sent by the Aleuadae, Thessalian kings, to
invite Xerxes into Greece, and to promise him all the assistance which
it was in their power to give. And further, the Pisistratidae, who had
come up to Susa, held the same language as the Aleuadae, and worked
upon him even more than they, by means of Onomacritus of Athens, an
oracle-monger, and the same who set forth the prophecies of Musaeus in
their order. The Pisistratidae had previously been at enmity with this
man, but made up the quarrel before they removed to Susa. He was
banished from Athens by Hipparchus, the son of Pisistratus, because he
foisted into the writings of Musaeus a prophecy that the islands which
lie off Lemnos would one day disappear in the sea. Lasus of Hermione
caught him in the act of so doing. For this cause Hipparchus
banished him, though till then they had been the closest of friends.
Now, however, he went up to Susa with the sons of Pisistratus, and
they talked very grandly of him to the king; while he, for his part,
whenever he was in the king's company, repeated to him certain of
the oracles; and while he took care to pass over all that spoke of
disaster to the barbarians, brought forward the passages which
promised them the greatest success. "'Twas fated," he told Xerxes,
"that a Persian should bridge the Hellespont, and march an army from
Asia into Greece." While Onomacritus thus plied Xerxes with his
oracles, the Pisistratidae and Aleuadae did not cease to press on
him their advice, till at last the king yielded, and agreed to lead
forth an expedition.
    First, however, in the year following the death of Darius, he
marched against those who had revolted from him; and having reduced
them, and laid all Egypt under a far harder yoke than ever his
father had put upon it, he gave the government to Achaeamenes, who was
his own brother, and son to Darius. This Achaeamenes was afterwards
slain in his government by Inaros, the son of Psammetichus, a Libyan.
    (SS 1.) After Egypt was subdued, Xerxes, being about to take in
hand the expedition against Athens, called together an assembly of the
noblest Persians to learn their opinions, and to lay before them his
own designs. So, when the men were met, the king spake thus to them:-
    "Persians, I shall not be the first to bring in among you a new
custom- I shall but follow one which has come down to us from our
forefathers. Never yet, as our old men assure me, has our race reposed
itself, since the time when Cyrus overcame Astyages, and so we
Persians wrested the sceptre from the Medes. Now in all this God
guides us; and we, obeying his guidance, prosper greatly. What need
have I to tell you of the deeds of Cyrus and Cambyses, and my own
father Darius, how many nations they conquered, and added to our
dominions? Ye know right well what great things they achieved. But for
myself, I will say that, from the day on which I mounted the throne, I
have not ceased to consider by what means I may rival those who have
preceded me in this post of honour, and increase the power of Persia
as much as any of them. And truly I have pondered upon this, until
at last I have found out a way whereby we may at once win glory, and
likewise get possession of a land which is as large and as rich as our
own nay, which is even more varied in the fruits it bears- while at
the same time we obtain satisfaction and revenge. For this cause I
have now called you together, that I may make known to you what I
design to do. (SS 2.) My intent is to throw a bridge over the
Hellespont and march an army through Europe against Greece, that
thereby I may obtain vengeance from the Athenians for the wrongs
committed by them against the Persians and against my father. Your own
eyes saw the preparations of Darius against these men; but death
came upon him, and balked his hopes of revenge. In his behalf,
therefore, and in behalf of all the Persians, I undertake the war, and
pledge myself not to rest till I have taken and burnt Athens, which
has dared, unprovoked, to injure me and my father. Long since they
came to Asia with Aristagoras of Miletus, who was one of our slaves,
and, entering Sardis, burnt its temples and its sacred groves;
again, more lately, when we made a landing upon their coast under
Datis and Artaphernes, how roughly they handled us ye do not need to
be told. (SS 3.) For these reasons, therefore, I am bent upon this
war; and I see likewise therewith united no few advantages. Once let
us subdue this people, and those neighbours of theirs who hold the
land of Pelops the Phrygian, and we shall extend the Persian territory
as far as God's heaven reaches. The sun will then shine on no land
beyond our borders; for I will pass through Europe from one end to the
other, and with your aid make of all the lands which it contains one
country. For thus, if what I hear be true, affairs stand: the
nations whereof I have spoken, once swept away, there is no city, no
country left in all the world, which will venture so much as to
withstand us in arms. By this course then we shall bring all mankind
under our yoke, alike those who are guilty and those who are
innocent of doing us wrong. (SS 4.) For yourselves, if you wish to
please me, do as follows: when I announce the time for the army to
meet together, hasten to the muster with a good will, every one of
you; and know that to the man who brings with him the most gallant
array I will give the gifts which our people consider the most
honourable. This then is what ye have to do. But to show that I am not
self-willed in this matter, I lay the business before you, and give
you full leave to speak your minds upon it openly."
    Xerxes, having so spoken, held his peace.
    (SS 1.) Whereupon Mardonius took the word, and said: "Of a
truth, my lord, thou dost surpass, not only all living Persians, but
likewise those yet unborn. Most true and right is each word that
thou hast now uttered; but best of all thy resolve not to let the
Ionians who live in Europe- a worthless crew- mock us any more. It
were indeed a monstrous thing if, after conquering and enslaving the
Sacae, the Indians, the Ethiopians, the Assyrians, and many other
mighty nations, not for any wrong that they had done us, but only to
increase our empire, we should then allow the Greeks, who have done us
such wanton injury, to escape our vengeance. What is it that we fear
in them?- not surely their numbers?- not the greatness of their
wealth? We know the manner of their battle- we know how weak their
power is; already have we subdued their children who dwell in our
country, the Ionians, Aeolians, and Dorians. I myself have had
experience of these men when I marched against them by the orders of
thy father; and though I went as far as Macedonia, and came but a
little short of reaching Athens itself, yet not a soul ventured to
come out against me to battle. (SS 2.) And yet, I am told, these
very Greeks are wont to wage wars against one another in the most
foolish way, through sheer perversity and doltishness. For no sooner
is war proclaimed than they search out the smoothest and fairest plain
that is to be found in all the land, and there they assemble and
fight; whence it comes to pass that even the conquerors depart with
great loss: I say nothing of the conquered, for they are destroyed
altogether. Now surely, as they are all of one speech, they ought to
interchange heralds and messengers, and make up their differences by
any means rather than battle; or, at the worst, if they must needs
fight one against another, they ought to post themselves as strongly
as possible, and so try their quarrels. But, notwithstanding that they
have so foolish a manner of warfare, yet these Greeks, when I led my
army against them to the very borders of Macedonia, did not so much as
think of offering me battle. (SS 3.) Who then will dare, O king! to
meet thee in arms, when thou comest with all Asia's warriors at thy
back, and with all her ships? For my part I do not believe the Greek
people will be so foolhardy. Grant, however, that I am mistaken
herein, and that they are foolish enough to meet us in open fight;
in that case they will learn that there are no such soldiers in the
whole world as we. Nevertheless let us spare no pains; for nothing
comes without trouble; but all that men acquire is got by
painstaking."
    When Mardonius had in this way softened the harsh speech of
Xerxes, he too held his peace.
    (SS 1.) The other Persians were silent; all feared to raise
their voice against the plan proposed to them. But Artabanus, the
son of Hystaspes, and uncle of Xerxes, trusting to his relationship,
was bold to speak:- "O king!" he said, "it is impossible, if no more
than one opinion is uttered, to make choice of the best: a man is
forced then to follow whatever advice may have been given him; but
if opposite speeches are delivered, then choice can be exercised. In
like manner pure gold is not recognised by itself; but when we test it
along with baser ore, we perceive which is the better. I counselled
thy father, Darius, who was my own brother, not to attack the
Scyths, a race of people who had no town in their whole land. He
thought however to subdue those wandering tribes, and would not listen
to me, but marched an army against them, and ere he returned home lost
many of his bravest warriors. Thou art about, O king! to attack a
people far superior to the Scyths, a people distinguished above others
both by land and sea. 'Tis fit therefore that I should tell thee
what danger thou incurrest hereby. (SS 2.) Thou sayest that thou
wilt bridge the Hellespont, and lead thy troops through Europe against
Greece. Now suppose some disaster befall thee by land or sea, or by
both. It may be even so; for the men are reputed valiant. Indeed one
may measure their prowess from what they have already done; for when
Datis and Artaphernes led their huge army against Attica, the
Athenians singly defeated them. But grant they are not successful on
both elements. Still, if they man their ships, and, defeating us by
sea, sail to the Hellespont, and there destroy our bridge- that, sire,
were a fearful hazard. (SS 3.) And here 'tis not by my own mother
wit alone that I conjecture what will happen; but I remember how
narrowly we escaped disaster once, when thy father, after throwing
bridges over the Thracian Bosphorus and the Ister, marched against the
Scythians, and they tried every sort of prayer to induce the
Ionians, who had charge of the bridge over the Ister, to break the
passage. On that day, if Histiaeus, the king of Miletus, had sided
with the other princes, and not set himself to oppose their views, the
empire of the Persians would have come to nought. Surely a dreadful
thing is this even to hear said, that the king's fortunes depended
wholly on one man.
    (SS 4.) "Think then no more of incurring so great a danger when no
need presses, but follow the advice I tender. Break up this meeting,
and when thou hast well considered the matter with thyself, and
settled what thou wilt do, declare to us thy resolve. I know not of
aught in the world that so profits a man as taking good counsel with
himself; for even if things fall out against one's hopes, still one
has counselled well, though fortune has made the counsel of none
effect: whereas if a man counsels ill and luck follows, he has
gotten a windfall, but his counsel is none the less silly. (SS 5.)
Seest thou how God with his lightning smites always the bigger
animals, and will not suffer them to wax insolent, while those of a
lesser bulk chafe him not? How likewise his bolts fall ever on the
highest houses and the tallest trees? So plainly does He love to bring
down everything that exalts itself. Thus ofttimes a mighty host is
discomfited by a few men, when God in his jealousy sends fear or storm
from heaven, and they perish in a way unworthy of them. For God allows
no one to have high thoughts but Himself. (SS 6.) Again, hurry
always brings about disasters, from which huge sufferings are wont
to arise; but in delay lie many advantages, not apparent (it may be)
at first sight, but such as in course of time are seen of all. Such
then is my counsel to thee, O king!
    (SS 7.) "And thou, Mardonius, son of Gobryas, forbear to speak
foolishly concerning the Greeks, who are men that ought not to be
lightly esteemed by us. For while thou revilest the Greeks, thou
dost encourage the king to lead his own troops against them; and this,
as it seems to me, is what thou art specially striving to
accomplish. Heaven send thou succeed not to thy wish! For slander is
of all evils the most terrible. In it two men do wrong, and one man
has wrong done to him. The slanderer does wrong, forasmuch as he
abuses a man behind his back; and the hearer, forasmuch as he believes
what he has not searched into thoroughly. The man slandered in his
absence suffers wrong at the hands of both: for one brings against him
a false charge; and the other thinks him an evildoer. (SS 8.) If,
however, it must needs be that we go to war with this people, at least
allow the king to abide at home in Persia. Then let thee and me both
stake our children on the issue, and do thou choose out thy men,
and, taking with thee whatever number of troops thou likest, lead
forth our armies to battle. If things go well for the king, as thou
sayest they will, let me and my children be put to death; but if
they fall out as I prophesy, let thy children suffer, and thyself too,
if thou shalt come back alive. But shouldest thou refuse this wager,
and still resolve to march an army against Greece, sure I am that some
of those whom thou leavest behind thee here will one day receive the
sad tidings that Mardonius has brought a great disaster upon the
Persian people, and lies a prey to dogs and birds somewhere in the
land of the Athenians, or else in that of the Lacedaemonians; unless
indeed thou shalt have perished sooner by the way, experiencing in thy
own person the might of those men on whom thou wouldest fain induce
the king to make war."
    Thus spake Artabanus. But Xerxes, full of wrath, replied to him:-
    "Artabanus, thou art my father's brother- that shall save thee
from receiving the due meed of thy silly words. One shame however I
will lay upon thee, coward and faint-hearted as thou art- thou shalt
not come with me to fight these Greeks, but shalt tarry here with
the women. Without thy aid I will accomplish all of which I spake. For
let me not be thought the child of Darius, the son of Hystaspes, the
son of Arsames, the son of Ariaramnes, the son of Teispes, the son
of Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, the son of Teispes, the son of
Achaemenes, if I take not vengeance on the Athenians. Full well I know
that, were we to remain at rest, yet would not they, but would most
certainly invade our country, if at least it be right to judge from
what they have already done; for, remember, it was they who fired
Sardis and attacked Asia. So now retreat is on both sides
impossible, and the choice lies between doing and suffering injury;
either our empire must pass under the dominion of the Greeks, or their
land become the prey of the Persians; for there is no middle course
left in this quarrel. It is right then that we, who have in times past
received wrong, should now avenge it, and that I should thereby
discover what that great risk is which I run in marching against these
men- men whom Pelops the Phrygian, a vassal of my forefathers, subdued
so utterly, that to this day both the land, and the people who dwell
therein, alike bear the name of the conqueror!"
    Thus far did the speaking proceed. Afterwards evening fell; and
Xerxes began to find the advice of Artabanus greatly disquiet him.
So he thought upon it during the night, and concluded at last that
it was not for his advantage to lead an army into Greece. When he
had thus made up his mind anew, he fell asleep. And now he saw in
the night, as the Persians declare, a vision of this nature- he
thought a tall and beautiful man stood over him and said, "Hast thou
then changed thy mind, Persian, and wilt thou not lead forth thy
host against the Greeks, after commanding the Persians to gather
together their levies? Be sure thou doest not well to change; nor is
there a man here who will approve thy conduct. The course that thou
didst determine on during the day, let that be followed." After thus
speaking the man seemed to Xerxes to fly away.
    Day dawned; and the king made no account of this dream, but called
together the same Persians as before, and spake to them as follows:-
    "Men of Persia, forgive me if I alter the resolve to which I
came so lately. Consider that I have not yet reached to the full
growth of my wisdom, and that they who urge me to engage in this war
leave me not to myself for a moment. When I heard the advice of
Artabanus, my young blood suddenly boiled; and I spake words against
him little befitting his years: now however I confess my fault, and am
resolved to follow his counsel. Understand then that I have changed my
intent with respect to carrying war into Greece, and cease to
trouble yourselves."
    When they heard these words, the Persians were full of joy, and,
falling down at the feet of Xerxes, made obeisance to him.
    But when night came, again the same vision stood over Xerxes as he
slept, and said, "Son of Darius, it seems thou hast openly before
all the Persians renounced the expedition, making light of my words,
as though thou hadst not heard them spoken. Know therefore and be well
assured, that unless thou go forth to the war, this thing shall happen
unto thee thou art grown mighty and puissant in a short space, so
likewise shalt thou within a little time be brought low indeed."
    Then Xerxes, greatly frightened at the vision which he had seen,
sprang from his couch, and sent a messenger to call Artabanus, who
came at the summons, when Xerxes spoke to him in these words:-
    "Artabanus, at the moment I acted foolishly, when I gave thee
ill words in return for thy good advice. However it was not long ere I
repented, and was convinced that thy counsel was such as I ought to
follow. But I may not now act in this way, greatly as I desire to do
so. For ever since I repented and changed my mind a dream has
haunted me, which disapproves my intentions, and has now just gone
from me with threats. Now if this dream is sent to me from God, and if
it is indeed his will that our troops should march against Greece,
thou too wilt have the same dream come to thee and receive the same
commands as myself. And this will be most sure to happen, I think,
if thou puttest on the dress which I am wont to wear, and then,
after taking thy seat upon my throne, liest down to sleep on my bed."
    Such were the words of Xerxes. Artabanus would not at first
yield to the command of the king; for he deemed himself unworthy to
sit upon the royal throne. At the last however he was forced to give
way, and did as Xerxes bade him; but first he spake thus to the king
(SS 1.):-
    "To me, sire, it seems to matter little whether a man is wise
himself or willing to hearken to such as give good advice. In thee
truly are found both but the counsels of evil men lead thee astray:
they are like the gales of wind which vex the sea- else the most
useful thing for man in the whole world- and suffer it not to follow
the bent of its own nature. For myself, it irked me not so much to
be reproached by thee, as to observe that when two courses were placed
before the Persian people, one of a nature to increase their pride,
the other to humble it, by showing them how hurtful it is to allow
one's heart always to covet more than one at present possesses, thou
madest choice of that which was the worse both for thyself and for the
Persians. (SS 2.) Now thou sayest that from the time when thou didst
approve the better course, and give up the thought of warring
against Greece, a dream has haunted thee, sent by some god or other,
which will not suffer thee to lay aside the expedition. But such
things, my son, have of a truth nothing divine in them. The dreams
that wander to and fro among mankind, I will tell thee of what
nature they are- I who have seen so many more years than thou.
Whatever a man has been thinking of during the day is wont to hover
round him in the visions of his dreams at night. Now we during these
many days past have had our hands full of this enterprise. (SS 3.)
If however the matter be not as I suppose, but God has indeed some
part therein, thou hast in brief declared the whole that can be said
concerning it- let it e'en appear to me as it has to thee, and lay
on me the same injunctions. But it ought not to appear to me any the
more if I put on thy clothes than if I wear my own, nor if I go to
sleep in thy bed than if I do so in mine- supposing, I mean, that it
is about to appear at all. For this thing, be it what it may, that
visits thee in thy sleep, surely is not so far gone in folly as to see
me, and because I am dressed in thy clothes, straightway to mistake me
for thee. Now however our business is to see if it will regard me as
of small account, and not vouchsafe to appear to me, whether I wear
mine own clothes or thine, while it keeps on haunting thee
continually. If it does so, and appears often, I should myself say
that it was from God. For the rest, if thy mind is fixed, and it is
not possible to turn thee from thy design, but I must needs go and
sleep in thy bed, well and good, let it be even so; and when I have
done as thou wishest, then let the dream appear to me. Till such time,
however, I shall keep to my former opinion."
    Thus spake Artabanus; and when he had so said, thinking to show
Xerxes that his words were nought, he did according to his orders.
Having put on the garments which Xerxes was wont to wear and taken his
seat upon the royal throne, he lay down to sleep upon the king's own
bed. As he slept, there appeared to him the very same dream which
had been seen by Xerxes; it came and stood over Artabanus, and said:-
    "Thou art the man, then, who, feigning to be tender of Xerxes,
seekest to dissuade him from leading his armies against the Greeks!
But thou shalt not escape scathless, either now or in time to come,
because thou hast sought to prevent that which is fated to happen.
As for Xerxes, it has been plainly told to himself what will befall
him, if he refuses to perform my bidding."
    In such words, as Artabanus thought, the vision threatened him,
and then endeavoured to burn out his eyes with red-hot irons. At
this he shrieked, and, leaping from his couch, hurried to Xerxes, and,
sitting down at his side, gave him a full account of the vision; after
which he went on to speak in the words which follow:-
    "I, O King! am a man who have seen many mighty empires
overthrown by weaker ones; and therefore it was that I sought to
hinder thee from being quite carried away by thy youth; since I knew
how evil a thing it is to covet more than one possesses. I could
remember the expedition of Cyrus against the Massagetae, and what
was the issue of it; I could recollect the march of Cambyses against
the Ethiops; I had taken part in the attack of Darius upon the
Scyths-bearing therefore all these things in mind, I thought with
myself that if thou shouldst remain at peace, all men would deem
thee fortunate. But as this impulse has plainly come from above, and a
heaven-sent destruction seems about to overtake the Greeks, behold,
I change to another mind, and alter my thoughts upon the matter. Do
thou therefore make known to the Persians what the god has declared,
and bid them follow the orders which were first given, and prepare
their levies. Be careful to act so that the bounty of the god may
not be hindered by slackness on thy part."
    Thus spake these two together; and Xerxes, being in good heart
on account of the vision, when day broke, laid all before the
Persians; while Artabanus, who had formerly been the only person
openly to oppose the expedition, now showed as openly that he favoured
it.
    After Xerxes had thus determined to go forth to the war, there
appeared to him in his sleep yet a third vision. The Magi were
consulted upon it, and said that its meaning reached to the whole
earth, and that all mankind would become his servants. Now the
vision which the king saw was this: he dreamt that he was crowned with
a branch of an olive tree, and that boughs spread out from the olive
branch and covered the whole earth; then suddenly the garland, as it
lay upon his brow, vanished. So when the Magi had thus interpreted the
vision, straightway all the Persians who were come together departed
to their several governments, where each displayed the greatest
zeal, on the faith of the king's offers. For all hoped to obtain for
themselves the gifts which had been promised. And so Xerxes gathered
together his host, ransacking every corner of the continent.
    Reckoning from the recovery of Egypt, Xerxes spent four full years
in collecting his host and making ready all things that were needful
for his soldiers. It was not till the close of the fifth year that
he set forth on his march, accompanied by a mighty multitude. For of
all the armaments whereof any mention has reached us, this was by
far the greatest; insomuch that no other expedition compared to this
seems of any account, neither that which Darius undertook against
the Scythians, nor the expedition of the Scythians (which the attack
of Darius was designed to avenge), when they, being in pursuit of
the Cimmerians, fell upon the Median territory, and subdued and held
for a time almost the whole of Upper Asia; nor, again, that of the
Atridae against Troy, of which we hear in story; nor that of the
Mysians and Teucrians, which was still earlier, wherein these
nations crossed the Bosphorus into Europe, and, after conquering all
Thrace, pressed forward till they came to the Ionian Sea, while
southward they reached as far as the river Peneus.
    All these expeditions, and others, if such there were, are as
nothing compared with this. For was there a nation in all Asia which
Xerxes did not bring with him against Greece? Or was there a river,
except those of unusual size, which sufficed for his troops to
drink? One nation furnished ships; another was arrayed among the
foot-soldiers; a third had to supply horses; a fourth, transports
for the horse and men likewise for the transport service; a fifth,
ships of war towards the bridges; a sixth, ships and provisions.
    And in the first place, because the former fleet had met with so
great a disaster about Athos, preparations were made, by the space
of about three years, in that quarter. A fleet of triremes lay at
Elaeus in the Chersonese; and from this station detachments were
sent by the various nations whereof the army was composed, which
relieved one another at intervals, and worked at a trench beneath
the lash of taskmasters; while the people dwelling about Athos bore
likewise a part in the labour. Two Persians, Bubares, the son of
Megabazus, and Artachaees, the son of Artaeus, superintended the
undertaking.
    Athos is a great and famous mountain, inhabited by men, and
stretching far out into the sea. Where the mountain ends towards the
mainland it forms a peninsula; and in this place there is a neck of
land about twelve furlongs across, the whole extent whereof, from
the sea of the Acanthians to that over against Torone, is a level
plain, broken only by a few low hills. Here, upon this isthmus where
Athos ends, is Sand, a Greek city. Inside of Sand, and upon Athos
itself, are a number of towns, which Xerxes was now employed in
disjoining from the continent: these are Dium, Olophyxus, Acrothoum,
Thyssus, and Cleonae. Among these cities Athos was divided.
    Now the manner in which they dug was the following: a line was
drawn across by the city of Sand; and along this the various nations
parcelled out among themselves the work to be done. When the trench
grew deep, the workmen at the bottom continued to dig, while others
handed the earth, as it was dug out, to labourers placed higher up
upon ladders, and these taking it, passed it on farther, till it
came at last to those at the top, who carried it off and emptied it
away. All the other nations, therefore, except the Phoenicians, had
double labour; for the sides of the trench fell in continually, as
could not but happen, since they made the width no greater at the
top than it was required to be at the bottom. But the Phoenicians
showed in this the skill which they are wont to exhibit in all their
undertakings. For in the portion of the work which was allotted to
them they began by making the trench at the top twice as wide as the
prescribed measure, and then as they dug downwards approached the
sides nearer and nearer together, so that when they reached the bottom
their part of the work was of the same width as the rest. In a
meadow near, there was a place of assembly and a market; and hither
great quantities of corn, ready ground, were brought from Asia.
    It seems to me, when I consider this work, that Xerxes, in
making it, was actuated by a feeling of pride, wishing to display
the extent of his power, and to leave a memorial behind him to
posterity. For notwithstanding that it was open to him, with no
trouble at all, to have had his ships drawn across the isthmus, yet he
issued orders that a canal should be made through which the sea
might flow, and that it should be of such a width as would allow of
two triremes passing through it abreast with the oars in action. He
likewise gave to the same persons who were set over the digging of the
trench, the task of making a bridge across the river Strymon.
    While these things were in progress, he was having cables prepared
for his bridges, some of papyrus and some of white flax, a business
which he entrusted to the Phoenicians and the Egyptians. He likewise
laid up stores of provisions in divers places, to save the army and
the beasts of burthen from suffering want upon their march into
Greece. He inquired carefully about all the sites, and had the
stores laid up in such as were most convenient, causing them to be
brought across from various parts of Asia and in various ways, some in
transports and others in merchantmen. The greater portion was
carried to Leuce-Acte, upon the Thracian coast; some part, however,
was conveyed to Tyrodiza, in the country of the Perinthians, some to
Doriscus, some to Eion upon the Strymon, and some to Macedonia.
    During the time that all these labours were in progress, the
land army which had been collected was marching with Xerxes towards
Sardis, having started from Critalla in Cappadocia. At this spot all
the host which was about to accompany the king in his passage across
the continent had been bidden to assemble. And here I have it not in
my power to mention which of the satraps was adjudged to have
brought his troops in the most gallant array, and on that account
rewarded by the king according to his promise; for I do not know
whether this matter ever came to a judgment. But it is certain that
the host of Xerxes, after crossing the river Halys, marched through
Phrygia till it reached the city of Celaenae. Here are the sources
of the river Maeander, and likewise of another stream of no less size,
which bears the name of Catarrhactes (or the Cataract); the last-named
river has its rise in the market-place of Celaenae, and empties itself
into the Maeander. Here, too, in this market-place, is hung up to view
the skin of the Silenus Marsyas, which Apollo, as the Phrygian story
goes, stripped off and placed there.
    Now there lived in this city a certain Pythius, the son of Atys, a
Lydian. This man entertained Xerxes and his whole army in a most
magnificent fashion, offering at the same time to give him a sum of
money for the war. Xerxes, upon the mention of money, turned to the
Persians who stood by, and asked of them, "Who is this Pythius, and
what wealth has he, that he should venture on such an offer as
this?" They answered him, "This is the man, O king! who gave thy
father Darius the golden plane-tree, and likewise the golden vine; and
he is still the wealthiest man we know of in all the world,
excepting thee."
    Xerxes marvelled at these last words; and now, addressing
Pythius with his own lips, he asked him what the amount of his
wealth really was. Pythius answered as follows:-
    "O king! I will not hide this matter from thee, nor make
pretence that I do not know how rich I am; but as I know perfectly,
I will declare all fully before thee. For when thy journey was
noised abroad, and I heard thou wert coming down to the Grecian coast,
straightway, as I wished to give thee a sum of money for the war, I
made count of my stores, and found them to be two thousand talents
of silver, and of gold four millions of Daric staters, wanting seven
thousand. All this I willingly make over to thee as a gift; and when
it is gone, my slaves and my estates in land will be wealth enough for
my wants."
    This speech charmed Xerxes, and he replied, "Dear Lydian, since
I left Persia there is no man but thou who has either desired to
entertain my army, or come forward of his own free will to offer me
a sum of money for the war. Thou hast done both the one and the other,
feasting my troops magnificently, and now making offer of a right
noble sum. In return, this is what I will bestow on thee. Thou shalt
be my sworn friend from this day; and the seven thousand staters which
are wanting to make up thy four millions I will supply, so that the
full tale may be no longer lacking, and that thou mayest owe the
completion of the round sum to me. Continue to enjoy all that thou
hast acquired hitherto; and be sure to remain ever such as thou now
art. If thou dost, thou wilt not repent of it so long as thy life
endures."
    When Xerxes had so spoken and had made good his promises to
Pythius, he pressed forward upon his march; and passing Anaua, a
Phrygian city, and a lake from which salt is gathered, he came to
Colossae, a Phrygian city of great size, situated at a spot where
the river Lycus plunges into a chasm and disappears. This river, after
running under ground a distance of about five furlongs, reappears once
more, and empties itself, like the stream above mentioned, into the
Maeander. Leaving Colossae, the army approached the borders of Phrygia
where it abuts on Lydia; and here they came to a city called
Cydrara, where was a pillar set up by Croesus, having an inscription
on it, showing the boundaries of the two countries.
    Where it quits Phrygia and enters Lydia the road separates; the
way on the left leads into Caria, while that on the right conducts
to Sardis. If you follow this route, you must cross the Maeander,
and then pass by the city Callatebus, where the men live who make
honey out of wheat and the fruit of the tamarisk. Xerxes, who chose
this way, found here a plane-tree so beautiful, that he presented it
with golden ornaments, and put it under the care of one of his
Immortals. The day after, he entered the Lydian capital.
    Here his first care was to send off heralds into Greece, who
were to prefer a demand for earth and water, and to require that
preparations should be made everywhere to feast the king. To Athens
indeed and to Sparta he sent no such demand; but these cities
excepted, his messengers went everywhere. Now the reason why he sent
for earth and water to states which had already refused was this: he
thought that although they had refused when Darius made the demand,
they would now be too frightened to venture to say him nay. So he sent
his heralds, wishing to know for certain how it would be.
    Xerxes, after this, made preparations to advance to Abydos,
where the bridge across the Hellespont from Asia to Europe was
lately finished. Midway between Sestos and Madytus in the
Hellespontine Chersonese, and right over against Abydos, there is a
rocky tongue of land which runs out for some distance into the sea.
This is the place where no long time afterwards the Greeks under
Xanthippus, the son of Ariphron, took Artayctes the Persian, who was
at that time governor of Sestos, and nailed him living to a plank.
He was the Artayctes who brought women into the temple of
Protesilaus at Elaeus, and there was guilty of most unholy deeds.
    Towards this tongue of land then, the men to whom the business was
assigned carried out a double bridge from Abydos; and while the
Phoenicians constructed one line with cables of white flax, the
Egyptians in the other used ropes made of papyrus. Now it is seven
furlongs across from Abydos to the opposite coast. When, therefore,
the channel had been bridged successfully, it happened that a great
storm arising broke the whole work to pieces, and destroyed all that
had been done.
    So when Xerxes heard of it he was full of wrath, and straightway
gave orders that the Hellespont should receive three hundred lashes,
and that a pair of fetters should be cast into it. Nay, I have even
heard it said that he bade the branders take their irons and therewith
brand the Hellespont. It is certain that he commanded those who
scourged the waters to utter, as they lashed them, these barbarian and
wicked words: "Thou bitter water, thy lord lays on thee this
punishment because thou hast wronged him without a cause, having
suffered no evil at his hands. Verily King Xerxes will cross thee,
whether thou wilt or no. Well dost thou deserve that no man should
honour thee with sacrifice; for thou art of a truth a treacherous
and unsavoury river." While the sea was thus punished by his orders,
he likewise commanded that the overseers of the work should lose their
heads.
    Then they, whose business it was, executed the unpleasing task
laid upon them; and other master-builders were set over the work,
who accomplished it in the way which I will now describe.
    They joined together triremes and penteconters, 360 to support the
bridge on the side of the Euxine Sea, and 314 to sustain the other;
and these they placed at right angles to the sea, and in the direction
of the current of the Hellespont, relieving by these means the tension
of the shore cables. Having joined the vessels, they moored them
with anchors of unusual size, that the vessels of the bridge towards
the Euxine might resist the winds which blow from within the
straits, and that those of the more western bridge facing the Egean
might withstand the winds which set in from the south and from the
south-east. A gap was left in the penteconters in no fewer than
three places, to afford a passage for such light craft as chose to
enter or leave the Euxine. When all this was done, they made the
cables taut from the shore by the help of wooden capstans. This
time, moreover, instead of using the two materials separately, they
assigned to each bridge six cables, two of which were of white flax,
while four were of papyrus. Both cables were of the same size and
quality; but the flaxen were the heavier, weighing not less than a
talent the cubit. When the bridge across the channel was thus
complete, trunks of trees were sawn into planks, which were out to the
width of the bridge, and these were laid side by side upon the
tightened cables, and then fastened on the top. This done, brushwood
was brought, and arranged upon the planks, after which earth was
heaped upon the brushwood, and the whole trodden down into a solid
mass. Lastly a bulwark was set up on either side of this causeway,
of such a height as to prevent the sumpter-beasts and the horses
from seeing over it and taking fright at the water.
    And now when all was prepared- the bridges, and the works at
Athos, the breakwaters about the mouths of the cutting, which were
made to hinder the surf from blocking up the entrances, and the
cutting itself; and when the news came to Xerxes that this last was
completely finished- then at length the host, having first wintered at
Sardis, began its march towards Abydos, fully equipped, on the first
approach of spring. At the moment of departure, the sun suddenly
quitted his seat in the heavens, and disappeared, though there were no
clouds in sight, but the sky was clear and serene. Day was thus turned
into night; whereupon Xerxes, who saw and remarked the prodigy, was
seized with alarm, and sending at once for the Magians, inquired of
them the meaning of the portent. They replied- "God is foreshowing
to the Greeks the destruction of their cities; for the sun foretells
for them, and the moon for us." So Xerxes, thus instructed,
proceeded on his way with great gladness of heart.
    The army had begun its march, when Pythius the Lydian,
affrighted at the heavenly portent, and emboldened by his gifts,
came to Xerxes and said- "Grant me, O my lord! a favour which is to
thee a light matter, but to me of vast account." Then Xerxes' who
looked for nothing less than such a prayer as Pythius in fact
preferred, engaged to grant him whatever he wished, and commanded
him to tell his wish freely. So Pythius, full of boldness, went on
to say:-
    "O my lord! thy servant has five sons; and it chances that all are
called upon to join thee in this march against Greece. I beseech thee,
have compassion upon my years; and let one of my sons, the eldest,
remain behind, to be my prop and stay, and the guardian of my
wealth. Take with thee the other four; and when thou hast done all
that is in thy heart, mayest thou come back in safety."
    But Xerxes was greatly angered, and replied to him: "Thou
wretch! darest thou speak to me of thy son, when I am myself on the
march against Greece, with sons, and brothers, and kinsfolk, and
friends? Thou, who art my bond-slave, and art in duty bound to
follow me with all thy household, not excepting thy wife! Know that
man's spirit dwelleth in his ears, and when it hears good things,
straightway it fills all his body with delight; but no sooner does
it hear the contrary than it heaves and swells with passion. As when
thou didst good deeds and madest good offers to me, thou wert not able
to boast of having outdone the king in bountifulness, so now when thou
art changed and grown impudent, thou shalt not receive all thy
deserts, but less. For thyself and four of thy five sons, the
entertainment which I had of thee shall gain protection; but as for
him to whom thou clingest above the rest, the forfeit of his life
shall be thy punishment." Having thus spoken, forthwith he commanded
those to whom such tasks were assigned to seek out the eldest of the
sons of Pythius, and having cut his body asunder, to place the two
halves. one on the right, the other on the left, of the great road, so
that the army might march out between them.
    Then the king's orders were obeyed; and the army marched out
between the two halves of the carcase. First of all went the
baggage-bearers, and the sumpter-beasts, and then a vast crowd of many
nations mingled together without any intervals, amounting to more than
one half of the army. After these troops an empty space was left, to
separate between them and the king. In front of the king went first
a thousand horsemen, picked men of the Persian nation- then spearmen a
thousand, likewise chosen troops, with their spearheads pointing
towards the ground- next ten of the sacred horses called Nisaean,
all daintily caparisoned. (Now these horses are called Nisaean,
because they come from the Nisaean plain, a vast flat in Media,
producing horses of unusual size.) After the ten sacred horses came
the holy chariot of Jupiter, drawn by eight milk-white steeds, with
the charioteer on foot behind them holding the reins; for no mortal is
ever allowed to mount into the car. Next to this came Xerxes
himself, riding in a chariot drawn by Nisaean horses, with his
charioteer, Patiramphes, the son of Otanes, a Persian, standing by his
side.
    Thus rode forth Xerxes from Sardis- but he was accustomed every
now and then, when the fancy took him, to alight from his chariot
and travel in a litter. Immediately behind the king there followed a
body of a thousand spearmen, the noblest and bravest of the
Persians, holding their lances in the usual manner- then came a
thousand Persian horse, picked men- then ten thousand, picked also
after the rest, and serving on foot. Of these last one thousand
carried spears with golden pomegranates at their lower end instead
of spikes; and these encircled the other nine thousand, who bore on
their spears pomegranates of silver. The spearmen too who pointed
their lances towards the ground had golden pomegranates; and the
thousand Persians who followed close after Xerxes had golden apples.
Behind the ten thousand footmen came a body of Persian cavalry,
likewise ten thousand; after which there was again a void space for as
much as two furlongs; and then the rest of the army followed in a
confused crowd.
    The march of the army, after leaving Lydia, was directed upon
the river Caicus and the land of Mysia. Beyond the Caius the road,
leaving Mount Cana upon the left, passed through the Atarnean plain,
to the city of Carina. Quitting this, the troops advanced across the
plain of Thebe, passing Adramyttium, and Antandrus, the Pelasgic city;
then, holding Mount Ida upon the left hand, it entered the Trojan
territory. On this march the Persians suffered some loss; for as
they bivouacked during the night at the foot of Ida, a storm of
thunder and lightning burst upon them, and killed no small number.
    On reaching the Scamander, which was the first stream, of all that
they had crossed since they left Sardis, whose water failed them and
did not suffice to satisfy the thirst of men and cattle, Xerxes
ascended into the Pergamus of Priam, since he had a longing to
behold the place. When he had seen everything, and inquired into all
particulars, he made an offering of a thousand oxen to the Trojan
Minerva, while the Magians poured libations to the heroes who were
slain at Troy. The night after, a panic fell upon the camp: but in the
morning they set off with daylight, and skirting on the left hand
the towns Rhoeteum, Ophryneum, and Dardanus (which borders on Abydos),
on the right the Teucrians of Gergis, so reached Abydos.
    Arrived here, Xerxes wished to look upon all his host; so as there
was a throne of white marble upon a hill near the city, which they
of Abydos had prepared beforehand, by the king's bidding, for his
especial use, Xerxes took his seat on it, and, gazing thence upon
the shore below, beheld at one view all his land forces and all his
ships. While thus employed, he felt a desire to behold a sailing-match
among his ships, which accordingly took place, and was won by the
Phoenicians of Sidon, much to the joy of Xerxes, who was delighted
alike with the race and with his army.
    And now, as he looked and saw the whole Hellespont covered with
the vessels of his fleet, and all the shore and every plain about
Abydos as full as possible of men, Xerxes congratulated himself on his
good fortune; but after a little while he wept.
    Then Artabanus, the king's uncle (the same who at the first so
freely spake his mind to the king, and advised him not to lead his
army against Greece), when he heard that Xerxes was in tears, went
to him, and said:-
    "How different, sire, is what thou art now doing, from what thou
didst a little while ago! Then thou didst congratulate thyself; and
now, behold! thou weepest."
    "There came upon me," replied he, "a sudden pity, when I thought
of the shortness of man's life, and considered that of all this
host, so numerous as it is, not one will be alive when a hundred years
are gone by."
    "And yet there are sadder things in life than that," returned
the other. "Short as our time is, there is no man, whether it be
here among this multitude or elsewhere, who is so happy, as not to
have felt the wish- I will not say once, but full many a time- that he
were dead rather than alive. Calamities fall upon us; sicknesses vex
and harass us, and make life, short though it be, to appear long. So
death, through the wretchedness of our life, is a most sweet refuge to
our race: and God, who gives us the tastes that we enjoy of pleasant
times, is seen, in his very gift, to be envious."
    "True," said Xerxes; "human life is even such as thou hast painted
it, O Artabanus! But for this very reason let us turn our thoughts
from it, and not dwell on what is so sad, when pleasant things are
in hand. Tell me rather, if the vision which we saw had not appeared
so plainly to thyself, wouldst thou have been still of the same mind
as formerly, and have continued to dissuade me from warring against
Greece, or wouldst thou at this time think differently? Come now, tell
me this honestly."
    "O king!" replied the other, "may the dream which hath appeared to
us have such issue as we both desire! For my own part, I am still full
of fear, and have scarcely power to control myself, when I consider
all our dangers, and especially when I see that the two things which
are of most consequence are alike opposed to thee."
    "Thou strange man!" said Xerxes in reply- "what, I pray thee,
are the two things thou speakest of? Does my land army seem to thee
too small in number, and will the Greeks, thinkest thou, bring into
the field a more numerous host? Or is it our fleet which thou
deemest weaker than theirs? Or art thou fearful on both accounts? If
in thy judgment we fall short in either respect, it were easy to bring
together with all speed another armament."
    "O king!" said Artabanus, "it is not possible that a man of
understanding should find fault with the size of thy army or the
number of thy ships. The more thou addest to these, the more hostile
will those two things, whereof I spake, become. Those two things are
the land and the sea. In all the wide sea there is not, I imagine,
anywhere a harbour large enough to receive thy vessels, in case a
storm arise, and afford them a sure protection. And yet thou wilt
want, not one such harbour only, but many in succession, along the
entire coast by which thou art about to make thy advance. In default
then of such harbours, it is well to bear in mind that chances rule
men, and not men chances. Such is the first of the two dangers; and
now I will speak to thee of the second. The land will also be thine
enemy; for if no one resists thy advance, as thou proceedest farther
and farther, insensibly allured onwards (for who is ever sated with
success?), thou wilt find it more and more hostile. I mean this, that,
should nothing else withstand thee, yet the mere distance, becoming
greater as time goes on, will at last produce a famine. Methinks it is
best for men, when they take counsel, to be timorous, and imagine
all possible calamities, but when the time for action comes, then to
deal boldly."
    Whereto Xerxes answered- "There is reason, O Artabanus! in
everything which thou hast said; but I pray thee, fear not all
things alike, nor count up every risk. For if in each matter that
comes before us thou wilt look to all possible chances, never wilt
thou achieve anything. Far better is it to have a stout heart
always, and suffer one's share of evils, than to be ever fearing
what may happen, and never incur a mischance. Moreover, if thou wilt
oppose whatever is said by others, without thyself showing us the sure
course which we ought to take, thou art as likely to lead us into
failure as they who advise differently; for thou art but on a par with
them. And as for that sure course, how canst thou show it us when thou
art but a man? I do not believe thou canst. Success for the most
part attends those who act boldly, not those who weigh everything, and
are slack to venture. Thou seest to how great a height the power of
Persia has now reached- never would it have grown to this point if
they who sate upon the throne before me had been like-minded with
thee, or even, though not like-minded, had listened to councillors
of such a spirit. 'Twas by brave ventures that they extended their
sway; for great empires can only be conquered by great risks. We
follow then the example of our fathers in making this march; and we
set forward at the best season of the year; so, when we have brought
Europe under us, we shall return, without suffering from want or
experiencing any other calamity. For while on the one hand we carry
vast stores of provisions with us, on the other we shall have the
grain of all the countries and nations that we attack; since our march
is not directed against a pastoral people, but against men who are
tillers of the ground."
    Then said Artabanus- "If, sire, thou art determined that we
shall not fear anything, at least hearken to a counsel which I wish to
offer; for when the matters in hand are so many, one cannot but have
much to say. Thou knowest that Cyrus the son of Cambyses reduced and
made tributary to the Persians all the race of the Ionians, except
only those of Attica. Now my advice is that thou on no account lead
forth these men against their fathers; since we are well able to
overcome them without such aid. Their choice, if we take them with
us to the war, lies between showing themselves the most wicked of
men by helping to enslave their fatherland, or the most righteous by
joining in the struggle to keep it free. If then they choose the
side of injustice, they will do us but scant good; while if they
determine to act justly, they may greatly injure our host. Lay thou to
heart the old proverb, which says truly, 'The beginning and end of a
matter are not always seen at once.'
    "Artabanus," answered Xerxes, "there is nothing in all that thou
hast said, wherein thou art so wholly wrong as in this, that thou
suspectest the faith of the Ionians. Have they not given us the surest
proof of their attachment- a proof which thou didst thyself witness,
and likewise all those who fought with Darius against the Scythians?
When it lay wholly with them to save or to destroy the entire
Persian army, they dealt by us honourably and with good faith, and did
us no hurt at all. Besides, they will leave behind them in our country
their wives, their children, and their properties- can it then be
conceived that they will attempt rebellion? Have no fear, therefore,
on this score; but keep a brave heart and uphold my house and
empire. To thee, and thee only, do I intrust my sovereignty."
    After Xerxes had thus spoken, and had sent Artabanus away to
return to Susa, he summoned before him all the Persians of most
repute, and when they appeared, addressed them in these words:-
    "Persians, I have brought you together because I wished to
exhort you to behave bravely, and not to sully with disgrace the
former achievements of the Persian people, which are very great and
famous. Rather let us one and all, singly and jointly, exert ourselves
to the uttermost; for the matter wherein we are engaged concerns the
common weal. Strain every nerve, then, I beseech you, in this war.
Brave warriors are the men we march against, if report says true;
and such that, if we conquer them, there is not a people in all the
world which will venture thereafter to with. stand our arms. And now
let us offer prayers to the gods who watch over the welfare of Persia,
and then cross the channel."
    All that day the preparations for the passage continued; and on
the morrow they burnt all kinds of spices upon the bridges, and
strewed the way with myrtle boughs, while they waited anxiously for
the sun, which they hoped to see as he rose. And now the sun appeared;
and Xerxes took a golden goblet and poured from it a libation into the
sea, praying the while with his face turned to the sun "that no
misfortune might befall him such as to hinder his conquest of
Europe, until he had penetrated to its uttermost boundaries." After he
had prayed, he cast the golden cup into the Hellespont, and with it
a golden bowl, and a Persian sword of the kind which they call
acinaces. I cannot say for certain whether it was as an offering to
the sun-god that he threw these things into the deep, or whether he
had repented of having scourged the Hellespont, and thought by his
gifts to make amends to the sea for what he had done.
  When, however, his offerings were made, the army began to cross; and
the foot-soldiers, with the horsemen, passed over by one of the
bridges- that (namely) which lay towards the Euxine- while the
sumpter-beasts and the camp-followers passed by the other, which
looked on the Egean. Foremost went the Ten Thousand Persians, all
wearing garlands upon their heads; and after them a mixed multitude of
many nations. These crossed upon the first day.
    On the next day the horsemen began the passage; and with them went
the soldiers who carried their spears with the point downwards,
garlanded, like the Ten Thousand;- then came the sacred horses and the
sacred chariot; next Xerxes with his lancers and the thousand horse;
then the rest of the army. At the same time the ships sailed over to
the opposite shore. According, however, to another account which I
have heard, the king crossed the last.
    As soon as Xerxes had reached the European side, he stood to
contemplate his army as they crossed under the lash. And the
crossing continued during seven days and seven nights, without rest or
pause. 'Tis said that here, after Xerxes had made the passage, a
Hellespontian exclaimed-
    "Why, O Jove, dost thou, in the likeness of a Persian man, and
with the name of Xerxes instead of thine own, lead the whole race of
mankind to the destruction of Greece? It would have been as easy for
thee to destroy it without their aid!"
    When the whole army had crossed, and the troops were now upon
their march, a strange prodigy appeared to them, whereof the king made
no account, though its meaning was not difficult to conjecture. Now
the prodigy was this:- a mare brought forth a hare. Hereby it was
shown plainly enough, that Xerxes would lead forth his host against
Greece with mighty pomp and splendour, but, in order to reach again
the spot from which he set out, would have to run for his life.
There had also been another portent, while Xerxes was still at Sardis-
a mule dropped a foal, neither male nor female; but this likewise
was disregarded.
    So Xerxes, despising the omens, marched forwards; and his land
army accompanied him. But the fleet held an opposite course, and,
sailing to the mouth of the Hellespont, made its way along the
shore. Thus the fleet proceeded westward, making for Cape Sarpedon,
where the orders were that it should await the coming up of the
troops; but the land army marched eastward along the Chersonese,
leaving on the right the tomb of Helle, the daughter of Athamas, and
on the left the city of Cardia. Having passed through the town which
is called Agora, they skirted the shores of the Gulf of Melas, and
then crossed the river Melas, whence the gulf takes its name, the
waters of which they found too scanty to supply the host. From this
point their march was to the west; and after passing Aenos, an Aeolian
settlement, and likewise Lake Stentoris, they came to Doriscus.
    The name Doriscus is given to a beach and a vast plain upon the
coast of Thrace, through the middle of which flows the strong stream
of the Hebrus. Here was the royal fort which is likewise called
Doriscus, where Darius had maintained a Persian garrison ever since
the time when he attacked the Scythians. This place seemed to Xerxes a
convenient spot for reviewing and numbering his soldiers; which things
accordingly he proceeded to do. The sea-captains, who had brought
the fleet to Doriscus, were ordered to take the vessels to the beach
adjoining, where Sale stands, a city of the Samothracians, and Zone,
another city. The beach extends to Serrheum, the well-known
promontory; the whole district in former times was inhabited by the
Ciconians. Here then the captains were to bring their ships, and to
haul them ashore for refitting, while Xerxes at Doriscus was
employed in numbering the soldiers.
    What the exact number of the troops of each nation was I cannot
say with certainty- for it is not mentioned by any one- but the
whole land army together was found to amount to one million seven
hundred thousand men. The manner in which the numbering took place was
the following. A body of ten thousand men was brought to a certain
place, and the men were made to stand as close together as possible;
after which a circle was drawn around them, and the men were let go:
then where the circle had been, a fence was built about the height
of a man's middle; and the enclosure was filled continually with fresh
troops, till the whole army had in this way been numbered. When the
numbering was over, the troops were drawn up according to their
several nations.
    Now these were the nations that took part in this expedition.
The Persians, who wore on their heads the soft hat called the tiara,
and about their bodies, tunics with sleeves of divers colours,
having iron scales upon them like the scales of a fish. Their legs
were protected by trousers; and they bore wicker shields for bucklers;
their quivers hanging at their backs, and their arms being a short
spear, a bow of uncommon size, and arrows of reed. They had likewise
daggers suspended from their girdles along their right thighs. Otanes,
the father of Xerxes' wife, Amestris, was their leader. This people
was known to the Greeks in ancient times by the name of Cephenians;
but they called themselves and were called by their neighbours,
Artaeans. It was not till Perseus, the son of Jove and Danae,
visited Cepheus the son of Belus, and, marrying his daughter
Andromeda, had by her a son called Perses (whom he left behind him
in the country because Cepheus had no male offspring), that the nation
took from this Perses the name of Persians.
    The Medes had exactly the same equipment as the Persians; and
indeed the dress common to both is not so much Persian as Median. They
had for commander Tigranes, of the race of the Achaemenids. These
Medes were called anciently by all people Arians; but when Media,
the Colchian, came to them from Athens, they changed their name.
Such is the account which they themselves give.
    The Cissians were equipped in the Persian fashion, except in one
respect:- they wore on their heads, instead of hats, fillets. Anaphes,
the son of Otanes, commanded them.
    The Hyrcanians were likewise armed in the same way as the
Persians. Their leader was Megapanus, the same who was afterwards
satrap of Babylon.
    The Assyrians went to the war with helmets upon their heads made
of brass, and plaited in a strange fashion which it is not easy to
describe. They carried shields, lances, and daggers very like the
Egyptian; but in addition, they had wooden clubs knotted with iron,
and linen corselets. This people, whom the Greeks call Syrians, are
called Assyrians by the barbarians. The Chaldaeans served in their
ranks, and they had for commander Otaspes, the son of Artachaeus.
    The Bactrians went to the war wearing a head-dress very like the
Median, but armed with bows of cane, after the custom of their
country, and with short spears.
    The Sacae, or Scyths, were clad in trousers, and had on their
heads tall stiff caps rising to a point. They bore the bow of their
country and the dagger; besides which they carried the battle-axe,
or sagaris. They were in truth Amyrgian Scythians, but the Persians
called them Sacae, since that is the name which they give to all
Scythians. The Bactrians and the Sacae had for leader Hystaspes, the
son of Darius and of Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus.
    The Indians wore cotton dresses, and carried bows of cane, and
arrows also of cane with iron at the point. Such was the equipment
of the Indians, and they marched under the command of Pharnazathres
the son of Artabates.
    The Arians carried Median bows, but in other respects were
equipped like the Bactrians. Their commander was Sisamnes the son of
Hydarnes.
    The Parthians and Chorasmians, with the Sogdians, the
Gandarians, and the Dadicae, had the Bactrian equipment in all
respects. The Parthians and Chorasmians were commanded by Artabazus
the son of Pharnaces, the Sogdians by Azanes the son of Artaeus, and
the Gandarians and Dadicae by Artyphius the son of Artabanus.
    The Caspians were clad in cloaks of skin, and carried the cane bow
of their country and the scymitar. So equipped they went to the war;
and they had for commander Ariomardus the brother of Artyphius.
    The Sarangians had dyed garments which showed brightly, and
buskins which reached to the knee: they bore Median bows, and
lances. Their leader was Pherendates, the son of Megabazus.
    The Pactyans wore cloaks of skin, and carried the bow of their
country and the dagger. Their commander was Artyntes, the son of
Ithamatres.
    The Utians, the Mycians, and the Paricanians were all equipped
like the Pactyans. They had for leaders, Arsamenes, the son of Darius,
who commanded the Utians and Mycians; and Siromitres, the son of
Oeobazus, who commanded the Paricanians.
    The Arabians wore the zeira, or long cloak, fastened about them
with a girdle; and carried at their right side long bows, which when
unstrung bent backwards.
    The Ethiopians were clothed in the skins of leopards and lions,
and had long bows made of the stem of the palm-leaf, not less than
four cubits in length. On these they laid short arrows made of reed,
and armed at the tip, not with iron, but with a piece of stone,
sharpened to a point, of the kind used in engraving seals. They
carried likewise spears, the head of which was the sharpened horn of
an antelope; and in addition they had knotted clubs. When they went
into battle they painted their bodies, half with chalk, and half
with vermilion. The Arabians, and the Ethiopians who came from the
region above Egypt, were commanded by Arsames, the son of Darius and
of Artystone daughter of Cyrus. This Artystone was the best-beloved of
all the wives of Darius; and it was she whose statue he caused to be
made of gold wrought with the hammer. Her son Arsames commanded
these two nations.
    The eastern Ethiopians- for two nations of this name served in the
army- were marshalled with the Indians. They differed in nothing
from the other Ethiopians, save in their language, and the character
of their hair. For the eastern Ethiopians have straight hair, while
they of Libya are more woolly-haired than any other people in the
world. Their equipment was in most points like that of the Indians;
but they wore upon their heads the scalps of horses, with the ears and
mane attached; the ears were made to stand upright, and the mane
served as a crest. For shields this people made use of the skins of
cranes.
    The Libyans wore a dress of leather, and carried javelins made
hard in the fire. They had for commander Massages, the son of Oarizus.
    The Paphlagonians went to the war with plaited helmets upon
their heads, and carrying small shields and spears of no great size.
They had also javelins and daggers, and wore on their feet the
buskin of their country, which reached half way up the shank. In the
same fashion were equipped the Ligyans, the Matienians, the
Mariandynians, and the Syrians (or Cappadocians, as they are called by
the Persians). The Paphlagonians and Matienians were under the command
of Dotus the son of Megasidrus; while the Mariandynians, the
Ligyans, and the Syrians had for leader Gobryas, the son of Darius and
Artystone.
    The dress of the Phrygians closely resembled the Paphlagonian,
only in a very few points differing from it. According to the
Macedonian account, the Phrygians, during the time that they had their
abode in Europe and dwelt with them in Macedonia, bore the name of
Brigians; but on their removal to Asia they changed their
designation at the same time with their dwelling-place.
    The Armenians, who are Phrygian colonists, were armed in the
Phrygian fashion. Both nations were under the command of Artochmes,
who was married to one of the daughters of Darius.
    The Lydians were armed very nearly in the Grecian manner. These
Lydians in ancient times were called Maeonians, but changed their
name, and took their present title from Lydus the son of Atys.
    The Mysians wore upon their heads a helmet made after the
fashion of their country, and carried a small buckler; they used as
javelins staves with one end hardened in the fire. The Mysians are
Lydian colonists, and from the mountain-chain of Olympus, are called
Olympieni. Both the Lydians and the Mysians were under the command
of Artaphernes, the son of that Artaphernes who, with Datis, made
the landing at Marathon.
    The Thracians went to the war wearing the skins of foxes upon
their heads, and about their bodies tunics, over which was thrown a
long cloak of many colours. Their legs and feet were clad in buskins
made from the skins of fawns; and they had for arms javelins, with
light targes, and short dirks. This people, after crossing into
Asia, took the name of Bithynians; before, they had been called
Strymonians, while they dwelt upon the Strymon; whence, according to
their own account, they had been driven out by the Mysians and
Teucrians. The commander of these Asiatic Thracians was Bassaces the
son of Artabanus.
    *... had made small shields made of the hide of the ox, and
carried each of them two spears such as are used in wolf-hunting.
Brazen helmets protected their heads; and above these they wore the
ears and horns of an ox fashioned in brass. They had also crests on
their helms; and their legs were bound round with purple bands. There
is an oracle of Mars in the country of this people.

    * There is a defect here in the text of Herodotus; the name of
the nation has been lost and cannot be satisfactorily supplied.

    The Cabalians, who are Maeonians, but are called Lasonians, had
the same equipment as the Cilicians- an equipment which I shall
describe when I come in due course to the Cilician contingent.
    The Milyans bore short spears, and had their garments fastened
with buckles. Some of their number carried Lycian bows. They wore
about their heads skull-caps made of leather. Badres the son of
Hystanes led both nations to battle.
    The Moschians wore helmets made of wood, and carried shields and
spears of a small size: their spear-heads, however, were long. The
Moschian equipment was that likewise of the Tibarenians, the
Macronians, and the Mosynoecians. The leaders of these nations were
the following: the Moschians and Tibarenians were under the command of
Ariomardus, who was the son of Darius and of Parmys, daughter of
Smerdis son of Cyrus; while the Macronians and Mosynoecians. had for
leader Artayctes, the son of Cherasmis, the governor of Sestos upon
the Hellespont.
    The Mares wore on their heads the plaited helmet peculiar to their
country, and used small leathern bucklers, and javelins.
    The Colchians wore wooden helmets, and carried small shields of
raw hide, and short spears; besides which they had swords. Both
Mares and Colchians were under the command of Pharandates, the son
of Teaspes.
    The Alarodians and Saspirians were armed like the Colchians; their
leader was Masistes, the son of Siromitras.
    The Islanders who came from the Erythraean Sea, where they
inhabited the islands to which the king sends those whom he
banishes, wore a dress and arms almost exactly like the Median.
Their leader was Mardontes the son of Bagaeus, who the year after
perished in the battle of Mycale, where he was one of the captains.
    Such were the nations who fought upon the dry land, and made up
the infantry of the Persians. And they were commanded by the
captains whose names have been above recorded. The marshalling and
numbering of the troops had been committed to them; and by them were
appointed the captains over a thousand, and the captains over ten
thousand; but the leaders of ten men, or a hundred, were named by
the captains over ten thousand. There were other officers also, who
gave the orders to the various ranks and nations; but those whom I
have mentioned above were the commanders.
    Over these commanders themselves, and over the whole of the
infantry, there were set six generals- namely Mardonius, son of
Gobryas; Tritantaechmes, son of the Artabanus who gave his advice
against the war with Greece; Smerdomenes, son of Otanes- these two
were the sons of Darius' brothers, and thus were cousins of Xerxes-
Masistes, son of Darius and Atossa; Gergis, son of Arizus; and
Megabyzus, son of Zopyrus.
    The whole of the infantry was under the command of these generals,
excepting the Ten Thousand. The Ten Thousand, who were all Persians
and all picked men, were led by Hydarnes, the son of Hydarnes. They
were called "the Immortals," for the following reason. If one of their
body failed either by the stroke of death or of disease, forthwith his
place was filled up by another man, so that their number was at no
time either greater or less than 10,000.
    Of all the troops the Persians were adorned with the greatest
magnificence, and they were likewise the most valiant. Besides their
arms, which have been already described, they glittered all over
with gold, vast quantities of which they wore about their persons.
They were followed by litters, wherein rode their concubines, and by a
numerous train of attendants handsomely dressed. Camels and
sumpter-beasts carried their provision, apart from that of the other
soldiers.
    All these various nations fight on horseback; they did not,
however, at this time all furnish horsemen, but only the following:-
    (i.) The Persians, who were armed in the same way as their own
footmen, excepting that some of them wore upon their heads devices
fashioned with the hammer in brass or steel.
    (ii.) The wandering tribe known by the name of Sagartians- a
people Persian in language, and in dress half Persian, half Pactyan,
who furnished to the army as many as eight thousand horse. It is not
the wont of this people to carry arms, either of bronze or steel,
except only a dirk; but they use lassoes made of thongs plaited
together, and trust to these whenever they go to the wars. Now the
manner in which they fight is the following: when they meet their
enemy, straightway they discharge their lassoes, which end in a noose;
then, whatever the noose encircles, be it man or be it horse, they
drag towards them; and the foe, entangled in the toils, is forthwith
slain. Such is the manner in which this people fight; and now their
horsemen were drawn up with the Persians.
    (iii.) The Medes, and Cissians, who had the same equipment as
their foot-soldiers.
    (iv.) The Indians, equipped as their foot. men, but some on
horseback and some in chariots- the chariots drawn either by horses,
or by wild asses.
    (v.) The Bactrians and Caspians, arrayed as their foot-soldiers.
    (vi.) The Libyans, equipped as their foot-soldiers, like the rest;
but all riding in chariots.
    (vii.) The Caspeirians and Paricanians, equipped as their
foot-soldiers.
    (viii.) The Arabians, in the same array as their footmen, but
all riding on camels, not inferior in fleetness to horses.
    These nations, and these only, furnished horse to the army: and
the number of the horse was eighty thousand, without counting camels
or chariots. All were marshalled in squadrons, excepting the Arabians;
who were placed last, to avoid frightening the horses, which cannot
endure the sight of the camel.
    The horse was commanded by Armamithras and Tithaeus, sons of
Datis. The other commander, Pharnuches, who was to have been their
colleague, had been left sick at Sardis; since at the moment that he
was leaving the city, a sad mischance befell him:- a dog ran under the
feet of the horse upon which he was mounted; and the horse, not seeing
it coming, was startled, and, rearing bolt upright, threw his rider.
After this fall Pharnuches spat blood, and fell into a consumption. As
for the horse, he was treated at once as Pharnuches ordered: the
attendants took him to the spot where he had thrown his master, and
there cut off his four legs at the hough. Thus Pharnuches lost his
command.
    The triremes amounted in all to twelve hundred and seven; and were
furnished by the following nations:-
    (i.) The Phoenicians, with the Syrians of Palestine, furnished
three hundred vessels, the crews of which were thus accoutred: upon
their heads they wore helmets made nearly in the Grecian manner; about
their bodies they had breastplates of linen; they carried shields
without rims; and were armed with javelins. This nation, according
to their own account, dwelt anciently upon the Erythraean Sea, but
crossing thence, fixed themselves on the seacoast of Syria, where they
still inhabit. This part of Syria, and all the region extending from
hence to Egypt, is known by the name of Palestine.
    (ii.) The Egyptians furnished two hundred ships. Their crews had
plaited helmets upon their heads, and bore concave shields with rims
of unusual size. They were armed with spears suited for a sea-fight,
and with huge pole-axes. The greater part of them wore breastplates;
and all had long cutlasses.
    (iii.) The Cyprians furnished a hundred and fifty ships, and
were equipped in the following fashion. Their kings had turbans
bound about their heads, while the people wore tunics; in other
respects they were clad like the Greeks. They are of various races;
some are sprung from Athens and Salamis, some from Arcadia, some
from Cythnus, some from Phoenicia, and a portion, according to their
own account, from Ethiopia.
    (iv.) The Cilicians furnished a hundred ships. The crews wore upon
their heads the helmet of their country, and carried instead of
shields light targes made of raw hide; they were clad in woollen
tunics, and were each armed with two javelins, and a sword closely
resembling the cutlass of the Egyptians. This people bore anciently
the name of Hypachaeans, but took their present title from Cilix,
the son of Agenor, a Phoenician.
    (v.) The Pamphylians furnished thirty ships, the crews of which
were armed exactly as the Greeks. This nation is descended from
those who on the return from Troy were dispersed with Amphilochus
and Calchas.
    (vi.) The Lycians furnished fifty ships. Their crews wore
greaves and breastplates, while for arms they had bows of cornel wood,
reed arrows without feathers, and javelins. Their outer garment was
the skin of a goat, which hung from their shoulders; their headdress a
hat encircled with plumes; and besides their other weapons they
carried daggers and falchions. This people came from Crete, and were
once called Termilae; they got the name which they now bear from
Lycus, the son of Pandion, an Athenian.
    (vii.) The Dorians of Asia furnished thirty ships. They were armed
in the Grecian fashion, inasmuch as their forefathers came from the
Peloponnese.
    (viii.) The Carians furnished seventy ships, and were equipped
like the Greeks, but carried, in addition, falchions and daggers. What
name the Carians bore anciently was declared in the first part of this
History.
    (ix.) The Ionians furnished a hundred ships, and were armed like
the Greeks. Now these Ionians, during the time that they dwelt in
the Peloponnese and inhabited the land now called Achaea (which was
before the arrival of Danaus and Xuthus in the Peloponnese), were
called, according to the Greek account, Aegialean Pelasgi, or "Pelasgi
of the Sea-shore"; but afterwards, from Ion the son of Xuthus, they
were called Ionians.
    The Islanders furnished seventeen ships, and wore arms like the
Greeks. They too were a Pelasgian race, who in later times took the,
name of Ionians for the same reason me reason as those who inhabited
the twelve cities founded from Athens.
    The Aeolians furnished sixty ships, and were equipped in the
Grecian fashion. They too were anciently called Pelasgians, as the
Greeks declare.
    The Hellespontians from the Pontus, who are colonists of the
Ionians and Dorians, furnished a hundred ships, the crews of which
wore the Grecian armour. This did not include the Abydenians, who
stayed in their own country, because the king had assigned them the
special duty of guarding the bridges.
    On board of every ship was a band of soldiers, Persians, Medes, or
Sacans. The Phoenician ships were the best sailers in the fleet, and
the Sidonian the best among the Phoenicians. The contingent of each
nation, whether to the fleet or to the land army, had at its head a
native leader; but the names of these leaders I shall not mention,
as it is not necessary for the course of my History. For the leaders
of some nations were not worthy to have their names recorded; and
besides, there were in each nation as many leaders as there were
cities. And it was not really as commanders that they accompanied
the army, but as mere slaves, like the rest of the host. For I have
already mentioned the Persian generals who had the actual command, and
were at the head of the several nations which composed the army.
    The fleet was commanded by the following- Ariabignes, the son of
Darius, Prexaspes, the son of Aspathines, Megabazus, the son of
Megabates, and Achaemenes, the son of Darius. Ariabignes, who was
the child of Darius by a daughter of Gobryas, was leader of the Ionian
and Carian ships; Achaemenes, who was own brother to Xerxes, of the
Egyptian; the rest of the fleet was commanded by the other two.
Besides the triremes, there was an assemblage of thirty-oared and
fifty-oared galleys, of cercuri, and transports for conveying
horses, amounting in all to three thousand.
    Next to the commanders, the following were the most renowned of
those who sailed aboard the fleet:- Tetramnestus, the son of Anysus,
the Sidonian; Mapen, the son of Sirom, the Tyrian; Merbal, the son
of Agbal, the Aradian; Syennesis, the son of Oromedon, the Cilician;
Cyberniscus, the son of Sicas, the Lycian; Gorgus, the son of Chersis,
and Timonax, the son of Timagoras, the Cyprians; and Histiaeus, the
son of Timnes, Pigres, the son of Seldomus, and Damasithymus, the
son of Candaules, the Carians.
    Of the other lower officers I shall make no mention, since no
necessity is laid on me; but I must speak of a certain leader named
Artemisia, whose participation in the attack upon Greece,
notwithstanding that she was a woman, moves my special wonder. She had
obtained the sovereign power after the death of her husband; and,
though she had now a son grown up, yet her brave spirit and manly
daring sent her forth to the war, when no need required her to
adventure. Her name, as I said, was Artemisia, and she was the
daughter of Lygdamis; by race she was on his side a Halicarnassian,
though by her mother a Cretan. She ruled over the Halicarnassians, the
men of Cos, of Nisyrus, and of Calydna; and the five triremes which
she furnished to the Persians were, next to the Sidonian, the most
famous ships in the fleet. She likewise gave to Xerxes sounder counsel
than any of his other allies. Now the cities over which I have
mentioned that she bore sway were one and all Dorian; for the
Halicarnassians were colonists from Troezen, while the remainder
were from Epidaurus. Thus much concerning the sea-force.
    Now when the numbering and marshalling of the host was ended,
Xerxes conceived a wish to go himself throughout the forces, and
with his own eyes behold everything. Accordingly he traversed the
ranks seated in his chariot, and, going from nation to nation, made
manifold inquiries, while his scribes wrote down the answers; till
at last he had passed from end to end of the whole land army, both the
horsemen and likewise the foot. This done, he exchanged his chariot
for a Sidonian galley, and, seated beneath a golden awning, sailed
along the prows of all his vessels (the vessels having now been hauled
down and launched into the sea), while he made inquiries again, as
he had done when he reviewed the land-force, and caused the answers to
be recorded by his scribes. The captains took their ships to the
distance of about four hundred feet from the shore, and there lay
to, with their vessels in a single row, the prows facing the land, and
with the fighting-men upon the decks accoutred as if for war, while
the king sailed along in the open space between the ships and the
shore, and so reviewed the fleet.
    Now after Xerxes had sailed down the whole line and was gone
ashore, he sent for Demaratus the son of Ariston, who had
accompanied him in his march upon Greece, and bespake him thus:-
    "Demaratus, it is my pleasure at this time to ask thee certain
things which I wish to know. Thou art a Greek, and, as I hear from the
other Greeks with whom I converse, no less than from thine own lips,
thou art a native of a city which is not the meanest or the weakest in
their land. Tell me, therefore, what thinkest thou? Will the Greeks
lift a hand against us? Mine own judgment is, that even if all the
Greeks and all the barbarians of the West were gathered together in
one place, they would not be able to abide my onset, not being
really of one mind. But I would fain know what thou thinkest hereon."
    Thus Xerxes questioned; and the other replied in his turn,- "O
king! is it thy will that I give thee a true answer, or dost thou wish
for a pleasant one?"
    Then the king bade him speak the plain truth, and promised that he
would not on that account hold him in less favour than heretofore.
    So Demaratus, when he heard the promise, spake as follows:-
    "O king! since thou biddest me at all risks speak the truth, and
not say what will one day prove me to have lied to thee, thus I
answer. Want has at all times been a fellow-dweller with us in our
land, while Valour is an ally whom we have gained by dint of wisdom
and strict laws. Her aid enables us to drive out want and escape
thraldom. Brave are all the Greeks who dwell in any Dorian land; but
what I am about to say does not concern all, but only the
Lacedaemonians. First then, come what may, they will never accept
thy terms, which would reduce Greece to slavery; and further, they are
sure to join battle with thee, though all the rest of the Greeks
should submit to thy will. As for their numbers, do not ask how many
they are, that their resistance should be a possible thing; for if a
thousand of them should take the field, they will meet thee in battle,
and so will any number, be it less than this, or be it more."
    When Xerxes heard this answer of Demaratus, he laughed and
answered:-
    "What wild words, Demaratus! A thousand men join battle with
such an army as this! Come then, wilt thou- who wert once, as thou
sayest, their king- engage to fight this very day with ten men? I trow
not. And yet, if all thy fellow-citizens be indeed such as thou sayest
they are, thou oughtest, as their king, by thine own country's usages,
to be ready to fight with twice the number. If then each one of them
be a match for ten of my soldiers, I may well call upon thee to be a
match for twenty. So wouldest thou assure the truth of what thou
hast now said. If, however, you Greeks, who vaunt yourselves so
much, are of a truth men like those whom I have seen about my court,
as thyself, Demaratus, and the others with whom I am wont to converse-
if, I say, you are really men of this sort and size, how is the speech
that thou hast uttered more than a mere empty boast? For, to go to the
very verge of likelihood- how could a thousand men, or ten thousand,
or even fifty thousand, particularly if they were all alike free,
and not under one lord- how could such a force, I say, stand against
an army like mine? Let them be five thousand, and we shall have more
than a thousand men to each one of theirs. If, indeed, like our
troops, they had a single master, their fear of him might make them
courageous beyond their natural bent; or they might be urged by lashes
against an enemy which far outnumbered them. But left to their own
free choice, assuredly they will act differently. For mine own part, I
believe, that if the Greeks had to contend with the Persians only, and
the numbers were equal on both sides, the Greeks would find it hard to
stand their ground. We too have among us such men as those of whom
thou spakest- not many indeed, but still we possess a few. For
instance, some of my bodyguard would be willing to engage singly
with three Greeks. But this thou didst not know; and therefore it
was thou talkedst so foolishly."
    Demaratus answered him- "I knew, O king! at the outset, that if
I told thee the truth, my speech would displease thine ears. But as
thou didst require me to answer thee with all possible truthfulness, I
informed thee what the Spartans will do. And in this I spake not
from any love that I bear them- for none knows better than thou what
my love towards them is likely to be at the present time, when they
have robbed me of my rank and my ancestral honours, and made me a
homeless exile, whom thy father did receive, bestowing on me both
shelter and sustenance. What likelihood is there that a man of
understanding should be unthankful for kindness shown him, and not
cherish it in his heart? For mine own self, I pretend not to cope with
ten men, nor with two- nay, had I the choice, I would rather not fight
even with one. But, if need appeared, or if there were any great cause
urging me on, I would contend with right good will against one of
those persons who boast themselves a match for any three Greeks. So
likewise the Lacedaemonians, when they fight singly, are as good men
as any in the world, and when they fight in a body, are the bravest of
all. For though they be free-men, they are not in all respects free;
Law is the master whom they own; and this master they fear more than
thy subjects fear thee. Whatever he commands they do; and his
commandment is always the same: it forbids them to flee in battle,
whatever the number of their foes, and requires them to stand firm,
and either to conquer or die. If in these words, O king! I seem to
thee to speak foolishly, I am content from this time forward
evermore to hold my peace. I had not now spoken unless compelled by
thee. Certes, I pray that all may turn out according to thy wishes."
    Such was the answer of Demaratus; and Xerxes was not angry with
him at all, but only laughed, and sent him away with words of
kindness.
    After this interview, and after he had made Mascames the son of
Megadostes governor of Doriscus, setting aside the governor
appointed by Darius, Xerxes started with his army, and marched upon
Greece through Thrace.
    This man, Mascames, whom he left behind him, was a person of
such merit that gifts were sent him yearly by the king as a special
favour, because he excelled all the other governors that had been
appointed either by Xerxes or by Darius. In like manner, Artaxerxes,
the son of Xerxes, sent gifts yearly to the descendants of Mascames.
Persian governors had been established in Thrace and about the
Hellespont before the march of Xerxes began; but these persons,
after the expedition was over, were all driven from their towns by the
Greeks, except the governor of Doriscus: no one succeeded in driving
out Mascames, though many made the attempt. For this reason the
gifts are sent him every year by the king who reigns over the
Persians.
    Of the other governors whom the Greeks drove out, there was not
one who, in the judgment of Xerxes, showed himself a brave man,
excepting Boges, the governor of Eion. Him Xerxes never could praise
enough; and such of his sons as were left in Persia, and survived
their father, he very specially honoured. And of a truth this Boges
was worthy of great commendation; for when he was besieged by the
Athenians under Cimon, the son of Miltiades, and it was open to him to
retire from the city upon terms, and return to Asia, he refused,
because he feared the king might think he had played the coward to
save his own life, wherefore, instead of surrendering, he held out
to the last extremity. When all the food in the fortress was gone,
he raised a vast funeral pile, slew his children, his wife, his
concubines, and his household slaves, and cast them all into the
flames. Then, collecting whatever gold and silver there was in the
place, he flung it from the walls into the Strymon; and, when that was
done, to crown all, he himself leaped into the fire. For this action
Boges is with reason praised by the Persians even at the present day.
    Xerxes, as I have said, pursued his march from Doriscus against
Greece; and on his way he forced all the nations through which he
passed to take part in the expedition. For the whole country as far as
the frontiers of Thessaly had been (as I have already shown)
enslaved and made tributary to the king by the conquests of Megabazus,
and, more lately, of Mardonius. And first, after leaving Doriscus,
Xerxes passed the Samothracian fortresses, whereof Mesambria is the
farthermost as one goes toward the west. The next city is Stryme,
which belongs to Thasos. Midway between it and Mesambria flows the
river Lissus, which did not suffice to furnish water for the army, but
was drunk up and failed. This region was formerly called Gallaica; now
it bears the name of Briantica; but in strict truth it likewise is
really Ciconian.
    After crossing the dry channel of the Lissus, Xerxes passed the
Grecian cities of Maroneia, Dicaea, and Abdera, and likewise the
famous lakes which are in their neighbourhood, Lake Ismaris between
Maroneia and Stryme, and Lake Bistonis near Dicaea, which receives the
waters of two rivers, the Travus and the Compsatus. Near Abdera
there was no famous lake for him to pass; but he crossed the river
Nestus, which there reaches the sea. Proceeding further upon his
way, he passed by several continental cities, one of them possessing a
lake nearly thirty furlongs in circuit, full of fish, and very salt,
of which the sumpter-beasts only drank, and which they drained dry.
The name of this city was Pistyrus. All these towns, which were
Grecian, and lay upon the coast, Xerxes kept upon his left hand as
he passed along.
    The following are the Thracian tribes through whose country he
marched: the Paeti, the Ciconians, the Bistonians, the Sapaeans, the
Dersaeans, the Edonians, and the Satrae. Some of these dwelt by the
sea, and furnished ships to the king's fleet; while others lived in
the more inland parts, and of these all the tribes which I have
mentioned, except the Satrae, were forced to serve on foot.
    The Satrae, so far as our knowledge goes, have never yet been
brought under by any one, but continue to this day a free and
unconquered people, unlike the other Thracians. They dwell amid
lofty mountains clothed with forests of different trees and capped
with snow, and are very valiant in fight. They are the Thracians who
have an oracle of Bacchus in their country, which is situated upon
their highest mountain-range. The Bessi, a Satrian race, deliver the
oracles; but the prophet, as at Delphi, is a woman; and her answers
are not harder to read.
    When Xerxes had passed through the region mentioned above, he came
next to the Pierian fortresses, one of which is called Phagres, and
another Pergamus. Here his line of march lay close by the walls,
with the long high range of Pangaeum upon his right, a tract in
which there are mines both of gold and silver, some worked by the
Pierians and Odomantians, but the greater part by the Satrae.
    Xerxes then marched through the country of the Paeonian tribes-
the Doberians and the Paeoplae- which lay to the north of Pangaeum,
and, advancing westward, reached the river Strymon and the city
Eion, whereof Boges, of whom I spoke a short time ago, and who was
then still alive, was governor. The tract of land lying about Mount
Pangaeum is called Phyllis; on the west it reaches to the river
Angites, which flows into the Strymon, and on the south to the Strymon
itself, where at this time the Magi were sacrificing white horses to
make the stream favourable.
    After propitiating the stream by these and many other magical
ceremonies, the Persians crossed the Strymon, by bridges made before
their arrival, at a place called "The Nine Ways," which was in the
territory of the Edonians. And when they learnt that the name of the
place was "The Nine Ways," they took nine of the youths of the land
and as many of their maidens, and buried them alive on the spot.
Burying alive is a Persian custom. I have heard that Amestris, the
wife of Xerxes, in her old age buried alive seven pairs of Persian
youths, sons of illustrious men, as a thank-offering to the god who is
supposed to dwell underneath the earth.
    From the Strymon the army, proceeding westward, came to a strip of
shore, on which there stands the Grecian town of Argilus. This
shore, and the whole tract above it, is called Bisaltia. Passing this,
and keeping on the left hand the Gulf of Posideium, Xerxes crossed the
Sylean plain, as it is called, and passing by Stagirus, a Greek
city, came to Acanthus. The inhabitants of these parts, as well as
those who dwelt about Mount Pangaeum, were forced to join the
armament, like those others of whom I spoke before; the dwellers along
the coast being made to serve in the fleet, while those who lived more
inland had to follow with the land forces. The road which the army
of Xerxes took remains to this day untouched: the Thracians neither
plough nor sow it, but hold it in great honour.
    On reaching Acanthus, the Persian king, seeing the great zeal of
the Acanthians for his service, and hearing what had been done about
the cutting, took them into the number of his sworn friends, sent them
as a present a Median dress, and besides commended them highly.
    It was while he remained here that Artachaees, who presided over
the canal, a man in high repute with Xerxes, and by birth an
Achaemenid, who was moreover the tallest of all the Persians, being
only four fingers short of five cubits, royal measure, and who had a
stronger voice than any other man in the world, fell sick and died.
Xerxes therefore, who was greatly afflicted at the mischance,
carried him to the tomb and buried him with all magnificence; while
the whole army helped to raise a mound over his grave. The Acanthians,
in obedience to an oracle, offer sacrifice to this Artachaees as a
hero, invoking him in their prayers by name. But King Xerxes
sorrowed greatly over his death.
    Now the Greeks who had to feed the army, and to entertain
Xerxes, were brought thereby to the very extremity of distress,
insomuch that some of them were forced even to forsake house and home.
When the Thasians received and feasted the host, on account of their
possessions upon the mainland, Antipater, the son of Orges, one of the
citizens of best repute, and the man to whom the business was
assigned, proved that the cost of the meal was four hundred talents of
silver.
    And estimates almost to the same amount were made by the
superintendents in other cities. For the entertainment, which had been
ordered long beforehand and was reckoned to be of much consequence,
was, in the manner of it, such as I will now describe. No sooner did
the heralds who brought the orders give their message, than in every
city the inhabitants made a division of their stores of corn, and
proceeded to grind flour of wheat and of barley for many months
together. Besides this, they purchased the best cattle that they could
find, and fattened them; and fed poultry and water-fowl in ponds and
buildings, to be in readiness for the army; while they likewise
prepared gold and silver vases and drinking-cups, and whatsoever
else is needed for the service of the table. These last preparations
were made for the king only, and those who sat at meat with him; for
the rest of the army nothing was made ready beyond the food for
which orders had been given. On the arrival of the Persians, a tent
ready pitched for the purpose received Xerxes, who took his rest
therein, while the soldiers remained under the open heaven. When the
dinner hour came, great was the toil of those who entertained the
army; while the guests ate their fill, and then, after passing the
night at the place, tore down the royal tent next morning, and seizing
its contents, carried them all off, leaving nothing behind.
    On one of these occasions Megacreon of Abdera wittily
recommended his countrymen "to go to the temples in a body, men and
women alike, and there take their station as suppliants, and beseech
the gods that they would in future always spare them one-half of the
woes which might threaten their peace- thanking them at the same
time very warmly for their past goodness in that they had caused
Xerxes to be content with one meal in the day." For had the order been
to provide breakfast for the king as well as dinner, the Abderites
must either have fled before Xerxes came, or, if they awaited his
coming, have been brought to absolute ruin. As it was, the nations,
though suffering heavy pressure, complied nevertheless with the
directions that had been given.
    At Acanthus, Xerxes separated from his fleet, bidding the captains
sail on ahead and await his coming at Therma, on the Thermaic Gulf,
the place from which the bay takes its name. Through this town lay, he
understood, his shortest road. Previously, his order of march had been
the following:- from Doriscus to Acanthus his land force had proceeded
in three bodies, one of which took the way along the sea-shore in
company with the fleet, and was commanded by Mardonius and Masistes,
while another pursued an inland track under Tritantaechmes and Gergis;
the third, with which was Xerxes himself marching midway between the
other two, and having for its leaders Smerdomenes and Megabyzus.
    The fleet, therefore, after leaving the king, sailed through the
channel which had been cut for it by Mount Athos, and came into the
bay whereon lie the cities of Assa, Pilorus, Singus, and Sarta; from
all which it received contingents. Thence it stood on for the Thermaic
Gulf, and rounding Cape Ampelus, the promontory of the Toronaeans,
passed the Grecian cities Torone, Galepsus, Sermyla, Mecyberna, and
Olynthus, receiving from each a number of ships and men. This region
is called Sithonia.
    From Cape Ampelus the fleet stretched across by a short course
to Cape Canastraeum, which is the point of the peninsula of Palline
that runs out farthest into the sea, and gathered fresh supplies of
ships and men from Potidaea, Aphytis, Neapolis, Aega, Therambus,
Scione, Mende, and Sane. These are the cities of the tract called
anciently Phlegra, but now Palline. Hence they again followed the
coast, still advancing towards the place appointed by the king, and
had accessions from all the cities that lie near Pallene, and border
on the Thermaic Gulf, whereof the names are Lipaxus, Combreia,
Lisae, Gigonus, Campsa, Smila, and Aenea. The tract where these
towns lie still retains its old name of Crossaea. After passing Aenea,
the city which I last named, the fleet found itself arrived in the
Thermaic Gulf, off the land of Mygdonia. And so at length they reached
Therma, the appointed place, and came likewise to Sindus and Chalestra
upon the river Axius, which separates Bottiaea from Mygdonia. Bottiaea
has a scanty sea-board, which is occupied by the two cities Ichnae and
Pella.
    So the fleet anchored off the Axius, and off Therma, and the towns
that lay between, waiting the king's coming. Xerxes meanwhile with his
land force left Acanthus, and started for Therma, taking his way
across the land. This road led him through Paeonia and Crestonia to
the river Echeidorus, which rising in the country of the
Crestonians, flows through Mygdonia, and reaches the sea near the
marsh upon the Axius.
    Upon this march the camels that carried the provisions of the army
were set upon by lions, which left their lairs and came down by night,
but spared the men and the sumpter-beasts, while they made the
camels their prey. I marvel what may have been the cause which
compelled the lions to leave the other animals untouched and attack
the camels, when they had never seen that beast before, nor had any
experience of it.
    That whole region is full of lions and wild bulls, with gigantic
horns, which are brought into Greece. The lions are confined within
the tract lying between the river Nestus (which flows through
Abdera) on the one side, and the Achelous (which waters Acarnania)
on the other. No one ever sees a lion in the fore part of Europe
east of the Nestus, nor through the entire continent west of the
Achelous; but in the space between these bounds lions are found.
    On reaching Therma Xerxes halted his army, which encamped along
the coast, beginning at the city of Therma in Mygdonia, and stretching
out as far as the rivers Lydias and Haliacmon, two streams which,
mingling their waters in one, form the boundary between Bottiaea and
Macedonia. Such was the extent of country through which the barbarians
encamped. The rivers here mentioned were all of them sufficient to
supply the troops, except the Echeidorus, which was drunk dry.
    From Therma Xerxes beheld the Thessalian mountains, Olympus and
Ossa, which are of a wonderful height. Here, learning that there lay
between these mountains a narrow gorge through which the river
Peneus ran, and where there was a road that gave an entrance into
Thessaly, he formed the wish to go by sea himself, and examine the
mouth of the river. His design was to lead his army by the upper
road through the country of the inland Macedonians, and so to enter
Perrhaebia, and come down by the city of Gonnus; for he was told
that that way was the most secure. No sooner therefore had he formed
this wish than he acted accordingly. Embarking, as was his wont on all
such occasions, aboard a Sidonian vessel, he gave the signal to the
rest of the fleet to get under weigh, and quitting his land army,
set sail and proceeded to the Peneus. Here the view of the mouth
caused him to wonder greatly; and sending for his guides, he asked
them whether it were possible to turn the course of the stream, and
make it reach the sea at any other point.
    Now there is a tradition that Thessaly was in ancient times a
lake, shut in on every side by huge hills. Ossa and Pelion- ranges
which join at the foot- do in fact inclose it upon the east, while
Olympus forms a barrier upon the north, Pindus upon the west, and
Othrys towards the south. The tract contained within these
mountains, which is a deep basin, is called Thessaly. Many rivers pour
their waters into it; but five of them are of more note than the rest,
namely, the Peneus, the Apidanus, the Onochonus, the Enipeus, and
the Pamisus. These streams flow down from the mountains which surround
Thessaly, and, meeting in the plain, mingle their waters together, and
discharge themselves into the sea by a single outlet, which is a gorge
of extreme narrowness. After the junction all the other names
disappear, and the river is known as the Peneus. It is said that of
old the gorge which allows the waters an outlet did not exist;
accordingly the rivers, which were then as well as the Lake Boebeis,
without names but flowed with as much water as at present, made
Thessaly a sea. The Thessalians tell us that the gorge through which
the water escapes was caused by Neptune; and this: is likely enough;
at least any man who believes that Neptune causes earthquakes, and
that chasms so produced are his handiwork, would say, upon seeing this
rent, that Neptune did it. For it plainly appeared to me that the
hills had been torn asunder by an earthquake.
    When Xerxes therefore asked the guides if there were any other
outlet by which the waters could reach the sea, they, being men well
acquainted with the nature of their country, made answer:-
    "O king! there is no other passage by which this stream can
empty itself into the sea save that which thine eye beholds. For
Thessaly is girt about with a circlet of hills."
    Xerxes is said to have observed upon this-
    "Wise men truly are they of Thessaly, and good reason had they
to change their minds in time and consult for their own safety. For,
to pass by others matters, they must have felt that they lived in a
country which may easily be brought under and subdued. Nothing more is
needed than to turn the river upon their lands by an
embankment.which should fill up the gorge and force the stream from
its present channel, and lo! all Thessaly, except the mountains, would
at once be laid under water."
    The king aimed in this speech at the sons of Aleuas, who were
Thessalians, and had been the first of all the Greeks to make
submission to him. He thought that they had made their friendly offers
in the name of the whole people. So Xerxes, when he had viewed the
place, and made the above speech, went back to Therma.
    The stay of Xerxes in Pieria lasted for several days, during which
a third part of his army was employed in cutting down the woods on the
Macedonian mountain-range to give his forces free passage into
Perrhaebia. At this time the heralds who had been sent into Greece
to require earth for the king returned to the camp, some of them
empty-handed, others with earth and water.
    Among the number of those from whom earth and water were brought
were the Thessalians, Dolopians, Enianians, Perrhaebians, Locrians,
Magnetians, Malians, Achaeans of Phthiotis, Thebans, and Boeotians
generally, except those of Plataea and Thespiae. These are the nations
against whom the Greeks that had taken up arms to resist the
barbarians swore the oath, which ran thus- "From all those of Greek
blood who delivered themselves up to the Persians without necessity,
when their affairs were in good condition, we will take a tithe of
their goods, and give it to the god at Delphi." So ran the words of
the Greek oath.
    King Xerxes had sent no heralds either to Athens or Sparta to
ask earth and water, for a reason which I will now relate. When Darius
some time before sent messengers for the same purpose, they were
thrown, at Athens, into the pit of punishment, at Sparta into a
well, and bidden to take therefrom earth and water for themselves, and
carry it to their king. On this account Xerxes did not send to ask
them. What calamity came upon the Athenians to punish them for their
treatment of the heralds I cannot say, unless it were the laying waste
of their city and territory; but that I believe was not on account
of this crime.
    On the Lacedaemonians, however, the wrath of Talthybius,
Agamemnon's herald, fell with violence. Talthybius has a temple at
Sparta; and his descendants, who are called Talthybiadae, still live
there, and have the privilege of being the only persons who
discharge the office of herald. When therefore the Spartans had done
the deed of which we speak, the victims at their sacrifices failed
to give good tokens; and this failure lasted for a very long time.
Then the Spartans were troubled; and, regarding what had befallen them
as a grievous calamity, they held frequent assemblies of the people,
and made proclamation through the town, "Was any Lacedaemonian willing
to give his life for Sparta?" Upon this two Spartans, Sperthias, the
son Aneristus, and Bulis, the son of Nicolaus, both men of noble
birth, and among the wealthiest in the place, came forward and
freely offered themselves as an atonement to Xerxes for the heralds of
Darius slain at Sparta. So the Spartans sent them away to the Medes to
undergo death.
    Nor is the courage which these men hereby displayed alone worthy
of wonder; but so likewise are the following speeches which were
made by them. On their road to Susa they presented themselves before
Hydarnes. This Hydarnes was a Persian by birth, and had the command of
all the nations that dwelt along the sea-coast of Asia. He accordingly
showed them hospitality, and invited them to a banquet, where, as they
feasted, he said to them:-
    "Men of Lacedaemon, why will ye not consent to be friends with the
king? Ye have but to look at me and my fortune to see that the king
knows well how to honour merit. In like manner ye yourselves, were
ye to make your submission to him, would receive at his hands,
seeing that he deems you men of merit, some government in Greece."
    "Hydarnes," they answered, "thou art a one-sided counsellor.
Thou hast experience of half the matter; but the other half is
beyond thy knowledge. A slave's life thou understandest; but, never
having tasted liberty, thou canst not tell whether it be sweet or
no. Ah! hadst thou known what freedom is, thou wouldst have bidden
us fight for it, not with the spear only, but with the battle-axe."
    So they answered Hydarnes.
    And afterwards, when they were come to Susa into the king's
presence, and the guards ordered them to fall down and do obeisance,
and went so far as to use force to compel them, they refused, and said
they would never do any such thing, even were their heads thrust
down to the ground; for it was not their custom to worship men, and
they had not come to Persia for that purpose. So they fought off the
ceremony; and having done so, addressed the king in words much like
the following:-
    "O king of the Medes! the Lacedaemonians have sent us hither, in
the place of those heralds of thine who were slain in Sparta, to
make atonement to thee on their account."
    Then Xerxes answered with true greatness of soul "that he would
not act like the Lacedaemonians, who, by killing the heralds, had
broken the laws which all men hold in common. As he had blamed such
conduct in them, he would never be guilty of it himself. And
besides, he did not wish, by putting the two men to death, to free the
Lacedaemonians from the stain of their former outrage."
    This conduct on the part of the Spartans caused the anger of
Talthybius to cease for a while, notwithstanding that Sperthias and
Bulis returned home alive. But many years afterwards it awoke once
more, as the Lacedaemonians themselves declare, during the war between
the Peloponnesians and the Athenians.
    In my judgment this was a case wherein the hand of Heaven was most
plainly manifest. That the wrath of Talthybius should have fallen upon
ambassadors and not slacked till it had full vent, so much justice
required; but that it should have come upon the sons of the very men
who were sent up to the Persian king on its account- upon Nicolaus,
the son of Bulis, and Aneristus, the son of Sperthias (the same who
carried off fishermen from Tiryns, when cruising in a well-manned
merchant-ship)- this does seem to me to be plainly a supernatural
circumstance. Yet certain it is that these two men, having been sent
to Asia as ambassadors by the Lacedaemonians, were betrayed by
Sitalces, the son of Teres, king of Thrace, and Nymphodorus, the son
of Pythes, a native of Abdera, and being made prisoners at Bisanthe,
upon the Hellespont, were conveyed to Attica, and there put to death
by the Athenians, at the same time as Aristeas, the son of Adeimantus,
the Corinthian. All this happened, however, very many years after
the expedition of Xerxes.
    To return, however, to my main subject- the expedition of the
Persian king, though it was in name directed against Athens,
threatened really the whole of Greece. And of this the Greeks were
aware some time before; but they did not all view the matter in the
same light. Some of them had given the Persian earth and water, and
were bold on this account, deeming themselves thereby secured
against suffering hurt from the barbarian army; while others, who
had refused compliance, were thrown into extreme alarm. For whereas
they considered all the ships in Greece too few to engage the enemy,
it was plain that the greater number of states would take no part in
the war, but warmly favoured the Medes.
    And here I feel constrained to deliver an opinion, which most men,
I know, will mis-like, but which, as it seems to me to be true, I am
determined not to withhold. Had the Athenians, from fear of the
approaching danger, quitted their country, or had they without
quitting it submitted to the power of Xerxes, there would certainly
have been no attempt to resist the Persians by sea; in which case
the course of events by land would have been the following. Though the
Peloponnesians might have carried ever so many breastworks across
the Isthmus, yet their allies would have fallen off from the
Lacedaemonians, not by voluntary desertion, but because town after
town must have been taken by the fleet of the barbarians; and so the
Lacedaemonians would at last have stood alone, and, standing alone,
would have displayed prodigies of valour and died nobly. Either they
would have done thus, or else, before it came to that extremity,
seeing one Greek state after another embrace the cause of the Medes,
they would have come to terms with King Xerxes- and thus, either way
Greece would have been brought under Persia. For I cannot understand
of what possible use the walls across the Isthmus could have been,
if the king had had the mastery of the sea. If then a man should now
say that the Athenians were the saviours of Greece, he would not
exceed the truth. For they truly held the scales; and whichever side
they espoused must have carried the day. They too it was who, when
they had determined to maintain the freedom of Greece, roused up
that portion of the Greek nation which had not gone over to the Medes;
and so, next to the gods, they repulsed the invader. Even the terrible
oracles which reached them from Delphi, and struck fear into their
hearts, failed to persuade them to fly from Greece. They had the
courage to remain faithful to their land, and await the coming of
the foe.
    When the Athenians, anxious to consult the oracle, sent their
messengers to Delphi, hardly had the envoys completed the customary
rites about the sacred precinct, and taken their seats inside the
sanctuary of the god, when the Pythoness, Aristonice by name, thus
prophesied-

    Wretches, why sit ye here? Fly, fly to the ends of creation,
    Quitting your homes, and the crags which your city crowns with
      her circlet.
    Neither the head, nor the body is firm in its place, nor at
      bottom
    Firm the feet, nor the hands; nor resteth the middle uninjur'd.
    All- all ruined and lost. Since fire, and impetuous Ares,
    Speeding along in a Syrian chariot, hastes to destroy her.
    Not alone shalt thou suffer; full many the towers he will level,
    Many the shrines of the gods he will give to a fiery destruction.
    Even now they stand with dark sweat horribly dripping,
    Trembling and quaking for fear; and lo! from the high roofs
      trickleth
    Black blood, sign prophetic of hard distresses impending.
    Get ye away from the temple; and brood on the ills that await ye!

    When the Athenian messengers heard this reply, they were filled
with the deepest affliction: whereupon Timon, the son of Androbulus,
one of the men of most mark among the Delphians, seeing how utterly
cast down they were at the gloomy prophecy, advised them to take an
olive-branch, and entering the sanctuary again, consult the oracle
as suppliants. The Athenians followed this advice, and going in once
more, said- "O king! we pray thee reverence these boughs of
supplication which we bear in our hands, and deliver to us something
more comforting concerning our country. Else we will not leave thy
sanctuary, but will stay here till we die." Upon this the priestess
gave them a second answer, which was the following:-

    Pallas has not been able to soften the lord of Olympus,
    Though she has often prayed him, and urged him with excellent
      counsel.
    Yet once more I address thee in words than adamant firmer.
    When the foe shall have taken whatever the limit of Cecrops
    Holds within it, and all which divine Cithaeron, shelters,
    Then far-seeing Jove grants this to the prayers of Athene;
    Safe shall the wooden wall continue for thee and thy children.
    Wait not the tramp of the horse, nor the footmen mightily moving
    Over the land, but turn your hack to the foe, and retire ye.
    Yet shall a day arrive when ye shall meet him in battle.
    Holy Salamis, thou shalt destroy the offspring of women,
    When men scatter the seed, or when they gather the harvest.

    This answer seemed, as indeed it was, gentler than the former one;
so the envoys wrote it down, and went back with it to Athens. When,
however, upon their arrival, they produced it before the people, and
inquiry began to be made into its true meaning, many and various
were the interpretations which men put on it; two, more especially,
seemed to be directly opposed to one another. Certain of the old men
were of opinion that the god meant to tell them the citadel would
escape; for this was anciently defended by a palisade; and they
supposed that barrier to be the "wooden wall" of the oracle. Others
maintained that the fleet was what the god pointed at; and their
advice was that nothing should be thought of except the ships, which
had best be at once got ready. Still such as said the "wooden wall"
meant the fleet, were perplexed by the last two lines of the oracle-

    Holy Salamis, thou shall destroy the offspring of women,
    When men scatter the seed, or when they gather the harvest.

These words caused great disturbance among those who took the wooden
wall to be the ships; since the interpreters understood them to mean
that, if they made preparations for a sea-fight, they would suffer a
defeat off Salamis.
    Now there was at Athens a man who had lately made his way into the
first rank of citizens: his true name was Themistocles; but he was
known more generally as the son of Neocles. This man came forward
and said that the interpreters had not explained the oracle altogether
aright- "for if," he argued, "the clause in question had really
respected the Athenians, it would not have been expressed so mildly;
the phrase used would have been 'Luckless Salamis,'rather than 'Holy
Salamis,' had those to whom the island belonged been about to perish
in its neighbourhood. Rightly taken, the response of the god
threatened the enemy, much more than the Athenians." He therefore
counselled his countrymen to make ready to fight on board their ships,
since they were the wooden wall in which the god told them to trust.
When Themistocles had thus cleared the matter, the Athenians
embraced his view, preferring it to that of the interpreters. The
advice of these last had been against engaging in a sea-fight; "all
the Athenians could do," they said, "was, without lifting a hand in
their defence, to quit Attica, and make a settlement in some other
country."
    Themistocles had before this given a counsel which prevailed
very seasonably. The Athenians, having a large sum of money in their
treasury, the produce of the mines at Laureium, were about to share it
among the full-grown citizens, who would have received ten drachmas
apiece, when Themistocles persuaded them to forbear the
distribution, and build with the money two hundred ships, to help them
in their war against the Eginetans. It was the breaking out of the
Eginetan war which was at this time the saving of Greece; for hereby
were the Athenians forced to become a maritime power. The new ships
were not used for the purpose for which they had been built, but
became a help to Greece in her hour of need. And the Athenians had not
only these vessels ready before the war, but they likewise set to work
to build more; while they determined, in a council which was held
after the debate upon the oracle, that, according to the advice of the
god, they would embark their whole force aboard their ships, and, with
such Greeks as chose to join them, give battle to the barbarian
invader. Such, then, were the oracles which had been received by the
Athenians.
    The Greeks who were well affected to the Grecian cause, having
assembled in one place, and there consulted together, and interchanged
pledges with each other, agreed that, before any other step was taken,
the feuds and enmities which existed between the different nations
should first of all be appeased. Many such there were; but one was
of more importance than the rest, namely, the war which was still
going on between the Athenians and the Eginetans. When this business
was concluded, understanding that Xerxes had reached Sardis with his
army, they resolved to despatch spies into Asia to take note of the
king's affairs. At the same time they determined to send ambassadors
to the Argives, and conclude a league with them against the
Persians; while they likewise despatched messengers to Gelo, the son
of Deinomenes, in Sicily, to the people of Corcyra, and to those of
Crete, exhorting them to send help to Greece. Their wish was to unite,
if possible, the entire Greek name in one, and so to bring all to join
in the same plan of defence, inasmuch as the approaching dangers
threatened all alike. Now the power of Gelo was said to be very great,
far greater than that of any single Grecian people.
    So when these resolutions had been agreed upon, and the quarrels
between the states made up, first of all they sent into Asia three men
as spies. These men reached Sardis, and took note of the king's
forces, but, being discovered, were examined by order of the
generals who commanded the land army, and, having been condemned to
suffer death, were led out to execution. Xerxes, however, when the
news reached him, disapproving the sentence of the generals, sent some
of his bodyguard with instructions, if they found the spies still
alive, to bring them into his presence. The messengers found the spies
alive, and brought them before the king, who, when he heard the
purpose for which they had come, gave orders to his guards to take
them round the camp, and show them all the footmen and all the
horse, letting them gaze at everything to their hearts' content; then,
when they were satisfied, to send them away unharmed to whatever
country they desired.
    For these orders Xerxes gave afterwards the following reasons.
"Had the spies been put to death," he said, "the Greeks would have
continued ignorant of the vastness of his army, which surpassed the
common report of it; while he would have done them a very small injury
by killing three of their men. On the other hand, by the return of the
spies to Greece, his power would become known; and the Greeks," he
expected, "would make surrender of their freedom before he began his
march, by which means his troops would be saved all the trouble of
an expedition." This reasoning was like to that which he used upon
another occasion. While he was staying at Abydos, he saw some
corn-ships, which were passing through the Hellespont from the Euxine,
on their way to Egina and the Peloponnese. His attendants, hearing
that they were the enemy's, were ready to capture them, and looked
to see when Xerxes would give the signal. He, however, merely asked
"whither the ships were bound?" and when they answered, "For thy foes,
master, with corn on board, "We too are bound thither," he rejoined,
"laden, among other things, with corn. What harm is it, if they
carry our provisions for us?"
    So the spies, when they had seen everything, were dismissed, and
came back to Europe.
    The Greeks who had banded themselves together against the
Persian king, after despatching the spies into Asia, sent next
ambassadors to Argos. The account which the Argives give of their
own proceedings is the following. They say that they had information
from the very first of the preparations which the barbarians were
making against Greece. So, as they expected that the Greeks would come
upon them for aid against the assailant, they sent envoys to Delphi to
inquire of the god what it would be best for them to do in the matter.
They had lost, not long before, six thousand citizens, who had been
slain by the Lacedaemonians under Cleomenes the son of Anaxandridas;
which was the reason why they now sent to Delphi. When the Pythoness
heard their question, she replied-

    Hated of all thy neighbors, beloved of the blessed Immortals,
    Sit thou still, with thy lance drawn inward, patiently watching;
    Warily guard thine head, and the head will take care of the body.

This prophecy had been given them some time before the envoys came;
but still, when they afterwards arrived, it was permitted them to
enter the council-house, and there deliver their message. And this
answer was returned to their demands- "Argos is ready to do as ye
require, if the Lacedaemonians will first make a truce for thirty
years, and will further divide with Argos the leadership of the allied
army. Although in strict right the whole command should be hers, she
will be content to have the leadership divided equally."
    Such, they say, was the reply made by the council, in spite of the
oracle which forbade them to enter into a league with the Greeks. For,
while not without fear of disobeying the oracle, they were greatly
desirous of obtaining a thirty years' truce, to give time for their
sons to grow to man's estate. They reflected, that if no such truce
were concluded, and it should be their lot to suffer a second calamity
at the hands of the Persians, it was likely they would fall hopelessly
under the power of Sparta. But to the demands of the Argive council
the Lacedaemonian envoys made answer- "They would bring before the
people the question of concluding a truce. With regard to the
leadership, they had received orders what to say, and the reply was
that Sparta had two kings, Argos but one- it was not possible that
either of the two Spartans should be stripped of his dignity- but they
did not oppose the Argive king having one vote like each of them." The
Argives say that they could not brook this arrogance on the part of
Sparta, and rather than yield one jot to it, they preferred to be
under the rule of the barbarians. So they told the envoys to be
gone, before sunset, from their territory, or they should be treated
as enemies.
    Such is the account which is given of these matters by the Argives
themselves. There is another story, which is told generally through
Greece, of a different tenor. Xerxes, it is said, before he set
forth on his expedition against Greece, sent a herald to Argos, who on
his arrival spoke as follows: "Men of Argos, King Xerxes speaks thus
to you. We Persians deem that the Perses from whom we descend was
the child of Perseus the son of Danae, and of Andromeda the daughter
of Cepheus. Hereby it would seem that we come of your stock and
lineage. So then it neither befits us to make war upon those from whom
we spring; nor can it be right for you to fight, on behalf of
others, against us. Your place is to keep quiet and hold yourself
aloof. Only let matters proceed as I wish, and there is no people whom
I shall have in higher esteem than you."
    This address, says the story, was highly valued by the Argives,
who therefore at the first neither gave a promise to the Greeks nor
yet put forward a demand. Afterwards, however, when the Greeks
called upon them to give their aid, they made the claim which has been
mentioned, because they knew well that the Lacedaemonians would
never yield it, and so they would have a pretext for taking no part in
the war.
    Some of the Greeks say that this account agrees remarkably with
what happened many years afterwards. Callias, the son of Hipponicus,
and certain others with him, had gone up to Susa, the city of
Memnon, as ambassadors of the Athenians, upon a business quite
distinct from this. While they were there, it happened that the
Argives likewise sent ambassadors to Susa, to ask Artaxerxes, the
son of Xerxes, "if the friendship which they had formed with his
father still continued, or if he looked upon them as his enemies?"- to
which King Artaxerxes replied, "Most certainly it continues; and there
is no city which I reckon more my friend than Argos."
    For my own part I cannot positively say whether Xerxes did send
the herald to Argos or not; nor whether Argive ambassadors at Susa did
really put this question to Artaxerxes about the friendship between
them and him; neither do I deliver any opinion hereupon other than
that of the Argives themselves. This, however, I know- that if every
nation were to bring all its evil deeds to a given place, in order
to make an exchange with some other nation, when they had all looked
carefully at their neighbours' faults, they would be truly glad to
carry their own back again. So, after all, the conduct of the
Argives was not perhaps more disgraceful than that of others. For
myself, my duty is to report all that is said; but I am not obliged to
believe it all alike- a remark which may be understood to apply to
my whole History. Some even go so far as to say that the Argives first
invited the Persians to invade Greece, because of their ill success in
the war with Lacedaemon, since they preferred anything to the smart of
their actual sufferings. Thus much concerning the Argives.
    Other ambassadors, among whom was Syagrus from Lacedaemon, were
sent by the allies into Sicily, with instructions to confer with Gelo.
    The ancestor of this Gelo, who first settled at Gela, was a native
of the isle of Telos, which lies off Triopium. When Gela was colonised
by Antiphemus and the Lindians of Rhodes, he likewise took part in the
expedition. In course of time his descendants became the
high-priests of the gods who dwell below- an office which they held
continually, from the time that Telines, one of Gelo's ancestors,
obtained it in the way which I will now mention. Certain citizens of
Gela, worsted in a sedition, had found a refuge at Mactorium, a town
situated on the heights above Gela. Telines reinstated these men,
without any human help, solely by means of the sacred rites of these
deities. From whom he received them, or how he himself acquired
them, I cannot say; but certain it is that relying on their power he
brought the exiles back. For this his reward was to be the office of
high-priest of those gods for himself and his seed for ever. It
surprises me especially that such a feat should have been performed by
Telines; for I have always looked upon acts of this nature as beyond
the abilities of common men, and only to be achieved by such as are of
a bold and manly spirit; whereas Telines is said by those who dwell
about Sicily to have been a soft-hearted and womanish person. He
however obtained this office in the manner above described.
    Afterwards, on the death of Cleander the son of Pantares, who
was slain by Sabyllus, a citizen of Gela, after he had held the
tyranny for seven years, Hippocrates, Cleander's brother, mounted
the throne. During his reign, Gelo, a descendant of the high-priest
Telines, served with many others- of whom Aenesidemus, son of
Pataicus, was one- in the king's bodyguard. Within a little time his
merit caused him to be raised to the command of all the horse. For
when Hippocrates laid siege to Callipolis, and afterwards to Naxos, to
Zancle, to Leontini, and moreover to Syracuse, and many cities of
the barbarians, Gelo in every war distinguished himself above all
the combatants. Of the various cities above named, there was none
but Syracuse which was not reduced to slavery. The Syracusans were
saved from this fate, after they had suffered defeat on the river
Elorus, by the Corinthians and Corcyraeans, who made peace between
them and Hippocrates, on condition of their ceding Camarina to him;
for that city anciently belonged to Syracuse.
    When, however, Hippocrates, after a reign of the same length as
that of Cleander his brother, perished near the city Hybla, as he
was warring with the native Sicilians, then Gelo, pretending to
espouse the cause of the two sons of Hippocrates, Eucleides and
Cleander, defeated the citizens who were seeking to recover their
freedom, and having so done, set aside the children, and himself
took the kingly power. After this piece of good fortune, Gelo likewise
became master Syracuse, in the following manner. The Syracusan
landholders, as they were called, had been driven from their city by
the common people assisted by their own slaves, the Cyllyrians, and
had fled to Casmenae. Gelo brought them back to Syracuse, and so got
possession of the town; for the people surrendered themselves, and
gave up their city on his approach.
    Being now master of Syracuse, Gelo cared less to govern Gela,
which he therefore entrusted to his brother Hiero, while he
strengthened the defences of his new city, which indeed was now all in
all to him. And Syracuse sprang up rapidly to power and became a
flourishing place. For Gelo razed Camarina to the ground, and
brought all the inhabitants to Syracuse, and made them citizens; he
also brought thither more than half the citizens of Gela, and gave
them the same rights as the Camarinaeans. So likewise with the
Megarians of Sicily- after besieging their town and forcing them to
surrender, he took the rich men, who, having made the war, looked
now for nothing less than death at his hands, and carrying them to
Syracuse, established them there as citizens; while the common people,
who, as they had not taken any share in the struggle, felt secure that
no harm would be done to them, he carried likewise to Syracuse,
where he sold them all as slaves to be conveyed abroad. He did the
like also by the Euboeans of Sicily, making the same difference. His
conduct towards both nations arose from his belief that a "people" was
a most unpleasant companion. In this way Gelo became a great king.
    When the Greek envoys reached Syracuse, and were admitted to an
audience, they spoke as follows-
    "We have been sent hither by the Lacedaemonians and Athenians,
with their respective allies, to ask thee to join us against the
barbarian. Doubtless thou hast heard of his invasion, and art aware
that a Persian is about to throw a bridge over the Hellespont, and,
bringing with him out of Asia all the forces of the East, to carry war
into Greece- professing indeed that he only seeks to attack Athens,
but really bent on bringing all the Greeks into subjection. Do thou
therefore, we beseech thee, aid those who would maintain the freedom
of Greece, and thyself assist to free her; since the power which
thou wieldest is great, and thy portion in Greece, as lord of
Sicily, is no small one. For if all Greece join together in one, there
will be a mighty host collected, and we shall be a match for our
assailants; but if some turn traitors, and others refuse their aid,
and only a small part of the whole body remains sound, then there is
reason to fear that all Greece may perish. For do not thou cherish a
hope that the Persian, when he has conquered our country, will be
content and not advance against thee. Rather take thy measures
beforehand, and consider that thou defendest thyself when thou
givest aid to us. Wise counsels, be sure, for the most part have
prosperous issues."
    Thus spake the envoys; and Gelo replied with vehemence:-
    "Greeks, ye have had the face to come here with selfish words, and
exhort me to join in league with you against the barbarian. Yet when I
erewhile asked you to join with me in fighting barbarians, what time
the quarrel broke out between me and Carthage; and when I earnestly
besought you to revenge on the men of Egesta their murder of
Dorieus, the son of Anaxandridas, promising to assist you in setting
free the trading places from which you receive great profits and
advantages, you neither came hither to give me succour, nor yet to
revenge Dorieus; but, for any efforts on your part to hinder it, these
countries might at this time have been entirely under the
barbarians. Now, however, that matters have prospered and gone well
with me, while the danger has shifted its ground and at present
threatens yourselves, lo! you call Gelo to mind. But though ye
slighted me then, I will not imitate you now: I am ready to give you
aid, and to furnish as my contribution two hundred triremes, twenty
thousand men-at-arms, two thousand cavalry, and an equal number of
archers, slingers, and light horsemen, together with corn for the
whole Grecian army so long as the war shall last. These services,
however, I promise on one condition- that ye appoint me chief
captain and commander of the Grecian forces during the war with the
barbarian. Unless ye agree to this, I will neither send succours,
nor come myself."
    Syagrus, when he heard these words, was unable to contain himself,
and exclaimed:-
    "Surely a groan would burst from Pelops' son, Agamemnon, did he
hear that her leadership was snatched from Sparta by Gelo and the
men of Syracuse. Speak then no more of any such condition, as that
we should yield thee the chief command; but if thou art minded to come
to the aid of Greece, prepare to serve under Lacedaemonian generals.
Wilt thou not serve under a leader?- then, prithee, withhold thy
succours."
    Hereupon Gelo, seeing the indignation which showed itself in the
wolds of Syagrus, delivered to the envoys his final offer:- "Spartan
stranger," he said, "reproaches cast forth against a man are wont to
provoke him to anger; but the insults which thou hast uttered in thy
speech shall not persuade me to outstep good breeding in my answer.
Surely if you maintain so stoutly your right to the command, it is
reasonable that I should be still more stiff in maintaining mine,
forasmuch as I am at the head of a far larger fleet and army. Since,
however, the claim which I have put forward is so displeasing to
you, I will yield, and be content with less. Take, if it please you,
the command of the land-force, and I will be admiral of the fleet;
or assume, if you prefer it, the command by sea, and I will be
leader upon the land. Unless you are satisfied with these terms, you
must return home by yourselves, and lose this great alliance." Such
was the offer which Gelo made.
    Hereat broke in the Athenian envoy, before the Spartan could
answer, and thus addressed Gelo-
    "King of the Syracusans! Greece sent us here to thee to ask for an
army, and not to ask for a general. Thou, however, dost not promise to
send us any army at all, if thou art not made leader of the Greeks;
and this command is what alone thou sticklest for. Now when thy
request was to have the whole command, we were content to keep
silence; for well we knew that we might trust the Spartan envoy to
make answer for us both. But since, after failing in thy claim to lead
the whole armament, thou hast now put forward a request to have the
command of the fleet, know that, even should the Spartan envoy consent
to this, we will not consent. The command by sea, if the
Lacedaemonians do not wish for it, belongs to us. While they like to
keep this command, we shall raise no dispute; but we will not yield
our right to it in favour of any one else. Where would be the
advantage of our having raised up a naval force greater than that of
any other Greek people, if nevertheless we should suffer Syracusans to
take the command away from us?- from us, I say, who are Athenians, the
most ancient nation in Greece, the only Greeks who have never
changed their abode- the people who are said by the poet Homer to have
sent to Troy the man best able of all the Greeks to array and
marshal an army- so that we may be allowed to boast somewhat."
    Gelo replied- "Athenian stranger, ye have, it seems, no lack of
commanders; but ye are likely to lack men to receive their orders.
As ye are resolved to yield nothing and claim everything, ye had
best make haste back to Greece, and say that the spring of her year is
lost to her." The meaning of this expression was the following: as the
spring is manifestly the finest season of the year, so (he meant to
say) were his troops the finest of the Greek army- Greece,
therefore, deprived of his alliance, would be like a year with the
spring taken from it.
    Then the Greek envoys, without having any further dealings with
Gelo, sailed away home. And Gelo, who feared that the Greeks would
be too weak to withstand the barbarians, and yet could not any how
bring himself to go to the Peloponnese, and there, though king of
Sicily, serve under the Lacedaemonians, left off altogether to
contemplate that course of action, and betook himself to quite a
different plan. As soon as ever tidings reached him of the passage
of the Hellespont by the Persians, he sent off three penteconters,
under the command of Cadmus, the son of Scythas, a native of Cos,
who was to go to Delphi, taking with him a large sum of money and a
stock of friendly words: there he was to watch the war, and see what
turn it would take: if the barbarians prevailed, he was to give Xerxes
the treasure, and with it earth and water for the lands which Gelo
ruled- if the Greeks won the day, he was to convey the treasure back.
    This Cadmus had at an earlier time received from his father the
kingly power at Cos in a right good condition, and had of his own free
will and without the approach of any danger, from pure love of
justice, given up his power into the hands of the people at large, and
departed to Sicily; where he assisted in the Samian seizure and
settlement of Zancle, or Messana, as it was afterwards called. Upon
this occasion Gelo chose him to send into Greece, because he was
acquainted with the proofs of honesty which he had given. And now he
added to his former honourable deeds an action which is not the
least of his merits. With a vast sum entrusted to him and completely
in his power, so that he might have kept it for his own use if he
had liked, he did not touch it; but when the Greeks gained the
sea-fight and Xerxes fled away with his army, he brought the whole
treasure back with him to Sicily.
    They, however, who dwell in Sicily, say that Gelo, though he
knew that he must serve under the Lacedaemonians, would nevertheless
have come to the aid of the Greeks, had not it been for Terillus,
the son of Crinippus, king of Himera; who, driven from his city by
Thero, the son of Aenesidemus, king of Agrigentum, brought into Sicily
at this very time an army of three hundred thousand men,
Phoenicians, Libyans, Iberians, Ligurians, Helisycians, Sardinians,
and Corsicans, under the command of Hamilcar the son of Hanno, king of
the Carthaginians. Terillus prevailed upon Hamilcar, partly as his
sworn friend, but more through the zealous aid of Anaxilaus the son of
Cretines, king of Rhegium; who, by giving his own sons to Hamilcar
as hostages, induced him to make the expedition. Anaxilaus herein
served his own father-in-law; for he was married to a daughter of
Terillus, by name Cydippe. So, as Gelo could not give the Greeks any
aid, he sent (they say) the sum of money to Delphi.
    They say too, that the victory of Gelo and Thero in Sicily over
Hamilcar the Carthaginian fell out upon the very day that the Greeks
defeated the Persians at Salamis. Hamilcar, who was a Carthaginian
on his father's side only, but on his mother's a Syracusan, and who
had been raised by his merit to the throne of Carthage, after the
battle and the defeat, as I am informed, disappeared from sight:
Gelo made the strictest search for him, but he could not be found
anywhere, either dead or alive.
    The Carthaginians, who take probability for their guide, give
the following account of this matter:- Hamilcar, they say, during
all the time that the battle raged between the Greeks and the
barbarians, which was from early dawn till evening, remained in the
camp, sacrificing and seeking favourable omens, while he burned on a
huge pyre the entire bodies of the victims which he offered. Here,
as he poured libations upon the sacrifices, he saw the rout of his
army; whereupon he cast himself headlong into the flames, and so was
consumed and disappeared. But whether Hamilcar's disappearance
happened, as the Phoenicians tell us, in this way, or, as the
Syracusans maintain, in some other, certain it is that the
Carthaginians offer him sacrifice, and in all their colonies have
monuments erected to his honour, as well as one, which is the grandest
of all, at Carthage. Thus much concerning the affairs of Sicily.
    As for the Corcyraeans, whom the envoys that visited Sicily took
in their way, and to whom they delivered the same message as to
Gelo- their answers and actions were the following. With great
readiness they promised to come and give their help to the Greeks;
declaring that "the ruin of Greece was a thing which they could not
tamely stand by to see; for should she fall, they must the very next
day submit to slavery; so that they were bound to assist her to the
very uttermost of their power." But notwithstanding that they answered
so smoothly, yet when the time came for the succours to be sent,
they were of quite a different mind; and though they manned sixty
ships, it was long ere they put to sea with them; and when they had so
done, they went no further than the Peloponnese, where they lay to
with their fleet, off the Lacedaemonian coast, about Pylos and
Taenarum- like Gelo, watching to see what turn the war would take. For
they despaired altogether of the Greeks gaining the day, and
expected that the Persian would win a great battle, and then be master
of the whole of Greece. They therefore acted as I have said, in
order that they might be able to address Xerxes in words like these:
"O king! though the Greeks sought to obtain our aid in their war
with thee, and though we had a force of no small size, and could
have furnished a greater number of ships than any Greek state except
Athens, yet we refused, since we would not fight against thee, nor
do aught to cause thee annoyance." The Corcyraeans hoped that a speech
like this would gain them better treatment from the Persians than
the rest of the Greeks; and it would have done so, in my judgment.
At the same time, they had an excuse ready to give their countrymen,
which they used when the time came. Reproached by them for sending
no succours, they replied "that they had fitted out a fleet of sixty
triremes, but that the Etesian winds did not allow them to double Cape
Malea, and this hindered them from reaching Salamis- it was not from
any bad motive that they had missed the sea-fight." In this way the
Corcyraeans eluded the reproaches of the Greeks.
    The Cretans, when the envoys sent to ask aid from them came and
made their request, acted as follows. They despatched messengers in
the name of their state to Delphi, and asked the god, whether it would
make for their welfare if they should lend succour to Greece. "Fools!"
replied the Pythoness, "do ye not still complain of the woes which the
assisting of Menelaus cost you at the hands of angry Minos? How
wroth was he, when, in spite of their having lent you no aid towards
avenging his death at Camicus, you helped them to avenge the
carrying off by a barbarian of a woman from Sparta!" When this
answer was brought from Delphi to the Cretans, they thought no more of
assisting the Greeks.
    Minos, according to tradition, went to Sicania, or Sicily, as it
is now called, in search of Daedalus, and there perished by a
violent death. After a while the Cretans, warned by some god or other,
made a great expedition into Sicania, all except the Polichnites and
the Praesians, and besieged Camicus (which in my time belonged to
Agrigentum) by the space of five years. At last, however, failing in
their efforts to take the place, and unable to carry on the siege
any longer from the pressure of hunger, they departed and went their
way. Voyaging homewards they had reached Iapygia, when a furious storm
arose and threw them upon the coast. All their vessels were broken
in pieces; and so, as they saw no means of returning to Crete, they
founded the town of Hyria, where they took up their abode, changing
their name from Cretans to Messapian Iapygians, and at the same time
becoming inhabitants of the mainland instead of islanders. From
Hyria they afterwards founded those other towns which the Tarentines
at a much later period endeavoured to take, but could not, being
defeated signally. Indeed so dreadful a slaughter of Greeks never
happened at any other time, so far as my knowledge extends: nor was it
only the Tarentines who suffered; but the men of Rhegium too, who
had been forced to go to the aid of the Tarentines by Micythus the son
of Choerus, lost here three thousand of their citizens; while the
number of the Tarentines who fell was beyond all count. This
Micythus had been a household slave of Anaxilaus, and was by him
left in charge of Rhegium: he is the same man who was afterwards
forced to leave Rhegium, when he settled at Tegea in Arcadia, from
which place he made his many offerings of statues to the shrine at
Olympia.
    This account of the Rhegians and the Tarentines is a digression
from the story which I was relating. To return- the Praesians say that
men of various nations now flocked to Crete, which was stript of its
inhabitants; but none came in such numbers as the Grecians. Three
generations after the death of Minos the Trojan war took place; and
the Cretans were not the least distinguished among the helpers of
Menelaus. But on this account, when they came back from Troy, famine
and pestilence fell upon them, and destroyed both the men and the
cattle. Crete was a second time stript of its inhabitants, a remnant
only being left; who form, together with fresh settlers, the third
"Cretan" people by whom the island has been inhabited. These were
the events of which the Pythoness now reminded the men of Crete; and
thereby she prevented them from giving the Greeks aid, though they
wished to have gone to their assistance.
    The Thessalians did not embrace the cause of the Medes until
they were forced to do so; for they gave plain proof that the
intrigues of the Aleuadae were not at all to their liking. No sooner
did they hear that the Persian was about to cross over into Europe
than they despatched envoys to the Greeks who were met to consult
together at the Isthmus, whither all the states which were well
inclined to the Grecian cause had sent their delegates. These envoys
on their arrival thus addressed their countrymen:-
    "Men of Greece, it behoves you to guard the pass of Olympus; for
thus will Thessaly be placed in safety, as well as the rest of Greece.
We for our parts are quite ready to take our share in this work; but
you must likewise send us a strong force: otherwise we give you fair
warning that we shall make terms with the Persians. For we ought not
to be left, exposed as we are in front of all the rest of Greece, to
die in your defence alone and unassisted. If however you do not choose
to send us aid, you cannot force us to resist the enemy; for there
is no force so strong as inability. We shall therefore do our best
to secure our own safety."
    Such was the declaration of the Thessalians.
    Hereupon the Greeks determined to send a body of foot to
Thessaly by sea, which should defend the pass of Olympus.
Accordingly a force was collected, which passed up the Euripus, and
disembarking at Alus, on the coast of Achaea, left the ships there,
and marched by land into Thessaly. Here they occupied the defile of
Tempe; which leads from Lower Macedonia into Thessaly along the course
of the Peneus, having the range of Olympus on the one hand and Ossa
upon the other. In this place the Greek force that had been collected,
amounting to about 10,000 heavy-armed men, pitched their camp; and
here they were joined by the Thessalian cavalry. The commanders
were, on the part of the Lacedaemonians, Evaenetus, the son of
Carenus, who had been chosen out of the Polemarchs, but did not belong
to the blood royal; and on the part of the Athenians Themistocles, the
son of Neocles. They did not however maintain their station for more
than a few days; since envoys came from Alexander, the son of Amyntas,
the Macedonian, and counselled them to decamp from Tempe, telling them
that if they remained in the pass they would be trodden under foot
by the invading army, whose numbers they recounted, and likewise the
multitude of their ships. So when the envoys thus counselled them, and
the counsel seemed to be good, and the Macedonian who sent it
friendly, they did even as he advised. In my opinion what chiefly
wrought on them was the fear that the Persians might enter by
another pass, whereof they now heard, which led from Upper Macedonia
into Thessaly through the territory of the Perrhaebi, and by the
town of Gonnus- the pass by which soon afterwards the army of Xerxes
actually made its entrance. The Greeks therefore went back to their
ships and sailed away to the Isthmus.
    Such were the circumstances of the expedition into Thessaly;
they took place when the king was at Abydos, preparing to pass from
Asia into Europe. The Thessalians, when their allies forsook them,
no longer wavered, but warmly espoused the side of the Medes; and
afterwards, in the course of the war, they were of the very greatest
service to Xerxes.
    The Greeks, on their return to the Isthmus, took counsel
together concerning the words of Alexander, and considered where
they should fix the war, and what places they should occupy. The
opinion which prevailed was that they should guard the pass of
Thermopylae; since it was narrower than the Thessalian defile, and
at the same time nearer to them. Of the pathway, by which the Greeks
who fell at Thermopylae were intercepted, they had no knowledge,
until, on their arrival at Thermopylae, it was discovered to them by
the Trachinians. This pass then it was determined that they should
guard, in order to prevent the barbarians from penetrating into Greece
through it; and at the same time it was resolved that the fleet should
proceed to Artemisium, in the region of Histiaeotis, for, as those
places are near to one another, it would be easy for the fleet and
army to hold communication. The two places may be thus described.
    Artemisium is where the sea of Thrace contracts into a narrow
channel, running between the isle of Sciathus and the mainland of
Magnesia. When this narrow strait is passed you come to the line of
coast called Artemisium; which is a portion of Euboea, and contains
a temple of Artemis (Diana). As for the entrance into Greece by
Trachis, it is, at its narrowest point, about fifty feet wide. This
however is not the place where the passage is most contracted; for
it is still narrower a little above and a little below Thermopylae. At
Alpini, which is lower down than that place, it is only wide enough
for a single carriage; and up above, at the river Phoenix, near the
town called Anthela, it is the same. West of Thermopylae rises a lofty
and precipitous hill, impossible to climb, which runs up into the
chain of Oeta; while to the east the road is shut in by the sea and by
marshes. In this place are the warm springs, which the natives call
"The Cauldrons"; and above them stands an altar sacred to Hercules.
A wall had once been carried across the opening; and in this there had
of old times been a gateway. These works were made by the Phocians,
through fear of the Thessalians, at the time when the latter came from
Thesprotia to establish themselves in the land of Aeolis, which they
still occupy. As the Thessalians strove to reduce Phocis, the Phocians
raised the wall to protect themselves, and likewise turned the hot
springs upon the pass, that so the ground might be broken up by
watercourses, using thus all possible means to hinder the
Thessalians from invading their country. The old wall had been built
in very remote times; and the greater part of it had gone to decay
through age. Now however the Greeks resolved to repair its breaches,
and here make their stand against the barbarian. At this point there
is a village very nigh the road, Alpeni by name, from which the Greeks
reckoned on getting corn for their troops.
    These places, therefore, seemed to the Greeks fit for their
purpose. Weighing well all that was likely to happen, and
considering that in this region the barbarians could make no use of
their vast numbers, nor of their cavalry, they resolved to await
here the invader of Greece. And when news reached them of the Persians
being in Pieria, straightway they broke up from the Isthmus, and
proceeded, some on foot to Thermopylae, others by sea to Artemisium.
    The Greeks now made all speed to reach the two stations; and about
the same time- the Delphians, alarmed both for themselves and for
their country, consulted the god, and received for answer a command to
"pray to the winds, for the winds would do Greece good service." So
when this answer was given them, forthwith the Delphians sent word
of the prophecy to those Greeks who were zealous for freedom, and,
cheering them thereby amid the fears which they entertained with
respect to the barbarian, earned their everlasting gratitude. This
done, they raised an altar to the winds at Thyia (where Thyia, the
daughter of Cephissus, from whom the region takes its name, has a
precinct), and worshipped them with sacrifices. And even to the
present day the Delphians sacrifice to the winds, because of this
oracle.
    The fleet of Xerxes now departed from Therma; and ten of the
swiftest sailing ships ventured to stretch across direct for Sciathus,
at which place there were upon the look-out three vessels belonging to
the Greeks, one a ship of Troezen, another of Egina, and the third
from Athens. These vessels no sooner saw from a distance the
barbarians approaching than they all hurriedly took to flight.
    The barbarians at once pursued, and the Troezenian ship, which was
commanded by Prexinus, fell into their hands. Hereupon the Persians
took the handsomest of the men-at-arms, and drew him to the prow of
the vessel, where they sacrificed him; for they thought the man a good
omen to their cause, seeing that he was at once so beautiful, and
likewise the first captive they had made. The man who was slain in
this way was called Leo; and it may be that the name he bore helped
him to his fate in some measure.
    The Eginetan trireme, under its captain, Asonides, gave the
Persians no little trouble, one of the men-at-arms, Pythes, the son of
Ischenous, distinguishing himself beyond all the others who fought
that day. After the ship was taken this man continued to resist, and
did not cease fighting till he fell quite covered with wounds. The
Persians who served as men-at-arms in the squadron, finding that he
was not dead, but still breathed, and being very anxious to save his
life, since he had behaved so valiantly, dressed his wounds with
myrrh, and bound them up with bandages of cotton. Then, when they were
returned to their own station, they displayed their prisoner
admiringly to the whole host, and behaved towards him with much
kindness; but all the rest of the ship's crew were treated merely as
slaves.
    Thus did the Persians succeed in taking two of the vessels. The
third, a trireme commanded by Phormus of Athens, took to flight and
ran aground at the mouth of the river Peneus. The barbarians got
possession of the bark but not of the men. For the Athenians had no
sooner run their vessel aground than they leapt out, and made their
way through Thessaly back to Athens.
    When the Greeks stationed at Artemisium learnt what had happened
by fire-signals from Sciathus, so terrified were they, that,
quitting their anchorage-ground at Artemisium, and leaving scouts to
watch the foe on the highlands of Euboea, they removed to Chalcis,
intending to guard the Euripus.
    Meantime three of the ten vessels sent forward by the barbarians
advanced as far as the sunken rock between Sciathus and Magnesia,
which is called "The Ant," and there set up a stone pillar which
they had brought with them for that purpose. After this, their
course being now clear, the barbarians set sail with all their ships
from Therma, eleven days from the time that the king quitted the town.
The rock, which lay directly in their course, had been made known to
them by Pammon of Scyros. A day's voyage without a stop brought them
to Sepias in Magnesia, and to the strip of coast which lies between
the town of Casthanaea and the promontory of Sepias.
    As far as this point then, and on land, as far as Thermopylae, the
armament of Xerxes had been free from mischance; and the numbers
were still, according to my reckoning, of the following amount.
First there was the ancient complement of the twelve hundred and seven
vessels which came with the king from Asia- the contingents of the
nations severally- amounting, if we allow to each ship a crew of two
hundred men, to 241,400- Each of these vessels had on board, besides
native soldiers, thirty fighting men, who were either Persians, Medes,
or Sacans; which gives an addition of 36,210. To these two numbers I
shall further add the crews of the penteconters; which may be
reckoned, one with another, at fourscore men each. Of such vessels
there were (as I said before) three thousand; and the men on board
them accordingly would be 240,000. This was the sea force brought by
the king from Asia; and it amounted in all to 517,610 men. The
number of the foot soldiers was 1,700,000; that of the horsemen
80,000; to which must be added the Arabs who rode on camels, and the
Libyans who fought in chariots, whom I reckon at 20,000. The whole
number, therefore, of the land and sea forces added together amounts
to 2,317,610 men. Such was the force brought from Asia, without
including the camp followers, or taking any account of the
provision- ships and the men whom they had on board.
    To the amount thus reached we have still to add the forces
gathered in Europe, concerning which I can only speak from conjecture.
The Greeks dwelling in Thrace, and in the islands off the coast of
Thrace, furnished to the fleet one hundred and twenty ships; the crews
of which would amount to 24,000 men. Besides these, footmen were
furnished by the Thracians, the Paeonians, the Eordians, the
Bottiaeans, by the Chalcidean tribes, by the Brygians, the Pierians,
the Macedonians, the Perrhaebians the Enianians, the Dolopians, the
Magnesians, the Achaeans and by all the dwellers upon the Thracian
sea-board; and the forces of these nations amounted, I believe, to
three hundred thousand men. These numbers, added to those of the force
which came out of Asia, make the sum of the fighting men 2,641,610.
    Such then being the number of the fighting men, it is my belief
that the attendants who followed the camp, together with the crews
of the corn-barks, and of the other craft accompanying the army,
made up an amount rather above than below that of the fighting men.
However I will not reckon them as either fewer or more, but take
them at an equal number. We have therefore to add to the sum already
reached an exactly equal amount. This will give 5,283,220 as the whole
number of men brought by Xerxes, the son of Darius, as far as Sepias
and Thermopylae.
    Such then was the amount of the entire host of Xerxes. As for
the number of the women who ground the corn, of the concubines, and
the eunuchs, no one can give any sure account of it; nor can the
baggage-horses and other sumpter-beasts, nor the Indian hounds which
followed the army, be calculated, by reason of their multitude.
Hence I am not at all surprised that the water of the rivers was found
too scant for the army in some instances; rather it is a marvel to
me how the provisions did not fail, when the numbers were so great.
For I find on calculation that if each man consumed no more than a
choenix of corn a day, there must have been used daily by the army
110,340 medimni, and this without counting what was eaten by the
women, the eunuchs, the sumpter-beasts, and the hounds. Among all this
multitude of men there was not one who, for beauty and stature,
deserved more than Xerxes himself to wield so vast a power.
    The fleet then, as I said, on leaving Therma, sailed to the
Magnesian territory, and there occupied the strip of coast between the
city of Casthanaea and Cape Sepias. The ships of the first row were
moored to the land, while the remainder swung at anchor further off.
The beach extended but a very little way, so that they had to anchor
off the shore, row upon row, eight deep. In this manner they passed
the night. But at dawn of day calm and stillness gave place to a
raging sea, and a violent storm, which fell upon them with a strong
gale from the east- a wind which the people in those parts call
Hellespontias. Such of them as perceived the wind rising, and were
so moored as to allow of it, forestalled the tempest by dragging their
ships up on the beach, and in this way saved both themselves and their
vessels. But the ships which the storm caught out at sea were driven
ashore, some of them near the place called Ipni, or "The Ovens," at
the foot of Pelion; others on the strand itself; others again about
Cape Sepias; while a portion were dashed to pieces near the cities
of Meliboea and Casthanaea. There was no resisting the tempest.
    It is said that the Athenians had called upon Boreas to aid the
Greeks, on account of a fresh oracle which had reached them,
commanding them to "seek help from their son-in-law." For Boreas,
according to the tradition of the Greeks, took to wife a woman of
Attica, viz., Orithyia, the daughter of Erechtheus. So the
Athenians, as the tale goes, considering that this marriage made
Boreas their son-in-law, and perceiving, while they lay with their
ships at Chalcis of Euboea, that the wind was rising, or, it may be,
even before it freshened, offered sacrifice both to Boreas and
likewise to Orithyia, entreating them to come to their aid and to
destroy the ships of the barbarians, as they did once before off Mount
Athos. Whether it was owing to this that Boreas fell with violence
on the barbarians at their anchorage I cannot say; but the Athenians
declare that they had received aid from Boreas before, and that it was
he who now caused all these disasters. They therefore, on their return
home, built a temple to this god on the banks of the Ilissus.
    Such as put the loss of the Persian fleet in this storm at the
lowest say that four hundred of their ships were destroyed, that a
countless multitude of men were slain, and a vast treasure engulfed.
Ameinocles, the son of Cretines, a Magnesian, who farmed land near
Cape Sepias, found the wreck of these vessels a source of great gain
to him; many were the gold and silver drinking-cups, cast up long
afterwards by the surf, which he gathered; while treasure-boxes too
which had belonged to the Persians, and golden articles of all kinds
and beyond count, came into his possession. Ameinocles grew to be a
man of great wealth in this way; but in other respects things did
not go over well with him: he too, like other men, had his own
grief- the calamity of losing his offspring.
    As for the number of the provision craft and other merchant
ships which perished, it was beyond count. Indeed, such was the
loss, that the commanders of the sea force, fearing lest in their
shattered condition the Thessalians should venture on an attack,
raised a lofty barricade around their station out of the wreck of
the vessels cast ashore. The storm lasted three days. At length the
Magians, by offering victims to the Winds, and charming them with
the help of conjurers, while at the same time they sacrificed to
Thetis and the Nereids, succeeded in laying the storm four days
after it first began; or perhaps it ceased of itself. The reason of
their offering sacrifice to Thetis was this: they were told by the
Ionians that here was the place whence Peleus carried her off, and
that the whole promontory was sacred to her and to her sister Nereids.
So the storm lulled upon the fourth day.
    The scouts left by the Greeks about the highlands of Euboea
hastened down from their stations on the day following that whereon
the storm began, and acquainted their countrymen with all that had
befallen the Persian fleet. These no sooner heard what had happened
than straightway they returned thanks to Neptune the Saviour, and
poured libations in his honour; after which they hastened back with
all speed to Artemisium, expecting to find a very few ships left to
oppose them, and arriving there for the second time, took up their
station on that strip of coast: nor from that day to the present
have they ceased to address Neptune by the name then given him, of
"Saviour."
    The barbarians, when the wind lulled and the sea grew smooth, drew
their ships down to the water, and proceeded to coast along the
mainland. Having then rounded the extreme point of Magnesia, they
sailed straight into the bay that runs up to Pagasae. There is a place
in this bay, belonging to Magnesia, where Hercules is said to have
been put ashore to fetch water by Jason and his companions; who then
deserted him and went on their way to Aea in Colchis, on board the
ship Argo, in quest of the golden fleece. From the circumstance that
they intended, after watering their vessel at this place, to quit
the shore and launch forth into the deep, it received the name of
Aphetae. Here then it was that the fleet of Xerxes came to an anchor.
    Fifteen ships, which had lagged greatly behind the rest, happening
to catch sight of the Greek fleet at Artemisium, mistook it for
their own, and sailing down into the midst of it, fell into the
hands of the enemy. The commander of this squadron was Sandoces, the
son of Thamasius, governor of Cyme, in Aeolis. He was of the number of
the royal judges, and had been crucified by Darius some time before,
on the charge of taking a bribe to determine a cause wrongly; but
while he yet hung on the cross, Darius bethought him that the good
deeds of Sandoces towards the king's house were more numerous than his
evil deeds; and so, confessing that he had acted with more haste
than wisdom, he ordered him to be taken down and set at large. Thus
Sandoces escaped destruction at the hands of Darius, and was alive
at this time; but he was not fated to come off so cheaply from his
second peril; for as soon as the Greeks saw the ships making towards
them, they guessed their mistake, and putting to sea, took them
without difficulty.
    Aridolis, tyrant of Alabanda in Caria, was on board one of the
ships, and was made prisoner; as also was the Paphian general,
Penthylus, the son of Domonous, who was on board another. This
person had brought with him twelve ships from Paphos, and, after
losing eleven in the storm off Sepias, was taken in the remaining
one as he sailed towards Artemisium. The Greeks, after questioning
their prisoners as much as they wished concerning the forces of
Xerxes, sent them away in chains to the Isthmus of Corinth.
    The sea force of the barbarians, with the exception of the fifteen
ships commanded (as I said) by Sandoces, came safe to Aphetae.
Xerxes meanwhile, with the land army, had proceeded through Thessaly
and Achaea, and three days earlier, had entered the territory of the
Malians. In Thessaly, he matched his own horses against the
Thessalian, which he heard were the best in Greece, but the Greek
coursers were left far behind in the race. All the rivers in this
region had water enough to supply his army, except only the Onochonus;
but in Achaea, the largest of the streams, the Apidanus, barely held
out.
    On his arrival at Alus in Achaea, his guides, wishing to inform
him of everything, told him the tale known to the dwellers in those
parts concerning the temple of the Laphystian Jupiter- how that
Athamas the son of Aeolus took counsel with Ino and plotted the
death of Phrixus; and how that afterwards the Achaeans, warned by an
oracle, laid a forfeit upon his posterity, forbidding the eldest of
the race ever to enter into the court-house (which they call the
people's house), and keeping watch themselves to see the law obeyed.
If one comes within the doors, he can never go out again except to
be sacrificed. Further, they told him how that many persons, when on
the point of being slain, are seized with such fear that they flee
away and take refuge in some other country; and that these, if they
come back long afterwards, and are found to be the persons who entered
the court-house, are led forth covered with chaplets, and in a grand
procession, and are sacrificed. This forfeit is paid by the
descendants of Cytissorus the son of Phrixus, because, when the
Achaeans, in obedience to an oracle, made Athamas the son of Aeolus
their sin-offering, and were about to slay him, Cytissorus came from
Aea in Colchis and rescued Athamus; by which deed he brought the anger
of the god upon his own posterity. Xerxes, therefore, having heard
this story, when he reached the grove of the god, avoided it, and
commanded his army to do the like. He also paid the same respect to
the house and precinct of the descendants of Athamas.
    Such were the doing of Xerxes in Thessaly and in Achaea, From
hence he passed on into Malis, along the shores of a bay, in which
there is an ebb and flow of the tide daily. By the side of this bay
lies a piece of flat land, in one part broad, but in another very
narrow indeed, around which runs a range of lofty hills, impossible to
climb, enclosing all Malis within them, and called the Trachinian
cliffs. The first city upon the bay, as you come from Achaea, is
Anticyra, near which the river Spercheius, flowing down from the
country of the Enianians, empties itself into the sea. About twenty
furlongs from this stream there is a second river, called the Dyras,
which is said to have appeared first to help Hercules when he was
burning. Again, at the distance of twenty furlongs, there is a
stream called the Melas, near which, within about five furlongs,
stands the city of Trachis.
    At the point where this city is built, the plain between the hills
and the sea is broader than at any other, for it there measures 22,000
plethra. South of Trachis there is a cleft in the mountain-range which
shuts in the territory of Trachinia; and the river Asopus issuing from
this cleft flows for a while along the foot of the hills.
    Further to the south, another river, called the Phoenix, which has
no great body of water, flows from the same hills, and falls into
the Asopus. Here is the narrowest place of all; for in this part there
is only a causeway wide enough for a single carriage. From the river
Phoenix to Thermopylae is a distance of fifteen furlongs; and in
this space is situate the village called Anthela, which the river
Asopus passes ere it reaches the sea. The space about Anthela is of
some width, and contains a temple of Amphictyonian Ceres, as well as
the seats of the Amphictyonic deputies, and a temple of Amphictyon
himself.
    King Xerxes pitched his camp in the region of Malis called
Trachinia, while on their side the Greeks occupied the straits.
These straits the Greeks in general call Thermopylae (the Hot
Gates); but the natives, and those who dwell in the neighbourhood,
call them Pylae (the Gates). Here then the two armies took their
stand; the one master of all the region lying north of Trachis, the
other of the country extending southward of that place to the verge of
the continent.
    The Greeks who at this spot awaited the coming of Xerxes were
the following:- From Sparta, three hundred men-at-arms; from
Arcadia, a thousand Tegeans and Mantineans, five hundred of each
people; a hundred and twenty Orchomenians, from the Arcadian
Orchomenus; and a thousand from other cities: from Corinth, four
hundred men; from Phlius, two hundred; and from Mycenae eighty. Such
was the number from the Peloponnese. There were also present, from
Boeotia, seven hundred Thespians and four hundred Thebans.
    Besides these troops, the Locrians of Opus and the Phocians had
obeyed the call of their countrymen, and sent, the former all the
force they had, the latter a thousand men. For envoys had gone from
the Greeks at Thermopylae among the Locrians and Phocians, to call
on them for assistance, and to say- "They were themselves but the
vanguard of the host, sent to precede the main body, which might every
day be expected to follow them. The sea was in good keeping, watched
by the Athenians, the Eginetans, and the rest of the fleet. There
was no cause why they should fear; for after all the invader was not a
god but a man; and there never had been, and never would be, a man who
was not liable to misfortunes from the very day of his birth, and
those misfortunes greater in proportion to his own greatness. The
assailant therefore, being only a mortal, must needs fall from his
glory." Thus urged, the Locrians and the Phocians had come with
their troops to Trachis.
    The various nations had each captains of their own under whom they
served; but the one to whom all especially looked up, and who had
the command of the entire force, was the Lacedaemonian, Leonidas.
Now Leonidas was the son of Anaxandridas, who was the son of Leo,
who was the son of Eurycratidas, who was the son of Anaxander, who was
the son of Eurycrates, who was the son of Polydorus, who was the son
of Alcamenes, who was the son of Telecles, who was the son of
Archelaus, who was the son of Agesilaus, who was the son of
Doryssus, who was the son of Labotas, who was the son of
Echestratus, who was the son of Agis, who was the son of
Eurysthenes, who was the son of Aristodemus, who was the son of
Aristomachus, who was the son of Cleodaeus, who was the son of Hyllus,
who was the son of Hercules.
    Leonidas had come to be king of Sparta quite unexpectedly.
    Having two elder brothers, Cleomenes and Dorieus, he had no
thought of ever mounting the throne. However, when Cleomenes died
without male offspring, as Dorieus was likewise deceased, having
perished in Sicily, the crown fell to Leonidas, who was older than
Cleombrotus, the youngest of the sons of Anaxandridas, and,
moreover, was married to the daughter of Cleomenes. He had now come to
Thermopylae, accompanied by the three hundred men which the law
assigned him, whom he had himself chosen from among the citizens,
and who were all of them fathers with sons living. On his way he had
taken the troops from Thebes, whose number I have already mentioned,
and who were under the command of Leontiades the son of Eurymachus.
The reason why he made a point of taking troops from Thebes, and
Thebes only, was that the Thebans were strongly suspected of being
well inclined to the Medes. Leonidas therefore called on them to
come with him to the war, wishing to see whether they would comply
with his demand, or openly refuse, and disclaim the Greek alliance.
They, however, though their wishes leant the other way, nevertheless
sent the men.
    The force with Leonidas was sent forward by the Spartans in
advance of their main body, that the sight of them might encourage the
allies to fight, and hinder them from going over to the Medes, as it
was likely they might have done had they seen that Sparta was
backward. They intended presently, when they had celebrated the
Carneian festival, which was what now kept them at home, to leave a
garrison in Sparta, and hasten in full force to join the army. The
rest of the allies also intended to act similarly; for it happened
that the Olympic festival fell exactly at this same period. None of
them looked to see the contest at Thermopylae decided so speedily;
wherefore they were content to send forward a mere advanced guard.
Such accordingly were the intentions of the allies.
    The Greek forces at Thermopylae, when the Persian army drew near
to the entrance of the pass, were seized with fear; and a council
was held to consider about a retreat. It was the wish of the
Peloponnesians generally that the army should fall back upon the
Peloponnese, and there guard the Isthmus. But Leonidas, who saw with
what indignation the Phocians and Locrians heard of this plan, gave
his voice for remaining where they were, while they sent envoys to the
several cities to ask for help, since they were too few to make a
stand against an army like that of the Medes.
    While this debate was going on, Xerxes sent a mounted spy to
observe the Greeks, and note how many they were, and see what they
were doing. He had heard, before he came out of Thessaly, that a few
men were assembled at this place, and that at their head were
certain Lacedaemonians, under Leonidas, a descendant of Hercules.
The horseman rode up to the camp, and looked about him, but did not
see the whole army; for such as were on the further side of the wall
(which had been rebuilt and was now carefully guarded) it was not
possible for him to behold; but he observed those on the outside,
who were encamped in front of the rampart. It chanced that at this
time the Lacedaemonians held the outer guard, and were seen by the
spy, some of them engaged in gymnastic exercises, others combing their
long hair. At this the spy greatly marvelled, but he counted their
number, and when he had taken accurate note of everything, he rode
back quietly; for no one pursued after him, nor paid any heed to his
visit. So he returned, and told Xerxes all that he had seen.
    Upon this, Xerxes, who had no means of surmising the truth-
namely, that the Spartans were preparing to do or die manfully- but
thought it laughable that they should be engaged in such
employments, sent and called to his presence Demaratus the son of
Ariston, who still remained with the army. When he appeared, Xerxes
told him all that he had heard, and questioned him concerning the
news, since he was anxious to understand the meaning of such behaviour
on the part of the Spartans. Then Demaratus said-
    "I spake to thee, O king! concerning these men long since, when we
had but just begun our march upon Greece; thou, however, didst only
laugh at my words, when I told thee of all this, which I saw would
come to pass. Earnestly do I struggle at all times to speak truth to
thee, sire; and now listen to it once more. These men have come to
dispute the pass with us; and it is for this that they are now
making ready. 'Tis their custom, when they are about to hazard their
lives, to adorn their heads with care. Be assured, however, that if
thou canst subdue the men who are here and the Lacedaemonians who
remain in Sparta, there is no other nation in all the world which will
venture to lift a hand in their defence. Thou hast now to deal with
the first kingdom and town in Greece, and with the bravest men."
    Then Xerxes, to whom what Demaratus said seemed altogether to
surpass belief, asked further "how it was possible for so small an
army to contend with his?"
    "O king!" Demaratus answered, "let me be treated as a liar, if
matters fall not out as I say."
    But Xerxes was not persuaded any the more. Four whole days he
suffered to go by, expecting that the Greeks would run away. When,
however, he found on the fifth that they were not gone, thinking
that their firm stand was mere impudence and recklessness, he grew
wroth, and sent against them the Medes and Cissians, with orders to
take them alive and bring them into his presence. Then the Medes
rushed forward and charged the Greeks, but fell in vast numbers:
others however took the places of the slain, and would not be beaten
off, though they suffered terrible losses. In this way it became clear
to all, and especially to the king, that though he had plenty of
combatants, he had but very few warriors. The struggle, however,
continued during the whole day.
    Then the Medes, having met so rough a reception, withdrew from the
fight; and their place was taken by the band of Persians under
Hydarnes, whom the king called his "Immortals": they, it was
thought, would soon finish the business. But when they joined battle
with the Greeks, 'twas with no better success than the Median
detachment- things went much as before- the two armies fighting in a
narrow space, and the barbarians using shorter spears than the Greeks,
and having no advantage from their numbers. The Lacedaemonians
fought in a way worthy of note, and showed themselves far more skilful
in fight than their adversaries, often turning their backs, and making
as though they were all flying away, on which the barbarians would
rush after them with much noise and shouting, when the Spartans at
their approach would wheel round and face their pursuers, in this
way destroying vast numbers of the enemy. Some Spartans likewise
fell in these encounters, but only a very few. At last the Persians,
finding that all their efforts to gain the pass availed nothing, and
that, whether they attacked by divisions or in any other way, it was
to no purpose, withdrew to their own quarters.
    During these assaults, it is said that Xerxes, who was watching
the battle, thrice leaped from the throne on which he sate, in
terror for his army.
    Next day the combat was renewed, but with no better success on the
part of the barbarians. The Greeks were so few that the barbarians
hoped to find them disabled, by reason of their wounds, from
offering any further resistance; and so they once more attacked
them. But the Greeks were drawn up in detachments according to their
cities, and bore the brunt of the battle in turns- all except the
Phocians, who had been stationed on the mountain to guard the pathway.
So, when the Persians found no difference between that day and the
preceding, they again retired to their quarters.
    Now, as the king was in great strait, and knew not how he should
deal with the emergency, Ephialtes, the son of Eurydemus, a man of
Malis, came to him and was admitted to a conference. Stirred by the
hope of receiving a rich reward at the king's hands, he had come to
tell him of the pathway which led across the mountain to
Thermopylae; by which disclosure he brought destruction on the band of
Greeks who had there withstood the barbarians. This Ephialtes
afterwards, from fear of the Lacedaemonians, fled into Thessaly; and
during his exile, in an assembly of the Amphictyons held at Pylae, a
price was set upon his head by the Pylagorae. When some time had
gone by, he returned from exile, and went to Anticyra, where he was
slain by Athenades, a native of Trachis. Athenades did not slay him
for his treachery, but for another reason, which I shall mention in
a later part of my history: yet still the Lacedaemonians honoured
him none the less. Thus then did Ephialtes perish a long time
afterwards.
    Besides this there is another story told, which I do not at all
believe- to wit, that Onetas the son of Phanagoras, a native of
Carystus, and Corydallus, a man of Anticyra, were the persons who
spoke on this matter to the king, and took the Persians across the
mountain. One may guess which story is true, from the fact that the
deputies of the Greeks, the Pylagorae, who must have had the best
means of ascertaining the truth, did not offer the reward for the
heads of Onetas and Corydallus, but for that of Ephialtes of
Trachis; and again from the flight of Ephialtes, which we know to have
been on this account. Onetas, I allow, although he was not a Malian,
might have been acquainted with the path, if he had lived much in that
part of the country; but as Ephialtes was the person who actually
led the Persians round the mountain by the pathway, I leave his name
on record as that of the man who did the deed.
    Great was the joy of Xerxes on this occasion; and as he approved
highly of the enterprise which Ephialtes undertook to accomplish, he
forthwith sent upon the errand Hydarnes, and the Persians under him.
The troops left the camp about the time of the lighting of the
lamps. The pathway along which they went was first discovered by the
Malians of these parts, who soon afterwards led the Thessalians by
it to attack the Phocians, at the time when the Phocians fortified the
pass with a wall, and so put themselves under covert from danger.
And ever since, the path has always been put to an ill use by the
Malians.
    The course which it takes is the following:- Beginning at the
Asopus, where that stream flows through the cleft in the hills, it
runs along the ridge of the mountain (which is called, like the
pathway over it, Anopaea), and ends at the city of Alpenus- the
first Locrian town as you come from Malis- by the stone called
Melampygus and the seats of the Cercopians. Here it is as narrow as at
any other point.
    The Persians took this path, and, crossing the Asopus, continued
their march through the whole of the night, having the mountains of
Oeta on their right hand, and on their left those of Trachis. At
dawn of day they found themselves close to the summit. Now the hill
was guarded, as I have already said, by a thousand Phocian
men-at-arms, who were placed there to defend the pathway, and at the
same time to secure their own country. They had been given the guard
of the mountain path, while the other Greeks defended the pass
below, because they had volunteered for the service, and had pledged
themselves to Leonidas to maintain the post.
    The ascent of the Persians became known to the Phocians in the
following manner:- During all the time that they were making their way
up, the Greeks remained unconscious of it, inasmuch as the whole
mountain was covered with groves of oak; but it happened that the
air was very still, and the leaves which the Persians stirred with
their feet made, as it was likely they would, a loud rustling,
whereupon the Phocians jumped up and flew to seize their arms. In a
moment the barbarians came in sight, and, perceiving men arming
themselves, were greatly amazed; for they had fallen in with an
enemy when they expected no opposition. Hydarnes, alarmed at the
sight, and fearing lest the Phocians might be Lacedaemonians, inquired
of Ephialtes to what nation these troops belonged. Ephialtes told
him the exact truth, whereupon he arrayed his Persians for battle. The
Phocians, galled by the showers of arrows to which they were
exposed, and imagining themselves the special object of the Persian
attack, fled hastily to the crest of the mountain, and there made
ready to meet death; but while their mistake continued, the
Persians, with Ephialtes and Hydarnes, not thinking it worth their
while to delay on account of Phocians, passed on and descended the
mountain with all possible speed.
    The Greeks at Thermopylae received the first warning of the
destruction which the dawn would bring on them from the seer
Megistias, who read their fate in the victims as he was sacrificing.
After this deserters came in, and brought the news that the Persians
were marching round by the hills: it was still night when these men
arrived. Last of all, the scouts came running down from the heights,
and brought in the same accounts, when the day was just beginning to
break. Then the Greeks held a council to consider what they should do,
and here opinions were divided: some were strong against quitting
their post, while others contended to the contrary. So when the
council had broken up, part of the troops departed and went their ways
homeward to their several states; part however resolved to remain, and
to stand by Leonidas to the last.
    It is said that Leonidas himself sent away the troops who
departed, because he tendered their safety, but thought it unseemly
that either he or his Spartans should quit the post which they had
been especially sent to guard. For my own part, I incline to think
that Leonidas gave the order, because he perceived the allies to be
out of heart and unwilling to encounter the danger to which his own
mind was made up. He therefore commanded them to retreat, but said
that he himself could not draw back with honour; knowing that, if he
stayed, glory awaited him, and that Sparta in that case would not lose
her prosperity. For when the Spartans, at the very beginning of the
war, sent to consult the oracle concerning it, the answer which they
received from the Pythoness was "that either Sparta must be overthrown
by the barbarians, or one of her kings must perish." The prophecy
was delivered in hexameter verse, and ran thus:-

    O ye men who dwell in the streets of broad Lacedaemon!
    Either your glorious town shall be sacked by the children of
      Perseus,
    Or, in exchange, must all through the whole Laconian country
    Mourn for the loss of a king, descendant of great Heracles.
    He cannot be withstood by the courage of bulls nor of lions,
    Strive as they may; he is mighty as Jove; there is nought that
      shall stay him,
    Till he have got for his prey your king, or your glorious city.

The remembrance of this answer, I think, and the wish to secure the
whole glory for the Spartans, caused Leonidas to send the allies away.
This is more likely than that they quarrelled with him, and took their
departure in such unruly fashion.
    To me it seems no small argument in favour of this view, that
the seer also who accompanied the army, Megistias, the Acarnanian-
said to have been of the blood of Melampus, and the same who was led
by the appearance of the victims to warn the Greeks of the danger
which threatened them- received orders to retire (as it is certain
he did) from Leonidas, that he might escape the coming destruction.
Megistias, however, though bidden to depart, refused, and stayed
with the army; but he had an only son present with the expedition,
whom he now sent away.
    So the allies, when Leonidas ordered them to retire, obeyed him
and forthwith departed. Only the Thespians and the Thebans remained
with the Spartans; and of these the Thebans were kept back by Leonidas
as hostages, very much against their will. The Thespians, on the
contrary, stayed entirely of their own accord, refusing to retreat,
and declaring that they would not forsake Leonidas and his
followers. So they abode with the Spartans, and died with them.
Their leader was Demophilus, the son of Diadromes.
    At sunrise Xerxes made libations, after which he waited until
the time when the forum is wont to fill, and then began his advance.
Ephialtes had instructed him thus, as the descent of the mountain is
much quicker, and the distance much shorter, than the way round the
hills, and the ascent. So the barbarians under Xerxes began to draw
nigh; and the Greeks under Leonidas, as they now went forth determined
to die, advanced much further than on previous days, until they
reached the more open portion of the pass. Hitherto they had held
their station within the wall, and from this had gone forth to fight
at the point where the pass was the narrowest. Now they joined
battle beyond the defile, and carried slaughter among the
barbarians, who fell in heaps. Behind them the captains of the
squadrons, armed with whips, urged their men forward with continual
blows. Many were thrust into the sea, and there perished; a still
greater number were trampled to death by their own soldiers; no one
heeded the dying. For the Greeks, reckless of their own safety and
desperate, since they knew that, as the mountain had been crossed,
their destruction was nigh at hand, exerted themselves with the most
furious valour against the barbarians.
    By this time the spears of the greater number were all shivered,
and with their swords they hewed down the ranks of the Persians; and
here, as they strove, Leonidas fell fighting bravely, together with
many other famous Spartans, whose names I have taken care to learn
on account of their great worthiness, as indeed I have those of all
the three hundred. There fell too at the same time very many famous
Persians: among them, two sons of Darius, Abrocomes and Hyperanthes,
his children by Phratagune, the daughter of Artanes. Artanes was
brother of King Darius, being a son of Hystaspes, the son of
Arsames; and when he gave his daughter to the king, he made him heir
likewise of all his substance; for she was his only child.
    Thus two brothers of Xerxes here fought and fell. And now there
arose a fierce struggle between the Persians and the Lacedaemonians
over the body of Leonidas, in which the Greeks four times drove back
the enemy, and at last by their great bravery succeeded in bearing off
the body. This combat was scarcely ended when the Persians with
Ephialtes approached; and the Greeks, informed that they drew nigh,
made a change in the manner of their fighting. Drawing back into the
narrowest part of the pass, and retreating even behind the cross wall,
they posted themselves upon a hillock, where they stood all drawn up
together in one close body, except only the Thebans. The hillock
whereof I speak is at the entrance of the straits, where the stone
lion stands which was set up in honour of Leonidas. Here they defended
themselves to the last, such as still had swords using them, and the
others resisting with their hands and teeth; till the barbarians,
who in part had pulled down the wall and attacked them in front, in
part had gone round and now encircled them upon every side,
overwhelmed and buried the remnant which was left beneath showers of
missile weapons.
    Thus nobly did the whole body of Lacedaemonians and Thespians
behave; but nevertheless one man is said to have distinguished himself
above all the rest, to wit, Dieneces the Spartan. A speech which he
made before the Greeks engaged the Medes, remains on record. One of
the Trachinians told him, "Such was the number of the barbarians, that
when they shot forth their arrows the sun would be darkened by their
multitude." Dieneces, not at all frightened at these words, but making
light of the Median numbers, answered "Our Trachinian friend brings us
excellent tidings. If the Medes darken the sun, we shall have our
fight in the shade." Other sayings too of a like nature are reported
to have been left on record by this same person.
    Next to him two brothers, Lacedaemonians, are reputed to have made
themselves conspicuous: they were named Alpheus and Maro, and were the
sons of Orsiphantus. There was also a Thespian who gained greater
glory than any of his countrymen: he was a man called Dithyrambus, the
son of Harmatidas.
    The slain were buried where they fell; and in their honour, nor
less in honour of those who died before Leonidas sent the allies away,
an inscription was set up, which said:-

    Here did four thousand men from Pelops' land
    Against three hundred myriads bravely stand.

This was in honour of all. Another was for the Spartans alone:-

    Go, stranger, and to Lacedaemon tell
    That here, obeying her behests, we fell.

This was for the Lacedaemonians. The seer had the following:-

    The great Megistias' tomb you here may view,
      Whom slew the Medes, fresh from Spercheius' fords.
    Well the wise seer the coming death foreknew,
    Yet scorned he to forsake his Spartan lords.

These inscriptions, and the pillars likewise, were all set up by the
Amphictyons, except that in honour of Megistias, which was inscribed
to him (on account of their sworn friendship) by Simonides, the son of
Leoprepes.
    Two of the three hundred, it is said, Aristodemus and Eurytus,
having been attacked by a disease of the eyes, had received orders
from Leonidas to quit the camp; and both lay at Alpeni in the worst
stage of the malady. These two men might, had they been so minded,
have agreed together to return alive to Sparta; or if they did not
like to return, they might have gone both to the field and fallen with
their countrymen. But at this time, when either way was open to
them, unhappily they could not agree, but took contrary courses.
Eurytus no sooner heard that the Persians had come round the
mountain than straightway he called for his armour, and having buckled
it on, bade his helot lead him to the place where his friends were
fighting. The helot did so, and then turned and fled; but Eurytus
plunged into the thick of the battle, and so perished. Aristodemus, on
the other hand, was faint of heart, and remained at Alpeni. It is my
belief that if Aristodemus only had been sick and returned, or if both
had come back together, the Spartans would have been content and
felt no anger; but when there were two men with the very same
excuse, and one of them was chary of his life, while the other
freely gave it, they could not but be very wroth with the former.
    This is the account which some give of the escape of
Aristodemus. Others say that he, with another, had been sent on a
message from the army, and, having it in his power to return in time
for the battle, purposely loitered on the road, and so survived his
comrades; while his fellow-messenger came back in time, and fell in
the battle.
    When Aristodemus returned to Lacedaemon, reproach and disgrace
awaited him; disgrace, inasmuch as no Spartan would give him a light
to kindle his fire, or so much as address a word to him; and reproach,
since all spoke of him as "the craven." However he wiped away all
his shame afterwards at the battle of Plataea.
    Another of the three hundred is likewise said to have survived the
battle, a man named Pantites, whom Leonidas had sent on an embassy
into Thessaly. He, they say, on his return to Sparta, found himself in
such disesteem that he hanged himself.
    The Thebans under the command of Leontiades remained with the
Greeks, and fought against the barbarians, only so long as necessity
compelled them. No sooner did they see victory inclining to the
Persians, and the Greeks under Leonidas hurrying with all speed
towards the hillock, than they moved away from their companions, and
with hands upraised advanced towards the barbarians, exclaiming, as
was indeed most true- "that they for their part wished well to the
Medes, and had been among the first to give earth and water to the
king; force alone had brought them to Thermopylae; and so they must
not be blamed for the slaughter which had befallen the king's army."
These words, the truth of which was attested by the Thessalians,
sufficed to obtain the Thebans the grant of their lives. However,
their good fortune was not without some drawback; for several of
them were slain by the barbarians on their first approach; and the
rest, who were the greater number, had the royal mark branded upon
their bodies by the command of Xerxes- Leontiades, their captain,
being the first to suffer. (This man's son, Eurymachus, was afterwards
slain by the Plataeans, when he came with a band Of 400 Thebans, and
seized their city.)
    Thus fought the Greeks at Thermopylae. And Xerxes, after the fight
was over, called for Demaratus to question him; and began as follows:-
    "Demaratus, thou art a worthy man; thy true-speaking proves it.
All has happened as thou didst forewarn. Now then, tell me, how many
Lacedaemonians are there left, and of those left how many are such
brave warriors as these? Or are they all alike?"
    "O king!" replied the other, "the whole number of the
Lacedaemonians is very great; and many are the cities which they
inhabit. But I will tell thee what thou really wishest to learn. There
is a town of Lacedaemon called Sparta, which contains within it
about eight thousand full-grown men. They are, one and all, equal to
those who have fought here. The other Lacedaemonians are brave men,
but not such warriors as these."
    "Tell me now, Demaratus," rejoined Xerxes, "how we may with
least trouble subdue these men. Thou must know all the paths of
their counsels, as thou wert once their king."
    Then Demaratus answered- "O king! since thou askest my advice so
earnestly, it is fitting that I should inform thee what I consider
to be the best course. Detach three hundred vessels from the body of
thy fleet, and send them to attack the shores of Laconia. There is
an island called Cythera in those parts, not far from the coast,
concerning which Chilon, one of our wisest men, made the remark that
Sparta would gain if it were sunk to the bottom of the sea- so
constantly did he expect that it would give occasion to some project
like that which I now recommend to thee. I mean not to say that he had
a foreknowledge of thy attack upon Greece; but in truth he feared
all armaments. Send thy ships then to this island, and thence affright
the Spartans. If once they have a war of their own close to their
doors, fear not their giving any help to the rest of the Greeks
while thy land force is engaged in conquering them. In this way may
all Greece be subdued; and then Sparta, left to herself, will be
powerless. But if thou wilt not take this advice, I will tell thee
what thou mayest look to see. When thou comest to the Peloponnese,
thou wilt find a narrow neck of land, where all the Peloponnesians who
are leagued against thee will be gathered together; and there thou
wilt have to fight bloodier battles than any which thou hast yet
witnessed. If, however, thou wilt follow my plan, the Isthmus and
the cities of Peloponnese will yield to thee without a battle."
    Achaeamenes, who was present, now took the word, and spoke- he was
brother to Xerxes, and, having the command of the fleet, feared lest
Xerxes might be prevailed upon to do as Demaratus advised "I perceive,
O king" (he said), "that thou art listening to the words of a man
who is envious of thy good fortune, and seeks to betray thy cause.
This is indeed the common temper of the Grecian people- they envy good
fortune, and hate power greater than their own. If in this posture
of our affairs, after we have lost four hundred vessels by
shipwreck, three hundred more be sent away to make a voyage round
the Peloponnese, our enemies will be, come a match for us. But let
us keep our whole fleet in one body, and it will be dangerous for them
to venture on an attack, as they will certainly be no match for us
then. Besides, while our sea and land forces advance together, the
fleet and army can each help the other; but if they be parted, no
aid will come either from thee to the fleet, or from the fleet to
thee. Only order thy own matters well, and trouble not thyself to
inquire concerning the enemy- where they will fight, or what they will
do, or how many they are. Surely they can manage their own concerns
without us, as we can ours without them. If the Lacedaemonians come
out against the Persians to battle, they will scarce repair the
disaster which has befallen them now."
    Xerxes replied- "Achaeamenes, thy counsel pleases me well, and I
will do as thou sayest. But Demaratus advised what he thought best-
only his judgment was not so good as thine. Never will I believe
that he does not wish well to my cause; for that is disproved both
by his former counsels, and also by the circumstances of the case. A
citizen does indeed envy any fellow-citizen who is more lucky than
himself, and often hates him secretly; if such a man be called on
for counsel, he will not give his best thoughts, unless indeed he be a
man of very exalted virtue; and such are but rarely found. But a
friend of another country delights in the good fortune of his
foreign bond-friend, and will give him, when asked, the best advice in
his power. Therefore I warn all men to abstain henceforth from
speaking ill of Demaratus, who is my bond-friend."
    When Xerxes had thus spoken, he proceeded to pass through the
slain; and finding the body of Leonidas, whom he knew to have been the
Lacedaemonian king and captain, he ordered that the head should be
struck off, and the trunk fastened to a cross. This proves to me
most clearly, what is plain also in many other ways- namely, that King
Xerxes was more angry with Leonidas, while he was still in life,
than with any other mortal. Certes, he would not else have used his
body so shamefully. For the Persians are wont to honour those who show
themselves valiant in fight more highly than any nation that I know.
They, however, to whom the orders were given, did according to the
commands of the king.
    I return now to a point in my History, which at the time I left
incomplete. The Lacedaemonians were the first of the Greeks to hear of
the king's design against their country; and it was at this time
that they sent to consult the Delphic oracle, and received the
answer of which I spoke a while ago. The discovery was made to them in
a very strange way. Demaratus, the son of Ariston, after he took
refuge with the Medes, was not, in my judgment, which is supported
by probability, a well-wisher to the Lacedaemonians. It may be
questioned, therefore, whether he did what I am about to mention
from good-will or from insolent triumph. It happened that he was at
Susa at the time when Xerxes determined to lead his army into
Greece; and in this way becoming acquainted with his design, he
resolved to send tidings of it to Sparta. So as there was no other way
of effecting his purpose, since the danger of being discovered was
great, Demaratus framed the following contrivance. He took a pair of
tablets, and, clearing the wax away from them, wrote what the king was
purposing to do upon the wood whereof the tablets were made; having
done this, he spread the wax once more over the writing, and so sent
it. By these means, the guards placed to watch the roads, observing
nothing but a blank tablet, were sure to give no trouble to the
bearer. When the tablet reached Lacedaemon, there was no one, I
understand, who could find out the secret, till Gorgo, the daughter of
Cleomenes and wife of Leonidas, discovered it, and told the others.
"If they would scrape the wax off the tablet," she said, "they would
be sure to find the writing upon the wood." The Lacedaemonians took
her advice, found the writing, and read it; after which they sent it
round to the other Greeks. Such then is the account which is given
of this matter.
                       The Eighth Book, Entitled
                                URANIA

    THE Greeks engaged in the sea-service were the following. The
Athenians furnished a hundred and twenty-seven vessels to the fleet,
which were manned in part by the Plataeans, who, though unskilled in
such matters, were led by their active and daring spirit to
undertake this duty; the Corinthians furnished a contingent of forty
vessels; the Megarians sent twenty; the Chalcideans also manned
twenty, which had been furnished to them by the Athenians; the
Eginetans came with eighteen; the Sicyonians with twelve; the
Lacedaemonians with ten; the Epidaurians with eight; the Eretrians
with seven; the Troezenians with five; the Styreans with two; and
the Ceans with two triremes and two penteconters. Last of all, the
Locrians of Opus came in aid with a squadron of seven penteconters.
    Such were the nations which furnished vessels to the fleet now
at Artemisium; and in mentioning them I have given the number of ships
furnished by each. The total number of the ships thus brought
together, without counting the penteconters, was two hundred and
seventy-one; and the captain, who had the chief command over the whole
fleet, was Eurybiades the son of Eurycleides. He was furnished by
Sparta, since the allies had said that "if a Lacedaemonian did not
take the command, they would break up the fleet, for never would
they serve under the Athenians."
    From the first, even earlier than the time when the embassy went
to Sicily to solicit alliance, there had been a talk of intrusting the
Athenians with the command at sea; but the allies were averse to the
plan, wherefore the Athenians did not press it; for there was
nothing they had so much at heart as the salvation of Greece, and they
knew that, if they quarrelled among themselves about the command,
Greece would be brought to ruin. Herein they judged rightly; for
internal strife is a thing as much worse than war carried on by a
united people, as war itself is worse than peace. The Athenians
therefore, being so persuaded, did not push their claims, but waived
them, so long as they were in such great need of aid from the other
Greeks. And they afterwards showed their motive; for at the time
when the Persians had been driven from Greece, and were now threatened
by the Greeks in their own country, they took occasion of the
insolence of Pausanias to deprive the Lacedaemonians of their
leadership. This, however, happened afterwards.
    At the present time the Greeks, on their arrival at Artemisium,
when they saw the number of the ships which lay at anchor near
Aphetae, and the abundance of troops everywhere, feeling
disappointed that matters had gone with the barbarians so far
otherwise than they had expected, and full of alarm at what they
saw, began to speak of drawing back from Artemisium towards the
inner parts of their country. So when the Euboeans heard what was in
debate, they went to Eurybiades, and besought him to wait a few
days, while they removed their children and their slaves to a place of
safety. But, as they found that they prevailed nothing, they left
him and went to Themistocles, the Athenian commander, to whom they
gave a bribe of thirty talents, on his promise that the fleet should
remain and risk a battle in defence of Euboea.
    And Themistocles succeeded in detaining the fleet in the way which
I will now relate. He made over to Eurybiades five talents out of
the thirty paid him, which he gave as if they came from himself; and
having in this way gained over the admiral, he addressed himself to
Adeimantus, the son of Ocytus, the Corinthian leader, who was the only
remonstrant now, and who still threatened to sail away from Artemisium
and not wait for the other captains. Addressing himself to this man,
Themistocles said with an oath- "Thou forsake us? By no means! I
will pay thee better for remaining than the Mede would for leaving thy
friends"- and straightway he sent on board the ship of Adeimantus a
present of three talents of silver. So these two captains were won
by gifts, and came over to the views of Themistocles, who was
thereby enabled to gratify the wishes of the Euboeans. He likewise
made his own gain on the occasion; for he kept the rest of the
money, and no one knew of it. The commanders who took the gifts
thought that the sums were furnished by Athens, and had been sent to
be used in this way.
    Thus it came to pass that the Greeks stayed at Euboea and there
gave battle to the enemy.
    Now the battle was on this wise. The barbarians reached Aphetae
early in the afternoon, and then saw (as they had previously heard
reported) that a fleet of Greek ships, weak in number, lay at
Artemisium. At once they were eager to engage, fearing that the Greeks
would fly, and hoping to capture them before they should get away.
They did not however think it wise to make straight for the Greek
station, lest the enemy should see them as they bore down, and
betake themselves to flight immediately; in which case night might
close in before they came up with the fugitives, and so they might get
clean off and make their escape from them; whereas the Persians were
minded not to let a single soul slip through their hands.
    They therefore contrived a plan, which was the following:- They
detached two hundred of their ships from the rest, and- to prevent the
enemy from seeing them start- sent them round outside the island of
Sciathos, to make the circuit of Euboea by Caphareus and Geraestus,
and so to reach the Euripus. By this plan they thought to enclose
the Greeks on every side; for the ships detached would block up the
only way by which they could retreat, while the others would press
upon them in front. With these designs therefore they dispatched the
two hundred ships, while they themselves waited- since they did not
mean to attack the Greeks upon that day, or until they knew, by
signal, of the arrival of the detachment which had been ordered to
sail round Euboea. Meanwhile they made a muster of the other ships
at Aphetae.
    Now the Persians had with them a man named Scyllias, a native of
Scione, who was the most expert diver of his day. At the time of the
shipwreck off Mount Pelion he had recovered for the Persians a great
part of what they lost; and at the same time he had taken care to
obtain for himself a good share of the treasure. He had for some
time been wishing to go over to the Greeks; but no good opportunity
had offered till now, when the Persians were making the muster of
their ships. In what way he contrived to reach the Greeks I am not
able to say for certain: I marvel much if the tale that is commonly
told be true. 'Tis said he dived into the sea at Aphetae, and did
not once come to the surface till he reached Artemisium, a distance of
nearly eighty furlongs. Now many things are related of this man
which are plainly false; but some of the stories seem to be true. My
own opinion is that on this occasion he made the passage to Artemisium
in a boat.
    However this might be, Scyllias no sooner reached Artemisium
than he gave the Greek captains a full account of the damage done by
the storm, and likewise told them of the ships sent to make the
circuit of Euboea.
    So the Greeks on receiving these tidings held a council,
whereat, after much debate, it was resolved that they should stay
quiet for the present where they were, and remain at their moorings,
but that after midnight they should put out to sea, and encounter
the ships which were on their way round the island. Later in the
day, when they found that no one meddled with them, they formed a
new plan, which was to wait till near evening, and then sail out
against the main body of the barbarians, for the purpose of trying
their mode of fight and skill in manoeuvring.
    When the Persian commanders and crews saw the Greeks thus boldly
sailing towards them with their few ships, they thought them possessed
with madness, and went out to meet them, expecting (as indeed seemed
likely enough) that they would take all their vessels with the
greatest ease. The Greek ships were so few, and their own so far
outnumbered them, and sailed so much better, that they resolved,
seeing their advantage, to encompass their foe on every side. And
now such of the Ionians as wished well to the Grecian cause and served
in the Persian fleet unwillingly, seeing their countrymen
surrounded, were sorely distressed; for they felt sure that not one of
them would ever make his escape, so poor an opinion had they of the
strength of the Greeks. On the other hand, such as saw with pleasure
the attack on Greece, now vied eagerly with each other which should be
the first to make prize of an Athenian ship, and thereby to secure
himself a rich reward from the king. For through both the hosts none
were so much accounted of as the Athenians.
    The Greeks, at a signal, brought the sterns of their ships
together into a small compass, and turned their prows on every side
towards the barbarians; after which, at a second signal, although
inclosed within a narrow space, and closely pressed upon by the foe,
yet they fell bravely to work, and captured thirty ships of the
barbarians, at the same time taking prisoner Philaon, the son of
Chersis, and brother of Gorgus king of Salamis, a man of much repute
in the fleet. The first who made prize of a ship of the enemy was
Lycomedes the son of Aeschreas, an Athenian, who was afterwards
adjudged the meed of valour. Victory however was still doubtful when
night came on, and put a stop to the combat. The Greeks sailed back to
Artemisium; and the barbarians returned to Aphetae, much surprised
at the result, which was far other than they had looked for. In this
battle only one of the Greeks who fought on the side of the king
deserted and joined his countrymen. This was Antidorus of Lemnos, whom
the Athenians rewarded for his desertion by the present of a piece
of land in Salamis.
    Evening had barely closed in when a heavy rain- it was about
midsummer- began to fall, which continued the whole night, with
terrible thunderings and lightnings from Mount Pelion: the bodies of
the slain and the broken pieces of the damaged ships were drifted in
the direction of Aphetae, and floated about the prows of the vessels
there, disturbing the action of the oars. The barbarians, hearing
the storm, were greatly dismayed, expecting certainly to perish, as
they had fallen into such a multitude of misfortunes. For before
they were well recovered from the tempest and the wreck of their
vessels off Mount Pelion, they had been surprised by a sea-fight which
had taxed all their strength, and now the sea-fight was scarcely
over when they were exposed to floods of rain, and the rush of swollen
streams into the sea, and violent thunderings.
    If, however, they who lay at Aphetae passed a comfortless night,
far worse were the sufferings of those who had been sent to make the
circuit of Euboea; inasmuch as the storm fell on them out at sea,
whereby the issue was indeed calamitous. They were sailing along
near the Hollows of Euboea, when the wind began to rise and the rain
to pour: overpowered by the force of the gale, and driven they knew
not whither, at the last they fell upon rocks- Heaven so contriving,
in order that the Persian fleet might not greatly exceed the Greek,
but be brought nearly to its level. This squadron, therefore, was
entirely lost about the Hollows of Euboea.
    The barbarians at Aphetae were glad when day dawned, and
remained in quiet at their station, content if they might enjoy a
little peace after so many sufferings. Meanwhile there came to the aid
of the Greeks a reinforcement of fifty-three ships from Attica.
Their arrival, and the news (which reached Artemisium about the same
time) of the complete destruction by the storm of the ships sent to
sail round Euboea, greatly cheered the spirits of the Greek sailors.
So they waited again till the same hour as the day before, and, once
more putting out to sea, attacked the enemy. This time they fell in
with some Cilician vessels, which they sank; when night came on,
they withdrew to Artemisium.
    The third day was now come, and the captains of the barbarians,
ashamed that so small a number of ships should harass their fleet, and
afraid of the anger of Xerxes, instead of waiting for the others to
begin the battle, weighed anchor themselves, and advanced against
the Greeks about the hour of noon, with shouts encouraging one
another. Now it happened that these sea-fights took place on the
very same days with the combats at Thermopylae; and as the aim of
the struggle was in the one case to maintain the pass, so in the other
it was to defend the Euripus. While the Greeks, therefore, exhorted
one another not to let the barbarians burst in upon Greece, these
latter shouted to their fellows to destroy the Grecian fleet, and
get possession of the channel.
    And now the fleet of Xerxes advanced in good order to the
attack, while the Greeks on their side remained quite motionless at
Artemisium. The Persians therefore spread themselves, and came forward
in a half-moon, seeking to encircle the Greeks on all sides, and
thereby prevent them from escaping. The Greeks, when they saw this,
sailed out to meet their assailants; and the battle forthwith began.
In this engagement the two fleets contended with no clear advantage to
either- for the armament of Xerxes injured itself by its own
greatness, the vessels falling into disorder, and oft-times running
foul of one another; yet still they did not give way, but made a stout
fight, since the crews felt it would indeed be a disgrace to turn
and fly from a fleet so inferior in number. The Greeks therefore
suffered much, both in ships and men; but the barbarians experienced a
far larger loss of each. So the fleets separated after such a combat
as I have described.
    On the side of Xerxes the Egyptians distinguished themselves above
all the combatants; for besides performing many other noble deeds,
they took five vessels from the Greeks with their crews on board. On
the side of the Greeks the Athenians bore off the meed of valour;
and among them the most distinguished was Clinias, the son of
Alcibiades, who served at his own charge with two hundred men, on
board a vessel which he had himself furnished.
    The two fleets, on separating, hastened very gladly to their
anchorage-grounds. The Greeks, indeed, when the battle was over,
became masters of the bodies of the slain and the wrecks of the
vessels; but they had been so roughly handled, especially the
Athenians, one-half of whose vessels had suffered damage, that they
determined to break up from their station, and withdraw to the inner
parts of their country.
    Then Themistocles, who thought that if the Ionian and Carian ships
could be detached from the barbarian fleet, the Greeks might be well
able to defeat the rest, called the captains together. They met upon
the seashore, where the Euboeans were now assembling their flocks
and herds; and here Themistocles told them he thought that he knew
of a plan whereby he could detach from the king those who were of most
worth among his allies. This was all that he disclosed to them of
his plan at that time. Meanwhile, looking to the circumstances in
which they were, he advised them to slaughter as many of the Euboean
cattle- they liked- for it was better (he said) that their own
troops should enjoy them than the enemy- and to give orders to their
men to kindle the fires as usual. With regard to the retreat, he
said that he would take upon himself to watch the proper moment, and
would manage matters so that they should return to Greece without
loss. These words pleased the captains; so they had the fires lighted,
and began the slaughter of the cattle.
    The Euboeans, until now, had made light of the oracle of Bacis, as
though it had been void of all significancy, and had neither removed
their goods from the island, nor yet taken them into their strong
places; as they would most certainly have done if they had believed
that war was approaching. By this neglect they had brought their
affairs into the very greatest danger. Now the oracle of which I speak
ran as follows:-

    When o'er the main shall be thrown a byblus yoke by a stranger,
    Be thou ware, and drive from Euboea the goats' loud-bleating.

So, as the Euboeans had paid no regard to this oracle when the evils
approached and impended, now that they had arrived, the worst was
likely to befall them.
    While the Greeks were employed in the way described above, the
scout who had been on the watch at Trachis arrived at Artemisium.
For the Greeks had employed two watchers:- Polyas, a native of
Anticyra, had been stationed off Artemisium, with a row-boat at his
command ready to sail at any moment, his orders being that, if an
engagement took place by sea, he should convey the news at once to the
Greeks at Thermopylae; and in like manner Abronychus the son of
Lysicles, an Athenian, had been stationed with a triaconter near
Leonidas, to be ready, in case of disaster befalling the land force,
to carry tidings of it to Artemisium. It was this Abronychus who now
arrived with news of what had befallen Leonidas and those who were
with him. When the Greeks heard the tidings they no longer delayed
to retreat, but withdrew in the order wherein they had been stationed,
the Corinthians leading, and the Athenians sailing last of all.
    And now Themistocles chose out the swiftest sailers from among the
Athenian vessels, and, proceeding to the various watering-places along
the coast, cut inscriptions on the rocks, which were read by the
Ionians the day following, on their arrival at Artemisium. The
inscriptions ran thus:- "Men of Ionia, ye do wrong to fight against
your own fathers, and to give your help to enslave Greece. We
beseech you therefore to come over, if possible, to our side: if you
cannot do this, then, we pray you, stand aloof from the contest
yourselves, and persuade the Carians to do the like. If neither of
these things be possible, and you are hindered, by a force too
strong to resist, from venturing upon desertion, at least when we come
to blows fight backwardly, remembering that you are sprung from us,
and that it was through you we first provoked the hatred of the
barbarian." Themistocles, in putting up these inscriptions, looked,
I believe, to two chances- either Xerxes would not discover them, in
which case they might bring over the Ionians to the side of the
Greeks; or they would be reported to him and made a ground of
accusation against the Ionians, who would thereupon be distrusted, and
would not be allowed to take part in the sea-fights.
    Shortly after the cutting of the inscriptions, a man of Histiaea
went in a merchantship to Aphetae, and told the Persians that the
Greeks had fled from Artemisium. Disbelieving his report, the Persians
kept the man a prisoner, while they sent some of their fastest vessels
to see what had happened. These brought back word how matters stood;
whereupon at sunrise the whole fleet advanced together in a body,
and sailed to Artemisium, where they remained till mid-day; after
which they went on to Histiaea. That city fell into their hands
immediately; and they shortly overran the various villages upon the
coast in the district of Hellopia, which was part of the Histiaean
territory.
    It was while they were at this station that a herald reached
them from Xerxes, whom he had sent after making the following
dispositions with respect to the bodies of those who fell at
Thermopylae. Of the twenty thousand who had been slain on the
Persian side, he left one thousand upon the field while he buried
the rest in trenches; and these he carefully filled up with earth, and
hid with foliage, that the sailors might not see any signs of them.
The herald, on reaching Histiaea, caused the whole force to be
collected together, and spake thus to them:
    "Comrades, King Xerxes gives permission to all who please, to quit
their posts, and see how he fights with the senseless men who think to
overthrow his armies."
    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.
    There came now a few deserters from Arcadia to join the
Persians- poor men who had nothing to live on, and were in want of
employment. The Persians brought them into the king's presence, and
there inquired of them, by a man who acted as their spokesman, "what
the Greeks were doing?" The Arcadians answered- "They are holding
the Olympic Games, seeing the athletic sports and the
chariot-races." "And what," said the man, "is the prize for which they
contend?" "An olive-wreath," returned the others, "which is given to
the man who wins." On hearing this, Tritantaechmes, the son of
Artabanus, uttered a speech which was in truth most noble, but which
caused him to be taxed with cowardice by King Xerxes. Hearing the
men say that the prize was not money but a wreath of olive, he could
not forbear from exclaiming before them all: "Good heavens! Mardonius,
what manner of men are these against whom thou hast brought us to
fight?- men who contend with one another, not for money, but for
honour!"
    A little before this, and just after the blow had been struck at
Thermopylae, a herald was sent into Phocis by the Thessalians, who had
always been on bad terms with the Phocians, and especially since their
last overthrow. For it was not many years previous to this invasion of
Greece by the king, that the Thessalians, with their allies, entered
Phocis in full force, but were defeated by the Phocians in an
engagement wherein they were very roughly handled. The Phocians, who
had with them as soothsayer Tellias of Elis, were blocked up in the
mountain of Parnassus, when the following stratagem was contrived
for them by their Elean ally. He took six hundred of their bravest
men, and whitened their bodies and their arms with chalk; then
instructing them to slay every one whom they should meet that was
not whitened like themselves, he made a night attack upon the
Thessalians. No sooner did the Thessalian sentries, who were the first
to see them, behold this strange sight, than, imagining it to be a
prodigy, they were all filled with affright. From the sentries the
alarm spread to the army, which was seized with such a panic that
the Phocians killed four thousand of them, and became masters of their
dead bodies and shields. Of the shields one half were sent as an
offering to the temple at Abae, the other half were deposited at
Delphi; while from the tenth part of the booty gained in the battle,
were made the gigantic figures which stand round the tripod in front
of the Delphic shrine, and likewise the figures of the same size and
character at Abae.
    Besides this slaughter of the Thessalian foot when it was
blockading them, the Phocians had dealt a blow to their horse upon its
invading their territory, from which they had never recovered. There
is a pass near the city of Hyampolis, where the Phocians, having dug a
broad trench, filled up the void with empty wine-jars, after which
they covered the place with mould, so that the ground all looked
alike, and then awaited the coming of the Thessalians. These, thinking
to destroy the Phocians at one sweep, rushed rapidly forward, and
became entangled in the wine-jars, which broke the legs of their
horses.
    The Thessalians had therefore a double cause of quarrel with the
Phocians, when they dispatched the herald above mentioned, who thus
delivered his message:-
    "At length acknowledge, ye men of Phocis, that ye may not think to
match with us. In times past, when it pleased us to hold with the
Greeks, we had always the vantage over you; and now our influence is
such with the barbarian, that, if we choose it, you will lose your
country, and (what is even worse) you will be sold as slaves. However,
though we can now do with you exactly as we like, we are willing to
forget our wrongs. Quit them with a payment of fifty talents of
silver, and we undertake to ward off the evils which threaten your
country."
    Such was the message which the Thessalians sent. The Phocians were
the only people in these parts who had not espoused the cause of the
Medes; and it is my deliberate opinion that the motive which swayed
them was none other- neither more nor less- than their hatred of the
Thessalians: for had the Thessalians declared in favour of the Greeks,
I believe that the men of Phocis would have joined the Median side. As
it was, when the message arrived, the Phocians made answer, that "they
would not pay anything- it was open to them, equally with the
Thessalians, to make common cause with the Medes, if they only chose
so to do- but they would never of their own free will become
traitors to Greece."
    On the return of this answer, the Thessalians, full of wrath
against the Phocians, offered themselves as guides to the barbarian
army, and led them forth from Trachinia into Doris. In this place
there is a narrow tongue of Dorian territory, not more than thirty
furlongs across, interposed between Malis and Phocis; it is the
tract in ancient times called Dryopis; and the land, of which it is
a part, is the mother-country of the Dorians in the Peloponnese.
This territory the barbarians did not plunder, for the inhabitants had
espoused their side; and besides, the Thessalians wished that they
should be spared.
    From Doris they marched forward into Phocis; but here the
inhabitants did not fall into their power: for some of them had
taken refuge in the high grounds of Parnassus- one summit of which,
called Tithorea, standing quite by itself, not far from the city of
Neon, is well fitted to give shelter to a large body of men, and had
now received a number of the Phocians with their movables; while the
greater portion had fled to the country of the Ozolian Locrians, and
placed their goods in the city called Amphissa, which lies above the
Crissaean plain. The land of Phocis, however, was entirely overrun,
for the Thessalians led the Persian army through the whole of it;
and wherever they went, the country was wasted with fire and sword,
the cities and even the temples being wilfully set alight by the
troops.
    The march of the army lay along the valley of the Cephissus; and
here they ravaged far and wide, burning the towns of Drymus, Charadra,
Erochus, Tethronium, Amphicaea, Neon, Pedieis, Triteis, Elateia,
Hyampolis, Parapotamii, and Abae. At the last-named place there was
a temple of Apollo, very rich, and adorned with a vast number of
treasures and offerings. There was likewise an oracle there in those
days, as indeed there is at the present time. This temple the Persians
plundered and burnt; and here they captured a number of the Phocians
before they could reach the hills, and caused the death of some of
their women by ill-usage.
    After passing Parapotamii, the barbarians marched to Panopeis; and
now the army separated into two bodies, whereof one, which was the
more numerous and the stronger of the two, marched, under Xerxes
himself, towards Athens, entering Boeotia by the country of the
Orchomenians. The Boeotians had one and all embraced the cause of
the Medes; and their towns were in the possession of Macedonian
garrisons, whom Alexander had sent there, to make it manifest to
Xerxes that the Boeotians were on the Median side. Such then was the
road followed by one division of the barbarians.
    The other division took guides, and proceeded towards the temple
of Delphi, keeping Mount Parnassus on their right hand. They too
laid waste such parts of Phocis as they passed through, burning the
city of the Panopeans, together with those of the Daulians and of
the Aeolidae. This body had been detached from the rest of the army,
and made to march in this direction, for the purpose of plundering the
Delphian temple and conveying to King Xerxes the riches which were
there laid up. For Xerxes, as I am informed, was better acquainted
with what there was worthy of note at Delphi, than even with what he
had left in his own house; so many of those about him were continually
describing the treasures- more especially the offerings made by
Croesus the son of Alyattes.
    Now when the Delphians heard what danger they were in, great
fear fell on them. In their terror they consulted the oracle
concerning the holy treasures, and inquired if they should bury them
in the ground, or carry them away to some other country. The god, in
reply, bade them leave the treasures untouched- "He was able," he
said, "without help to protect his own." So the Delphians, when they
received this answer, began to think about saving themselves. And
first of all they sent their women and children across the gulf into
Achaea; after which the greater number of them climbed up into the
tops of Parnassus, and placed their goods for safety in the Corycian
cave; while some effected their escape to Amphissa in Locris. In
this way all the Delphians quitted the city, except sixty men, and the
Prophet.
    When the barbarian assailants drew near and were in sight of the
place, the Prophet, who was named Aceratus, beheld, in front of the
temple, a portion of the sacred armour, which it was not lawful for
any mortal hand to touch, lying upon the ground, removed from the
inner shrine where it was wont to hang. Then went he and told the
prodigy to the Delphians who had remained behind. Meanwhile the
enemy pressed forward briskly, and had reached the shrine of Minerva
Pronaia, when they were overtaken by other prodigies still more
wonderful than the first. Truly it was marvel enough, when warlike
harness was seen lying outside the temple, removed there by no power
but its own; what followed, however, exceeded in strangeness all
prodigies that had ever before been seen. The barbarians had just
reached in their advance the chapel of Minerva Pronaia, when a storm
of thunder burst suddenly over their heads- at the same time two crags
split off from Mount Parnassus, and rolled down upon them with a
loud noise, crushing vast numbers beneath their weight- while from the
temple of Minerva there went up the war-cry and the shout of victory.
    All these things together struck terror into the barbarians, who
forthwith turned and fled. The Delphians, seeing this, came down
from their hiding-places, and smote them with a great slaughter,
from which such as escaped fled straight into Boeotia. These men, on
their return, declared (as I am told) that besides the marvels
mentioned above, they witnessed also other supernatural sights. Two
armed warriors, they said, of a stature more than human, pursued after
their flying ranks, pressing them close and slaying them.
    These men, the Delphians maintain, were two Heroes belonging to
the place- by name Phylacus and Autonous- each of whom has a sacred
precinct near the temple; one, that of Phylacus, hard by the road
which runs above the temple of Pronaia; the other, that of Autonous,
near the Castalian spring, at the foot of the peak called Hyampeia.
The blocks of stone which fell from Parnassus might still be seen in
my day; they lay in the precinct of Pronaia, where they stopped, after
rolling through the host of the barbarians. Thus was this body of
men forced to retire from the temple.
    Meanwhile, the Grecian fleet, which had left Artemisium, proceeded
to Salamis, at the request of the Athenians, and there cast anchor.
The Athenians had begged them to take up this position, in order
that they might convey their women and children out of Attica, and
further might deliberate upon the course which it now behoved them
to follow. Disappointed in the hopes which they had previously
entertained, they were about to hold a council concerning the
present posture of their affairs. For they had looked to see the
Peloponnesians drawn up in full force to resist the enemy in
Boeotia, but found nothing of what they had expected; nay, they learnt
that the Greeks of those parts, only concerning themselves about their
own safety, were building a wall across the Isthmus, and intended to
guard the Peloponnese, and let the rest of Greece take its chance.
These tidings caused them to make the request whereof I spoke, that
the combined fleet should anchor at Salamis.
    So while the rest of the fleet lay to off this island, the
Athenians cast anchor along their own coast. Immediately upon their
arrival, proclamation was made that every Athenian should save his
children and household as he best could; whereupon some sent their
families to Egina, some to Salamis, but the greater number to Troezen.
This removal was made with all possible haste, partly from a desire to
obey the advice of the oracle, but still more for another reason.
The Athenians say that they have in their Acropolis a huge serpent,
which lives in the temple, and is the guardian of the whole place. Nor
do they only say this, but, as if the serpent really dwelt there,
every month they lay out its food, which consists of a honey-cake.
Up to this time the honey-cake had always been consumed; but now it
remained untouched. So the priestess told the people what had
happened; whereupon they left Athens the more readily, since they
believed that the goddess had already abandoned the citadel. As soon
as all was removed, the Athenians sailed back to their station.
    And now, the remainder of the Grecian sea-force, hearing that
the fleet which had been at Artemisium, was come to Salamis, joined it
at that island from Troezen- orders having been issued previously that
the ships should muster at Pogon, the port of the Troezenians. The
vessels collected were many more in number than those which had fought
at Artemisium, and were furnished by more cities. The admiral was
the same who had commanded before, to wit, Eurybiades, the son of
Eurycleides, who was a Spartan, but not of the family of the kings:
the city, however, which sent by far the greatest number of ships, and
the best sailers, was Athens.
    Now these were the nations who composed the Grecian fleet. From
the Peloponnese, the following- the Lacedaemonians with six, teen
ships; the Corinthians with the same number as at Artemisium; the
Sicyonians with fifteen; the Epidaurians with ten; the Troezenians
with five; and the Hermionians with three. These were Dorians and
Macedonians all of them (except those from Hermione), and had
emigrated last from Erineus, Pindus, and Dryopis. The Hermionians were
Dryopians, of the race which Hercules and the Malians drove out of the
land now called Doris. Such were the Peloponnesian nations.
    From the mainland of Greece beyond the Peloponnese, came the
Athenians with a hundred and eighty ships, a greater number than
that furnished by any other people; and these were now manned wholly
by themselves; for the Plataeans did not serve aboard the Athenian
ships at Salamis, owing to the following reason. When the Greeks, on
their withdrawal from Artemisium, arrived off Chalcis, the Plataeans
disembarked upon the opposite shore of Boeotia, and set to work to
remove their households, whereby it happened that they were left
behind. (The Athenians, when the region which is now called Greece was
held by the Pelasgi, were Pelasgians, and bore the name of Cranaans;
but under their king Cecrops, they were called Cecropidae; when
Erechtheus got the sovereignty, they changed their name to
Athenians; and when Ion, the son of Xuthus, became their general, they
were named after him Ionians.)
    The Megarians served with the same number of ships as at
Artemisium; the Ambraciots came with seven; the Leucadians (who were
Dorians from Corinth) with three.
    Of the islanders, the Eginetans furnished thirty ships- they had a
larger number equipped; but some were kept back to guard their own
coasts, and only thirty, which however were their best sailers, took
part in the fight at Salamis. (The Eginetans are Dorians from
Epidaurus; their island was called formerly Oenone). The Chalcideans
came next in order; they furnished the twenty ships with which they
had served at Artemisium. The Eretrians likewise furnished their
seven. These races are Ionian. Ceos gave its old number- the Ceans are
Ionians from Attica. Naxos furnished four: this detachment, like those
from the other islands, had been sent by the citizens at home to
join the Medes; but they made light of the orders given them, and
joined the Greeks, at the instigation of Democritus, a citizen of good
report, who was at that time captain of a trireme. The Naxians are
Ionians, of the Athenian stock. The Styreans served with the same
ships as before; the Cythnians contributed one, and likewise a
penteconter- these two nations are Dryopians: the Seriphians,
Siphnians, and Melians, also served; they were the only islanders
who had not given earth and water to the barbarian.
    All these nations dwelt inside the river Acheron and the country
inhabited by the Thesprotians; for that people borders on the
Ambraciots and Leucadians, who are the most remote of all those by
whom the fleet was furnished. From the countries beyond, there was
only one people which gave help to the Greeks in their danger. This
was the people of Crotona, who contributed a single ship, under the
command of Phayllus, a man who had thrice carried off the prize at the
Pythian Games. The Crotoniats are, by descent, Achaeans.
    Most of the allies came with triremes; but the Melians, Siphnians,
and Seriphians, brought penteconters. The Melians, who draw their race
from Lacedaemon, furnished two; the Siphnians and Seriphians, who
are Ionians of the Athenian stock, one each. The whole number of the
ships, without counting the penteconters, was three hundred and
seventy-eight.
    When the captains from these various nations were come together at
Salamis, a council of war was summoned; and Eurybiades proposed that
any one who liked to advise, should say which place seemed to him
the fittest, among those still in the possession of the Greeks, to
be the scene of a naval combat. Attica, he said, was not to be thought
of now; but he desired their counsel as to the remainder. The speakers
mostly advised that the fleet should sail away to the Isthmus, and
there give battle in defence of the Peloponnese; and they urged as a
reason for this, that if they were worsted in a sea-fight at
Salamis, they would be shut up in an island where they could get no
help; but if they were beaten near the Isthmus, they could escape to
their homes.
    As the captains from the Peloponnese were thus advising, there
came an Athenian to the camp, who brought word that the barbarians had
entered Attica, and were ravaging and burning everything. For the
division of the army under Xerxes was just arrived at Athens from
its march through Boeotia, where it had burnt Thespiae and Plataea-
both which cities were forsaken by their inhabitants, who had fled
to the Peloponnese- and now it was laying waste all the possessions of
the Athenians. Thespiae and Plataea had been burnt by the Persians,
because they knew from the Thebans that neither of those cities had
espoused their side.
    Since the passage of the Hellespont and the commencement of the
march upon Greece, a space of four months had gone by; one, while
the army made the crossing, and delayed about the region of the
Hellespont; and three while they proceeded thence to Attica, which
they entered in the archonship of Calliades. They found the city
forsaken; a few people only remained in the temple, either keepers
of the treasures, or men of the poorer sort. These persons having
fortified the citadel with planks and boards, held out against the
enemy. It was in some measure their poverty which had prevented them
from seeking shelter in Salamis; but there was likewise another reason
which in part induced them to remain. They imagined themselves to have
discovered the true meaning of the oracle uttered by the Pythoness,
which promised that "the wooden wall" should never be taken- the
wooden wall, they thought, did not mean the ships, but the place where
they had taken refuge.
    The Persians encamped upon the hill over against the citadel,
which is called Mars' hill by the Athenians, and began the siege of
the place, attacking the Greeks with arrows whereto pieces of
lighted tow were attached, which they shot at the barricade. And now
those who were within the citadel found themselves in a most woeful
case; for their wooden rampart betrayed them; still, however, they
continued to resist. It was in vain that the Pisistratidae came to
them and offered terms of surrender- they stoutly refused all
parley, and among their other modes of defence, rolled down huge
masses of stone upon the barbarians as they were mounting up to the
gates: so that Xerxes was for a long time very greatly perplexed,
and could not contrive any way to take them.
    At last, however, in the midst of these many difficulties, the
barbarians made discovery of an access. For verily the oracle had
spoken truth; and it was fated that the whole mainland of Attica
should fall beneath the sway of the Persians. Right in front of the
citadel, but behind the gates and the common ascent- where no watch
was kept, and no one would have thought it possible that any foot of
man could climb- a few soldiers mounted from the sanctuary of
Aglaurus, Cecrops' daughter, notwithstanding the steepness of the
precipice. As soon as the Athenians saw them upon the summit, some
threw themselves headlong from the wall, and so perished; while others
fled for refuge to the inner part of the temple. The Persians rushed
to the gates and opened them, after which they massacred the
suppliants, When all were slain, they plundered the temple, and
fired every part of the citadel.
    Xerxes, thus completely master of Athens, despatched a horseman to
Susa, with a message to Artabanus, informing him of his success
hitherto. The day after, he collected together all the Athenian exiles
who had come into Greece in his train, and bade them go up into the
citadel, and there offer sacrifice after their own fashion. I know not
whether he had had a dream which made him give this order, or
whether he felt some remorse on account of having set the temple on
fire. However this may have been, the exiles were not slow to obey the
command given them.
    I will now explain why I have made mention of this circumstance:
there is a temple of Erechtheus the Earth-born, as he is called, in
this citadel, containing within it an olive-tree and a sea. The tale
goes among the Athenians, that they were placed there as witnesses
by Neptune and Minerva, when they had their contention about the
country. Now this olive-tree had been burnt with the rest of the
temple when the barbarians took the place. But when the Athenians,
whom the king had commanded to offer sacrifice, went up into the
temple for the purpose, they found a fresh shoot, as much as a cubit
in length, thrown out from the old trunk. Such at least was the
account which these persons gave.
    Meanwhile, at Salamis, the Greeks no sooner heard what had
befallen the Athenian citadel, than they fell into such alarm that
some of the captains did not even wait for the council to come to a
vote, but embarked hastily on board their vessels, and hoisted sail as
though they would take to flight immediately. The rest, who stayed
at the council board, came to a vote that the fleet should give battle
at the Isthmus. Night now drew on; and the captains, dispersing from
the meeting, proceeded on board their respective ships.
    Themistocles, as he entered his own vessel, was met by
Mnesiphilus, an Athenian, who asked him what the council had
resolved to do. On learning that the resolve was to stand away for the
Isthmus, and there give battle on behalf of the Peloponnese,
Mnesiphilus exclaimed:-
    "If these men sail away from Salamis, thou wilt have no fight at
all for the one fatherland; for they will all scatter themselves to
their own homes; and neither Eurybiades nor any one else will be
able to hinder them, nor to stop the breaking up of the armament. Thus
will Greece be brought to ruin through evil counsels. But haste thee
now; and, if there be any possible way, seek to unsettle these
resolves- mayhap thou mightest persuade Eurybiades to change his mind,
and continue here."
    The suggestion greatly pleased Themistocles; and without answering
a word, he went straight to the vessel of Eurybiades. Arrived there,
he let him know that he wanted to speak with him on a matter
touching the public service. So Eurybiades bade him come on board, and
say whatever he wished. Then Themistocles, seating himself at his
side, went over all the arguments which he had heard from Mnesiphilus,
pretending as if they were his own, and added to them many new ones
besides; until at last he persuaded Eurybiades, by his importunity, to
quit his ship and again collect the captains to council.
    As soon as they were come, and before Eurybiades had opened to
them his purpose in assembling them together, Themistocles, as men are
wont to do when they are very anxious, spoke much to divers of them;
whereupon the Corinthian captain, Adeimantus, the son of Ocytus,
observed- "Themistocles, at the Games they who start too soon are
scourged." "True," rejoined the other in his excuse, "but they who
wait too late are not crowned."
    Thus he gave the Corinthian at this time a mild answer; and
towards Eurybiades himself he did not now use any of those arguments
which he had urged before, or say aught of the allies betaking
themselves to flight if once they broke up from Salamis; it would have
been ungraceful for him, when the confederates were present, to make
accusation against any: but he had recourse to quite a new sort of
reasoning, and addressed him as follows:-
    "With thee it rests, O Eurybiades! to save Greece, if thou wilt
only hearken unto me, and give the enemy battle here, rather than
yield to the advice of those among us, who would have the fleet
withdrawn to the Isthmus. Hear now, I beseech thee, and judge
between the two courses. At the Isthmus thou wilt fight in an open
sea, which is greatly to our disadvantage, since our ships are heavier
and fewer in number than the enemy's; and further, thou wilt in any
case lose Salamis, Megara, and Egina, even if all the rest goes well
with us. The land and sea force of the Persians will advance together;
and thy retreat will but draw them towards the Peloponnese, and so
bring all Greece into peril. If, on the other hand, thou doest as I
advise, these are the advantages which thou wilt so secure: in the
first place, as we shall fight in a narrow sea with few ships
against many, if the war follows the common course, we shall gain a
great victory; for to fight in a narrow space is favourable to us-
in an open sea, to them. Again, Salamis will in this case be
preserved, where we have placed our wives and children. Nay, that very
point by which ye set most store, is secured as much by this course as
by the other; for whether we fight here or at the Isthmus, we shall
equally give battle in defence of the Peloponnese. Assuredly ye will
not do wisely to draw the Persians upon that region. For if things
turn out as I anticipate, and we beat them by sea, then we shall
have kept your Isthmus free from the barbarians, and they will have
advanced no further than Attica, but from thence have fled back in
disorder; and we shall, moreover, have saved Megara, Egina, and
Salamis itself, where an oracle has said that we are to overcome our
enemies. When men counsel reasonably, reasonable success ensues; but
when in their counsels they reject reason, God does not choose to
follow the wanderings of human fancies."
    When Themistocles had thus spoken, Adeimantus the Corinthian again
attacked him, and bade him be silent, since he was a man without a
city; at the same time he called on Eurybiades not to put the question
at the instance of one who had no country, and urged that Themistocles
should show of what state he was envoy, before he gave his voice
with the rest. This reproach he made, because the city of Athens had
been taken, and was in the hands of the barbarians. Hereupon
Themistocles spake many bitter things against Adeimantus and the
Corinthians generally; and for proof that he had a country, reminded
the captains, that with two hundred ships at his command, all fully
manned for battle, he had both city and territory as good as theirs;
since there was no Grecian state which could resist his men if they
were to make a descent.
    After this declaration, he turned to Eurybiades, and addressing
him with still greater warmth and earnestness- "If thou wilt stay
here," he said, "and behave like a brave man, all will be well- if
not, thou wilt bring Greece to ruin. For the whole fortune of the
war depends on our ships. Be thou persuaded by my words. If not, we
will take our families on board, and go, just as we are, to Siris,
in Italy, which is ours from of old, and which the prophecies
declare we are to colonise some day or other. You then, when you
have lost allies like us, will hereafter call to mind what I have
now said."
    At these words of Themistocles, Eurybiades changed his
determination; principally, as I believe, because he feared that if he
withdrew the fleet to the Isthmus, the Athenians would sail away,
and knew that without the Athenians, the rest of their ships could
be no match for the fleet of the enemy. He therefore decided to
remain, and give battle at Salamis.
    And now, the different chiefs, notwithstanding their skirmish of
words, on learning the decision of Eurybiades, at once made ready
for the fight. Morning broke; and, just as the sun rose, the shock
of an earthquake was felt both on shore and at sea: whereupon the
Greeks resolved to approach the gods with prayer, and likewise to send
and invite the Aeacids to their aid. And this they did, with as much
speed as they had resolved on it. Prayers were offered to all the
gods; and Telamon and Ajax were invoked at once from Salamis, while
a ship was sent to Egina to fetch Aeacus himself, and the other
Aeacids.
    The following is a tale which was told by Dicaeus, the son of
Theocydes, an Athenian, who was at this time an exile, and had
gained a good report among the Medes. He declared that after the
army of Xerxes had, in the absence of the Athenians, wasted Attica, he
chanced to be with Demaratus the Lacedaemonian in the Thriasian plain,
and that while there, he saw a cloud of dust advancing from Eleusis,
such as a host of thirty thousand men might raise. As he and his
companion were wondering who the men, from whom the dust arose,
could possibly be, a sound of voices reached his ear, and he thought
that he recognised the mystic hymn to Bacchus. Now Demaratus was
unacquainted with the rites of Eleusis, and so he inquired of
Dicaeus what the voices were saying. Dicaeus made answer- "O
Demaratus! beyond a doubt some mighty calamity is about to befall
the king's army! For it is manifest, inasmuch as Attica is deserted by
its inhabitants, that the sound which we have heard is an unearthly
one, and is now upon its way from Eleusis to aid the Athenians and
their confederates. If it descends upon the Peloponnese, danger will
threaten the king himself and his land army- if it moves towards the
ships at Salamis, 'twill go hard but the king's fleet there suffers
destruction. Every year the Athenians celebrate this feast to the
Mother and the Daughter; and all who wish, whether they be Athenians
or any other Greeks, are initiated. The sound thou hearest is the
Bacchic song, which is wont to be sung at that festival." "Hush
now," rejoined the other; "and see thou tell no man of this matter.
For if thy words be brought to the king's ear, thou wilt assuredly
lose thy head because of them; neither I nor any man living can then
save thee. Hold thy peace therefore. The gods will see to the king's
army." Thus Demaratus counselled him; and they looked, and saw the
dust, from which the sound arose, become a cloud, and the cloud rise
up into the air and sail away to Salamis, making for the station of
the Grecian fleet. Then they knew that it was the fleet of Xerxes
which would suffer destruction. Such was the tale told by Dicaeus
the son of Theocydes; and he appealed for its truth to Demaratus and
other eye-witnesses.
    The men belonging to the fleet of Xerxes, after they had seen
the Spartan dead at Thermopylae, and crossed the channel from
Trachis to Histiaea, waited there by the space of three days, and then
sailing down through the Euripus, in three more came to Phalerum. In
my judgment, the Persian forces both by land and sea when they invaded
Attica were not less numerous than they had been on their arrival at
Sepias and Thermopylae. For against the Persian loss in the storm
and at Thermopylae, and again in the sea-fights off Artemisium, I
set the various nations which had since joined the king- as the
Malians, the Dorians, the Locrians, and the Boeotians- each serving in
full force in his army except the last, who did not number in their
ranks either the Thespians or the Plataeans; and together with
these, the Carystians, the Andrians, the Tenians, and the other people
of the islands, who all fought on this side except the five states
already mentioned. For as the Persians penetrated further into Greece,
they were joined continually by fresh nations.
    Reinforced by the contingents of all these various states,
except Paros, the barbarians reached Athens. As for the Parians,
they tarried at Cythnus, waiting to see how the war would go. The rest
of the sea forces came safe to Phalerum; where they were visited by
Xerxes, who had conceived a desire to go aboard and learn the wishes
of the fleet. So he came and sate in a seat of honour; and the
sovereigns of the nations, and the captains of the ships, were sent
for, to appear before him, and as they arrived took their seats
according to the rank assigned them by the king. In the first seat
sate the king of Sidon; after him, the king of Tyre; then the rest
in their order. When the whole had taken their places, one after
another, and were set down in orderly array, Xerxes, to try them, sent
Mardonius and questioned each, whether a sea-fight should be risked or
no.
    Mardonius accordingly went round the entire assemblage,
beginning with the Sidonian monarch, and asked this question; to which
all gave the same answer, advising to engage the Greeks, except only
Artemisia, who spake as follows (SS 1.):-
    "Say to the king, Mardonius, that these are my words to him: I was
not the least brave of those who fought at Euboea, nor were my
achievements there among the meanest; it is my right, therefore, O
my lord, to tell thee plainly what I think to be most for thy
advantage now. This then is my advice. Spare thy ships, and do not
risk a battle; for these people are as much superior to thy people
in seamanship, as men to women. What so great need is there for thee
to incur hazard at sea? Art thou not master of Athens, for which
thou didst undertake thy expedition? Is not Greece subject to thee?
Not a soul now resists thy advance. They who once resisted, were
handled even as they deserved. (SS 2.) Now learn how I expect that
affairs will go with thy adversaries. If thou art not over-hasty to
engage with them by sea, but wilt keep thy fleet near the land, then
whether thou abidest as thou art, or marchest forward towards the
Peloponnese, thou wilt easily accomplish all for which thou art come
hither. The Greeks cannot hold out against thee very long; thou wilt
soon part them asunder, and scatter them to their several homes. In
the island where they lie, I hear they have no food in store; nor is
it likely, if thy land force begins its march towards the Peloponnese,
that they will remain quietly where they are- at least such as come
from that region. Of a surety they will not greatly trouble themselves
to give battle on behalf of the Athenians. (SS 3.) On the other
hand, if thou art hasty to fight, I tremble lest the defeat of thy sea
force bring harm likewise to thy land army. This, too, thou shouldst
remember, O king; good masters are apt to have bad servants, and bad
masters good ones. Now, as thou art the best of men, thy servants must
needs be a sorry set. These Egyptians, Cyprians, Cilicians, and
Pamphylians, who are counted in the number of thy subject-allies, of
how little service are they to thee!"
    As Artemisia spake, they who wished her well were greatly troubled
concerning her words, thinking that she would suffer some hurt at
the king's hands, because she exhorted him not to risk a battle; they,
on the other hand, who disliked and envied her, favoured as she was by
the king above all the rest of the allies, rejoiced at her
declaration, expecting that her life would be the forfeit. But Xerxes,
when the words of the several speakers were reported to him, was
pleased beyond all others with the reply of Artemisia; and whereas,
even before this, he had always esteemed her much, he now praised
her more than ever. Nevertheless, he gave orders that the advice of
the greater number should be followed; for he thought that at Euboea
the fleet had not done its best, because he himself was not there to
see- whereas this time he resolved that he would be an eye-witness
of the combat.
    Orders were now given to stand out to sea; and the ships proceeded
towards Salamis, and took up the stations to which they were directed,
without let or hindrance from the enemy. The day, however, was too far
spent for them to begin the battle, since night already approached: so
they prepared to engage upon the morrow. The Greeks, meanwhile, were
in great distress and alarm, more especially those of the Peloponnese,
who were troubled that they had been kept at Salamis to fight on
behalf of the Athenian territory, and feared that, if they should
suffer defeat, they would be pent up and besieged in an island,
while their own country was left unprotected.
    The same night the land army of the barbarians began its march
towards the Peloponnese, where, however, all that was possible had
been done to prevent the enemy from forcing an entrance by land. As
soon as ever news reached the Peloponnese of the death of Leonidas and
his companions at Thermopylae, the inhabitants flocked together from
the various cities, and encamped at the Isthmus, under the command
of Cleombrotus, son of Anaxandridas, and brother of Leonidas. Here
their first care was to block up the Scironian Way; after which it was
determined in council to build a wall across the Isthmus. As the
number assembled amounted to many tens of thousands, and there was not
one who did not give himself to the work, it was soon finished.
Stones, bricks, timber, baskets filled full of sand, were used in
the building; and not a moment was lost by those who gave their aid;
for they laboured without ceasing either by night or day.
    Now the nations who gave their aid, and who had flocked in full
force to the Isthmus, were the following: the Lacedaemonians, all
the tribes of the Arcadians, the Eleans, the Corinthians, the
Sicyonians, the Epidaurians, the Phliasians, the Troezenians, and
the Hermionians. These all gave their aid, being greatly alarmed at
the danger which threatened Greece. But the other inhabitants of the
Peloponnese took no part in the matter; though the Olympic and
Carneian festivals were now over.
    Seven nations inhabit the Peloponnese. Two of them are aboriginal,
and still continue in the regions where they dwelt at the first- to
wit, the Arcadians and the Cynurians. A third, that of the Achaeans,
has never left the Peloponnese, but has been dislodged from its own
proper country, and inhabits a district which once belonged to others.
The remaining nations, four out of the seven, are all immigrants-
namely, the Dorians, the Aetolians, the Dryopians, and the Lemnians.
To the Dorians belong several very famous cities; to the Aetolians one
only, that is, Elis; to the Dryopians, Hermione and that Asine which
lies over against Cardamyle in Laconia; to the Lemnians, all the towns
of the Paroreats. The aboriginal Cynurians alone seem to be Ionians;
even they, however, have, in course of time, grown to be Dorians,
under the government of the Argives, whose Orneats and vassals they
were. All the cities of these seven nations, except those mentioned
above, stood aloof from the war; and by so doing, if I may speak
freely, they in fact took part with the Medes.
    So the Greeks at the Isthmus toiled unceasingly, as though in
the greatest peril; since they never imagined that any great success
would be gained by the fleet. The Greeks at Salamis, on the other
hand, when they heard what the rest were about, felt greatly
alarmed; but their fear was not so much for themselves as for the
Peloponnese. At first they conversed together in low tones, each man
with his fellow, secretly, and marvelled at the folly shown by
Eurybiades; but presently the smothered feeling broke out, and another
assembly was held; whereat the old subjects provoked much talk from
the speakers, one side maintaining that it was best to sail to the
Peloponnese and risk battle for that, instead of abiding at Salamis
and fighting for a land already taken by the enemy; while the other,
which consisted of the Athenians, Eginetans, and Megarians, was urgent
to remain and have the battle fought where they were.
    Then Themistocles, when he saw that the Peloponnesians would carry
the vote against him, went out secretly from the council, and,
instructing a certain man what he should say, sent him on board a
merchant ship to the fleet of the Medes. The man's name was
Sicinnus; he was one of Themistocles' household slaves, and acted as
tutor to his sons; in after times, when the Thespians were admitting
persons to citizenship, Themistocles made him a Thespian, and a rich
man to boot. The ship brought Sicinnus to the Persian fleet, and there
he delivered his message to the leaders in these words:-
    "The Athenian commander has sent me to you privily, without the
knowledge of the other Greeks. He is a well-wisher to the king's
cause, and would rather success should attend on you than on his
countrymen; wherefore he bids me tell you that fear has seized the
Greeks and they are meditating a hasty flight. Now then it is open
to you to achieve the best work that ever ye wrought, if only ye
will hinder their escaping. They no longer agree among themselves,
so that they will not now make any resistance- nay, 'tis likely ye may
see a fight already begun between such as favour and such as oppose
your cause." The messenger, when he had thus expressed himself,
departed and was seen no more.
    Then the captains, believing all that the messenger had said,
proceeded to land a large body of Persian troops on the islet of
Psyttaleia, which lies between Salamis and the mainland; after
which, about the hour of midnight, they advanced their western wing
towards Salamis, so as to inclose the Greeks. At the same time the
force stationed about Ceos and Cynosura moved forward, and filled
the whole strait as far as Munychia with their ships. This advance was
made to prevent the Greeks from escaping by flight, and to block
them up in Salamis, where it was thought that vengeance might be taken
upon them for the battles fought near Artemisium. The Persian troops
were landed on the islet of Psyttaleia, because, as soon as the battle
began, the men and wrecks were likely to be drifted thither, as the
isle lay in the very path of the coming fight- and they would thus
be able to save their own men and destroy those of the enemy. All
these movements were made in silence, that the Greeks might have no
knowledge of them; and they occupied the whole night, so that the
men had no time to get their sleep.
    I cannot say that there is no truth in prophecies, or feel
inclined to call in question those which speak with clearness, when
I think of the following:-

    When they shall bridge with their ships to the sacred strand of
      Diana
    Girt with the golden falchion, and eke to marine Cynosura,
    Mad hope swelling their hearts at the downfall of beautiful
      Athens
    Then shall godlike Right extinguish haughty Presumption,
    Insult's furious offspring, who thinketh to overthrow all things.
    Brass with brass shall mingle, and Mars with blood shall empurple
    Ocean's waves. Then- then shall the day of Grecia's freedom
    Come from Victory fair, and Saturn's son all-seeing.

When I look to this, and perceive how clearly Bacis spoke, neither
venture myself to say anything against prophecies, nor do approve of
others impugning them.
    Meanwhile, among the captains at Salamis, the strife of words grew
fierce. As yet they did not know that they were encompassed, but
imagined that the barbarians remained in the same places where they
had seen them the day before.
    In the midst of their contention, Aristides, the son of
Lysimachus, who had crossed from Egina, arrived in Salamis. He was
an Athenian, and had been ostracised by the commonalty; yet I believe,
from what I have heard concerning his character, that there was not in
all Athens a man so worthy or so just as he. He now came to the
council, and, standing outside, called for Themistocles. Now
Themistocles was not his friend, but his most determined enemy.
However, under the pressure of the great dangers impending,
Aristides forgot their feud, and called Themistocles out of the
council, since he wished to confer with him. He had heard before his
arrival of the impatience of the Peloponnesians to withdraw the
fleet to the Isthmus. As soon therefore as Themistocles came forth,
Aristides addressed him in these words:-
    "Our rivalry at all times, and especially at the present season,
ought to be a struggle, which of us shall most advantage our
country. Let me then say to thee, that so far as regards the departure
of the Peloponnesians from this place, much talk and little will be
found precisely alike. I have seen with my own eyes that which I now
report: that, however much the Corinthians or Eurybiades himself may
wish it, they cannot now retreat; for we are enclosed on every side by
the enemy. Go in to them, and make this known."
    "Thy advice is excellent," answered the other; "and thy tidings
are also good. That which I earnestly desired to happen, thine eyes
have beheld accomplished. Know that what the Medes have now done was
at my instance; for it was necessary, as our men would not fight
here of their own free will, to make them fight whether they would
or no. But come now, as thou hast brought the good news, go in and
tell it. For if I speak to them, they will think it a feigned tale,
and will not believe that the barbarians have inclosed us around.
Therefore do thou go to them, and inform them how matters stand. If
they believe thee, 'twill be for the best; but if otherwise, it will
not harm. For it is impossible that they should now flee away, if we
are indeed shut in on all sides, as thou sayest."
    Then Aristides entered the assembly, and spoke to the captains: he
had come, he told them, from Egina, and had but barely escaped the
blockading vessels- the Greek fleet was entirely inclosed by the ships
of Xerxes- and he advised them to get themselves in readiness to
resist the foe. Having said so much, he withdrew. And now another
contest arose; for the greater part of the captains would not
believe the tidings.
    But while they still doubted, a Tenian trireme, commanded by
Panaetius the son of Sosimenes, deserted from the Persians and
joined the Greeks, bringing full intelligence. For this reason the
Tenians were inscribed upon the tripod at Delphi among those who
overthrew the barbarians. With this ship, which deserted to their side
at Salamis, and the Lemnian vessel which came over before at
Artemisium, the Greek fleet was brought to the full number of 380
ships; otherwise it fell short by two of that amount.
    The Greeks now, not doubting what the Tenians told them, made
ready for the coming fight. At the dawn of day, all the men-at-arms
were assembled together, and speeches were made to them, of which
the best was that of Themistocles; who throughout contrasted what
was noble with what was base, and bade them, in all that came within
the range of man's nature and constitution, always to make choice of
the nobler part. Having thus wound up his discourse, he told them to
go at once on board their ships, which they accordingly did; and about
his time the trireme, that had been sent to Egina for the Aeacidae,
returned; whereupon the Greeks put to sea with all their fleet.
    The fleet had scarce left the land when they were attacked by
the barbarians. At once most of the Greeks began to back water, and
were about touching the shore, when Ameinias of Palline, one of the
Athenian captains, darted forth in front of the line, and charged a
ship of the enemy. The two vessels became entangled, and could not
separate, whereupon the rest of the fleet came up to help Ameinias,
and engaged with the Persians. Such is the account which the Athenians
give of the way in which the battle began; but the Eginetans
maintain that the vessel which had been to Egina for the Aeacidae, was
the one that brought on the fight. It is also reported, that a phantom
in the form of a woman appeared to the Greeks, and, in a voice that
was heard from end to end of the fleet, cheered them on to the
fight; first, however, rebuking them, and saying- "Strange men, how
long are ye going to back water?"
    Against the Athenians, who held the western extremity of the
line towards Eleusis, were placed the Phoenicians; against the
Lacedaemonians, whose station was eastward towards the Piraeus, the
Ionians. Of these last a few only followed the advice of Themistocles,
to fight backwardly; the greater number did far otherwise. I could
mention here the names of many trierarchs who took vessels from the
Greeks, but I shall pass over all excepting Theomestor, the son of
Androdamas, and Phylacus, the son of Histiaeus, both Samians. I show
this preference to them, inasmuch as for this service Theomestor was
made tyrant of Samos by the Persians, which Phylacus was enrolled
among the king's benefactors, and presented with a large estate in
land. In the Persian tongue the king's benefactors are called
Orosangs.
    Far the greater number of the Persian ships engaged in this battle
were disabled, either by the Athenians or by the Eginetans. For as the
Greeks fought in order and kept their line, while the barbarians
were in confusion and had no plan in anything that they did, the issue
of the battle could scarce be other than it was. Yet the Persians
fought far more bravely here than at Euboea, and indeed surpassed
themselves; each did his utmost through fear of Xerxes, for each
thought that the king's eye was upon himself.
    What part the several nations, whether Greek or barbarian, took in
the combat, I am not able to say for certain; Artemisia, however, I
know, distinguished herself in such a way as raised her even higher
than she stood before in the esteem of the king. For after confusion
had spread throughout the whole of the king's fleet, and her ship
was closely pursued by an Athenian trireme, she, having no way to fly,
since in front of her were a number of friendly vessels, and she was
nearest of all the Persians to the enemy, resolved on a measure
which in fact proved her safety. Pressed by the Athenian pursuer,
she bore straight against one of the ships of her own party, a
Calyndian, which had Damasithymus, the Calyndian king, himself on
board. I cannot say whether she had had any quarrel with the man while
the fleet was at the Hellespont, or no- neither can I decide whether
she of set purpose attacked his vessel, or whether it merely chanced
that the Calyndian ship came in her way- but certain it is that she
bore down upon his vessel and sank it, and that thereby she had the
good fortune to procure herself a double advantage. For the
commander of the Athenian trireme, when he saw her bear down on one of
the enemy's fleet, thought immediately that her vessel was a Greek, or
else had deserted from the Persians, and was now fighting on the Greek
side; he therefore gave up the chase, and turned away to attack
others.
    Thus in the first place she saved her life by the action, and
was enabled to get clear off from the battle; while further, it fell
out that in the very act of doing the king an injury she raised
herself to a greater height than ever in his esteem. For as Xerxes
beheld the fight, he remarked (it is said) the destruction of the
vessel, whereupon the bystanders observed to him- "Seest thou, master,
how well Artemisia fights, and how she has just sunk a ship of the
enemy?" Then Xerxes asked if it were really Artemisia's doing; and
they answered, "Certainly; for they knew her ensign": while all made
sure that the sunken vessel belonged to the opposite side. Everything,
it is said, conspired to prosper the queen- it was especially
fortunate for her that not one of those on board the Calyndian ship
survived to become her accuser. Xerxes, they say, in reply to the
remarks made to him, observed- "My men have behaved like women, my
women like men!"
    There fell in this combat Ariabignes, one of the chief
commanders of the fleet, who was son of Darius and brother of
Xerxes; and with him perished a vast number of men of high repute,
Persians, Medes, and allies. Of the Greeks there died only a few; for,
as they were able to swim, all those that were not slain outright by
the enemy escaped from the sinking vessels and swam across to Salamis.
But on the side of the barbarians more perished by drowning than in
any other way, since they did not know how to swim. The great
destruction took place when the ships which had been first engaged
began to fly; for they who were stationed in the rear, anxious to
display their valour before the eyes of the king, made every effort to
force their way to the front, and thus became entangled with such of
their own vessels as were retreating.
    In this confusion the following event occurred: certain
Phoenicians belonging to the ships which had thus perished made
their appearance before the king, and laid the blame of their loss
on the Ionians, declaring that they were traitors, and had wilfully
destroyed the vessels. But the upshot of this complaint was that the
Ionian captains escaped the death which threatened them, while their
Phoenician accusers received death as their reward. For it happened
that, exactly as they spoke, a Samothracian vessel bore down on an
Athenian and sank it, but was attacked and crippled immediately by one
of the Eginetan squadron. Now the Samothracians were expert with the
javelin, and aimed their weapons so well, that they cleared the deck
of the vessel which had disabled their own, after which they sprang on
board, and took it. This saved the Ionians. Xerxes, when he saw the
exploit, turned fiercely on the Phoenicians- (he was ready, in his
extreme vexation, to find fault with any one)- and ordered their heads
to be cut off, to prevent them, he said, from casting the blame of
their own misconduct upon braver men. During the whole time of the
battle Xerxes sate at the base of the hill called Aegaleos, over
against Salamis; and whenever he saw any of his own captains perform
any worthy exploit he inquired concerning him; and the man's name
was taken down by his scribes, together with the names of his father
and his city. Ariaramnes too, a Persian, who was a friend of the
Ionians, and present at the time whereof I speak, had a share in
bringing about the punishment of the Phoenicians.
    When the rout of the barbarians began, and they sought to make
their escape to Phalerum, the Eginetans, awaiting them in the channel,
performed exploits worthy to be recorded. Through the whole of the
confused struggle the Athenians employed themselves in destroying such
ships as either made resistance or fled to shore, while the
Eginetans dealt with those which endeavoured to escape down the
strait; so that the Persian vessels were no sooner clear of the
Athenians than forthwith they fell into the hands of the Eginetan
squadron.
    It chanced here that there was a meeting between the ship of
Themistocles, which was hasting in pursuit of the enemy, and that of
Polycritus, son of Crius the Eginetan, which had just charged a
Sidonian trireme. The Sidonian vessel was the same that captured the
Eginetan guard-ship off Sciathus, which had Pythias, the son of
Ischenous, on board- that Pythias, I mean, who fell covered with
wounds, and whom the Sidonians kept on board their ship, from
admiration of his gallantry. This man afterwards returned in safety to
Egina; for when the Sidonian vessel with its Persian crew fell into
the hands of the Greeks, he was still found on board. Polycritus no
sooner saw the Athenian trireme than, knowing at once whose vessel
it was, as he observed that it bore the ensign of the admiral, he
shouted to Themistocles jeeringly, and asked him, in a tone of
reproach, if the Eginetans did not show themselves rare friends to the
Medes. At the same time, while he thus reproached Themistocles,
Polycritus bore straight down on the Sidonian. Such of the barbarian
vessels as escaped from the battle fled to Phalerum, and there
sheltered themselves under the protection of the land army.
    The Greeks who gained the greatest glory of all in the sea-fight
off Salamis were the Eginetans, and after them the Athenians. The
individuals of most distinction were Polycritus the Eginetan, and
two Athenians, Eumenes of Anagyrus, and Ameinias of Palline; the
latter of whom had pressed Artemisia so hard. And assuredly, if he had
known that the vessel carried Artemisia on board, he would never
have given over the chase till he had either succeeded in taking
her, or else been taken himself. For the Athenian captains had
received special orders touching the queen; and moreover a reward of
ten thousand drachmas had been proclaimed for any one who should
make her prisoner; since there was great indignation felt that a woman
should appear in arms against Athens. However, as I said before, she
escaped; and so did some others whose ships survived the engagement;
and these were all now assembled at the port of Phalerum.
    The Athenians say that Adeimantus, the Corinthian commander, at
the moment when the two fleets joined battle, was seized with fear,
and being beyond measure alarmed, spread his sails, and hasted to
fly away; on which the other Corinthians, seeing their leader's ship
in full flight, sailed off likewise. They had reached in their
flight that part of the coast of Salamis where stands the temple of
Minerva Sciras, when they met a light bark, a very strange apparition:
it was never discovered that any one had sent it to them; and till
it appeared they were altogether ignorant how the battle was going.
That there was something beyond nature in the matter they judged
from this- that when the men in the bark drew near to their ships they
addressed them, saying- "Adeimantus, while thou playest the
traitor's part, by withdrawing all these ships, and flying away from
the fight, the Greeks whom thou hast deserted are defeating their foes
as completely as they ever wished in their prayers." Adeimantus,
however, would not believe what the men said; whereupon they told
him "he might take them with him as hostages, and put them to death if
he did not find the Greeks winning." Then Adeimantus put about, both
he and those who were with him; and they re-joined the fleet when
the victory was already gained. Such is the tale which the Athenians
tell concerning them of Corinth; these latter however do not allow its
truth. On the contrary, they declare that they were among those who
distinguished themselves most in the fight. And the rest of Greece
bears witness in their favour.
    In the midst of the confusion Aristides, the son of Lysimachus,
the Athenian, of whom I lately spoke as a man of the greatest
excellence, performed the following service. He took a number of the
Athenian heavy-armed troops, who had previously been stationed along
the shore of Salamis, and, landing with them on the islet of
Psyttaleia, slew all the Persians by whom it was occupied.
    As soon as the sea-fight was ended, the Greeks drew together to
Salamis all the wrecks that were to be found in that quarter, and
prepared themselves for another engagement, supposing that the king
would renew the fight with the vessels which still remained to him.
Many of the wrecks had been carried away by a westerly wind to the
coast of Attica, where they were thrown upon the strip of shore called
Colias. Thus not only were the prophecies of Bacis and Musaeus
concerning this battle fulfilled completely, but likewise, by the
place to which the wrecks were drifted, the prediction of Lysistratus,
an Athenian soothsayer, uttered many years before these events, and
quite forgotten at the time by all the Greeks, was fully accomplished.
The words were-

    Then shall the sight of the oars fill Colian dames with
      amazement.

Now this must have happened as soon as the king was departed.
    Xerxes, when he saw the extent of his loss, began to be afraid
lest the Greeks might be counselled by the Ionians, or without their
advice might determine to sail straight to the Hellespont and break
down the bridges there; in which case he would be blocked up in
Europe, and run great risk of perishing. He therefore made up his mind
to fly; but, as he wished to hide his purpose alike from the Greeks
and from his own people, he set to work to carry a mound across the
channel to Salamis, and at the same time began fastening a number of
Phoenician merchant ships together, to serve at once for a bridge
and a wall. He likewise made many warlike preparations, as if he
were about to engage the Greeks once more at sea. Now, when these
things were seen, all grew fully persuaded that the king was bent on
remaining, and intended to push the war in good earnest. Mardonius,
however, was in no respect deceived; for long acquaintance enabled him
to read all the king's thoughts. Meanwhile, Xerxes, though engaged
in this way, sent off a messenger to carry intelligence of his
misfortune to Persia.
    Nothing mortal travels so fast as these Persian messengers. The
entire plan is a Persian invention; and this is the method of it.
Along the whole line of road there are men (they say) stationed with
horses, in number equal to the number of days which the journey takes,
allowing a man and horse to each day; and these men will not be
hindered from accomplishing at their best speed the distance which
they have to go, either by snow, or rain, or heat, or by the
darkness of night. The first rider delivers his despatch to the second
and the second passes it to the third; and so it is borne from hand to
hand along the whole line, like the light in the torch-race, which the
Greeks celebrate to Vulcan. The Persians give the riding post in
this manner, the name of "Angarum."
    At Susa, on the arrival of the first message, which said that
Xerxes was master of Athens, such was the delight of the Persians
who had remained behind, that they forthwith strewed all the streets
with myrtle boughs, and burnt incense, and fell to feasting and
merriment. In like manner, when the second message reached them, so
sore was their dismay, that they all with one accord rent their
garments, and cried aloud, and wept and wailed without stint. They
laid the blame of the disaster on Mardonius; and their grief on the
occasion was less on account of the damage done to their ships, than
owing to the alarm which they felt about the safety of the king. Hence
their trouble did not cease till Xerxes himself, by his arrival, put
an end to their fears.
    And now Mardonius, perceiving that Xerxes took the defeat of his
fleet greatly to heart, and suspecting that he had made up his mind to
leave Athens and fly away, began to think of the likelihood of his
being visited with punishment for having persuaded the king to
undertake the war. He therefore considered that it would be the best
thing for him to adventure further, and either become the conqueror of
Greece- which was the result he rather expected- or else die
gloriously after aspiring to a noble achievement. So with these
thoughts in his mind, he said one day to the king:-
    "Do not grieve, master, or take so greatly to heart thy late loss.
Our hopes hang not altogether on the fate of a few planks, but on
our brave steeds and horsemen. These fellows, whom thou imaginest to
have quite conquered us, will not venture- no, not one of them- to
come ashore and contend with our land army; nor will the Greeks who
are upon the mainland fight our troops; such as did so have received
their punishment. If thou so pleasest, we may at once attack the
Peloponnese; if thou wouldst rather wait a while, that too is in our
power. Only be not disheartened. For it is not possible that the
Greeks can avoid being brought to account, alike for this and for
their former injuries; nor can they anyhow escape being thy slaves.
Thou shouldst therefore do as I have said. If, however, thy mind is
made up, and thou art resolved to retreat and lead away thy army,
listen to the counsel which, in that case, I have to offer. Make not
the Persians, O king! a laughing-stock to the Greeks. If thy affairs
have succeeded ill, it has not been by their fault; thou canst not say
that thy Persians have ever shown themselves cowards. What matters
it if Phoenicians and Egyptians, Cyprians and Cilicians, have
misbehaved?- their misconduct touches not us. Since then thy
Persians are without fault, be advised by me. Depart home, if thou art
so minded, and take with thee the bulk of thy army; but first let me
choose out 300,000 troops, and let it be my task to bring Greece
beneath thy sway."
    Xerxes, when he heard these words, felt a sense of joy and
delight, like a man who is relieved from care. Answering Mardonius,
therefore, "that he would consider his counsel, and let him know which
course he might prefer," Xerxes proceeded to consult with the chief
men among the Persians; and because Artemisia on the former occasion
had shown herself the only person who knew what was best to be done,
he was pleased to summon her to advise him now. As soon as she
arrived, he put forth all the rest, both councillors and bodyguards,
and said to her:-
    "Mardonius wishes me to stay and attack the Peloponnese. My
Persians, he says, and my other land forces, are not to blame for
the disasters which have befallen our arms; and of this he declares
they would very gladly give me the proof. He therefore exhorts me,
either to stay and act as I have said, or to let him choose Out
300,000 of my troops- wherewith he undertakes to reduce Greece beneath
my sway- while I myself retire with the rest of my forces, and
withdraw into my own country. Do thou, therefore, as thou didst
counsel me so wisely to decline the sea-fight, now also advise me in
this matter, and say, which course of the twain I ought to take for my
own good."
    Thus did the king ask Artemisia's counsel; and the following are
the words wherewith she answered him:-
    "'Tis a hard thing, O king! to give the best possible advice to
one who asks our counsel. Nevertheless, as thy affairs now stand, it
seemeth to me that thou wilt do right to return home. As for
Mardonius, if he prefers to remain, and undertakes to do as he has
said, leave him behind by all means, with the troops which he desires.
If his design succeeds, and he subdues the Greeks, as he promises,
thine is the conquest, master; for thy slaves will have accomplished
it. If, on the other hand, affairs run counter to his wishes, we can
suffer no great loss, so long as thou art safe, and thy house is in no
danger. The Greeks, too, while thou livest, and thy house
flourishes, must be prepared to fight full many a battle for their
freedom; whereas if Mardonius fall, it matters nothing- they will have
gained but a poor triumph- a victory over one of thy slaves!
Remember also, thou goest home having gained the purpose of thy
expedition; for thou hast burnt Athens!"
    The advice of Artemisia pleased Xerxes well; for she had exactly
uttered his own thoughts. I, for my part, do not believe that he would
have remained had all his counsellors, both men and women, united to
urge his stay, so great was the alarm that he felt. As it was, he gave
praise to Artemisia, and entrusted certain of his children to her
care, ordering her to convey them to Ephesus; for he had been
accompanied on the expedition by some of his natural sons.
    He likewise sent away at this time one of the principal of his
eunuchs, a man named Hermotimus, a Pedasian, who was bidden to take
charge of these sons. Now the Pedasians inhabit the region above
Halicarnassus; and it is related of them, that in their country the
following circumstance happens: when a mischance is about to befall
any of their neighbours within a certain time, the priestess of
Minerva in their city grows a long beard. This has already taken place
on two occasions.
    The Hermotimus of whom I spoke above was, as I said, a Pedasian;
and he, of all men whom we know, took the most cruel vengeance on
the person who had done him an injury. He had been made a prisoner
of war, and when his captors sold him, he was bought by a certain
Panionius, a native of Chios, who made his living by a most
nefarious traffic. Whenever he could get any boys of unusual beauty,
he made them eunuchs, and, carrying them to Sardis or Ephesus, sold
them for large sums of money. For the barbarians value eunuchs more
than others, since they regard them as more trustworthy. Many were the
slaves that Panionius, who made his living by the practice, had thus
treated; and among them was this Hermotimus of whom I have here made
mention. However, he was not without his share of good fortune; for
after a while he was sent from Sardis, together with other gifts, as a
present to the king. Nor was it long before he came to be esteemed
by Xerxes more highly than all his eunuchs.
    When the king was on his way to Athens with the Persian army,
and abode for a time at Sardis, Hermotimus happened to make a
journey upon business into Mysia; and there, in a district which is
called Atarneus, but belongs to Chios, he chanced to fall in with
Panionius. Recognising him at once, he entered into a long and
friendly talk with him, wherein he counted up the numerous blessings
he enjoyed through his means, and promised him all manner of favours
in return, if he would bring his household to Sardis and live there.
Panionius was overjoyed, and, accepting the offer made him, came
presently, and brought with him his wife and children. Then
Hermotimus, when he had got Panionius and all his family into his
power, addressed him in these words:-
    "Thou man, who gettest a living by viler deeds than any one else
in the whole world, what wrong to thee or thine had I or any of mine
done, that thou shouldst have made me the nothing that I now am? Ah!
surely thou thoughtest that the gods took no note of thy crimes. But
they in their justice have delivered thee, the doer of
unrighteousness, into my hands; and now thou canst not complain of the
vengeance which I am resolved to take on thee."
    After these reproaches, Hermotimus commanded the four sons of
Panionius to be brought, and forced the father to make them eunuchs
with his own hand. Unable to resist, he did as Hermotimus required;
and then his sons were made to treat him in the self-same way. So in
this way there came to Panionius requital at the hands of Hermotimus.
    Xerxes, after charging Artemisia to convey his sons safe to
Ephesus, sent for Mardonius, and bade him choose from all his army
such men as he wished, and see that he made his achievements answer to
his promises. During this day he did no more; but no sooner was
night come, than he issued his orders, and at once the captains of the
ships left Phalerum, and bore away for the Hellespont, each making all
the speed he could, and hasting to guard the bridges against the
king's return. On their way, as they sailed by Zoster, where certain
narrow points of land project into the sea, they took the cliffs for
vessels, and fled far away in alarm. Discovering their mistake,
however, after a time, they joined company once more, and proceeded
upon their voyage.
    Next day the Greeks, seeing the land force of the barbarians
encamped in the same place, thought that their ships must still be
lying at Phalerum; and, expecting another attack from that quarter,
made preparations to defend themselves. Soon however news came that
the ships were all departed and gone away; whereupon it was
instantly resolved to make sail in pursuit. They went as far as
Andros; but, seeing nothing of the Persian fleet, they stopped at that
place, and held a council of war. At this council Themistocles advised
that the Greeks should follow on through the islands, still pressing
the pursuit, and making all haste to the Hellespont, there to break
down the bridges. Eurybiades, however, delivered a contrary opinion.
"If," he said, "the Greeks should break down the bridges, it would
be the worst thing that could possibly happen for Greece. The Persian,
supposing that his retreat were cut off, and he compelled to remain in
Europe, would be sure never to give them any peace. Inaction on his
part would ruin all his affairs, and leave him no chance of ever
getting back to Asia- nay, would even cause his army to perish by
famine: whereas, if he bestirred himself, and acted vigorously, it was
likely that the whole of Europe would in course of time become subject
to him; since, by degrees, the various towns and tribes would either
fall before his arms, or else agree to terms of submission; and in
this way, his troops would find food sufficient for them, since each
year the Greek harvest would be theirs. As it was, the Persian,
because he had lost the sea-fight, intended evidently to remain no
longer in Europe. The Greeks ought to let him depart; and when he
was gone from among them, and had returned into his own country,
then would be the time for them to contend with him for the possession
of that."
    The other captains of the Peloponnesians declared themselves of
the same mind.
    Whereupon Themistocles, finding that the majority was against him,
and that he could not persuade them to push on to the Hellespont,
changed round, and addressing himself to the Athenians, who of all the
allies were the most nettled at the enemy's escape, and who eagerly
desired, if the other Greeks would not stir, to sail on by
themselves to the Hellespont and break the bridges, spake as follows:-
    "I have often myself witnessed occasions, and I have heard of many
more from others, where men who had been conquered by an enemy, having
been driven quite to desperation, have renewed the fight, and
retrieved their former disasters. We have now had the great good
luck to save both ourselves and all Greece by the repulse of this vast
cloud of men; let us then be content and not press them too hard,
now that they have begun to fly. Be sure we have not done this by
our own might. It is the work of gods and heroes, who were jealous
that one man should be king at once of Europe and of Asia- more
especially a man like this, unholy and presumptuous- a man who esteems
alike things sacred and things profane; who has cast down and burnt
the very images of the gods themselves; who even caused the sea to
be scourged with rods and commanded fetters to be thrown into it. At
present all is well with us- let us then abide in Greece, and look
to ourselves and to our families. The barbarian is clean gone- we have
driven him off- let each now repair his own house, and sow his land
diligently. In the spring we will take ship and sail to the Hellespont
and to Ionia!" All this Themistocles said in the hope of
establishing a claim upon the king; for he wanted to have a safe
retreat in case any mischance should befall him at Athens- which
indeed came to pass afterwards.
    At present, however, he dissembled; and the Athenians were
persuaded by his words. For they were ready now to do whatever he
advised; since they had always esteemed him a wise man, and he had
lately proved himself most truly wise and well-judging. Accordingly,
they came in to his views; whereupon he lost no time in sending
messengers, on board a light bark, to the king, choosing for this
purpose men whom he could trust to keep his instructions secret,
even although they should be put to every kind of torture. Among
them was the house-slave Sicinnus, the same whom he had made use of
previously. When the men reached Attica, all the others stayed with
the boat; but Sicinnus went up to the king, and spake to him as
follows:-
    "I am sent to thee by Themistocles, the son of Neocles, who is the
leader of the Athenians, and the wisest and bravest man of all the
allies, to bear thee this message: 'Themistocles the Athenian, anxious
to render thee a service, has restrained the Greeks, who were
impatient to pursue thy ships, and to break up the bridges at the
Hellespont. Now, therefore, return home at thy leisure.'"
    The messengers, when they had performed their errand, sailed
back to the fleet.
    And the Greeks, having resolved that they would neither proceed
further in pursuit of the barbarians, nor push forward to the
Hellespont and destroy the passage, laid siege to Andros, intending to
take the town by storm. For Themistocles had required the Andrians
to pay down a sum of money; and they had refused, being the first of
all the islanders who did so. To his declaration, "that the money must
needs be paid, as the Athenians had brought with him two mighty
gods- Persuasion and Necessity," they made reply, that "Athens might
well be a great and glorious city, since she was blest with such
excellent gods; but they were wretchedly poor, stinted for land, and
cursed with two unprofitable gods, who always dwelt with them and
would never quit their island- to wit, Poverty and Helplessness. These
were the gods of the Andrians, and therefore they would not pay the
money. For the power of Athens could not possibly be stronger than
their inability." This reply, coupled with the refusal to pay the
sum required, caused their city to be besieged by the Greeks.
    Meanwhile Themistocles, who never ceased his pursuit of gain, sent
threatening messages to the other islanders with demands for different
sums, employing the same messengers and the same words as he had
used towards the Andrians. "If," he said, "they did not send him the
amount required, he would bring the Greek fleet upon them, and besiege
them till he took their cities." By these means he collected large
sums from the Carystians and the Parians, who, when they heard that
Andros was already besieged, and that Themistocles was the best
esteemed of all the captains, sent the money through fear. Whether any
of the other islanders did the like, I cannot say for certain; but I
think some did besides those I have mentioned. However, the
Carystians, though they complied, were not spared any the more; but
Themistocles was softened by the Parians' gift, and therefore they
received no visit from the army. In this way it was that Themistocles,
during his stay at Andros, obtained money from the islanders,
unbeknown to the other captains.
    King Xerxes and his army waited but a few days after the
sea-fight, and then withdrew into Boeotia by the road which they had
followed on their advance. It was the wish of Mardonius to escort
the king a part of the way; and as the time of year was no longer
suitable for carrying on war, he thought it best to winter in
Thessaly, and wait for the spring before he attempted the Peloponnese.
After the army was come into Thessaly, Mardonius made choice of the
troops that were to stay with him; and, first of all, he took the
whole body called the "Immortals," except only their leader, Hydarnes,
who refused to quit the person of the king. Next, he chose the
Persians who wore breastplates, and the thousand picked horse;
likewise the Medes, the Sacans, the Bactrians, and the Indians, foot
and horse equally. These nations he took entire: from the rest of
the allies he culled a few men, taking either such as were
remarkable for their appearance, or else such as had performed, to his
knowledge, some valiant deed. The Persians furnished him with the
greatest number of troops, men who were adorned with chains and
armlets. Next to them were the Medes, who in number equalled the
Persians, but in valour fell short of them. The whole army,
reckoning the horsemen with the rest, amounted to 300,000 men.
    At the time when Mardonius was making choice of his troops, and
Xerxes still continued in Thessaly, the Lacedaemonians received a
message from the Delphic oracle, bidding them seek satisfaction at the
hands of Xerxes for the death of Leonidas, and take whatever he
chose to give them. So the Spartans sent a herald with all speed
into Thessaly, who arrived while the entire Persian army was still
there. This man, being brought before the king, spake as follows:-
    "King of the Medes, the Lacedaemonians and the Heracleids of
Sparta require of thee the satisfaction due for bloodshed, because
thou slewest their king, who fell fighting for Greece."
    Xerxes laughed, and for a long time spake not a word. At last,
however, he pointed to Mardonius, who was standing by him, and
said:- "Mardonius here shall give them the satisfaction they deserve
to get." And the herald accepted the answer, and forthwith went his
way.
    Xerxes, after this, left Mardonius in Thessaly, and marched away
himself, at his best speed, toward the Hellespont. In five-and-forty
days he reached the place of passage, where he arrived with scarce a
fraction, so to speak, of his former army. All along their line of
march, in every country where they chanced to be, his soldiers
seized and devoured whatever corn they could find belonging to the
inhabitants; while, if no corn was to be found, they gathered the
grass that grew in the fields, and stripped the trees, whether
cultivated or wild, alike of their bark and of their leaves, and so
fed themselves. They left nothing anywhere, so hard were they
pressed by hunger. Plague too and dysentery attacked the troops
while still upon their march, and greatly thinned their ranks. Many
died; others fell sick and were left behind in the different cities
that lay upon the route, the inhabitants being strictly charged by
Xerxes to tend and feed them. Of these some remained in Thessaly,
others in Siris of Paeonia, others again in Macedon. Here Xerxes, on
his march into Greece, had left the sacred car and steeds of Jove;
which upon his return he was unable to recover; for the Paeonians
had disposed of them to the Thracians, and, when Xerxes demanded
them back, they said that the Thracian tribes who dwelt about the
sources of the Strymon had stolen the mares as they pastured.
    Here too a Thracian chieftain, king of the Bisaltians and of
Crestonia, did a deed which went beyond nature. He had refused to
become the willing slave of Xerxes, and had fled before him into the
heights of Rhodope, at the same time forbidding his sons to take
part in the expedition against Greece. But they, either because they
cared little for his orders, or because they wished greatly to see the
war, joined the army of Xerxes. At this time they had all returned
home to him- the number of the men was six- quite safe and sound.
But their father took them, and punished their offence by plucking out
their eyes from the sockets. Such was the treatment which these men
received.
    The Persians, having journeyed through Thrace and reached the
passage, entered their ships hastily and crossed the Hellespont to
Abydos. The bridges were not found stretched across the strait;
since a storm had broken and dispersed them. At Abydos the troops
halted, and, obtaining more abundant provision than they had yet got
upon their march, they fed without stint; from which cause, added to
the change in their water, great numbers of those who had hitherto
escaped perished. The remainder, together with Xerxes himself, came
safe to Sardis.
    There is likewise another account given of the return of the king.
It is said that when Xerxes on his way from Athens arrived at Eion
upon the Strymon, he gave up travelling by land, and, intrusting
Hydarnes with the conduct of his forces to the Hellespont, embarked
himself on board a Phoenician ship, and so crossed into Asia. On his
voyage the ship was assailed by a strong wind blowing from the mouth
of the Strymon, which caused the sea to run high. As the storm
increased, and the ship laboured heavily, because of the number of the
Persians who had come in the king's train, and who now crowded the
deck, Xerxes was seized with fear, and called out to the helmsman in a
loud voice, asking him, if there were any means whereby they might
escape the danger. "No means, master," the helmsman answered,
"unless we could be quit of these too numerous passengers." Xerxes,
they say, on hearing this, addressed the Persians as follows: "Men
of Persia," he said, "now is the time for you to show what love ye
bear your king. My safety, as it seems, depends wholly upon you." So
spake the king; and the Persians instantly made obeisance, and then
leapt over into the sea. Thus was the ship lightened, and Xerxes got
safe to Asia. As soon as he had reached the shore, he sent for the
helmsman, and gave him a golden crown because he had preserved the
life of the kings- but because he had caused the death of a number
of Persians, he ordered his head to be struck from his shoulders.
    Such is the other account which is given of the return of
Xerxes; but to me it seems quite unworthy of belief, alike in other
respects, and in what relates to the Persians. For had the helmsman
made any such speech to Xerxes, I suppose there is not one man in
ten thousand who will doubt that this is the course which the king
would have followed:- he would have made the men upon the ship's deck,
who were not only Persians, but Persians of the very highest rank,
quit their place and go down below; and would have cast into the sea
an equal number of the rowers, who were Phoenicians. But the truth is,
that the king, as I have already said, returned into Asia by the
same road as the rest of the army.
    I will add a strong proof of this. It is certain that Xerxes on
his way back from Greece passed through Abdera, where he made a
contract of friendship with the inhabitants, and presented them with a
golden scymitar, and a tiara broidered with gold. The Abderites
declare- but I put no faith in this part of their story- that from the
time of the king's leaving Athens, he never once loosed his girdle
till he came to their city, since it was not till then that he felt
himself in safety. Now Abdera is nearer to the Hellespont than Eion
and the Strymon, where Xerxes, according to the other tale, took ship.
    Meanwhile the Greeks, finding that they could not capture
Andros, sailed away to Carystus, and wasted the lands of the
Carystians, after which they returned to Salamis. Arrived here, they
proceeded, before entering on any other matter, to make choice of
the first-fruits which should be set apart as offerings to the gods.
These consisted of divers gifts; among them were three Phoenician
triremes, one of which was dedicated at the Isthmus, where it
continued to my day; another at Sunium; and the third, at Salamis
itself, which was devoted to Ajax. This done, they made a division
of the booty, and sent away the first-fruits to Delphi. Thereof was
made the statue, holding in its hand the beak of a ship, which is
twelve cubits high, and which stands in the same place with the golden
one of Alexander the Macedonian.
    After the first-fruits had been sent to Delphi, the Greeks made
inquiry of the god, in the name of their whole body, if he had
received his full share of the spoils and was satisfied therewith. The
god made answer that all the other Greeks had paid him his full due,
except only the Eginetans; on them he had still a claim for the
prize of valour which they had gained at Salamis. So the Eginetans,
when they heard this, dedicated the three golden stars which stand
on the top of a bronze mast in the corner near the bowl offered by
Croesus.
    When the spoils had been divided, the Greeks sailed to the
Isthmus, where a prize of valour was to be awarded to the man who,
of all the Greeks, had shown the most merit during the war. When the
chiefs were all come, they met at the altar of Neptune, and took the
ballots wherewith they were to give their votes for the first and
for the second in merit. Then each man gave himself the first vote,
since each considered that he was himself the worthiest; but the
second votes were given chiefly to Themistocies. In this way, while
the others received but one vote apiece, Themistocles had for the
second prize a large majority of the suffrages.
    Envy, however, hindered the chiefs from coming to a decision,
and they all sailed away to their homes without making any award.
Nevertheless Themistocles was regarded everywhere as by far the wisest
man of all the Greeks; and the whole country rang with his fame. As
the chiefs who fought at Salamis, notwithstanding that he was really
entitled to the prize, had withheld his honour from him, he went
without delay to Lacedaemon, in the hope that he would be honoured
there. And the Lacedaemonians received him handsomely, and paid him
great respect. The prize of valour indeed, which was a crown of olive,
they gave to Eurybiades; but Themistocles was given a crown of olive
too, as the prize of wisdom and dexterity. He was likewise presented
with the most beautiful chariot that could be found in Sparta; and
after receiving abundant praises, was, upon his departure, escorted as
far as the borders of Tegea, by the three hundred picked Spartans, who
are called the Knights. Never was it known, either before or since,
that the Spartans escorted a man out of their city.
    On the return of Themistocles to Athens, Timodemus of Aphidnae,
who was one of his enemies, but otherwise a man of no repute, became
so maddened with envy that he openly railed against him, and,
reproaching him with his journey to Sparta, said- "'Twas not his own
merit that had won him honour from the men of Lacedaemon, but the fame
of Athens, his country." Then Themistocles, seeing that Timodemus
repeated this phrase unceasingly, replied-
    "Thus stands the case, friend. I had never got this honour from
the Spartans, had I been a Belbinite- nor thou, hadst thou been an
Athenian!"
    Artabazus, the son of Pharnaces, a man whom the Persians had
always held in much esteem, but who, after the affair of Plataea, rose
still higher in their opinion, escorted King Xerxes as far as the
strait, with sixty thousand of the chosen troops of Mardonius. When
the king was safe in Asia, Artabazus set out upon his return; and on
arriving near Palline, and finding that Mardonius had gone into
winter-quarters in Thessaly and Macedonia, and was in no hurry for him
to join the camp, he thought it his bounden duty, as the Potidaeans
had just revolted, to occupy himself in reducing them to slavery.
For as soon as the king had passed beyond their territory, and the
Persian fleet had made its hasty flight from Salamis, the Potidaeans
revolted from the barbarians openly; as likewise did all the other
inhabitants of that peninsula.
    Artabazus, therefore, laid siege to Potidaea; and having a
suspicion that the Olynthians were likely to revolt shortly, he
besieged their city also. Now Olynthus was at that time held by the
Bottiaeans, who had been driven from the parts about the Thermaic Gulf
by the Macedonians. Artabazus took the city, and, having so done,
led out all the inhabitants to a marsh in the neighbourhood, and there
slew them. After this he delivered the place into the hands of the
people called Chalcideans, having first appointed Critobulus of Torone
to be governor. Such was the way in which the Chalcideans got
Olynthus.
    When this town had fallen, Artabazus pressed the siege of Potidaea
all the more unremittingly; and was pushing his operations with
vigour, when Timoxenus, captain of the Scionaeans, entered into a plot
to betray the town to him. How the matter was managed at first, I
cannot pretend to say, for no account has come down to us: but at
the last this is what happened. Whenever Timoxenus wished to send a
letter to Artabazus, or Artabazus to send one to Timoxenus, the letter
was written on a strip of paper, and rolled round the notched end of
an arrow-shaft; the feathers were then put on over the paper, and
the arrow thus prepared was shot to some place agreed upon. But
after a while the plot of Timoxenus to betray Potidaea was
discovered in this way. Artabazus, on one occasion, shot off his
arrow, intending to send it to the accustomed place, but, missing
his mark, hit one of the Potidaeans in the shoulder. A crowd
gathered about the wounded man, as commonly happens in war; and when
the arrow was pulled out, they noticed the paper, and straightway
carried it to the captains who were present from the various cities of
the peninsula. The captains read the letter, and, finding who the
traitor was, nevertheless resolved, out of regard for the city of
Scione, that as they did not wish the Scionaeans to be thenceforth
branded with the name of traitors, they would not bring against him
any charge of treachery. Such accordingly was the mode in which this
plot was discovered.
    After Artabazus had continued the siege by the space of three
months, it happened that there was an unusual ebb of the tide, which
lasted a long while. So when the barbarians saw that what had been sea
was now no more than a swamp, they determined to push across it into
Pallene, And now the troops had already made good two-fifths of
their passage, and three-fifths still remained before they could reach
Palline, when the tide came in with a very high flood, higher than had
ever been seen before, as the inhabitants of those parts declare,
though high floods are by no means uncommon. All who were not able
to swim perished immediately; the rest were slain by the Potidaeans,
who bore down upon them in their sailing vessels. The Potidaeans say
that what caused this swell and flood, and so brought about the
disaster of the Persians which ensued therefrom, was the
profanation, by the very men now destroyed in the sea, of the temple
and image of Neptune, situated in their suburb. And in this they
seem to me to say well. Artabazus afterwards led away the remainder of
his army, and joined Mardonius in Thessaly. Thus fared it with the
Persians who escorted the king to the strait.
    As for that part of the fleet of Xerxes which had survived the
battle, when it had made good its escape from Salamis to the coast
of Asia, and conveyed the king with his army across the strait from
the Chersonese to Abydos, it passed the winter at Cyme. On the first
approach of spring, there was an early muster of the ships at Samos,
where some of them indeed had remained throughout the winter. Most
of the men-at-arms who served on board were Persians, or else Medes;
and the command of the fleet had been taken by Mardontes, the son of
Bagaeus, and Artayntes, the son of Artachaeus; while there was
likewise a third commander, Ithamitres, the nephew of Artayntes,
whom his uncle had advanced to the post. Further west than Samos,
however, they did not venture to proceed; for they remembered what a
defeat they had suffered, and there was no one to compel them to
approach any nearer to Greece. They therefore remained at Samos, and
kept watch over Ionia, to hinder it from breaking into revolt. The
whole number of their ships, including those furnished by the Ionians,
was three hundred. It did not enter into their thoughts that the
Greeks would proceed against Ionia; on the contrary, they supposed
that the defence of their own country would content them, more
especially as they had not pursued the Persian fleet when it fled from
Salamis, but had so readily given up the chase. They despaired,
however, altogether of gaining any success by sea themselves, though
by land they thought that Mardonius was quite sure of victory. So they
remained at Samos, and took counsel together, if by any means they
might harass the enemy, at the same time that they waited eagerly to
hear how matters would proceed with Mardonius.
    The approach of spring, and the knowledge that Mardonius was in
Thessaly, roused the Greeks from inaction. Their land force indeed was
not yet come together; but the fleet, consisting of one hundred and
ten ships, proceeded to Egina, under the command of Leotychides.
This Leotychides, who was both general and admiral, was the son of
Menares, the son of Agesilaus, the son of Hippocratides, the son of
Leotychides, the son of Anaxilaus, the son of Archidamus, the son of
Anaxandrides, the son of Theopompus, the son of Nicander, the son of
Charillus, the son of Eunomus, the son of Polydectes, the son of
Prytanis, the son of Euryphon, the son of Procles, the son of
Aristodemus, the son of Aristomachus, the son of Cleodaeus, the son of
Hyllus, the son of Hercules. He belonged to the younger branch of
the royal house. All his ancestors, except the two next in the above
list to himself, had been kings of Sparta. The Athenian vessels were
commanded by Xanthippus, the son of Ariphron.
    When the whole fleet was collected together at Egina,
ambassadors from Ionia arrived at the Greek station; they had but just
come from paying a visit to Sparta, where they had been intreating the
Lacedaemonians to undertake the deliverance of their native land.
One of these ambassadors was Herodotus, the son of Basileides.
Originally they were seven in number; and the whole seven had
conspired to slay Strattis the tyrant of Chios; one, however, of those
engaged in the plot betrayed the enterprise; and the conspiracy
being in this way discovered, Herodotus, and the remaining five,
quitted Chios, and went straight to Sparta, whence they had now
proceeded to Egina, their object being to beseech the Greeks that they
would pass over to Ionia. It was not, however, without difficulty that
they were induced to advance even so far as Delos. All beyond that
seemed to the Greeks full of danger; the places were quite unknown
to them, and to their fancy swarmed with Persian troops; as for Samos,
it appeared to them as far off as the Pillars of Hercules. Thus it
came to pass, that at the very same time the barbarians were
hindered by their fears from venturing any further west than Samos,
and the prayers of the Chians failed to induce the Greeks to advance
any further east than Delos. Terror guarded the mid region.
    The Greek fleet was now on its way to Delos; but Mardonius still
abode in his winter-quarters in Thessaly. When he was about to leave
them, he despatched a man named Mys, a European by birth, to go and
consult the different oracles, giving him orders to put questions
everywhere to all the oracles whereof he found it possible to make
trial. What it was that he wanted to know, when he gave Mys these
orders, I am not able to say, for no account has reached me of the
matter; but for my own part, I suppose that he sent to inquire
concerning the business which he had in hand, and not for any other
purpose.
    Mys, it is certain, went to Lebadeia, and, by the payment of a sum
of money, induced one of the inhabitants to go down to Trophonius;
he likewise visited Abae of the Phocians, and there consulted the god;
while at Thebes, to which place he went first of all, he not only
got access to Apollo Ismenius (of whom inquiry is made by means of
victims, according to the custom practised also at Olympia), but
likewise prevailed on a man, who was not a Theban but a foreigner,
to pass the night in the temple of Amphiaraus. No Theban can
lawfully consult this oracle, for the following reason: Amphiaraus
by an oracle gave the Thebans their choice, to have him for their
prophet or for their helper in war; he bade them elect between the
two, and forego either one or the other; so they chose rather to
have him for their helper. On this account it is unlawful for a Theban
to sleep in his temple.
    One thing which the Thebans declare to have happened at this
time is to me very surprising. Mys, the European, they say, after he
had gone about to all the oracles, came at last to the sacred precinct
of Apollo Ptous. The place itself bears the name of Ptoum; it is in
the country of the Thebans, and is situated on the mountain side
overlooking Lake Copais, only a very little way from the town called
Acraephia. Here Mys arrived, and entered the temple, followed by three
Theban citizens- picked men whom the state had appointed to take
down whatever answer the god might give. No sooner was he entered than
the prophet delivered him an oracle, but in a foreign tongue; so
that his Theban attendants were astonished, hearing a strange language
when they expected Greek, and did not know what to do. Mys, however,
the European, snatched from their hands the tablet which they had
brought with them, and wrote down what the prophet uttered. The reply,
he told them, was in the Carian dialect. After this, Mys departed
and returned to Thessaly.
    Mardonius, when he had read the answers given by the oracles, sent
next an envoy to Athens. This was Alexander, the son of Amyntas, a
Macedonian, of whom he made choice for two reasons. Alexander was
connected with the Persians by family ties; for Gygaea, who was the
daughter of Amyntas, and sister to Alexander himself, was married to
Bubares, a Persian, and by him had a son, to wit, Amyntas of Asia; who
was named after his mother's father, and enjoyed the revenues of
Alabanda, a large city of Phrygia, which had been assigned him by
the king. Alexander was likewise (and of this too Mardonius was well
aware), both by services which he had rendered, and by formal
compact of friendship, connected with Athens. Mardonius therefore
thought that, by sending him, he would be most likely to gain over the
Athenians to the Persian side. He had heard that they were a
numerous and a warlike people, and he knew that the disasters which
had befallen the Persians by sea were mainly their work; he
therefore expected that, if he could form alliance with them, he would
easily get the mastery of the sea (as indeed he would have done,
beyond a doubt), while by land he believed that he was already greatly
superior; and so he thought by this alliance to make sure of
overcoming the Greeks. Perhaps, too, the oracles leant this way, and
counselled him to make Athens his friend: so that it may have been
in obedience to them that he sent the embassy.
    This Alexander was descended in the seventh degree from Perdiccas,
who obtained the sovereignty over the Macedonians in the way which I
will now relate. Three brothers, descendants of Temenus, fled from
Argos to the Illyrians; their names were Gauanes, Aeropus, and
Perdiccas. From Illyria they went across to Upper Macedonia, where
they came to a certain town called Lebaea. There they hired themselves
out to serve the king in different employs; one tended the horses;
another looked after the cows; while Perdiccas, who was the
youngest, took charge of the smaller cattle. In those early times
poverty was not confined to the people: kings themselves were poor,
and so here it was the king's wife who cooked the victuals. Now,
whenever she baked the bread, she always observed that the loaf of the
labouring boy Perdiccas swelled to double its natural size. So the
queen, finding this never fail, spoke of it to her husband. Directly
that it came to his ears, the thought struck him that it was a
miracle, and boded something of no small moment. He therefore sent for
the three labourers, and told them to begone out of his dominions.
They answered, "they had a right to their wages; if he would pay
them what was due, they were quite willing to go." Now it happened
that the sun was shining down the chimney into the room where they
were; and the king, hearing them talk of wages, lost his wits, and
said, "There are the wages which you deserve; take that- I give it
you!" and pointed, as he spoke, to the sunshine. The two elder
brothers, Gauanes and Aeropus, stood aghast at the reply, and did
nothing; but the boy, who had a knife in his hand, made a mark with it
round the sunshine on the floor of the room, and said, "O king! we
accept your payment." Then he received the light of the sun three
times into his bosom, and so went away; and his brothers went with
him.
    When they were gone, one of those who sat by told the king what
the youngest of the three had done, and hinted that he must have had
some meaning in accepting the wages given. Then the king, when he
heard what had happened, was angry, and sent horsemen after the youths
to slay them. Now there is a river in Macedonia to which the
descendants of these Argives offer sacrifice as their saviour. This
stream swelled so much, as soon as the sons of Temenus were safe
across, that the horsemen found it impossible to follow. So the
brothers escaped into another part of Macedonia, and took up their
abode near the place called "the Gardens of Midas, son of Gordias." In
these gardens there are roses which grow of themselves, so sweet
that no others can come near them, and with blossoms that have as many
as sixty petals apiece. It was here, according to the Macedonians,
that Silenus was made a prisoner. Above the gardens stands a
mountain called Bermius, which is so cold that none can reach the top.
Here the brothers made their abode; and from this place by, degrees
they conquered all Macedonia.
    From the Perdiccas of whom we have here spoken, Alexander was
descended in the following way:- Alexander was the son of Amyntas,
Amyntas of Alcetas; the father of Alcetas was Aeropus; of Aeropus,
Philip; of Philip, Argaeus; of Argaeus, Perdiccas, the first
sovereign. Such was the descent of Alexander.
    (SS 1.) When Alexander reached Athens as the ambassador of
Mardonius, he spoke as follows:-
    "O men of Athens, these be the words of Mardonius. 'The king has
sent a message to me, saying, "All the trespasses which the
Athenians have committed against me I freely forgive. Now then,
Mardonius, thus shalt thou act towards them. Restore to them their
territory; and let them choose for themselves whatever land they
like besides, and let them dwell therein as a free people. Build up
likewise all their temples which I burned, if on these terms they will
consent to enter into a league with me." Such are the orders which I
have received, and which I must needs obey, unless there be a
hindrance on your part. And now I say unto you,- why are ye so mad
as to levy war against the king, whom ye cannot possibly overcome,
or even resist for ever? Ye have seen the multitude and the bravery of
the host of Xerxes; ye know also how large a power remains with me
in your land; suppose then ye should get the better of us, and
defeat this army- a thing whereof ye will not, if ye be wise,
entertain the least hope- what follows even then but a contest with
a still greater force? Do not, because you would fain match yourselves
with the king, consent to lose your country and live in constant
danger of your lives. Rather agree to make peace; which ye can now
do without any tarnish to your honour, since the king invites you to
it. Continue free, and make an alliance with us, without fraud or
deceit.'
    (SS 2.) "These are the words, O Athenians! which Mardonius had bid
me speak to you. For my own part, I will say nothing of the good
will I bear your nation, since ye have not now for the first time to
become acquainted with it. But I will add my intreaties also, and
beseech you to give ear to Mardonius; for I see clearly that it is
impossible for you to go on for ever contending against Xerxes. If
that had appeared to me possible, I would not now have come hither the
bearer of such a message. But the king's power surpasses that of
man, and his arm reaches far. If then ye do not hasten to conclude a
peace, when such fair terms are offered you, I tremble to think of
what you will have to endure- you, who of all the allies lie most
directly in the path of danger, whose land will always be the chief
battleground of the contending powers, and who will therefore
constantly have to suffer alone. Hearken then, I pray you, to
Mardonius! Surely it is no small matter that the Great King chooses
you out from all the rest of the Greeks, to offer you forgiveness of
the wrongs you have done him, and to propose himself as your friend
and ally!"
    Such were the words of Alexander. Now the Lacedaemonians, when
tidings reached them that Alexander was gone to Athens to bring
about a league between the Athenians and the barbarians, and when at
the same time they called to mind the prophecies which declared that
the Dorian race should one day be driven from the Peloponnese by the
Medes and the Athenians, were exceedingly afraid lest the Athenians
might consent to the alliance with Persia. They therefore lost no time
in sending envoys to Athens; and it so happened that these envoys were
given their audience at the same time with Alexander: for the
Athenians had waited and made delays, because they felt sure that
the Lacedaemonians would hear that an ambassador was come to them from
the Persians, and as soon as they heard it would with all speed send
an embassy. They contrived matters therefore of set purpose, so that
the Lacedaemonians might hear them deliver their sentiments on the
occasion.
    As soon as Alexander had finished speaking, the ambassadors from
Sparta took the word and said,-
    "We are sent here by the Lacedaemonians to entreat of you that
ye will not do a new thing in Greece, nor agree to the terms which are
offered you by the barbarian. Such conduct on the part of any of the
Greeks were alike unjust and dishonourable; but in you 'twould be
worse than in others, for divers reasons. 'Twas by you that this war
was kindled at the first among us- our wishes were in no way
considered; the contest began by your seeking to extend your empire-
now the fate of Greece is involved in it. Besides it was surely an
intolerable thing that the Athenians, who have always hitherto been
known as a nation to which many men owed their freedom, should now
become the means of bringing all other Greeks into slavery. We feel,
however, for the heavy calamities which press on you- the loss of your
harvest these two years, and the ruin in which your homes have lain
for so long a time. We offer you, therefore, on the part of the
Lacedaemonians and the allies, sustenance for your women and for the
unwarlike portion of your households, so long as the war endures. Be
ye not seduced by Alexander the Macedonian, who softens down the rough
words of Mardonius. He does as is natural for him to do- a tyrant
himself, he helps forward a tyrant's cause. But ye, Athenians,
should do differently, at least if ye be truly wise; for ye should
know that with barbarians there is neither faith nor truth."
    Thus spake the envoys. After which the Athenians returned this
answer to Alexander:-
    "We know, as well as thou dost, that the power of the Mede is many
times greater than our own: we did not need to have that cast in our
teeth. Nevertheless we cling so to freedom that we shall offer what
resistance we may. Seek not to persuade us into making terms with
the barbarian- say what thou wilt, thou wilt never gain our assent.
Return rather at once, and tell Mardonius that our answer to him is
this:- 'So long as the sun keeps his present course, we will never
join alliance with Xerxes. Nay, we shall oppose him unceasingly,
trusting in the aid of those gods and heroes whom he has lightly
esteemed, whose houses and whose images he has burnt with fire.'
come not thou again to us with words like these; nor, thinking to do
us a service, persuade us to unholy actions. Thou art the guest and
friend of our nation- we would not that thou shouldst receive hurt
at our hands."
    Such was the answer which the Athenians gave to Alexander. To
the Spartan envoys they said:-
    "'Twas natural no doubt that the Lacedaemonians should be afraid
we might make terms with the barbarian; but nevertheless It was a base
fear in men who knew so well of what temper and spirit we are. Not all
the gold that the whole earth contains- not the fairest and most
fertile of all lands- would bribe us to take part with the Medes and
help them to enslave our countrymen. Even could we anyhow have brought
ourselves to such a thing, there are many very powerful motives
which would now make it impossible. The first and chief of these is
the burning and destruction of our temples and the images of our gods,
which forces us to make no terms with their destroyer, but rather to
pursue him with our resentment to the uttermost. Again, there is our
common brotherhood with the Greeks: our common language, the altars
and the sacrifices of which we all partake, the common character which
we bear- did the Athenians betray all these, of a truth it would not
be well. Know then now, if ye have not known it before, that while one
Athenian remains alive, we will never join alliance with Xerxes. We
thank you, however, for your forethought on our behalf, and for your
wish to give our families sustenance, now that ruin has fallen on
us- the kindness is complete on your part; but for ourselves, we
will endure as we may, and not be burdensome to you. Such then is
our resolve. Be it your care with all speed to lead out your troops;
for if we surmise aright, the barbarian will not wait long ere he
invade our territory, but will set out so soon as he learns our answer
to be, that we will do none of those things which he requires of us.
Now then is the time for us, before he enters Attica, to go forth
ourselves into Boeotia, and give him battle."
    When the Athenians had thus spoken, the ambassadors from Sparta
departed, and returned back to their own country.
                       The Ninth Book, Entitled
                               CALLIOPE

    Mardonius, when Alexander upon his return made known to him the
answer of the Athenians, forthwith broke up from Thessaly, and led his
army with all speed against Athens; forcing the several nations
through whose land he passed to furnish him with additional troops.
The chief men of Thessaly, far from repenting of the part which they
had taken in the war hitherto, urged on the Persians to the attack
more earnestly than ever. Thorax of Larissa in particular, who had
helped to escort Xerxes on his flight to Asia, now openly encouraged
Mardonius in his march upon Greece.
    When the army reached Boeotia, the Thebans sought to induce
Mardonius to make a halt: "He would not," they told him, "find
anywhere a more convenient place in which to pitch his camp; and their
advice to him was, that he should go no further, but fix himself
there, and thence take measures to subdue all Greece without
striking a blow. If the Greeks, who had held together hitherto,
still continued united among themselves, it would be difficult for the
whole world to overcome them by force of arms. But if thou wilt do
as we advise," they went on to say, "thou mayest easily obtain the
direction of all their counsels. Send presents to the men of most
weight in the several states, and by so doing thou wilt sow division
among them. After that, it will be a light task, with the help of such
as side with thee, to bring under all thy adversaries."
    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.
    Mardonius, being now in Athens, sent an envoy to Salamis, one
Murychides, a Hellespontine Greek, to offer the Athenians once more
the same terms which had been conveyed to them by Alexander. The
reason for his sending a second time, though he knew beforehand
their unfriendly feelings towards him, was,- that he hoped, when
they saw the whole land of Attica conquered and in his power, their
stubbornness would begin to give way. On this account, therefore, he
dispatched Murychides to Salamis.
    Now, when Murychides came before the council, and delivered his
message, one of the councillors, named Lycidas, gave it as his
opinion- "that the best course would be, to admit the proposals
brought by Murychides, and lay them before the assembly of the
people." This he stated to be his opinion, perhaps because he had been
bribed by Mardonius, or it may be because that course really
appeared to him the most expedient. However, the Athenians- both those
in the council, and those who stood without, when they heard of the
advice- were full of wrath, and forthwith surrounded Lycidas, and
stoned him to death. As for Murychides, the Hellespontine Greek, him
they sent away unharmed. Now there was a stir in the island about
Lycidas, and the Athenian women learnt what had happened. Then each
exhorted her fellow, and one brought another to take part in the deed;
and they all flocked of their own accord to the house of Lycidas,
and stoned to death his wife and his children.
    The circumstances under which the Athenians had sought refuge in
Salamis were the following. So long as any hope remained that a
Peloponnesian army would come to give them aid, they abode still in
Attica; but when it appeared that the allies were slack and slow to
move, while the invader was reported to be pressing forward and to
have already entered Boeotia, then they proceeded to remove their
goods and chattels from the mainland, and themselves again crossed the
strait to Salamis. At the same time they sent ambassadors to
Lacedaemon, who were to reproach the Lacedaemonians for having allowed
the barbarian to advance into Attica, instead of joining them and
going out to meet him in Boeotia. They were likewise to remind the
Lacedaemonians of the offers by which the Persian had sought to win
Athens over to his side, and to warn them, that no aid came from
Sparta, the Athenians must consult for their own safety.
    The truth was, the Lacedaemonians were keeping holiday at that
time; for it was the feast of the Hyacinthia, and they thought nothing
of so much moment as to perform the service of the god. They were also
engaged in building their wall across the Isthmus, which was now so
far advanced that the battlements had begun to be placed upon it.
    When the envoys of the Athenians, accompanied by ambassadors
from Megara and Plataea, reached Lacedaemon, they came before the
Ephors, and spoke as follows:-
    "The Athenians have sent us to you to say,- the king of the
Medes offers to give us back our country, and wishes to conclude an
alliance with us on fair and equal terms, without fraud or deceit.
He is willing likewise to bestow on us another country besides our
own, and bids us choose any land that we like. But we, because we
reverenced Hellenic Jupiter, and thought it a shameful act to betray
Greece, instead of consenting to these terms, refused them;
notwithstanding that we have been wronged and deserted by the other
Greeks, and are fully aware that it is far more for our advantage to
make peace with the Persian than to prolong the war with him. Still we
shall not, of our own free will, consent to any terms of peace. Thus
do we, in all our dealings with the Greeks, avoid what is base and
counterfeit: while contrariwise, ye, who were but now so full of
fear least we should make terms with the enemy, having learnt of
what temper we are, and assured yourselves that we shall not prove
traitors to our country- having brought moreover your wall across
the Isthmus to an advanced state- cease altogether to have any care
for us. Ye covenanted with us to go out and meet the Persian in
Boeotia; but when the time came, ye were false to your word, and
looked on while the barbarian host advanced into Attica. At this time,
therefore, the Athenians are angered with you; and justly,- for ye
have not done what was right. They bid you, however, make haste to
send forth your army, that we may even yet meet Mardonius in Attica.
Now that Boeotia is lost to us, the best place for the fight within
our country, will be the plain of Thria."
    The Ephors, when they had heard this speech, delayed their
answer till the morrow; and when the morrow came, till the day
following. And thus they acted for ten days, continually putting off
the ambassadors from one day to the next. Meanwhile the Peloponnesians
generally were labouring with great zeal at the wall, and the work
nearly approached completion. I can give no other reason for the
conduct of the Lacedaemonians in showing themselves so anxious, at the
time when Alexander came, that the Athenians should not join the
Medes, and now being quite careless about it, except that at the
former time the wall across the Isthmus was not complete, and they
worked at it in great fear of the Persians, whereas now the bulwark
had been raised, and so they imagined that they had no further need of
the Athenians.
    At last the ambassadors got an answer, and the troops marched
forth from Sparta, under the following circumstances. The last
audience had been fixed for the ambassadors, when, the very day before
it was to be given, a certain Tegean, named Chileus, a man who had
more influence at Sparta than any other foreigner, learning from the
Ephors exactly what the Athenians had said, addressed these words to
them- "The case stands thus, O ye Ephors! If the Athenians are not our
friends, but league themselves with the barbarians, however strong our
wall across the Isthmus may be, there will be doors enough, and wide
enough open too, by which the Persian may gain entrance to the
Peloponnese. Grant their request then, before they make any fresh
resolve, which may bring Greece to ruin."
    Such was the counsel which Chileus gave: and the Ephors, taking
the advice into consideration, determined forthwith, without
speaking a word to the ambassadors from the three cities, to
despatch to the Isthmus a body of five thousand Spartans; and
accordingly they sent them forth the same night, appointing to each
Spartan a retinue of seven Helots, and giving the command of the
expedition to Pausanias the son of Cleombrotus. The chief power
belonged of right at this time to Pleistarchus, the son of Leonidas;
but as he was still a child Pausanias, his cousin, was regent in his
room. For the father of Pausanias, Cleombrotus, the son of
Anaxandridas, no longer lived; he had died a short time after bringing
back from the Isthmus the troops who had been employed in building the
wall. A prodigy had caused him to bring his army home; for while he
was offering sacrifice to know if he should march out against the
Persian, the sun was suddenly darkened in mid sky. Pausanias took with
him, as joint-leader of the army, Euryanax, the son of Dorieus, a
member of his own family.
    The army accordingly had marched out from Sparta with Pausanias:
while the ambassadors, when day came, appeared before the Ephors,
knowing nothing of the march of the troops, and purposing themselves
to leave Sparta forthwith, and return each man to his own country.
They therefore addressed the Ephors in these words:-
"Lacedaemonians, as you do not stir from home, but keep the
Hyacinthian festival, and amuse yourselves, deserting the cause of
your confederates, the Athenians, whom your behaviour wrongs, and
who have no other allies, will make such terms with the Persians as
they shall find possible. Now when terms are once made, it is plain
that, having become the king's allies, we shall march with the
barbarians whithersoever they choose to lead. Then at length you
will perceive what the consequences will be to yourselves." When the
envoys had spoken, the Ephors declared to them with an oath:- "Our
troops must be at Oresteum by this time, on their march against the
strangers." (The Spartans say "strangers" for "barbarians.") At this
the ambassadors, quite ignorant of what had happened, questioned
them concerning their meaning; and when, by much questioning, they had
discovered the truth, they were greatly astonished thereat, and
forthwith set off, at their best speed, to overtake the Spartan
army. At the same time a body of five thousand Lacedaemonian Perioeci,
all picked men and fully armed, set forth from Sparta, in the
company of the ambassadors.
    So these troops marched in haste towards the Isthmus. Meanwhile
the Argives, who had promised Mardonius that they would stop the
Spartans from crossing their borders, as soon as they learnt that
Pausanias with his army had started from Sparta, took the swiftest
courier they could find, and sent him off to Attica. The message which
he delivered, on his arrival at Athens, was the following:
"Mardonius," he said, "the Argives have sent me to tell thee that
the Lacedaemonian youth are gone forth from their city, and that the
Argives are too weak to hinder them. Take good heed therefore to
thyself at this time." After thus speaking, without a word more, he
returned home.
    When Mardonius learnt that the Spartans were on their march, he no
longer cared to remain in Attica. Hitherto he had kept quiet,
wishing to see what the Athenians would do, and had neither ravaged
their territory, nor done it any the least harm; for till now he had
cherished the hope that the Athenians would come to terms with him.
As, however, he found that his persuasions were of no avail, and as
their whole policy was now clear to him, he determined to withdraw
from Attica before Pausanias with his army reached the Isthmus; first,
however, he resolved to burn Athens, and to cast down and level with
the ground whatever remained standing of the walls, temples, and other
buildings. His reason for retreating was, that Attica was not a
country where horse could act with advantage; and further, that if
he suffered defeat in a battle, no way of escape was open to him,
except through defiles, where a handful of troops might stop all his
army. So he determined to withdraw to Thebes, and give the Greeks
battle in the neighbourhood of a friendly city, and on ground well
suited for cavalry.
    After he had quitted Attica and was already upon his march, news
reached him that a body of a thousand Lacedaemonians, distinct from
the army of Pausanias, and sent on in advance, had arrived in the
Megarid. When he heard it, wishing, if possible, to destroy this
detachment first, Mardonius considered with himself how he might
compass their ruin. With a sudden change of march he made for
Megara, while the horse, pushing on in advance, entered and ravaged
the Megarid. (Here was the furthest point in Europe towards the
setting sun to which this Persian army ever penetrated.)
    After this, Mardonius received another message, whereby he
learnt that the forces of the Greeks were collected together at the
Isthmus; which tidings caused him to draw back, and leave Attica by
the way of Deceleia. The Boeotarchs had sent for some of the
neighbours of the Asopians; and these persons served as guides to
the army, and led them first to Sphendale, and from thence to Tanagra,
where Mardonius rested a night; after which, upon the morrow, he
bent his course to Scolus, which brought him into the territory of the
Thebans. And now, although the Thebans had espoused the cause of the
Medes, yet Mardonius cut down all the trees in these parts; not
however from any enmity towards the Thebans, but on account of his own
urgent needs; for he wanted a rampart to protect his army from attack,
and he likewise desired to have a place of refuge, whither his
troops might flee, in case the battle should go contrary to his
wishes. His army at this time lay on the Asopus, and stretched from
Erythrae, along by Hysiae, to the territory of the Plataeans. The
wall, however, was not made to extend so far, but formed a square of
about ten furlongs each way.
    While the barbarians were employed in this work, a certain citizen
of Thebes, Attaginus by name, the son of Phrynon, having made great
preparations, gave a banquet, and invited Mardonius thereto,
together with fifty of the noblest Persians. Now the banquet was
held at Thebes; and all the guests who were invited came to it.
    What follows was recounted to me by Thersander, a native of
Orchomenus, a man of the first rank in that city. Thersander told me
that he was himself among those invited to the feast, and that besides
the Persians fifty Thebans were asked; and the two nations were not
arranged separately, but a Persian and a Theban were set side by
side upon each couch. After the feast was ended, and the drinking
had begun, the Persian who shared Thersander's couch addressed him
in the Greek tongue, and inquired of him from what city he came. He
answered, that he was of Orchomenus; whereupon the other said-
    "Since thou hast eaten with me at one table, and poured libation
from one cup, I would fain leave with thee a memorial of the belief
I hold- the rather that thou mayest have timely warning thyself, and
so be able to provide for thy own safety. Seest thou these Persians
here feasting, and the army which we left encamped yonder by the
river-side? Yet a little while, and of all this number thou wilt
behold but a few surviving!"
    As he spake, the Persian let fall a flood of tears: whereon
Thersander, who was astonished at his words, replied- "Surely thou
shouldest say all this to Mardonius, and the Persians who are next him
in honour"- but the other rejoined- "Dear friend, it is not possible
for man to avert that which God has decreed shall happen. No one
believes warnings, however true. Many of us Persians know our
danger, but we are constrained by necessity to do as our leader bids
us. Verily 'tis the sorest of all human ills, to abound in knowledge
and yet have no power over action." All this I heard myself from
Thersander the Orchomenian; who told me further, that he mentioned
what had happened to divers persons, before the battle was fought at
Plataea.
    When Mardonius formerly held his camp in Boeotia, all the Greeks
of those parts who were friendly to the Medes sent troops to join
his army, and these troops accompanied him in his attack upon
Athens. The Phocians alone abstained, and took no part in the
invasion; for, though they had espoused the Median cause warmly, it
was very much against their will, and only because they were compelled
so to do. However, a few days after the arrival of the Persian army at
Thebes, a thousand of their heavy-armed soldiers came up, under the
command of Harmocydes, one of their most distinguished citizens. No
sooner had these troops reached Thebes, than some horsemen came to
them from Mardonius, with orders that they should take up a position
upon the plain, away from the rest of the army. The Phocians did so,
and forthwith the entire Persian cavalry drew nigh to them:
whereupon there went a rumour through the whole of the Greek force
encamped with the Medes, that Mardonius was about to destroy the
Phocians with missiles. The same conviction ran through the Phocian
troops themselves; and Harmocydes, their leader, addressed them thus
with words of encouragement- "Phocians" said he, "'tis plain that
these men have resolved beforehand to take our lives, because of the
accusations of the Thessalians, as I imagine. Now, then, is the time
for you all to show yourselves brave men. 'Tis better to die
fighting and defending our lives, than tamely to allow them to slay us
in this shameful fashion. Let them learn that they are barbarians, and
that the men whose death they have plotted are Greeks!"
    Thus spake Harmocydes; and the Persian horse, having encircled the
Phocians, charged towards them, as if about to deal out death, with
bows bent, and arrows ready to be let fly; nay, here and there some
did even discharge their weapons. But the Phocians stood firm, keeping
close one to another, and serrying their ranks as much as possible:
whereupon the horse suddenly wheeled round and rode off. I cannot
say with certainty whether they came, at the prayer of the
Thessalians, to destroy the Phocians, but seeing them prepared to
stand on their defence, and fearing to suffer damage at their hands,
on that account beat a retreat, having orders from Mardonius so to
act; or whether his sole intent was to try the temper of the
Phocians and see whether they had any courage or no. However this
may have been, when the horsemen retired, Mardonius sent a herald to
the Phocians, saying- "Fear not, Phocians- ye have shown yourselves
valiant men- much unlike the report I had heard of you. Now
therefore be forward in the coming war. Ye will not readily outdo
either the king or myself in services." Thus ended the affair of the
Phocians.
    The Lacedaemonians, when they reached the Isthmus, pitched their
camp there; and the other Peloponnesians who had embraced the good
side, hearing or else seeing that they were upon the march, thought it
not right to remain behind when the Spartans were going forth to the
war. So the Peloponnesians went out in one body from the Isthmus,
the victims being favourable for setting forth; and marched as far
as Eleusis, where again they offered sacrifices, and, finding the
omens still encouraging, advanced further. At Eleusis they were joined
by the Athenians, who had come across from Salamis, and now
accompanied the main army. On reaching Erythrae in Boeotia, they
learnt that the barbarians were encamped upon the Asopus; wherefore
they themselves, after considering how they should act, disposed their
forces opposite to the enemy upon the slopes of Mount Cithaeron.
    Mardonius, when he saw that the Greeks would not come down into
the plain, sent all his cavalry, under Masistius (or Macistius, as the
Greeks call him), to attack them where they were. Now Masistius was
a man of much repute among the Persians, and rode a Nisaean charger
with a golden bit, and otherwise magnificently caparisoned. So the
horse advanced against the Greeks, and made attacks upon them in
divisions, doing them great damage at each charge, and insulting
them by calling them women.
    It chanced that the Megarians were drawn up in the position most
open to attack, and where the ground offered the best approach to
the cavalry. Finding themselves therefore hard pressed by the assaults
upon their ranks, they sent a herald to the Greek leaders, who came
and said to them, "This is the message of the Megarians- We cannot,
brothers-in-arms, continue to resist the Persian horse in that post
which we have occupied from the first, if we are left without
succours. Hitherto, although hard pressed, we have held out against
them firmly and courageously. Now, however, if you do not send
others to take our place, we warn you that we shall quit our post."
Such were the words of the herald. Pausanias, when he heard them,
inquired among his troops if there were any who would volunteer to
take the post, and so relieve the Megarians. Of the rest none were
willing to go, whereupon the Athenians offered themselves; and a
body of picked men, three hundred in number, commanded by
Olympiodorus, the son of Lampo, undertook the service.
    Selecting, to accompany them, the whole body of archers, these men
relieved the Megarians, and occupied a post which all the other Greeks
collected at Erythrae had shrunk from holding. After the struggle
had continued for a while, it came to an end on this wise. As the
barbarians continued charging in divisions, the horse of Masistius,
which was in front of the others, received an arrow in his flank,
the pain of which caused him to rear and throw his rider.
Immediately the Athenians rushed upon Masistius as he lay, caught
his horse, and when he himself made resistance, slew him. At first,
however, they were not able to take his life; for his armour
hindered them. He had on a breastplate formed of golden scales, with a
scarlet tunic covering it. Thus the blows, all falling upon his
breastplate, took no effect, till one of the soldiers, perceiving
the reason, drove his weapon into his eye and so slew him. All this
took place without any of the other horsemen seeing it: they had
neither observed their leader fall from his horse, nor beheld him
slain; for he fell as they wheeled round and prepared for another
charge, so that they were quite ignorant of what had happened. When,
however, they halted, and found that there was no one to marshal their
line, Masistius was missed; and instantly his soldiers,
understanding what must have befallen him, with loud cheers charged
the enemy in one mass, hoping to recover the dead body.
    So when the Athenians saw that, instead of coming up in squadrons,
the whole mass of the horse was about to charge them at once, they
called out to the other troops to make haste to their aid. While the
rest of the infantry, however, was moving to their assistance, the
contest waxed fierce about the dead body of Masistius. The three
hundred, so long as they fought by themselves, had greatly the worse
of the encounter, and were forced to retire and yield up the body to
the enemy; but when the other troops approached, the Persian horse
could no longer hold their ground, but fled without carrying off the
body, having incurred in the attempt a further loss of several of
their number. They therefore retired about two furlongs, and consulted
with each other what was best to be done. Being without a leader, it
seemed to them the fittest course to return to Mardonius.
    When the horse reached the camp, Mardonius and all the Persian
army made great lamentation for Masistius. They shaved off all the
hair from their own heads, and cut the manes from their war-horses and
their sumpter-beasts, while they vented their grief in such loud cries
that all Boeotia resounded with the clamour, because they had lost the
man who, next to Mardonius, was held in the greatest esteem, both by
the king and by the Persians generally. So the barbarians, after their
own fashion, paid honours to the dead Masistius.
    The Greeks, on the other hand, were greatly emboldened by what had
happened, seeing that they had not only stood their ground against the
attacks of the horse, but had even compelled them to beat a retreat.
They therefore placed the dead body of Masistius upon a cart, and
paraded it along the ranks of the army. Now the body was a sight which
well deserved to be gazed upon, being remarkable both for stature
and for beauty; and it was to stop the soldiers from leaving their
ranks to look at it, that they resolved to carry it round. After
this the Greeks determined to quit the high ground and go nearer
Plataea, as the land there seemed far more suitable for an
encampment than the country about Erythrae, particularly because it
was better supplied with water. To this place therefore, and more
especially to a spring-head which was called Gargaphia, they
considered that it would be best for them to remove, after which
they might once more encamp in their order. So they took their arms,
and proceeded along the slopes of Cithaeron, past Hysiae, to the
territory of the Plataeans; and here they drew themselves up, nation
by nation, close by the fountain Gargaphia, and the sacred precinct of
the Hero Androcrates, partly along some hillocks of no great height,
and partly upon the level of the plain.
    Here, in the marshalling of the nations, a fierce battle of
words arose between the Athenians and the Tegeans, both of whom
claimed to have one of the wings assigned to them. On each side were
brought forward the deeds which they had done, whether in earlier or
in later times; and first the Tegeans urged their claim as follows:-
    "This post has been always considered our right, and not the right
of any of the other allies, in all the expeditions which have been
entered into conjointly by the Peloponnesians, both anciently and in
later times. Ever since the Heraclidae made their attempt, after the
death of Eurystheus, to return by force of arms into the
Peloponnese, this custom has been observed. It was then that the right
became ours, and this was the way in which we gained it:- When, in
company with the Achaeans and Ionians who then dwelt in the
Peloponnese, we marched out to the Isthmus, and pitched our camp
over against the invaders, then, as the tale goes, that Hyllus made
proclamation, saying- 'It needs not to imperil two armies in a general
battle; rather let one be chosen from the Peloponnesian ranks,
whomsoever they deem the bravest, and let him engage with me in single
combat, on such terms as shall be agreed upon.' The saying pleased the
Peloponnesians, and oaths were sworn to the effect following:- 'If
Hyllus conquer the Peloponnesian champion, the Heraclidae shall return
to their inheritance; if, on the other hand, he be conquered, the
Heraclidae shall withdraw, lead back their army, and engage for the
next hundred years to make no further endeavours to force their
return." Hereupon Echemus, the son of Aeropus and grandson of Phegeus,
who was our leader and king, offered himself, and was preferred before
all his brothers-in-arms as champion, engaged in single combat with
Hyllus, and slew him upon the spot. For this exploit we were
rewarded by the Peloponnesians of that day with many goodly
privileges, which we have ever since enjoyed; and, among the rest,
we obtained the right of holding the leading post in one wing,
whenever a joint expedition goes forth beyond our borders. With you
then, O Lacedaemonians, we do not claim to compete; choose you which
wing ye please; we yield and grant you the preference: but we maintain
that the command of the other wing belongs of right to us, now no less
than formerly. Moreover, set aside this exploit which we have related,
and still our title to the chief post is better than that of the
Athenians: witness the many glorious fights in which we have been
engaged against yourselves, O Spartans! as well as those which we have
maintained with others. We have therefore more right to this place
than they; for they have performed no exploits to be compared to ours,
whether we look to earlier or to later times."
    Thus spake the Tegeans; and the Athenians made reply as
follows:- "We are not ignorant that our forces were gathered here, not
for the purpose of speech-making, but for battle against the
barbarian. Yet as the Tegeans have been pleased to bring into debate
the exploits performed by our two nations, alike in carlier and in
later times, we have no choice but to set before you the grounds on
which we claim it as our heritage, deserved by our unchanging bravery,
to be preferred above Arcadians. In the first place, then, those
very Heraclidae, whose leader they boast to have slain at the Isthmus,
and whom the other Greeks would not receive when they asked a refuge
from the bondage wherewith they were threatened by the people of
Mycinae, were given a shelter by us; and we brought down the insolence
of Eurystheus, and helped to gain the victory over those who were at
that time lords of the Peloponnese. Again, when the Argives led
their troops with Polynices against Thebes, and were slain and refused
burial, it is our boast that we went out against the Cadmeians,
recovered the bodies, and buried them at Eleusis in our own territory.
Another noble deed of ours was that against the Amazons, when they
came from their seats upon the Thermodon, and poured their hosts
into Attica; and in the Trojan war too we were not a whit behind any
of the Greeks. But what boots it to speak of these ancient matters?
A nation which was brave in those days might have grown cowardly
since, and a nation of cowards then might now be valiant. Enough
therefore of our ancient achievements. Had we performed no other
exploit than that at Marathon- though in truth we have performed
exploits as many and as noble as any of the Greeks- yet had we
performed no other, we should deserve this privilege, and many a one
beside. There we stood alone, and singly fought with the Persians;
nay, and venturing on so dangerous a cast, we overcame the enemy,
and conquered on that day forty and six nations! Does not this one
achievement suffice to make good our title to the post we claim?
Nevertheless, Lacedaemonians, as to strive concerning place at such
a time as this is not right, we are ready to do as ye command, and
to take our station at whatever part of the line, and face whatever
nation ye think most expedient. Wheresoever ye place us, 'twill be our
endeavour to behave as brave men. Only declare your will, and we shall
at once obey you."
    Such was the reply of the Athenians; and forthwith all the
Lacedaemonian troops cried out with one voice, that the Athenians were
worthier to have the left wing than the Arcadians. In this way were
the Tegeans overcome; and the post was assigned to the Athenians.
    When this matter had been arranged, the Greek army, which was in
part composed of those who came at the first, in part of such as had
flocked in from day to day, drew up in the following order:- Ten
thousand Lacedaemonian troops held the right wing, five thousand of
whom were Spartans; and these five thousand were attended by a body of
thirty-five thousand Helots, who were only lightly armed- seven Helots
to each Spartan. The place next to themselves the Spartans gave to the
Tegeans, on account of their courage and of the esteem in which they
held them. They were all fully armed, and numbered fifteen hundred
men. Next in order came the Corinthians, five thousand strong; and
with them Pausanias had placed, at their request, the band of three
hundred which had come from Potidaea in Pallene. The Arcadians of
Orchomenus, in number six hundred, came next; then the Sicyonians,
three thousand; then the Epidaurians, eight hundred; then the
Troezenians, one thousand; then the Lepreats, two hundred; the
Mycenaeans and Tirynthians, four hundred; the Phliasians, one
thousand; the Hermionians, three hundred; the Eretrians and
Styreans, six hundred; the Chalcideans, four hundred; and the
Ambraciots, five hundred. After these came the Leucadians and
Anactorians, who numbered eight hundred; the Paleans of Cephallenia,
two hundred; the Eginetans, five hundred; the Megarians, three
thousand; and the Plataeans, six hundred. Last of all, but first at
their extremity of the line, were the Athenians, who, to the number of
eight thousand, occupied the left wing, under the command of
Aristides, the son of Lysimachus.
    All these, except the Helots- seven of whom, as I said, attended
each Spartan- were heavy-armed troops; and they amounted to
thirty-eight thousand seven hundred men. This was the number of
Hoplites, or heavy-armed soldiers, which was together against the
barbarian. The light-armed troops consisted of the thirty-five
thousand ranged with the Spartans, seven in attendance upon each,
who were all well equipped for war; and of thirty-four thousand five
hundred others, belonging to the Lacedaemonians and the rest of the
Greeks, at the rate (nearly) of one light to one heavy armed. Thus the
entire number of the light-armed was sixty-nine thousand five hundred.
    The Greek army, therefore, which mustered at Plataea, counting
light-armed as well as heavy-armed, was but eighteen hundred men short
of one hundred and ten thousand; and this amount was exactly made up
by the Thespians who were present in the camp; for eighteen hundred
Thespians, being the whole number left, were likewise with the army;
but these men were without arms. Such was the array of the Greek
troops when they took post on the Asopus.
    The barbarians under Mardonius, when the mourning for Masistius
was at an end, and they learnt that the Greeks were in the Plataean
territory, moved likewise towards the river Asopus, which flows in
those parts. On their arrival Mardonius marshalled them against the
Greeks in the following order:- Against the Lacedaemonians he posted
his Persians; and as the Persians were far more numerous he drew
them up with their ranks deeper than common, and also extended their
front so that part faced the Tegeans; and here he took care to
choose out the best troops to face the Lacedaemonians, whilst
against the Tegeans he arrayed those on whom he could not so much
depend. This was done at the suggestion and by the advice of the
Thebans. Next to the Persians he placed the Medes, facing the
Corinthians, Potidaeans, Orchomenians, and Sicyonians; then the
Bactrians, facing the Epidaurians, Troezenians, Lepreats, Tirynthians,
Mycenaeans, and Phliasians; after them the Indians, facing the
Hermionians, Eretrians, Styreans, and Chalcidians; then the Sacans,
facing the Ambraciots, Anactorians, Leucadians, Paleans, and
Eginetans; last of all, facing the Athenians, the Plataeans, and the
Megarians, he placed the troops of the Boeotians, Locrians, Malians,
and Thessalians, and also the thousand Phocians. The whole nation of
the Phocians had not joined the Medes; on the contrary, there were
some who had gathered themselves into bands about Parnassus, and
made expeditions from thence, whereby they distressed Mardonius and
the Greeks who sided with him, and so did good service to the
Grecian cause. Besides those mentioned above, Mardonius likewise
arrayed against the Athenians the Macedonians and the tribes
dwelling about Thessaly.
    I have named here the greatest of the nations which were
marshalled by Mardonius on this occasion, to wit, all those of most
renown and account. Mixed with these, however, were men of divers
other peoples, as Phrygians, Thracians, Mysians, Paeonians, and the
like; Ethiopians again, and Egyptians, both of the Hermotybian and
Calascirian races, whose weapon is the sword, and who are the only
fighting men in that country. These persons had formerly served on
board the fleet of Xerxes, but Mardonius disembarked them before he
left Phalerum; in the land force which Xerxes brought to Athens
there were no Egyptians. The number of the barbarians, as I have
already mentioned, was three hundred thousand; that of the Greeks
who had made alliance with Mardonius is known to none, for they were
never counted: I should guess that they mustered near fifty thousand
strong. The troops thus marshalled were all foot soldiers. As for
the horse, it was drawn up by itself.
    When the marshalling of Mardonius' troops by nations and by
maniples was ended, the two armies proceeded on the next day to
offer sacrifice. The Grecian sacrifice was offered by Tisamenus, the
son of Antiochus, who accompanied the army as soothsayer: he was an
Elean, and belonged to the Clytiad branch of the Iamidae, but had been
admitted among their own citizens by the Lacedaemonians. Now his
admission among them was on this wise:- Tisamenus had gone to Delphi
to consult the god concerning his lack of offspring, when it was
declared to him by the Pythoness that he would win five very
glorious combats. Misunderstanding the oracle, and imagining that he
was to win combats in the games, Tisamenus at once applied himself
to the practice of gymnastics. He trained himself for the
Pentathlum, and, on contending at Olympia, came within a little of
winning it; for he was successful in everything, except the
wrestling-match, which was carried off by Hieronymus the Andrian.
Hereon the Lacedaemonians perceived that the combats of which the
oracle spoke were not combats in the games, but battles: they
therefore sought to induce Tisamenus to hire out his services to them,
in order that they might join him with their Heracleid kings in the
conduct of their wars. He however, when he saw that they set great
store by his friendship, forthwith raised his price, and told them,
"If they would receive him among their citizens, and give him equal
rights with the rest, he was willing to do as they desired, but on
no other terms would they ever gain his consent." The Spartans, when
they heard this, at first thought it monstrous, and ceased to
implore his aid. Afterwards, however, when the fearful danger of the
Persian war hung over their heads, they sent for him and agreed to his
terms; but Tisamenus now, perceiving them so changed, declared, "He
could no longer be content with what he had asked before: they must
likewise make his brother Hagias a Spartan, with the same rights as
himself."
    In acting thus he did but follow the example once set by Melampus,
at least if kingship may be compared with citizenship. For when the
women of Argos were seized with madness, and the Argives would have
hired Melampus to come from Pylos and heal them of their disease, he
demanded as his reward one-half of the kingdom; but as the Argives
disdained to stoop to this, they left him and went their way.
Afterwards, however, when many more of their women were seized, they
brought themselves to agree to his terms; and accordingly they went
again to him, and said they were content to give what he required.
Hereon Melampus, seeing them so changed, raised his demand, and told
them, "Except they would give his brother Bias one-third of the
kingdom likewise, he would not do as they wished." So, as the
Argives were in a strait, they consented even to this.
    In like manner the Spartans, as they were in great need of
Tisamenus, yielded everything: and Tisamenus the Elean, having in this
way become a Spartan citizen, afterwards, in the capacity of
soothsayer, helped the Spartans to gain five very glorious combats. He
and his brother were the only men whom the Spartans ever admitted to
citizenship. The five combats were these following:- The first was the
combat at Plataea; the second, that near Tegea, against the Tegeans
and the Argives; the third, that at Dipaeeis, against all the
Arcadians excepting those of Mantinea; the fourth, that at the
Isthmus, against the Messenians; and the fifth, that at Tanagra,
against the Athenians and the Argives. The battle here fought was
the last of all the five.
    The Spartans had now brought Tisamenus with them to the Plataean
territory, where he acted as soothsayer for the Greeks. He found the
victims favourable, if the Greeks stood on the defensive, but not if
they began the battle or crossed the river Asopus.
    With Mardonius also, who was very eager to begin the battle, the
victims were not favourable for so doing; but he likewise found them
bode him well, if he was content to stand on his defence. He too had
made use of the Grecian rites; for Hegesistratus, an Elean, and the
most renowned of the Telliads, was his soothsayer. This man had once
been taken captive by the Spartans, who, considering that he had
done them many grievous injuries, laid him in bonds, with the intent
to put him to death. Thereupon Hegesistratus, finding himself in so
sore a case, since not only was his life in danger, but he knew that
he would have to suffer torments of many kinds before his death,-
Hegesistratus, I say, did a deed for which no words suffice. He had
been set with one foot in the stocks, which were of wood but bound
with iron bands; and in this condition received from without an iron
implement, wherewith he contrived to accomplish the most courageous
deed upon record. Calculating how much of his foot he would be able to
draw through the hole, he cut off the front portion with his own hand;
and then, as he was guarded by watchmen, forced a way through the wall
of his prison, and made his escape to Tegea, travelling during the
night, but in the daytime stealing into the woods, and staying
there. In this way, though the Lacedaemonians went out in full force
to search for him, he nevertheless escaped, and arrived the third
evening at Tegea. So the Spartans were amazed at the man's
endurance, when they saw on the ground the piece which he had cut
off his foot, and yet for all their seeking could not find him
anywhere. Hegesistratus, having thus escaped the Lacedaemonians,
took refuge in Tegea; for the Tegeans at that time were ill friends
with the Lacedaemonians. When his wound was healed, he procured
himself a wooden foot, and became an open enemy to Sparta. At the
last, however, this enmity brought him to trouble; for the Spartans
took him captive as he was exercising his office in Zacynthus, and
forthwith put him to death. But these things happened some while after
the fight at Plataea. At present he was serving Mardonius on the
Asopus, having been hired at no inconsiderable price; and here he
offered sacrifice with a right good will, in part from his hatred of
the Lacedaemonians, in part for lucre's sake.
    So when the victims did not allow either the Persians or their
Greek allies to begin the battle- these Greeks had their own
soothsayer in the person of Hippomachus, a Leucadian- and when
soldiers continued to pour into the opposite camp and the numbers on
the Greek side to increase continually, Timagenidas, the son of
Herpys, a Theban, advised Mardonius to keep a watch on the passes of
Cithaeron, telling him how supplies of men kept flocking in day
after day, and assuring him that he might cut off large numbers.
    It was eight days after the two armies first encamped opposite
to one another when this advice was given by Timagenidas. Mardonius,
seeing it to be good, as soon as evening came, sent his cavalry to
that pass of Mount Cithaeron which opens out upon Plataea, a pass
called by the Boeotians the "Three Heads," called the "Oak-Heads" by
the Athenians. The horse sent on this errand did not make the movement
in vain. They came upon a body of five hundred sumpter-beasts which
were just entering the plain, bringing provisions to the Greek camp
from the Peloponnese, with a number of men driving them. Seeing this
prey in their power, the Persians set upon them and slaughtered
them, sparing none, neither man nor beast; till at last, when they had
had enough of slaying, they secured such as were left, and bore them
off to the camp to Mardonius.
    After this they waited again for two days more, neither army
wishing to begin the fight. The barbarians indeed advanced as far as
the Asopus, and endeavoured to tempt the Greeks to cross; but
neither side actually passed the stream. Still the cavalry of
Mardonius harassed and annoyed the Greeks incessantly; for the
Thebans, who were zealous in the cause of the Medes, pressed the war
forward with all eagerness, and often led the charge till the lines
met, when the Medes and Persians took their place, and displayed, many
of them, uncommon valour.
    For ten days nothing was done more than this; but on the
eleventh day from the time when the two hosts first took station,
one over against the other, near Plataea- the number of the Greeks
being now much greater than it was at the first, and Mardonius being
impatient of the delay- there was a conference held between Mardonius,
son of Gobryas, and Artabazus, son of Pharnaces, a man who was
esteemed by Xerxes more than almost any of the Persians. At this
consultation the following were the opinions delivered:- Artabazus
thought it would be best for them to break up from their quarters as
soon as possible, and withdraw the whole army to the fortified town of
Thebes, where they had abundant stores of corn for themselves, and
of fodder for the sumpter-beasts. There, he said, they had only to sit
quiet, and the war might be brought to an end on this wise:- Coined
gold was plentiful in the camp, and uncoined gold too; they had silver
moreover in great abundance, and drinking-cups. Let them not spare
to take of these, and distribute them among the Greeks, especially
among the leaders in the several cities; 'twould not be long before
the Greeks gave up their liberty, without risking another battle for
it. Thus the opinion of Artabazus agreed with that of the Thebans; for
he too had more foresight than some. Mardonius, on the other hand,
expressed himself with more fierceness and obstinacy, and was
utterly disinclined to yield. "Their army," he said, "was vastly
superior to that of the Greeks; and they had best engage at once,
and not wait till greater numbers were gathered against them. As for
Hegesistratus and his victims, they should let them pass unheeded, not
seeking to force them to be favourable, but, according to the old
Persian custom, hasting to join battle."
    When Mardonius had thus declared his sentiments, no one ventured
to say him nay; and accordingly his opinion prevailed, for it was to
him, and not to Artabazus, that the king had given the command of
the army.
    Mardonius now sent for the captains of the squadrons, and the
leaders of the Greeks in his service, and questioned them:- "Did
they know of any prophecy which said that the Persians were to be
destroyed in Greece?" All were silent; some because they did not
know the prophecies, but others, who knew them full well, because they
did not think it safe to speak out. So Mardonius, when none
answered, said, "Since ye know of no such oracle, or do not dare to
speak of it, I, who know it well, will myself declare it to you. There
is an oracle which says that the Persians shall come into Greece, sack
the temple at Delphi, and when they have so done, perish one and
all. Now we, as we are aware of the prediction, will neither go
against the temple  nor make any attempt to sack it: we therefore
shall not perish for this trespass. Rejoice then thus far, all ye
who are well-wishers to the Persians, and doubt not we shall get the
better of the Greeks." When he had so spoken, he further ordered
them to prepare themselves, and to put all in readiness for a battle
upon the morrow.
    As for the oracle of which Mardonius spoke, and which he
referred to the Persians, it did not, I am well assured, mean them,
but the Illyrians and the Enchelean host. There are, however, some
verses of Bacis which did speak of this battle:-

    By Thermodon's stream, and the grass-clad hanks of Asopus,
    See where gather the Grecians, and hark to the foreigners'
      war-shout-
    There in death shall lie, ere fate or Lachesis doomed him,
    Many a bow-bearing Mede, when the day of calamity cometh.

These verses, and some others like them which Musaeus wrote, referred,
I well know, to the Persians. The river Thermodon flows between
Tanagra and Glisas.
    After Mardonius had put his question about the prophecies, and
spoken the above words of encouragement, night drew on apace, and on
both sides the watches were set. As soon then as there was silence
throughout the camp,- the night being now well advanced, and the men
seeming to be in their deepest sleep,- Alexander, the son of
Amyntas, king and leader of the Macedonians, rode up on horseback to
the Athenian outposts, and desired to speak with the generals.
Hereupon, while the greater part continued on guard, some of the watch
ran to the chiefs, and told them, "There had come a horseman from
the Median camp who would not say a word, except that he wished to
speak with the generals, of whom he mentioned the names."
    They at once, hearing this, made haste to the outpost, where
they found Alexander, who addressed them as follows:-
    "Men of Athens, that which I am about to say I trust to your
honour; and I charge you to keep it secret from all excepting
Pausanias, if you would not bring me to destruction. Had I not greatly
at heart the common welfare of Greece, I should not have come to
tell you; but I am myself a Greek by descent, and I would not
willingly see Greece exchange freedom for slavery. Know then that
Mardonius and his army cannot obtain favourable omens; had it not been
for this, they would have fought with you long ago. Now, however, they
have determined to let the victims pass unheeded, and, as soon as
day dawns, to engage in battle. Mardonius, I imagine, is afraid
that, if he delays, you will increase in number. Make ready then to
receive him. Should he however still defer the combat, do you abide
where you are; for his provisions will not hold out many more days. If
ye prosper in this war, forget not to do something for my freedom;
consider the risk I have run, out of zeal for the Greek cause, to
acquaint you with what Mardonius intends, and to save you from being
surprised by the barbarians. I am Alexander of Macedon."
    As soon as he had said this, Alexander rode back to the camp,
and returned to the station assigned him.
    Meanwhile the Athenian generals hastened to the right wing, and
told Pausanias all that they had learnt from Alexander. Hereupon
Pausanias, who no sooner heard the intention of the Persians than he
was struck with fear, addressed the generals, and said,-
    "Since the battle is to come with to-morrow's dawn, it were well
that you Athenians should stand opposed to the Persians, and we
Spartans to the Boeotians and the other Greeks; for ye know the
Medes and their manner of fight, since ye have already fought with
them once at Marathon, but we are quite ignorant and without any
experience of their warfare. While, however, there is not a Spartan
here present who has ever fought against a Mede, of the Boeotians
and Thessalians we have had experience. Take then your arms, and march
over to our post upon the right, while we supply your place in the
left wing."
    Hereto the Athenians replied- "We, too, long ago, when we saw that
the Persians were drawn up to face you, were minded to suggest to
you the very course which you have now been the first to bring
forward. We feared, however, that perhaps our words might not be
pleasing to you. But, as you have now spoken of these things
yourselves, we gladly give our consent, and are ready to do as ye have
said."
    Both sides agreeing hereto, at the dawn of day the Spartans and
Athenians changed places. But the movement was perceived by the
Boeotians, and they gave notice of it to Mardonius; who at once, on
hearing what had been done, made a change in the disposition of his
own forces, and brought the Persians to face the Lacedaemonians.
Then Pausanias, finding that his design was discovered, led back his
Spartans to the right wing; and Mardonius, seeing this, replaced his
Persians upon the left of his army.
    When the troops again occupied their former posts, Mardonius
sent a herald to the Spartans, who spoke as follows:-
    "Lacedaemonians, in these parts the men say that you are the
bravest of mankind, and admire you because you never turn your backs
in flight nor quit your ranks, but always stand firm, and either die
at your posts or else destroy your adversaries. But in all this
which they say concerning you there is not one word of truth; for
now have we seen you, before battle was joined or our two hosts had
come to blows, flying and leaving your posts, wishing the Athenians to
make the first trial of our arms, and taking your own station
against our slaves. Surely these are not the deeds of brave men.
Much do we find ourselves deceived in you; for we believed the reports
of you that reached our ears, and expected that you would send a
herald with a challenge to us, proposing to fight by yourselves
against our division of native Persians. We for our part were ready to
have agreed to this; but ye have made us no such offer- nay! ye seem
rather to shrink from meeting us. However, as no challenge of this
kind comes from you to us, lo! we send a challenge to you. Why
should not you on the part of the Greeks, as you are thought to be the
bravest of all, and we on the part of the barbarians, fight a battle
with equal numbers on both sides? Then, if it seems good to the others
to fight likewise, let them engage afterwards- but if not,- if they
are content that we should fight on behalf of all, let us so do- and
whichever side wins the battle, let them win it for their whole army."
    When the herald had thus spoken, he waited a while, but, as no one
made him any answer, he went back, and told Mardonius what had
happened. Mardonius was full of joy thereat, and so puffed up by the
empty victory, that he at once gave orders to his horse to charge
the Greek line. Then the horsemen drew near, and with their javelins
and their arrows- for though horsemen they used the bow- sorely
distressed the Greek troops, which could not bring them to close
combat. The fountain of Gargaphia, whence the whole Greek army drew
its water, they at this time choked up and spoiled. The Lacedaemonians
were the only troops who had their station near this fountain; the
other Greeks were more or less distant from it, according to their
place in the line; they however were not far from the Asopus. Still,
as the Persian horse with their missile weapons did not allow them
to approach, and so they could not get their water from the river,
these Greeks, no less than the Lacedaemonians, resorted at this time
to the fountain.
    When the fountain was choked, the Grecian captains, seeing that
the army had no longer a water-place, and observing moreover that
the cavalry greatly harassed them, held a meeting on these and other
matters at the headquarters of Pausanias upon the right. For besides
the above-named difficulties, which were great enough, other
circumstances added to their distress. All the provisions that they
had brought with them were gone; and the attendants who had been
sent to fetch supplies from the Peloponnese, were prevented from
returning to camp by the Persian horse, which had now closed the
passage.
    The captains therefore held a council, whereat it was agreed, that
if the Persians did not give battle that day, the Greeks should move
to the Island- a tract of ground which lies in front of Plataea, at
the distance of ten furlongs from the Asopus and fount Gargaphia,
where the army was encamped at that time. This tract was a sort of
island in the continent: for there is a river which, dividing near its
source, runs down from Mount Cithaeron into the plain below in two
streams, flowing in channels about three furlongs apart, which after a
while unite and become one. The name of this river is Oeroe, and the
dwellers in those parts call it, the daughter of the Asopus. This
was the place to which the Greeks resolved to remove; and they chose
it, first because they would there have no lack of water, and
secondly, because the horse could not harass them as when it was drawn
up right in their front. They thought it best to begin their march
at the second watch of the night, lest the Persians should see them as
they left their station, and should follow and harass them with
their cavalry. It was agreed likewise, that after they had reached the
place, which the Asopus-born Oeroe surrounds, as it flows down from
Cithaeron, they should despatch, the very same night, one half of
their army towards that mountain-range, to relieve those whom they had
sent to procure provisions, and who were now blocked up in that
region.
    Having made these resolves, they continued during that whole day
to suffer beyond measure from the attacks of the enemy's horse. At
length when towards dusk the attacks of the horse ceased, and, night
having closed in, the hour arrived at which the army was to commence
its retreat, the greater number struck their tents and began the march
towards the rear. They were not minded, however, to make for the place
agreed upon; but in their anxiety to escape from the Persian horse, no
sooner had they begun to move than they fled straight to Plataea;
where they took post at the temple of Juno, which lies outside the
city, at the distance of about twenty furlongs from Gargaphia; and
here they pitched their camp in front of the sacred building.
    As soon as Pausanias saw a portion of the troops in motion, he
issued orders to the Lacedaemonians to strike their tents and follow
those who had been the first to depart, supposing that they were on
their march to the place agreed upon. All the captains but one were
ready to obey his orders: Amompharetus, however, the son of
Poliadas, who was leader of the Pitanate cohort, refused to move,
saying, "He for one would not fly from the strangers, or of his own
will bring disgrace upon Sparta." It had happened that he was absent
from the former conference of the captains; and so what was now taking
place astonished him. Pausanias and Euryanax thought it a monstrous
thing that Amompharetus would not hearken to them; but considered that
it would be yet more monstrous, if, when he was so minded, they were
to leave the Pitanates to their fate; seeing that, if they forsook
them to keep their agreement with the other Greeks, Amompharetus and
those with him might perish. On this account, therefore, they kept the
Lacedaemonian force in its place, and made every endeavour to persuade
Amompharetus that he was wrong to act as he was doing.
    While the Spartans were engaged in these efforts to turn
Amompharetus- the only man unwilling to retreat either in their own
army or in that of the Tegeans- the Athenians on their side did as
follows. Knowing that it was the Spartan temper to say one thing and
no another, they remained quiet in their station until the army
began to retreat, when they despatched a horseman to see whether the
Spartans really meant to set forth, or whether after all they had no
intention of moving. The horseman was also to ask Pausanias what he
wished the Athenians to do.
    The herald on his arrival found the Lacedaemonians drawn up in
their old position, and their leaders quarrelling with one another.
Pausanias and Euryanax had gone on urging Amompharetus not to endanger
the lives of his men by staying behind while the others drew off,
but without succeeding in persuading him; until at last the dispute
had waxed hot between them just at the moment when the Athenian herald
arrived. At this point Amompharetus, who was still disputing, took
up with both his hands a vast rock, and placed it at the feet of
Pausanias, saying- "With this pebble I give my vote not to run away
from the strangers." (By "strangers" he meant barbarians.)
Pausanias, in reply, called him a fool and a madman, and, turning to
the Athenian herald, who had made the inquiries with which he was
charged, bade him tell his countrymen how he was occupied, and ask
them to approach nearer, and retreat or not according to the movements
of the Spartans.
    So the herald went back to the Athenians; and the Spartans
continued to dispute till morning began to dawn upon them. Then
Pausanias, who as yet had not moved, gave the signal for retreat-
expecting (and rightly, as the event proved) that Amompharetus, when
he saw the rest of the Lacedaemonians in motion, would be unwilling to
be left behind. No sooner was the signal given, than all the army
except the Pitanates began their march, and retreated along the line
of the hills; the Tegeans accompanying them. The Athenians likewise
set off in good order, but proceeded by a different way from the
Lacedaemonians. For while the latter clung to the hilly ground and the
skirts of Mount Cithaeron, on account of the fear which they
entertained of the enemy's horse, the former betook themselves to
the low country and marched through the plain.
    As for Amompharetus, at first he did not believe that Pausanias
would really dare to leave him behind; he therefore remained firm in
his resolve to keep his men at their post; when, however, Pausanias
and his troops were now some way off, Amompharetus, thinking himself
forsaken in good earnest, ordered his band to take their arms, and led
them at a walk towards the main army. Now the army was waiting for
them at a distance of about ten furlongs, having halted upon the river
Moloeis at a place called Argiopius, where stands a temple dedicated
to Eleusinian Ceres. They had stopped here, that, in case Amompharetus
and his band should refuse to quit the spot where they were drawn
up, and should really not stir from it, they might have it in their
power to move back and lend them assistance. Amompharetus, however,
and his companions rejoined the main body; and at the same time the
whole mass of the barbarian cavalry arrived and began to press hard
upon them. The horsemen had followed their usual practice and ridden
up to the Greek camp, when they discovered that the place where the
Greeks had been posted hitherto was deserted. Hereupon they pushed
forward without stopping, and, as soon as they overtook the enemy,
pressed heavily on them.
    Mardonius, when he heard that the Greeks had retired under cover
of the night, and beheld the place, where they had been stationed,
empty, called to him Thorax of Larissa, and his brethren, Eurypylus
and Thrasideius, and said:-
    "O sons of Aleuas! what will ye say now, when ye see yonder
place empty? Why, you, who dwell in their neighbourhood, told me the
Lacedaemonians never fled from battle, but were brave beyond all the
rest of mankind. Lately, however, you yourselves beheld them change
their place in the line; and here, as all may see, they have run
away during the night. Verily, when their turn came to fight with
those who are of a truth the bravest warriors in all the world, they
showed plainly enough that they are men of no worth, who have
distinguished themselves among Greeks- men likewise of no worth at
all. However, I can readily excuse you, who, knowing nothing of the
Persians, praised these men from your acquaintance with certain
exploits of theirs; but I marvel all the more at Artabazus, that he
should have been afraid of the Lacedaemonians, and have therefore
given us so dastardly a counsel,- bidding us, as did, break up our
camp, and remove to Thebes, and there allow ourselves to be besieged
by the Greeks- advice whereof I shall take care to inform the king.
But of this hereafter. Now we must not allow them to escape us, but
must pursue after them till we overtake them; and then we must exact
vengeance for all the wrongs which have been suffered at their hands
by the Persians."
    When he had so spoken, he crossed the Asopus, and led the Persians
forward at a run directly upon the track of the Greeks, whom he
believed to be in actual flight. He could not see the Athenians;
for, as they had taken the way of the plain, they were hidden from his
sight by the hills; he therefore led on his troops against the
Lacedaemonians and the Tegeans only. When the commanders of the
other divisions of the barbarians saw the Persians pursuing the Greeks
so hastily, they all forthwith seized their standards, and hurried
after at their best speed in great disorder and disarray. On they went
with loud shouts and in a wild rout, thinking to swallow up the
runaways.
    Meanwhile Pausanias had sent a horseman to the Athenians, at the
time when the cavalry first fell upon him, with this message:-
    "Men of Athens! now that the great struggle has come, which is
to decide the freedom or the slavery of Greece, we twain,
Lacedaemonians and Athenians, are deserted by all the other allies,
who have fled away from us during the past night. Nevertheless, we are
resolved what to do- we must endeavour, as best we may, to defend
ourselves and to succour one another. Now, had the horse fallen upon
you first, we ourselves with the Tegeans (who remain faithful to the
Greek cause) would have been bound to render you assistance against
them. As, however, the entire body has advanced upon us, 'tis your
place to come to our aid, sore pressed as we are by the enemy.
Should you yourselves be so straitened that you cannot come, at
least send us your archers, and be sure you will earn our gratitude.
We acknowledge that throughout this whole war there has been no zeal
to be compared to yours- we therefore doubt not that you will do us
this service."
    The Athenians, as soon as they received this message, were anxious
to go to the aid of the Spartans, and to help them to the uttermost of
their power; but, as they were upon the march, the Greeks on the
king's side, whose place in the line had been opposite theirs, fell
upon them, and so harassed them by their attacks that it was not
possible for them to give the succour they desired. Accordingly the
Lacedaemonians, and the Tegeans- whom nothing could induce to quit
their side- were left alone to resist the Persians. Including the
light-armed, the number of the former was 50,000; while that of the
Tegeans was 3000. Now, therefore, as they were about to engage with
Mardonius and the troops under him, they made ready to offer
sacrifice. The victims, however, for some time were not favourable;
and, during the delay, many fell on the Spartan side, and a still
greater number were wounded. For the Persians had made a rampart of
their wicker shields, and shot from behind them stich clouds of
arrows, that the Spartans were sorely distressed. The victims
continued unpropitious; till at last Pausanias raised his eyes to
the Heraeum of the Plataeans, and calling the goddess to his aid,
besought her not to disappoint the hopes of the Greeks.
    As he offered his prayer, the Tegeans, advancing before the
rest, rushed forward against the enemy; and the Lacedaemonians, who
had obtained favourable omens the moment that Pausanias prayed, at
length, after their long delay, advanced to the attack; while the
Persians, on their side, left shooting, and prepared to meet them. And
first the combat was at the wicker shields. Afterwards, when these
were swept down, a fierce contest took Place by the side of the temple
of Ceres, which lasted long, and ended in a hand-to-hand struggle. The
barbarians many times seized hold of the Greek spears and brake
them; for in boldness and warlike spirit the Persians were not a
whit inferior to the Greeks; but they were without bucklers,
untrained, and far below the enemy in respect of skill in arms.
Sometimes singly, sometimes in bodies of ten, now fewer and now more
in number, they dashed upon the Spartan ranks, and so perished.
    The fight went most against the Greeks, where Mardonius, mounted
upon a white horse, and surrounded by the bravest of all the Persians,
the thousand picked men, fought in person. So long as Mardonius was
alive, this body resisted all attacks, and, while they defended
their own lives, struck down no small number of Spartans; but after
Mardonius fell, and the troops with him, which were the main
strength of the army, perished, the remainder yielded to the
Lacedaemonians, and took to flight. Their light clothing, and want
of bucklers, were of the greatest hurt to them: for they had to
contend against men heavily armed, while they themselves were
without any such defence.
    Then was the warning of the oracle fulfilled; and the vengeance
which was due to the Spartans for the slaughter of Leonidas was paid
them by Mardonius- then too did Pausanias, the son of Cleombrotus, and
grandson of Anaxandridas (I omit to recount his other ancestors, since
they are the same with those of Leonidas), win a victory exceeding
in glory all those to which our knowledge extends. Mardonius was slain
by Aeimnestus, a man famous in Sparta- the same who in the Messenian
war, which came after the struggle against the Medes, fought a
battle near Stenyclerus with but three hundred men against the whole
force of the Messenians, and himself perished, and the three hundred
with him.
    The Persians, as soon as they were put to flight by the
Lacedaemonians, ran hastily away, without preserving any order, and
took refuge in their own camp, within the wooden defence which they
had raised in the Theban territory. It is a marvel to me how it came
to pass, that although the battle was fought quite close to the
grove of Ceres, yet not a single Persian appears to have died on the
sacred soil, nor even to have set foot upon it, while round about
the precinct, in the unconsecrated ground, great numbers perished. I
imagine- if it is lawful, in matters which concern the gods, to
imagine anything- that the goddess herself kept them out, because they
had burnt her dwelling at Eleusis. Such, then, was the issue of this
battle.
    Artabazus, the son of Pharnaces, who had disapproved from the
first of the king's leaving Mardonius behind him, and had made great
endeavours, but all in vain, to dissuade Mardonius from risking a
battle, when he found that the latter was bent on acting otherwise
than he wished, did as follows. He had a force under his orders
which was far from inconsiderable, amounting, as it did, to near forty
thousand men. Being well aware, therefore, how the battle was likely
to go, as soon as the two armies began to fight, he led his soldiers
forward in an orderly array, bidding them one and all proceed at the
same pace, and follow him with such celerity as they should observe
him to use. Having issued these commands, he pretended to lead them to
the battle. But when, advancing before his army, he saw that the
Persians were already in flight, instead of keeping the same order, he
wheeled his troops suddenly round, and beat a retreat; nor did he even
seek shelter within the palisade or behind the walls of Thebes, but
hurried on into Phocis, wishing to make his way to the Hellespont with
all possible speed. Such accordingly was the course which these
Persians took.
    As for the Greeks upon the king's side, while most of them
played the coward purposely, the Boeotians, on the contrary, had a
long struggle with the Athenians. Those of the Thebans who were
attached to the Medes, displayed especially no little zeal; far from
playing the coward, they fought with such fury that three hundred of
the best and bravest among them were slain by the Athenians in this
passage of arms. But at last they too were routed, and fled away- not,
however, in the same direction as the Persians and the crowd of
allies, who, having taken no part in the battle, ran off without
striking a blow- but to the city of Thebes.
    To me it shows very clearly how completely the rest of the
barbarians were dependent upon the Persian troops, that here they
all fled at once, without ever coming to blows with the enemy,
merely because they saw the Persians running away. And so it came to
pass that the whole army took to flight, except only the horse, both
Persian and Boeotian. These did good service to the flying foot-men,
by advancing close to the enemy, and separating between the Greeks and
their own fugitives.
    The victors however pressed on, pursuing and slaying the remnant
of the king's army.
    Meantime, while the flight continued, tidings reached the Greeks
who were drawn up round the Heraeum, and so were absent from the
battle, that the fight was begun, and that Pausanias was gaining the
victory. Hearing this, they rushed forward without any order, the
Corinthians taking the upper road across the skirts of Cithaeron and
the hills, which led straight to the temple of Ceres; while the
Megarians and Phliasians followed the level route through the plain.
These last had almost reached the enemy, when the Theban horse
espied them, and, observing their disarray, despatched against them
the squadron of which Asopodorus, the son of Timander, was captain.
Asopodorus charged them with such effect that the left six hundred
of their number dead upon the plain, and, pursuing the rest, compelled
them to seek shelter in Cithaeron. So these men perished without
honour.
    The Persians, and the multitude with them, who fled to the
wooden fortress, were able to ascend into the towers before the
Lacedaemonians came up. Thus placed, they proceeded to strengthen
the defences as well as they could; and when the Lacedaemonians
arrived, a sharp fight took place at the rampart. So long as the
Athenians were away, the barbarians kept off their assailants, and had
much the best of the combat, since the Lacedaemonians were unskilled
in the attack of walled places: but on the arrival of the Athenians, a
more violent assault was made, and the wall was for a long time
attacked with fury. In the end the valour of the Athenians and their
perseverance prevailed- they gained the top of the wall, and, breaking
a breach through it, enabled the Greeks to pour in. The first to enter
here were the Tegeans, and they it was who plundered the tent of
Mardonius; where among other booty the found the manger from which his
horses ate, all made of solid brass, and well worth looking at. This
manger was given by the Tegeans to the temple of Minerva Alea, while
the remainder of their booty was brought into the common stock of
the Greeks. As soon as the wall was broken down, the barbarians no
longer kept together in any array, nor was there one among them who
thought of making further resistance- in good truth, they were all
half dead with fright, huddled as so many thousands were into so
narrow and confined a space. With such tameness did they submit to
be slaughtered by the Greeks, that of the 300,000 men who composed the
army- omitting the 40,000 by whom Artabazus was accompanied in his
flight- no more than 3000 outlived the battle. Of the Lacedaemonians
from Sparta there perished in this combat ninety-one; of the
Tegeans, sixteen; of the Athenians, fifty-two.
    On the side of the barbarians, the greatest courage was
manifested, among the foot-soldiers, by the Persians; among the horse,
by the Sacae; while Mardonius himself, as a man, bore off the palm
from the rest. Among the Greeks, the Athenians and the Tegeans
fought well; but the prowess shown by the Lacedaemonians was beyond
either. Of this I have but one proof to offer- since all the three
nations overthrew the force opposed to them- and that is, that the
Lacedaemonians fought and conquered the best troops. The bravest man
by far on that day was, in my judgment, Aristodemus- the same who
alone escaped from the slaughter of the three hundred at
Thermopylae, and who on that account had endured disgrace and
reproach: next to him were Posidonius, Philocyon, and Amompharetus the
Spartan. The Spartans, however, who took part in the fight, when the
question of "who had distinguished himself most," came to be talked
over among them, decided- "that Aristodemus, who, on account of the
blame which attached to him, had manifestly courted death, and had
therefore left his place in the line and behaved like a madman, had
done of a truth very notable deeds; but that Posidonius, who, with
no such desire to lose his life, had quitted himself no less
gallantly, was by so much a braver man than he." Perchance, however,
it was envy that made them speak after this sort. Of those whom I have
named above as slain in this battle, all, save and except Aristodemus,
received public honours: Aristodemus alone had no honours, because
he courted death for the reason which I have mentioned.
    These then were the most distinguished of those who fought at
Plataea. As for Callicrates,- the most beautiful man, not among the
Spartans only, but in the whole Greek camp,- he was not killed in
the battle; for it was while Pausanias was still consulting the
victims, that as he sat in his proper place in the line, an arrow
struck him on the side. While his comrades advanced to the fight, he
was borne out of the ranks, very loath to die, as he showed by the
words which he addressed to Arimnestus, one of the Plataeans;- "I
grieve," said he, "not because I have to die for my country, but
because I have not lifted my arm against the enemy, nor done any
deed worthy of me, much as I have desired to achieve something."
    The Athenian who is said to have distinguished himself the most
was Sophanes, the son of Eutychides, of the Deceleian canton. The
men of this canton, once upon a time, did a deed, which (as the
Athenians themselves confess) has ever since been serviceable to them.
When the Tyndaridae, in days of yore, invaded Attica with a mighty
army to recover Helen, and, not being able to find out whither she had
been carried, desolated the cantons,- at this time, they say, the
Deceleians (or Decelus himself, according to some), displeased at
the rudeness of Theseus, and fearing that the whole territory would
suffer, discovered everything to the enemy, and even showed them the
way to Aphidnae, which Titacus, a native of the place, betrayed into
their hands. As a reward for this action, Sparta has always, from that
time to the present, allowed the Deceleians to be free from all
dues, and to have seats of honour at their festivals; and hence too,
in the war which took place many years after these events between
the Peloponnesians and the Athenians, the Lacedaemonians, while they
laid waste all the rest of Attica, spared the lands of the Deceleians.
    Of this canton was Sophanes, the Athenian, who most
distinguished himself in the battle. Two stories are told concerning
him: according to the one, he wore an iron anchor, fastened to the
belt which secured his breastplate by a brazen chain; and this, when
he came near the enemy, he threw out; to the intent that, when they
made their charge, it might be impossible for him to be driven from
his post: as soon, however, as the enemy fled, his wont was to take up
his anchor and join the pursuit. Such, then, is one of the said
stories. The other, which is contradictory to the first, relates
that Sophanes, instead of having an iron anchor fastened to his
breastplate, bore the device of an anchor upon his shield, which he
never allowed to rest, but made to run round continually.
    Another glorious deed was likewise performed by this same Sophanes
At the time when the Athenians were laying siege to Egina, he took
up the challenge of Eurybates the Argive, a winner of the
Pentathlum, and slew him. The fate of Sophanes in after times was
the following: he was leader of an Athenian army in conjunction with
Leagrus, the son of Glaucon, and in a battle with the Edonians near
Datum, about the gold-mines there, he was slain, after displaying
uncommon bravery.
    As soon as the Greeks at Plataea had overthrown the barbarians,
a woman came over to them from the enemy. She was one of the
concubines of Pharandates, the son of Teaspes, a Persian; and when she
heard that the Persians were all slain and that the Greeks had carried
the day, forthwith she adorned herself and her maids with many
golden ornaments, and with the bravest of the apparel that she had
brought with her, and, alighting from her litter, came forward to
the Lacedaemonians, ere the work of slaughter was well over. When
she saw that all the orders were given by Pausanias, with whose name
and country she was well acquainted, as she had oftentimes heard
tell of them, she knew who he must be; wherefore she embraced his
knees, and said-
    "O king of Sparta! save thy suppliant from the slavery that awaits
the captive. Already I am beholden to thee for one service- the
slaughter of these men, wretches who had no regard either for gods
or angels. I am by birth a Coan, the daughter of Hegetoridas, son of
Antagoras. The Persian seized me by force in Cos, and kept me
against my will."
    "Lady," answered Pausanias, "fear nothing: as a suppliant thou art
safe- and still more, if thou hast spoken truth, and Hegetoridas of
Cos is thy father- for he is bound to me by closer ties of
friendship than any other man in those regions."
    When he had thus spoken, Pausanias placed the woman in the
charge of some of the Ephors who were present, and afterwards sent her
to Egina, whither she had a desire to go.
    About the time of this woman's coming, the Mantineans arrived upon
the field, and found that all was over, and that it was too late to
take any part in the battle. Greatly distressed hereat, they
declared themselves to deserve a fine, as laggarts; after which,
learning that a portion of the Medes had fled away under Artabazus,
they were anxious to go after them as far as Thessaly. The
Lacedaemonians however would not suffer the pursuit; so they
returned again to their own land, and sent the leaders of their army
into banishment. Soon after the Mantineans, the Eleans likewise
arrived, and showed the same sorrow; after which they too returned
home, and banished their leaders. But enough concerning these nations.
    There was a man at Plataea among the troops of the Eginetans,
whose name was Lampon; he was the son of Pythias, and a person of
the first rank among his countrymen. Now this Lampon went about this
same time to Pausanias, and counselled him to do a deed of exceeding
wickedness. "Son of Cleombrotus," he said very earnestly, "what thou
hast already done is passing great and glorious. By the favour of
Heaven thou hast saved Greece, and gained a renown beyond all the
Greeks of whom we have any knowledge. Now then so finish thy work,
that thine own fame may be increased thereby, and that henceforth
barbarians may fear to commit outrages on the Grecians. When
Leonidas was slain at Thermopylae, Xerxes and Mardonius commanded that
he should be beheaded and crucified. Do thou the like at this time
by Mardonius, and thou wilt have glory in Sparta, and likewise through
the whole of Greece. For, by hanging him upon a cross, thou wilt
avenge Leonidas, who was thy father's brother."
    Thus spake Lampon, thinking to please Pausanias; but Pausanias
answered him- "My Eginetan friend, for thy foresight and thy
friendliness I am much beholden to thee: but the counsel which thou
hast offered is not good. First hast thou lifted me up to the skies,
by thy praise of my country and my achievement; and then thou hast
cast me down to the ground, by bidding me maltreat the dead, and
saying that thus I shall raise myself in men's esteem. Such doings
befit barbarians rather than Greeks; and even in barbarians we
detest them. On such terms then I could not wish to please the
Eginetans, nor those who think as they think enough for me to gain the
approval of my own countrymen, by righteous deeds as well as by
righteous words. Leonidas, whom thou wouldst have me avenge, is, I
maintain, abundantly avenged already. Surely the countless lives
here taken are enough to avenge not him only, but all those who fell
at Thermopylae. Come not thou before me again with such a speech,
nor with such counsel; and thank my forbearance that thou art not
now punished." Then Lampon, having received this answer, departed, and
went his way.
    After this Pausanias caused proclamation to be made, that no one
should lay hands on the booty, but that the Helots should collect it
and bring it all to one place. So the Helots went and spread
themselves through the camp, wherein were found many tents richly
adorned with furniture of gold and silver, many couches covered with
plates of the same, and many golden bowls, goblets, and other
drinking-vessels. On the carriages were bags containing silver and
golden kettles; and the bodies of the slain furnished bracelets and
chains, and scymitars with golden ornaments- not to mention
embroidered apparel, of which no one made any account. The Helots at
this time stole many things of much value, which they sold in after
times to the Eginetans; however, they brought in likewise no small
quantity, chiefly such things as it was not possible for them to hide.
And this was the beginning of the great wealth of the Eginetans, who
bought the gold of the Helots as if it had been mere brass.
    When all the booty had been brought together, a tenth of the whole
was set apart for the Delphian god; and hence was made the golden
tripod which stands on the bronze serpent with the three heads,
quite close to the altar. Portions were also set apart for the gods of
Olympia, and of the Isthmus; from which were made, in the one case,
a bronze Jupiter ten cubits high; and in the other, a bronze Neptune
of seven cubits. After this, the rest of the spoil was divided among
the soldiers, each of whom received less or more according to his
deserts; and in this way was a distribution made of the Persian
concubines, of the gold, the silver, the beasts of burthen, and all
the other valuables. What special gifts were presented to those who
had most distinguished themselves in the battle, I do not find
mentioned by any one; but I should suppose that they must have had
some gifts beyond the others. As for Pausanias, the portion which
was set apart for him consisted of ten specimens of each kind of
thing- women, horses, talents, camels, or whatever else there was in
the spoil.
    It is said that the following circumstance happened likewise at
this time. Xerxes, when he fled away out of Greece, left his
war-tent with Mardonius: when Pausanias, therefore, saw the tent
with its adornments of gold and silver, and its hangings of divers
colours, he gave commandment to the bakers and the cooks to make him
ready a banquet in such fashion as was their wont for Mardonius.
Then they made ready as they were bidden; and Pausanius, beholding the
couches of gold and silver daintily decked out with their rich
covertures, and the tables of gold and silver laid, and the feast
itself prepared with all magnificence, was astonished at the good
things which were set before him, and, being in a pleasant mood,
gave commandment to his own followers to make ready a Spartan
supper. When the suppers were both served, and it was apparent how
vast a difference lay between the two, Pausanias laughed, and sent his
servants to call to him the Greek generals. On their coming, he
pointed to the two boards, and said:-
    "I sent for you, O Greeks, to show you the folly of this Median
captain, who, when he enjoyed such fare as this, must needs come
here to rob us of our penury."
    Such, it is said, were the words of Pausanias to the Grecian
generals.
    During many years afterwards, the Plataeans used often to find
upon the field of battle concealed treasures of gold, and silver,
and other valuables. More recently they likewise made discovery of the
following: the flesh having all fallen away from the bodies of the
dead, and their bones having been gathered together into one place,
the Plataeans found a skull without any seam, made entirely of a
single bone; likewise a jaw, both the upper bone and the under,
wherein all the teeth, front and back, were joined together and made
of one bone; also, the skeleton of a man not less than five cubits
in height.
    The body of Mardonius disappeared the day after the battle; but
who it was that stole it away I cannot say with certainty. I have
heard tell of a number of persons, and those too of many different
nations, who are said to have given him burial; and I know that many
have received large sums on this score from Artontes the son of
Mardonius: but I cannot discover with any certainty which of them it
was who really took the body away, and buried it. Among others,
Dionysophanes, an Ephesian, is rumoured to have been the actual
person.
    The Greeks, after sharing the booty upon the field of Plataea,
proceeded to bury their own dead, each nation apart from the rest. The
Lacedaemonians made three graves; in one they buried their youths,
among whom were Posidonius, Amompharetus, Philocyon, and Callicrates;-
in another, the rest of the Spartans; and in the third, the Helots.
Such was their mode of burial. The Tegeans buried all their dead in
a single grave; as likewise did the Athenians theirs, and the
Megarians and Phliasians those who were slain by the horse. These
graves, then, had bodies buried in them: as for the other tombs
which are to be seen at Plataea, they were raised, as I understand, by
the Greeks whose troops took no part in the battle; and who, being
ashamed of themselves, erected empty barrows upon the field, to obtain
credit with those who should come after them. Among others, the
Eginetans have a grave there, which goes by their name; but which,
as I learn, was made ten years later by Cleades, the son of Autodicus,
a Plataean, at the request of the Eginetans, whose. agent he was.
    After the Greeks had buried their dead at Plataea,' they presently
held a council, whereat it was resolved to make war upon Thebes, and
to require that those who had joined the Medes should be delivered
into their hands. Two men, who had been the chief leaders on the
occasion, were especially named- to wit, Timagenidas and Attaginus. If
the Thebans should refuse to give these men up, it was determined to
lay siege to their city, and never stir from before it till it
should surrender. After this resolve, the army marched upon Thebes;
and having demanded the men, and been refused, began the siege, laying
waste the country all around, and making assaults upon the wall in
divers places.
    When twenty days were gone by, and the violence of the Greeks
did not slacken, Timagenidas thus bespake his countrymen-
    "Ye men of Thebes, since the Greeks have so decreed, that they
will never desist from the siege till either they take Thebes or we
are delivered to them, we would not that the land of Boeotia should
suffer any longer on our behalf. If it be money that they in truth
desire, and their demand of us be no more than a pretext, let money
from the treasury of the state be given them; for the state, and not
we alone, embraced the cause of the Medes. If, however, they really
want our persons, and on that account press this siege, we are ready
to be delivered to them and to stand our trial."
    The Thebans thought this offer very right and seasonable;
wherefore, they despatched a herald without any delay to Pausanias,
and told him they were willing to deliver up the men.
    As soon as an agreement had been concluded upon these terms,
Attaginus made his escape from the city; his sons, however, were
surrendered in his place; but Pausanias refused to hold them guilty,
since children (he said) could have had part in such an offence. The
rest of those whom the Thebans gave up had expected to obtain a trial,
and in that case their trust was to escape by means of bribery; but
Pausanias, afraid of this, dismissed at once the whole army of allies,
and took the men with him to Corinth, where he slew them all. Such
were the events which happened at Plataea and at Thebes.
    Artabazus, the son of Pharnaces, who fled away from Plataea, was
soon far sped on his journey. When he reached Thessaly, the
inhabitants received him hospitably, and made inquiries of him
concerning the rest of the army, since they were still altogether
ignorant of what had taken place at Plataea: whereupon the Persian,
knowing well that, if he told them the truth, he would run great
risk of perishing himself, together with his whole army- for if the
facts were once blazoned abroad, all who learnt them would be sure
to fall upon him- the Persian, I say, considering this, as he had
before kept all secret from the Phocians, so now answered the
Thessalians after the following fashion:-
    "I myself, Thessalians, am hastening, as ye see, into Thrace;
and I am fain to use all possible despatch, as I am sent with this
force on special business from the main army. Mardonius and his host
are close behind me, and may be looked for shortly. When he comes,
receive him as ye have received me, and show him every kindness. Be
sure ye will never hereafter regret it, if ye so do."
    With these words he took his departure, and marched his troops
at their best speed through Thessaly and Macedon straight upon Thrace,
following the inland route, which was the shortest, and, in good
truth, using all possible dispatch. He himself succeeded in reaching
Byzantium; but a great part of his army perished upon the road- many
being cut to pieces by the Thracians, and others dying from hunger and
excess of toil. From Byzantium Artabazus set sail, and crossed the
strait; returning into Asia in the manner which has been here
described.
    On the same day that the blow was struck at Plataea, another
defeat befell the Persians at Mycale in Ionia. While the Greek fleet
under Leotychides the Lacedaemonian was still lying inactive at Delos,
there arrived at that place an embassy from Samos, consisting of three
men, Lampon the son of Thrasycles, Athenagoras the son of
Archestratidas, and Hegesistratus the son of Aristagoras. The
Samians had sent them secretly, concealing their departure both from
the Persians and from their own tyrant Theomestor, the son of
Androdamas, whom the Persians had made ruler of Samos. When the
ambassadors came before the Greek captains Hegesistratus took the
word, and urged them with many and various arguments, saying, "that
the Ionians only needed to see them arrive in order to revolt from the
Persians; and that the Persians would never abide their coming; or
if they did, 'twould be to offer them the finest booty that they could
anywhere expect to gain;" while at the same time he made appeal to the
gods of their common worship, and besought them to deliver from
bondage a Grecian race, and withal to drive back the barbarians.
"This," he said, "might very easily be done, for the Persian ships
were bad sailers, and far from a match for theirs;" adding,
moreover, "that if there was any suspicion lest the Samians intended
to deal treacherously, they were themselves ready to become
hostages, and to return on board the ships of their allies to Asia."
    When the Samian stranger continued importunately beseeching him,
Leotychides, either because he wanted an omen, or by a mere chance, as
God guided him, asked the man- "Samian stranger! prithee, tell me
thy name?" "Hegesistratus (army-leader)," answered the other, and
might have said more, but Leotychides stopped him by exclaiming- "I
accept, O Samian! the omen which thy name affords. Only, before thou
goest back, swear to us, thyself and thy brother-envoys, that the
Samians will indeed be our warm, friends and allies."
    No sooner had he thus spoken than he proceeded to hurry forward
the business. The Samians pledged their faith upon the spot; and oaths
of alliance were exchanged between them and the Greeks. This done, two
of the ambassadors forthwith sailed away; as for Hegesistratus,
Leotychides kept him to accompany his own fleet, for he considered his
name to be a good omen. The Greeks abode where they were that day, and
on the morrow sacrificed, and found the victims favourable. Their
soothsayer was Deiphonus, the son of Evenius, a man of Apollonia- I
mean the Apollonia which lies upon the Ionian Gulf.
    A strange thing happened to this man's father, Evenius. The
Apolloniats have a flock of sheep sacred to the sun. During the
daytime these sheep graze along the banks of the river which flows
from Mount Lacmon through their territory and empties itself into
the sea by the port of Oricus; while at night they are guarded by
the richest and noblest of the citizens, who are chosen to serve the
office, and who keep the watch each for one year. Now the
Apolloniats set great store by these sheep, on account of an oracle
which they received concerning them. The place where they are folded
at night is a cavern, a long way from the town. Here it happened
that Evenius, when he was chosen to keep the watch, by some accident
fell asleep upon his guard; and while he slept, the cave was entered
by wolves, which destroyed some sixty of the flock under his care.
Evenius, when he woke and found what had occurred, kept silence
about it and told no one; for he thought to buy other sheep and put
them in the place of the slain. But the matter came to the ears of the
Apolloniats, who forthwith brought Evenius to trial, and condemned him
to lose his eyes, because he had gone to sleep upon his post. Now when
Evenius was blinded, straightway the sheep had no young, and the
land ceased to bear its wonted harvests. Then the Apolloniats sent
to Dodona, and to Delphi, and asked the prophets, what had caused
the woes which so afflicted them. The answer which they received was
this- "The woes were come for Evenius, the guardian of the sacred
sheep, whom the Apolloniats had wrongfully deprived of sight. They
(the gods) had themselves sent the wolves; nor would they ever cease
to exact vengeance for Evenius, till the Apolloniats made him whatever
atonement he liked to ask. When this was paid, they would likewise
give him a gift, which would make many men call him blessed."
    Such was the tenor of the prophecies. The Apolloniats kept them
close, but charged some of their citizens to go and make terms with
Evenius; and these men managed the business for them in the way
which I will now describe. They found Evenius upon a bench, and,
approaching him, they sat down by his side, and began to talk: at
first they spoke of quite other matters, but in the end they mentioned
his misfortune, and offered him their condolence. Having thus beguiled
him, at last they put the question- "What atonement would he desire,
if the Apolloniats were willing to make him satisfaction for the wrong
which they had done to him?" Hereupon Evenius, who had not heard of
the oracle, made answer- "If I were given the lands of this man and
that-" (here he named the two men whom he knew to have the finest
farms in Apollonia), "and likewise the house of this other"- (and here
he mentioned the house which he knew to be the handsomest in the
town), "I would, when master of these, be quite content, and my
wrath would cease altogether." As soon as Evenius had thus spoken, the
men who sat by him rejoined- "Evenius, the Apolloniats give thee the
atonement which thou hast desired, according to the bidding of the
oracles." Then Evenius understood the whole matter, and was enraged
that they had deceived him so; but the Apolloniats bought the farms
from their owners, and gave Evenius what he had chosen. After this was
done, straightway Evenius had the gift of prophecy, insomuch that he
became a famous man in Greece.
    Deiphonus, the son of this Evenius, had accompanied the
Corinthians, and was soothsayer, as I said before, to the Greek
armament. One account, however, which I have heard, declares that he
was not really the son of this man, but only took the name, and then
went about Greece and let out his services for hire.
    The Greeks, as soon as the victims were favourable, put to sea,
and sailed across from Delos to Samos. Arriving off Calami, a place
upon the Samian coast, they brought the fleet to an anchor near the
temple of Juno which stands there, and prepared to engage the Persians
by sea. These latter, however, no sooner heard of the approach of
the Greeks, than, dismissing the Phoenician ships, they sailed away
with the remainder to the mainland. For it had been resolved in
council not to risk a battle, since the Persian fleet was thought to
be no match for that of the enemy. They fled, therefore, to the
main, to be under the protection of their land army, which now lay
at Mycale, and consisted of the troops left behind by Xerxes to keep
guard over Ionia. This was an army of sixty thousand men, under the
command of Tigranes, a Persian of more than common beauty and stature.
The captains resolved therefore to betake themselves to these troops
for defence, to drag their ships ashore, and to build a rampart around
them, which might at once protect the fleet, and serve likewise as a
place of refuge for themselves.
    Having so resolved, the commanders put out to sea; and passing the
temple of the Eumenides, arrived at Gaeson and Scolopoeis, which are
in the territory of Mycale. Here is a temple of Eleusinian Ceres,
built by Philistus the son of Pasicles who came to Asia with Neileus
the son of Codrus, what time he founded Miletus. At this place they
drew the ships up on the beach, and surrounded them with a rampart
made of stones and trunks of trees, cutting down for this purpose
all the fruit-trees which grew near, and defending the barrier by
means of stakes firmly planted in the ground. Here they were
prepared either to win a battle, or undergo a siege- their thoughts
embracing both chances.
    The Greeks, when they understood that the barbarians had fled to
the mainland, were sorely vexed at their escape: nor could they
determine at first what they should do, whether they should return
home, or proceed to the Hellespont. In the end, however, they resolved
to do neither, but to make sail for the continent. So they made
themselves ready for a sea-fight by the preparation of
boarding-bridges, and what else was necessary; provided with which
they sailed to Mycale. Now when they came to the place where the
camp was, they found no one venture out to meet them, but observed the
ships all dragged ashore within the barrier, and a strong land-force
drawn up in battle array upon the beach; Leotychides therefore
sailed along the shore in his ship, keeping as close hauled to the
land as possible, and by the voice of a herald thus addressed the
Ionians:-
    "Men of Ionia- ye who can hear me speak- do ye take heed to what I
say; for the Persians will not understand a word that I utter. When we
join battle with them, before aught else, remember Freedom- and
next, recollect our watchword, which is Hebe. If there be any who hear
me not, let those who hear report my words to the others."
    In all this Leotychides had the very same design which
Themistocles entertained at Artemisium. Either the barbarians would
not know what he had said, and the Ionians would be persuaded to
revolt from them; or if his words were reported to the former, they
would mistrust their Greek soldiers.
    After Leotychides had made this address, the Greeks brought
their ships to the land, and, having disembarked, arrayed themselves
for the battle. When the Persians saw them marshalling their array,
and bethought themselves of the advice which had been offered to the
Ionians, their first act was to disarm the Samians, whom they
suspected of complicity with the enemy. For it had happened lately
that a number of the Athenians who lingered in Attica, having been
made prisoners by the troops of Xerxes, were brought to Asia on
board the barbarian fleet; and these men had been ransomed, one and
all, by the Samians, who sent them back to Athens, well furnished with
provisions for the way. On this account, as much as on any other,
the Samians were suspected, as men who had paid the ransom of five
hundred of the king's enemies. After disarming them, the Persians next
despatched the Milesians to guard the paths which lead up into the
heights of Mycale, because (they said) the Milesians were well
acquainted with that region: their true object, however, was to remove
them to a distance from the camp. In this way the Persians sought to
secure themselves against such of the Ionians as they thought
likely, if occasion offered, to make rebellion. They then joined
shield to shield, and so made themselves a breastwork against the
enemy.
    The Greeks now, having finished their preparations, began to
move towards the barbarians; when, lo! as they advanced, a rumour flew
through the host from one end to the other- that the Greeks had fought
and conquered the army of Mardonius in Boeotia. At the same time a
herald's wand was observed lying upon the beach. Many things prove
to me that the gods take part in the affairs of man. How else, when
the battles of Mycale and Plataea were about to happen on the self
same day, should such a rumour have reached the Greeks in that region,
greatly cheering the whole army, and making them more eager than
before to risk their lives.
    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.
    The Athenians, and the force drawn up with them, who formed one
half of the army, marched along the shore, where the country was low
and level; but the way for the Lacedaemonians and the troops with
them, lay across hills and a torrent-course. Hence, while the
Lacedaemonians were effecting their their passage round, the Athenians
on the other wing had already closed with the enemy. So long as the
wicker bucklers of the Persians continued standing, they made a
stout defence, and had not even the worst of the battle; but when
the Athenians, and the allies with them, wishing to make the victory
their own, and not share it with the Lacedaemonians, cheered each
other on with shouts, and attacked them with the utmost fierceness,
then at last the face of things became changed. For, bursting
through the line of shields, and rushing forwards in a body, the
Greeks fell upon the Persians; who, though they bore the charge and
for a long time maintained their ground, yet at length took refuge
in their intrenchment. Here the Athenians themselves, together with
those who followed them in the line of battle, the Corinthians, the
Sicyonians, and the Troezenians, pressed so closely on the steps of
their flying foes, that they entered along with them into the
fortress. And now, when even their fortress was taken, the
barbarians no longer offered resistance, but fled hastily away, all
save only the Persians. They still continued to fight in knots of a
few men against the Greeks, who kept pouring into the intrenchment.
And here, while two of the Persian commanders fled, two fell upon
the field: Artayntes and Ithamitres, who were leaders of the fleet,
escaped; Mardontes, and the commander of the land force, Tigranes,
died fighting.
    The Persians still held out, when the Lacedaemonians, and their
part of the army, reached the camp, and joined in the remainder of the
battle. The number of Greeks who fell in the struggle here was not
small; the Sicyonians especially lost many, and, among the rest,
Perilaus their general.
    The Samians, who served with the Medes, and who, although
disarmed, still remained in the camp, seeing from the very beginning
of the fight that the victory was doubtful, did all that lay in
their power to render help to the Greeks. And the other Ionians
likewise, beholding their example, revolted and attacked the Persians.
    As for the Milesians, who had been ordered, for the better
security of the Persians, to guard the mountain-paths,- that in case
any accident befell them such as had now happened, they might not lack
guides to conduct them into the high tracts of Mycale,- and who had
also been removed to hinder them from making an outbreak in the
Persian camp; they, instead of obeying their orders, broke them in
every respect. For they guided the flying Persians by wrong roads,
which brought them into the presence of the enemy; and at last they
set upon them with their own hands, and showed themselves the
hottest of their adversaries. Ionia, therefore, on this day revolted a
second time from the Persians.
    In this battle the Greeks who behaved with the greatest bravery
were the Athenians; and among them the palm was borne off by
Hermolycus, the son of Euthynus, a man accomplished in the Pancratium.
This Hermolycus was afterwards slain in the war between the
Athenians and Carystians. He fell in the fight near Cyrnus in the
Carystian territory, and was buried in the neighbourhood of Geraestus.
After the Athenians, the most distinguished on the Greek side were the
Corinthians, the Troezenians, and the Sicyonians.
    The Greeks, when they had slaughtered the greater portion of the
barbarians, either in the battle or in the rout, set fire to their
ships and burnt them, together with the bulwark which had been
raised for their defence, first however removing therefrom all the
booty, and carrying it down to the beach. Besides other plunder,
they found here many caskets of money. When they had burnt the rampart
and the vessels, the Greeks sailed away to Samos, and there took
counsel together concerning the Ionians, whom they thought of removing
out of Asia. Ionia they proposed to abandon to the barbarians; and
their doubt was, in what part of their own possessions in Greece
they should settle its inhabitants. For it seemed to them a thing
impossible that they should be ever on the watch to guard and
protect Ionia; and yet otherwise there could be no hope that the
Ionians would escape the vengeance of the Persians. Hereupon the
Peloponnesian leaders proposed that the seaport towns of such Greeks
as had sided with the Medes should be taken away from them, and made
over to the Ionians. The Athenians, on the other hand, were very
unwilling that any removal at all should take place, and disliked
the Peloponnesians holding councils concerning their colonists. So, as
they set themselves against the change, the Peloponnesians yielded
with a good will. Hereupon the Samians, Chians, Lesbians, and other
islanders, who had helped the Greeks at this time, were received
into the league of the allies; and took the oaths, binding
themselves to be faithful, and not desert the common cause. Then the
Greeks sailed away to the Hellespont, where they meant to break down
the bridges, which they supposed to be still extended across the
strait.
    The barbarians who escaped from the battle- a scanty remnant- took
refuge in the heights of Mycale, whence they made good their retreat
to Sardis. During the march, Masistes, the son of Darius, who had been
present at the disaster, had words with Artayntes, the general, on
whom he showered many reproaches. He called him, among other things,
"worse than a woman," for the way in which he had exercised his
command, and said there was no punishment which he did not deserve
to suffer for doing the king's house such grievous hurt. Now with
the Persians there is no greater insult than to call a man "worse than
a woman." So when Artayntes had borne the reproaches for some while,
at last he fell in a rage, and drew his scymitar upon Masistes,
being fain to kill him. But a certain Halicarnassian, Xenagoras by
name, the son of Praxilaus, who stood behind Artayntes at the time,
seeing him in the act of rushing forward, seized him suddenly round
the waist, and, lifting him from his feet, dashed him down upon the
ground; which gave time for the spearmen who guarded Masistes to
come to his aid. By his conduct here Xenagoras gained the favour,
not of Masistes only, but likewise of Xerxes himself, whose brother he
had preserved from death; and the king rewarded his action by
setting him over the whole land of Cilicia. Except this, nothing
happened upon the road; and the men continued their march and came all
safe to Sardis. At Sardis they found the king, who had been there ever
since he lost the sea-fight and fled from Athens to Asia.
    During the time that Xerxes abode at this place, he fell in love
with the wife of Masistes, who was likewise staying in the city. He
therefore sent her messages, but failed to win her consent; and he
could not dare to use violence, out of regard to Masistes, his
brother. This the woman knew well enough, and hence it was that she
had the boldness to resist him. So Xerxes, finding no other way
open, devised a marriage between his own son Darius and a daughter
of this woman and Masistes- thinking that he might better obtain his
ends if he effected this union. Accordingly he betrothed these two
persons to one another, and, after the usual ceremonies were
completed, took his departure for Susa. When he was come there, and
had received the woman into his palace as his son's bride, a change
came over him, and losing all love for the wife of Masistes, he
conceived a passion for his son's bride, Masistes' daughter. And
Artaynta- for so was she called- very soon returned his love.
    After a while the thing was discovered in the way which I will now
relate. Amestris, the wife of Xerxes, had woven with her own hands a
long robe, of many colours, and very curious, which she presented to
her husband as a gift. Xerxes, who was greatly pleased with it,
forthwith put it on; and went in it to visit Artaynta, who happened
likewise on this day to please him greatly. He therefore bade her
ask him whatever boon she liked, and promised that, whatever it was,
he would assuredly grant her request. Then Artaynta, who was doomed to
suffer calamity together with her whole house, said to him- "Wilt thou
indeed give me whatever I like to ask?" So the king, suspecting
nothing less than that her choice would fall where it did, pledged his
word, and swore to her. She then, as soon as she heard his oath, asked
boldly for the robe. Hereupon Xerxes tried all possible means to avoid
the gift; not that he grudged to give it, but because he dreaded
Amestris, who already suspected, and would now, he feared, detect
his love. So he offered her cities instead, and heaps of gold, and
an army which should obey no other leader. (The last of these is a
thoroughly Persian gift.) But, as nothing could prevail on Artaynta to
change her mind, at the last he gave her the robe. Then Artaynta was
very greatly rejoiced, and she often wore the garment and was proud of
it. And so it came to the ears of Amestris that the robe had been
given to her.
    Now when Amestris learnt the whole matter, she felt no anger
against Artaynta; but, looking upon her mother, the wife of
Masistes, as the cause of all the mischief, she determined to
compass her death. She waited, therefore, till her husband gave the
great royal banquet, a feast which takes place once every year, in
celebration of the king's birthday- "Tykta" the feast is called in the
Persian tongue, which in our language may be rendered "perfect"- and
this is the only day in all the year on which the king soaps his head,
and distributes gifts to the Persians. Amestris waited, accordingly,
for this day, and then made request of Xerxes, that he would please to
give her, as her present, the wife of Masistes. But he refused; for it
seemed to him shocking and monstrous to give into the power of another
a woman who was not only his brother's wife, but was likewise wholly
guiltless of what had happened- the more especially as he knew well
enough with what intent Amestris had preferred her request.
    At length, however, wearied by her importunity, and constrained
moreover by the law of the feast, which required that no one who asked
a boon that day at the king's board should be denied his request, he
yielded, but with a very ill will, and gave the woman into her
power. Having so done, and told Amestris she might deal with her as
she chose, the king called his brother into his presence, and said-
    "Masistes, thou art my brother, the son of my father Darius;
and, what is more, thou art a good man. I pray thee, live no longer
with the wife whom thou now hast. Behold, I will give thee instead
my own daughter in marriage; take her to live with thee. But part
first with the wife thou now hast- I like not that thou keep to her."
    To this Masistes, greatly astonished, answered-
    "My lord and master, how strange a speech hast thou uttered!
Thou biddest me put away my wife, who has borne me three goodly
youths, and daughters besides, whereof thou hast taken one and
espoused her to a son of thine own- thou biddest me put away this
wife, notwithstanding that she pleases me greatly, and marry a
daughter of thine! In truth, O king! that I am accounted worthy to wed
thy daughter, is an honour which I mightily esteem; but yet to do as
thou sayest am I in no wise willing. I pray thee, use not force to
compel me to yield to thy prayer. Be sure thy daughter will find a
husband to the full as worthy as myself. Suffer me then to live on
with my own wife."
    Thus did Masistes answer; and Xerxes, in wrath, replied- "I will
tell thee, Masistes, what thou hast gained by these words. I will
not give thee my daughter; nor shalt thou live any longer with thy own
wife. So mayest thou learn, in time to come, to take what is offered
thee." Masistes, when he heard this, withdrew, only saying- "Master
thou hast not yet taken my life."
    While these things were passing between Xerxes and his brother
Masistes, Amestris sent for the spearmen of the royal bodyguard, and
caused the wife of Masistes to be mutilated in a horrible fashion. Her
two breasts, her nose, ears, and lips were cut off and thrown to the
dogs; her tongue was torn out by the roots, and thus disfigured she
was sent back to her home.
    Masistes, who knew nothing of what had happened, but was fearful
that some calamity had befallen him, ran hastily to his house.
There, finding his wife so savagely used, he forthwith took counsel
with his sons, and, accompanied by them and certain others also, set
forth on his way to Bactria, intending to stir up revolt in that
province, and hoping to do great hurt to Xerxes: all which, I believe,
he would have accomplished, if he had once reached the Bactrian and
Sacan people; for he was greatly beloved by them both, and was
moreover satrap of Bactria. But Xerxes, hearing of his designs, sent
an armed force upon his track, and slew him while he was still upon
the road, with his sons and his whole army. Such is the tale of King
Xerxes' love and of the death of his brother Masistes.
    Meanwhile the Greeks, who had left Mycale, and sailed for the
Hellespont, were forced by contrary winds to anchor near Lectum;
from which place they afterwards sailed on to Abydos. On arriving
here, they discovered that the bridges, which they had thought to find
standing, and which had been the chief cause of their proceeding to
the Hellespont, were already broken up and destroyed. Upon this
discovery, Leotychides, and the Peloponnesians under him, were anxious
to sail back to Greece; but the Athenians, with Xanthippus their
captain, thought good to remain, and resolved to make an attempt
upon the Chersonese. So, while the Peloponnesians sailed away to their
homes, the Athenians crossed over from Abydos to the Chersonese, and
there laid siege to Sestos.
    Now, as Sestos was the strongest fortress in all that region,
the rumour had no sooner gone forth that the Greeks were arrived at
the Hellespont, than great numbers flocked thither from all the
towns in the neighbourhood. Among the rest there came a certain
Oeobazus, a Persian, from the city of Cardia, where he had laid up the
shore-cables which had been used in the construction of the bridges.
The town was guarded by its own Aeolian inhabitants, but contained
also some Persians, and a great multitude of their allies.
    The whole district was under the rule of Artayctes, one of the
king's satraps; who was a Persian, but a wicked and cruel man. At
the time when Xerxes was marching against Athens, he had craftily
possessed himself of the treasures belonging to Protesilaus the son of
Iphiclus, which were at Elaesus in the Chersonese. For at this place
is the tomb of Protesilaus, surrounded by a sacred precinct; and
here there was great store of wealth, vases of gold and silver,
works in brass, garments, and other offerings, all which Artayctes
made his prey, having got the king's consent by thus cunningly
addressing him-
    "Master, there is in this region the house of a Greek, who, when
he attacked thy territory, met his due reward, and perished. Give me
his house, I pray thee, that hereafter men may fear to carry arms
against thy land."
    By these words he easily persuaded Xerxes to give him the man's
house; for there was no suspicion of his design in the king's mind.
And he could say in a certain sense that Protesilaus had borne arms
against the land of the king; because the Persians consider all Asia
to belong to them, and to their king for the time being. So when
Xerxes allowed his request, he brought all the treasures from
Elaesus to Sestos, and made the sacred land into cornfields and
pasture land; nay, more, whenever he paid a visit to Elaesus, he
polluted the shrine itself by vile uses. It was this Artayctes who was
now besieged by the Athenians- and he was but ill prepared for
defence; since the Greeks had fallen upon him quite unawares, nor
had he in the least expected their coming.
    When it was now late in the autumn, and the siege still continued,
the Athenians began to murmur that they were kept abroad so long; and,
seeing that they were not able to take the place, besought their
captains to lead them back to their own country. But the captains
refused to move, till either the city had fallen, or the Athenian
people ordered them to return home. So the soldiers patiently bore
up against their sufferings.
    Meanwhile those within the walls were reduced to the last straits,
and forced even to boil the very thongs of their beds for food. At
last, when these too failed them, Artayctes and Oeobazus, with the
native Persians, fled away from the place by night, having let
themselves down from the wall at the back of the town, where the
blockading force was scantiest. As soon as day dawned, they of the
Chersonese made signals to the Greeks from the walls, and let them
know what had happened, at the same time throwing open the gates of
their city. Hereupon, while some of the Greeks entered the town,
others, and those the more numerous body, set out in pursuit of the
enemy.
    Oeobazus fled into Thrace; but there the Apsinthian Thracians
seized him, and offered him, after their wonted fashion, to
Pleistorus, one of the gods of their country. His companions they
likewise put to death, but in a different manner. As for Artayctes,
and the troops with him, who had been the last to leave the town, they
were overtaken by the Greeks, not far from Aegospotami, and defended
themselves stoutly for a time, but were at last either killed or taken
prisoners. Those whom they made prisoners the Greeks bound with
chains, and brought with them to Sestos. Artayctes and his son were
among the number.
    Now the Chersonesites relate that the following prodigy befell one
of the Greeks who guarded the captives. He was broiling upon a fire
some salted fish, when of a sudden they began to leap and quiver, as
if they had been only just caught. Hereat, the rest of the guards
hurried round to look, and were greatly amazed at the sight.
Artayctes, however, beholding the prodigy, called the man to him,
and said-
    "Fear not, Athenian stranger, because of this marvel. It has not
appeared on thy account, but on mine. Protesilaus of Elaeus has sent
it to show me, that albeit he is dead and embalmed with salt, he has
power from the gods to chastise his injurer. Now then I would fain
acquit my debt to him thus. For the riches which I took from his
temple, I will fix my fine at one hundred talents- while for myself
and this boy of mine, I will give the Athenians two hundred talents,
on condition that they will spare our lives."
    Such were the promises of Artayctes; but they failed to persuade
Xanthippus. For the men of Elaeus, who wished to avenge Protesilaus,
entreated that he might be put to death; and Xanthippus himself was of
the same mind. So they led Artayctes to the tongue of land where the
bridges of Xerxes had been fixed- or, according to others, to the
knoll above the town of Madytus; and, having nailed him to a board,
they left him hanging thereupon. As for the son of Artayctes, him they
stoned to death before his eyes.
    This done, they sailed back to Greece, carrying with them, besides
other treasures, the shore cables from the bridges of Xerxes, which
they wished to dedicate in their temples. And this was all that took
place that year.
    It was the grandfather of the Artayctes, one Artembares by name,
who suggested to the Persians a proposal which they readily
embraced, and thus urged upon Cyrus:- "Since Jove," they said, "has
overthrown Astyages, and given the rule to the Persians, and to thee
chiefly, O Cyrus! come now, let us quit this land wherein we dwell-
for it is a scant land and a rugged- and let us choose ourselves
some other better country. Many such lie around us, some nearer,
some further off: if we take one of these, men will admire us far more
than they do now. Who that had the power would not so act? And when
shall we have a fairer time than now, when we are lords of so many
nations, and rule all Asia?" Then Cyrus, who did not greatly esteem
the counsel, told them,- "they might do so, if they liked- but he
warned them not to expect in that case to continue rulers, but to
prepare for being ruled by others- soft countries gave birth to soft
men- there was no region which produced very delightful fruits, and at
the same time men of a warlike spirit." So the Persians departed
with altered minds, confessing that Cyrus was wiser than they; and
chose rather to dwell in a churlish land, and exercise lordship,
than to cultivate plains, and be the slaves of others.


                              THE END
.

Source:

This text is part of the Internet Ancient History Sourcebook. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted texts related to ancient history. Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document is copyright. Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No permission is granted for commercial use.

Paul Halsall, February 2023
ihsp@Fordham.edu

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